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Case management based on prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment using artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) remains the main focus of malaria control in Ghana. As part of routine surveillance on the therapeutic efficacy of ACT in Ghana, the efficacy of amodiaquine-artesunate (AS-AQ) and artemether-lumefantrine (AL) were studied in six sentinel sites representing the forest and savannah zones of the country.
Three sites representing the two ecological zones studied AS-AQ whilst the other three sites studied AL. In each site, the study was a one-arm prospective evaluation of the clinical, parasitological, and haematological responses to directly observed therapy for uncomplicated malaria with either AS-AQ or AL among children aged 6 months and 9 years. The WHO 2009 protocol for monitoring anti-malarial drug efficacy was used for the study between July 2013 and March 2014.
Per-protocol analyses on day 28 showed an overall PCR-corrected cure rate of 100 % for AS-AQ and 97.6 % (95 % CI 93.1, 99.5) for AL: 97.2 % (95 % CI 92.0, 99.4) in the forest zone and 100 % in the savannah zone. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed similar outcomes. Prevalence of fever decreased by about 75 % after the first day of treatment with each ACT in the two ecological zones. No child studied was parasitaemic on day 3, and gametocytaemia was generally maintained at low levels (<5 %). Post-treatment mean haemoglobin concentrations significantly increased in the two ecological zones.
Therapeutic efficacy of AS-AQ and AL remains over 90 % in the forest and savannah zones of Ghana. Additionally, post-treatment parasitaemia on day 3 is rare suggesting that artemisinin is still efficacious in Ghana.
Malaria remains a major public health problem in the world after decades of deployment of different interventions. Globally, an estimated 3.3 billion people are at risk of malaria infection and disease. It is estimated that in 2013 there were approximately 198 million cases of malaria worldwide, representing a decline of 30 % since year 2000. In the same year, malaria accounted for approximately 584,000 deaths worldwide, representing a decline of 47 % since year 2000. Africa remains the continent with the heaviest burden of malaria, accounting for about 90 % of all malaria deaths in the world. It is also estimated that about 78 % of all malaria deaths occur among children aged under 5 years . In 2013, malaria was estimated to account for 44 % of all outpatient clinic visits and 22.3 % of all under-five deaths in Ghana .
Case management based on prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment remains a major focus of malaria control in Ghana. Other interventions include intermittent preventive treatment among pregnant women (IPTp), long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs), indoor residual spraying (IRS), and recently seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) . Evidence of the declining efficacy of chloroquine from 1998 to 2003, and the superiority of artemisnin-based combination therapy (ACT) resulted in the replacement of chloroquine with artesunate-amodiaquine (AS-AQ) combination in 2005 as first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria in Ghana [4–6]. In 2008, artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHAP) were added as alternative first-line drugs for patients unable to tolerate AS-AQ .
Since 2005 the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), has been monitoring the therapeutic efficacy of first-line anti-malarial drugs from sentinel sites across Ghana with the view of providing continuous data to inform malaria treatment policy in the country. This paper covers the therapeutic efficacy of AS-AQ and AL across two ecological zones in Ghana during the period July 2013 to March 2014 using the 2009 WHO protocol for surveillance of anti-malarial drug efficacy .
The study was a one-arm prospective evaluation of the clinical, parasitological, and haematological responses to directly observed therapy for uncomplicated malaria with either AS-AQ or AL among children aged 6 months to 9 years in sentinel sites representing the savannah and forest zones of Ghana. The primary objective of the study was to assess cure rates in the two ecological zones whilst secondary objectives were to assess patterns of fever and parasite clearance as well as changes in haemoglobin levels and gametocyte carriage rates after treatment with AS-AQ and AL.
Therapeutic efficacy of AS-AQ was studied in the Yendi Municipal and Wa Regional Hospitals (representing the savannah zone) and Hohoe Municipal Hospital (representing the forest zone). Therapeutic efficacy of AL was studied in Navrongo War Memorial Hospital (representing the savannah zone) and Bekwai Municipal and Begoro District Hospitals (representing the forest zone).
The Yendi Municipal is located in the Northern region of Ghana with an estimated municipal population of 117,780 and an annual average rainfall of 1125 mm. Wa regional hospital is located within Wa municipal in the Upper West region of Ghana with an estimated municipal population of 107,214 and an annual average rainfall of between 840 mm and 1400 mm. The Navrongo War Memorial Hospital is located in the Kassena Nakana East district in the Upper East region of Ghana with an estimated district population of 109,944 and an annual average rainfall of 950 mm. Malaria transmission in the savannah zone of Ghana is generally perennial with marked seasonal variation and an annual entomological rate of about 418 infective bites per person per year [9–11, 13–15].
Hohoe is located in the Volta region of Ghana with an estimated municipal population of 262,046 and an annual average rainfall of 1300 mm. The rainfall pattern is bimodal with two distinct rainy seasons: April to July as major and September to November as minor. Malaria transmission in the municipality is intense and peaks with the two rainy seasons. Bekwai municipal is located in the Ashanti region of Ghana with an estimated municipal population of 118,024. Annual rainfall in the municipality is 1600–1800 mm with double maxima rainfall in May and October each year. Malaria transmission in the municipality is intense and perennial. Begoro is located in the Fanteakwa district in the Eastern region of Ghana. The Fanteakwa district has an estimated population of 108,614. Annual rainfall in the district is 1500–2000 mm with double maxima rainfall in June and October each year. Malaria transmission in the district is intense and perennial. Annual entomological inoculation rate in the forest zone can be as high as 866 infective bites per person per year [9, 10, 12, 16–18].
Children aged between 6 months and 9 years with a history of fever suggestive of malaria were screened for the study. Blood samples from a finger prick were used to prepare thick and thin smears for malaria microscopy and haemoglobin level determination. Children who met the inclusion criteria were recruited into the study after parental consent had been obtained. Inclusion criteria included axillary temperature ≥37.5 °C or history of fever during the past 24 h; mono-infection with Plasmodium falciparum; parasite count ranging between 1000 and 250,000 per µl; haemoglobin level >5 g/dl; and absence of signs/symptoms of severe malaria.
All anti-malarials used in the study were fixed-dose combinations, and were supplied by the WHO, Geneva. For sites studying AS-AQ, children enrolled received single daily weight-based products from Sanofi Aventis. The products were 25/67.5 mg (batch number 1084, expiring 01/2015) for children weighing 4.5 to <9 kg; 50/135 mg (batch number 3109, expiring 02/2015) for children weighing 9 to <18 kg; and 100/270 mg (batch number 5433, expiring 01/2015) for children weighing 18 to <36 kg. For sites studying AL, children enrolled received weight-based 20/120 mg of Coartem® (batch number F0785, expiring 05/2014) at 0, 8, 24, 36, 48, and 60 h. Children weighing 5 to <15 kg were given one tablet per hour of treatment; those weighing 15 to <25 kg were given two tablets per hour of treatment; and those weighing 25 to <35 kg were given three tablets per hour of treatment. All tablets were dissolved in water and given under direct observation by a study nurse and children were observed for 30 min to ascertain retention of anti-malarial. Children who vomited during the observation period were re-treated with the same dose of anti-malarial and observed for an additional 30 min. Children with repeated vomiting were given parenteral therapy with quinine as per national standard treatment guidelines and excluded from the study. All children were allowed use of antipyretics. Children who showed signs/symptoms of severe malaria were withdrawn from the study.
Children enrolled into the study were followed-up for 28 days. Children were seen at the outpatient department on days 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 (day of commencement of treatment was counted as day 0). At each follow-up visit, the children were clinically examined by a study Physician, who recorded findings on a Case Record Form (CRF). Parasitaemia levels (asexual and sexual) were assessed on days 2, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, and any day within the 28-day follow-up period that a child is brought to the clinic with fever. Thick and thin smears were stained with 3 % Giemsa for 30–45 min for quantification of asexual parasites against 200 white blood cells using a hand tally counter. Sexual parasite counts were done per 1000 white blood cells. Parasitaemia levels were expressed per µl blood assuming white blood cell count of 8000 per µl blood. A smear was declared negative when examination of 100 thick-film fields did not show presence of asexual parasites. For quality control purposes, all blood slides were read by two qualified independent microscopists, and discordant readings were re-examined by a third qualified independent microscopist. Discordance was defined as differences between the first and second microscopists regarding presence/absence of asexual or sexual parasites; species diagnosis; and day 0 counts meeting the inclusion criterion of 1000–250,000 per µl blood. The first or second reading was taken as final depending on whichever agrees with the third reading. Filter paper blots were obtained on day 0 and at recurrence of parasitaemia for PCR genotyping. Merozoite surface proteins 1 and 2 (msp1, msp2), and glutamate-rich protein (glurp) were used to distinguish between re-infection and recrudescence . Haemoglobin levels were assessed for all study children on days 0, 14, and 28 using an automated haematology analyzer (Sysmex KX-21N™).
Per protocol analysis was used to assess treatment outcomes on day 28 for the two ecological zones based on the WHO 2009 criteria: Early treatment failure (ETF), Late Parasitological Failure (LPF), Late Clinical Failure (LCF), and Adequate Clinical and Parasitological Response (ACPR) . Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was used to assess the cumulative incidence of treatment success over the 28-day follow-up period. Secondary outcomes were patterns of fever and parasite clearance assessed for the two ecological zones using proportions (with 95 % CI) of children febrile/with temperature ≥37.5 °C or parasitaemic within the first week of follow-up. Haematological responses were also assessed using pre- and post-treatment mean haemoglobin levels on days 0, 14 and 28. Proportions were compared using Chi square and Fisher’s exact tests. Normally distributed variables were compared using Student’s t test while skewed distributions such as parasite counts were log transformed before using the normal approximation. Differences were considered significant at p < 0.05.
The Institutional Review Board of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, reviewed and approved the study. Written informed consent was obtained from each parent/guardian at the start of the study. Each parent/guardian was informed of the objectives, methods, anticipated benefits and potential hazards of the study. They were also informed that they were at liberty to withdraw their children from the study at any time without penalty.
A cumulative total of 310 children participated in the study in the two ecological zones: 140 received AS-AQ and 170 received AL. Of the children who received AS-AQ, 81 (57.9 %) were within the savannah zone. Of the children who received AL, 124 (72.9 %) were in the forest zone. For both anti-malarials, there were no significant differences between the two ecological zones, in terms of male/female ratio as well as baseline mean haemoglobin levels (Tables 1, 2). The majority of children who received AS-AQ were aged 5–9 years in the forest zone (55.9 %; 95 % CI 42.5, 68.6) and less than 5 years in the savannah zone (69.1 %; 95 % CI 57.8, 78.7). For the same group of children, mean axillary temperature was significantly higher in the savannah zone compared with the forest zone whilst geometric mean parasite count was significantly higher in the forest zone (Table 1). Among children who received AL, there were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the two ecological zones. No child receiving AL was reported to have taken any anti-malarial within the 14-day period preceding visit to the clinic (Table 2). However, twelve children who received AS-AQ in the savannah zone were reported to have taken an anti-malarial within the same period preceding their visit to the clinic (14.8 %; 95 % CI 8.2, 24.8) (Table 1). Intake of anti-malarial drugs among the twelve children was reported to have been stopped between 1 and 11 days prior to their visit to the clinic; mean number of days being 6.0 (±3.6). None of the children who received AS-AQ in the two ecological zones was gametocytaemic at baseline. Among children who received AL, none in the savannah zone and 4 (3.3 %) in the forest zone were gametocytaemic at baseline.
Per protocol treatment outcomes on day 28 were assessed for a total of 278 evaluable children. Out of this, 125 received AS-AQ, and 153 received AL (Table 3). PCR-uncorrected analyses showed an overall day 28 cure rate of 97.6 % (95 % CI 93.1, 99.5) for AS-AQ: 98 % (95 % CI 89.4, 99.9) in the forest zone and 97.3 % (95 % CI 90.7, 99.7) in the savannah zone. The overall PCR-uncorrected cure rate for AL was 79.1 % (95 % CI 71.8, 85.1): 85 % (95 % CI 77.5, 90.9) in the forest zone and 56.3 % (95 % CI 37.7, 73.6) in the savannah zone. PCR-corrected analyses showed an overall cure rate of 100 % (95 % CI 96.2, 99.9) for AS-AQ and 97.6 % (95 % CI 93.1, 99.5) for AL. Within the forest zone, PCR-corrected cure rate was 100 % (95 % CI 90.9, 99.8) for AS-AQ and 97.2 % (95 % CI 92.0, 99.4) for AL. Within the savannah zone, PCR-corrected cure rates for AS-AQ and AL were both 100 % (Fig. 1). No early treatment failure (ETF) was observed following treatment with AS-AQ or AL.
PCR-uncorrected Kaplan–Meier survival analysis for AS-AQ showed cumulative treatment success incidence of 1.000 for the two ecological zones until day 7, when the incidence of success declined to 0.987 (95 % CI 0.917, 0.999) in the savannah zone and remained 1.000 in the forest zone (p = 0.895). Incidence of treatment success with AS-AQ remained 1.000 and 0.987 in the forest and savannah zones, respectively until day 21, when both zones experienced a decline to 0.981 (95 % CI 0.884, 0.999) and 0.974 (95 % CI 0.902, 0.996), respectively (p = 0.721), and remained same between day 21 and day 28. For AL, PCR-uncorrected treatment success remained 1.000 in the two ecological zones until day 14 when cumulative incidence of treatment success declined to 0.984 (95 % CI 0.936, 0.997) in the forest zone and 0.929 (95 % CI 0.795, 0.981) in the savannah zone (p = 0.208). Cumulative incidence of treatment success further declined on day 21 to 0.942 (95 % CI 0.880, 0.974) in the forest zone and 0.667 (95 % CI 0.481, 0.815) in the savannah zone (p < 0.001). Cumulative incidence of treatment success remained 0.942 in the forest zone until day 26, when it declined to 0.934 (95 % CI 0.870, 0.969), and further declined to 0.851 (95 % CI 0.772, 0.907) on day 28 compared with 0.601 (95 % CI 0.422, 0.766) on the same day in the savannah zone (p = 0.004) (Fig. 2). PCR-corrected Kaplan–Meier survival analyses showed a cumulative treatment success incidence of 0.979 (95 % CI 0.935, 0.993) for AL, translating into a cumulative treatment failure incidence of 0.021 (95 % CI 0.007, 0.065), and no treatment failure for AS-AQ.
Generally, prevalence of fever decreased by about 75 % after first day of treatment with each ACT (26.4 %; 95 % CI 19.5, 34.7 for AS-AQ and 21.4 %; 95 % CI 15.6, 28.6 for AL; p = 0.372) (Fig. 3). For AS-AQ, only one child in the savannah zone was reported to have had fever on day 7 (1.2 %; 95 % CI 0.1, 8.0). This child was, however, aparasitaemic and remained same throughout the rest of the follow-up period. No child was febrile in the forest zone on day 7. For AL, no child was febrile on day 7 in the two ecological zones.
No child in the two ecological zones was parasitaemic on day 3 (Fig. 4). For AS-AQ, only one child in the savannah zone was parasitaemic on day 7 (1.3 %; 95 % CI 0.1, 7.9) as against none in the forest zone. The child who had malaria parasites on day 7 was confirmed by PCR to be a case of re-infection. For AL, no child was parasitaemic on day 7.
Prevalence of gametocytaemia remained less than 5 % during the 28-day follow-up period after treatment with AS-AQ and AL in the two ecological zones. For AS-AQ, gametocytaemia was absent in the forest zone during the entire follow-up period. Gametocytaemia in the savannah zone was 1.3 % (95 % CI 0.1, 7.7) on days 2 and 3 after treatment with AS-AQ, and remained absent from day 7 to day 28. For AL, gametocytaemia in the forest zone declined from 3.3 % (95 % CI 1.1, 8.6) on day zero to 0.9 % (0.1, 5.5) on day 28 (p = 0.413), and was present only on day 7 (2.4 %; 95 % CI 0.1, 4.4) in the savannah zone.
Mean haemoglobin concentration in the forest zone significantly increased from 8.7 (±1.0) at baseline to 9.2 (±0.8) on day 28 after treatment with AS-AQ (p = 0.006). Similarly, mean haemoglobin concentration in the same zone significantly increased from 10.2 (±1.6) at baseline to 10.7 (±1.3) on day 28 after treatment with AL (p = 0.011). Within the savannah zone, mean haemoglobin concentration significantly increased from 8.7 (±1.9) at baseline to 10.3 (±2.1) after treatment with AS-AQ (p < 0.001) (Table 4).
The therapeutic efficacy of two of Ghana’s first-line anti-malarial drugs for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria (AS-AQ and AL) were studied in six sentinel sites representing the forest and savannah zones during the 2013/2014 surveillance period, with the view of providing information to guide malaria treatment policy in the country.
The study showed that PCR-uncorrected cure rates for AS-AQ were 98 % (95 % CI 89.4, 99.9) in the forest zone and 97.3 % (95 % CI 90.7, 99.7) in the savannah zone whilst AL showed PCR-uncorrected cure rates of 85 % (95 % CI 77.5, 90.9) in the forest zone and 56.3 % (95 % CI 37.7, 73.6) in the savannah zone. Although the study was not a comparative study, the findings compare well with the observation of higher PCR-uncorrected cure rate for AS-AQ, compared with AL, in Mozambique . This observation may be explained by the longer terminal half-life of amodiaquine (approximately 10 days) over lumefantrine (approximately 4 days) resulting in a higher post-treatment prophylactic effect of AS-AQ [21, 22]. This notwithstanding, PCR-corrected cure rates for AS-AQ and AL were comparable in the forest and savannah zones of Ghana (100 % for AS-AQ and 97.2–100 % for AL) as in other studies [5, 22–26].
Both AS-AQ and AL achieved effective fever and parasite clearance in the two ecological zones. Prevalence of fever in both zones declined by 75 % after first day of treatment with each ACT; no child was parasitaemic on day 3; and prevalence of gametocytaemia generally declined from 3.3 to 0.9 % within the 28-day follow-up period. These findings suggest that ACT still has a rapid effect on fever and parasite clearance as well as gametocyte carriage in Ghana [5, 23, 27, 28]. Absence of parasitaemia on day 3 is an indication that Ghana is currently free of artemisinin resistance based on WHO’s indicator of day 3 parasitaemia of ≥10 % .
Post-treatment mean haemoglobin concentrations assessed on day 28, compared with pre-treatment concentrations, showed significant increase with both AS-AQ and AL treatment in the forest zone, and AS-AQ in the savannah zone (there was no available post-treatment data for AL treatment in the savannah zone). These findings suggest that ACT treatment for uncomplicated malaria has a positive effect on post-treatment haemoglobin levels. Though some studies have not shown significantly improved post-treatment haemoglobin levels after ACT treatment [26, 28, 30], others have [5, 27, 31].
Therapeutic efficacy of AS-AQ and AL remains over 90 % in the forest and savannah zones of Ghana. The two drugs were effective in clearing fever and parasites as well as maintaining gametocytaemia at low rates (less than 5 %), and improving post-treatment mean haemoglobin levels. Artemisinin is still efficacious in Ghana by virtue of the absence of parasitaemia on day 3 post-treatment.
BA, KLM, CBP and KK conceived and designed the study. ND and NQ carried out molecular genetic studies to distinguish between re-infection and recrudescence. BA, KM, CBP and LQ coordinated the study. BA and KK participated in the data analysis. BA drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Felicia Owusu-Antwi (WHO, Ghana), Dr. Jackson Sillah (WHO-AFRO), Dr. Marian Warsame (WHO, Geneva), Dr. Pascal Ringwald (WHO, Geneva) and study teams in the six sentinel sites. We also wish to thank Messrs. Abdul Haruna, Joseph Otchere and Charles Attiogbe of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research for their technical assistance. The study received financial support from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), through the National Malaria Control Programme.
Ghana. Duration of the malaria transmission season. [http://www.mara.org.za/pdfmaps/GhaSeasonality.PDF]. | 2019-04-22T22:29:31Z | https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-015-1080-x |
Raizil rubbed the sleep fro her eyes, and then took on a serious face as she answered his question. " Since you asked me straight up, i will let ou know. Jake was to weak to be my mate. He would not have been able to lead the clan as the mate of an alpha, he just didnt havent in him. I need somebody who will stand with me as my equal, that when i have pups they will be strong. Sometimes Samuel you just have to listen to the wolf part of you more than the human part. So that is why I did that. If Jake is seen back on our land, find out where he has taken Kenji then kill him, you dont attack an alpha and get away with it. Moonlust or not, plus I want no disloyal members in this clan."
Samuel listened carefully to the girl. Maybe she had a pont, though he still thought of her actions as stupid decision. When he heard her last rders his eyebrows raised a little. He didn't expect that from her. It seemed like she wasn't that soft.
''Weak or not, you still love him. But as your beta I will do whatever you order." he said and lowered his head a little. He made a grimase which remained unseen by the alpha female. He still felt unpleasant every time he had to follow her orders.
Sam turned around and approached the exit of the leader's den. But before leaving the room he mentioned one last thing. "It's time to ask Nyx what to do next, Razil." After his last word the man left the place.
Raizil knew that Samuel was right. She thought about who she would be able to lead a clan with, and maybe evenually come to love. She did still love Jake but for the clans sake and hers she needed an alpha male to help rule. She thought maybe Samuel, but she always got the feeling that he didnt like her one bit. She wondered what she did to him to make him not like her. But she would have to figure that out later, because right now she needed some advice from the goddess herself.
Raizil slowly got up and carefully made her way out her den and down the ladder. She headed off in the direction of Moon Garden.
Samuel was sitting on a chair in his den when he secretly peeked out of the whole, which looked like window. He saw Raizil leaving the dens. She was moving gracefully like she was flying. Sam swallowed noisily, not being able to stop looking at the wolf girl. Suddenly he closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. ''Stupid wolf girl.'' he murmered to himself. There was something in that woman that could drive him mad;make him bow and do whatever she desired, but Sam would never really admit it nor let it take over him. It was true that thewolf inside him had needs, but Sam would never forget that he is half human too.
The young man sighed and got off his place. His hand clenched into fist as he tooka deep breath. He needed to clear his mind. Besides he liked being alone, away from his annoying new clan mates.
Julian sat outside the house, guarding it. Raizil and Samuel had run off. He had heard their conversation. Infiltration of minds was his specialty. However the buzzing in his head had become unbearable. He held his head in his hand, his breath short and raspy. His elbows were propped up on his knees, and he set in an odd cube. His bangs hung like a curtain around his face, disguising the few stray hairs that clung to the sweat covering his face. He had shifted after attempting the eavesdropping. His limbs felt weak, and his body was visibly shaking. He squeezed his red eyes tightly. White dots danced in front of his eyes. 'C'mon, Julian...' He thought, trying to remember how to stand up, running the muscle movement through his head. He set his hand on the wall behind him, and unbent his knees to stand up correctly. He stared at the ground, tears clouding his vision. He held his forehead with a hand, and carefully walked back to his house. His hand pressing on the wall with most of his weight. His slight stumbles were had to disguise, so Julian did not try to hide his weak body. 'I wonder what Nyx wants...' He thought absentmindedly.
As Kari slowly approached the den entrance she saw a male wolf. She watched him guard a few minutes before she decided if she was going to approach him or not. "Should I approach him and tell him or..." Kari muttered under her breath to herself.
"Damn it he can see me." Kari muttered under her breath. Before she cam out from behind the bush she altered into her human form. She walked out from behind the bush nervously laughing, hoping she wouldn't get killed or something. "Uh, uh." Kari stuttered. "There is a really angry vampire and she is like about to rampage and I just wanted to bring that to your clan's attention." Kari stepped out more from behind the bush attempting to approach Julian closer, since she now felt more comfortable being near him. She thought he seemed pretty friendly so far.
Julian frowned, the creases in his forehead growing even deeper. "A vampire rampaging on our..." He had begun to run his fingers into his hair, trying to dry the sweat gathering on his forehead, but he stopped staring at her with a widened eye. "I...Who are you? And why are you-" The werewolf paused. Then he closed his eyes and groaned. "I don't have time for this." He said with a sigh. He straightened up, some force coming back into his limbs. He shifted, quickly jumping into the shade to hide from the small slivers of sunlight. He turned around to the girl. "You coming or not?" He said in a gruff and brusque tone. His black ears twitched. When she hesitated, he shrugged. "Alright, have fun with the clan camp." Then he bounded off, hoping to find Raizil soon.
Kari watched as the other werewolf scampered off. At first she hesitated to come with him, since she was still cautious. "Damn it. I should have followed him." Kari muttered to herself. She sighed. 'Im just gonna go explore this den thing....' the thought to herself as she entered the den. But she soon got bored exploring around so she morphed into her wolf form and ventured around the territory, sneaking past guards, and eventually found herself a village.
Samuel arrived pretty quick. He held Raizil gently while walking over the old fallen trees. At times he glanced at the girl's face studying her features. They were beautiful, so was she. Rai looked like a little doll in his hand and he was extremely carefull in order not to brake her. She seemed so calm sleeping in his hands, like an angel. However, realising the fact that a smile had appeared on his face due to those thoughts, the alpha male quickly shook his head and once again his face became dark and emotionless.
Sam entered the den of the alpha leader, which Rai and he had to share. He placed the wolfgirl on her bed, making sure not to wake her or her son up. When the youth was done he left the den. Sam looked around for a second before taking a seat on one of the thick branches near his new home. He took a deep breath and unfrtunatelly caught the scent of a wolf who did not belong to their clan. A frown appeared on his face but he decided not to follow and create more troubles to Raizil. He was just going to ask some of his clanmates later when things cooled down.
Raizil woke up about 30 minutes later. She took her son to his roomas and laid him down carefully in his own bed. With a yawn she wondered through the house as she follow Samuels scent. She found him sitting out on a branch. "Sam come lay down please. I um know we dont know much about each other but i could really use a comfort right now. I watched as Jake died then had to bury him. Please just for tonight, i need you with me." Her voice wasnt that of an alpha it was of a woman who needed her mate by her side to reassure her. For once her voice was soft and filled with emotion. Her short white hair blew in the wind, her ruby colored eyes were illuminated in the moonlight, Rai looked small and fragile. It just goes to show what a day this has been for her.
Sam was sitting on the branch quetly, making sure he won't wake up Raizil or Kenji. His back was leaned against the thick tree bark as his eyes wandered around the dens. It was quiet, maybe because most of the wolves were out, enjoying the night. He used to do the same when he was young. But things changed the moment he took over his clan. Back then he had to stop acting like a child and become the serious man he is now.
While enjoying the silence, Sam though about his new rank and mate. Even though he was once again a leader he still felt strange and he knew it was all because of that mate thing. It was true that he did not like Rai so much in the begining but things definitely changed as time passed. His cold and unfriendly attitude towards her, however, did not change only because he did not want to admit he liked her.
Suddenly a female voice made him tilt his head left and look at the girl who called his name. It was Raizil. She was standing there, looking so fragile and small. There was sadness in her eyes as well as pain. It would be a lie if he said he understood her, but he could atleast try to comfort her. At her request he answered with a slight nod and quickly got off the branch. With slow steps they both entered the den and soon enough laid down in their soft bed. Samuel placed his left hand under his head as he wrapped his right one around Raizil. Despite the gentle move, the wolf king did not dare looking into her eyes.
Raizil sighed in relief when she felt Sams arms wrap around her. She turned towards jim so that her head was facing his muscular chest. "Im sorry if i have caused you any troubles today. I try and be a better alpha. But truth is i have never ran my own clan before. You seem as though you have some experience, so if you could teach me i would be grate really grateful. Also i have to admit i starting to really like you. You may act touch and cold but im starting to see right through that act Mr. Samuel. " she says making sure they make eye contact, a smirk lit her face. Her face for the moment was carefree and mischievous.
Samuel laid on the soft bed still. He tried not to move despite Raizil's trials to get as near as possible to him. His eyes were half closed as he gazed at the ceiling. His chest moved slowly each time he took a breath. The tips of his fingers of the arm, which was carefully wrapped around Raizil, touched her skin gently. He listened to her words before answering to her request.
"I will help you, but don't expect me to make miracles." his voice was blunt and cold, something most of the members of Moon Clan were used to, but he doubted Rai liked it.
Her next words, however, made him feel really embarrassed, especially after their eyes met. Sam held his breath for a second as he swallowed nosily. He quickly looked away as he clenched his teeth. He sure did not like her comment, maybe because she was right. But letting her know he is somehow interested in her would only cause him more troubles.
"You look pretty much carefree for someone who had just lost a loved one." he whispered quietly before his looks once again stopped on the ceiling. He knew these words were harsh and it was possible to have hurted her but this was the only way to get away from this tight situations he suddenly was caught in.
Rai giggled when she saw Sam embarrassed faced. If she wasnt mistaking she had never seen him flustered like that. What he said next though wiped that smile of her face so fast it was almost as if it was never there. She pusted away from Sam, how dear he. Rai was trying to forget about everything that happened today. She got up out of bed and then turned to Samuel. "Thank you Samuel for reminding me of the heartache that im going through. It was like i was wanting mu mate to be there to comfort me and take my pain away, or no. Take the bed I'll sleep among the stars tonight, maybe they'll bring me the comfort i seek." Rai said before she left the house and after she was on ground level she shifted and headed off to the moon garden, she needed and wanted the reassurance and comfort of her goddess.
Samuel gave an unnoticeable glimpse to Raizil before she left the den. A sigh came out of his lips as he turned his back to the entrance. The man continued lying in the bed and kept his left hand under his head and the right one he rested beside him. His eyes narrowed as an irritated look appeared on his face.
He was not proud of his words, nor his cold attitude towards his mate. He didn't want to hurt her, it was part of his nature, which to be honest, he was not planning to give up on. His cold and bitter act was not a replica of something in his past. He was simply not used to those lovey dovey stuff Raizil and almost every women in the world desired for. He thought of it as weakness, which he couldn't show, otherwise he might become somehow soft. Sam couldn't imagine himself as a soft guy. It was against his priorities. However, that was not a good excuse for his attitude.
Once again the brown haired youth sighed before closing his eyes. He was planning to apologize to Rai but not now, because he doubted she wanted to see his face after his words. She needed some time on her own, so did he.
The thundering sound of the falls remained muffled as the man continued to delve deeper into his book. He frowned and waved his hand away, putting the brown tome back on the shelf. He stood up, the wooden floors of his home creaking. His eyes skimmed over the dusty encasing of his office, and he took off his glasses with a tired sigh. The scent of Raizil and Samuel came quickly to him, but he felt in no hurry to reveal himself. He scratched his head through his shaggy mop of hair. "They can do stuff without me..." He muttered casting away the dust with a flick of his hand and walking into his kitchen. He picked up a clear glass and filled it water, taking a long swig of it. He stood leaning on the counter thoughtfully before dragging himself out of the door. He peered outside, his neck craning upward to see a form disappear in some unknown direction. The wolf felt some empathy for the young alpha female. 'Samuel is rather harsh isn't he?' Despite his thoughts, he did admire his old leader. The foreigners were odd, yes and demoting him to Beta did make him feel sympathetic of the young leader. "But that doesn't change the fact we were still threatened with war." He said with a tired sigh as he leaned against his door. The older wolf rubbed his thumb against his ring finger in an attempt to reassure himself that peace was made. With a brisk wind at his back. He made his way up to the male.
As Rai was making her way home she saw Jan near by. She walked over to him with a smile on her face and lighly punched him in the arm. "Hey there old timer." She teased him. She liked to tease Jan because he was such a mellow soul, and a little childish. She didnt really have to be her "alpha" self with him.
He blinked, his hazel eyes flickering. 'I'm too worked up...' He thought with an inward sigh. "Well." He said visibly relaxing. "How is Kenji?" He let his hair fall over his eyes, as he hovered over the female. 'She's so small...' He thought, self-consciously as he stared at her crimson eyes.
Rai cocked her head to the side at his weird behavior, she could feel him getting worked up. But it soon left so she didnt pay it much mind. At his next question a thoughtful looked crossed her face. "Hmm, would you be willing to watch him and keep him entertained for awhile. I think me and Sam need some time to ourselves, ya know. And this isnt an order so if your busy and have other things to do i understand. "
Time had given Julian time to heal, but even with their slowed aging, he still felt the affects of 10 years growing on him. His knees would creak when he crouched, and his neck ached more then usual. He leaned against a tree truck, blankly staring at the falls. The water flowing in an ever changing route, and even 100 years couldn't change that. He blinked thoughtfully as the sounds of nightlife filled his ears placing a frame of peace on the scene.
Raizil and Samuel had somehow made an heir. Everyone had congratulated them, but he was still lost on the idea. He had so many questions but when he pursued the subject he was met by odd stares. So he gave up and divulged in the idea of a bird bringing it in a bundle of cloth.
Rai walked back to the dens after not catching any prey. Its not that there wasnt any it was more like she wasn't fast enough due to her being pregnant with her 1st pup. Even after 10 years she had yet to let Kenji know that he isnt and never could be the heir to the clan. 'I should ask Sam what to do' she mused to herself. Rai and Sam's relationship started out not so great but after a couple of years he warmed up to her. She spotted Julian and slowly made her way over there. "Hey Julian."
Ten years did not change the werewolf much at all. His hair had lengthened and was now tied together with a small purple ribbon. He fingered the silky length of cloth, staring at the moon through the branches of the trees waving around in the wind. His hazel eyes crinkled as he relaxed at the sight.
It had been a quiet day, but the young adult had plans to read some more from a new tome he had received as a gift from his favorite bookstore in the Aslad Village.
"I can't possibly take this..."
"No please, it was my late wife's— may she rest in peace. She would want you to have it."
A deep voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Good evening, Julian." Another voice came from beside him. He glanced over at Raizil and her swelling belly. (Wait how far into the pregnancy has she gone???) "You should rest rather then walk around in the dark, little miss alpha." He said with a small smile, patting her on the head. | 2019-04-18T22:16:41Z | http://thetwobloodclans.forumotion.com/t18p75-the-werewolf-dens |
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'Mr.OUM is a national Project Coordinator for NBSAP Add-On in Cambodia.
Biosafety and Biotechnology is new for Cambodia, even though they have been applied partly in the country. The government is trying hard to put it into a formal framework for its implementation through the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which consists of 98 priority actions and 17 thematic areas. Only one action among the 98 priority actions is dealing with a strategy for development and implementation of a biosafety.
In relation to the biosafety, humans have been manipulating organisms and exploiting their biological processes and characteristics for thousands of years. The earlier forms of biotechnology -selectively breeding animals and plants and using micro organisms to make, among other things, wine, beer, bread, cheese or soy products- have been adapted by societies around the world and have steadily improved over time. These traditional or conventional techniques are still used today in rural areas and industry alike and differ merely in sophistication and scale. In Cambodia, traditional biotechnology has been in use for hundreds of year for plant and animal selection, beer, soy products and rice and palm wine production.
In the last thirty years, new, more powerful techniques have emerged to supplement the traditional techniques. Some of these new techniques -tissue culture, cell fusion, embryo transfer, recombinant DNA technology and novel bioprocessing techniques- have enabled scientists to grow whole organisms from single cells, fuse, different cell types to create hybrids with the qualities of both parent cells, impregnate animals with embryos from other valuable animals, isolate genes from one organism to insert them into another and process things such as food and waste, more efficiently. Some modern biotechnological techniques are presently being used to help conserve biological diversity and sustainable use its components, in particular, genetic resources.
But to many people genetic engineering is biotechnology. With genetic engineering techniques, a gene for a particular trait from one organism can be directly inserted into another, even if the two organisms are not from the same species. The potential power of genetic engineering has captured the imagination of many, and heightened concern over the ethics of its use, safety for humans and the environment and the socio-economic impact of its product.
Biotechnology potentially offers benefits for human welfare, but many people are concerned that greater use of the products of biotechnology is not without risks to biological diversity and human health. Such risks will have to be identified and appropriately managed or controlled before new product enters the environment (Adapted from IUCN, 1997. Guide to the Convention on Biological Diversity).
The Convention on Biological Diversity and the newly adopted protocol on Biosafety require each contracting party to take steps to regulate, manage or control the risks to biological diversity and human health posed by the use and release of living modified organisms (LMOs) likely to have adverse environmental impacts. Parties may implement a program to address the risks through a hierarchy of measures - regulation, management or other means of control (Cambodia NBSAP, 2002).
1. Lack of capacity in the field of modern biotechnology.
2. Lack of protection measures against living modified organisms.
· Develop biotechnology education while preventing environmental and health hazards associated with the use and release of living modified organisms.
· Protect indigenous Biodiversity from the introduction and use of living modified organisms.
In implementing the article 19 of the CBD Convention, the Royal Government of Cambodia, led by Ministry of Environment has formulated the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) in 2002. The NBSAP in page 53 clearly addressed the action for biotechnology and biosafety management. The NBSAP is positively signed by the government in May 2002. This is the first time for Cambodia to implement and pay a close look on biosafety and biotechnology even though its adoption of modern technology is low.
Under the NBSAP, it indicates the strategic objective for the government to take care and build the its own capacity for biosafety.
1. Develop a national strategy on Biosafety (decree adopted by Government).
Because, most of biosafety and biotechnology is related to agriculture, priority action has been given to Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to coordinate in implementing the action. It addressed that " Development and implementation of a Biosafety strategy and action plan in compliance with the international protocol on Biosafety (MAFF, MIME, MOE & MOC).
The Ministry of Environment is playing a crucial role in setting a policy for biosafety and biotechnology including developing a number of action plans, rule and regulations in relation to the biodiversity protection and conservation of natural resources such National Wetland Action Plan and National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. However, because most of genetic resource lies more within the agricultural sector than in the environmental sector, a coordinating role seems lying with Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). MIME and MOC are also involved in implementing the biosafety and biotechnology as an assisting agency.
Capacity development for biosafety and biotechnology is limited as it has happened in other sectors like the capacity to implement the NBSAP of involved line ministries in terms of individual, institutional and systemic capacity. The NBSAP Add-On (2002) is identifying the capacity needs for relevant line ministries including MOE and MAFF to implement the priority actions from NBSAP.
The capacity development will be built on individual, institutional, and systemic. The big problem lied within the institutional capacity to implement the NBSAP including the biosafety thematic area. There should be a commitment of policy change from the government side to ensure the effective implementing the NBSAP document.
Þ The main income for the provinces and municipalities comes from the government budget, from tax collection. However, only a small amount of the taxes collected are used for the provinces and municipalities and typically only small amounts go to the provinces, and as such they have difficulty in collecting money for their budgetary needs. Currently Cambodia is generally dependent on foreign financial assistance. The lack of funds from both internal and external sources prevents the ministries and other agencies from fulfilling their mandates.
Individual capacity is increasingly developed within involved ministries on the assistance from foreign donors, however, low salary cannot keep overseas trained staff to work for the ministry for a longer period. Finance is also a problem since the government gives priority to human resource development and poverty alleviation. Biosafety and biodiversity is not in that priority except from external aid. Fortunately, it is one of 17 thematic areas in the NBSAP that the government would approve in late May 2002 for implementation.
This kind of risk can be well managed unless a policy change the from line ministries toward human resource development and institutional commitment for capacity development in this field.
Capacity needs for urgent development to reduce risk for biosafety and biotechnology have to build on the individual capacity, the institution capacity and the capacity for the whole system.
Increase knowledge for involved ministries' officers to employ and avoid the risk from biotechnology. This should be addressed through regional and international cooperation human resource development or bilateral agreement. Learning-by-doing is an essential process to constantly build the capacity for officers to effectively use the biosafety in relevant sectors.
Institutional capacity should also be strengthened to reflect the capability to handle the biosafety in terms of technology transfer, ability to absorb the technology, national rules and regulations that can be enforceable. Sustainable finance is essential too to keep the institution working and ensure the effective implementation of biosafety priority action and the law enforcement.
Systemic capacity needs to be improved to avoid well trained officers quitting a job from the ministries, otherwise ministries would still need the capacity to implement the biosafety. Also, the government should make a strong commitment to make an administration reform to increase salary for government employees to ensure the keep employees work for the government, to promote transparency and accountability as an effort to elevate the capacity for its system. This would complement to build the capacity for the institution and individual as well.
Biosafety and biotechnology is a new frontier for Cambodia to address through inter-ministerial and international cooperation. However, Cambodia more or less has achieved this through its commitment in accession to a number of international conventions.
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted in June 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. Article 1 of the Convention specifies that; the objectives of the Convention, are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
On 9 February 1995, Cambodia ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Ministry of Environment views the CBD as a framework to achieve sustainable development through the sustainable use and protection of biodiversity. Currently a GEF funded Enabling Activity is working to assist Cambodia to meet the requirements of the CBD, and develop the Cambodian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which will guide the country's approach for achieving sustainable development.
Cambodia ratified this Convention on 18 December 1995. The Convention's objective is to regulate levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere so as to avoid a change in the global climate to a degree that would be harmful to economic development and that would impede food production activities. Currently a GEF funded Enabling Activity is working to assist Cambodia meet the requirements of the CCC.
In 1996 Cambodia's National Assembly approved a ministerial request to accede to this Convention, and in 1999 became a Contracting Party to the Convention. The Ramsar Convention has the aim of stemming the progressive encroachment upon, and loss of, freshwater and coastal wetlands. There are 3 proposed Ramsar sites that have been nominated in Cambodia: Boeung Chhma and the associated river system (Siem Reap/Kampong Thom); Kaoh Kapik and associated islets (Koh Kong); and the upper Mekong River to the border of Laos PDR (Stung Treng).
Cambodia signed the CITES Convention in December 1975, but did not adhere to it until 1999. CITES establishes lists of endangered species for which international trade is either prohibited or regulated through a permit system. The objective is to combat illegal trade and overexploitation.
Þ To contribute and exchange available scientific information, catch and fishing effort statistics and other data relevant to the conservation of fish stocks through competent international, regional and local organizations.
Cambodia became a signatory in January 1994. The World Heritage Convention has the objective of creating international support for the protection and maintenance of sites demonstrating outstanding cultural and natural heritage of universal value. The temples of Angkor are on the World Heritage list as a cultural site of international significance.
Cambodia ratified the MARPOL convention in November 1994. The Convention deals with various forms of marine pollution from ships and other vessels. In Cambodia's case the implementation of MARPOL is the responsibility of the Harbor Master Office of the International Port of Sihanoukville.
The purpose of the IPPC is to secure common and effective action to prevent the spread and introduction of pests of plants and plant products and to promote measures for their control. Cambodia adhered to the convention in 1952.
Cambodia has also joined various regional agreements with surrounding countries, which are of relevance to biodiversity management, use and protection. These agreements include: specific country agreements with Laos PDR, Thailand and Vietnam; ASEAN - Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources; Mekong River Commission (MRC); COBSEA - Coordinating Body of the Seas of East Asia; and PEMSEA - Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia.
Cambodia became a signatory to ASEAN in April 1999. ASEAN has called for measures to combat climate change and ozone depletion, protect ocean and marine ecosystems from pollution, protect freshwater resources, ensure sustainable management of all forests and conserve biological diversity.
The Agreement, signed on 5 April 1995, immediately established the Mekong River Commission (MRC) replacing the former Mekong Committee (1957) and the subsequent Interim Mekong Committee (1978). The MRC is an intergovernmental organization, with the mandate "to cooperate in and promote, in a constructive and mutually beneficial manner, the sustainable development, utilization, conservation and management of the Mekong River Basin water and related resources for navigational and non-navigational purposes, for social and economic development and the well-being of all riparian States, consistent with the needs to protect, preserve, enhance and manage the environmental and aquatic conditions and maintenance of the ecological balance exceptional to this river basin".
The four members agree "to cooperate in all fields of sustainable development, utilization, management and conservation of the water and related resources of the Mekong River Basin, including, but not limited to irrigation, hydro-power, navigation, flood control, fisheries, timber floating, recreation and tourism, in a manner to optimize the multiple-use and mutual benefits of all riparian countries and to minimize the harmful effects that might result from natural occurrences and man-made activities".
COBSEA was established in 1981, at the same time as the action plan for "the protection and management of the marine environment and coastal areas of the East Asian region" was adopted. The present coverage includes the marine and coastal environments of; Australia, Brunei, Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Cambodia became a member of COBSEA in 1995 but for political and economic reasons, Cambodia has not paid the Environmental Trust Fund to COBSEA since 1997.
PEMSEA, a project of the Global Environment Facility, is an initiative supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). PEMSEA was launched in April 2000 and is made up of 11 countries including; Brunei, Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. PEMSEA was organized to protect the life support systems, and enable the sustainable use and management of, coastal and marine resources through intergovernmental, interagency and intersectoral partnerships, for improved quality of life in the East Asian Seas region.
There is a range of cooperative agreements between the Governments of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, on a variety of regional issues. These agreements include; natural resource management and capacity building and typically cover cross-boundary issues as well as specific cooperation, such as between educational institutions.
§ Initiate research and studies on microbial Biodiversity.
§ Use of biotechnology to reduce the use of chemicals.
§ Use of biotechnology to control pollution and to improve environmental health and other aspects of environment.
§ Utilize biotechnology to produce protein rich products that could be used as animal feed organic fertilizers, soil conditioners and soil stabilizers.
§ Promote sound genetic manipulation to increase fish and crop production.
§ Promote the production of biogas, bio-fertilizers, and energy as a by-product of fermentation processes.
§ Establish a national directory of human resources working on subjects concerned with biotechnology and Biosafety.
§ Development of biotechnology training program.
§ Increasing university resources in biotechnology research and development.
§ Include in the educational curricula the concept of genetic diversity, its importance and application in genetic engineering and technology.
§ Develop a National Code of Ethics and Guidelines for the use of biotechnologies, LMO's and GMO's (Cambodia NBSAP, 2002).
1. National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 2002. Ministry of Environment, Cambodia. | 2019-04-21T10:37:08Z | http://biodiversityasia.org/biosafety/CouStatus_Cambodia.htm |
A lot happened since Monday morning. At 9:39 AM, Wizards released its April 4 banlist update. About five seconds after 9:39 AM, the Modern community went nuts. While some have criticized aspects of the update, the overwhelming majority of players responded on the scale of cautious optimism to frenzied ecstasy. Surprising no one who lived through the post-Modern Masters 2015 spikes, Magic markets reacted immediately. Eldrazi staples crumpled into the single-digits. Meanwhile, the unbanned cards and their engines skyrocketed like the price of a Comcast XFINITY bundle after its promotion ends. This elation will surely pass as Modern evolves around the new environment, but the April 4 update will still remain a significant moment in format history. Today, we are going to investigate why it is so important, focusing on the format policy perspective.
By the end of this week, I expect we’ll see about 10-12 banlist pieces from major content sites. We’re already on track as of Tuesday evening, with my Monday piece being joined by Reid Duke’s on Channel Fireball, followed again by Mike Sigrist’s on StarCityGames Premium from today. Add a Mana Source video and a TCGPlayer “Fact or Fiction” breakdown and we’re actually fixing to exceed our weekly target. Get used to it. This update is arguably more significant than the recent Splinter Twin ban in January, and we all know how formative that was. As I promised on Monday, today’s article is a deep-dive into the most important consequences of Eye of Ugin‘s banning and Ancestral Vision‘s and Sword of the Meek‘s release, paying special attention to banlist and format management takeaways. Although metagame implications are important too, there has been plenty of discussion on these effects and not nearly enough on the update’s impact on Modern as a format.
Wizards doesn’t have great communication surrounding Modern. It’s getting better, but it remains a historic problem. I’ve examined this in two separate “Fixing Modern” columns, one on “Defining Format Mission” and another on “Improving Communication,” and I’m certain we’ll revisit this challenge again in the future. After all, the Pro Tour and Splinter Twin fiasco are still hanging over us. That said, banlist updates are one of the rare sources of Modern information which are simultaneously accessible, accurate, and helpful. Personally, I love reading banlist announcements. And re-reading them. And re-re-reading them… When there aren’t many accessible/accurate/helpful sources of information about Modern management, you need to analyze the material you do have, not complain about what you lack.
In that spirit, the April 4 update is easily one of the best troves of Modern information out there. At almost 900 words in the Modern section alone, it’s the longest announcement to-date, and Wizards doesn’t waste a single letter conveying their decision-making process. I respect this clarity and comprehensiveness and you should too. What’s the best way to pay those respects, besides Tweets of praise to Aaron Forsythe and his team? Re-re-re-reading the update!
Back in college, I remember doing far too many “close-readings” of various texts. One of my friends accomplished this in a windowless study cubicle with 12 cans of Mountain Dew. Another never picked up the books until the hour before class and read them an inch from his face. Whether you’re a believer or a mocker of the close-read, it’s a useful tool for understanding the kind of high-level takeaways in the recent update. Let’s take one last re^4-read before we break out our Shadows Over Innistrad investigator hats and Magnifying Glasses to analyze the decision.
Eye of Ugin‘s banning was the update’s most predictable element. Aaron Forsythe had already declared Modern a DEFCON 1 in the wake of Grand Prix Detroit, and practically a Modern article hadn’t gone by without either suggesting the impending ban or assuming it. Because Eye’s eventual demise was so obvious, it’s easy to speed through the Eldrazi part of the announcement. I can’t blame you: who wants to read another word about the tentacled tyrants? That said, more than 60% of the announcement’s Modern content focuses on Eye’s execution alone. The text is packed with important takeaways about both this ban and future bans alike. We’ll need to brave the Eldrazi Winter one last time as we explore the ban-related takeaways before moving to details about unbans.
Contrary to opinions of your average Modern detractor, Wizards often uses data to inform bans. Almost every past Modern banlist update made some reference to tournament results and April 4’s was no exception. I’ve done a relatively thorough overview of previous announcements in my “Last Word on the Splinter Twin Ban” article from January, and I encourage you to read the first section for a summary of those different ban explanations. Sam Stoddard also confirmed this data-driven approach in his fantastic “Using Real-World Data” article, one of those re-re-read pieces you’ll want bookmarked in your Modern favorites. Eye’s ban rationale gives us even more information about how Wizards uses tournament results to inform banlist decisions, and we can use the April 4 text to further sharpen our understanding of this often opaque process.
Before we start parsing these quotes or describing a banning formula, it’s important to acknowledge the pitfalls in this kind of extrapolation. Wizards’ banning process is probably more flexible and nuanced than any single “rule” could describe. That or it’s totally scattershot, like many of my own middle-management meetings. Either way, we’re in uncertain waters when trying to attribute a model to this kind of process. Thankfully, this is Modern Nexus and I’m comfortable trying to identify a pattern to the best of our abilities with all available evidence. Banlist speculation is guaranteed to continue in Modern, and I’d rather it be grounded in careful analysis than Internet hyperbole and rage faces.
With that in mind, these two quotes from the April 4 update give important definition to a process we’ve seen develop in the past and seen explained in Stoddard’s “Real-World Date” article.
Key word: “winning.” Key term: “Top 8 decks at independent tournament series.” Stoddard’s words point most directly to actual Top 8 wins, not just Day 1 wins to reach Day 2, or League wins to reach the top of an MTGO queue. This focus is amply supported by the different ban updates that all made consistent and regular mention of Top 8s since Bloodbraid Elf bit the dust. Taken as a whole, this means we need to consider Top 8s as the primary decider of a ban. Unhealthy Top 8 shares, as defined by the precedent of unhealthy decks like Eldrazi, Delver, Pod, etc., is a sure sign of a pending ban.
But what about MTGO and Day 2 shares? Readers will remember I’ve cited these before, notably in my Twin banning indictment, and I can already hear Twin ban defenders and commentators heading down to the comments to have their “I told you so” moment. Let’s ignore the Twin ban in itself. For some, it’s hard to talk about without losing their minds. For others, it’s hard to read another word of the ban without wanting to stop reading. Instead, let’s look at where other ban announcements did mention factors like MTGO or non-Top 8 shares.
Going ahead, this means we need to consider Top 8s before all else in ban decisions, with MTGO, Top 16s, Day 2s, etc. as only supporting factors. Within those secondary factors, MTGO is the most decisive, with the others falling behind. It was easy to suspect such a weighting before Eye’s ban and Stoddard’s article, but the evidence against this position was at least as strong as the evidence supporting it. Now, the combination of the Twin ban, the Stoddard article, and the Eye ban much more strongly suggest a hierarchy of data when it comes to determining bans. Top 8s come first. MTGO comes second. Everything else is tertiary to that.
It’s hard to know why Wizards prefers single-card bans to multiple ones. Perhaps the length of a banlist matters. Tom LaPille’s old “Welcome to the Modern World” article suggests as much, stating “First, this list is a lot longer than it was at the Community Cup. By default, Magic players tend to want to play with more cards rather than less, and react unhappily when a card they like is banned.” Maybe Wizards doesn’t want the bad press of a silly looking banlist with Endless One. It’s possible Wizards just wants to sell Oath packs and is obscuring the issue by banning an old card rather than a newer toy.
Whatever the reason, the April 4 update confirms Wizards’ continued preference for banning as little as possible in offending decks. We saw this in the Summer Bloom ban as well, and I expect we’ll see it again, both when decks are too dominant and when they violate the turn four rule.
Leading up to the April 4 deadline, there was considerable debate over banning Eye or banning Eldrazi Temple. Everyone knew at least one of them had to go (everyone except some die-hard Eldrazi sympathizers who wanted to keep Smashing and Seering their way through tournaments), and there were decent arguments on both sides of the conversation. In explaining their choice of Eye, Wizards not only stayed in dialogue with this community-wide discussion, but also hinted at some important considerations in how they value interaction and diversity.
Here, we see two Modern elements Wizards tries to combat. The first is homogeneity. Wizards does not want decks to be “focused on a single build” if there is potential for diversity within that build. Eye of Ugin decks are heavily Eldrazi-oriented, gravitating towards Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Simian Spirit Guide to maximize explosive starts. Eldrazi Temple decks range from UW grinders to RG aggro, with even non-Eldrazifed strategies, like those Jordan described in February.
It’s important not to put too much emphasis on the notion of a turn one “huge play” as it relates to bans. Such lines are inevitable in Modern, and range from aggressive Affinity starts to hand-crunching Jund openers. That said, when the huge play is happening in a deck that is already stifling format diversity, it becomes much more problematic. These factors combined to guarantee an Eye of Ugin ban.
As a whole, this is an important lesson for future banlist speculation. When Wizards bans cards from problematic decks, they will ban to encourage the most diverse builds, while also maximizing deck interactivity. We saw this at play in the Twin ban. A Splinter Twin ban leaves various flavors of URx decks intact, even if those decks needed some extra help in the form of Ancestral Vision. A Snapcaster Mage or Deceiver Exarch ban might de-power the deck, but it doesn’t do a thing for net format diversity within Twin or URx decks. As for interactivity, Wizards is going to aim at cards that reduce interaction in a matchup, especially surrounding explosive starts. For instance, if (a big if) Affinity ever needed a ban, that would put something like Mox Opal right in the crosshairs.
The final banning takeaway to focus on today involves innocent Modern bystanders. One of the most common objections to a given ban is the notion that it might hurt a guiltless deck. For example, poor Shamans players losing Deathrite when the one-mana planeswalker took the fall for BGx Midrange’s sins. Or, to cite more recent arguments, Ad Nauseam pilots defending Simian Spirit Guide when most the hate for the Ape stems from Goryo’s Vengeance combo decks and turn one Chalice of the Void. With Eye of Ugin‘s much-deserved departure from Modern, we must also reconsider these defenses.
This quote introduces an important dimensions that Wizards may weigh when inadvertently harming one deck with a ban targeted at another: the concept of a deck remaining “intact.” The excerpt suggests Wizards accepts some degree of collateral damage if the damaged decks preserves its “core gameplay.” In Tron’s case, although Eye provided inevitability and a late-game solution to flooding, its banning doesn’t really affect the primary plan of assembling Urzatron into turn three Karn Liberated or turn four Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Note that WIzards never talks about the viability or competitiveness of the deck. They merely discuss its “core gameplay,” which I read as more of a central deck identity and not its tiering.
We can readily apply this to other future scenarios. For example, an Affinity-centered Mox Opal ban would certainly injure Lantern Control, but because Lantern’s core prison strategy would stay together, we couldn’t rule out Opal entirely. A Grishoalbrand-related Simian Spirit Guide ban could also fall in this category, despite Ad Nauseam being in the line of fire. After all, the main synergies of Ad Nauseam, Angel’s Grace, Lightning Storm, and Phyrexian Unlife would still be present. As Wizards might assert, Ad Nauseam pilots would just need to wait a turn to execute their combo, using something like Infernal Plunge and a lone Memnite instead of the free Guides. I’m not personally making this evaluation, but the Eye and Tron case suggests it could happen in an update to come. It already happened to the poor Kiki Pod pilots, whose decks were not involved in the Siege Rhino-powered Pod dominance of 2014, so don’t be surprised to see it again.
One banlist update, one card banned, and at least four major takeaways for future banlist policy. Talk about improving communication! Although Wizards has not confirmed any of our observations to be ban process rules, we’ve seen them all in action in the April 4 update, Modern policy articles, and previous banlist announcements. To review, here are the four high-level implications of Eye of Ugin‘s ban.
When using real-world data to inform bans, Wizards prioritizes major event Top 8s first, MTGO prevalence second, and other measures of metagame diversity third.
Wizards prefers to ban the fewest cards that have the highest impact in a problematic deck.
Bans should maximize diversity across the format, diversity within certain strategies, and Modern-wide interaction.
Collateral damage is acceptable in bans, so long as the “core gameplay” of affected decks remains largely intact.
As 2016 unfolds and we undoubtedly see more Modern bans, I’ll be checking to see if these takeaways are predictive of future banning decisions, or just descriptive of ones we’ve seen in the past. Time will tell, and hopefully we don’t encounter another Eldrazi to do the telling. If nothing else, this limited model of Wizards’ banlist policy gives us a nuanced and critical foundation for future ban discussion, one I’ll certainly return to as we approach later banlist announcments.
Of course, Eye of Ugin‘s banning was only one part of the three-part Modern update. For many, it probably wasn’t even the most exciting change. The dual Ancestral Vision and Sword of the Meek unban was unprecedented and thrilling on many levels, and I want to wrap up today’s article with a rapid-fire rundown of all the consequences for subsequent unbans. If you think we’ve spent too much time on bans, welcome to my Modern world! Ban suggestions are far more common than unban ones, both because they are reactions to real events and experiences, and because Modern has had far more bans than unbans. Even the update itself spent more words on the one ban than the two unbans. We’re shifting gears now to the boundless possibilities of Modern unbannings, and the series of critical takeaways we’ll need to remember as we vouch for more pardons down the road.
Up until April 4, every single Modern unban happened on the eve of a Pro Tour. This led many players to allege Wizards would only unban cards before a Pro Tour, whether to spice up a stale format, generate format excitement around an event, make sure the banlist changes got lots of press, or any number of other reasons. All of that is out the window as of April 4. With no Pro Tour on the horizon and two major unbans in circulation, we can no longer accuse Wizards of chaining unbans to the Modern Pro Tour. Of course, this doesn’t mean Wizards lacks secondary motives, whether “apologizing” for the warped Eldrazi Winter with a double unban, pushing a post-Twin URx agenda, presaging the end of a Modern Pro Tour next year, or something else. It’s all speculation for now, but the end of pre-Pro Tour unbans is as real as the four Ancestral Visions finally free of my tradebinder.
Between Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Bitterblossom, Wild Nacatl, Golgari Grave-Troll, and now Vision and Sword, Wizards has never unbanned a card that readily slotted into a top-tier deck. Wizards cites this not once but twice in the April 4 update, first with Vision (“To allow for an increase in the number of blue-based control or attrition decks, we are unbanning Ancestral Vision“) and then again with Sword (“To allow for an increase in the number of controlling combo decks in the format, we are unbanning Sword of the Meek“). Barring a major format or ban policy shift, we should not expect that to change in future updates. That is good news for something like Jace, the Mind Sculptor if blue-based decks remain bad, but bodes poorly for the artifact lands.
As a corollary to the above point, Wizards also has a pulse on what archetypes are played in Modern, not just individual strategies. As they said in the April 4 update, “Currently, the format tends to favor aggressive decks and quick-kill combo decks. We looked for cards that tend to work best in slower decks.” Keep this in mind as you predict unbans in future metagames. If aggro and combo are running rampant, that’s not the time to support a #FreeDread Return campaign. If aggro decks are barely surviving a tide of Thopters, Stoneforge Mystic is probably staying where she is.
Forsythe and others have gone on record numerous times stating they don’t explicitly test for Modern, but it was always less clear how often they test for the banlist update. The April 4 announcement suggests the answer is “not much” or “not at all.” In introducing the two unbans, Wizards explains “While there is some risk that these cards will cause further problems, we think that risk is small. Sometimes unbanning these cards doesn’t create any change in the competitive metagame.” I might be reading too much into this, but that’s not the confidence of someone who has tested hundreds of games with dozens of decks. To me, that suggests a simple cost-benefit, risk-reward analysis done by R&D members in a boardroom. I’m sure these conversations are deep and rich with historic and contemporary examples, but I doubt they involve much hard testing. As a content producer, this makes articles like my Stoneforge vs. Affinity series feel more valuable: Wizards might not be doing the testing at all so we need to pick up the slack.
We’ll wrap up our takeaways list by zeroing in on Jund’s leading lady, an iconic Elf who is getting kicked down the creek by Wizards. Although Bloodbraid absolutely does not meet a number of our unbanning criteria above (Jund isn’t remotely “underplayed”), she’s also getting badly misrepresented in the April 4 article: “With the current banned list, including Bloodbraid Elf, the types of cascade cards usually played with Ancestral Vision are not available.” This should be an alarming quote for Bloodbraid hopefuls, because it suggests there is an added impediment to her freedom: cascade combos with Vision. I’m sure this arises from the Shardless Agent example in Legacy (Bloodbraid and Vision were seldom used together), but Shardless decks are an entirely different beast. The curve is different, the format is different, and even the supporting cast is different: Brainstorming to top a Vision before a Shardless is an awesome line, but one totally unavailable in Modern. If we ever want to see Bloodbraid free, we will not only need to address the criteria above, but we’ll also need to show that a Temur Bloodbraid/Vision shell doesn’t bust the format. I’m optimistic it won’t, but that’s a topic for another day.
For me, the most exciting implication is unban timing. It is now possible, although perhaps not likely, for us to get unbans at any time in the year. Maybe we need a Pro Tour to do it. Maybe we need a format-crushing Tier 0 monster to do it. Maybe we need a post-Twin URx agenda to do it. Whatever the reason, however, Wizards has now shown a willingness to actually give us those unbans, and not even token ones like sad Grave-Troll. I welcome this policy shift and hope it is a sign of better Modern days to come.
Between banning and unbanning consequences, we’ve digested all the format policy implications we can stomach for one day. Hopefully you all found it a worthwhile and helpful endeavor. I can sense the ban maniacs sharpening their daggers and grinding their axes in the wings, and the framework we’ve presented today will help placate them. I also hope this kind of analysis encourages the detailed, even-handed, and comprehensive analysis I’d expect from any of our Modern Nexus community. Even if you disagree with specific conclusions, I’ll just be happy if I got readers to re-re-read the article, and then re-re-read it again.
Thanks for joining us on this dissection of the April 4 update, and I’ll see you all in the comments with your reactions, feedback, analyses, and celebration about the changes. Until then, get those brewing caps on because it’s going to be a wild and Visionary Modern spring!
I, for one, believe that wizard’s approach to keep a small banlist to be a good one.
One should focus on the source of the problem instead of their consequences.
Thought knot seer and reality smasher are (probably) fine for modern but not on turn 2 and 3.
Keeping unfair and non interactive things in check should be a priority.
One of the few things that should be kept on a very tight leash is fast mana.
That is, hands down, THE most powerful and game breaking thing you can do on magic.
It is the sole reason the moxen, a “strictly worse basic land” artifact ( when it’s already in the field), is a P9 instead of a bulk rare.
For these reasons I think Mox Opal is long overdue in the format.
Just a matter of time before Mox Opal and Simian Spirit Guide get their seats in the penalty box. With more control tools and these silly cards out of the format, modern would slow down a lot which would mean you no longer have to kill someone on turn four to play the game and people could build their silly Brimaz and Soulfire Grand Master decks and have a fighting chance.
Even if they do (and I doubt it), there will be other jank-smashers in the format (Burn and Jund first and foremost) ready to keep them from ever seeing serious play. And that’s a good thing, within reason: this is primarily meant to be a competitive format, not a casual one. You want there to be some standard of play and the development of a healthy metagame (which necessitates having established decks), while at the same time allowing multiple paths to victory. | 2019-04-20T22:43:28Z | http://modernnexus.com/investigating-april-4-banlist-update-consequences/ |
In my career I have found that the ability to work well with others, show empathy towards their needs, and being trustworthy have done more to help me be successful than being overly reliant on tools such as pert charts, resource loaded histograms, and quantitative risk analysis documents.
When managing any size project the project manager needs to focus on what is most important to that project's success. Only you, your sponsor, and stakeholders can answer the question of what is most important. Is the most important thing getting the project done on time, coming in at or under budget, delivering at a high level of quality, or having a big WOW factor? (See Tom Peter's – “The Project 50” book for more on the WOW factor). You must decide what the Project “Driver” is before you begin your planning.
Remember, don't get caught in the trap of believing that if you meet your Time, Cost, and Scope objectives your project is a success. If your users and/or sponsor aren't satisfied with the project's results YOUR PROJECT IS A FAILURE! Every project needs a project sponsor, charter, a budget, a realistic agreed upon schedule, competent resources, a list of valid assumptions, a list of the project’s constraints, dependencies, and people assigned to your team that are dedicated and personally committed to seeing the project succeed. However, you as the project manager must have the trust of all stakeholders and demonstrate that your are committed to doing your best and delivering on your promises.
Without the trust of your peers, management, and customers your project management career is doomed to failure.
Albert Einstein said "A clever person solves a problem; a wise person avoids it". After reading this quote, it reminded me that project managers spend a lot of time (or should be) avoiding problems. One thing that can help project managers to avoid problems is following a defined process, or more specifically, a Project Management Methodology (PMM). At its core a PMM is a set of agreed-upon processes that assists project managers to deliver predictable project outcomes.
To create a PMM you need to define all project management processes, procedures and policies used to deliver your organization's projects. Also, don't forget to develop or obtain a set of project templates as they are an important part of any PMM. Finally, you must develop a training program to introduce and educate your organization about the new PMM.
KEY POINT - When developing a PMM ensure you include input from your lead project managers and any other personnel that have a stake in your project management outcomes.
Once your PMM is implemented ensure you measure the results and make adjustments where necessary. If you need help in developing your PMM there are many products that can assist you and your organization to develop a custom PMM that works for you.
Two of my favorite vendors that specialize in this are are TenStep and Method123. I am affiliated with TenStep and Method123, and I own, use, and endorse their products.
One of the things that hurt project teams most is the lack of an enterprise (executive) focus and oversight regarding the management of projects. It takes discipline to manage projects, and enterprise project discipline is lacking when executives are disinterested and/or disengaged from the project process. Great organizations (not project managers) manage projects well, and in doing so they have employees with higher morale, they get better project results, and implement projects faster with higher quality.
Is your organization disciplined? There have been many studies that show a lack of executive support for projects is a key contributor to project failure. You can meet all your project objectives and still have failed if your project does not support a business need.
Regarding discipline, George Washington said, "Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all".
You cannot have effective organizational project management processes without discipline. Discipline begins at the top of the organization and works its way to the bottom. Organizations that have weak organizational discipline have weak leadership.
As I have stated previously, undisciplined organizations have high turnover, low employee morale, and poor project results. These organizations cheat their investors, employees, and customers by not providing the highest level of service possible. Highly disciplined organizations make and keep commitments, manage to clearly articulated and measurable goals, and have executives that are engaged and visibly participate in the oversight of projects.
BOLD TRUTH - If you are not visible, your are not relevant. If you are not relevant, you are not needed.
In closing, dysfunctional organizations believe that the workers are solely responsible for managing projects and other day-to-day work. These organizations believe that the executives should spend the majority of their time strategizing and making policy. This is a failed approach (see General Motors, Ford, K-Mart, etc), and ensures the work, including projects, will take longer than planned and cost more than what was budgeted.
Executive leadership and oversight of projects has been proven to motivate project teams to be accountable, results driven, and focused on achieving a common goal.
Ralph Nader once said, "I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers". In the IT world is is hard to produce leaders and it is doubly hard to produce and keep followers.
On his blog, Alexander Kjerulf talks about How Not to Lead Geeks and mentions that "the main reason IT people are unhappy at work is bad relations with management". He goes on to say that "the fact is that IT people hate bad management and have even less tolerance for it than most other kinds of employees".
Wow, I couldn't agree more. It is suprising that this flawed geek leadership strategy is still very prevelant today in our organizations. I see the mistakes listed below happen every day. I can only wonder how much more productive "geeks" would be if these mistakes weren't continuously repeated on a regular basis.
I had a boss once who said that “training is a waste of money, just teach yourself”. That company tanked 2 years later. Training matters, especially in IT, and managers must realize that and budget for it. Sometimes you get the argument that “if I give them training a competitor will hire them away.” That may be true, but the alternative is to only have employees who are too unskilled to work anywhere else.
Since managers may not understand the work geeks do very well, it’s hard for them to recognize and reward a job well done, which hurts motivation. The solution is to work together to define a set of goals that both parties agree on. When these goals are met the geeks are doing a great job.
“Let’s wring the most work out of our geeks, they don’t have lives anyway,” seems to the approach of some managers. That’s a huge mistake and overworked geeks burn out or simply quit. In one famous case, a young IT-worker had a stress-induced stroke on the job, was hospitalized, returned to work soon after and promptly had another stroke. This post further examines the myth that long work hours are good for business.
Geeks hate management-speak and see it as superficial and dishonest. Managers shouldn’t learn to speak tech, but they should drop the biz-buzzwords. A manager can say “We need to proactively impact our time-to-market” or simply use english and stick to “We gotta be on time with this project”.
When managers don’t know anything about a technical question, they should simply admit it. Geeks respect them for that, but not for pretending to know. And they will catch it - geeks are smart.
Geeks have an ingrained sense of fairness, probably related to the fact that in IT, structure and consistency is critical. The documentation can’t say one thing while the code does something else, and similarly, managers can’t say one thing and then do something else.
Because managers and geeks are different types of people, managers may end up leaving the geeks alone. This makes leading them difficult, and geeks need good leadership the same as all other personnel groups.
Geeks usually know the technical side of the business better than the manager, so making a technical decision without consulting them is the biggest mistake a leader can make.
A fast computer may cost more money than an older one and it may not be corporate standard, but geeks use computers differently. A slow computer lowers productivity and is a daily annoyance. So is outdated software. Give them the tools they need.
Programming is a creative process, not an industrial one. Geeks must constantly come up with solutions to new problems and rarely ever solve the same problem twice. Therefore they need leeway and flexibility. S trict dress codes and too much red tape kill all inovation. They also need creative surroundings to avoid “death by cubicle”.
Happy geeks are productive geeks, and the most important factor is good management, tailored to their situation.
I just returned from the PMI Global Congress and I believe it was the best one I have attended (this was my eighth conference). During the Global Congress I attended several different awesome presentations covering a wide array of topics. Each presentation offered valuable information to help me do my job better.
I highly recommend you attend one of PMI's Global Congresses (next year's congress is in Denver, CO). Attending the PMI Congress is a great way for a project manager to earn PDUs (professional development units), which are required to maintain your PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) designation with PMI.
I have been a big supporter of the TenStep family of products and I rely on several of their methodologies to do my job. As usual, Tom Mochal and company from TenStep were at the Congress talking about their new products and training services. Check out Tenstep's website and look over their latest methodology called ProcessStep. Another great project management methodology vendor is Method123. I use and own some of their products and they make great tools and templates.
Practice Standard for Project Configuration Management – This standard defines processes and tools to help develop a project configuration management system.
Practice Standard for Earned Value Management – This standard helps the project manager objectively identify where a project is and where it is going. EVM methods cover project scope, schedule, and costs.
Practice Standard for Scheduling – A guide to help the project manager build effective schedules, and additionally help to provide quantifiable processes to determine the maturity of a schedule.
There were many vendors at the show and I heard there may have been over 4000 attendees. PMI membership is growing fast and interest in the project management profession is at an all time high. If you have not yet earned your PMP certification now may be the best time to seriously consider earning this valuable credential.
The PMI Global Congress is a great place to network with other project managers. I met some great people at this year's conference and plan on keeping in touch with all of them. Your best project management learning experiences will usually come from talking with and listening to other project managers.
I'm going to Atlanta, GA at the end of the week to attend the annual PMI (Project Management Institute) North American Global Congress. I always look forward to attending this event and this year is no different. If you are a PMP (Project Management Professional) it is a good place to earn some of your required PDUs (Professional Development Units) to maintain your PMP certification with PMI. Besides earning PDUs, it is a great forum to learn about the state of project management and current "best" practices in the project management industry.
By the way, if you are attending this year's Global Congress drop me an e-mail and maybe we can meet for a beer. You can reach me at sfseay(at)yahoo.com or sseay(at)scgov.net.
Finally, this week brings a new look for the ProjectSteps blog. Do you like it, hate it? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Have a good week and don't forget to have fun!
Politics and projects go hand in hand. Team conflict, competing agendas, stakeholder dysfunction, resource constraints, and a myriad of other challenges exist and will send your project careening out of control if not managed properly.
Do everything you can to educate those around you about Project Management. Stress the benefits and overcome the objections by pointing to your successes.
Master the art of influence.
Understand that masterful politicians are sometimes helpful to you and your project, but can also be detriment to your project's success.
An effective executive sponsor can help minimize political time wasting events that slow project progress and increase project budgets.
Recognize that conflict on your project is inevitable and necessary. How you respond to conflict will determine how successful you are.
Mastering the art of negotiation is a critical skill for project managers.
Negotiate up front how much power you will have as project manager, how and where it can be used, and when it applies to securing needed resources for your project.
Realize that for the most part internal politics wastes time and is usually not something that people enjoy.
Team commitment and loyalty will help to minimize project politics.
Don't fight a political system you don't understand and can't influence. Leave that to the experts. (Hint: get these experts to support your project if possible).
A good communications plan will help to lessen the politics on your project.
Every project usually has at least one "politician" in the organization that is out to either sabotage it, or will try to ensure that it isn't fully implemented.
Recognize that change (which is what projects are all about) scares some people and your project's deliverables can lead to a loss of power or influence for certain individuals or departments. Anticipate this and have a plan to deal with the behaviors that will surface.
Successful project managers need to learn to "swim with the sharks" and not get bitten. They need to be determined, focused, and act professionally and ethically. Project managers must know how to relate to people and manage relationships by being effective leaders and by applying the right balance of negotiating skills, motivational techniques, team building, and optimized communications.
Project teams are dynamic and interpersonal relationships amongst team members are always in a state of flux. Some teams are high performing and function at a high level over a long period of time. Other teams can't seem to come together and function at all.
These are obvious, but you can never get enough good advice, right?
Does your organization have a PMO? How is it going? If you are just starting a PMO review the checklist below and see if it makes sense for your group.
The Project Manager will make or break a project. Be sure the individual has the expertise to manage the project and they work well with others. Do not hesitate to look at outside sources if there is no one on staff that qualifies.
A preliminary work plan with major milestones should have been completed while developing the Requirements Document or Statement of Work. Now is the time to work with the project manager in identifying the tasks involved for each milestone. The work plan should list the tasks for each milestone with the estimated hours, start and stop dates, costs and responsible parties. Sample work plans and templates are available through the PMO upon request.
Establish a method by which, all issues pertaining to the project are recorded and can be reviewed regularly and tracked by the project team. All issues should eventually have a documented resolution.
Regularly scheduled project review meetings should be incorporated into the work plan. These meetings are to review the current progress of the project including the percentage of completeness of work plan tasks.
Periodic participant update meetings should be incorporated into the work plan. These meetings are to present the current progress of the project to upper management and major participants in the user community.
I didn't create the above checklist and don't know the original author.
I have posted before about Tom Peters before, and he is someone I really admire. In reviewing some of his materials I came across the "Dozen Business Truths" below. Mr. Peters isn't about doing things the way that have always been done. I like his approach to business and it fits right in with cutting edge project management practices.
4. Utter Disbelief at the BS that Marks "Normal Industry Behavior"
5. A Maniacal Bias for Execution and Utter Contempt for Those Who Don't "Get It"
10. "Reward Excellent Failures. Punish Mediocre Successes"
Project managers need to ensure that customer's are satisfied with a project's deliverables. Part of this process is ensuring that the customer's business processes are optimized. You can't provide the best possible project results if your customer's processes aren't efficient. Improving processes is about improving quality while reducing costs and waste.
Processes need measures. If you don't have measures then your processes aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Processes have to meet the needs of the organization, business unit that executes them, and the customer's requirements. Measures also help to identify and solve process problems, and help to ensure they are meeting the customer's requirements.
In order to help develop good business processes, a project manager must have the knowledge, skills, and experience to ensure that the right people are doing the right things at the right time, using the right tools and delivering the results that are expected.
As mentioned last week, a few years ago Frank Saladis and Al Zeitoun compiled a list of Project Management Professional Responsibility Questions. These questions are an example of what might appear on the the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. I posted the first fifteen questions last week, and the remainder are listed below.
Here is the second set of questions. Comments are welcome.
Wait for the team members to fail in an assignment to justify termination.
Obtain additional funding from the project sponsor and develop a project specific communications infrastructure.
Ask the employee to refuse the promotion until your project is completed.
Tell the employee that it is his responsibility to find a suitable replacement so that the project will not suffer.
Refer the stakeholder to the process for change documented in the approved contract.
Agree to the change because customer satisfaction is the goal regardless of cost.
Determine the risks and rewards for implementing the change before taking any action.
Some years ago Frank Saladis and Al Zeitoun compiled a list of Project Management Professional Responsibility Questions. These questions are an example of what might appear on the the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to post them here. How many did you get right? Post your answer on the comments section for this blog posting.
There are 29 questions total and the first 15 are published here. The answers to the questions appear at the end of this posting, and the remaining questions will be posted in the next few days.
a) Refrain from accepting the offer and advise the customer to submit a request to the change control board.
c) Obtain additional information about the request and the customer's personal need before accepting the offer.
d) Delay acceptance of the offer until you can ensure that you can protect yourself from any legal liabilities.
b) Request the supporting details for the estimate to ensure it has been properly prepared.
c) Accept the estimate and plan to use the additional funding as a reserve.
d) Question each functional manager for information about this estimate.
a) Provide the customer with a copy of your company code of conduct and refuse the gifts.
c) Contact your project sponsor and /or your legal or public relations group for assistance.
d) Ask the project sponsor or project executive to exchange gifts.
a) Accept the information and agree to keep it confidential between you and the new hire.
b) Review the condition of employment with the new hire and advise her to reconsider the offer.
c) Review the information and only accept only what may have a direct impact on the project's financial status.
d) Your personality conflicts with that of a key member of your project team.
a) Attempting to understand the religious and cultural sensitivities of the country in which you have been assigned.
b) Ensuring that personal interest does not interfere with your decision making process.
d) Maintaining confidentiality of sensitive information obtained during the project life cycle.
13. Which of the following situations describes a violation of the PMP® Professional Code of Conduct?
a) Accepting a gift that is within the customary guidelines of the country or province you are currently working in.
b) Use of confidential information to advance your position or influence a critical decision.
d) Disclosing information to a customer about a situation that may have an appearance of impropriety.
Why are there so few good leaders in organizations today? While I can't answer that question, I am always willing to chime in with things I have learned and believe.
need to have a vision that is different, but still able to be accepted by the masses.
Bad Leaders are hurting our organizations, our governmental institutions, our local schools, churches, and neighborhoods. Bad leaders ruin opportunities for our kids, run organizations into the ground, and are culture killers.
Do your part to eliminate the "cancerous" effect caused by Bad Leaders. Be a "good" leader by exhibiting the necessary leadership principles and ideals that inspire and motivate others. Don't be just another talking head. Be visible, don't gossip, be respectful of others, build consensus, and most of all be honest in all of your dealings.
It takes courage for your organization's senior management to step up and support the concept of a professional Project Management Office (PMO). While forming a PMO shouldn't be taken lightly, the benefits are clearly documented.
According to Gartner Industry Research, "building a Project Management Office (PMO) is a timely competitive tactic". They believe that "organizations, who establish standards for project management, including a PMO with suitable governance, will experience half the major project cost overruns, delays, and cancellations of those that fail to do so". Gartner goes on to say that three basic types of PMOs have emerged.
Per Gartner, "at each end of the PMO spectrum are offices that on the one hand range from a repository, which collects and disseminates project management best practices and methodologies, to an internal consultancy model or enterprise project office, which directly provides project managers to run individual projects". "Between these two ends of the spectrum are variants of a coaching model". "These types of project offices provide expertise and oversight for the business (sometimes providing the Project Managers), in addition to advising on project setup, reporting (for example, via dashboard’ reports), and facilitating post-project reviews and metrics collection".
What Value can a PMO Offer?
Establish and deploy a common set of project management process and templates. These reusable components save time by allowing projects to start-up more quickly and with less effort.
The PMO builds and maintains the PM methodology and updates it to account for improvements and newly discovered best practices.
The PMO facilitates improved project team communication by having common processes, deliverables, and terminology.
The PMO sets up and supports a common repository so that prior project management deliverables can be candidates for reuse by similar projects. This helps to save start-up time.
The PMO is responsible for PM training. This training helps to build core PM competencies and a common set of experiences. This PMO training helps to reduce overall training costs paid to outside vendors.
The PMO coaches project managers to help keep projects from getting into trouble. At risk projects can be assisted by the PMO to mitigate further issues and risks.
The PMO serves as a tracking mechanism for basic project status information and provides a common project visibility report to management.
The PMO tracks organization-wide metrics on the state of project management, projects delivery, and the value being provided to the business by project management in general, and the PMO specifically.
The PMO is the overall PM advocate to the organization. This could include educating and selling management on the value of using consistent PM processes, or as a liaison to other business centers to provide project management training and support.
I found this document on line and found it very inspiring. I think it is an important message for Project managers since they must constanly get their project teams to agree to a shared vision and be willing to be flexible as conditions change.
Climbing the world's highest mountain under normal circumstances requires months, sometimes years, of preparation. In May 1996, Breashears and his team faced a special challenge: making an IMAX film about their journey. Carrying and maintaining hundreds of pounds of filming equipment meant that planning was even more meticulous than usual. "We went to that mountain with a great plan, an elegant plan," said Breashears. For one, it was flexible. "A good plan makes you nimble, not stuck. Ours gave us options ... wiggle room." By rehearsing extensive "what if" scenarios long before they got to the mountain, the team was ready for the unexpected. So when a freak storm hit the day they were to approach the summit, Breashears' team turned back while other teams kept climbing. With the summit just within reach, the temptation to go on was enormous, Breashears recalled, especially since the team had already spent weeks on the mountain, passing through all four base camps and acclimatizing their lungs to the thin air. Yet, as Breashears noted, "We had to climb on the mountain's schedule, not ours," an acknowledgment that probably saved his life.
As Breashears' team went back down, they passed several other teams on their way up. By nightfall, eight people had perished, including Rob Hall, a world-renowned climber and friend of Breashears. Hall was leading a group of individuals who had paid him a substantial fee to lead them to the top. Jon Krakauer, a writer and outdoorsman who was on Hall's team, would eventually write the best-selling book Into Thin Air, chronicling in heartbreaking detail what had gone wrong.
Among the tragedies of that day was one event that many later described as a miracle. The storm that had hit as Hall's ill-fated team made its ascent caused many of the climbers to become separated. One small group was in desperate trouble: They had lost their way in the blinding snow and had run out of oxygen. In an attempt to save their own lives, they made the difficult decision to leave behind one of their team members, Beck Weathers, a doctor from Texas. By all accounts, Weathers was already close to death. He had no pulse and appeared to be frozen in the ground.
The next morning, however, as Breashears and his team helped with the rescue efforts for those teams still on the mountain, word came on the walkie-talkie that "the dead guy is alive." Weathers had spent the night in sub-zero temperatures fully exposed to the elements. The next morning, as the sun hit the mountain, he awoke from a hypothermic coma and, despite snow blindness and severe frostbite on his hands and feet, managed to stumble into camp. He was eventually flown off the mountain in a helicopter rescue that had its own share of danger and drama.
Having reached the summit of Mt. Everest five times, Breashears knows what he wants in a team. Surprisingly, he's not necessarily looking for the best climbers. "I look for talented people who believe in their craft, not those who are looking for praise," he said. "The most important quality is selflessness. I knew that no matter what, no one would leave me behind," he joked.
Sharing a common goal and vision is critical, and no one's ego can take precedence. "People who say 'me first' can be dangerous on Everest." Indeed, in Breashears' experience, the teams that operate best have a higher objective than themselves. Humility makes a great leader. "The kind of leader I want wakes up and asks, 'What did I do wrong yesterday, and how can I fix it today?' Your team doesn't need to like you, but they have to trust and respect you," he said. "A leader who puts his interests first is a highly demoralizing force." | 2019-04-25T01:45:37Z | http://www.projectsteps.com/2007/ |
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IMPACT OF ELECTRICITY DEREGULATION IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA (2017). Energy Policy, Volume 103, Pages 105-115 (Ghazal Razeghi, Brendan Shaffer, Scott Samuelsen).
DIRECT EMISSIONS OF NITROUS OXIDE FROM COMBUSTION OF GASEOUS FUELS (2017). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol 42, pp 7111-719. (A. Colorado, V. McDonell, and S. Samuelsen).
EXPLORING COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR PREDICTING POLLUTANT EMSSIONS AND STABILITY PERFORMANCE OF PREMIXED REACTIONS STABILIZED BY A LOW SWIRL INJECTOR (2017). Combustion Science and Technology, Vol 189, No 12, pp 2115-2134 (A. Colorado and V.G. McDonell).
BOUNDARY LAYER FLASHBACK OF NON-SWIRLING PREMIXED FLAMES: MECHANISMS, FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH, AND RECENT ADVANCES (2017). Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Vol 61, pp 249-292 (A. Kalantari and V.G. McDonell).
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EMISSIONS AND STABLITY PERFORMANCE OF A LOW-SWIRL BURNER OPERATED ON SIMULATED BIOGAS FUELS IN A BOILER ENVIRONMENT (2017). Applied Thermal Engineering, (A. Colorado and V.G. McDonell).
DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF AN IN-RACK PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL BATTERY SYSTEM TO POWER SERVERS (2017). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 42, Issue 15, pp. 10158-10174 (Zhao, Li, Brouwer, Jacob, James, Sean, Siegler, John, and Liu, Jie).
DYNAMIC MODEL OF A MICRO-TUBULAR SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL STACK INCLUDING AN INTEGRATED COOLING SYSTEM (2017). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 342, pp. 504-514 (Hering, Martin, Brouwer, Jacob, Winkler, Wolfgang).
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STALL/SURGE DYNAMICS OF A MULTI-STAGE AIR COMPRESSOR IN RESPONSE TO A LOAD TRANSIENT OF A HYBRID SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL-GAS TURBINE SYSTEM (2017). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 365, pp. 408-418 (Azizi, M. Ali, and Brouwer, Jacob).
SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL SHORT STACK PERFORMANCE TESTING - PART A: EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS AND Μ-COMBINED HEAT AND POWER UNIT COMPARISON (2017). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 371, pp. 225–237 (Mastropasqua, L., Campanari, S., and Brouwer, J.).
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ASSESSING THE STATIONARY ENERGY STORAGE EQUIVALENCY OF VEHICLE-TO-GRID CHARGING BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES (2016). Energy, Vol. 106, pp. 673-690 (Tarroja B., Zhang, L., Wifvat, T., Shaffer, B., Samuelsen, S.).
CHARGING A RENEWABLE FUTURE: THE IMPACT OF EV CHARGING INTELLIGENCE ON ENERGY STORAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARDS (2016). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 336, pp.63-74 (Forrest, K., Tarroja B., Zhang, L., Shaffer, B., Samuelsen, S.).
A COMPARISON OF FUEL CELL AND ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES' POTENTIAL TO REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS AND MEET RENEWABLE GENERATION GOALS (2016). ECS Transactions, Vol. 71, No. 1, pp.193-203 (Forrest, K., Shaffer, B., Tarroja, B., Samuelsen, S.).
ASSESSMENT OF A RICH-BURN, QUICK-MIX, LEAN-BURN-BASED SUPPLEMENTAL BURNER SYSTEM IN A VITIATED AIR-STREAM (2016). Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 188, Issue 3, pp. 397-415 (Elliot Sullivan-Lewis, Richard Hack, and Vince McDonell).
DYNAMIC MODELING AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF A HIGH TEMPERATURE PEM FUEL CELL STACK (2016). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 41, Issue 8, pp. 4729-4739 (Gia Nguyen, Simon Sahlin, Søren Juhl Andreasen, Brendan Shaffer, and Jack Brouwer).
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FUEL CELL INSTALLATIONS AT COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS INCLUDING REGIONAL PRICING AND COMPLEMENTARY TECHNOLOGIES (2016). Energy and Buildings, Vol. 113, pp. 112-122 (Dustin McLarty, Jack Brouwer, and Chris Ainscough).
ELECTRICITY COSTS FOR AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE FUELING STATION WITH LEVEL 3 CHARGING (2016). Applied Energy, Vol. 169, pp. 813-830 (Robert J. Flores, Brendan P. Shaffer, and Jack Brouwer).
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QUANTIFYING CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON HYDROPOWER GENERATION AND IMPLICATIONS ON ELECTRIC GRID GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND OPERATION (2016). Energy, Vol. 111, pp. 295-305 (Brian Tarroja, Amir AghaKouchak, and Scott Samuelsen).
NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF ADDING WATER ELECTROLYSIS PRODUCTS ON THE LAMINAR BURNING VELOCITY AND STABILITY OF LEAN PREMIXED METHANE/AIR FLAMES AT SUB-ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURES (2016). Fuel, Vol. 180, pp. 565-573 (Camilo Echeverri-Uribe, Andrés A. Amell, Lina M. Rubio-Gaviria, Andrés Colorado, and Vince McDonell).
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DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPEN ACCESS TOOL FOR DESIGN, SIMULATED DISPATCH, AND ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES (2015). Energy and Buildings, Vol. 105, pp. 314-325 (Dustin McLarty, Jack Brouwer, and Chris Ainscough).
THE OPTIMIZATION OF DC FAST CHARGING DEPLOYMENT IN CALIFORNIA (2015). Applied Energy, Vol. 157, pp. 111-122 (Li Zhang, Brendan Shaffer, Tim Brown, and Scott Samuelsen).
DYNAMIC OPERATION AND FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A SELF-SUSTAINABLE HYDROGEN FUELING STATION USING RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (2015). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 10, pp. 3822-3837 (Li Zhao and Jack Brouwer).
SYSTEMATIC SELECTION AND SITING OF VEHICLE FUELING INFRASTRUCTURE TO SYNERGISTICALLY MEET FUTURE DEMANDS FOR ALTERNATIVE FUELS (2015). Journal of Energy Resources Technology, Vol. 137, pp. 062201-1 To 062201-9 (Peter Willette, Brendan Shaffer, and Scott Samuelsen).
INFLUENCE OF EMULSIONS AND STEAM INJECTION ON A DIESEL FUELED MODEL GAS TURBINE COMBUSTOR (2015). Atomization and Sprays, Vol. 25, Issue 12, pp. 1025-1045 (Megan Sung and Vince McDonell).
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND RENEWABLE POWER IN SUPPORT OF HOLISTIC ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS: PART 2 – DESIGN AND OPERATION IMPLICATIONS FOR LOAD-BALANCING RESOURCES ON THE ELECTRIC GRID (2015). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 278, pp. 782-793 (Brian Tarroja, Josh Eichman, Li Zhang, Tim Brown, and Scott Samuelsen).
THE IMPORTANCE OF GRID INTEGRATION FOR ACHIEVABLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS FROM ALTERNATIVE VEHICLE TECHNOLOGIES (2015). Energy, Vol. 87, pp. 504-519 (Brian Tarroja, Brendan Shaffer, and Scott Samuelsen).
MICRO-GRID ENERGY DISPATCH OPTIMIZATION AND PREDICTIVE CONTROL ALGORITHMS; A UC IRVINE CASE STUDY (2015). International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, Vol. 65, pp. 179-190 (Dustin McLarty, Carles C. Sabate, Jack Brouwer, and Faryar Jabbari).
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOFC–GT FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE FUELED BY NATURAL GAS AND DIESEL WITH ONBOARD REFORMATION (2015). Applied Energy, Vol. 148, pp. 412-438 (Andrew Martinez, Jack Brouwer, and Scott Samuelsen).
COPRODUCTION OF TRANSPORTATION FUELS IN ADVANCED IGCCS VIA COAL AND BIOMASS MIXTURES (2015). Applied Energy, Vol. 157, pp. 851-860 (Qin Chen, Ashok Rao, and Scott Samuelsen).
DISPATCH OF FUEL CELLS AS TRANSMISSION INTEGRATED GRID ENERGY RESOURCES TO SUPPORT RENEWABLES AND REDUCE EMISSIONS (2015). Applied Energy, Vol. 148, pp.178-186 (Brendan Shaffer, Brian Tarroja, and Scott Samuelsen).
FLAMEHOLDING TENDENCIES OF NATURAL GAS AND HYDROGEN FLAMES AT GAS TURBINE PREMIXER CONDITIONS (2015). ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Vol. 137(1): 011504-011504-9 (Elliot Sullivan-Lewis and Vince McDonell).
MICRO-GRID ENERGY DISPATCH OPTIMIZATION AND PREDICTIVE CONTROL ALGORITHMS; A UC IRVINE CASE STUDY (2015). International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems, Vol. 65, pp.179-190 (Dustin McLarty and Jack Brouwer).
REFUELING HYDROGEN FUEL CELL VEHICLES WITH 68 PROPOSED REFUELING STATIONS IN CALIFORNIA: MEASURING DEVIATIONS FROM DAILY TRAVEL PATTERNS (2014). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 39, Issue 7, pp. 3444-3449 (Jee Eun Kang, Tim Brown, Will W. Recker, and Scott Samuelsen).
A HYBRID PHYSICS-BASED AND DATA DRIVEN APPROACH TO OPTIMAL CONTROL OF BUILDING COOLING/HEATING SYSTEMS (2014). IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, Vol. PP, Issue 99 pp. 1-11 (Seyed Vaghefi, Mohsen A. Jafari, J. Zhu, Jack Brouwer, and Yau Lu).
A POLY-GENERATING CLOSED CATHODE FUEL CELL WITH CARBON CAPTURE (2014). Applied Energy, Vol. 131, pp.108-113 (Dustin McLarty and Jack Brouwer).
AIR QUALITY IMPACTS OF LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS IN THE SOUTH COAST AIR BASIN OF CALIFORNIA (2014). Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, Vol. 21, pp. 680-690 (Marc Carreras-Sospedra, Brett C. Singer, Melissa Lunden, Jack Brouwer, and Donald Dabdub).
COORDINATING PLUG-IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING WITH ELECTRIC GRID: VALLEY FILLING AND TARGET LOAD FOLLOWING (2014). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 267, pp. 412-420 (Li Zhang, Faryar Jabbari, Tim Brown, and Scott Samuelsen).
DYNAMIC DISTRIBUTED GENERATION DISPATCH STRATEGY FOR LOWERING THE COST OF BUILDING ENERGY (2014). Applied Energy, Vol. 123, Pages 196-208 (Robert J. Flores, Brendan P. Shaffer, and Jack Brouwer).
ECONOMIC AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSES OF DYNAMIC DISTRIBUTED GENERATION DISPATCH TO REDUCE BUILDING ENERGY COST (2014). Energy and Buildings, Vol. 85, pp. 293–304 (Robert J. Flores, Brendan P. Shaffer, and Jack Brouwer).
ENHANCED PERFORMANCE OF COUNTER FLOW SOFC WITH PARTIAL INTERNAL REFORMATION (2014). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 39, pp.19753-19766 (Mahshid Fardadi, Dustin McLarty, Jack Brouwer, and Faryar Jabbari).
EVALUATING OPTIONS FOR BALANCING THE WATER-ELECTRICITY NEXUS IN CALIFORNIA: PART 1 – SECURING WATER AVAILABILITY (2014). Science of the Total Environment, Vol.s 497–498, pp. 697–710 (Brian Tarroja, Amir AghaKouchak, Reza Sobhani, David Feldman, Sunny Jiang, and Scott Samuelsen).
EVALUATING OPTIONS FOR BALANCING THE WATER-ELECTRICITY NEXUS IN CALIFORNIA: PART 2 – GREENHOUSE GAS AND RENEWABLE ENERGY UTILIZATION IMPACTS (2014). Science of the Total Environment, Vol.s 497–498, pp. 711–724 (Brian Tarroja, Amir AghaKouchak, Reza Sobhani, David Feldman, Sunny Jiang, and Scott Samuelsen).
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FEASIBILITY OF SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL DYNAMIC HYDROGEN COPRODUCTION TO MEET BUILDING DEMAND (2014). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 248, Pages 58-69 (Brendan Shaffer and Jacob Brouwer).
FUEL CELL-GAS TURBINE HYBRID SYSTEM DESIGN PART I: STEADY STATE PERFORMANCE (2014). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 257, pp. 412-420 (Dustin F. McLarty, Jack Brouwer, and Scott Samuelsen).
FUEL CELL-GAS TURBINE HYBRID SYSTEM DESIGN PART II: DYNAMICS AND CONTROL (2014). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 254, pp. 126-136 (Dustin F McLarty, Jack Brouwer, and Scott Samuelsen).
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IMPACTS OF PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES ON A RESIDENTIAL TRANSFORMER USING STOCHASTIC AND EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS (2014). Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 252, pp. 277-285 (Ghazal Razeghi, Li Zhang, Tim Brown, and Scott Samuelsen).
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We take a look at the best wireless gaming mice available in 2019 including popular brands such as Logitech, Roccat, SteelSeries, Razer and Zowie.
Since launching Gaming Verdict we have tested more than 50 gaming mice to bring you the best recommendations based on real gaming experience. We spent more than 300 hours playing a variety of games including CS GO, PUBG, and BF5 to help us find the best wireless gaming mouse of 2019. Our team preferred the Logitech G Pro for its lightweight design, incredibly accurate sensor and comfort.
The Razer Mamba wireless is an excellent gaming mouse, sporting the PMW3389 sensor and coming in at 103 grams.
Gaming Verdict is quite literally by gamers, for gamers – our entire team are first and foremost, gamers. As a business, we purchase each and every product we discuss and put them through our rigorous tests which includes a whole lot of gaming. We take our testing seriously and always look at a product from a consumer perspective, analysing the performance vs its competitors and keeping in mind the industry tech and where it is moving. For wireless mice, the biggest flaw throughout the past few years has been accuracy, connectivity and weight – however, the Logitech G Pro really proved how wireless gaming mice can be just as good, if not better than their wired counterpart and many other brands are following suit, including Razer with their Mamba and Lancehead wireless alternatives and SteelSeries with their Rival 650.
If you’ve landed on this page, you are probably aware of the importance of a good gaming mouse, they can significantly improve your performance in-game and help you go from zero to hero. You can’t really compare a gaming mouse to an ordinary computer mouse, with their precise sensors, thoroughly researched ergonomic designs built for the three main mouse grips and the ability to customise the mouse to your specific needs via the software. Gaming mice are not just useful for gaming though, I am sat here doing research, writing this guide on wireless mice whilst using my gaming mouse to do a range of activities, investing in a gaming mouse isn’t just a good investment for your gaming but in everyday life too.
Simply put, if you are serious about gaming, then you need a gaming mouse.
Comfort – a tricky place to start, as hand sizes, mouse grips, and general posture differs significantly from gamer to gamer, this is one of the most important aspects of choosing a gaming mouse and one which, if wrong will impede your performance. We had to test the size of the mouse (small, medium or large) as well as whether or not the mouse is ambidextrous.
Weight – a huge concern when shopping for a wireless gaming mouse is the weight, unfortunately, the majority of wireless gaming mice are quite heavy due to the additional hardware the mouse includes for wireless connectivity and battery power. Fortunately, wireless technology in gaming mice has moved leaps and bounds in the last 12-24 months with the launch of mice such as Logitech’s G Pro which weighs just 80 grams.
Battery Life & Charging Time – another factor is the lifespan of a wireless mouse, how long it takes to charge and how it charges. The majority of recommended wireless gaming mice now come with a rechargeable lithium battery compared to affordable wireless mice such as the Logitech G305 which uses a single AA battery which means having to replace the battery and also means the mouse is quite heavy.
Sensors – the majority of gaming mice include good sensors such as the Pixart 3366, there are very few gaming mice with poor sensors on the market these days.
Performance – historically wireless gaming mice performed very poorly with many gamers suffering from latency issues. However, wireless technology is now at a point where wireless gaming mice can begin to compete with wired gaming mice.
Software – the majority of gaming mice come with software suites to help assign macros, tweak sensitivity (DPI/CPI) as well as customise the RGB lighting. It is now expected that the software has the ability to save multiple profiles, customisable DPI/CPI settings, polling rates and compatibility with both Windows and Mac operating systems.
Price – this is where we begin to see the biggest difference in performance, especially with wireless gaming mice which are still significantly more expensive than the majority of wired gaming mice that offer similar performance. We will be recommending wireless gaming mice at several budgets including under $50, under $100 and up to $150.
First off, we purchase the products just as you would (usually from Amazon) then we use the products and test them both in-game and in everyday office use (whilst we are working on these guides). Typically speaking, we will have 10-20 hours of testing with each gaming mouse we purchase.
You may be wondering who tests the gaming mice, the majority of the time it will be one of our in-house team, currently 3 people all of which are gamers and we usually play a variety of games including CS GO, PUBG, BF5 & Apex Legends. The great thing about how we test is that each of our team gets time to test each mouse, this means our feedback is well-rounded, we discuss together and provide feedback together.
If you were new to the gaming market, in search of a gaming mouse, you’d be hard pressed to not be extremely excited by all the talk regarding the Logitech G Pro. To say it’s well liked is an understatement, the issue with a product being hyped so much is that it is difficult to live up to those expectations that you create whilst waiting for delivery.
The Logitech G Pro lives up to and surpasses those expectations, but it is not without its drawbacks.
For me, the Logitech G Pro weight/feel was great, however, I couldn’t help but notice the mouse was extremely off balance, with most of the weight being focused on the rear of the mouse. This meant when lifting off, moving around during fast-paced FPS such as CS GO it would sometimes misplace my aim. No doubt this is down to the way I hold the mouse, but it’s definitely something I couldn’t ignore.
You can read our review of the Logitech G Pro wireless right here.
Let’s just be clear, the best of anything is entirely subjective – these gaming mice are all fantastic, otherwise, they simply would not have made our list. What we are saying is, that overall the Logitech G Pro came up trumps more times than the other mice below. Having said that, we know it isn’t for everyone, so if the G Pro isn’t for you, definitely take a look at one of these mice.
Simple in design and I suppose not as advanced as the Hyperflux with its wireless charging capabilities but this 2018 model is highly impressive. The Razer Mamba Wireless is lightweight and is as ergonomically designed with comfort in mind. It goes head to head with the rest by offering excellent battery life and features a high-end optical sensor that performs as good as any other.
Read our review of the Razer Mamba wireless right here.
The Logitech G305 is a small, lightweight, affordable wireless gaming mouse, equipped with Logitech’s HERO sensor and Litespeed technology, the little G305 packs a punch.
Read our review of the Logitech G305 right here.
The G903 is an ambidextrous performer that brings some intrigue to your desk. It packs a top quality sensor and gives left and right-handers real power and control. The G903 is Powerplay ready and is a great option for gamers who prefer a bigger ambidextrous mouse to the G Pro!
Read our review of the Logitech G900 & G903 right here.
If you want to go wireless but fancy an ergonomic mouse the G703 is a real crowd pleaser. It features a highly regarded sensor and has been designed to fit in your right hand almost perfectly. The high performance of the sensor is matched by the almost limitless feeling Lightspeed technology that wirelessly connects this device to your PC. The G703 is the only right-handed mouse that is powerplay ready and delivers seriously good results.
Read our review of the Logitech G703 right here.
If you’ve decided to go wireless the price of some of these high-end mice could be off-putting but with The Rival 650’s sleek design, vibrant RGB lighting, and dual sensor make it one of the best wireless mice on the market. With its brilliant ergonomics and fast charging capabilities, the 650 is a great option and surely worth that bit of extra cash especially if you’re trying to avoid the price of wireless charging pads.
Futuristic Design – Packs a visual punch.
Great Tracking – Razers best laser sensor to date.
RGB – Really vibrant RGB compared to others.
Thumb button – Feels harder to press than others.
Software – Had to restart PC after installing another Razer device.
No Customisation – Cant remove thumb buttons that interfere with the ambidextrous nature.
The Lancehead offers the wireless ambidextrous market something a bit different. Razer implemented what they call their best laser sensor to date into the Lancehead and to be fair it actually performs well! This mouse has a unique look and features some of the nicest RGB I’ve ever seen on a mouse. Doesn’t matter if you are a fan of Razer or not, this mouse has some very intelligent wireless technology and a very sleek design. Check it out!
You can read our review of the Razer Lancehead wireless gaming mouse right here.
Although there was a time when professional gamers would only consider a wired mouse, new technology has birthed a whole new creation of wireless models that are nothing short of spectacular. While even our most favourite battle arenas can lead to infuriating moments, it’s best if those tantrums aren’t caused by the equipment we use. Three quarters through a multi-hour tournament isn’t the right time for your mouse to run out of juice.
Most of the high-end models use built-in rechargeable lithium-polymer batteries. These are typically expensive (such as the Logitech G Pro), but allow manufacturers to fit them into the dense and shapely profiles of their products. You’ll see very few high-end gaming mice like the G603 that use old fashioned AA or AAA batteries which are typically reserved for less expensive gaming mice.
Battery life will vary depending on the model you choose, as well as what features are available. However, you’ll want to choose a model with at least 20+ hours of continuous use – the more the better. It may be possible to adjust the mouse to extend the battery life such as by turning off RGB lighting and lowering the polling rate.
Charging time is negligible for the most part as this will be done overnight or during periods when you’re not at your station. Most wireless mice will use a standard USB cable for charging while still in operation. Others may contain a dock. If charging simply isn’t an option, Logitech has released their Logitech G PowerPlay charging system which is essentially a wireless charging pad that can charge your mouse while you play without the need for any wires. Corsair offer Qi charging which uses similar technology to mobile phones and means you can cross-device charge on your new PC mouse pad! Likewise, Razer launched the Firefly Hyperflux mouse pad which also allows features wireless charging capabilities. This is just an inkling into where the wireless gaming market is heading.
The weight and size of gaming mouse you choose are massively subjective to the individual, hand size and mouse grip factors into this significantly. In an ideal world, we would test every single wireless gaming mouse with a panel of expert gamers each having their own mouse grip, play style and totally different hand sizes. We’ve done our best to take the guesswork out of this by providing information based on our own in-house tests, alongside the usual specifications for you to compare. We have a variety of different hand sizes and grip styles in the office so we feel confident we can provide a compelling overview to help you with your decision. Measure your hand and check out our hand size guide to see what mice could be the best for you.
The graph above will help you to understand the size differences in our wireless mouse collection, the sizes are in cm and we’ve split the graph into length, width and height.
On average wireless gaming mice tend to fall between 80-120 grams with the odd exception, such as the Logitech G603 which uses AA batteries. What will be a large factor is the shape of the mouse. You may tend to favour a claw grip, palm grip or fingertip grip. Although it’s possible to adapt your style to suit that of the mouse, the more natural it feels, the better you’ll do while competing – and let’s not lie – it’s all a competition otherwise we wouldn’t want the very best we could afford.
From the graph you can clearly see how light the Logitech G Pro is compared to it’s competitors, it is truly a fantastic wireless gaming mouse, but it is extremely pricey and many other mice, whilst they might be 20 grams heavier, still feel extremely comfortable and lightweight (due to having no cable to drag across the desk).
The terms DPI and CPI are often seen as interchangeable when discussing mice. As you can see above, DPI stands for dots per inch and should really only be referred to in the printing/graphic design world, as it indicates the number of dots per inch that can fit in a straight line. For some reason it’s coined as a marketing term by gaming mice manufacturers instead of CPI which is more appropriate and refers to counts per inch – i.e. a CPI setting of 1600 moves your cursor 1600 pixels per one-inch movement. So when you see DPI listed in the specifications, rather think of it as CPI.
Now, you may think that the more CPI the better as that means you can aim quicker. The truth is that the majority of professional gamers prefer a setting of around 400 – 1,600 even though many gaming mice offer a ‘DPI’ of 12,000-16,000. While you can spin around quicker with a higher setting, it’s far more difficult to be accurate so more isn’t always better. Fortunately, the majority of gaming mice have DPI buttons located on the top (usually behind the scroll wheel) or on the bottom of the mouse to quickly change DPI from 2-5 preset settings. The most common settings for the DPI button are 400, 800, 1600 and 3200, however, through most brand’s gaming software, you can customise the DPI presets to whatever you fancy, either at increments of 50 or in some cases (Razer) increments of 1!
Following on from CPI, you’ll often find IPS and acceleration specified. IPS refers to inches per second and refers to the maximum speed the mouse’s sensor can track the movement accurately. If you have fast reflexes, but choose a wireless gaming mouse with a low IPS then you’ll never be able to play at your highest potential. Try to choose a fast IPS rating of 240 or more and you can have confidence the mouse will track fast movements accurately on different surfaces.
The next part of this important gaming equation is acceleration – in relation to ‘DPI’ and IPS. It’s measured in G’s and refers to how quick the ‘cursor’ moves based on how quickly you move your hand (not simply the distance). A gaming mouse with an acceleration rating of 30-40G’s is what most manufacturers offer these days but in reality, humans can’t really produce speeds of over 8g.
The computer industry is always evolving, and this is especially true in the gaming world. As a result, it’s not atypical that you’ll replace a piece of hardware long before your current hardware stops working. The durability of a gaming mouse is really something to consider as users are likely to spend hours at a time during a session, clicking several thousand times in that same period.
When looking for a gaming mouse that will last, make sure to compare the click lifespan. This will usually be in the millions (i.e. 50 million clicks for instance) and should mean the right mouse can last several years. To be honest, the majority of wireless gaming mice we tested used Omron switches which had click lifespans of 40 – 50 million clicks which should be sufficient.
There was a time not too long ago when folks played Solitaire on Windows 95 with mice that contained rubber balls. These rubber balls interacted with mechanical rollers to let the OS know where the cursor was heading. Those days are long over and now we have optical and laser mice. When they hit the gaming scene laser mice were considered superior to optical mice, but that’s not really a factor anymore as optical technology has advanced rapidly.
Typically, when a mouse has moved the light emitted (whether LED or infrared) is measured by a camera or sensor and relays this data to the computer so it knows what position the cursor is in. Modern mice use the latest sensors (the current leading sensor being the HERO based on popular opinion). Regardless of whether you choose optical or laser, it’s smart to be able to adjust the polling rate (just like the CPI/DPI) to your own taste – or simply what you’re used to.
The polling rate refers to how often the sensor on the mouse reports the position to the computer. Most gaming mice are around 500-1000Hz (i.e. 500 times and 1000 times per second respectively). A higher rate means your mouse is reporting where it is more often to the computer which should bring more accurate movements from the cursor and give you a better all-around experience. Most people won’t notice much of a difference with either and the majority of mouse manufacturers don’t really specify this as a result – though believe us when we say they’ve taken it into account. You can still usually adjust it in the included software. It’s worth mentioning that a higher polling rate can drain the battery quicker but even this small issue is going to become a thing of the past as sensors become more and more efficient.
Polling rates can sometimes be referred to as response times and are measured in milliseconds.
Not to be confused with angle snapping which is a deliberate way of predicting movement, a mouse jitter refers to the cursor suddenly making unexpected movements without your input. It is rare but can happen. If you’ve just bought a new gaming mouse and experience this, then send it back for a replacement or refund as it really shouldn’t happen with the most modern of gaming mice. However, if you are unlucky enough to find yourself in this situation and it’s not caused by dust or dirt on your mouse’s sensor, then the issue could be one of the following (or others not mentioned).
Your game is using too much of your CPU load.
Frequency interference in your home (i.e. a smartphone’s hotspot nearby could be the issue for instance).
Interference with a wireless mouse and keyboard combination.
A monitor display is made up of thousands of pixels and some mice feature angle snapping which will lock cursor movement into a straight line. While this may be useful for certain graphic design applications (try to draw a perfectly straight line with your mouse), it’s not desired for those moments when you want to go for that perfect headshot and your mouse automatically shifts the cursor above their head. The vast majority of gamers want to perfect their aim and software jumping in to correct you is a red flag as your target will rarely be directly on a horizontal or vertical line. The good news is that most if not all professional grade gaming mice don’t have this feature, or at the least allow you the option to toggle it on or off.
Its best to start by saying mouse acceleration generally speaking is a big no in games. Specifically worse in FPS titles because playing without acceleration removes all variability in cursor movement and provides a more consistent and stable behaviour overall. Some gamers may have been playing with mouse acceleration on for years and have become used to it and it’s worth noting you can use acceleration effectively if you tweak your settings, but its a lot more work and it’s best to keep the mouse raw. Mouse acceleration is hard to adapt to and will bring inconsistency to your aim if you aren’t already used to it. We recommend keeping acceleration off as it just adds another variant for your muscle memory to get used to and can be frustrating when making aim adjustments.
The lift-off distance or LOD refers to the distance you can lift your mouse off your desk or pad before it stops tracking. LOD is measured in millimeters and is easily tested by determining the number of CD’s it takes where the mouse stops tracking (1CD ~1.2mm). Most high-end mice come with an optimal LOD already set but you can often adjust it in the included software with certain manufacturers. Ideally, you want it as low as you can get it so if you need to reset your mouse position on your pad during a battle, you can lift it and place it back down without moving the cursor. Some people do like a little higher LOD as it can allow them to continue tracking if they go off the pad. Sometimes the LOD can vary depending on what surface you have but what works for you will come down to experience and preference, but again, usually the lower the better.
While not all wireless gaming mice offer this option, many provide additional weights that allow you to reduce or increase the weight, such as the Logitech G703, 903 and G Pro as well as the SteelSeries Rival 650. The weights are usually only a few grams each and can be placed either within or around the mouse so you can find the perfect balance for your comfort and playing style.
We saw the implementation of a depth sensor with the Rival 600 which was SteelSeries new groundbreaking technology. The sensor provides gamers with some extra customisation as you can change when the sensor starts and stops tracking during liftoff. It eliminates extra movement when the mouse is picked up and can be set as low as 0.5mm. A depth sensor isn’t typically needed as a top of the line sensor seems to cope with depth pretty well already.
The majority of wireless gaming mice come with 7-10 buttons, most of which are customisable using the brands gaming software. However, if you are a MOBA player you may want to look at more traditional wired gaming mice for now, as the options are limited to mice such as the Razer Naga wireless otherwise its back to wired options such as the Corsair Scimitar. | 2019-04-18T10:43:52Z | https://www.gamingverdict.com/best-gaming-mouse/wireless/ |
Review Date: 04/16/2019 | Author: Linda H.
Comments: Excellent customer service. Efficient, professional, experienced in craftsmanship, and competitively priced. I would definitely recommend and hire again.
Review Date: 03/01/2019 | Author: Edward D.
Comments: Jose worked hard to pull up my existing subfloor in the kitchen and put down a new one. He?s even coming back to fix a weak spot. I hope to hire him for more projects in my kitchen reno, he seems to know a lot about everything.
Review Date: 07/30/2018 | Author: Rose J.
Comments: They were very thorough and had great communication throughout. The project was delayed, due to weather, and we were kept informed throughout about the timing to get the work done. Everything was professional and they were meticulous about cleaning up afterwards. Very impressed.
Review Date: 06/06/2018 | Author: Shakara B.
Comments: Quote and work was timely and of quality. Jose is fair and flexible in doing the job. Highly recommended!
Review Date: 05/17/2018 | Author: Martha C.
Comments: Msny thanks for prompt and courteous service!
Review Date: 05/17/2018 | Author: Christine E.
Comments: Jose was professional and knowledgeable and explained my job to me in detail and showed me every step of the way what he found and what he was doing. I am very happy I found this company and would definitely use them again and recommend them.
Review Date: 04/25/2018 | Author: Jennifer M.
Comments: Good work and was in constant communication throughout the job.
Review Date: 04/17/2018 | Author: Elisha R.
Review Date: 04/09/2018 | Author: William T.
Comments: Jose was very thorough and professional.
Review Date: 04/02/2018 | Author: Susan or fran M.
Comments: Overall I was pleased with his work. He promptly responded to our request for repair, came and gave a free estimate, and was able to begin the work based on our time frame. He kept us apprised the entire time of what he was doing and projected time to start and finish each portion of the project. He was very personable and we were comfortable with him in our home.
Review Date: 01/14/2018 | Author: Lisa H.
Comments: Jose was professional and on time. He also stayed on budget! He was thorough in understanding the job we had and what the function of the shelving was to be, and he came up with a configuration and cost that worked all the way around.
Review Date: 11/10/2017 | Author: Rashmi P.
Comments: Jose was very knowledgeable and went above and beyond in getting the doors repaired. We were very pleased with his work and hired him again for a screen door install. He comes on time and is very professional and gives you suggestions for other issues he sees around the house. Very Pleased overall.
Review Date: 10/26/2017 | Author: Frank K.
Comments: Very hard working and productive.
Review Date: 10/12/2017 | Author: Marie F.
Comments: I had bought a residential instead of a commercial door handle at Lowe's. I did not know this was the wrong one till the contractor showed up to install it then informed me of it. Regardless, they worked with what I had bought and made some adjustments to get it to work in my door. So far, so good.
Review Date: 10/07/2017 | Author: Karen P.
Review Date: 09/15/2017 | Author: Vaibhav J.
Comments: He has good knowledge of the work and usually tells you good and bad about the project in a straight way.
Review Date: 08/12/2017 | Author: Adaline T.
Comments: Excellent work. Very professional.
Review Date: 05/25/2017 | Author: Elisha R.
Comments: Wonderful communication, did the job we asked with no problems at all! We were impressed with the fast response time and the contractors' being on time and doing what they said they would. We had an interior doorway framed and door installed. Will definitely use them again.
Review Date: 04/22/2017 | Author: Nancy W.
Comments: They repaired the window in my front storm door and treated a small repair job like a regular job. They arrived when they said they would be there, and on re-installation call and asked if they could arrive earlier than was planned. The window is working beautifully. I will definitely recommend them to my neighbors.
Review Date: 04/14/2017 | Author: William L.
Review Date: 03/30/2017 | Author: Derrick P.
Comments: Jose did a good job. He came out on a Sunday to provide an estimate, worked with my schedule to install the door (which was no small feat considering how tight my schedule is), and completed the door a head schedule.
Comments: I dislike Home Advisor making this part of the evaluation mandatory.
Review Date: 09/01/2016 | Author: Stella P.
Review Date: 08/13/2016 | Author: Michael G.
Comments: Jose responded promptly to my inquiry about reframing and replacing a pocket door. He came to my house in Arlington on Monday and gave a reasonable estimate of the work to be done, supplies to be provided and cost. He was able to complete the work on Thursday and Friday morning of the same week. I found Jose and his son to have a great work ethic and very personable. We discussed some additional projects at my house that I want to tackle this fall.
Comments: They were prompt and professional. Before they began their work they thoroughly reviewed what they were going to do. Afterwards. they showed me what had gone wrong with the previous contractor. Will definitely hire them again. Highly recommended.
Review Date: 08/01/2016 | Author: Robin A.
Comments: Execellent work on reframing my front door. Liked their work so much hired them to correct long standing foundation issue with excellent results. They are detail oriented and take great care to protect surrounding work areas. I have recommended them to my neighbors. Glad Home Advisor helped me find them.
Review Date: 07/29/2016 | Author: Mike B.
Review Date: 07/26/2016 | Author: Jennifer K.
Comments: Jose has great customer service. He worked around my crazy schedule, and the floors were completed on time and within budget. The floors look great. My only issue was that the floating flooring on my second floor sticks out too far over the top step, making it harder to navigate on the way down unless you have small feet. I was also cleaning up sawdust off my floors/furniture for a while.
Comments: Jose called me promptly and did the repair on time and within budget.
Comments: Customer service is really good. Jose seems to care a great deal about his work and your happiness with it. When he arrived at the agreed upon time, he assessed the work and repairs and walked me through what needed to be done. I was very pleased with the work and would use them again. My only critique is that I would have liked a written estimate. He provided a verbal one over the phone but the work needed was slightly different from what he originally quoted. This was okay but I just prefer an itemized invoice at the end to see what I'm paying for. Just my preference. Like I said, the work was good as was the customer service.
Review Date: 02/29/2016 | Author: Sara W.
Comments: I am happy with the customer service, quote, appointment time, and product.
Comments: Very professional, fair pricing, great to work with.
Review Date: 07/15/2015 | Author: Michelle F.
Comments: I had an entry door and a storm door installed and reframed. The company provided a very nice looking entry door but the storm door was not as well made as the one they removed. The installer painted the entry door but did not do the best job although it looks very nice. He also did not install a door sweep on the storm door so I had to call him back to have one put on. Overall, the job was done to my satisfaction and the price for all the work and materials was reasonable.
Review Date: 06/16/2015 | Author: Mary ann Y.
Comments: Jose replaced the 20+ year old screen in our sliding glass door. Like us, he determined that the door itself was in excellent condition. This is a small job, but there was no charge for the visit and estimate. Although he arrived late to take out the screen, he called to let us know that he would be late. The same happened on his return. However, we are happy with the work and with the price.
Review Date: 06/03/2015 | Author: Andrei S.
Review Date: 05/05/2015 | Author: Jeff Z.
Comments: Great work - little pricey-but satisfied with job!
Review Date: 05/01/2015 | Author: Albert R.
Comments: They communicated very well with me. They found the problem, told me how they were going to fix the problem and did it on schedule.
Review Date: 04/30/2015 | Author: Joanne L.
Comments: Jose picked up the items I purchased, than did the installation of my shower door, and Removed my landscape bathroom mirror. Jose disposed of all of the items. Great job at a very reasonable price.
Review Date: 04/04/2015 | Author: Stephen F.
Comments: besides having to reschedule which was a pain Jose Quiroz did a very nice job. Would definitely hire again for other projects.
Review Date: 03/08/2015 | Author: Evan E.
Comments: Jose personally handled a complicated repair of the subfloor and hardwood floor in my kitchen. He did an outstanding job. He's very knowledgable, completed the job on time and on budget, and made sure he explained everything clearly before he started working. I highly recommend Jose and look forward to working with him again in the future.
Review Date: 11/06/2014 | Author: Christoph W.
Comments: Jose and his colleague did a great job - The door looks great and everything worked out nicely! They are on-time, extremely friendly and respond to emails promptly, and really know what they are doing. They pay a lot attention to cleaning up after they are done. Overall a great experience! Cannot recommend them highly enough!
Comments: The job is not done yet, but it looks good so far..
Review Date: 10/10/2014 | Author: John M.
Comments: Jose and his helper arrived on time, worked quiclly and expertly to replace a toilet in the master bathroom, cleaned up all debris, and charged a very fair price.
Review Date: 05/09/2014 | Author: Christopher B.
Comments: Didn't realize the pane was replaced with a plastic until the job was completed.
Review Date: 02/15/2014 | Author: Paul B.
Comments: They called IMMEDIATELY after I posted the project. They came out on time to do the estimate and then complete the project. Project done professionally. Pricing seemed just a tad high, but I would rather pay a little more for better quality of work and responsiveness.
Review Date: 08/22/2013 | Author: Paul A.
Review Date: 04/17/2013 | Author: Bill P.
Review Date: 02/28/2013 | Author: Laura D.
Comments: My professional was Mr. Jose Quiroz. He was on time for both the quote and the work, and went above and beyond by pointing out a future problem with my roof (he didn't push; just wanted me to be aware). He was friendly and polite, and he and his partner, Juan,took good care not to make a mess, and cleaned up the space after their work. I would definitely not only recommend them to others , but will hire them for future projects should the need arise!
Comments: Very accommodating. Range of skills of workers is impressive. Prompt and courteous. Would use again.
Review Date: 06/21/2012 | Author: Allison G.
Review Date: 06/21/2012 | Author: Lindsay W.
Comments: Work was done quickly and on-time. This was a last-minute request and they did a great job of replying quickly, meeting me super early for an estimate, and completing the work on time. The quality of the work (painting, bathtub patch, new bi-fold door installation) was very good and they left my condo clean. Very pleased.
Review Date: 05/19/2012 | Author: Rick T.
Comments: This professional was very responsive and helpful. Diligently fixed the problem in my attic. Afterward, based on professional experience, he recommended how to improve my insulation capacity in the future when I am ready to have the work accomplished. I trust this guy to make things happen.
Comments: J&M did an excellent job of repairing a very difficult problem with our floor. They were the first ones to respond to our request and quickly submitted a quote. Their work was neat and professional and they completed the project faster than we expected. They were very responsive and Jose went out of his way to accommodate everything we asked of him. We will certainly call on them again.
Review Date: 01/12/2012 | Author: Bryan T.
Comments: J&M is very responsive and easy to work with. They performed the work on time, as described, and they worked carefully. I will use them again.
Review Date: 08/01/2011 | Author: Robert H.
Comments: J&M Construction & Remodeling did a fine job repairing our door. They called us right away and had the work done the following week. We will even be calling them for more work soon.
Review Date: 07/17/2011 | Author: Lisa C.
Comments: I was extremely pleased with the work Jose and his team performed. I had a number of jobs to be done: replacing rotten wood trim, painting, powerwashing, and siding repair. The quality of the materials and the work performed were exceptional. While the price for the work was higher than the other estimates, I'm confident that the work performed was of higher quality than I would have received with others. I would definitely use Jose again for any home project that might be needed.
Review Date: 07/05/2011 | Author: Dean W.
Comments: J&M did a fine job installing a replacement sliding glass door. They also did a great job sending me pictures and speciifications of the door before they began. I would recommend them.
Review Date: 06/07/2011 | Author: John S.
Comments: Don't know how they could have done any better.
Review Date: 02/24/2011 | Author: Kevin K.
Comments: Jose is great. I would highly recommend his services. We had him replace a section of sill plate damaged by termites and install a set of french doors. Everything looks perfect. Additionally, Jose was responsive to all my concerns, provided clear estimates, and worked on a reliable schedule - including working on Saturday to finish up.
Comments: I wish I could give J&M Construction and Remodeling 10 stars! They were super! They came and fixed a very problematic pocket door at an extremely reasonable price. Excellent experience. We will be asking them to come back for future jobs.
Review Date: 02/07/2011 | Author: Jack R.
Comments: Jose did a great job and I hope to use him in the future and recommend his services.
Review Date: 01/31/2011 | Author: Ali A.
Comments: This company provided me with a quote and then did not show at first. However, when they did show, they did great work. I thought there price was on the high side, but I would recommend them based on the quality fo their work.
Review Date: 10/27/2010 | Author: Maren S.
Comments: Very professional, super clean and quick!
Comments: We had them rescreen a porch, rebuild stairs, replace window shutters, and add a sun shade. The work was very high quality and they finished the project quickly. We have had no problems with their work and will hire them again to do additional projects.
Comments: J&M completed the job quickly and efficiently. We would use them again.
Comments: Excellent experience. Jose came to cut a hole in my carport ceiling and install an attic stairs so I can access the attic for storage. Very good guy - resonable, knowlegeable and on time. The attic stairs I bought ended up missing parts (Home Depot evidently doesn't check when people return items) and so he had to return a second time to finish the jog. He did great work!
Review Date: 02/26/2010 | Author: Geoffrey F.
Comments: Excellent in "All" phase of project, from start to finish.
Review Date: 10/01/2009 | Author: Kathy M.
Comments: I had some handyman work done and a bathroom remolded. I was very happy with the work that was done. Jose and his staff were professionals and I appreciated their attention to detail. I would use J and M Construction again. Kathy M.
Review Date: 09/14/2009 | Author: John V.
Comments: Did a good job replacing a piece of the house siding just below the roof, removed a birds nest and cleaned bird droppings from the siding. waiting for an estmate from them for replacement of the roof eave that has holes in it.
Review Date: 08/11/2009 | Author: Lei W.
Comments: Jose sowed up on-time, very professional and friendly. Highly recommanded to any handyman service.
Comments: I had a variety of odd jobs to be performed. Jose was corteous and able to take care of all the jobs efficiently.
Review Date: 03/18/2009 | Author: Ortega Z.
Comments: The work was wonderfully done. Mr. Quiroz, the owner, was extremely professional, pleasant and efficient. Work was done exactly as promised, and started and completed exactly on time. Absolutely will use this company again. As a matter of fact, I have already contracted them to undertake another project !
Review Date: 02/10/2009 | Author: Barbara M.
Comments: We hired J&M Construction to remodel our basement and two bathrooms. Jose, the owner, was very professional. His crew was excellent. The quality of his work was top notch. We had a couple of minor problems and he was quick to correct them. Jose has a good work ethic. He completes the work in a timely fashion. His prices were competitive.
Review Date: 01/29/2009 | Author: Brian V.
Comments: Very courteous and professional. Quality work and on time performance.
Comments: Contractor arrived on time for scheduled appointment and called to reschedule for the next day due to inclement weather. Prompt and friendly communication. Very easy to deal worth. Work completed as scheduled.
Comments: Jose and his team were very professional throughout the entire process (estimate, scheduling, and work). They thoughtfully covered and protected our home and belongings so things would not be damaged or become dusty due to the demolition work. Jose was also very knowledgeable about plumbing and gave us advice on the remainder of our project. I would definitely recommend Jose and his team to others and would contact him again for other jobs in our home.
Comments: I appreciate their on time arrival and professionalism. They went the extra mile to save me the extra expense of purchasing a brand new door lock.
Review Date: 11/09/2008 | Author: Kyra B.
Comments: They did a very nice job on a number of small projects around my house and were on time and easy to work with. I definitely plan to use them again.
Review Date: 11/07/2008 | Author: Rebecca B.
Comments: Came on time -early actually, did the job, cleaned up, explained everything before he did it. Very good experience.
Review Date: 11/05/2008 | Author: Neal D.
Comments: While I have not had the floors done yet, I did use J&M to put insulation in my attic; install an attic fan; install a bathroom fan; and fix cracks in my ceiling (drywall). The "J" from J&M is Jose, and he personally does the work. Plus, he really taught me about what he is doing; how he would do it; and different things about owning (running) a house! I have a "honey-do" list that I will use J&M for, including my floors! **UPDATE** I finally had Jose do my floors--and my bathroom, kitchen, and the entire first floor! He did a phenomenal job! I am a retired Marine, who has a high attention to detail--and Jose exceeded all expectation!
Review Date: 11/05/2008 | Author: Kieth A.
Review Date: 10/06/2008 | Author: Karl H.
Comments: The job was done exactly as proposed and the finished floors were immaculate and the job was entirely dust free when completed.
Comments: Good contractor; fair price.
Comments: The finish carpentry was not the best.
Comments: Jose and his staff were very professional. Completed work as scheduled and did a great job at a great price. I would highly recommend him and his services again. He re-tiled a half bath and installed a bath door.
Comments: Very timely and professional.
Comments: Great work. Had a couple of issues, not major, and they came out right away to fix it.
Review Date: 06/04/2008 | Author: Scott S.
Comments: They were on time. They were clean and left the house clean and that is not a small thing when you are sanding hardwood floors. The workmanship was great and they really seemed to enjoy their work. That alone made us feel like we had chosen the right people for us. I would use them again in a heartbeat and recommend them highly to anyone considering using them.
Comments: Very honest and deeply committed to meeting the customer's needs.
Review Date: 12/05/2007 | Author: Susan L.
Comments: Working with Jose Quiroz has been a sincere pleasure. His office contacted me the same morning I submitted my request and he came to my home that night to give me an estimate. His description of the work I needed was very clear, his price was fair, and the quality of his work was exceptional. Jose made sure exaclty what we wanted, and carried it out perfectly. The J&M crew took special pains to protect my house during the work, and left it very clean each evening. This is a very professional outfit, and I would definitely work with them again.
Review Date: 10/23/2007 | Author: Wendy D.
Comments: The wonderful thing about the experience was that the project lead (Jose) wanted the house to look as good as possible--he was definitely a partner in our goal of making the house sale-ready. He made it as easy for me to make design and other decisions and was extremely easy to work with. I have already recommended J&M to several people and would do so again without reservation.
Comments: Jose seems to be very knowledgeable about home repair and maintenance in general. We have had a good working relationship and are pleased with his work, and would recommend his services to others.
Comments: Jose was contractor #3 for my condo remodel. He had the tough job of finishing up the details and also fixing what the other two guys hadn't done correctly. He did a great job and showed up on time everyday until the job was complete. He communicated to me any problems he found and was able to fix them while being cost conscious. He also made sure I was happy with the results and if I didn't like something, he made sure to fix it. His rates are reasonable and I will definitely call him for my next project and will be recommending him to anyone I know planning to remodel. My only complaint is that I didn't hire him from the beginning!
Review Date: 09/11/2007 | Author: Chris C.
Comments: Very courteous. Very quick. Fair pricing. He really did a great job. Thank you.
Review Date: 09/05/2007 | Author: Katharine W.
Comments: Jose was great. He did a great job on the work, price was fair, was very friendly, and was accommodating in scheduling. I would definitely hire him again!
Review Date: 08/28/2007 | Author: Angela C.
Comments: J & Construction is a reliable contractor, they are timely in their estimates and responses for work to include follow-on jobs. I would highly recommend their services for total home improvements and or renovation. I will recommend them to friends and co-workers!
Review Date: 07/17/2007 | Author: Peter S.
Comments: J&M Construction repaired a sliding glass door at my home. I found them to be very professional. I appreciated their availability to provide the service and found their rates to be very reasonable. I will definitely consider working with J&M Construction & Remodeling for future jobs.
Comments: He was very neat, thorough, reasonably priced and responsible.
Comments: J & M Construction did a great job for a reasonable price. The sliding door they ordered was exactly what we wanted, and they installed it and finished the job very professionally. Another company in Reston, was going to charge us twice as much for the same job. J & M took away all of the old door pieces and left the area clean and neat. I will be using them for other projects around the property in the near future.
Review Date: 05/25/2007 | Author: Nicholas B.
Comments: I am very impressed with the job J & M construction did on my home. I initially hired J & M to install some baseboards, replace some handrail, and move some lighting. However, they did such a fantastic job with that, I have continued to use them for other projects in my house. I would DEFINITELY recommend them to anyone considering home improvement. Not only did they show up on time everyday, but also communicated with me throughout the entire project. They do outstanding work (their attention to details is impressive) and treat your home as if it were there own.
Review Date: 05/24/2007 | Author: Mrs. M.
Comments: Jose worked very hard to install a new shower surround, and replaced four faucets, plumbing valves, a sump pump and a vanity light fixture. He was very courteous and tidy, even working in his stocking feet to protect our new carpets. We couldn't have been more pleased with him or his work.
Review Date: 05/22/2007 | Author: Prathana C.
Comments: I had a good experience with J&M Contructions.
Review Date: 04/19/2007 | Author: David S.
Comments: Jose came out on a Sunday morning to discuss the work I needed done, and gave me a very honest and straightforward estimate of the cost. He showed up early on the day he scheduled the work and completed the the project (replacing the door frame and door on an outdoor storage unit) by early afternoon. He was pleasant, easy to work with, and did an excellent job. I highly recommend his services and would not hesitate to call him again.
Comments: Jose was excellent to deal with. He was highly professional and thorough I recommend his work.
Review Date: 03/30/2007 | Author: Lynn B.
Comments: Hired J&M to do handyman work and we are in the middle of the projects. Everything that was completed today was done just right. We have another day or two to go and I'll update my rating upon completion of the remaining tasks. All requested work has been completed and we are happy with the results. Will definitely use their services again.
Review Date: 03/12/2007 | Author: Molly B.
Comments: They were prompt. Were just going to do the estimate and wound up doing everything I needed right there on the spot. Good job, guys!
Comments: Was prompt in his response and knew his work well. Pointed out how the old cabinet which was there before was different from the other cabinets which I had not noticed in the past 3 years that I lived here. Recommened how to take care of things around the house.
Review Date: 01/16/2007 | Author: Farida M.
Comments: Jose was extremely courteaous, and knows his work well. He performed his task in a very timely manner. i would recommend him for house repair and remodeling work.
Review Date: 01/08/2007 | Author: Aaron B.
Comments: Over all they did a good job.
Comments: Jose was remarkable. Very professional. Got the job done to a degree of high satisfaction in a timely manner and for a competitive price. Very satisfied! | 2019-04-23T08:04:41Z | http://jmconstructionremodeling.net/reviews |
A few days ago, my leader Sister Cheng told me that the church had a new work that required some manpower, and asked me whether I’d be willing to do it. Hearing my leader say this, I was beside myself with joy, and I thought: “For three months now, I’ve been reflecting on how I was replaced because my striving for fame and gain in my duties interrupted and disturbed the church’s work. Now, at last, I can perform my duty again! If my brothers and sisters knew this, they’d definitely pay special regard to me, and would think that I’ve made progress by experiencing this failure.” I agreed to do it there and then. After my leader had gone, every day I looked forward to receiving notice of my new duty, but the days went by and no notice arrived. What did arrive was a stack of paper documents, and my leader asked me to type them up. Holding this stack of paper documents, my heart was full of questions: “What’s the meaning of this? Wasn’t it agreed that I’d be doing a new duty? How then can I be asked to type up all these paper documents? What am I, a typist? What on earth’s going on? If I’m not going to be doing the new duty, then surely my leader has to tell me why!” My mind was in a whirl, and I was unwilling to accept the reality of the situation. Faced with this pile of documents, I thought: “Typing isn’t a real duty. Anyone can do this work. Aren’t I a little overqualified to stay at home just typing up all these documents? If I’m not able to do any important duty, my brothers and sisters will surely say that, after being replaced, I still don’t have any true knowledge of myself and have not truly reflected on myself. What’s more, if I’m staying at home typing all day, then no matter how much I do or how well I do it, no one will know about it and I won’t have a chance to shine. I’ll forever be just a nobody, without any possibility of being promoted or put to some important use.” I was filled with misgivings, but I couldn’t refuse; all I could do was accept the duty.
Undergoing this judgment and chastisement, I thought I could obey the situation God had arranged, but only when faced with the actual facts did I see that I was still so far from true obedience. One day, a higher-level leader, Sister Lin, came to my house and we chatted about the duty that had been arranged for me to do over the past few days. Hearing her bring this up, the hope in my heart that I could do the new duty once again reignited, and I thought happily: “Sister Lin is an upper-level leader. This time, it is sure to be settled. Oh, God’s deeds are so wonderful! Just when I was willing to relinquish fame, gain and status and work earnestly at typing, my situation unexpectedly changes. Once again, I have hope that I’ll be able to do an important duty, and I’m so thankful to God. If I spend these few days hurrying to finish typing up these documents, then maybe when I’m done I’ll be allowed to do that duty!” With this mindset, a day later I finished typing the documents, and I handed my work in. Afterward, every day I expected my leader to arrange for me to do the new duty, but when almost a week had gone by, I still hadn’t received any news of being moved on to that duty. One day, Sister Wang brought some more documents to me. Just like the last time, she asked me to type them out. Seeing these documents, I grew somewhat depressed, and I thought: “I’m waiting to go do the new duty. Why are you bringing me so many documents again? I really am tied inextricably to this typing duty?” I later came to learn from Sister Wang that the sister who had previously been responsible for typing had been given a new duty, and I thought: “Have I really been asked to take over this typing duty from the sister?” The more I thought about it, the less willing I was to accept the reality of this situation. When it got to the evening, I’d originally wanted to go to bed a little earlier than normal, but I didn’t feel sleepy at all. My heart was a raging sea of emotions and I felt really upset. I couldn’t help but let out a long sigh, and I kept calling to God in my heart, asking Him to keep my heart calm, so that I would not become negative and weak. At this moment, I thought of the words of God I’d read many times recently: “If you believe in the dominion of God, then you must believe that the things that happen every day, be they good or bad, don’t happen accidentally. It is not that someone doesn’t get on with you or opposes you on purpose; it is actually all arranged and orchestrated by God. What does God orchestrate these things for? It is not to reveal your shortcomings for everyone to see or to expose you; exposing you is not the final aim. The aim is to perfect you and save you. How does God perfect you and save you? Firstly, He makes you aware of your own corrupt disposition, your own nature and essence, your own shortcomings and what you lack. Only by knowing these things and understanding them in your heart can you cast them off. This is an opportunity for you, you must learn to seize this opportunity and know how to seize it; don’t lock horns and don’t resist. If you are always resisting the people, matters, and things that God has arranged around you, if you are always trying to extricate yourself from them, always feeling dissatisfied, always harboring a disagreeable mentality and always misunderstanding, then you will find it very difficult to enter into the truth. Through obeying, seeking, praying more, retreating to your spirit and coming before God then, unbeknownst to you, a change will happen in your inner condition. … God works on each and every person. Regardless of what method He employs, what form it takes or what tone He uses to speak to people, there is only one final aim, and that is to save you. Before saving you, He needs to change you. But can you change without suffering anything at all? You must suffer a little. This suffering can involve many things. God arouses the people, matters, and things around you to allow you to know yourself, or else He deals with you, prunes you and exposes you directly. It is like someone on an operating table who must undergo some pain—would it be possible for them to feel nothing? If every time God prunes and deals with you and every time He arouses people, matters, and things, for you it stirs up your feelings and gives you a boost, then this is correct, and you will have stature and will enter into the reality of the truth” (“To Attain the Truth, You Must Learn From the People, Matters, and Things Around You” in Records of Christ’s Talks). I contemplated God’s words over and over, and I kept reflecting on my states during this time: With all these things that were happening to me, did I really believe that they were all happening by God’s sovereignty? God holds sovereignty over all things—these are not just empty words. So I must believe from the bottom of my heart that God has the final say with anything that happens, that God does it all, not man, and much less does it happen by accident or coincidence, but rather it is all arranged by God’s hands. Was it my leader who had decided whether or not to let me go do the new duty? Was it my leader who had arranged for me to type up documents? No, it wasn’t, it was God. And since it was God who had orchestrated and arranged these things, what then is God’s will? Before, I thought I had truly given up fame, gain and status and that I was obeying God’s orchestrations and arrangements. But in the end, I was exposed once again in the situation God had arranged for me, and my obedience was still founded on conformity to my own flesh and preferences. Over these past few days, I’d thought that I could go do an important duty and then I’d be able to obey, but actually my corrupt disposition that was in pursuit of reputation and status had not yet entirely changed, otherwise why would I have felt so upset the moment I received those documents? Was this not caused by my ambitions and desires coming to nothing? These things—fame, gain and status—had become deeply rooted within me, and if I didn’t resolve them, I could be dominated by them and controlled by them at any time, any place, and would become their puppet, bound up and unable to break free. How then would I be saved by God? At that moment, I understood that God’s arrangement of this situation was targeted at my inner fatal weakness, and that, in a practical way, God was saving me from corruption and from the harm of Satan. At that moment, my heart became filled with gratitude for God, and I wished to gain a deeper knowledge of my own nature and essence by means of the situation I was in, so that I could have my disposition changed as soon as could be. I came before God and prayed: “Oh, God! How can I understand the essence of fame, gain and status so as to have a change and never again be harmed by my corrupt disposition? Oh, God, I want You to guide me!” After I’d prayed, these words of God came to mind: “A corrupt satanic disposition is very deeply rooted in people, it is their life, and so what is the pursuit of a human? What do people want to gain? Under the driving force of a corrupt satanic disposition, what are people’s ideals, hopes, ambitions, and life goals and directions? Aren’t they contrary to positive things? Firstly, people always want to be stars, famous people, or famous actors. Are these positive things? They wish to gain great fame and prestige, to bring honor to their ancestors, which is not at all in line with positive things. In addition, this runs counter to the law of God’s rule over mankind’s fate” (“Only Seeking the Truth and Obeying God Can Resolve a Corrupt Disposition” in Records of Christ’s Talks). Also, a passage from a sermon came to mind: “Why is man so interested in status, reputation and good, material things? What’s this about? This is Satan’s corruption. What are those famous sayings of Satan? “The worth of other pursuits is small, the study of books excels them all,” and “Those with brains rule over those with brawn.” Everybody wants to be the chief, and no one wants to be the Indian. After people accept these ideas, they then desperately pursue so-called progress, they seek to surpass other people, to distinguish themselves, to be officials and to get academic diplomas. But that is not the fate of some people; some people pursue these things to the very end but they still don’t get them, with the result that they take it too hard and kill themselves” (“How Does God Save Corrupt Mankind” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (III)). From God’s words and the sermon, I saw that, after mankind had been corrupted by Satan, our outlook on life, our values and the goals we pursue all became incompatible with God, and I saw that these things were harming people most deeply. I reflected that, ever since I was little, I’d been taught to pursue to be top dog, and such satanic life philosophies as “Rise above others and bring honor to one’s ancestors,” “Alive, be man of men; dead, be soul of souls,” and “People struggle to go upward, but water flows downward” had already subtly entered my heart, become my life and become the root of my conduct as a person. No matter what group of people I was in, I always sought to be extraordinary and sought to be a celebrity, a leader, an organizer, to have the power to make decisions, and never to be content to be below other people or to be restricted or controlled by them. I recalled how, after I began to believe in God, I still continued to pursue reputation and status as I had before, and no matter what work I was doing, I always did it before men, so that my brothers and sisters and the leaders and workers could see it. I wanted to hear favorable comments about me from other people and to hold a place in their hearts. As long as I had status or I could make brothers and sisters sit up and take notice of me, I was willing to suffer anything. … Only now did I see clearly that I was totally enslaved to status, that I was so tightly constrained and bound by status and could hardly breathe. It was precisely these corrupt dispositions within me that had led me to be unable to obey God’s sovereignty. In my belief in God, I always wanted to be a “superman” or someone of talent. The moment the desires of my flesh were unsatisfied, my heart became pained and distressed. Having come to this understanding, I had no wish to degenerate in this way any longer, so I came before God to seek the path of practice and entry, and I read these words of God: “The functions are not the same. There is one body. Each does his duty, each in his place and doing his very best—for each spark there is one flash of light—and seeking maturity in life. Thus will I be satisfied” (“The Twenty-first Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Also, in a sermon, it says: “Be content with your lot, pursue the truth in earnest and perform your duty well—this is the best way to live, and you will not live wearisomely. No matter what duty we do in God’s family or what position we occupy, so long as we can live out the truth, satisfy God, and can worship God normally, then this is the happiest way to live” (“The Significance of Obeying God” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (I)). From God’s words and these words in the sermon, I understood that there is no distinction between high and low and there is no division between great and small in the performance of duties, but merely that work is allocated out differently. No matter what duty I do, they are all commissions God gives to me, they are all a responsibility and a burden that must be borne. I am someone who has been corrupted so deeply by Satan and who has not a hint of true obedience to God. By God’s mercy and lenience, I still have the opportunity to work for the church and do my part, and this is something so worthwhile. I understand now that only obeying God’s sovereignty and arrangements, seeking the truth in the people, matters and things that befall me every day, the ability to understand and gain the truth and having true knowledge of God are the best goals to be pursued! Through God’s words and the sermon, I came to understand a little about God’s will and about what I should be pursuing, and I became willing to set my mind to typing up those documents. After that, I saw these words of God that say: “Where you will go every day, what you will do, who or what you will encounter, what you will say, what will happen to you—can any of this be predicted? People cannot foresee all these occurrences, much less control how they develop. In life, these unforeseeable events happen all the time, and they are an everyday occurrence. These daily vicissitudes and the ways they unfold, or the patterns by which they play out, are constant reminders to humanity that nothing happens at random, that these things’ ramifications, and their inevitability, cannot be shifted by human will. Every happening conveys an admonition from the Creator to mankind, and it also sends the message that human beings cannot control their own fates; at the same time every event is a rebuttal to humanity’s wild, futile ambition and desire to take its fate into its own hands. They are like powerful slaps about humanity’s ears one after another, forcing people to reconsider who, in the end, governs and controls their fate. And as their ambitions and desires are repeatedly thwarted and shattered, humans naturally arrive at an unconscious acceptance of what fate has in store, an acceptance of reality, of the will of Heaven and the Creator’s sovereignty. From these daily vicissitudes to the fates of entire human lives, there is nothing that does not reveal the Creator’s plans and His sovereignty; there is nothing that does not send the message that ‘the Creator’s authority cannot be exceeded,’ that does not convey the eternal truth that ‘the Creator’s authority is supreme’” (“God Himself, the Unique III” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I also thought of some words in a sermon: “If we seek the truth then we’ll be able to gain the truth no matter what the situation. This is our aim in life and it is the meaning of life. By understanding the truth and understanding God’s will through all manner of things, we can come to know God in our lives, we can gain the truth, we can ultimately bear good witness for God and we can live meaningful lives.” (“Sermons and Fellowship Concerning God’s Words ‘God Himself, the Unique III’ (V)” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (XIII)). Contemplating God’s words and the words in the sermon, I gradually came to have some understanding of God’s will. During this time, my leader said on more than one occasion that it would be arranged for me to go do the new duty, but my wish never materialized. This situation made me see clearly that I was so focused on reputation and status. The moment my ambitions and desires were left unsatisfied, my heart became pained and distressed, and living under the domain of Satan I was completely without freedom. Even though I wanted to obey God, because I hadn’t truly gained truth and life, my corrupt disposition was still frequently expressing itself and disturbing my normal state, and so I was unable to obey God. Only now do I have a deep appreciation of how deeply corrupted by Satan I am, and that I certainly need this kind of trial and refining by God in order to be purified. God was using practical refinement to compel me to seek the truth, to learn to understand God’s will and to comprehend the thoughtful intentions of God in arranging these situations for me. When the day comes when I can truly feel God’s love, and will say, “I can obey God,” only then will those words come from the bottom of my heart and only that will be the truest obedience. Undergoing these situations God had arranged for me, I had unconsciously come to some true appreciation of how God dominates and orchestrates the people, matters and things around me and how He wrought the truth into my heart. My knowledge of God also increased somewhat, and I now feel that obeying God and obeying the situations God orchestrates is indeed a prerequisite for gaining the truth and entering into reality. Only by learning to seek the truth, understand the truth and practice the truth in the situations God arranges, as well as having knowledge of God, can one’s heart be at ease and at peace—this way of living is most meaningful and worthy. After I’d come to have some knowledge of God’s words, from my heart I truly accepted the typing duty, and I prayed and relied on God, pondering how I could do this duty well. When I was no longer constrained by reputation and status and put my heart to performing my duty, I felt God guiding me, and living before God every day, I felt so at ease in my heart. What I hadn’t expected was that, once I had become truly obedient, the church really did arrange for me to do the new duty. I really saw how righteous God’s disposition is. While I was being disobedient, God used reality to counter my conceptions and imaginings time and time again, thus allowing me to see the painstaking effort God was putting into saving me. When I had realized my own rebelliousness and corruption and I had let go of it somewhat from my heart, God wasted no time in giving me a chance to perform a duty so that I could be trained. God’s work is so wise, so wonderful, and the grace of God’s salvation is so great!
During this period, my corrupt disposition was exposed thoroughly and incisively in the people, matters, things and situations God arranged. Through seeking the truth and under the enlightenment and guidance of God’s words, I gradually came to understand God’s will and to realize that God was trying to save me. Only through this experience did I see that the ambition and desire to pursue status had such a powerful hold on me; status had caused me to vacillate between joy and sorrow, and the fetters of status had caused me to become totally enslaved to Satan. Yet God never gave up trying to save me, He still had mercy on me, and based on my needs and my shortcomings, He arranged the appropriate people, matters, things and situations to change me and purify me. Thank You God!
Thanks for listening. All the glory be to Almighty God!
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Systems can use several strategies to combat burnout in a supportive, interactive way. A rapid-response team can be a useful tool in identifying those at risk of burning out.
ABSTRACT: Physician wellness and burnout are critical aspects of the current climate of optimizing provider health. About half of all physicians show some sign of burnout in their practice: exhaustion, depersonalization, loss of personal accomplishment. Systems can use several strategies to combat it in a supportive and interactive way. And a rapid-response team can be a useful tool in identifying professionals at risk of burning out as well as expedient solutions.
“Physician, heal thyself” is a tall order, sometimes. Every day, physicians are tasked with a number of mandates, whether they are self-imposed or imposed by those to whom we must answer.
Perhaps the CEO and the department head have asked physicians to participate in a Lean process designed to improve throughput in the emergency department. There is a directive to improve waiting room times, decrease door-to-doctor times, and decrease the length of stay in the department. Or perhaps an office manager has asked to meet with you to discuss your lack of improvement on maintaining your schedule and the number of patients per hour you must see to maintain your satisfaction scores. Or maybe the director of nursing wants to discuss adherence to the early goal-directed therapy for sepsis in the hospital. Metrics indicate that the nursing staff is having a difficult time with its compliance to the mandated goals because physicians are not entering orders in the electronic medical record in a timely fashion.
By shifting our approach to burnout from one of reaction to one of prevention, burnout can be reduced significantly or averted altogether. When institutions or medical groups develop a proactive curriculum for approaching this problem, with an aggressive focus on prevention, burnout levels can be reduced.
Exhaustion is feelings of emotional depletion, fatigue at work and frustration, and perhaps finding it hard to care how your patients feel. As we become depersonalized, we become detached from our work. Sympathy and empathy are lost, and patients are seen as an entity and their problems are now a source of frustration to us. Personal accomplishment is lost as we no longer feel we’re rewarded for our hard work and passion. Personal interactions with other caregivers can suffer over time. A provider is no longer as productive as in the past. The ability to multitask becomes strained, and physicians suffer cognitively.
Healing thyself, therefore, requires not only the self-awareness of possible illness or burnout, but the motivation to do something about it. This self-awareness can be crucial to an individual’s self-diagnosis.
West, et al., have designed a simple self-assessment for burnout.3 Using a six-point evaluation system, a score can be established that will point the provider to an approximate degree of burnout and dissatisfaction. The biggest obstacle to success with such a system is getting the survey into the hands of the physicians. Physicians are well-motivated to help their patients, but they often lack the insight and inspiration to recognize their own shortcomings.
Physicians in specialties at the front line of care — emergency, internal and family medicine — are at the greatest risk of suffering from burnout.4 It can be assumed that a natural extension of either internal medicine or family medicine would include hospitalists, as they are also under the same system constraints. A Lancet article by Wallace, et al., includes discussion of a missing metric that we might be failing to capture.5 It’s not patient satisfaction or post-operative infection or readmission rate, but simply physician wellness.
Physicians are trained to think by protocols and algorithms. An algorithm as designed by Wallace can allow the physician leader follow and understand all the subtle, yet tangible, forces that can align to work against physicians on their paths to wellness (see chart).
By shifting our approach to burnout from one of reaction to one of prevention, burnout can be reduced significantly or averted altogether. When institutions or medical groups develop a proactive curriculum for approaching this problem, with an aggressive focus on prevention, burnout levels can be reduced.7 By planning or inviting physicians to participate in a physician wellness small-group curriculum, providers can effectively battle burnout.
The academic community long has recognized that physicians in training are at great risk for malignant disease.7 In a 2000-14 study, 324 individuals (220 men, 104 women) died while in residency. The leading cause of death was neoplastic disease, followed by suicide. For male residents, the leading cause of death was suicide; for female residents, malignancies. It has been argued that because these young physicians are so busy caring for others, they are too busy to care for themselves and they do not receive the same degree of health maintenance we prescribe our own patients. This study concluded that providing trainees with a supportive environment, and with medical and mental health services, is integral to reducing preventable deaths and fostering a healthy physician workforce.
What approaches might we employ to effectively prevent or treat physician burnout? Another way to ask the question is: “How do we get the physician to participate in his or her own mental health maintenance?” The answer might be as simple as creating a twofold process: The first is to use prevention, and the second is to outline a process for treatment.
Through ongoing discussion, individuals are more likely to recognize the signs of burnout and stress in themselves and their colleagues. Education about the risks and causes of burnout, as well as an open understanding that it can occur in anyone, is key. By discussing it, we are more apt to treat it.
Creating an environment that allows providers to seek help is paramount. In an environment where it’s expected to seek a solution before it’s too late, an accepting and healthy environment can be maintained. Teaching practitioners simple techniques to combat stress and pressure can help resolve everyday stressors.
Mindfulness training can be taught in a brief, well-designed classroom environment. Individuals learn the triggers that might set off stress and learn to deal instantly with the situation and solution. Pausing briefly in the work environment to deal with in-the-moment stress can be done easily, but it requires training and a realization that certain triggers are present. Some digital watches and exercise devices can be programmed to detect a rise in pulse and indicate a need to reduce stress.
Contemporary research says participation in a mindfulness communication program is associated with both short-term and sustained improvements in the well-being and attitudes associated with patient-centered care.12 By structuring small-group study, physicians can be taught to take time out of their day to learn how to practice mindfulness. Employing techniques of meditation, self-awareness exercises and narratives about meaningful clinical experiences can lead to measurable outcomes. These outcomes can reflect not only improved provider satisfaction, but also can lead to better patient care. Simply said, happier doctors lead to happier patients.
Coaching can be elaborate or simple. Much like mindfulness, a simple solution might be programming a watch or exercise tracker to tell the user to take breaks, stand up or breathe when an elevated heart rate is detected. Some coaching systems are more complex.19 Many career coaches are more than willing to take on new clients and counsel providers as they come forward. These coaches may be employed by the system, which can be defined as the employees of a small office, a group of regional medical centers or a geographic area.
More elaborate and intense programs exist for providers at risk of career burnout. These multistep, intense programs can dissect triggers and personality traits and provide solutions for improvement. These often require testing, interviews and classroom time to build a better response to situations. Providers must be motivated and dedicated to finding a personal solution.
Some providers might prefer confidential help. An ideal alternative for such confidential help is a separate medical society supported by private funds. Medical societies aimed at serving providers can design programs that improve wellness and can cooperate with private or large groups. Several wellness programs are starting to cross system lines for the health and safety of the providers they serve. Fast, confidential and low-cost alternatives for counseling or coaching should be available to providers.
Success in these programs must not only be supported by the provider’s employer but also the medical board at the state level. Many medical boards realize the wellness of the providers they serve is paramount to their success.
Self-awareness is a key strategy to physician resilience.21 As we learn more about ourselves and how we react to certain stressors in our everyday work environment, we can improve our own overall health. As with the programmable watches mentioned above, we can become more keenly aware of situations or events that distress us and program a response.
If we envision each of the aforementioned tools as making up the “wellness toolbox,” we will provide physicians with access to much of what they need for success.
Many health care systems have embraced the “Triple Aim” concept — enhancing the patient experience, improving population health and reducing costs. A novel addendum to the Triple Aim for health systems is adding a fourth aim of improving the work life of clinicians and staff — to make work more enjoyable.23 These solutions need not be costly to the system. Partnering with community and local resources can be an inexpensive alternative to the internal costs of providing these programs. For example, partnering with local health clubs for reduced rates for providers can make access to exercise more readily available. Work life improvements might be hard to define, but they’re a goal worth having.
My proposal for physician success involves one final addition to the numerous ideas outlined above. With my training as an emergency physician, I am often the first to arrive at a critical situation as a team leader in patient resuscitation. Critical and rapid response to the threatened provider should be no different.
Whether organizations recognize burnout in a provider, or a physician has a self-realization they need help, a third group might emerge. This group includes providers who either are not aware they suffer from burnout or they are unwilling to admit they might suffer from it. This group might also increase in size by referral from other parts of the organization. Colleagues who suspect a provider is heading toward burnout can offer to intervene on behalf of their associate.
Complaints of exhaustion, depersonalization and a loss of personal accomplishment are all signs of burnout. To many close associates, these complaints may be recognizable as out of place or uncharacteristic of the provider with whom they are familiar. Education about burnout for all providers will make it easier to identify these traits in a teammate and prompt collegial referral.
In medicine, black humor serves as a defense mechanism for providers. An increase in such humor might be a sign of impending burnout. Also, providers might become aware of their own burnout only after a patient’s or nurse’s complaint. It might also be brought to light after a bad outcome. Professional practice committees are often made aware of trends in complaints as well as undesirable medical outcomes, and providers who have a spike in complaints, complications or adverse outcomes might, in fact, be heading toward burnout.
In emergency medicine and critical care, we are trained to form rapid-response teams to react to patients with the slightest of abnormal vital signs or symptoms. We call for all hands to respond to a potentially devastating illness or event. In a rapid-response situation, all caregivers are called to help the team save a patient.
But what if physician complaints or events involving poor outcomes also triggered a rapid response? The response team could be composed of multiple specialty members, and perhaps counselors trained to combat stress. In addition, medical colleagues who have gone through mindfulness training and coaching could respond to the provider. The coach might also serve as a mentor to that provider. Lastly, someone from the human resources team could determine what the system has to offer to aid recovery.
It might be difficult to quickly and efficiently determine if a complaint is simply that, or if something greater lies beneath the surface. A rapid-response team for provider wellness has merit. Many hospital and medical organizations have a wellness committee or a provider governance council that can identify these potential providers. Referrals from these committees might be career-saving, but pushback might also be problematic. It is fraught with a potential for resistance. By nature, physicians have been shown to resist the notion of imperfection.
The key to success is a change in culture that gives providers the freedom to ask for or seek help. That is easier in a system that embraces physician wellness. By changing the system’s culture, providers will be more willing to accept help. If the providers in the system also are given the tools to be well, and know how to use these tools, the job will be easier. Provider buy-in must be slowly and deliberately introduced to avoid the feeling of forced or obligatory change.
Many systems introduce the benefits of emotional or psychological help at the time of hiring or orientation. Just as providers meet with the medical staff office to get their parking permit, ID badge and computer training, incorporating wellness options at the time of orientation makes sense. A 30-minute session at the beginning of a provider’s employment is free from the bias that might be perceived by providers as reactionary. Familiarity with the system of help at the onset of joining an organization lessens the impact of asking for help later. Research also has shown that testing medical personnel before they begin employment can help predict responses to stressful situations.24 This may set up a system and an individual for success rather than failure.
To combat provider burnout, a cultural shift must be undertaken by the entire system. It must be aimed at improving the daily lives of providers. By fostering a culture that recognizes the potential of burnout and teaches providers about it, burnout might be avoided. In a culture of acceptance and nurturing, those tuned into recognizing stress in others might even recognize it in themselves and act accordingly — and perhaps seek their own help.
In a healthy system, burnout can be avoided. We must be willing to truly understand burnout and physician wellness and combat it with a team approach in a supportive system.
Matthew Michael Eschelbach, MS, DO, CPE, FACEP, FAAPL, is the medical director of physician relations and undergraduate medical education of St. Charles Health System in Bend, Oregon.
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Daniels AH, DePasse JM, Kamal RN. Orthopaedic surgeon burnout: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 24(4):213-9, Apr. 2016. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-15-00148. Review. PubMed PMID:26885712.
West CP, Dyrbye LN, et al. Single item measures of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are useful for assessing burnout in medical professionals. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 24(12):1318-21, Dec. 2009. doi:10.1007/s11606-009-1129-z.
Shanafelt TD, Boone S, et al. Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among US physicians relative to the general US population. Arch Intern Med. 172(18):1377-85, Oct. 8, 2012. PubMed PMID: 22911330.
Wallace JE, Lemaire JB, Ghali WA. Physician wellness: a missing quality indicator. Lancet, 374(9702): 1714-21, Nov. 14, 2009.
McClafferty H, Brown OW; Section on Integrative Medicine.; Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine.; Section on Integrative Medicine. Physician health and wellness. Pediatrics. 134(4):830-5, Oct. 2014. doi:10.1542/peds.2014-2278. PubMed PMID: 25266440.
Siedsma M, Emlet L. Physician burnout: can we make a difference together? Crit Care 19:273, July2017. doi: 10.1186/s13054-015-0990-x.PubMedPMID: 26134266; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4489124.
Yaghmour NA, Brigham TP, et al. Causes of death of residents in ACGME-accredited programs 2000 through 2014: implications for the learning environment. Acad Med. 92(7):976-83, July 2017.
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Timothy Brigham, MDiv, PhD on Physician Well-Being. acgme.org/What-We-Do/Initiatives/Physician-Well-Being/Timothy-Brigham-MDiv-PhD-on-Physician-Well-Being. Undated.
Luchterhand C, Rakel D, et al. Creating a culture of mindfulness in medicine. WMJ Jun;114(3):105-9, June 2015. PubMed PMID: 27073828.
Kelly JD. Your best life: mindfulness — the end of suffering. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 473(2):426-9, Feb. 2015. doi: 10.1007/s11999-014-4086-8. PubMed PMID: 25571887; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4294884.
Krasner MS, Epstein RM, et al. Association of an educational program in mindful communication with burnout, empathy, and attitudes among primary care physicians. JAMA. 302(12):1284-93, Sept. 23, 2009. doi: 10.1001/jama.2009.1384.
Beckman HB, Wendland M, et al. The impact of a program in mindful communication on primary care physicians. Acad Med. 87(6):815-9, June 2012. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e318253d3b2. PubMed PMID: 22534599.
Atanes AC, Andreoni S, et al. Mindfulness, perceived stress, and subjective well-being: a correlational study in primary care health professionals. BMC Complement Altern Med. 15:303, Sept. 2, 2015. doi: 10.1186/s12906-015-0823-0. PubMed PMID:26329810; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4557919.
Kotozaki Y, Takeuchi H, et al. Biofeedback-based training for stress management in daily hassles: an intervention study. Brain Behav. 4(4):566-79, July 2014. doi: 10.1002/brb3.241. PubMed PMID: 25161823; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4128038.
Balk JL, Chung SC, et al. Brief relaxation training program for hospital employees. Hosp Top. 87(4):8-13, Fall 2009. doi: 10.1080/00185860903271884. PubMed PMID: 19917546.
Fortney L, Luchterhand C, et al. Abbreviated mindfulness intervention for job satisfaction, quality of life and compassion in primary care clinicians: a pilot study. Ann Fam Med; 11(5):412-20, Sept-Oct. 2013. doi: 10.1370/afm.1511. PubMed PMID: 24019272; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3767709.
Gazelle G, Liebschutz JM, Riess H. Physician burnout: coaching a way out. J Gen Intern Med. 30(4):508-13, Apr. 2015. doi: 10.1007/s11606-014-3144-y. Review. PubMed PMID: 25527340; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4371007.
Linzer M, Levine R, et al. 10 bold steps to prevent burnout in general internal medicine. J Gen Intern Med. 29(1):18-20, Jan. 2014. doi: 10.1007/s11606-013-2597-8. PubMed PMID: 24002633;PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3889939.
Epstein RM, Krasner MS. Physician resilience: what it means, why it matters and how to promote it. Acad Med. 88(3):301-3, Mar. 2013. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e318280cff0. PubMed PMID: 23442430.
Leary MR, Tate EB, et al. Self-compassion and reactions to unpleasant self-relevant events: the implications of treating oneself kindly. Pers Soc Psychol. 92(5):887-904, May 2007.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 47(6):1001-11, June 2012. doi:10.1007/s00127-011-0408-2. | 2019-04-20T16:49:01Z | https://www.physicianleaders.org/news/proposed-review-fix-physician-burnout |
Off we go to an exciting new school year!
We're moving into our 41st season, now — with a great slate of productions on the schedule, a group of students full of potential, and a faculty and staff that is recharged and ready to mentor them to achieve to their fullest.
Before we completely leave last year’s anniversary celebrations behind us, though, I want to draw your attention to a recording you can listen to down below.
Professor Emerita Virginia Scott and Professor June Gaeke, who were on hand (at various points) for the founding and early history of the department and have been friends for much of that time, sat down with Public Relations Director Anna-Maria Goossens to talk about time in our history. I’m so grateful to them for sharing with those of us who weren’t part of that moment. The full interview will eventually become part of the department’s library archives, but for we’ve created a 13-minute podcast in which they talk about some of the highlights in our founding and early years. Our thanks to Amy Altadonna, our lecturer in sound design, for helping us edit 2 hours of conversation into this podcast. Listen below.
Now, I am thrilled to share great news about some of the amazing people who occupy the offices in the faculty hallway.
For starters, Chris Baker, who has been on our faculty for five years, has a new position. He is now an assistant professor of dramaturgy and this is awesome news. Chris has been part of our family for a while in various capacities, much of that time doubling as a member of Hartford Stage. It’s thanks to him that we’ve forged a great relationship with that company, which has offered a number of our graduate students wonderful internship opportunities. It’s a thrill to have him with us as a full-time tenure-track faculty member. We’ve got an official introduction to him below.
We also are blessed to have Judyie Al-Bilali ‘01G, join our faculty as an Assistant Professor in Performance and Theater for Social Change, in a joint appointment with the Commonwealth Honors College. We talked to her in February’s issue of Stages, when she came here to direct Suzan-Lori Parks’ Venus, so if you need to catch up on Judyie's life since she graduated from our department, visit that issue. At the time of that interview she spoke about her life-changing work in South Africa. Her commitment to theater for social change, through her Brown Paper Studio, combined with her talents as a director, is what she’s bringing to us as a faculty member now, and we’re thrilled to have her.
Another new face this year is Lena Cuomo, joining us as a Lecturer in Performance. She’s a talented performer with theater and dance in her background, and we are looking forward to the contributions she will make to the Department of Theater. Her bio is here.
I want to also welcome two additional people who are year-long guests: Sheila Siragusa ‘03G, here to teach performance, and John O’Neal of Junebug Productions, who is our resident playwright.
When you have a moment, you should also check out our list of guest artists — we have an impressive list of folks coming to the department for short-term engagements to teach, lead workshops, and share their talents.
On a sadder note, we were so sorry to note the passing of a valued member of the Department of Theater, graduate student in dramaturgy Jason Lites. A few of his friends from his time here share memories, below, and I want to add my voice to theirs in regretting his much-too-early passing. Jason was a valued member of our theater community and he is missed.
We are slowly but surely wrapping up the Shed the Shag part of our campaign to upgrade the Rand Lobby. It’s been fun, funny, and inspiring, and we thank all who played a part in making it a success.
Over this past year, we have been blown away by the generosity of our donors. They make it possible for us to turn ideas into reality, and we couldn’t be more grateful. As we have for several years now, we will be profiling some of these folks throughout the year, because they’re not only generous, they’re really interesting people. We start the year with a conversation with Mathew Sgan ’56. As someone whose career path included time working in fundraising, he knows well the value of charitable giving.
Sgan’s connection to theater predates the founding of the Department — he is among those lucky enough to have taken courses with the man for whom our Rand Theater is named. Now mostly retired and living in Hawaii, he nonetheless stays up to date on UMass happenings, and has donated to the department for many years. Distance precluded us from meeting him in person, so the following has been edited from an exchange of emails.
A favorite UMass Theater memory: I was in a number of productions. My most memorable experiences were as a cast member in Shaw's Arms and the Man and Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot. I also directed the winning interclass play (one act) in 1954. I have many fond memories of participating in theatrical productions and the student group Roister Doisters at UMass.
Why do you donate to the Department of Theater? I would like UMass students to be exposed to theatrical opportunities and to theatrical experiences, either as production participants or as appreciative audience members. Too many, I think, have never had that experience and, if they don't have an opportunity to do so at UMass, will not appreciate how enjoyable and educational stage productions are. When I read about the performances, alumni, faculty, and staff associated with the UMass Department of Theater, I am impressed with their accomplishments.
Stages: What brought you to UMass?
Sgan: As a good student in high school, I was accepted at various colleges. UMass met most of the factors that I was seeking in higher education. It was affordable, comfortable as to size (3000 students at the time!), and far enough from home. That factor would enhance my goal to be more independent as a young adult.
I reviewed the catalog and found that the program of general education and majors provided the learning opportunity that I desired. I also liked the variety of extracurricular activities (sports, fraternities, theater) that were mentioned. I visited campus and found it was what I wanted in terms of the students I met, the physical layout of the campus, and the interview I had with the Director of Admissions. I made my decision based on those factors.
Stages: Can you tell me a little about what UMass was like when you were there? UMass had become the University of Massachusetts just a few years prior to your arrival. As a student, did you have a sense of this being a growing place or taking a new direction?
Sgan: Prior to being called the University of Massachusetts, the university was called Massachusetts State College (MSC), I believe. That name (MSC) replaced an earlier designation which was Massachusetts Agricultural College.
Yes, I did feel that a new direction and an improving educational environment was on the horizon. We were fortunate in that post-WWII higher education in general was experiencing growth, that no nonsense veterans were taking advantage of available GI benefits, and that some state educational leaders were finally standing up for better pay and benefits for public higher education staff and faculty.
Stages: You were at UMass when theater was an extracurricular activity — what was your involvement with theater?
Sgan: I tried out and appeared in most productions. I also worked backstage whenever possible. I was a member of the student group Roister Doisters that provided funds and volunteers for the productions. I am very grateful to Professor Arthur Niedick and Doris Abramson for their roles in encouraging theatrical activities for the entire UMass community and for their teaching and mentoring efforts for me.
I was able to take a drama course with Dr. Rand as an undergraduate. I remember it fondly since it opened up so many avenues of thought for me. I still remember his explanation that Sartre's No Exit meant that some scoundrels were meant to spend an eternity in hell. Even the solitude of death was denied to them for their sins! Sounds simple enough now, but at the time it made an important impact on my attitude about a lot of matters from study habits to values clarification.
Stages: Based on your online biography, you explored several different directions during your career: higher education and fundraising, as well as your work on sports history. Can you talk a little about the roots of those various interests?
Sgan: I have had very varied career pattern. I wanted to be part of higher education and went to Cornell University for a Ph.D. I then worked at the University of Minnesota and Brandeis University as an administrator and Dean. Later, I left higher education and started a business career.
I also explored my interest in the development of sports in America. The prominence of Boston and New England in that development led to an endeavor to establish a Museum of Sports for that area. The descendant of that activity is now located at the T.D. Bankworth Garden in Boston. In 2009, I published The Boston Book of Sports: From Puritans to Professionals. I played football and lacrosse at UMass and for over 30 years, I officiated football, lacrosse, and soccer at many levels.
Finally, I returned to higher education as a fundraiser for UMass and other Hillels throughout New England. After moving to Hawaii, I was hired to lead the endeavor to raise the public and private funds needed to rebuild the USS Arizona Visitor Center at Pearl Harbor. Our fundraising team was able to secure the $54 million dollars necessary to complete that project successfully. It represents a fine third act to my life.
Stages: Do you still have connections with friends you met at UMass?
Sgan: Yes, I do have have some contact with fraternity brothers and with members of a now defunct Men's Honor Society, Adelphia, which I was privileged to be a member of during my senior year. Living in Hawaii has limited such contacts and visits to the campus, but every once in a while I hear from UMass related people.
On the death of my friend and classmate Norman Rothstein, I led a fundraising effort in his memory. We appeared in many theatrical productions together. After graduation, Norm was a producer and general manager for more than 40 years on and off Broadway. The funds raised were used to update the sound system at The Curtain Theater.
Earlier this summer, as part of our continuing look at the history of the Department of Theater, we asked Professor June Gaeke and Professor Emerita Virginia Scott to talk to us about their time in the department. Scott was here from 1970 to 1973 when the discussions and then the paperwork to become an independent department were on-going and then returned in 1977 to shape the dramaturgy graduate program, where she remained until her retirement. Gaeke arrived in 1972 and has been here ever since as the Department of Theater’s costume designer; she played an integral part in designing the department’s initial liberal arts curriculum.
Between the two of them, the long-time colleagues and friends know much of the story of the department’s founding and early days, so we asked them to talk about that time.
Below, you can click to listen to their recollections as they spoke to public relations manager Anna-Maria Goossens about the early philosophy of the department, its involvement with professional theater, and some memorable moments from the stage and the classroom.
The conversation begin with Scott and Goossens, and Gaeke joins in.
Many, many thanks to Professor Amy Altadonna, Lecturer in Sound Design and Technology, for editing these clips together from the original 2 hours of recorded material.
Newly-appointed Assistant Professor of Theater Chris Baker is not a new face to the Department. His connections to UMass Theater have been building for some time, from a family connection to an initial professional contact, and through a half-dozen years teaching here in various capacities that led eventually to his current appointment.
While here, he has worked with theater novices taking their first dramaturgy classes and mentored graduate students who are preparing to enter the field of dramaturgy professionally. He finds in teaching that same opportunity to spur a moment of realization in his students that he delights in bringing to the rehearsal room as a dramaturg.
“Certainly, it was because I also had interests in writing,” he said about his initial attraction to dramaturgy. Baker has written creatively and produced critical and research work. In addition, he’s acted and directed. His strength, however, is in production dramaturgy.
“It’s an exciting thing to really know what’s going on in the process at any moment, to be not just informed but to understand where the artist is at any point,” he said.
Because he’s not responsible in the same way a director or designer is, he “can be the person who says ‘What if?’” and perhaps be an agent for bringing a greater understanding or new direction to a project.
“The most fun is to work on a production that has a lot of questions at the beginning, that has a lot of messiness,” he said.
One of the most challenging and rewarding productions was one in which a playwright was adapting a Greek classic — and then had to leave the project after getting about a third of the way through it. Baker and his colleagues, still committed to the production, carried on without the playwright, continuing not only to adapt the piece, but to do so in the playwright’s style.
“It was kind of like the student who has to paint the Rembrandt,” he said.
Baker did not leap immediately into dramaturgy — his original ambition was to be onstage. Baker attended Northwestern University in Chicago as an undergraduate, where he pursued acting but also varied interests such as directing and writing. While there, he met Linda Walsh Jenkins, a renowned writer, instructor, and dramaturg, who was one of his mentors and introduced him to dramaturgy.
After graduation, he and several of his friends (including fellow Northwestern alumnus Stephen Colbert, founded a theater company in Chicago. Both before and after the company split up, Baker worked as an actor.
As he shifted away from thinking of himself as an actor, however, he found himself increasingly drawn to dramaturgical work. An internship at the Goodman Theatre confirmed for him that, yes, this was a direction he wanted to take.
From that internship he went to the ART Institute in Boston for an MA. A connection landed him a position at a theater in Houston after graduation. He has been working ever since, with the exception of a break to return to ART and its Moscow program to take the classes necessary for an MFA. Fourteen years of that time was spent at Hartford Stage in various capacities.
Baker had been aware of UMass for some time due to its dramaturgy department’s status as one of the oldest in the country. His wife, Michelle Hendrick ’95, is an alumna, and her stories of her time here further piqued his interest. When they moved to the area and Baker began working at Hartford Stage, be began his informal contact with UMass.
Throughout his time there, Baker has been instrumental in formalizing and fostering the ties between the organizations. Graduate students in directing, design and dramaturgy took advantage of the opportunity to work with professionals in their fields. Although he’s now no longerat Hartford Stage, Baker remains keenly interested in bringing UMass students there for the valuable professional and resume-building experience the internships offer.
Although years and experience separate the members of the introductory classes from the graduate students he works with, Baker finds connections between the two experiences.
“Those gateway courses are really, really important because when you teach those you really can talk about what is theater, how do you read a play — and I also find that the questions that you’re attempting to answer are really the same ones you do when you’re having artistic meetings about a show or about what plays are supposed to go into a season, or even in tech,” he said. When you’re working on a production, he explained, the questions can be very specific or engaged with the foundational ideas of the art of theater.
With graduate students, meanwhile, Baker loves the fact that they have greater experience and that they’re taking their first steps into the professional world.
A few of Jason's friends shared thoughts about him upon his passing this summer. We are sorry to lose such a creative and warm member of our community.
In addition to being a dear friend, Jason was my most frequent collaborator during our time together at UMass, working on two main stage and three 204 projects together. He was a true renaissance man, a man of the theater: a talented performer, a great critic and collaborator, a budding playwright. Spending time with Jason was like having my very own pocket encyclopedia of American Musical Theatre; we would spend hours watching, listening, and discussing. I learned so much from him, not to mention the huge contribution he made to my theatre video collection. I remain inspired by his passion for the theatre and his tenacious spirit. We were just texting about the TONY awards not even a month before he passed. Jason was very close to finishing a graduate degree at Texas A&M, and was actively writing plays; his most recent based on Delia Bacon, a conspiracy theorist on the Shakespeare authorship question. I miss his dry humor every single day.
Attached is a picture that I think shows Jason. Quirky, loving, and fun. His head-rubs were great! This was at an Oscar party that he and Laura held at their apartment in 2009.
When I arrived at UMASS, Jason was the first person to give me a huge welcoming hug. He had a gift for bolstering people with his spirited playfulness. That's just the kind of guy he was. Open, warm, funny, thoughtful, inclusive, passionate, and kind. Ready with a smile, a laugh, or some musical theatre trivia. In this sad time, I count myself lucky to have known his generous spirit and join the UMASS Theater Department in extending heartfelt condolences to his loved ones and family.
Dramaturgy students interact with PR more than any of the other graduate areas, and Jason worked with me a number of times. He was an engaging presence when we headed to schools to deliver pre-show workshops to kids planning to attend our student matinees. I never saw him hesitate to jump in, even on the silliest ice-breaker games. He also created one of my favorite bits of audience outreach ever — when we did Burial At Thebes, he created a “tourism” website for Thebes — complete with fake hacked pages from protestors sympathizing with Antigone.
Professor Amy Altadonna had news about herself and one of her students: “Sean Buenaventura did a sound internship with an esteemed designer at Idaho Shakes! I did a play in NYC (reviewed by the Times) called The Capables. It featured Dale Soules of the original cast of Hair on Broadway. I also completed design and mix of a short film called The Ticket Seller, and I did the design, mix and original music for a feature film called Salesgirl.” Amy also designed sound for Everything Is Ours, also playing in New York.
Faculty member Harley Erdman wrote the libretto for Garden of Martyrs, a new opera that opened in September at Northampton’s Academy of Music. Also involved in the production are current lecturers Margo Caddell and Sheila Siragusa.
Julia Lisa ’13 headed west shortly after graduation, and sent us an update. “I am working for CBS Studios as the Wardrobe Production Assistant on Entertainment Tonight and OMG! Insider. I am also the costume designer for a new play called With This Ring by Greg Bowyer, which he wants to make into a movie eventually. This past weekend we shot the promotional photo shoot for the play and the pictures look amazing. I am so excited to design a whole show!"
Faculty member Julie Nelson will be playing a role in Vigil for the Portland Stage Company in October and November.
Landing somewhere at the corner of Weird and Awesome was Kyle Pasciutti Design's recent gig — Zombifying the star performer/personality/special guest at one of those ever-more-popular Zombie Charge races.
Directing MFA student Glenn Proud worked as an assistant director with frequent department guest artist Kara-Lynn Vaeni this summer as she directed two operas for Opera Slavica in New York City this August. They worked on the New York premiere (and US Russian-language premiere) of Prokofiev's first opera Maddalena in a double bill with Tchaikovsky's last opera, Iolanta, at the Bohemian National Hall.
Graduate student Brianna Sloane had a great trip abroad with several fellow MFA students. She, Alison Bowie and Emily Taradash were TA’s for Professor Harley Erdman’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival course. | 2019-04-21T10:10:07Z | https://www.umass.edu/theater/news/stages-september-2013 |
Campaign Principle #2- Make sure I want and can do the job effectively, not just that I want the title, think I can win the election or am mad about one or two specific issues.
I will never forget several years ago, when I lived in Vegas, I had the opportunity to meet with someone who was planning to run for State Assembly. I asked them why they wanted to run for office. They rattled off how mad they were about a bunch of national issues and how poor our current president was doing. I asked them what they thought about several state issues and they had no idea. They wanted to get involved in "politics" but were going to do so by chasing a position they knew nothing about. The person was well connected in the community, well liked, and had many connections that would make fundraising simple. They asked me if I thought they could win. All I could think was, "that is the wrong question." I did think they could win, but I didn't think they should run.
I always worry about this with local political positions and I try to check myself whenever I have considered running. Most of the ones I've seen are not as bad as the example above, but some seem to think they would like the position, or they are hot under the collar about an issue or two, and so they throw their hat in the ring without really knowing what they are getting into. In city politics, there are those big issues that the citizens really care about. They get debated on Facebook and at the local cafe and you think to yourself. "If I was in there I would do so much better then these dingbats." And then there is the more mundane, day to day votes, committees, events, issues, and meetings that make up 95% of the job.
When the new feeling of being called councilman wears off, will I still have the commitment to really give it the time it deserves. And to do it right it takes much more than reading the packet and voting on the issues put before you. Good councilmen, councilwomen, and mayors will drive issues, and that takes research, meetings and a willingness to take risks. That is why I look for someone and hope to be someone who has been involved prior to showing up to run. Have they been attending council meetings? Have they served on committees and given the time and commitment when there wasn't money and title involved?
Also, what about my background helps me provide value in the position? A good council both challenges and provides a check on city officials. Without the right backgrounds City Council has difficulty effectively reviewing what staff gives them. It's hard to provide a good review and notice something is missed on an engineering report if you have no background in engineering. Just as an engineer will be hard pressed to provide a fair review of a legal issue. Good leaders can come from any profession, but this is part of the reason a diverse, critically thinking council is a benefit to the city.
So, in summary if I ever run for a position, I need to be able to clearly answer what the position is and does, what makes me uniquely qualified and able to provide value to the position, and can I honestly say that I can keep my commitment both in time and energy during the term of my position?
If I can't give clear, honest and affirmative answers to these questions, than I shouldn't run. I should get involved in other ways more suited to my time, abilities, and present experience and circumstances, like writing about campaign principles in hopes the right people will be inspired to run.
It is time of year again for people who want to run for City Council or Mayor in Boulder City to file. The filing dates are Jan. 22nd- Jan. 31st. It is no secret that I love Boulder City and City politics. As such, I do plan to run for City Council someday. Notice, I say someday, because today is definitely not that day. But I have wanted to write down my principles for campaigning for sometime and while politics is on my brain I will do so.
The reason is simple. I have been involved a little in a few people running for office and frankly I am not impressed. Not that they aren't great people who can do much for our community, but that I have seen them, get so caught up in the campaign that they do things that are not in their nature. I hope I would never do that and part of that is documenting my principles up front. Also, these are things that I look for in candidates. They are not deal breakers, but I take them into account in deciding who will get my support and vote.
Principle #1: Speak no evil of others running. My job is to tell you why I would be a good choice not why others would not be.
Imagine walking into an interview for a new position. The boss interviewing you says, "Why would you be a good fit for this job?"
You look her in the eye and say, "I saw Johnny just walk out, and I know you are interviewing him as well, so I thought you ought to know that Johnny is an idiot and would do a very lousy job."
"Thank you." She reply's, "but why would you make a good candidate?"
"Did I mention Johnny got fired from his last job because of drinking?"
"This is your interview, please tell me why you are the right person?"
"And by the way Johnny hates cats."
"Listen," She says in frustration, "I need to know why YOU would do good in this job?"
"Oh, all right...because, I'm not Johnny."
While this situation is utterly ridiculous. I have seen it played out in campaigns all across the county. Politicians spend millions in telling you how lousy the other candidate/candidates are and essentially hope you will cast your ballot for them. Why? because at least they aren't the other guy. No wonder we so often feel forced to vote for the lesser of two evils. All we have heard about is the evil sides of both candidates.
I am a big believer in knowing what your job is and doing it. When you are running for office your campaign is your interview. Your job is to answer peoples questions honestly and give them the information to vote for you or not.
In a regular job interview the person conducting the interview has several sources of information. The person answering the questions and of course the interviewer also has reference checks to verify information about the candidate. In politics, those reference checks do need to be done. These are done by media, endorsements, and talking to those who know the candidates best. Not by asking the other candidates.
I don't think we realize how deeply harmful the practice of mudslinging is to our politics and society. When 90% of what we hear about someone is negative, I don't care how good the person is, we will not trust them or want to work with or around them. Mudslinging downgrades the winners ability to govern once they are elected, no matter who wins. It erodes trust in our politicians and the process. It emboldens obstructionism. It encourages tribalism. And saddest of all, it works. That is why it is growing. That is why it is widely used in almost every campaign.
But work or not. It is wrong. It is harmful and at some point in the future if I run for office it is my commitment not to do it. In the meantime, I will look for candidates who avoid the temptation to fling mud across the bow. And encourage candidates to focus on the question, "Why are YOU the right person for the job?" And if their only answer is that they are not someone else, than I think we should pass.
As much as Byron hated to admit it, Julie was right; there was a lot to plan for the wedding. For the next few weeks, he had to order a tux, go get rings, and send out invitations. Julie had sent out far more than he had. He hadn’t planned on inviting anyone, but with Julie sending out close to 100 invitations, he thought he’d better send out a few. Deep down, he hoped this particular Lutheran Church didn’t stick too strictly to the old tradition of his family on one side and hers on the other. It would be a bit awkward when they have to stand on her side and his side being his lone dad. While he had sent out a few invitations, he thought the only person to show up would be his dad. His Dad had always loved him but their conversations since his mother died had become briefer and briefer, neither were really into chatting on the phone. But while he worried a little about how his Father would react today was the day that an encounter with a different Father was on his mind, one he feared far more than the encounter with his own Dad. It was Father Young, the local priest at the Lutheran church. Byron didn’t think it was common for priests or pastors, or whatever you call them, go by Father in the Lutheran church, assuming that was more a Catholic thing. But common or not, Julie assured him that he went by Father Young. Supposedly, he came from a long line of Episcopal Priests, and while the religion didn’t stick, the name did.
So, with no shortage on fear, he parked his car in the parking lot of St. Marks Lutheran church. The light blue Toyota Prius already in the parking lot announced to him that Julie had beaten him there. A smile ran over his face as he saw it. She would give him a hard time about arriving first, even though he was on time, but that he was looking forward to it. He liked her subtle and almost flirtatious jabs. In fact, while he was extremely anxious for this whole wedding thing to be in the rear view mirror, the one regret he had was that it would end his regular interaction with Julie. He hated pictures, invitations, shopping, and planning, but doing it with Julie made it bearable. If he were honest, more than bearable, he looked forward to seeing her.
“Hey, Julie,” He said as he approached the front doors with her standing waiting. She looked down at her watch, faking irritation. “Oh, so what time does your watch say?” Byron asked clearly trying to rub in that he was indeed on time.
As they entered the church, Byron’s light mood ended and he felt a heavy burden on his shoulder. The church as beautiful. it was an older church and was cathedral-esque in its grandeur. The wood pews looked newly polished as the sun flooded through the stain glass., this church really felt like the real deal, there was a reverence in the building and the fact that this felt like a real church that would be a great place to connect with God made Byron feel very uneasy. Somehow, being married in the eyes of the guy running the drive thru wedding chapel on the strip didn't seem wrong in the slightest, but saying, “I do” in front of a priest in the edifice built to religious worship under the circumstances did not sit well with him.
Looking closer at some of the stained glass he noted that one window depicted the story of someone getting married. The first window showed a rather dark and somewhat disappointing wedding. Then it showed the young man going back to work. The artist had worked extra hard to make the work appear to be arduous and painful. Well, after a few more depictions of back breaking labour, there was another wedding with the same man and a different bride that appeared much brighter and overall more joyful then the first. Byron new the place was famous for weddings but could not figure out why any chapel would have such a story in stain glass. It appeared either the focus was ‘marriage is nothing but painful work,’ or ‘don't worry, your next marriage will make you happy.’ While he was puzzling over the stained glass, Julie had already headed for the priest office. Finding that Byron had failed to follow, she went back, grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him from his gaze and in the right direction.
They opened a door, and it took them from the beautiful chapel to rather normal looking office. “Hello. So good to see you,” said a nice-looking middle-aged man behind the desk. "Come in." He continued. Byron was a bit surprised. When he thought of meeting with a priest, he thought of sitting down in the pews with a man in a large robe or toga or something. This guy simply had on a nice shirt and tie. In fact, he was dressed a lot like Byron. The priest also seemed to young. Despite his name being Father Young, Byron had very much imagined someone opposite. Somehow, at some point in his life, he got the image of a priest being old and he had assumed that’s how all priests were. Thinking now, he realized this didn’t make much sense.
"So, Julie, this must be Byron", the priest said shaking Byron's hand. It was clear he must know Julie. Byron didn't even realize that this was her church. He figured she just picked it because it looked nice.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Byron. I'm Father Young." the priest said.
"Good to meet you." Byron said.
"Have a seat." Father Young said as he went back behind the desk. "So, you two want to get married. I think that is wonderful. How long have you two been dating?" Byron had mostly thought this would be a logistical meeting. You know the, ‘I stand here, you stand here, you say this, I say this and it will cost X.’ Even this made him uncomfortable, but had he figured there were to be deep, piercing, personal questions like, ‘how long have you been dating?’ he would have been petrified and come up with evasive answers. Given his lack of preparation and since Julie knew the Father, he thought he would just let her answer. After a long pause it was clear Julie had a similar strategy.
Finally Byron looked at Julie and said, "How long has it been?"
Julie, clearly not in the habit of lying to clergy, simply said, "I hardly remember. It's gone by so quick."
Father waited, clearly expecting they would continue with something like, “well let's see it was before you bought the new car and that was a year ago... but Julie and Byron had technically answered the question and weren't volunteering any thing else until another one was asked.
"Well, how did you meet?"
Boy, those priests sure know how to get to the heart of a subject. Byron had no idea what to say now. It's not that a flat out lie didn't sound good to him but he didn't know if Julie wanted to lie to her priest so he decided if a tactic worked once why not try it again, "How did we meet?" he questioned turning to Julie.
She smiled at him the kind of smile that did not leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy. "Remember we ran into each other at that little dessert shop at the Belogio." She said with the perfect hint of, I can't believe you forgot our anniversary, in her voice to come off as believable. Boy was she good at this, and it was sure coming in handy now however he was wondering if he could ever truly trust someone this good at half truths.
"Oh, that's right, how could I forget. I was getting ready to do some interviews for work and we just started talking. We enjoyed each others company so much I cancelled my next interview and we went out to dinner." He said doing his best to sound hopelessly in love. With a little encouragement from Julie he was getting the hang of this. Their dating experience was beginning to sound, not half bad.
"So, Byron, what do you do for a living?"
Here, Byron had little to hide, but since meeting Julie, he had determined not to hear any more lectures about how only married people really know about marriage, and, knowing that telling Father Young he was a marriage councilor would cause that, he simply said. "I am a councilor"
"At a school?" Father Young replied.
"No, I have my own practice." Byron said trying to keep it as simple as possible.
"People, mostly." Byron wished he had left off the mostly and new it wasn't the answer that Father Young was looking for, but it had the desired effect and there were no more questions about his work.
"Byron." You could tell by Father Young’s tone that the getting to know you questions were over. "What church do you belong to?"
"Oh, well I haven't really attended church in years. I don't really belong to any church."
"Do you see God as an important part of your future marriage with Julie?"
Oh, boy, how do you give a half truth answer to a yes or no question. Not only that, Byron new the statistics; he was always encouraging couples to be united in faith or come to agreement on where they stood religiously. It helps marriages, but their marriage was different. He didn't want a marriage in the eyes of God, just in the eyes of those around him. He was wishing that he would have been more persuasive about that drive thru chapel.
Fortunately, however, he had seen hundreds of men just like him squirm under difficult questions when he was on the other side of the desk, and if there was one thing men were good at when under pressure, it was acting dumb.
"I just haven't really thought about it before."
Byron new this would illicit a speech from Father Young, but sitting and taking a speech was a lot easier than coming up with answers to questions. Father Young was a very good speaker, and Byron agreed, in principle at least, with everything he said in his rather lengthy speech on God and marriage.
After his speech, he started another speech about how running a church was expensive. Byron was confused at first as to why this was part of the marriage speech, but realized he was preparing to tell Byron that the marriage would not be free. This was a speech Byron felt no need to make Father Young go through the pain of giving, because it was obvious that while Father Young enjoyed delivering the speech on marriage, he did not enjoy the follow up speech on money.
"Father Young, we plan on paying for the opportunity to marry here." Byron said interrupting the speech.
Father Young was obviously relived and followed it with, “We welcome any donation, but the ceremony does cost us a certain amount.” Father Young relayed the cost and Byron assured him that he was happy to pay. Byron was pleased to pay him for the service. Byron's guilt was building, but somehow, paying Father Young eased some of the guilt.
Byron, having passed the inquisition, and Father Young, having been assured they would pay, both were much more calm than when they had entered and went out to see the chapel and work out a few logistics for the big day.
This is my romantic comedy about Byron, a marriage councilor in case you missed it here are links to (Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 , Chapter 4, and Chapter 5).
Many men may have wanted a more confident answer to, ‘will you marry me?’ than, ‘sure’, but it was good enough for Byron.
Byron was confused; it seemed to be a beautiful day. Of all days, he didn’t see what made this one less worthy than any other. “What’s wrong with today?” This process of finding a bride had already taken several days, and he didn’t care to have it drag on forever.
“How many of these ‘appointments’ do you have today?” Julie asked.
He was about to argue that the truth shouldn’t be held back, even when it wasn’t appreciated but he wisely laughed and kept his mouth shut.
There are few walks more famous or more unique than the walk from Bellagio to Paris Casino on the strip in Las Vegas. And while neither mentioned it, both felt a small amount of regret and significant irony that their first walk as an engaged couple would be such a blur. They blurred through the casino, past the beautiful conservatory in the Bellagio, through the magnificent entrance, by the world-famous fountains that currently danced to the sound of Andrea Botticelli and Sarah Brightman singing, “It’s time to say goodbye.” Julie didn’t know if it was symbolic of Byron’s conversation with “just Julie”, or an omen telling her to get out while she could. Once they were out in front of the walkway, the crowds grew dense, and one couldn’t toss a brick in any direction without hitting a street performer dressed as Buzz Lightyear, Darth Vader, or Batman, all ready to be in your next selfie for a small fee. Dashing across the busy street, they entered the Paris Casino. After passing a few slot machines, they entered the elevator that would take them up the 1/3 scale Eiffel tower to the restaurant and his awaiting final appointment.
Despite their rush, they approached the front desk at 3:07. “Can I help you?” The greeter behind the front desk, that sat near the entrance to the dining area, said. Looking towards the dining area Byron noticed some of the tables, and spotted a red rose and knew it must be Julie.
“That’s disappointing.” Julie said with a bit of a frown.
The front desk man took him to his seat. When Rick had taken the job as host at the Paris hotel, he had assumed that each night would be full exciting situations, call girls with gangsters, and the like. The thought that a man showing up to meet one woman with another woman in the lobby was something he figured would be about common place as peanut butter and jelly in his youth, and that is saying something given that his last name was Smucker, matching the family business. But in this hope, he was greatly disappointed. Life, even on the strip in Las Vegas, was not as exciting as advertised and while he wanted desperately to have exciting tells of high rollers letting hundred-dollar bills fall from the pockets while a train of show girls followed behind, most of his clients were simply husbands and with their wives coming to a nice meal. Therefore, Byron with one woman waiting at the table and one watching from yonder lobby was of keen interest to him, and while he didn’t know the back story, he was convinced it was about to come out as long as he stayed within ear shot. “Here you are, Sir.” He said, pulling out the chair across the rose adorned guest.
“I’d rather not talk about Billy.” She said with a bit of embarrassment.
“I would like to introduce you to your waiter. He will be here momentarily.” This was said while standing at perfect attention staring directly forward. Clearly Rick, had no intention of leaving in the immediate future.
Byron had let this go on long enough, “Listen, Julie, I can’t stay. Something has come up and I have to go.” Boy, did that feel good. He had done it. He scooted his chair back as the beginning of his leaving motion.
“Oh, no! Did someone die?” Julie asked in shock and seriousness.
He had hoped that would be the end of it but now tried to force the point without having to elaborate. “No, nothing that serious but I do have to leave. I am so sorry you came all this way, but I must go.” Byron again continued his motions of leaving, almost forgetting the host he was about to run into.
Reschedule? Oh no, she wasn’t getting it. Byron had always thought finding people to date would be hard, now he saw why he never started, it wasn’t finding people that was hard. It was getting rid of them that was hard. He didn’t know what to say but decided to be honest without any elaboration. At some point, one might expect him to realize that strategy didn’t seem to be working, but none the less, he stuck to it. “Julie, there is no need to reschedule.” There was no intention for the words to come off harsh but as soon as they left his mouth he could tell that is exactly how it came off.
Byron had been in counseling long enough to know that this was a bad idea, but before he could decline, the ever-attentive host, Rick, said, “I will get her,” and was off with more alacrity than he had ever performed any task to date in his life.
“Oh, good… this should be nice.” Julie said, half under her breath, as she grabbed a chair which allowed Byron to sit as well.
“No, I’ll have a glass of your Haynes Old Block, Pinot Noir. Actually, go ahead and bring us a bottle.” Julie #2 said with a smile.
Byron knew that divorce was expensive; he regularly said so as an incentive for couples to continue with his services. He was now worried that he was about to get a taste of how expensive break ups could be.
The host wished to protest but could see the manager headed their way and a line back at the front door, so, as much as he wished to see this play out, he was forced to depart.
“That was it.” Julie said in all honesty.
It is amazing how our tone can express so much more than our words. Byron had stated a brief factual sentence but how he said it and how he looked at Julie, that is #1, is what told #2 that 6 weeks was not what Byron had in mind, and he wished for a much quicker engagement. This is the exact chink in the armor that #2 had been hoping would show forth, but before she could exploit it, the waiter showed up with water and her very pricey bottle of wine.
Byron was ready and quickly ordered the cheapest meal on the menu, hoping to minimize the damage. Julie #1 followed suite with a similarly priced item. Byron’s admiration for this woman was growing. Then came #2, and much to his surprise she said, “I’ll have the same.” Byron sat relived maybe the damage would not be as bad as he thought.
“Why wait?” She began to go for the weakness. “What’s wrong with today?” #2 asked as the waiter walked away.
The question seemed personal and inappropriate, but then again, there was nothing appropriate or normal about their entire situation. “We have not discussed that yet.” Byron admitted.
“What if she wants more?” #2 asked.
Byron now noted the smiling host by his side. “What are you doing here?” he said rather abruptly.
“I came by to ensure that everything is meeting your satisfaction.” Came the reply in perfect composure.
Byron couldn’t believe this. It was absurd and ridiculous, but suddenly he paused, forgetting about Rick, he wondered if he wasn’t being too hasty. Either women he would rarely see, and #2 was willing to marry today as he wished and for half price. Not only that, she probably wouldn’t require him to sit for photos. For a moment he thought about breaking off his engagement with #1, but only for a moment. After all, a jerk is still a jerk, even at half price.
Julie #1 was impressed, Byron may not be a knight in shining armor, but a man smart enough to stand up and run when needed might live longer anyway. With victory on his mind he stood taking Julie’s hand. “We will pay at the front desk.” He told Rick.
This is my romantic comedy about Byron, a marriage councilor in case you missed it here are links to (Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4).
Byron found himself now with both too much time and yet not enough. The entire episode with Jen had taken less than one hour, which meant he had a little over an hour before he was supposed to meet his next date, nuts Julie, at a little panini shop that sat on the other end of the Casino. An hour is a long time to walk around a Casino, especially when one does not gamble, even when accounting for the time he would need to spend in the bathroom trying to get strawberry syrup off his face and clothes, but it was not long enough for him to go home and change his clothes, something he desperately wished he could do. Perhaps the next prospective bride would be Jen’s twin and the horrible stained shirt, tie and pants would turn her off, saving him from needing to call it off and thereby helping him miss the joy of smashed panini in the face. He took some comfort that paninis, by nature, were much less messy when tossed at someone than crepes. The other possibility was that nuts Julie was simply Jen’s third email to him. Yet, if it failed to be Jen’s twin or other alter ego, then what would Nuts Julie think of him showing up to meet her for the first time in a badly stained outfit?
Once in the restroom he did an inventory of how truly bad it was. Wearing his favorite tie had clearly been a mistake and the light blue stripes were now a blotchy purple. The pink shirt better absorbed the syrup but the outline of the stain was clearly visible. His pants were only stained directly in front of his crotch, lucky guy. Lastly, the rose was limp and crusted with dried whipped cream. Trying to remove some only led to the loss of pedals, and he quickly resolved that if he were to have any rose left at all he better leave well enough alone.
Given his state, he desired to limit his time in public as much as possible. Luckily, the empty halls of the Bellagio conference area provided the prefect opportunity and he was able to even enjoy his time, except for the few random souls who wandered by forcing him to find the nearest piece of art so he could stare at the wall and shield his badly stained front view.
At 5 minutes to 1:00 he started the trek to Café Bellagio, his lunch spot. Within minutes he had arrived and the first thing he noticed was a girl with a rose, but two things made him think this was not his date. For one, the rose was pink, and two, she was normal looking. Normal didn’t bother him but after Jen he thought his chances at completely normal was beyond the realm of possibility. When one picks the quality they want most in a spouse the answer is rarely, “normal”, but that is exactly what Byron found himself hoping for most.
“You didn’t see the rose?” she said, pointing to the rose.
“You are very perceptive.” She said with a bit of sarcasm, “what’s wrong with pink?” she continued.
Both wanted to pull out the email and prove they were correct but, after a pause, realized there was little point, and moved on. Part of the reason Julie decided not to push it was pity for Byron, for a quick glance at his rose made her realize that when it came to quality of roses, he had no moral high ground. “Is yours frosted?” she asked, noticing the white around what was once a red rose.
“Well, shall we go order?” Byron suggested.
“Do you know if they have any Paleo, Vegan food that matches syrup stains?” They both laughed as they approached the counter to make their selections.
“Oh, that’s cute… try again.” She said this lovingly but with enough force that he got the gist and with some confidence started out. | 2019-04-24T08:39:55Z | http://www.thegeebrothers.com/ |
Ready for Summer? Wondering what your options are to make sure your kids have fun all summer long? Hoboken offers many great local options for camps. However, if you are looking to get out of the city, we are lucky enough to have a bunch of camps that offer bus service. See our listings below for local and out of town summer camps.
3-D MODELING This one week comprehensive camp will introduce students to the two main strategies for 3D design: constructive geometry and 2D extrusion. Students will learn the constraints of 3D printing and design their own accessories for an existing robotics kit. They will have the opportunity to produce multiple printable objects or perfect a specific design. Children will have the opportunity to use their 3D modeling skills in the Robotics course offered the following week. Students are not required to sign up for both weeks. The classes will be taught in sequence, but can be taken separately.
ROBOTICS In this week-long camp, students will be introduced to sensors and control systems associated with modern robotics and will learn how to use code to autonomously navigate a physical environment. Each day they will reprogram their robot to react and perform differently given a set of constraints. Students will have a chance to plan and implement their own custom modifications to the function and aesthetic of the robot.
When: June 27th August 26th; Morning Sessions are 9:30am-12:30pm; Afternoon Sessions are 1:30pm-4:00pm. Drop-in sessions available.
A Grade Ahead summer camps will keep you children learning and having fun all summer long! With our hands-on activities, exciting games, and fascinating challenges, kids won't even realize that they are learning. Math Ventures (grades 2-4): Math can be magical! Matt the magician will guide students through adventures including money, time, measurement, geometry and fractions. Students will use critical thinking skills that require investigation, inquiry and collaboration to solve math puzzles and games.
Eco Ventures (grades 3-5): Hop in our jeep or submarine and explore with us! Students will examine different ecosystems and how animals behave and interact with one another. Through interactive activities and project based learning, our student centered curriculum will make biology fun and understandable.
Writers Workshop (grades 4-6): Become a junior author! Explore fictional genres like realistic fiction, fantasy and mystery through reading and writing exercises and games. By the end of the camp, each student will have a polished original work to share with the class and parents.
When: June 24 to August 16 - Monday through Friday (no camp in session July 4): Weekly Half Day, Full Day, Extended Day, Before and Aftercare.
Early Drop-Off/Late Pick-Up Options: Daily optional care also available*. Before care is 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM and after care is 3:15 PM to 6:30 PM.
HMS Summer Programs feature hands on activities covering all developmental areas to keep learning fresh and exciting! The morning program is theme based offering a variety of activities both indoor and outdoor.
Montessori Afternoons will focus on academics and is taught by our certified teachers.
Weeks 3 & 4: 7/8 - 7/19 Space Travel and Beyond!
Weeks 5 & 6: 7/22 - 8/2 We're Going Camping!
Weeks 7 & 8: 8/5 - 8/16 Construction on Site!
Morning Program: Guided activities will encourage the children to explore the world around them. Activities include arts and crafts, building, imaginative play, science experiments and plenty of time outdoors. Special presenters each week will help round out the fun.
Montessori Afternoons: (Full Day and Afternoon only students) Your child can experience the benefit of a well prepared Montessori environment, with a full range of Montessori materials and certified teachers. Activities in the Practical Life, Sensorial, Cultural, Math and Language curriculum will help your child build skills in all developmental areas. Remember, our children don’t stop learning in the summer, so let’s continue to prepare them to make academic progress!
Enrollment: Themes run for a two-week session, however each week can also stand alone. A child can enroll in either the first week or second week of a session if needed.
Eligibility: This program is open to ALL currently enrolled HMS students. Incoming HMS students who are 2.5 years old by July 1, 2019 are also eligible.
Non-HMS families who have children who are 3 years old by July 1, 2019 may apply. We require a child visit prior to accepting this registration form. Please submit this form and we will contact you to arrange a visit. The deposit will be due upon acceptance.
Sibling discount is 5% off the lower summer tuition for a second child.
Discounts Available: Selecting the extended day option includes a 10% discount on before & aftercare rates.
It’s time for Summer Camp Adventures at A Whole New World Academy of Hoboken. This year’s summer camp program will reflect the fun and exciting adventures found right in our own backyards. Summer Camp will begin on June 26, 2017 and end on August 25, 2017. In order to make summer fun for the children, and different from the regular school year, we have prepared an outrageously wild and exciting 9 weeks of fun.
For current social change to happen, it’s important for us to learn the history of past social justice movements, how and why they came to be, and the positive effects they have on society today.
This studio based camp experience will include creating drawings, paintings and sculptures combining observation and imagination to help each student enhance their skills and to raise their artistic voice! The session will be split into demonstrations, drawing/painting studio time, snack/break and sculpture studio. Famous artists and their techniques will be introduced as well. Have fun with friends while exploring art materials and making artistic choices! Our program is open to students entering grades 1-7.
We’re excited to once again offer a unique modular camp program that offers participants with guided activities which explore robotics, circuits, coding, engineering, design 3-D printing and so much more! It will be a week of exploration, innovation and creativity. Each day campers will dive deeper into STEM topics indoors but also have ample time to go outside and enjoy the fresh summer air.Our program is designed for students entering grades 1 – 8. Camp will begin at 8:30 AM each morning, with an option to register for before care starting at 8:00AM. Aftercare is available for participating students and runs from 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM.
When: July 3rd - August 25th; Morning Session Half-Days are 8:30am-11:30am; Afternoon Session Half-Days are 12:30pm-3:30pm; Full Days are 7:00am-3:30pm.
Early Drop-Off/Late Pick-Up Options: Early Drop-off beginning at 7:00am with Late Pick-up until 7:00pm at both Hoboken locations and 6:30pm at Cliffside Park and Edgewater locations.
Summer fun AND learning – two things campers love at Apple Camp! Our camps have been a childhood favorite for over 40 years. Not only is our camp schedule truly jam packed with summer fun, our uniquely designed program infuses exciting lessons into our exploration and activities. Children look forward to moving from one thrilling adventure to the next throughout the day on outdoor playgrounds and off-site attractions.
Our summer program curriculum is enhanced by FasTracKids and Montessori work time to beat the summer learning slump. With FasTracKids, children benefit from an advanced e-learning software program and hands-on lessons that reinforce learning. Children also work with the Montessori materials in reading, writing and or math. This curriculum can be individualized to the needs of your child.
Cost: Contact each location directly for specific tuition rate information.
Discounts Available: Contact for info.
10 Weeks with an Awesome Theme Each Week!
Please call to inquire or go to our website.
Early Drop-Off/Late Pick-Up Options: Blue Rill offers aftercare, free of charge until 6:00pm. Campers must be picked up prior to 6:00pm.
Transportation Provided: Air-conditioned, mini-buses driven by CDL Certified, State Licensed drivers.
Each group's schedule is a perfect mix of swimming, sports, creative and performing arts, outdoor adventure and special events. The splishing and splashing is spectacular in our 3 heated pools. Our comprehensive sports program combines skill development and game play while teaching sportsmanship and teamwork. Campers love our creative arts programs and treasure their projects! The endless fun continues at our fabulous outdoor adventure areas, including our rock wall, high and low elements, nature and explorers programs. All this combined with specialty activities such as boating, dance, archery, fishing, our spectacular playgrounds and loads of special events! Our creative and innovative programs grow with our campers and provide summers filled with awesome activities and memorable experiences!
Cost: Rates vary based on number of weeks attending, etc.
Two through eight week sessions available.
5% off for 2nd sibling, 10% off for 3rd sibling.
When: Weeks of July 24th and July 31st are full-day camp from 9:00am-3:00pm; Week of August 7th is half-day camp from 9:00am-12:00pm.
BOLD Arts invites children to join in a week of dance and the arts which culminates in a high-energy, original performance. We build our show together using a thought-provoking theme, live music, and student-made scenery, costumes, and choreography. Expect to have fun, be challenged, and exposed to various styles of dance, storytelling, and incredible music.
Discounts Available: Receive a $100 discount when you sign up for both Full Day weeks!
Looking for a fun outlet for young people during the summer that is safe, supervised and affordable? In addition to the afterschool programs for which Boys & Girls Clubs are known, we offer full-day camps during the summer at each of our Clubs. Young people are involved in a variety of engaging programs under the supervision of adult professionals, including field trips to baseball games, water parks, museums and other local attractions. Contact the Club or stop in to our Clubhouses in Jersey City or Hoboken to get registration information.
A summer program specifically designed for children (Kindergarten - 3rd grade) to develop self-worth, communication skills, thinking skills, literacy, science and technology proficiency, and creativity as well as healthy living and active learning in every part of the Club experience. The program emphasizes good nutrition, regular physical activity and improving overall well-being.
A summer program specifically designed for youth (grades 4-8) focusing on developing academic and social skills through field trips and daily educational activities. Two days each week members will be discovering new experiences by going on trips which are both educational and recreational. The remaining three days, members will be in the Clubhouse and participate in fun, academic enrichment, physical fitness, social recreation, and arts and cultural activities.
The Teen Tech Summer Camp is for teens ages 13-18. Each week will have a different theme from photography and graphic design to filmmaking to motion graphics to coding and apps to Google Maker Camp.
*Tuition must be paid by June 2nd.
*Urban League parents are responsible for co- payment of $160.00 Which must be paid by june 2nd.
When: June 27th - September 2nd; Bricks 4 Kidz - Morning Session Half-Days are 9:00am-12:00pm; Afternoon Session Half-Days are 1:00pm-4:00pm; Full-Days are 9:00am-4:00pm. Junior Builders Camp - Morning Session Half-Days are 9:00am-12:00pm.
Bricks 4 Kidz - Kids have loads of fun (and learn a bunch!) as they use LEGO bricks to explore the world of engineering, architecture and science in an open, friendly and team-based environment. Bricks 4 Kidz camps keep the pace fast and varied with guided projects and challenges as well as time for free building and design, so the kids are always having fun. Camp activities are designed for kids entering first grade an up, and built around themes they love - Space/Star Wars, Clash of Bricks, Mining and Crafting/Minecraft, Pokemon, Ninjas, Jurassic Brick Park and more. Screened, trained Bricks 4 Kidz staff provide friendly, qualified supervision for your children so you rest assured they are safe and happy. Junior Builders Camp, Ages 4-5 - Designed for kids to discover, explore, invent and create using DUPLO and LEGO® bricks. Kids will learn interesting facts about real world objects and animals in these interactive lessons which reinforce counting, patterning, spatial awareness and fine motor skills. Projects are designed to encourage creativity and imagination while enforcing essential learning literacy, math and spatial skills. Throughout the course of the day, BRICKS 4 KIDZ® teachers provide the raw materials for the children's imaginations to create with model plans, games, and activities. The group setting is ideal for collaborative learning, the kids can build on one another's ideas and make discoveries together that they might not make alone. All children must be toilet trained and able to care for self in the restroom..
Cost: $225/week for Half-Day Sessions; $425/week for Full-Day Sessions; Single Day & Walk in Registrations also available at $50 per day for half day, and $90 per day for full day.
Discounts Available: Sibling Discounts; Register for Bricks 4 Kidz email list to receive information on discounts for signing up by a certain date.
Yoga on the Pier, cooking, art, gardening, playground time and a Science Lab!
Discounts Available: Mention CABIN FEVER to receive a $150 tuition credit. This offer expires June 1, 2016 and is for new registrations only. A credit will be given after 30 days of enrollment.
When: June 27th - August 19th;; Days are 9:00am-4:00pm; 4-8 Week Options Available; Special flexible schedule available for ages 2-3 years. New HomeAway Sleepaway option available for ages 8-13 years. Visit camps website for more information.
Transportation Provided: Hoboken pick-up/drop-off locations will be at designated stops on brand-new, air-conditioned, 15-passenger vans, all driven by our own trained staff. All vans are equipped with seat belts and car seats/boosters (as needed) and are certified for safety by the NJMVC and local police. All drivers have a NJ CDL license and each van also has a van assistant.
Adventure ropes (low ropes, high ropes, zip line), archery, arts and crafts, cooking, dance, drama, earthlore, ecology, gaga, gymnastics, martial arts, miniature golf, music, musical theater, off-roading, rink/hockey sports, swim instructions/free swim, tennis, wilderness, yoga/movement, Clubs and Clinics morning choice (for ages 6-13 years), CHOICE afternoons (for ages 7-13 years). Travel and overnight experience for older campers and CITs. Located on 25 sprawling acres in Warren, we pride ourselves on state-of-the-art amenities like our multimedia dining room and fully air-conditioned activities building, but also give the best outdoor traditional summer camp experience with things like our three heated, in-ground pools, 180 ft water-park quality water slide, adventure ropes course, wilderness trail and yurt, outdoor hockey rink and our 400 ft Zip Line!
Cost: Tuition is all-inclusive (program, transportation, all food and snacks) and dependent on the number of weeks registered as well as selected discounts. Full tuition rate information can be found on the camps website.
Discounts Available: Discounts for paying balance in full; Sibling Discounts; Loyalty Program Discounts; Hoboken Family Alliance Discount - $200 off any 2016 Registration.
Recreational sports, art workshops, group games, drama workshops, gardening and much more.
Transportation Provided: Daily bus service from Hoboken and downtown Jersey City. Pick-up time is approximately 8:15-8:30 am and drop-off time is approximately 5:00pm. Drop-off time for the three-quarter day bus is approximately 2:30pm-2:45pm (assuming at least 5 campers in town). Buses are air-conditioned with an aide.
Daily swimming lessons and free swim, crafts (arts and crafts, ceramics, woodworking, jewelry, lanyard), sports (baseball, softball, soccer, tennis, basketball, lacrosse, archery, volleyball, gaga), challenge course with climbing tower and zip line, cooking, canoeing, plus special days, carnivals, cookouts and lots more!
Cost: Varies depending on the program option and length of enrollment.
Transportation Provided: Transportation from central Hoboken pick-up/drop-off spot.
Cost: Full tuition information can be found on the camp's website.
This camp combines two of our most popular programs: Debate and Mock Trial.
The objective of this program is to prepare participants for the myriad situations that require formal and informal presentations. Participants will learn how to craft and present arguments, opinions and ideas. They will learn the fundamentals of rhetoric and will practice informing, persuading and motivating an audience in a variety of ways. The grading rubric was adapted with the permission of Neil Mercer, the Director of research and Head of Faculty at The University of Cambridge.
Students will learn to effectively present and defend a persuasive argument using the ARESR method developed by the English Speaking Union. Students will learn to outline, draft, develop and deliver effective arguments and counter arguments. They will learn to refute using the four steps of effective refutation. They will explore what is efficient-and inefficient-in arguments (and counter arguments) and the different methods that popular orators have used throughout the years to sway opinion. We will also address political framing techniques, speaker-audience and speaker-topic commonality, persuasive rhetoric, fallacies in reasoning, persuasive use of evidence and stylistic devices.
Mock trial is a hands on simulation of the American judicial system. The goal is to help participants acquire a working knowledge of our judicial system, develop analytical abilities and communication skills, display leadership in a court of law, and gain an understanding of their obligations and responsibilities as participating members of our society. Materials for this course are provided by The American Bar Association and The Constitutional Rights Foundation.
• Students must bring their own lunch. Snacks will be provided. Parents must email camp director with any allergies in advance. This class requires a minimum of five students to run.
Mock trial is a hands-on simulation of the American judicial system. The goal is to help participants acquire a working knowledge of our judicial system, develop analytical abilities and communication skills, and gain an understanding of their obligations and responsibilities as participating members of our society. Materials for this course are provided by The American Bar Association and The Constitutional Rights Foundation.
Camps: Log in HERE to edit your page (you must use the email that is displayed on your listing as your username.
Disclaimer:This guide is for information only and was compiled by Hoboken Family Alliance (HFA) with summer camp information written by organizations that were willing to participate at the time of print. Many programs fill up quickly and may not be available at time of the issuance of this newsletter. HFA does not endorse classes or camps. Readers are requested to do their due diligence before signing up. This guide is the proprietary information of HFA and may not be reproduced, copied, scanned, excerpted or placed on any electronic mail, social media, or internet medium without HFA’s prior consent. | 2019-04-24T18:24:57Z | http://hobokenfamily.com/?page_id=13781 |
We then set off to tour Peter’s factory, where he produces affordable sunflower oil to make cooking healthier for Ugandans. His tour was inspiring, as he showed us how he utilizes all parts of the process to keep all waste products in the community and benefitting people. After the sunflower seeds go through his machinery, a cake is produced which he sells at a low cost for animal feed. The process also produces soap stock, which he also sells back to the community at a low cost. One of the aspects of his business that makes it good for local people is that he sells small bottles of the oil, with the smallest at just 200 ml going for 1000 shillings. This small size and corresponding low price makes it easier for people to buy, whereas the big companies sell it in larger containers that isn’t as accessible.
We had some emotional goodbyes with Peter, Diana, and Joan, and then headed back to the hotel for a quick lunch buffet before heading to the market. Our wonderful TA Gabi had us preorder dinner to be ready when we get back from the market, since we were told we had to leave at 6 pm to get to the airport in time for our 11:30 takeoff (any idea where this is going? Stay tuned!).
The market was overwhelming, and we all came away sweaty with lots of exciting presents for friends, family, and of course ourselves. We learned to bargain and came away with paintings, clothes, jewelry, figurines, coffee, and lots of spoons. It was very hot in all the little shops, and most of us were dripping with sweat by the time we left.
We had a quick dinner at the hotel, and left half an hour late for the airport of course. However, there was no traffic and surprise surprise, we’re here very very early. Currently we’ve gone through security and we’re sitting without water waiting to get on the plane. Hoping for some good movies and felling sorry for all the people sitting by us after the sweaty day we’ve had! It’s been a great last day but we’re all sad to be leaving this beautiful country for the cold in Champaign. See you all soon and thanks for reading all these blogs!!
After three long days of field and lab work, we were finally given a chance to relax. Safari day was upon us. Although we had to wake up at 4:00am (to catch the lions, who like cool early mornings before the sunrise) we were all very excited for the opportunity to experience the geography and wildlife of the country a little bit more. We had a quick breakfast and packed into our vehicles to depart.
Three hours later, our safari vehicles descended down a hill into Queen Elizabeth Park. It turns out that the vans we have been using all week were actual safari vehicles. The roofs of the vans were able to extend upwards so that we can stand up and see outside. We hopped on the roofs of our cars and began the journey through the prairie. We had four vans of students, and we all got very excited when we saw our first animal: an antelope! We drove through fields of waterbuck, water buffalo, and various species of birds but were not lucky enough to find any lions or elephants while on the trails. After a bit, our driver pulled off the trail. It turns out Professor Mariñas was able to pull some strings and a few workers led us to three lions that they tracked. We pulled up to a large cactus tree and saw two female lions lounging in the branches. After taking a few photos we were shocked to find that there was another lion lurking around near our safari vehicles. We followed it around for a bit before heading outside the Safari zone.
After a quick lunch consisting of fried chicken and fries, we embarked on the boat portion of the safari. Our tour guide Martin was extremely personable and knew endless facts about the hundreds of species of animals and birds in the area. Every time we asked a question about the wildlife in the area, he knew the answer! Each time we saw a group of male water buffalo, he would exclaim “more losers!” This was because the absence of a female meant these male water buffalo lost a fight and were banned from the herd. During our boat tour we saw many hippos (many of which were much too close to our boat), baboons, and a few herds of elephants. We learned that out of all the animal species in Africa, 6% of them are birds that live near the water. Overall it was a really great day, and our team appreciated that Benito and the TA’s rewarded our hard work throughout the week with an amazing safari day.
Not only was it a successful Safari day, but Valentine’s day is also my girlfriend’s birthday. Our fearless team leader Gabi, surprised Sara with a birthday cake and we ended the night off in celebration.
Today was by far the best day of the trip so far. Our team arrived at the Nakivale Refugee Settlement around 10am and met with Janet Asiimwe, the Field Program Coordinator of Humanitarian Initiative Just Relief Aid (HIJRA). She was very welcoming and was pleased with the idea of a partnership with us. She explained how HIJRA provides aid in Somalia, Kenya and Uganda. Much of their work includes providing legal services to refugees and others who do not have access to such representation. The HIJRA helps individuals who are know as PSN’s: Person with Specific Needs. These include orphans, women at risk, the elderly, the disabled, and many more. Janet also explained how the HIJRA provides incoming refugees with hygiene kits to help with their sanitation and health. As Janet was speaking to us, a visitors book was passed around that all 16 students, 4 TA’s and Professor Mariñas signed. I was eager to sign the book and leave a remark about how grateful we were to be there. I think it would be really cool to return one day to the Nakivale Settlement and see my name in the book from my time in college. Professor Mariñas and Peter (our outstanding Ugandan contact who we are working with) then explained what our team was doing in the settlement and the purpose of our work. Janet was very receptive and hopeful for a lasting partnership with us. She understood that the impacts of the environment affect the protection of the refugees, so our work will help their work.
After our meeting with HIJRA, we went to visit a primary school within the refugee settlement. When our four vans pulled into the compound, children ran from the buildings smiling and waving at us! They were so excited, and if we simply made eye contact with them and waved they would melt with joy. I got out of the vehicle and immediately was swarmed by kids. They were all reaching to grab my hands and saying “How are you?”, as this is what they are taught us our greeting. Although English is taught in schools, the children were young and their English vocabulary was limited. Teachers were approaching and swatting the kids away with a soft branch and told them all to return to their classroom buildings. But there were only about 10 teachers and (not exaggerating) THREE THOUSAND STUDENTS. So their attempts were futile. I, however, did not mind. When the initial crowd was shooed away, I started walking towards the building our team would be meeting at. I didn’t get four steps before a child ran straight into me with a bodyslam hug around my waist with a “How are you?!” Then two more. I slowly walked as more and more students snuck around their teachers, smiling wildly, to come give me a hug and run back away. As more and more children ran up to greet me and hold my hand and hug me as tightly as they could I was overcome with emotion. There was so much love surrounding me that I started to tear up. I knew they wouldn’t understand why I was crying, so I tried to hold it in. Thankfully a teacher came to shoo away the current crowd of kiddos so I could escape and wipe my face. Professor Mariñas and the TA’s had a meeting with the headmaster while the rest of the team waited outside. Kids were sneaking peaks out of classroom windows at us and giggling. I saw kids ranging from 3 up to around 15 years old.
Eventually the teachers gathered all the students in the courtyard for our water and sanitation demonstration. And let me tell you, that did not go so hot. The entire school was in the courtyard so the student to teacher ratio was probably somewhere around 75:1. So corralling these super hyper, super excited children was not happening. I saw pushing, and slapping and crying children all just trying to move closer and closer to us. Because we were in broad daylight, our blacklights were not working for our demonstrations to show bacteria and the roar of the crowd meant they couldn’t really hear us anyway. After very strong attempts to make the demonstrations work, we decided to just call it and spread out so that the waves of kids stepping on each other would disperse too. As I threw myself out of the circle we had inadvertently created and into open space, about a dozen kids followed. This was good though because the chaotic crowd was dispersing to follow individual team members around. The kids continued to ask me “How are you?!” And shaking my hand. And when I asked them back, they responded “I’m fine.” Every single one of them. It was clear they were taught this as the English greeting and response. I asked a lot of them what their names were and I would slowly respond back “My name is Sara, it’s great to meet you!” To which they would bashfully giggle and run away with their friends only to come back a minute later to ask me again how I was. I loved talking to the children and giving them a reason to be excited, simply by giving them a little bit of attention.
Our team then went into a classroom to repeat the water and sanitation lesson to a smaller and more controlled audience. This one went well! Gabi asked the students questions about water and they responded correctly most of the time. After doing a few demonstrations, we handed out sunglasses to those who answered our questions. Once this was done, it was time to leave. We had to cross the courtyard again, which took me about 15 minutes because I couldn’t help but talk and hold hands with the children. By the time I got to the van, they were waving us goodbye and saying “I love you so much”. It melted my heart.
We had lunch at the Nakivale offices for the third and last day in the settlement. After lunch we had a team discussion with Peter about any lasting questions we had about the settlement and our upcoming design projects. Peter gave us very good insight on how best to design a technology or system that could succeed in the settlement and beyond. He expressed his gratitude for our team’s assistance and presence in Uganda. It was a open and motivating discussion.
We left the offices around 2pm to visit the Nakivale Secondary School in the more rural part of the settlement. Secondary schools host students aged 14-18. Many of the schools in Uganda are boarding schools, including this one. Gabi, Peter, Professor Mariñas, Amanda, Ashley and I met with the headmaster of the school in his office. He was very aware of the water issues that the school faces and discussed them openly with us. The school has one 10,000L tank that is filled every night around 10pm. Then water is available in the morning for the students, but there is never enough. We further discussed the challenges that the secondary school faces and took notes. After this meeting, our team split up with half of us teaching the water and sanitation lesson to a classroom and the other testing the schools water. Turns out we collected water from the primary school to test later in the lab, but I was too busy with the kids to notice. I went with the water testing group. Because the students here were older and calmer, we did a full test on site. Erwin and I used the calorimeter to test the Ammonia and Bromine concentrations while Abby and Amanda rested the total and free chlorine concentrations. A couple other team members used the probes to test the water’s pH, Nitrate concentration, dissolved oxygen and conductivity. As we were doing our tests, students were arriving at the tap to fill their Jerry Cans. Because they were older, they knew more English and we talked with them about the water. They said the quality was fine, it’s just that it runs out. Our conversation slowly shifted into more casual topics about each other’s homelands. They asked us about the differences between Africa and America. I met this really sweet girl named Emily. I told her that my sisters name is Emily, and she liked that a lot. We started taking pictures with my phone and a few girls asked for a selfie with me. It was fun chatting with them and showing them the photos. Erwin ran to the car and grabbed the Polaroid camera. We took the first picture and showed them how it develops if kept in the dark for a minute. They LOVED it. I don’t know if they have ever had a photograph of themselves before. After that the students were asking for pictures with us left and right. They were so delighted to have a keepsake from our visit. This school visit was just as rewarding as the primary school energy. But because we were closer in age and could speak the same language, the time spent together felt more sincere. It really sucked when we ran out of film and many students didn’t get photographs. But like most of this experience, I had to focus on the happiness we brought, and not on all the sadness that’s still there.
We left that day knowing it was our last at the refugee settlement and in the field. It was bittersweet. We drove the 1.5 hour trek back to our hotel where we showered and ate dinner. After dinner we worked in our makeshift lab in the hotel’s boardroom. Here we did further tests on the water that should be more accurate and also that can test for different things than in the field. We finished up our work around 10:30pm and went to bed. We’d be getting up early the next day.
After arriving late to the Golf Course Hotel on Saturday night, the course group was allowed a late morning start. We ate breakfast and were introduced to Peter Luswata and two of his assistants; Diana Bamurangye and Joan Tumusiime. Peter Luswata is the course’s main contact in Uganda. He takes the yearly design reports that UIUC students complete at the end of CEE 449 and implements the solutions outlined with modifications to better suit the actual conditions of the communities they are intended to benefit.
His two assistants will prove to be very useful resources during our time in Uganda. Diana speaks 7 languages and will work as a translator on our visits to the refugee camp of Nakivale and the host community. She will also prove to be an important source in learning to respectfully communicate and interact with the people we meet throughout the trip. Within minutes of meeting her, she taught the group greetings and how to express thanks in Ugandan and Swahili, and what languages are spoken in certain districts of Uganda.
Joan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Ugandan Christian University in Mokono. Her background will be helpful in communicating with water treatment plant operators and technicians, getting a sense of norms in water treatment in urban vs. rural areas in Uganda, and how Nakivale’s treatment compares.
Around noon, we set off from our hotel in Kampala to Mbarara; an almost 300 km drive. With such a long trip, we had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery of the countryside and observe dozens of rural communities along the route. For lunch, we stopped at Flamingoz Joint Bar and Grill in Kayabwe, which is known for lying directly on the equator. We ordered a mix of local and international foods: chicken sandwiches, chapati, samosas, cassava, matoke, posho, and chicken piece. While waiting for our food, we got to witness the highly business-driven Peter in action. He made his way to the kitchen to speed up food preparation and serving in somehow the most positive and motivating way. Before leaving, we made sure to get pictures in front of a large circular equator landmark.
Several hours later, we made it to the Lake View Resort Hotel, checked in, showered, and had dinner. Before heading to bed, TA’s and students worked to prepare materials for the field. This included measuring out chemicals, calibrating sensors (all the probes and the fluoride titrator), and packing bags with all necessary materials for our first day of field work in Nakivale. | 2019-04-22T21:00:33Z | https://publish.illinois.edu/cee449-sgwi/category/uganda-spring-2019/ |
We’re picking up right where we left off and finishing our way through the alphabet! Join us for stories, songs, flannel board games, and an artistic letter page each week. This class helps prepare preschoolers for kindergarten in a fun and engaging way. For 4-6 year olds. No registration necessary.
Exchange information and research ideas.
Come work together to solve a series of puzzles in order to solve a mystery and break out of the Library! Cool prizes awarded to those who succeed.
This fun-filled 30 minute class builds upon the lapsit experience. Stories, songs, flannel board games, and an open-ended art activity are included. For ages 2 and 3 year olds with a caregiver. No registration necessary.
Learn how to setup an account and start creating models using this free CAD software! Make your own objects and then print them with our 3D Printer!
Amy and the Missing Puppy is book one in this adorable series by Callie Barkley. Read the book on your own and come to club each week to discuss and participate in fun activities that go along with the story. For grades 1 and 2. Register beginning March 1st.
Mother Goose on the Loose uses a variety of activities to foster early literacy. Stories, rhymes, and songs with bells, scarves, and puppets too! For 0-3 year olds with a caregiver. No registration necessary.
The fourth Wednesday of every month we will be hosting a Memory Café in the fireplace room from 10-11am. Originally started in England, this informal setting provides the caregiver a forum for discussion, reducing the isolation often felt by people with dementia, their caregivers and families. Discussions can range from practical tips for coping with dementia, avoiding caregiver burnout or information about community resources. Coffee and conversation specifically for people with memory loss and their caregivers.
This lecture will include the anatomy of the foot, common causes of foot pain, and some exercises that can help strengthen and stretch your foot.
Do you enjoy watching magic tricks and illusions? Come join the Magician's Society where you’ll learn and practice magic tricks so you can put on your OWN shows! It’s time to wow your family and friends with a new, amazing talent. For grades 2-4. Register beginning March 1st.
Engage your little one with new sights, sounds and movement through books, songs, rhymes, knee bounces and one on one interaction with you! Bond with your baby and meet some new friends while you’re here. For 0-2 year olds with a caregiver. No registration necessary.
Thursdays at 9:30am, April 18th–June 20th Take a Wise Walk with the Bethel Park Public Library this spring. The Wise Walk is a ten week walking program geared toward adults 50+. Make new friends and enjoy the beautiful spring weather in South Park with our library walking group on Thursday mornings at 9:30am.
Celebrate Pittsburgh’s rich history, natural beauty, sports, houses of worship, bridges civic pride and more! Lifetime area resident, retired social studies teacher, and active liaison officer for the Air Force Academy, Bob Cahalan will use photography and music to help capture our progressive and interesting city!
Join us for ongoing LEGO fun. Participate in building challenges and free play. For grades K-4. Register beginning March 1st.
The Unreal Engine is now Free. Meet-ups are also Free. Join us to talk with others interested in creating and learning about the virtual realms that involve the engine locally. Join and RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Pittsburgh-Unreal-Engine-4-Meetup/ Space is limited. Meetings at Bethel Park Library every 4th Saturday of every other month at 2pm (unless noted change due to Holidays).
We solemnly swear to discuss favorite HP books and movies while either crafting, playing games, watching a movie, or anything else we think up relating to the Wizarding World. We will meet once a month in the Room of Requirement. (Program Room) For grades 7 and up. Register beginning March 1st.
Come work together to solve a series of puzzles and in order to solve a mystery and escape the Library! Cool prizes will be awarded to those who are successful. For grades 5 and 6. Register beginning March 1st.
HOW TO SELL YOUR HOUSE FASTER AND FOR MORE MONEY…ON A BUDGET!
What should you spend money and time on to sell your home...I think you would be surprised. There are many little things you can do to make your home more attractive to home buyers. Cindy Rack from Keller Williams will show you some things you can do on a budget to sell your house faster and for more money than if you did nothing. Maria Stinger from Keystone Building Inspections will talk about the things that come up more often on inspections and how you can be proactive in resolving them in advance. These tips will ensure a smoother closing once you find a buyer. Bethel Park is still a hot housing market. If you are thinking of selling, these ideas will be invaluable to you!
Join our NEW Book Club!
Taught by certified yoga instructor, Nancy Morrison, these introductory yoga classes will strengthen young bodies and improve flexibility. It will also enhance focus skills and breathing techniques. A fun way to introduce little ones to yoga practices. Please bring a mat or beach towel with you to class. For ages 3-6 with a caregiver. Register beginning March 1st.
collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills among family members while empowering them to express themselves through media and technology. For ages 3-5 with a caregiver. Register beginning March 1st.
With the typical American family having limited or no retirement savings, it appears that saving for retirement is not a high priority for the average family.Come find out why this approach can destroy the golden years of your life and explore various strategies for saving for retirement including employer retirement plans, IRAs, and more.
Big time art for the littlest of hands. Come each week to make an adorable take-home craft, inspired by a fun story. For ages 2-4 with a caregiver. Register beginning March 1st.
Anyone who registered for CCA is already invited to this special event where the 2019 winning book will be revealed. Formal invitations will be emailed on April 15th. Don't forget to cast your vote at http://aclalibraries.org/childrens-choice-awards/. Others who wish to learn more about the program for next year or who want to meet our guest author, Jonathan Auxier, may also register. Auxier is a New York Times best-selling author and his most recent book, Sweep: the Story of a Girl and Her Monster, is a contender on this year's list. We are honored to host him at the BPPL! The Children's Choice Awards are sponsored by The Allegheny County Association and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
Join us for the joyful exploration of paint! Young children will enhance their motor skills while enjoying the tactile experiences of squishing and smearing. Please bring messy clothes, along with wipes, so that your child's creativity is not restricted. Each week we will explore a different kind of home-made paint such as all-natural gel finger paints and natural-dye yogurt finger paints. For ages 0-2 with a caregiver. Register beginning March 1st.
Join us for movies, popcorn and lively conversation as we explore intriguing films and the issues they raise. Feel free to bring a brown bag lunch or snack. Matinee movie will begin at 10:30am in the program room. There will be no movie in September. For more information and to register call the library at 412-835-2207.
This class will show students how the 3D printer works and what applications 3D printers have in the real world. Students will also be introduced to Tinkercad which is a free, online 3D design program. For grades 3-6. Register beginning March 1st.
Presented by David Frick, CPA, Financial Professional, AXA Advisors, LLC.
Often the term “Special Needs Trust” is mentioned to individuals or caretakers of persons with disabilities, which does nothing but bring up questions such as: Who actually needs a Special Needs Trust?, What is its purpose?, How do they work?, Are they expensive?, When should one be put into place?, How is one setup? During this seminar, we will seek to provide some general answers to these questions and others. We will also talk about next steps to resolve all of your questions surrounding Special Needs Trusts. If you are an individual or caretaker of a person with disabilities and do not have a Special Needs Trust or forgot why you have one, this is a discussion for you! In conjunction with this topic, we will discuss how a PA ABLE account can fit into the financial plan for a special needs individual.
Come rock out with us to all of our favorite children’s music artists! We’ll dance, sing along, and have a groovin’ movin’ time. Walk away with new favorites and check out their CDs to take home! For ages 2-6 with a caregiver. Register beginning March 1st.
Presentation for coaches, parents and athletes with Q&A session following.
Bring your creativity! Come join us for a story and illustrate your own interactive version of it. For grades 1-2. Register beginning March 1st.
You can work with a staff member or teen tech committee member to design and object using Tinkercad to print on our 3D printer. Please call the children’s desk to sign up for a thirty minute time slot and remember that Intro to 3D Printing is a prerequisite. For grades 3 and 4. Register beginning March 1st.
Join us for an interactive and collaborative group art activity that will be displayed at our annual Art Gala. Participating artists will receive a free ticket to the event. Dress for a mess! For grades K-2. Register beginning March 1st.
Pre-need Advisor, Chad Baker will lead a conversation on sensitive topics such as last wishes, making your wishes known, preplanning, cremation and burial options.
There will be a small presentation, discussion and Q&A.
Plans for our third annual Art Gala are already underway. We hope you’ll enter your artwork and attend this year’s special event. With music, refreshments, press coverage, and some of the most amazing and eclectic pieces of art from children of all ages, this is definitely an evening you don’t want to miss! Not entering artwork? That’s ok! We still want you to come out and support your classmates and friends. This is a night for everyone and will act as a fundraiser for the Library. Tickets are $5 in advance and $10 at the door. Artists of course will receive a complimentary ticket. Stop in the Library beginning March 1st for more details.
Raising Funds while Raising Spirits with Psychic Medium Debbie Pakler, PhD.
Certified psychic medium, Debbie Pakler, will be at the library to give 20 minutes readings for $35 (CASH ONLY). Debbie is donating 20% of her fee from each session to help the library achieve its annual fundraising goal. Call the library to set up an appointment. This is a unique opportunity to get personal messages and hear from loved ones who have passed while supporting the library! Hurry, appointments fill quickly.
Back by popular demand! Can we tell a story without using any books? That’s right…NO BOOKS ALLOWED! Join us for a terrific time sharing stories in an untraditional way. For grades K-2. Register beginning March 1st.
Come explore the universe at the library! We will have several stations each week where preschoolers and their caregivers can learn about the moon, planets, stars, and everything outer space. A perfect introduction to this year’s summer reading theme: A Universe of Stories! For ages 3-6 with a caregiver. Register beginning March 1st.
When it comes to your money and finances, are you a damsel in distress? Well there’s no need to wait for Prince Charming and no settling for being “princess”. Why not move right up to Queen? It’s time to own your financial life just as you do your career and health. Set your own goals and don’t abdicate your financial health to anyone else. If the whole idea of financial planning scares you, know that financial planning is no more complicated than eight-grade math. You can do this. After all, you’re the Queen!
A Certified Financial Planner ® CFP professional, Roselyn is the author of “It’s Good to be Queen: Every Woman’s Pocket Guide to Financial Sovereignty.” She is passionate about helping women feel empowered financially. She is President of MD&A Financial Management Co. and a Registered Representative and Investment Advisory Associate of Berthel Fisher & Company Financial Services, Inc. Roselyn is a graduate of Bucknell University with an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. On the board of the Women & Girls Foundation, Roselynactively supports other women professionals and woman-owned businesses.
We will be showing the new blockbuster DVD release of the week on Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. in the Fireplace Room. Why wait to see what everyone is talking about now!
In today's world, our seniors are at risk as targets of theft, robbery, fraud, identity theft and more. Take control of your own safety. Protect yourself and your loved ones with everyday safety tips and basic self defense tactics. Theresa Zamagias, of Damsel In Defense, will provide these safety tips and self-defense tactics, as well as demonstrate Damsel In Defense safety products.
All the information we get on a daily basis can be confusing and hard to navigate. This class gives you easy to follow tips for living a better and healthier life. This class will help you to have a better understanding of simple changes you can start now. A healthy snack with recipe is included for all participants.
The class will be taught by Pittsburgh based Certified Health Coach, Tina Conway. Tina has been a health coach for over 3 years. She works with women to empower and motivate them to live healthier and happier lives.
GET THE ‘SAT EDGE’ with Omega Learning Center. Have your high school student take a FREE SAT Evaluation Test in a proctored, simulated environment. An Omega certified teacher will review your SAT Evaluation Test results and recommend a custom SAT Prep program. This is a no cost, no obligation opportunity! For more information and to reserve your spot, call the Library to register. This is a full 3-hour timed practice test (optional essay takes additional hour). Limited Space Available.
Use the Library’s 3D Printer to make personalized gifts, replacements parts, or your own artistic item or creative invention. Take this free class to learn how to use this innovation of industry! Call to register. If none of the above times are convenient, please call for others.
WHAT ALL CAN I DO WITH MY DOG?
So you have a dog now what? Did you know that mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise for a dog? Do you know what activities you can do with your dog from enrichment and engaging activities that you can do at home to performing at dog shows? Did you know that doing tricks with your dog is great for fearful, anxious or reactive dogs? Would you like to participate in therapy dog work with your dog at hospitals, nursing homes or universities? Do you simply want your dog to behave at home and in public? Come and learn how to keep your dog engaged, happy and healthy during all phases of his/her lifespan.
Join us for a fun group class for beginners. We will take basic computer assessments as a group together! These fun quizzes will help you determine what you need to learn. We will cover computer basics and Windows 10. If you have a specific question on your personal device, please register for a 1 on 1 session.
This workshop will cover nutrition and diet topic as well as maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Learn the Do's and Dont's before you start the home buying process. You will also learn about programs that are available to first time homebuyers, what criteria must be met to qualify for first time homebuyer programs, and how to plan for your future. Learn everything first time homebuyers need to know about credit reports, such as what mortgage lenders look for on those credit reports. Learn about the documentation needed to begin the processing of your mortgage.
How do you choose the right plant varieties if you want to preserve? How do you pick which method to preserve your harvest? Preserving is easy, fun, and satisfying. Come to this class and learn the basics of canning, drying, and freezing. Recipes included.
Learn how to access eResources that will aid in your high school student’s research.
Kim McCurdy, a Higher Education Access Partner for PHEAA, will present information on the financial aid application process, what types of aid might be available for students, and strategies to start thinking about affordability before your students get ready to apply for post-secondary school admission. All parents, with any grade level high school student, are encouraged to attend. | 2019-04-20T00:52:08Z | http://www.eventkeeper.com/mars/xpages/b/bethpark/ek.cfm |
Later, as it is recorded in Acts chapter 21 at verses 20 through 22, it is clear that Paul and James had a disagreement over whether going forward the Judaeans, those who are born to parents in the law, should be brought up under the rituals of the law. However there was never any dispute concerning those who were not Judaeans. Ostensibly, in spite of the agreement which the apostles had come to which is recorded in Acts chapter 15, there were still Judaizers coming out from Judaea who sought the contrary and had maintained the same attitude seen with these earlier Judaizers at Antioch in Acts 15:5.
3 Yet not even Titos who with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised 4 by those privily introduced false brethren, such who infiltrate to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Yahshua, in order that they may enslave us; 5 to whom not even for a minute did we yield in subjection, at which the truth of the good message would persevere for the sake of you.
The Greek phrase πρὸς ὥραν, which is here “for a minute”, in our modern English idiom may just as well be read “for a second”. The word ὥρα (Strong's # 5610), which is also the origin of the Latin word hora and our English word hour, did not at that time exclusively denote an exact segment of the day, but was also used to mean “any time or period, whether of the year, month, or day...a part of the year, a season...a part of the day” (Liddell & Scott).
Titos is not at all referred to by that name in the Book of Acts, although Paul mentions his presence with him several times in his second epistle to the Corinthians. He is also ostensibly the same Titos seen in 2 Corinthians, and who is the recipient of the epistle addressed to Titos. In the past I have imagined that this Titos is the same man whom some of the better manuscripts identify as Titios Ioustos, or in the King James Version only as Justus, at Acts 18:7. This is a possibility, however if it is true then it would mean that Paul knew Titios Ioustos long before Paul had arrived in Corinth, where Ioustos was living when Paul began his ministry there. So the two individuals are not necessarily the same person, but the possibility does indeed exist.
It is evident that where Paul said “then after fourteen years I had again gone up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titos along also”, that he must have been referring to the events of Acts chapter 15 because he and Barnabas had also split right after that time, as it is recorded in Acts 15:39, and had gone their separate ways. Where Titos accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, there were certainly others as well, including Luke himself, but Luke had only written that “Paul and Barnabas and some of the others among them” had made the trip, as we see in Acts 15:2.
So here in Galatians Paul gives us two periods of time, where we see that three years had transpired between his conversion on the road to Damascus and his first appearance in Jerusalem, a period which covers only some of the events recorded in Acts chapter 9, and then there is a period of fourteen years which can either include or which can be added to those first three, since Paul's language is ambiguous. So there are either fourteen years between Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus and his going to Jerusalem recorded in Acts chapter 15, or there are seventeen years if his intent is to add the fourteen years mentioned here to the first three years rather than considering them inclusively. However the events can be dated, and we learn that the total time could only have been fourteen years, and not seventeen.
Luke chapter 3 informs us that the ministry of Yahshua Christ began in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, from which we can reckon it to have begun in the late summer or perhaps early fall of 28 AD. Having had a ministry of three-and-a-half years, which is determined from the recounting of the Passover feasts mentioned in the Gospel of John and also from other sources, the Crucifixion most likely took place in the Spring of 32 AD.
Therefore we do not have enough time for the events of Paul's ministry to consume 17 years between the crucifixion and the events of Acts chapter 15, and then according to the narrative of Acts chapters 15 through 17, at least a couple of additional years to the beginning of his 18-month sojourn in Corinth, which must have begun no earlier than either mid 49 and no later than early 50 AD [for Gallio to be in office towards the end of the 18 months]. This is especially true since after the first Christian Pentecost, the stoning of Stephen and then the events on the road to Damascus which led to Paul's conversion probably require at least a year to have transpired as they were described. But if we understand Paul's 14 years as being inclusive of the first 3 year period which he mentions here, and we understand that Paul was converted in 33 or maybe 34 AD, everything falls into place and the events described in Acts chapter 15 very likely took place in 47 AD.
This also establishes the fact that this letter to the Galatians, and Paul's subsequent visit to Galatia anticipated here, must have been written not only after the events of Acts chapter 15, but also after Paul had an opportunity to visit Antioch once again. This we shall see in the balance of this chapter.
6 Now from those reputed to be something, whatsoever they were then makes not one difference to me. Yahweh does not receive a man’s stature, therefore to me those of repute are conferred nothing.
The Greek word πρόσωπον (Strong's # 4383), is “the face, visage, countenance...one’s look...outward appearance, beauty” (Liddell & Scott), and therefore it is stature here. It refers to the look of a man, or to his status in life, and not to the person himself.
Paul’s adversaries in Acts 15 were not James and Peter, but the Judaizing Pharisees which we had seen mentioned in verses 2 and 5 of that chapter. Yet here Paul certainly seems to say that even if James and Peter, “those reputed to be pillars” as he calls them here in verse 7, had supported the Pharisees in the matters which had been disputed there, Paul would not have capitulated to them and violated the meaning of the Gospel as he had come to understand it.
The word rendered as message in verse 8 is the Greek word ἀποστολή (Strong's # 651), which can refer to either the message or to the mission of the person bearing the message, so it is apostleship in the King James Version.
Here Paul informs us that instead of supporting the Judaizing Pharisees, “on the contrary”, as he puts it, the apostles accepted his position as being the legitimate position, and offered him their friendship.
Quite often, the critics of Paul of Tarsus portray the division which is described here as a two-party division, or Paul versus the so-called “real Christians” who were the apostles in Jerusalem. In fact, it is clear from the records that there were three parties involved, Paul and Barnabas and those who were with them, and then the Judaizing Pharisees, and then the original apostles who were called to intervene and after investigating the matter they chose the side of Paul. Therefore it was a three party division which quickly melted into two parties, and only the critics of Paul are left on the side of the Pharisaical Jews!
9 and knowing the favor being given to me, Iakobos and Kephas and Iohannes, those reputed to be pillars, had given right hands of fellowship to me and to Barnabas, that we are for the Nations, and they for the circumcised; 10 only that we should remember the poor, the same thing which I had then been anxious to do.
The Codex Alexandrinus lists only James and John in verse 9, where the 3rd century papyrus P46 has James and Peter and John, and the Codex Bezae (D) has Peter and James and John (which seems to be a result of Roman propaganda); the text follows the Codices Sinaiticus (א), Vaticanus (B), Ephraemi Syri (C), Freerianus (I 016), and the Majority Text.
The commission which Paul is referring to here, received by himself and Barnabas, is mentioned even earlier in the accounts in Acts. First, we see at the very end of Acts chapter 11: “27 And in those days prophets came down from Jerusalem into Antiocheia. 28 And there arose one of them named Hagabos who indicated through the Spirit that a great famine is going to come upon the whole inhabited world, which happened in the time of Klaudios. [Claudius was emperor from 41 to 54 AD. Herod Agrippa I, the Herod of Acts chapter 12, died in the Spring of 44 AD.] 29 Then of the students, just as anyone prospered, each of them set aside for supplies to send to those brethren dwelling in Judaea, 30 which they then did, sending to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saulos.” Then we see at the very end of Acts chapter 12: “25 And Barnabas and Saulos returned to Jerusalem [from Antioch] completing the supply, taking along with them Iohannes who is called Markos.” [So this very likely happened in 44 AD shortly after Herod died.] This seems to be what Paul is referring to here in Galatians chapter 2 where he says in verse 10 “only that we should remember the poor, the same thing which I had then been anxious to do”, and then we read in the very next verse, the beginning of Acts chapter 13: “1 And there were throughout the assembly which was in Antiocheia prophets and teachers, namely Barnabas and Sumeon who is called 'Niger' and Loukios the Kurenaian, and Manaen a childhood companion of Herodas the tetrarch, and Saulos. 2 And upon their performing services for the Prince and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke: 'Now set apart for Me Barnabas and Saulos for the work which I have called them.' 3 Then fasting and praying and laying the hands upon them they released them.” This is where the ministry to the uncircumcised is begun by Paul and Barnabas, but the “work [for] which I have called them” must have already been determined, as well as the agreement among the original apostles, as Barnabas and Saul are connected to the account given in Acts chapter 11 where Peter professes the realization that the Nations should receive the Gospel of Christ (cf Acts 11:21-26).
11 But when Kephas [D and the MT have “Peter”; the text follows א, A, B, C, and H] had come to Antiocheia, I had confronted him personally because he was condemning himself: 12 for before some who were [P46 has “one who was”] to come from Iakobos, he [P46 has “they”] had eaten in common with the Nations, but when they came [P46, א, B, and D have “he came” (P46 is consistent with its previous variation in this verse, while א, B, and D are not); the text follows A, C, H, and the MT] he withdrew and separated himself, being in fear of those of the circumcised; 13 and also the rest of the Judaeans had acted with him, so that even Barnabas had been led away by them in hypocrisy.
These events which Paul describes here are not recorded in the Book of Acts, or anywhere else. But we do learn from the account at the end of Acts chapter 15, and especially from Acts15:35, that after returning from Jerusalem to Antioch, that Paul and Barnabas had indeed spent a considerable time there before Barnabas sailed to Cyprus with Mark, and Paul had departed with Silas for Syria and Cilicia and points further west. We are only told up to this point that Paul had a disagreement with Barnabas over the value of Mark to the ministry, and that for that reason they each went their own way, which is recorded in Acts 15:37-39. This is all that we see recorded, and so far as we can tell from Luke's language in Acts chapter 16, seeing that he was with Paul then, Luke was also very likely here with Paul in Antioch to record whatever had transpired.
We have already compared the chronology and the records of Acts with all of the comments regarding the events related by Paul in regards to his ministry found up to this point in his epistle to the Galatians. Here it is evident, that up through Acts chapter 15 Paul had the revelation that the formerly pagan Christians, upon turning to Christianity, should not take upon themselves the rituals found in the law of Moses. With this the apostles agreed in Acts chapter 15.
So, as he describes here in Galatians chapter 2, if Paul had confronted Peter in Antioch before this point in his ministry where he circumcised Timothy, he would have been a hypocrite for having circumcised Timothy. But there is no indication in Acts chapter 15 that Paul had already developed the idea that Judaeans should part from the rituals of the law, and then in Acts chapter 16 Paul made certain to have Timothy circumcised because his mother was a Judaean, and on account of the Judaeans. So Paul must have developed the idea that Judaeans should also depart from the works of the law at a time later than the sojourn in Antioch recorded in Acts chapter 15, and the encounter where Timothy was circumcised as it is recorded in Acts chapter 16.
Furthermore, as in Galatians chapter 4 Paul reflects back on his having been to Galatia in the past, where he said he had preached the Gospel, and since the first record of his being in Galatia is in Acts 16:6, then this epistle must have been written after the events which are recorded in Acts 16:6.
In Acts chapter 21, in an account which transpired over ten years after the account in Jerusalem recorded in Acts chapter 15, we see that same fear of the circumcision in James, at Acts 21:18-26, which Paul exhibited in Acts chapter 16. Only in Acts chapter 21, at verses 20-22, we see it being acknowledged that Paul was teaching Judaeans to depart from the rituals of the law. Therefore the events described here, where Paul relates his confrontation with Peter, must have taken place some time after the circumcision of Timothy, and before Paul wrote this epistle.
There is evidently only one opportunity left in Paul's ministry for that. In Acts chapter 18, Luke is not with Paul, for Paul had left Luke behind in Philippi after his arrest which is recorded in the latter parts of Acts chapter 16. Yet, although none of the details of his stay are recorded in Acts, in chapter 18 it is mentioned that Paul once again visits Antioch, and for the last time. This is the only opportunity he had in which to meet Peter as he describes having confronted him in here Galatians chapter 2. Evidently he also saw Barnabas here, as we see in Galatians 2:13. We also see in Acts 18:23 that Paul had spent “some time” in Antioch on this visit, which could be days or weeks, or even months: there is no telling.
It is also apparent, although it cannot be asserted with absolute certainty, that it is here in Antioch that Paul wrote this epistle to the Galatians. Paul says in chapter 4 (4:20) of this epistle “I have desired to be present with you even now, and to change my tone, because I am perplexed with you”, and he indeed goes on to visit them after leaving Antioch, which is only briefly recorded in Acts 18:23. Aside from expressing his desire to visit the Galatians later on in chapter 4, Paul says here in verse 11 of this chapter: “But when Kephas had come to Antiocheia”, as if he was still in Antioch when he wrote those words. This must be contrasted to the statement in verse 6 where Paul reflects back by saying “whatsoever they were then”, speaking of the past. This may be dismissed as being circumstantial, however for the many other reasons given here, I feel safe in asserting that the epistle to the Galatians was written at the time that Paul was in Antioch as it is recorded in Acts 18:22, and that is also when the confrontation with Peter must have occurred.
14 But when I had seen that they did not walk uprightly, according to the truth of the good message, I had said to Kephas [D and the MT have “Petros”; the text follows P46, א, A, B, C, and H] before them all: If you, being a Judaean, live like a foreigner and not like a Judaean [P46 wants “and not like a Judaean”], how do you compel the Nations to imitate the Judaeans?
As Paul had said above in verse 12, Peter “had eaten in common with the Nations” until “some who were to come from Iakobos”, meaning that some men sent by James had come to Antioch, upon which Peter “withdrew and separated himself, being in fear of those of the circumcised”. This James was the brother of Jude and both were the half-brothers of Christ through their common mother. It is these men to whom Paul refers as “the brethren of the Lord” at 1 Corinthians 9:5. Each of these men also wrote epistles which are found in the New Testament. James was one of the original 12 apostles listed by Matthew (chapter 10) and Luke (chapter 6) as James son of Alphaeus, but he is not mentioned by name in the Gospel of John.
With this we should notice that Peter had never played the role of pope which the Roman Catholic Church much later and quite falsely ascribes to him, and from Acts chapter 15 we should also see that while Peter spoke first in response to Paul and Barnabas, James had the last word there as well. Therefore it seems that while there certainly is no Christian pope, James seems to have been the dominant personality among these apostles.
So as late as 58 AD James was insisting that Judaeans who turned to Christ should continue to keep the law. But the Judaeans of the time were strictly keeping the law as we read it in Genesis chapter 17: “14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.” We see this in practice in the opening verses of Acts chapter 11, of events which had transpired while Paul was still in Tarsus [so this cannot be what Paul refers to here in Galatians chapter 2], where after Peter had converted the Roman household of Cornelius we read “1 And the ambassadors and the brethren who were throughout Judaea heard that the nations also accepted the Word of Yahweh. 2 Then when Petros went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him 3 saying that 'You went in with uncircumcised men and ate together with them!'” Therefore, we see that the law precluded Judaeans from having any community whatsoever with the uncircumcised, and later in Acts chapter 15 all the apostles had agreed that the pagans of the Nations turning to Christ should not be circumcised. But keeping the law, James and all those in Jerusalem, even though they were professing to be Christians, would therefore not even eat with any of those dispersed Israelites of the nations turning to Christ since they were not being circumcised. This situation clearly creates a paradox, and Paul realized that.
As we had often explained during our presentation of the Book of Acts offered here two years ago, the Book of Acts records a religious transition from the rituals of Moses to the Faith in Christ, and from the dispensation of the Levitical priesthood to the reconciliation of dispersed Israel. One cannot understand the full course of the transition without first understanding the chronology of Paul's epistles in relation to the accounts of the Book of Acts. Paul must have realized that there could not be two separate bodies of Christ, if Israel and Judah were ever to be made into one stick, as the prophet Ezekiel describes. Therefore once we understand what Paul meant by the term “works of the law”, we can see that Paul's position was the correct position when it is compared to the words of the prophets, especially in places such as Daniel chapter 9, Ezekiel chapter 37, and in Habakkuk.
But there is also another dynamic which is evident in Paul's writing here. He is explaining that he had scolded Peter for having been eating with the uncircumcised and ceasing to do so once certain men had come to him from James. Then he says “If you, being a Judaean, live like a foreigner and not like a Judaean, how do you compel the Nations to imitate the Judaeans?” The Greek word for “live like a foreigner” is ἐθνικῶς, which means “to act like those of the nations”. Then below in verse 16 Paul infers that the Judaeans should know “that a man is not deemed righteous from rituals of law”. With this, Paul is actually inferring that the true Judaeans who have turned to Christ have abandoned the rituals of the law, and that those who insist on maintaining the rituals of the law are therefore acting like foreigners, and are not true Judaeans.
The last clause may have been rendered “wrongdoers [or sinners] of the Nations”. Paul is saying that the true Judaeans are not sinners, but that the sinners are from among the Nations. Of course, all men are sinners, however the Israelites of Judaea keeping the law had propitiation for their sin until the passion of the Christ, and then upon turning to Christ He became their propitiation for sin. Furthermore, people who were never under the Old Covenant cannot sin, because as Paul explained in Romans, sin is not accounted where there is no law, and the law was given only to the children of Israel. The language Paul uses here further helps to establish that by “the Nations”, Paul is referring to the nations of the dispersions of the children of Israel, who abandoned the covenant to which they were bound and who therefore were considered sinners, because they had no propitiation for their sin until they had turned to Christ. In this context, only they could be considered “sinners of the Nations” since there is no Scriptural application for anyone else.
we then have relied in Christ Yahshua in order that we would be deemed righteous from the faith of Christ, and not from rituals of law, since not any flesh shall be deemed righteous from rituals of law.
And here Paul once again asserts that true Judaeans, relying in Christ, no longer relied on the rituals of the law, of which circumcision was a part. Therefore Paul is not considering to be true Judaeans any of those in Judaea who had not turned to Christ and who would claim to be keepers of the law for their justification. The words of Christ in the Gospel and in the Revelation inform us of this same thing.
As for no flesh being justified by the law, we may read from Psalm 143, which is a prayer of David: “1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. 2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” No man may be justified without the mercy of Yahweh found in Christ. Every man requiring the mercy of God for justification, should indeed be humble before God and men.
In the Christogenea New Testament, the Greek word ἔργον (Strong's # 2041) is everywhere translated literally as either a work or a deed, except where Paul is explicitly referring to “the works of the law” where 16 times plural forms of the word ἔργον are translated as rituals (in phrases such as τὰ ἔργα νόμου), all of which are in the epistles to the Romans (3:20, 27, 28; 4:2, 6; 9:11, 32; 11:6), Galatians (2:16 [thrice]; 3:2, 5, 10) and Hebrews (6:1; 9:14). Paul, in the context of each of those passages, certainly means to refer to those rituals which the law prescribed in ordinances and which have been done away with in Christ (Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 9:1-10).
The remarks made by Joseph Thayer in his Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament show that Thayer did not realize this application, because his explanations of ἔργον under these passages are odd considering the context in which the word appears in these cases. He basically only says that “in Paul's writings ἔργα νόμου, [are] works demanded by and agreeing with the law”, citing many of these same passages we have cited. By saying “agreeing with” in his definition, Thayer creates his own anti-nomian religion, because Paul never disagreed with the law. But Ferrar Fenton in his translation of the Bible did fully realize that the references made by Paul to “works of the law” were references to the prescribed rituals of the Old Testament, and his translation reflects that realization.
In the Hebrew of the Masoretic Text there are several Hebrew words which are often translated into the English versions as work or service, however for this discussion none of them are important. But by examining the language of the Septuagint, we can indeed see precisely what Paul had meant by the phrase “works of the law”.
Where the King James Version at Numbers 3:7 has the words “the service of the tabernacle”, it reads in the Greek of the Septuagint: τὰ ἔργα τῆς σκηνῆς, or “works of the tabernacle”. Similar phrases appear in the King James Version in Numbers 4:4, and at Numbers 4:30 and 4:39 where the same word often translated as service is work instead. In both places the Septuagint Greek has the phrase τὰ ἔργα, or “the works” (ἔργα is a plural form of ἔργον). We see the Greek word ἔργον three times in the Septuagint at Numbers 4:47 where the King James Version has “From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service (τὸ ἔργον) of the ministry (τῶν ἔργων), and the service (τὰ ἔργα) of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation”, and the words were spoken in reference to all the things which the priests did in the temple, pertaining to the rituals of the law.
These are only a few examples, and there are many others throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. For instance, in Brenton's English Septuagint we read in 2 Chronicles 23:18: “And Jodae the priest committed the works of the house of the Lord into the hand of the priests and Levites, and he re-established the courses of the priests and Levites which David appointed over the house of the Lord, and he appointed them to offer whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with gladness, and with songs by the hand of David.” So the works, τὰ ἔργα, of the house of the Lord are the rituals which the priests performed in the temple.
If the usage in the Septuagint of the word ἔργον, which is in the plural works, is not enough to prove that by “works of the law” Paul was referring only to the temple rituals and ceremonial ordinances of the law, there is further and contemporary evidence in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It can be established with all certainty that the writings of the Qumran sect found in the Dead Sea Scrolls were made during the period of Roman occupation in Judaea and prior to the final revolt of Jerusalem resulting in the destruction of the temple, which was between 65 BC and 65 AD. We have established that Paul was writing this epistle shortly after 52 AD, and therefore the Qumran scrolls almost certainly predate Paul's epistles.
… in the Dead Sea Scrolls, there is a phrase which is a title for one of the more widely known scrolls usually identified as 4QMMT. This Scroll is sometimes called “The Sectarian Manifesto”, as it is in The Dead Sea Scrolls, A New Translation, by Wise, Abegg and Cook. In that volume, in an introduction to 4QMMT (which consists of the Dead Sea Scrolls fragments 4Q394 through 4Q399) the book says that “In all of antiquity only the Sectarian Manifesto and Paul's letters to the Galatians and Romans discuss the connection between works and righteousness.” Of course, we would assert that while it was not phrased in the same manner, a major component of the ministry of Christ had the purpose of illustrating that same distinction, as well as the epistle of James. The introduction in the book, found on page 454, continues by explaining that MMT, for the Hebrew words Miqsat Ma‘ase Ha-Torah, is “an acronym from the Hebrew words meaning 'some of the works of the Law'”. The subject of the scroll is, of course, the rituals of the law. Therefore we see that the phrase Ma‘ase Ha-Torah, or “works of the law”, was used by others at a time nearly contemporary to that of Paul in relation to the rituals of the Old Testament law.
One place in the prophets where it is explicitly explained that the Messiah would do away with these works of the law is in Daniel chapter 9. There in a Messianic prophecy we read of the purpose of Yahweh explained to Daniel for Jerusalem that “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” Then it says in verse 27: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease”, whereby we see that the Old Testament sacrifices became invalid in Christ. The covenant being confirmed was the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah chapter 31 and in Ezekiel chapter 37.
From Ezekiel 37:26: “26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.” Similar language prophesying a new covenant is found elsewhere in the words of that prophet.
The fulfillment of Daniel chapter 9 becomes manifest in Romans chapter 7, where it is realized that Yahweh God dying in Christ has freed Israel from the law to which the nation had been bound since Exodus chapter 19, and therefore in this manner did He Himself “finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness”. The children of Israel all sin, but they have an intercessor in Christ, as the apostle John explains in his first epistle, and as Paul also explained in Romans, where there is no law, sin is not accounted. So the children of Israel are no longer condemned by the letter of the law.
That by the phrase “works of the law” Paul referred only to those rituals and ceremonies conducted by the Levitical priests is also evident in his explanation in the epistle to the Hebrews that Christ is a priest “after the order of Melchizedek”, and that “the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law”, as he asserts at Hebrews 7:12. But the commandments of the law have not changed, and Christ Himself professes that “if you love Me, keep My commandments”, which is something which Paul had also taught frequently in his epistles.
Therefore, anyone who asserts that there is a requirement or that any ritual is necessary for the salvation of the children of Israel is a liar and a Judaizer, and that would include not only the sacrifices, but other rituals such as circumcision, water baptism or even any of the Catholic so-called sacraments. All rituals and ceremonial requirements for the propitiation of sin or the perceived attainment of righteousness are done away with in Christ. The history of Old Testament Israel should be sufficient evidence that man cannot propitiate God through rituals, and neither can he save himself by his own devices. However we shall never learn the lesson until we first learn to reject all of the lies of the Jews.
17 Now if seeking to be deemed righteous in Christ we ourselves are also found to be wrongdoers, then [here the manuscripts are divided between ἄρα (686, “then”) and ἆρα (687, an interrogatory particle expecting a negative answer), see Thayer, ἆρα, 2] is Christ a minister of failure? Certainly not!
Here Paul's words are in accordance with those of the apostle John found in 1 John chapter 2: “1 My children, I write these things to you in order that you do not do wrong. And if one should do wrong, we have an Advocate with the Father: the righteous Yahshua Christ. 2 And He is a propitiation on behalf of our errors; yet not for ours only but for the whole Society.” And of course, since only the children of Israel were ever under the law, only the children of Israel could be referred to as being forgiven of sin. Now under the New Covenant, the law is only written on the hearts of the children of Israel, those of the houses of Israel and Judah. So John talks about not only the Judaeans, but for all of the “children of God scattered abroad”, as he refers to the ancient dispersions of the Israelites in his Gospel, in John 11:52, which are those Nations of the seed of Abraham that Paul describes in Romans chapter 4 and 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
18 For if I again build these things which I have destroyed, I continue a transgressor myself.
If Paul abandons the righteousness which is in Christ for the persuasion that he could be justified by the rituals of the law, then he remains a sinner since there is no more justification in the law. As it says in Habakkuk chapter 2, in a passage which Paul had later quoted in Romans chapter 1: “3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. 4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk had received those words as an answer to a prayer in which he had said “Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth”, where he also described the unrighteous sacrifices being made in Jerusalem. So Yahweh's answer to that prayer is that “the just shall live by his faith”, and not by the righteousness found in the law.
19 For I through law have died in law, in order that in Yahweh I shall live. I have been crucified with Christ. 20 Now I live no longer, but Christ lives in me. And that I now live in flesh, in faith I live: in that of the Son of Yahweh [P46, B, and D have “of Yahweh and Christ”; the text follows א, A, C, and the MT], who having loved me then surrendered Himself on my behalf.
When we put all of these Messianic prophecies together, including those from Daniel chapter 9, we can only come to the conclusion that Yahweh God Himself became incarnate on earth as Yahshua Christ, and died as the Husband in order to free Israel the wife from the judgments of the law as Paul had explained in Romans chapter 7. Because He died to preserve Israel from a judgment of death, all Israel should consider themselves dead with him, as Paul also asserts, which is in accord with the prophecy of Hosea where it is said that “When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died” (Hosea 13:1) and also in Isaiah where Yahweh said “And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand” (Isaiah 28), and again “Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money” (Isaiah 52). Therefore in the prophets, all of the children of Israel were accounted dead in the law, and they only have life by the mercy which is in Christ. This is what Paul was explaining to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians and others: all of whom were Israel “according to the flesh”, but none of whom were ever Jews, who were Israel in name only because they were mostly converted Edomites.
21 I would not refuse the favor of Yahweh; if righteousness is through law, then Christ has died for no purpose.
As it says in Isaiah chapter 45: “17 Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end…. 19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right…. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” All of the seed of Israel shall be justified, even though when these words were spoken they were being put off in punishment and alienated from their God.
But because justification is apart from the law, that does not mean that we should disregard the law, as Christ had said, “If you love Me, keep My Commandments”, Paul concludes: “31 Do we then nullify the law by faith? Certainly not! Rather we establish the law.” The apostle John was teaching the same thing in different words, in 1 John chapter 2.
The Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, together with the understanding that by “works of the law” Paul was referring to the rituals and ceremonial ordinances through which Israel had sought justification and failed, and not to the commandments themselves which Paul consistently upheld, completely vindicate all of the positions on sin and the law which were set forth by Paul of Tarsus. | 2019-04-25T10:11:18Z | https://www.christogenea.org/podcasts/epistles-paul-galatians-part-2-works-law |
The Tupolev Tu-22M (Russian: Туполев Ту-22М; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau. According to some sources, the bomber was believed to be designated Tu-26 at one time. During the Cold War, the Tu-22M was operated by the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) in a strategic bombing role, and by the Soviet Naval Aviation (Aviacija Vojenno-Morskogo Flota, AVMF) in a long-range maritime anti-shipping role. Significant numbers remain in service with the Russian Air Force, and as of 2014 more than 100 Tu-22Ms are in use.
In 1962, with the introduction of the Tu-22, it became increasingly clear that the aircraft was inadequate in its role as a bomber. In addition to widespread unserviceability and maintenance issues, the Tu-22's handling characteristics proved to be dangerous. Its landing speed was some 100abbr=onNaNabbr=on greater than previous bombers and it had a tendency to pitch up and strike its tail upon landing. It was difficult to fly, and had poor all-round visibility. In 1962, Tupolev commenced work on major update of the Tu-22. Initially, the bureau planned to add a variable-sweep wing and uprated engines into the updated design. The design was tested at TsAGI's wind tunnels at Zhukovsky.
During this time, Sukhoi, traditionally a designer of fighter aircraft, developed the T-4, a four-engine titanium aircraft with canards. A response to the XB-70, it was to have a cruise speed of 3200abbr=onNaNabbr=on, requiring a massive research effort in order to develop the requisite technologies. Not to be outdone, Tupolev, whose expertise is with bombers, offered the Soviet Air Force (Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily, VVS) a massively-updated version of the Tu-22.
Compared to the T-4, it was an evolutionary design, and thus its appeal laid in its simplicity and low cost. However, the Soviet government was skeptical about the need to approve the development of a replacement aircraft so soon after the Tu-22 had just entered service. The Air Force and Tupolev, in order to save face with regards to the Tu-22's operational deficiencies and to stave off criticisms from the ICBM lobby, agreed to pass off the design as an update of the Tu-22 in their discussions with the government. The aircraft was designated Tu-22M, given the OKB code "Aircraft 45", and an internal designation of "AM". Their effort was successful as the government approved the design on 28 November 1967, and decreed the development of the aircraft's main weapon, the Kh-22. The T-4 itself would make its first flight in 1972, but was later cancelled.
US intelligence had been aware of the existence of the aircraft since 1969, and the first satellite photograph of the bomber would be taken in 1970. The existence of the aircraft was a shock to US intelligence as Nikita Khrushchev, who had been the Soviet premier up to 1964, was adamant that ICBMs would render the bomber obsolete.
As in the case of its contemporaries, the MiG-23 and Su-17 projects, the advantages of variable-sweep wing (or "swing wing") seemed attractive, allowing a combination of short take-off performance, efficient cruising, and good high-speed, low-level flight. The result was a new swing wing aircraft named Samolyot 145 (Aeroplane 145), derived from the Tupolev Tu-22, with some features borrowed from the abortive Tu-98. The Tu-22M was based on the Tu-22's weapon system and used its Kh-22 missile. The Tu-22M designation was used to help get approval for the bomber within the Soviet military and government system.
The Tu-22M designation was used by the Soviet Union during the SALT II arms control negotiations, creating the impression that it was a modification of the Tu-22. Some suggested that the designation was deliberately deceptive, and intended to hide the Tu-22M's performance. Other sources suggest the "deception" was internal to make it easier to get budgets approved. According to some sources, the Backfire-B/C production variants were believed to be designated Tu-26 by Russia, although this is disputed by many others. The US State and Defense Departments have used the Tu-22M designation for the Backfire.
Production of all Tu-22M variants totalled 497 including pre-production aircraft.
In 2014, Russian aerospace expert Piotr Butowski estimated there were seven squadrons of Tu-22Ms in service, each with approximately 10 aircraft, stationed at three airbases; 40 at Belaya airbase in southeastern Siberia, 28 at Shaykovka airbase southwest of Moscow, and 10 at Dyagilevo airbase in Ryazan southeast of Moscow which serves as the training unit for the bomber. With the deletion of the aircraft's in-flight refueling capability due to the START I treaty, the Tu-22M's internal fuel capacity limits its operational range from its home bases to only around Russia's immediate sphere of influence.
The two prototypes Tu-22M0 were delivered to Long Range Aviation's 42nd Combat Training Centre at Dyagilevo air base, near Ryazan, in February 1973. The aircraft began practice sorties in March. Within 20 days of the aircraft's delivery, the air and ground crew at the air base had received their type ratings; this was helped by their earlier training at Tupolev, the Gromov Flight Research Institute and the Kazan plant. In June that year, the aircraft were demonstrated to Soviet government officials, destroying tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
The Tu-22M was first unveiled in 1980 during the aircraft's participation in a major Warsaw Pact exercise. During the exercise, naval Tu-22M2s conducted anti-ship operations by mining parts of the Baltic Sea to simulate an amphibious landing. The exercise was extensively covered by the press and TV media. In June 1981, four Tu-22Ms were intercepted and photographed by Norwegian aircraft flying over the Norwegian Sea.
The first simulated attack by the Tu-22M against a NATO carrier group occurred between 30 September and 1 October 1982. Eight aircraft locked onto the U.S. task forces of USS Enterprise and USS Midway which were operating in the North Pacific. They came within 120abbr=onNaNabbr=on of the task forces. The reaction of the U.S. Navy was thought to have been restrained during this event so as to allow the observation of the Tu-22M's tactics. The bomber also made attempts to test Japan's air defense boundary on several occasions.
The Tu-22M was first used in combat in Afghanistan. It was deployed December 1987 to January 1988, during which the aircraft flew strike missions in support of the Soviet Army's attempt to relieve the Mujahideens' siege against the city of Khost. Two squadrons of aircraft from the 185th GvBAP based at Poltava were deployed to Maryy-2 air base in Turkmenistan. Capable of dropping large tonnages of conventional ordnance, the aircraft bombed enemy forts, bases and material supplies. In October 1988, the aircraft was again deployed against the Mujahideen. Sixteen Tu-22M3s were used to provide cover to Soviet forces that were pulling out of the country. The Tu-22Ms were tasked with destroying paths of access to Soviet forces, attacking enemy forces at night to prevent regrouping, and to attack incoming supplies from Iran and Pakistan. Working alongside 30 newly arrived MiG-27s, the aircraft also flew missions aimed at relieving the besieged city of Kandahar. The aircraft had its last Afghan operation in January 1989 at Salang pass.
At the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, 370 remained in Commonwealth of Independent States service. Production ended in 1993.
The Russian Federation used the Tu-22M3 in combat in Chechnya during 1995, performing strikes near Grozny.
The Russian military acknowledged the loss of a Tu-22MR recon aircraft to Georgian air defences early in the 2008 South Ossetia war. One of its crew members was captured (Major Vyacheslav Malkov), two others were killed and the crew commander, Lt. Col. Aleksandr Koventsov, was missing in action as late as November 2011.
On Good Friday night, 29 March 2013, two Tu-22M3 bombers were flying in international airspace in a simulated attack on Sweden. The Swedish air defense failed to respond. Two Tu-22Ms flew supersonic over the Baltic Sea on 24 March 2015. Two Tu-22Ms approached Öland in international airspace on 21 May 2015. The Swedish Air Force sent two Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighters to mark their presence. On 4 July 2015, two Tu-22Ms approached the Swedish island of Gotland without violating its airspace, followed by Swedish and other fighter aircraft.
On 17 November 2015, as part of its air campaign in Syria, Russia used 12 Tu-22M3 bombers to hit targets in Syria, along with cruise missiles fired from the Mediterranean and Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers. 22–31 January 2016, Tu-22M3s reportedly conducted 42 sorties performing airstrikes in the vicinity of Deir ez-Zor city. On the morning of 12 July 2016, six Tu-22M3 bombers carried out a concentrated attack using high-explosive ammunition on Daesh targets east of Palmyra, Al-Sukhnah and Arak. On 14 July, six Tu-22M3 bombers having taken off from their base airfields in Russia delivered another massive strike on the newly detected IS facilities in the areas east of Palmyra, as well as in Al-Sukhnah, Arak and the T-3 oil pumping station in the province of Homs. New raids were conducted on 21 July, 8 August, 11 August, 14 August 2016.
On 16 August 2016, the bombers began to fly missions in Syria using Iran′s Hamedan Airbase.
The Tupolev company has sought export customers for the Tu-22M since 1992, with possible customers including Iran, India and the People's Republic of China, but no sales have apparently been made. Unlike the Tu-22 bomber, Tu-22Ms were not exported to Middle East countries that were threatened by the US military presence in the region. During 2001, India signed a lease-to-buy contract for four Tu-22M aircraft for maritime reconnaissance and strike purposes. At the time, the aircraft were expected to be delivered with Raduga Kh-22 cruise missiles. The aircraft were not delivered to India.
In January 2013, reports emerged that China had signed a purchase agreement for the production and delivery of 36 Tu-22M3s, under the Chinese designation of H-10, with many components to be manufactured domestically in China under a technology transfer agreement with Russia and Tupolev. Sales of the Russian-built Raduga Kh-22 long-range anti-ship missile and the fleet's intended use as a maritime strike platform have also been speculated upon. Rosoboronexport has reportedly denied any sales or negotiations with China regarding the Tu-22M.
Earliest pre-production variant, 9 were produced.
Pilot-production aircraft, 9 were produced in 1971 and 1972. Its NATO reporting name was Backfire-A.
The first major production version, entering production in 1972, was the Tu-22M2 (NATO: Backfire-B), with longer wings and an extensively redesigned, area ruled fuselage (raising the crew complement to four), twin NK-22 engines (215 kN thrust each) with F-4 Phantom II-style intake ramps, and new undercarriage with the main landing gear in the wing glove rather than in large pods. 211 Tu-22M2 were built from 1972 into 1983. The Tu-22M2 had a top speed of Mach 1.65 and was armed most commonly with long-range cruise missiles/anti-ship missiles, typically one or two Raduga Kh-22 anti-shipping missiles. Some Tu-22M2s were later reequipped with more powerful NK-23 engines and redesignated Tu-22M2Ye.
Tu-22M3s used to attack targets in Syria underwent modernization, during which the SVP-24 specialized computing subsystems were installed on them, significantly increased the accuracy of the bombing. 5 modernized aircraft entered service in 2015, 2 more in 2017. One more in 2018.
Several Tu-22M3s, perhaps 12, were converted to Tu-22M3(R) or Tu-22MR standard with Shompol side looking airborne radar and other ELINT equipment.
Tu-22M3 for the Russian Air Force with engines from Tu-160M2 (NK-32-02), upgraded avionics (SVP-24-22 bombsights, a NV-45 radar and an improved cockpit) and the ability to use precision air-to-surface weapons. Prior to 2020 it is planned to upgrade 30 Tu-22M3 with new hardware components and adapted for the extended range weapons. Can carry 4 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal or 3 Kh-32 missiles. The first flight is scheduled for August 2018.
Russian Air Force – 63 are in service as of 2018.
Russian Naval Aviation Tu-22M3s of the Northern Fleet and Pacific Fleet were transferred to the Russian Air Force in 2011.
Soviet Air Force aircraft were transferred to Russian and Ukrainian Air Forces after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
106th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division – Pryluky Air Base, Chernihiv Oblast had 20 Tu-22M3s from 1993 to 2000.
13th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division – Poltava Air Base, Poltava Oblast had 18 Tu-22M3 in 1991. The last bombers were scrapped in January 2006.
22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division – Stryi Air Base, Lviv Oblast it had 18 Tu-22M3 as of 1991. The aircraft were transfarred to Pryluky Air Base in 1993.
540th Instructor-Research Maritime Missile Aviation Regiment had 29 Tu-22M2/M3 as of 1992. All Tu-22M2s were put in storage in the early 1990s and scrapped from November 2002 to July 2004.
1 Tu-22M3 and 1 Tu-22M2 in the Museum of Long Range Aviation in Poltava.
On 9 August 2008, a Tu-22M3 was shot down in South Ossettia by the Buk-M1 surface-to-air-missile system during the 5 day Russo-Georgian War. Three of the four crew members were killed.
On 16 September 2017, a Tu-22M3 overran the runway at Shaykovka Air Base due to the aborted take off. The aircraft was written off. All four crew members survived without injury.
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Backfires attack US carriers. 14–20 November 1982. Flight International. Surrey, UK. IPC Transport Press. 3837. 122. 1480. 0015-3710.
Gordon, Rigmant & Komissarov 1999, pp. 83–84.
USSR Uses Backfires, MiG-27s to Attack Afghan Mujahedeen. Aviation Week & Space Technology. New York. Penton Media. 129. 19. 7 November 1988. 21. 0005-2175.
News: Soviets Add Missiles in Afghan War. Moseley. Ray. Chicago Tribune. 2 November 1988. 16.
Gordon, Rigmant & Komissarov 1999, p. 84.
Velovich. Alexander. Spares deficit grounds Tu-22s. Flight International. London, UK. Reed Business Information. 4279. 140. 7–13 August 1991. 17. 0015-3710.
Velovich. Alexander. Soviet AF wanted Tupolev prosecuted over Blackjack. Flight International. London, UK. Reed Business Information. 4292. 140. 6–12 November 1991. 21. 0015-3710.
Kramer, Andrew E. "Russia Resumes Patrols by Nuclear Bombers". The New York Times, 17 August 2007. Retrieved: 17 July 2010.
News: Sekretarev. Ivan. Russia starts Soviet-style bomber patrols. Winnipeg Free Press. 18 August 2007. 24 June 2015. yes. HighBeam Research.
Web site: Генштаб признал потерю двух самолетов в Южной Осетии. Russian. The General staff acknowledged the loss of two aircraft in South Ossetia. Lenta.ru. 9 August 2008. 9 August 2008.
Web site: Russia Resurgent: An Initial Look at Russian Military Performance in Georgia. Felix K.. Chang. 13 August 2008. 7 October 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081014233041/http://www.fpri.org/enotes/200808.chang.russiaresurgentgeorgia.html. 14 October 2008.
Web site: Маленькая бедоносная война. Russian. Little bedonosnaâ war. Moskovskij Komsomolets. 7 August 2009. 29 October 2009. yes. https://web.archive.org/web/20090811062535/http://www.mk.ru/politics/publications/331049.html. 11 August 2009.
Web site: RUSSIA/GEORGIA – Remains handed over by Georgia not of downed Russian pilot – source. Wikileaks. 24 November 2015.
News: Danish F-16s confronted Russian fighter jets approaching Sweden. The Copenhagen Post. April 23, 2013. no. https://web.archive.org/web/20141019173930/http://cphpost.dk/news/danish-f-16s-confronted-russian-fighter-jets-approaching-sweden.5052.html. October 19, 2014.
Ryskt flyg övade anfall mot Sverige. Swedish. Russian aircraft practiced attacks on Sweden. Svenska Dagbladet. 22 April 2013. Mikael. Holmström. 24 November 2015.
News: Cenciotti. David. Russian Tu-22 bomber scares NATO air defenses flying at supersonic speed over the Baltic Sea for the first time. The Aviationist. 24 March 2015. 24 November 2015.
News: Cenciotti. David. Ryskt agerande tvingar MP till vägval. Swedish. Russian action forces the MP to choices. Svenska Dagbladet. 21 May 2015. 24 November 2015.
News: de la Reguera. Eric. Ryska bombplan nära Gotland. Swedish. Russian bombers near Gotland. Dagens Nyheter. 4 July 2015. 24 November 2015.
News: Russian Warplanes Destroy 140 Terrorist Targets in Syria. 17 November 2015. Sputnik. 24 November 2015.
News: 25 Russian long-range strategic bombers in action over Syria for the very first time. David. Cenciotti. 17 November 2015. The Aviationist. 24 November 2015.
News: Syrian conflict: Russian bombers use Iran base for air strikes. 16 August 2016. BBC. 16 August 2016.
Web site: Tu-22M simulated attack on U.S. aircraft carriers during cold war. 21 September 2011. 21 September 2011. yes. https://web.archive.org/web/20111002231700/http://www.airforceworld.com/bomber/eng/tu22-supersonic-bomber-1.htm. 2 October 2011.
Web site: India Leases Backfire Bombers, Buys Aircraft Carrier. Sherman. K.. Journal of Electronic Defense. 1 April 2001. 12 June 2015. yes. HighBeam Research.
Book: Wirtz, James. Balance of Power. Stanford University Press. Stanford. 2004. 978-0-8047-5017-2.
Book: Chopra, VD. Significance of Indo-Russian Relations in 21st Century. Gyan Publishing. 2008. 978-0-8047-5017-2. 130.
News: China buys Russian bombers. SpaceDaily.com. 23 January 2013. 24 November 2015.
News: Cenciotti. David. Richard. Clements. China's Buying A Fleet Of Russian Bombers Perfect For Taking On The US Navy. Business Insider. 20 January 2013. 24 November 2015.
News: Никаких переговоров с Китаем о поставке бомбардировщиков Ту-22М3 не велось и не ведётся – "Рособоронэкспорт.. Russian. No talks with China on supplying Tu-22M3 bombers was not and is not-"Rosoboronexport". ITAR-TASS News Agency. 24 January 2013. 24 November 2015.
Web site: The Tupolev Tu-22 "Blinder" & Tu-22M "Backfire". www.airvectors.net. 2016-09-15.
Web site: Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire C Bomber – Missile Carrier. Kopp. Carlo. August 1, 2009. Air Power Australia.
Web site: Greg. Goebel. The Tupolev Tu-22 "Blinder" & Tu-22M 'Backfire'. vectorsite.net. https://web.archive.org/web/20120305082952/http://www.vectorsite.net/avtu22.html. 5 March 2012.
Web site: Tupolev Tu-22M1. Riga Aviation Museum. 24 November 2015.
News: Russia brings into service modernized long-range bomber Tu-22M3. Tass. 4 June 2014. 24 November 2015.
News: В Национальном центре управления обороной проведен Единый день приемки военной продукции. Russian. At the National Centre for defence management held a single day of acceptance of military products. armstrade.org. 17 April 2015. 24 November 2015.
Web site: Quality building-up in the Russian Armed Forces. eng.itogi2015.mil.ru. 2016-09-15. yes. https://web.archive.org/web/20160629084145/http://eng.itogi2015.mil.ru/quality2015. 2016-06-29.
News: Ту-22М3 сделают убийцу ЕвроПРО Ради высокоточной ракеты бомбардировщику поменяют всю электронику. Russian. Tu-22M3 aircraft will make a Europro killer for the sake of precision bomber missile defense shield will change all electronics. VPK. 7 February 2012. 24 November 2015.
News: Tupolev-22M3M long-range bomber to make first flight in August. TASS. 25 April 2018. 28 April 2018.
Web site: 185th Guards Kirovogradsko-Budapeshtskiy Red Banner Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment. www.ww2.dk. 19 February 2018.
Web site: Украина ликвидировала последний бомбардировщик. Russian. Ukraine eliminated the last bomber. korrespondent.net. 27 January 2006. 19 February 2018.
Web site: 260th orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment. www.ww2.dk. 19 February 2018.
Web site: 540th Instructor-Research Maritime Missile Aviation Regiment. www.ww2.dk. 19 February 2018.
Web site: Музей дальней авиации. Russian. Museum of long-range aviation. doroga.ua. 24 November 2015.
Web site: Грузия передала России тела штурманов сбитого Ту-22М3. lenta.ru. Russian. 16 September 2008. 2 October 2017.
Web site: Самолет Ту-22 выкатился с полосы в Калужской области. iz.ru. Russian. 16 September 2017. 1 October 2017.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tupolev Tu-22M". | 2019-04-24T23:51:53Z | http://everything.explained.today/Tupolev_Tu-22M/ |
I went home last Wednesday night for the Thanksgiving weekend. My flight had moved from its originally-listed departure time, so I ended up getting home a couple of hours earlier than usual. That meant a couple extra hours of talking and relaxing with Julia and neither of us minded that!
Thursday we took advantage of having nothing to do until a bit later in the morning and slept in, then had an excellent homemade breakfast burrito and went to a retirement center to wash dishes for their Thanksgiving luncheon. Julia's dad volunteers at the center and he asked if we'd be willing to help out. All things considered, it was a pretty short event, but we were moving the whole time. Julia handled cleaning off the plates and I dried and stacked and put things on shelves. We worked with a number of other people, including her parents, grandmother, aunt, brother, and a couple of other people. In all, I think we were there about two hours and the people who always worked there said we were the quickest they'd ever worked with. Hooray for us!
Afterward we went to Julia's parents' place for the afternoon and evening. We had a very good, traditional Thanksgiving dinner around four or five o'clock, I can't honestly say what time it was, and spent the evening cleaning up, talking, playing a game, and enjoying some dessert. It was a small group, just seven of us, which was a nice change of pace from their usual -- very large -- family gatherings. Julia and I both really enjoyed it.
Friday and the rest of the weekend we ran a lot of errands and managed to get a ton of things done at the condo as well as inside and outside the house. At the condo I had to install a new fan in the bathroom. I'd installed another one last year, so I knew it was pretty simple, but I also had to see about fixing the fan on the heater which was making quite a lot of noise. We finished off the fan pretty quickly once we purchased a new motor and installed it, then went to work on the heater. The issue there was trickier and we'd pretty much resigned ourselves to not being able to fix it, but on a lark I decided to try and tighten a couple of nuts (none of which seemed particularly loose) and that seemed to fix it! We were amazed. Really, the telling is much less exciting than it was in the moment. I received big kudos from my girl for that one!
Over the rest of the weekend we worked in the yard, transplanted some plants, put in a couple of lilacs, bought a new smokebush that was on sale for 75% off (we both like those, so that was a great find!), bought some potting soil for some indoor replanting we need to do, hung a "Welcome" sign we received as a wedding gift, and hung two big pieces of art/sculpture on the walls in the living room.
Saturday night we had Shana, Jen, Seth, and Melissa over for dinner and the night before we decided to make it a little fancier than the pizza and soda we'd originally planned on, so Saturday afternoon we made an excellent salad with baby greens, toasted walnuts, prosciutto slices, and a dressing of equal parts real maple syrup and balsamic vinegar. Sounds crazy, I know, but the dressing is so good. Better than it has a right to be. Anyway, we also made some delicious turkey burgers with a spicy-sweet chutney, and key lime pie. None of which we'd every made before. And, wow, was it all great!
Monday morning we were up early so I could catch my flight back, but I was bumped to a later flight, which was then delayed a bit, so I didn't actually leave Seattle until 1:30. That was fine with me, though, because the airline bought me breakfast and lunch, and gave me a voucher that may cover the cost of two flights home, so I didn't complain one bit.
When I made it back to San Jose I had to pack up all the stuff at my desk because we're finally moving things around so most of the team can sit together. Hopefully when I get in tomorrow my things will be in the new spot and I can put all my goodies back on the walls and shelves.
Now I'm just prattling. I'm back and things are good. I'm going to watch a movie, read, relax, and collapse into bed.
Oh, tomorrow, December 1st, is the five-year anniversary of my and Julia's first date! No way it can be a bad day!
I leave for home tomorrow after work and I am so ready to get home and be with my girl! I don't actually get in until about 10pm and the next day is Thanksgiving, but even so, it'll be nice to be home and be comfortable. And just be home.
I finally made it to the barber shop after work today to get a haircut. I say finally, because I've been planning to get a haircut for about five days, but always found something else to do. Monday and today I'd planned to go at lunch, but was invited to eat with some co-workers and bonding time is always good. Even if I did look like a shaggy hippie.
Right now I'm doing laundry and as soon as that's done it's time to pack for my trip. I already have a trip to the airport lined up and hopefully I can find someone to come get me Monday morning when I return. We'll see how that goes.
I found out yesterday that Elvis Costello has a talk show on the Sundance Channel and even the few short clips I managed to find online were so interesting and inspiring that I have to see the actual programs. We have the channel on OnDemand, so I'll have to check that this weekend.
Okay, I've nothing else to say.
In my last post I mentioned Jim was leaving for a couple of weeks. That means I get to use his car while he's gone and I definitely took advantage of it this weekend!
After work Friday my boss and a number of people from work went over to a hole-in-the-wall meadery (place that makes and sells mead - honey wine for those who don't know). It was likely the oddest bar I've ever been in because it was in, basically, and small two-story office building that looked like part of a high school built in the '70s; all brushed aluminum and glass, but old. No lights outside and nothing to say, "Hey, come drink here!"
So, I tried mead for the first time and it was good. I haven't been drinking much in the last few years and it was actually sort of hard to drink an entire glass of the stuff. It seemed very thick to me, but really, it was the same as any wine. I think the flavor and the smell was just new to me. Anyway, I liked it, but I only had the one drink.
Saturday morning I slept in, had breakfast at the diner, then spent the day going to used bookstores, comic shops, and just sort of enjoying the ability to drive around and do whatever I wanted. It was great. So relaxing and liberating in a weird sort of way. I'd actually set out to go to a Half-Price Books since I have a gift certificate to use, but the one I found online had closed or moved or never actually existed. But the day was far from a failure; I found a couple of books for a total of $10, a couple of comics for another $10, enjoyed looking over the game store shelves, but didn't buy anything, and found a nice place for lunch.
When I returned home I did some editing, ordered a pizza for dinner, and watched some more of the Middleman DVDs one of the guys at work lent me. Great day.
Sunday I slept in again, had breakfast, worked on some notes for a novel I've been trying to write for, oh, I don't know, five years? And I actually came up with some good ideas for it, so I'm happy about that. Then it was time for laundry! So while I was waiting to change loads I played some Dragon Age on my awesome computer. Then at 2:30 I went to see An Education which Julia loved, so I had to see it. I can't say I loved it, but it was very good and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
On the docket after the movie was changing my flight home for Christmas so I arrive a couple of days earlier. That only cost $75. I'd hoped it would be in that price range and feared it would cost more like $200. Dodged a bullet there!
Now I'm going to do something. I'm not sure what. Dinner? Play more Dragon Age? Write? Read? Watch Middleman? One of those for sure, maybe a couple of them.
Oh, and in the title I mentioned a belated anniversary. That was referring to my blog. I started writing here eight years ago on November 15, 2001. I downloaded a copy of my blog and it seems I've written over 300,000 words here over the past 8 years. For the curious, this is post number 902. Wow, huh?
Mostly because I was having issues playing videos on the new computer using Internet Explorer and any Google products (Reader and Wave, specifically), so I switched to Google Chrome. I wasn't a big fan last year when I tried it out, so we'll see how it works. Thankfully the changeover already fixed the problem I was having, so I'm happy.
I have to get up early tomorrow to take Jim to the airport. He's headed for a couple of weeks at home and he takes off at about 7:00, so I'll be up by 5:00 or so. Bleh.
That's all for now. I'm going to go read.
I'm trying new things tonight!
First, I didn't play Dragon Age, which has been pretty time-consuming over the last couple of weeks.
Second, I did a bunch of Green Ronin emails. That's actually not so new, but I typically save them for the weekend, but I'd received a lot of responses for emails I sent over last weekend, so I thought I'd deal with them right away.
Third, I played around with Google Wave a little bit. Looks interesting. Especially now that I know a few people who have accounts. Most notably Seth, Jason, and a handful of the Green Ronin crew. Wave may prove very useful for some upcoming Green Ronin products in the works right now.
Fourth, I hooked up my new wireless keyboard and mouse -- and I'm using them right now! I picked them up as a packaged set a week or so ago and I could return them only if the package wasn't opened -- and only within 14 days. I just decided over the weekend that I wanted to keep and use them, so now the package is open and they're performing wonderfully. I bought them because the space for my computer is pretty small and the extra wire or two wasn't working so well. Plus, this keyboard is larger and much more comfortable than the one that came with my desktop. Another plus, the set was on sale for a really good price at Office Depot.
Fifth, I'm going to watch the first episode of "The Middle Man" on my computer. So, I'll be watching a show I've never seen before on a computer I've never used to watch a DVD on before. New, new, new!
Sixth, I'm posting something here for the second day in a row! That hasn't happened in forever!
That's about it for now. Time to take out my contacts and watch a show.
It shouldn't surprise me that the weekend goes quickly when I don't leave work until after 6:30, and am at work for six hours on Saturday. I tried to get ahead on some things at work Saturday, but then I ended up erasing a bunch of work from the day before, so I stopped in hopes that someone could tell me how to revert back to an older copy of what I was working on. We'll see how that goes.
Jim and I walked to work on Friday and on the way home we decided to stop at a little Chinese restaurant we'd seen, but never been to for dinner. It was good. Nice little, hole-in-wall place. It was certainly a nice change of pace from my usual fare.
The portions of Saturday not spent at work were spent playing more Dragon Age on the computer and watching a movie. The day was very short, it seemed.
Sunday, today, I slept in, played more, did laundry, went to see a matinee of the movie 2012, and worked on some things for Green Ronin.
And now my weekend is over.
I'm so looking forward to spending a few days at home with Julia over Thanksgiving.
Okay, time for me to do some more reading for Green Ronin, then relax a bit before bed.
It's surprising how quickly a week passes. Every time I sit down to write something here I think, "I'll follow that up with another post in the next day or so." And then it's six or seven days later all of a sudden.
I know what the issue is; I don't really have anything too exciting happening in my life. I pretty much get up, go to work, come home and play some games or watch a movie until I go to bed. I don't go out, I don't have Julia here to spend time with or do things around the house, or run errands with, or visit with friends, or whatever. Instead I do the same things every day and every week. Am I bored? No, not really, but I don't really have anything to write about here. Nothing stands out. Nothing important happens. So, I don't have anything to tell you.
On some level I know that's lame. I'm sure most people who read this would like to know about my frustrations at work, the lack of training I've received (and continue to not receive), the fact that things are going well with Jim now sharing the house with me. That's actually made my living situation a lot better. The house seems "lighter" since the last tenant was just an asocial grump. I'm sure even the fact that I've been playing a whole lot of the Dragon Age computer game might be interesting. Oh, and tomorrow night (Thursday) I'm going to run the first session of a new game based on the Song of Ice and Fire novels (for those of you who know what that is).
So, there, that's what's going on with me. Work is challenging. I'm still 1,000 miles from my wife and friends and 2,000 miles from my family. None of this is hard to take, it's just so freaking boring.
Man, what a downer of a post, eh? But that said, I don't want you to think I'm sad, just bored. And the lack of anything really exciting happening in my life means my posts here are few and far between.
Oh! I do have one piece of news! I went to the follow-up meeting with the sleep specialist. I've been using the APAP machine for just over a month now and my sleep apnea has improved greatly. The machine I use has a memory card in it, which the doctor pulled the info off of and he said I went from an average of 41 "blockages" an hour while sleeping down to only 3 per hour (the normal range is between zero and five per hour -- yes, even people without sleep apnea have blockages -- and yes, I mean per hour. I was a bit surprised by that, too). He also said the pressure I need to correct my blockages is pretty low, which is neither good nor bad, just something he remarked on.
There you go. My sleep machine is working fine and happily making me healthier. Woohoo!
More soon, I hope. Really.
Yep, three days in a row I stayed home. This cold has been sort of a pain and I can't really remember the last time I've stayed home sick for this long.
Admittedly, this isn't the worse cold I've ever had (and thankfully it's not the flu!), but that whole "watery-eye" thing made it really hard to do anything in front of the computer. I didn't feel too terrible, but I definitely sounded it. Mostly I was tired, so I slept each day for a few hours, which is really saying something for me since I don't like napping. Today I woke up around 7:30 and then decided to go to bed at 8:00 and slept until after 9:30. I was surprised I could do that. Usually, once I'm up, I'm up for the day. I could probably take another nap now and I may try after my shower.
Other than that, I haven't been up to much. I left the house Tuesday night to buy a game with Jim. Left the house Wednesday night to get some dinner from Boston Market (oh, comfort food!). And tonight I'm going to go to work to play a game. I'm feeling pretty good right now, so I think that's an okay decision -- and it's only for a couple of hours, so I'll still be in bed early. It's feeling very likely that I'll make it to work tomorrow.
I've been doing some writing for work this afternoon and it's been going very well -- better than at work, actually, but I think that may be because I was starting to get sick last week when I was trying to do this stuff. Anyway, much easier now.
Julia met with the surgeon about her foot and he thinks he can make it all better, which is good, but she may need to be off it for a couple of weeks, which was a bit longer than we'd thought. I'm sure we'll work something out.
Okay, time to shower and nap, I think.
It took over a week, but over the weekend my half-cold turned into a real cold. Then, Monday morning I felt pretty good, so I went to work, did my thing, went hom and almost immediately started to feel really beat up and tired and icky.
This morning when I woke up I felt worse than yesterday, so I decided to stay home and try to beat this thing with some Afrin, Day-Quil, and sleep. We'll see how that goes.
Over the weekend I helped Jim move from his old mother-in-law house he was renting into the room next door to me in the house. I feel even more like I'm in college, but I think it'll be good and a lot more enjoyable. He has quite a bit less space, but I think it's generally more comfortable and useful.
I did absolutely nothing for Halloween. I was invited to a co-worker's party, but I think I was in bed by 9:30 on Saturday night because I was so tired from the cold.
Enough about that. I'm going to get some breakfast and relax and hopefully sleep some more. | 2019-04-18T10:54:53Z | http://nothinggood.blogspot.com/2009/11/ |
In this episode of Industry Focus: Financials, host Michael Douglass and Fool.com contributor Matt Frankel discuss Wells Fargo's recently announced "robo-advisory" platform.
They also explain the general concept of robo-advisors, and what they have meant for investors, financial advisors, and the companies that offer them.
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Wells Fargo wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
Michael Douglass: Welcome to Industry Focus, the podcast that dives into a different sector of the stock market every day. It's Monday, Nov. 13, and we're talking robo-advisors. I'm your host, Michael Douglass, and I'm joined by Matt Frankel, as per usual. Matt, good to see you again.
Matt Frankel: Always a pleasure to be here.
Douglass: All right, fantastic. We thought we would talk about robo-advisors a little bit today because there's news. Wells Fargo is planning to use a robo-advisor. To be more precise, they're planning to create a robo-advisor. It's called the Intuitive Investor product. Clients are going to need to have a minimum of $10,000 to open an account.
They'll be charged a 0.5% advisory fee. A little bit less in certain circumstances, and we'll talk about that a little bit further down the road.
But what's interesting here is, Wells Fargo is following in the footsteps of a lot of small competitors, like Betterment, that you've probably heard of, and also some very large institutional competitors like Vanguard, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, which has that product called Fidelity Go, and Merrill Edge Guided Investing by Bank of America. What's interesting about robo-advisors is, they're a big market. In fact, it's one that's growing pretty quickly.
One estimate puts it at $385 billion in assets under management by 2021. Before anything else, let's talk a little bit about what a robo-advisor is. Matt?
Frankel: Before 2008, all you had were human wealth managers, I guess you would call them, where they would charge you a certain percentage of your assets under management in exchange for giving you financial advice and managing your investments for you. Generally, this was between 1%-2% per year, on top of all the fees charged by whatever mutual funds or ETFs they invested in for you. So, to solve that problem, I believe Michael actually told me he used one that charged him a lot.
Douglass: Yeah, it was something like 1.5% annually, again, in addition to the fees of the underlying mutual funds. So, I ended up paying something like 3-3.5% annually. Which, when you think about it, can be a lot of money long-term and can really damage your investing returns. When you think about the fact that the stock market historically returns about 6-6.5% after inflation, theoretically, that's eating about half of those returns.
Frankel: Right. I actually just published an article this morning that shows how you can lose hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a lifetime based on advisory fees alone. So, to solve this problem, this whole robo advisor concept was born. It started out in the form of what's called a target date fund that essentially invests in a combination of other mutual funds, and adjusts over time as you get older, lower your risk tolerance and make the prudent investing moves that a financial advisor would do.
Douglass: Yeah. And then, what's interesting is, the next step was, these formal robo-advisors. Betterment launched in 2008. The idea was essentially this automated solution that automatically rebalances your portfolio among different funds, at the time usually target date funds. Of course, since then, things have changed.
So, you can kind of say, "Here's my risk tolerance, here's what I'm thinking about," and they'll recommend this allocation and work with it.
Nowadays, of course, robo-advisors come in a variety of different shapes and flavors because it's been so popular. So, you actually see a move by some institutions toward hybrids, so, robo-advisors that charge low fees, but also provide some access to a human financial planner so that you can talk through some of the thornier tax issues that pop up from time to time when you're investing, and when you have a lot of complicated stuff, basically, in your financial life.
Frankel: Right. This would be a situation where, you still need some access to a person, you pretty much want your investments on autopilot for the most part, but there are some situations where, say, you inherit some money and you want to know the best thing to do with it, or you're faced with a big tax bill this year because you've sold some of your other investments and need to know what to do. It provides you access to an actual person where you can ask questions like that.
Douglass: Yeah. And as you can imagine, in most cases, that results in a slightly higher assets under management fee than for your typical robo-advisors. Now, just to be clear, to give you a sense of what robo-advisors are usually charging, it's usually pretty close to that 0.5%. Now, some of them are a little bit lower, some of them are a little bit higher, but to give you a sense, you're moving from a 1-2% assets under management fee for a traditional wealth manager down to around 0.5%. So, that's really a substantial savings for most investors.
And I think that's one of the key upshots that everyone should be aware of. Robo-advisors are helping drive down fees across the board. That's objectively a good thing for investors, even if you don't personally invest with robo-advisors. And I don't. Because it just means, that downward pressure on fees is continuing across the board.
Frankel: This is one of the reasons why you see a lot of the discount brokers drop their stock trading commissions. I know, personally, I use TD Ameritrade, and they just dropped theirs from $9.99 to $6.99. Even human financial advisors are getting more toward the 1% of that 1-2% range. So, this has really had a lot of pressure across the board.
Douglass: And what's interesting, as well, is that robo-advisors still make up a relatively small percentage of the overall wealth management space.
That means both that they have a lot of potential growth opportunity, but then also that there's a lot more disruption, perhaps, still to do with traditional wealth managers in terms of bringing down those fees. The question, I think, will be where we hit that final equilibrium.
For some people, they're going to use human wealth managers long-term. For other people, though, robo-advisors often make a lot of sense, and particularly that's true for a lot of younger investors.
Frankel: Yeah, definitely. Like you said, it's a pretty untapped market at this point. The statistic you gave earlier, that by 2021 it's expected to be around $385 billion under management, to put that in perspective, Goldman Sachs alone has over $1 trillion in assets under management. So, this is still, and is expected to remain, a relatively small portion of the advisory business for the foreseeable future.
Douglass: Actually, this highlights a good question that I think a lot of people are going to be asking, which is, when might it make sense to use a human financial planner and not merely a robo-advisor?
Frankel: Basically, if you want your investments on autopilot, and your financial life is not very complicated, a robo-advisor might be a good idea. If you have a more complicated situation, let's say you need estate planning advice, like, the value of your estate is going to be over the taxable threshold, or if you have a really complex tax situation, or you want insurance planning advice, or something like that, that a robo-advisor is just not going to give you, in that case, if you're a very high net-worth individual and want access to other investment opportunities, perhaps, any of those situations where it's a little more complicated, you might want to look into actually talking to a person. Still, even if you do that, it's worth shopping around for the fees. Like I said, this is putting pressure on the whole industry to keep their costs in line.
Douglass: Right. Of course, there are the people in between for whom a hybrid model, a robo-advisor that's handling the day to day investing, but then a wealth manager who is perhaps checking in a couple of times a year and talking about specific tax issues and things like that, could be very useful. Anyway, the point is, everyone's financial circumstances are different. We can't tell you which one makes the most sense for you. But it's a really interesting, low cost option, and it's one that's made a tremendous difference in the broader space of wealth management. And that is an objectively good thing.
Now, if everything we've talked about so far makes robo-advisors interesting to you and you want to learn more about what different robo-advisors charge, and thinking about the quantitative and qualitative ways of thinking about what robo-advisors might make sense for you, you're in the right place. We don't have time to get into the nooks and crannies of how each robo-advisor works and what fees you might pay in this episode. Fortunately, Matt is currently writing a great piece with that deeper background that we'll published by the time this episode hits iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, send us a note at [email protected] if you want to learn more about how you might benefit from robo-advisors, and how they work, and get a side-by-side comparison so that you can take that information, do a little bit more research and figure out what makes the most sense for you. I'll be happy to send that article to you. Again, that's [email protected]. Just make sure to let us know it's the article about robo advisors.
Frankel: Yeah, I'm going to try to do the hard work for you. I'll do the comparison shopping for you guys.
Douglass: And frankly, that's what we try to do here at The Motley Fool, in general, make things easier, take what is complex, make it simple, put it in a chart so that everyone can easily understand it.
We've talked a lot about why robo-advisors are really useful for investors, whether you invest personally with a robo-advisor or whether you're still using a financial advisor and they've lowered their fees as a result. But, let's also talk a little bit about why it makes sense for Wells Fargo specifically to be getting into this space.
Frankel: It's just the direction that customers are going. People are becoming more and more aware of investment fees. 20 or 30 years ago, before the internet became popular, if you asked the average person how much they're paying in investment fees, they would have no idea. There's still a lot of that, to some extent, but now people are getting more aware of what they're paying, it's easy for anybody to trade a stock online, so, you see all these E*Trade and TD Ameritrade commercials advertising rock-bottom commissions, advertising robo-advisory services with really low, like you said, 0.5% or below fees for assets under management. So, it's kind of just where their customers are going. And they said in their press release, there are a lot of their customers, I think they said 20 million millennials and Generation X-ers alone, currently do not have an investment account with the bank. So, this is their way to attempt to take customers who would otherwise go to Betterment, TD Ameritrade, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, and bring them into the Wells Fargo family.
Douglass: Yeah. And that makes a lot of sense from a cross-selling perspective, as well. You could see these robo-advisors increasingly self-disrupting, particularly in the big institutions. It's not the case right now, but you could see a Wells Fargo one day offering its robo-advisor for free if you have a checking account or a credit card or something like that. So, it's basically this opportunity to cross-sell people, and then bring them further and further into your bank's ecosystem. In fact, although Wells Fargo is not offering its robo-advisor for free to anyone, or at least doesn't plan to right now, they are planning to offer a lower assets under management fee for people who have a certain amount of assets in your checking and savings accounts.
Frankel: Right. There are a few cases where it actually is free. I think Schwab is one of the big ones that offers a free robo-advisory service. They actually have two, they have one that's free and one that costs money in their hybrid platform. But, the reason they do that is, their customers' accounts are invested in Schwab mutual funds, or ETFs, I'm not sure which one, but it's invested in Schwab investment products, which, in turn, brings them into these. So, it's worth giving these advisory services away for free.
Douglass: Right. And essentially, they can use it as a loss leader, and put in the money a little bit further down the pipeline. Because, again, when you're thinking about fees that you're paying and investing, if you're working with a wealth manager or a robo-advisor, there's of course the advice, the management fee, which is that 0.5%, or for most human ones, in that 1%-2% range. Then, there's also the underlying fees for the funds. What that means is, Schwab can still make money even while they're offering something for free. So, it's a great way to just pull people in and get them further and further into the Schwab ecosystem.
Frankel: Eventually, it seems these are all going to trend down lower and lower to where people can invest for free, just pay the fund fees themselves.
Douglass: And that's one of the interesting things, for me, about institutions doing this. Institutions can both have the financial wherewithal to take some losses and also have the ability to, they've created their own funds, so they can take this initial loss anyways, go to the 0% fee and then make the rest on the funds and their expense ratios. For me, long-term, it begs the question, what will happen to the little guys?
Frankel: Right. There's no way of really knowing at this point, but it does seem like, especially the big institutions that offer their own line of funds, they definitely have a leg up on the smaller guys. And banks like Wells Fargo, too, that don't offer their own funds, but like you said, they have the cross-selling potential to offset the costs in other areas. Whereas a Betterment, if they can't charge a fee, how are they going to make money?
Douglass: Right. Long-term, perhaps this argues for greater vertical integration across all of finance. You could see, as banks continue to diversify, some of them really going fully into this idea of creating their own mutual funds, and doing all the different parts of someone's financial life so they can really do everything in one place. It'll be an interesting thing to see long term, whether that ends up panning out, and how our banks are structured five and 10 and 20 years from now, and also how the Vanguard of the world are structured as well as they try to compete on, at least so far, a really strictly fund and personal advice basis against some of these larger and more diversified institutions.
Frankel: Vanguard has the competitive advantage that their funds themselves are a lot cheaper.
Frankel: Which is their big draw. If you're paying a 0.5% of your assets with Wells Fargo, who has it invested in fees that charge you another 0.5%, but Vanguard charges, I think it's 0.3%, and the funds charge practically nothing, I think Vanguard's S&P 500 Index Fund is down to 0.4%.
Frankel: Yeah. So, that's their big advantage, how they can stay competitive.
Douglass: And that's one of the reasons that, among robo-advisors, Vanguard personal advisor services has, as of this filming, the largest assets under management, around $65 billion as of May 15, 2017.
Which, to give you a sense, No. 2 is Schwab Intelligent Portfolios at $16 billion as of March 31, 2017. So, a really big delta, and that's because Vanguard has, so far, at least, such an attractive platform. So, there's going to be a lot of different trends here to watch.
Again, as you're thinking about what might make sense for you, having all the information at your fingertips makes a lot of sense.
So drop us a note at [email protected]. Matt is finishing up that fantastic article which will really give a lot of that specific information that can be helpful in terms of head-to-head comparing robo-advisors, and figuring out what might make the most sense for you. Again, [email protected].
Folks, that's it for this week's Financials show. Question, comments, you can always reach us at [email protected].
As always, people on the program may have interests in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. This show is produced by Austin Morgan. For Matt Frankel, I'm Michael Douglass. Thanks for listening and Fool on! | 2019-04-19T00:52:00Z | https://www.thewealthadvisor.com/article/what-robo-means-rest-us |
2016-11-26 - Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "The End and Delayed Rewards"
2016-11-24 - Thanksgiving Day - "Grateful Ambassadors to the World"
2016-11-23 - Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "A Sobering Reflection"
2016-11-22 - Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Heavenly Temple and Earthy Temple"
2016-11-21 - Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Discipleship a New Relationship with God"
2016-11-20 - Christ the King - "Accountability to God, Sunday"
2016-11-19 - Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "Beyond Our Concepts"
2016-11-18 - Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "Chewing the Word of God, Healing"
2016-11-16 - Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "God Is King"
2016-11-15 - Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "Always Onward!"
2016-11-14 - Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "Waning versus Metanoia"
2016-11-13 - Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Perseverance, Sunday"
2016-11-12 - Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time - "Worthy of the Call"
2016-11-11 - Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time - "Responding to a Moment of Grace"
2016-11-08 - Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time - "Preaching by Being Good Examples"
2016-11-07 - Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time - "Faith to Forgive"
2016-11-05 - Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time - "Everything Belongs to God"
2016-11-04 - Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time - "The Need for Shrewdness"
2016-11-02 - All Souls� Day - "Letting Go of Retaliation"
2016-11-01 - All Saints - "Distracted by Four False Gods"
2016-10-31 - Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time - "Surrender to the Future"
2016-10-30 - Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Fashioned for God, Sunday"
2016-10-29 - Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time - "Our Identity"
2016-10-27 - Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time - "Not Battling Flesh and Blood"
2016-10-24 - Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time - "Shift in Our Nature"
2016-10-23 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Inner Disposition of Humility, Sunday"
2016-10-18 - St. Luke, Evangelist - "Lambs among Wolves"
2016-10-17 - Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time - "Best Use of Our Riches"
2016-10-16 - St. Margaret Mary Alacoque - "Image of the Sacred Heart, Sunday"
2016-10-15 - Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "The Holy Spirit"
2016-10-14 - Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "Our Choices and Our Words"
2016-10-12 - Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "Christian or Human Morality"
2016-10-11 - Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "The Ourside versus the Inside"
2016-10-10 - Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "The Promise to Abraham"
2016-10-09 - Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Expressing Gratitude, Sunday"
2016-10-08 - Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time - "Fulfillment in Christ"
2016-10-03 - Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time - "Who Is Our Neighbor"
2016-10-02 - Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "An Intential Commitment to Witness, Sunday"
2016-10-01 - Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time - "Awareness of Gods Presence"
2016-09-30 - Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time - "Our Smallness"
2016-09-28 - Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time - "Cooperation vs Competition"
2016-09-27 - Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time - "Universalizing an Ethic"
2016-09-26 - Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time - "Integrity Tested by Trials"
2016-09-24 - Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time - "Vanity and Grace"
2016-09-23 - Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time - "Embracing All Aspects of Reality"
2016-09-21 - St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist - "Saving the Wicked"
2016-09-20 - Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time - "Holy Spirit Equal Partner"
2016-09-19 - Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time - "Letting God Communicate"
2016-09-18 - Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "The Parable of the Unjust Steward, Sunday"
2016-09-17 - Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Beyond Our Comprehension"
2016-09-16 - Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Fundamental Belief in Eternal Existence"
2016-09-14 - Exaltation of the Holy Cross - "Healing Symbol"
2016-09-13 - Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Fundamental Unity of the Body of Christ"
2016-09-12 - Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Lords Supper in the Early Church"
2016-09-11 - Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Feeling Gods Anxiety, Sunday"
2016-09-10 - Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "Judging by Fruits"
2016-09-09 - Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "Attention to Your Journey"
2016-09-07 - Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "Spoken Well Of"
2016-09-06 - Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time - "Power Joined Together"
2016-09-05 - Labor Day - "Labor Is Dignified"
2016-09-04 - Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time - "Being Ready and Prepared, Sunday, School"
2016-09-03 - Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time - "Law to Serve Needs of Humanity"
2016-09-02 - Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time - "Reluctance to Leave the Old"
2016-08-30 - Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time - "The Natural Man"
2016-08-29 - Beheading of St. John the Baptist - "Martyr for Principle"
2016-08-28 - Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "A Blind Drive to the Top, Sunday"
2016-08-27 - Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time - "Dont Bury Your Talent"
2016-08-26 - Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time - "Power of the Cross"
2016-08-24 - St. Bartholomew, Apostle - "Witnesses to the Resurrection"
2016-08-23 - Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time - "The Gnat and the Camel"
2016-08-22 - Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time - "Legalisms"
2016-08-21 - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "The Narrow Gate, Sunday"
2016-08-20 - Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time - "Need for Guidance"
2016-08-19 - Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time - "Breath with the Spirit, Healing"
2016-08-19 - Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time - "Infinite Energy"
2016-08-17 - Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time - "Generosity of Grace"
2016-08-16 - Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time - "Danger of Riches"
2016-08-15 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - "Hear and Observe the Word of God"
2016-08-13 - Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Childhood and Parenting"
2016-08-12 - Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Freedom from Patriarchy"
2016-08-10 - St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr - "Freedom from Compulsion and Information"
2016-08-09 - Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Childlikeness of the Kingdom"
2016-08-08 - Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Integration of Theology and Science"
2016-08-07 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Our Treasure of Trust in God, Sunday "
2016-08-06 - Transfiguration of the Lord - "A Deeper Awakening"
2016-08-05 - Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Paradox of Life and Death"
2016-08-03 - Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Everything in Gods Hands"
2016-08-02 - Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Tossed About and Trust"
2016-08-01 - Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Ordinary Expectations Dont Apply"
2016-07-31 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "A Life Worth Living, Sunday"
2016-07-30 - Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Being Better Examples"
2016-07-29 - Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Coming to Believe"
2016-07-27 - Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Total Commitment"
2016-07-26 - Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Coexistence of Good and Evil"
2016-07-25 - St. James, Apostle - "New Kingdom"
2016-07-23 - Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Beliefs versus Deeds"
2016-07-22 - St. Mary Magdalene - "Faithfulness"
2016-07-20 - Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Scattered Seed"
2016-07-19 - Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Whole New Family"
2016-07-18 - Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Unawareness of Signs"
2016-07-17 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "The Better Part, Sunday"
2016-07-16 - Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Different Strategies"
2016-07-15 - Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "A Matter of Heart"
2016-07-13 - Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Use Learning for Service"
2016-07-12 - Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Against Common Perspectives"
2016-07-11 - Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Influence of St. Benedict"
2016-07-10 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Neighbor in the Stranger, Sunday"
2016-07-09 - Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Trust and Courage"
2016-07-08 - Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Shrewdness and Simplicity"
2016-07-06 - Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Role of Flexibility"
2016-07-05 - Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Responsible for Our Leaders"
2016-07-04 - Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Ideal of Religious Neutrality"
2016-07-02 - Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time - "A Radical Newness"
2016-06-26 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Parochial--Dynamic or Narrow, Sunday"
2016-06-25 - Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time - "Lamentation"
2016-06-24 - Nativity of St. John the Baptist - "Herald of Christ"
2016-06-24 - Nativity of St. John the Baptist - "The Least in the Kingdom Greater than John the Baptist , Healing"
2016-06-22 - Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time - "Renewal of the Covenant"
2016-06-21 - Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time - "Indifference"
2016-06-20 - Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time - "Worship Gods Idea of God"
2016-06-19 - Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Children of God Share Jesus Mission, Sunday"
2016-06-08 - Tenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Beacons of Hope"
2016-06-07 - Tenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Goal to Glorify God"
2016-06-06 - Tenth Week in Ordinary Time - "Attitude of Mercy"
2016-06-05 - Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Love and Compassion in Actions, Sunday"
2016-06-04 - Ninth Week in Ordinary Time - "Finishing the Race"
2016-06-03 - Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - "Into the Sacred Heart"
2016-06-01 - Ninth Week in Ordinary Time - "Living in Mystery"
2016-05-31 - Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - "Fidelity"
2016-05-30 - Eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "Accountability"
2016-05-29 - Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus (Corpus Christi) - "Abundance being Manifest, Sunday"
2016-05-28 - Eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "Integrate Mind and Heart"
2016-05-27 - Eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "Power of Prayer"
2016-05-25 - Eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "Jesus Walks Ahead of Us"
2016-05-24 - Eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "Counterintutitive Blessings"
2016-05-23 - Eighth Week in Ordinary Time - "Challenge beyond Our Comfort"
2016-05-21 - Seventh Week in Ordinary Time - "Reborn to Be Childlike"
2016-05-20 - Seventh Week in Ordinary Time - "Offering New Possibilities, Healing"
2016-05-20 - Seventh Week in Ordinary Time - "A New Body"
2016-05-18 - Seventh Week in Ordinary Time - "Power of the Name"
2016-05-17 - Seventh Week in Ordinary Time - "Servant of All"
2016-05-16 - Seventh Week in Ordinary Time - "Interior Harmony"
2016-05-15 - Pentecost Sunday/C - "Forgiveness and New Language, Sunday"
2016-05-14 - St. Matthias, apostle - "Jesus Died for His Friends"
2016-05-13 - Seventh Week of Easter - "Jewish-Christian Tension"
2016-05-10 - Seventh Week of Easter - "Jesus Self-surrender"
2016-05-09 - Seventh Week of Easter - "Desperate Need for the Holy Spirit"
2016-05-08 - Ascension of the Lord/C - "Preparation for the Holy Spirit Within, Sunday"
2016-05-07 - Sixth Week of Easter - "Individual vs Whole Christ"
2016-05-06 - Sixth Week of Easter - "Purpose in Pain"
2016-05-04 - Sixth Week of Easter - "The Holy Spirit to Teach Us"
2016-05-03 - Sts. Philip and James, apostles - "How We Relate to the Relational Trinity"
2016-05-02 - Sixth Week of Easter - "Testifying to Christ"
2016-04-30 - Fifth Week of Easter - "Expect Persecutions"
2016-04-29 - Fifth Week of Easter - "Giving of Oneself"
2016-04-27 - Fifth Week of Easter - "Our Branchness"
2016-04-26 - Fifth Week of Easter - "Hardships"
2016-04-25 - St. Mark, evangelist - "Signs that Accompany Gods Work"
2016-04-24 - Fifth Sunday of Easter/C - "How God Is Glorified, Sunday"
2016-04-23 - Fourth Week of Easter - "Transparency of Jesus"
2016-04-22 - Fourth Week of Easter - "Faith in Jesus"
2016-04-20 - Fourth Week of Easter - "The Word in the World"
2016-04-19 - Fourth Week of Easter - "Having Right Attitude"
2016-04-18 - Fourth Week of Easter - "Changing Our Ideas"
2016-04-17 - Fourth Sunday of Easter/C - "Personal Guidance, Sunday"
2016-04-17 - Fourth Sunday of Easter/C - "The Voice of the Shepherd Speaking Within, Sunday"
2016-04-16 - Third Week of Easter - "Work at Understanding"
2016-04-15 - Third Week of Easter - "The Death of Conversion, Healing"
2016-04-15 - Third Week of Easter - "Refashioning St. Paul"
2016-04-13 - Third Week of Easter - "Mastery and Surrender"
2016-04-12 - Third Week of Easter - "Seeing versus Faith"
2016-04-11 - Third Week of Easter - "For the Right Reason"
2016-04-10 - Third Sunday of Easter/C - "Jesus Still with Us, Sunday"
2016-04-09 - Second Week of Easter - "Holy Chaos"
2016-04-08 - Second Week of Easter - "Discern Where God Is Working"
2016-04-06 - Second Week of Easter - "Embrace or Reject the Light"
2016-04-05 - Second Week of Easter - "Providing What We Need"
2016-04-04 - Annunciation of the Lord - "Reactions to Emotions"
2016-04-03 - Second Sunday of Easter/C - "Receive and Give Forgiveness, Sunday"
2016-04-02 - Saturday in the Easter Octave - "Sufficient Grace to Believe"
2016-04-01 - Friday in the Easter Octave - "Christ beyond Borders"
2016-03-30 - Wednesday in the Easter Octave - "Presence in the Breading of the Bread"
2016-03-29 - Tuesday in the Easter Octave - "Mary Magdalenes Affection"
2016-03-28 - Monday in the Easter Octave - "Jesus Will Touch Us"
2016-03-27 - Easter Sunday - "Mission Possible, Sunday"
2016-03-24 - Holy Thursday - "The Ultimate Auction"
2016-03-23 - Wednesday of Holy Week - "Is It I, Lord"
2016-03-22 - Tuesday of Holy Week - "Role of Judas"
2016-03-21 - Monday of Holy Week - "Surrender to Gods Will"
2016-03-19 - St. Joseph, Husband of the BVM - "Attuned to Gods Messages"
2016-03-18 - Fifth Week in Lent - "Gods Care, Healing"
2016-03-18 - Fifth Week in Lent - "Responsible for Choice of Leaders"
2016-03-16 - Fifth Week in Lent - "True Freedom, School"
2016-03-15 - Fifth Week in Lent - "Bronze Serpent"
2016-03-14 - Fifth Week in Lent - "Withhold Judgment"
2016-03-13 - Fifth Sunday in Lent/C - "Mercy, Sunday"
2016-03-12 - Fourth Week in Lent - "Jesus as Anawim"
2016-03-11 - Fourth Week in Lent - "Expand and Dismantle the Torah"
2016-03-09 - Fourth Week in Lent - "The Pre-incarnate Christ"
2016-03-08 - Fourth Week in Lent - "Something Lacking"
2016-03-07 - Fourth Week in Lent - "A Response to the Word of God"
2016-03-06 - Fourth Sunday in Lent/C - "Contrition, Sunday"
2016-03-05 - Third Week in Lent - "Metanoia Required"
2016-03-04 - Third Week in Lent - "Embracing Compassion"
2016-03-02 - Third Week in Lent - "Personal Knowledge of the Lawgiver"
2016-03-01 - Third Week in Lent - "Canceling Debts"
2016-02-29 - Third Week in Lent - "A Reasonable Response"
2016-02-21 - Second Sunday in Lent/C - "Are You Ready, Sunday"
2016-02-20 - First Week in Lent - "Indiscriminate Love"
2016-02-19 - First Week in Lent - "New Way of Inhabiting Life"
2016-02-19 - First Week in Lent - "Beyond Rules, Healing"
2016-02-17 - First Week in Lent - "Will We Accept Forgiveness"
2016-02-16 - First Week in Lent - "Mercy and Love and Forgiveness"
2016-02-15 - First Week in Lent - "Understanding of Holiness"
2016-02-14 - First Sunday in Lent/C - "Shared Human Temptations, Sunday"
2016-02-13 - Saturday after Ash Wednesday - "Controversy over Standards"
2016-02-12 - Friday after Ash Wednesday - "Opening to the Spirit of God"
2016-02-10 - Ash Wednesday - "An Inside Job"
2016-02-09 - Fifth Week in Ordinary Time - "Human Tradition"
2016-02-08 - Fifth Week in Ordinary Time - "The Dark Cloud"
2016-02-06 - Fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Need for Shepherds"
2016-02-05 - Fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Vanity and Emptiness"
2016-02-03 - Fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Taking Offense"
2016-02-02 - Presentation of the Lord - "Choose Which Temple"
2016-02-01 - Fourth Week in Ordinary Time - "Possessed by All Kinds of Things"
2016-01-31 - Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "The Greatest Is Love, Sunday"
2016-01-30 - Third Week in Ordinary Time - "Gift of Right Judgment"
2016-01-29 - Third Week in Ordinary Time - "Vigilant about Our Work and Our Cooperation"
2016-01-27 - Third Week in Ordinary Time - "Openness and Humility"
2016-01-26 - Third Week in Ordinary Time - "Universal Family"
2016-01-25 - Conversion of St. Paul - "Proclamation and Service"
2016-01-24 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time/C - "Release to Captives, Sunday"
2016-01-23 - Second Week in Ordinary Time - "Jesus Relatives"
2016-01-22 - Second Week in Ordinary Time - "Great Value of Children"
2016-01-20 - Second Week in Ordinary Time - "Learning to Trust"
2016-01-19 - Second Week in Ordinary Time - "Model for the Anointed"
2016-01-18 - Second Week in Ordinary Time - "Rituals and Meanings"
2016-01-16 - First Week in Ordinary Time - "Including All"
2016-01-15 - First Week in Ordinary Time - "Rejection of the Covenant, Healing"
2016-01-15 - First Week in Ordinary Time - "Learn Jesus Context of Kingdom"
2016-01-13 - First Week in Ordinary Time - "Ready to Listen"
2016-01-12 - First Week in Ordinary Time - "Fulfillment or Waiting"
2016-01-11 - First Week in Ordinary Time - "Willing Helpers Needed"
2016-01-10 - Baptism of the Lord/C - "Three Epiphanies, Sunday, School"
2016-01-09 - Second Week of Christmas - "Decrease"
2016-01-08 - Second Week of Christmas - "Mystery vs Understanding"
2016-01-05 - Second Week of Christmas - "Pitiful, Improvident, Pondering"
2016-01-04 - Second Week of Christmas - "Beginning in Galilee"
2016-01-03 - Epiphany of the Lord/ABC - "Loyal to the Light, Sunday"
2016-01-02 - St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianzen - "Deceit and Ignorance"
2016-01-01 - Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God/ABC - "Mary as Our Model"
2015-12-29 - Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas - "Fulfilling the Law"
2015-12-28 - Holy Innocents - "Gods Victory over Evil"
2015-12-26 - St. Stephen - "Pray for Enemies and Witness to Truth"
2015-12-25 - Christmas - "Startling Images and Captives to Misery"
2015-12-22 - Final Days of Advent - "The Magnificat"
2015-12-21 - Final Days of Advent - "Valuing the Past"
2015-12-20 - Fourth Sunday of Advent/C - "Dangers and Longings, Sunday"
2015-12-19 - Final Days of Advent - "Gods Timetable"
2015-12-18 - Final Days of Advent - "Jesus as Son of David"
2015-12-16 - Final Days of Advent - "John the Baptist versus Christ"
2015-12-15 - Third Week of Advent - "What Does Jesus See"
2015-12-14 - Third Week of Advent - "Personal Knowledge of God"
2015-12-13 - Third Sunday of Advent/C - "Rejoice admist Suffering"
2015-12-12 - Our Lady of Guadalupe - "The Gosple Proclaimed in Images"
2015-12-11 - Second Week of Advent - "Work on Oneself"
2015-12-09 - Second Week of Advent - "Come to Me"
2015-12-08 - Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary - "Time Entering Creation"
2015-12-07 - Second Week of Advent - "Jesus Reveals a Merciful God"
2015-12-05 - First Week of Advent - "How Redemption Takes Place"
2015-12-04 - First Week of Advent - "Necessary Component of Faith"
2015-12-02 - First Week of Advent - "Beyond Healing to Real Needs"
2015-12-01 - First Week of Advent - "Personal Knowledge of God"
2015-11-30 - Feast of St. Andrew, apostle - "Our Human Response"
2015-11-29 - First Sunday of Advent/C - "Advent for the Second Coming of Christ, Sunday" | 2019-04-25T14:38:39Z | http://smmp.com/info/homilies/homilies_list.php?Year_selected=2016 |
Want to know the future value of your mutual fund investment?
Our mutual fund calculator can help you to calculate the future value of your lumpsum investment. Just by entering a few details such as your lumpsum amount, tenure of investment and the compounded rate of return you expect from the mutual fund investment. The calculator is simple to use, and you can calculate the value of your mutual fund investments in an instant.
Enter only Numbers. Please enter Years.
Mutual Fund Calculator is a dedicated tool to calculate the return on your lump-sum mutual fund investment. It accessible and convenient platform which empowers investors by calculating complex calculation within no time. It generates accurate and quick result of the future value of current investment.
Now returns on mutual funds are calculated in two ways one is in absolute terms and another is compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Mutual Fund Calculator calculates return on your lump sum mutual fund investment in absolute terms when invested for a period of 1 year or less than 1 year. It is expressed in terms of percentage.
For instance, Mr Sham invested Rs 10,000 in Fund ABC on January 01, 2016. Let us look at the absolute return gained by December 01, 2016.
In the above table Mr Sham has earned an absolute return of 50%.
Accordingly, the gains and losses are calculated as difference in current value of fund and initial investment amount divided by initial investment amount.
On the other hand, the investment held for more than one year are calculated in terms of compounded growth. As this will give you an idea of year*on-year growth of your money.
Like in the above case, if MR Sham invested in the same fund and held it for 2 years then the return on his investments would be calculated in terms of CAGR.
How to use Mutual Fund Calculator?
Manual computation of return on mutual funds at different rate of interest is a little difficult. Especially you are an alien to the financial world and dread it to the core.
PersonalFN Mutual Fund Calculator will perform all the calculations for you in a fraction of second and make things possible for you. This mutual fund calculator will generate returns without any personal or emotional bias. This will empower you to make wise investment decisions.
If you have some particular sum which you would not need in immediate future, then you can opt for lump sum mode of investing. Use this simple Mutual fund calculator to future value of mutual fund of any type such as equity, debt, liquid, hybrid, and so on.
A mutual fund scheme, as the name suggests, is a shared fund that pools money from multiple investors and invests the collected corpus in stocks, bonds, short-term money-market instruments, other securities or assets, or a combination of these investments. The investments are in accordance with the investment objectives as disclosed in offer document. Therefore, an equity-oriented mutual fund scheme will invest predominantly in a set of stocks.
A mutual fund is required to be registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) before it can collect funds from the public.
These funds are available for subscription throughout the year. These funds do not have a fixed maturity. Investors have the flexibility to buy or sell any part of their investment at any time at a price linked to the fund’s Net Asset Value (NAV).
These funds begin with a fixed corpus and operate for a fixed duration. These funds are open for subscription only during a specified period. When the period terminates, investors can redeem their units.
These funds invest in shares. These funds may invest money in growth stocks, momentum stocks, value stocks or income stocks depending upon the schemes investment objectives.
These funds invest in a mix of both equity and debt. In order to retain its equity status, they generally invest at least 65% of their assets in equities and roughly 35% in debt instruments, failing which they will be classified as debt oriented schemes. Ideally Monthly Income Plans (MIPs) form a part of this category which invests upto 25% into equities and the balance into debt.
These funds invest in physical assets such as gold, platinum, silver, oil, commodities and real estate.
These funds diversify their equity component of their asset under management in varied sectors. Such funds are not known for taking any sectoral bets and thus, reduce their portfolio risk through its diversification strategy.
These funds are expected to investin only a specific sector. For instance, a banking fund will invest only in banking stocks. Generally, such funds invest 65% of its total assets in a respective sector.
These funds are open-ended funds which are traded onto the exchange. They are benchmarked against the stock exchange index. Unlike an index fund where the units are traded at the day’s NAV, in ETFs (since they are traded on the exchange) its price keeps on changing during the trading hours of the exchange. The AMC does not offer sale and re-purchase for the units. If an investor wants to invest or sell his ETF units, he can do so by placing orders with his broker, who will in-turn offer a two-way real time quote at all times. ETFs are generally concentrated towards pre-specified index, sectors, themes and gold.
These funds invest their money in other funds of the same mutual fund house or other mutual fund houses. They are not allowed to invest in any other fund of fund scheme and they are not entitled to invest their assets other than in mutual fund schemes/funds, except to such an extent where the fund requires liquidity to meet its redemption requirements, as disclosed in the offer document or the fund of fund scheme.
These funds are basically income/debt schemes like Bonds, Debentures and Money market instruments. They give a fixed return over a period of time. FMPs are similar to close ended schemes which are open only for a fixed period of time during the initial offer. However, unlike closed ended schemes where an investor’s money is locked for a particular period, FMPs give the investor an option to exit which is subject to an exit load as per the funds regulations. FMPs if listed on the exchange provide investors with an opportunity to liquidate by selling their units at the prevailing price on the exchange. FMPs are launched in the form of series having different maturity profiles. The maturity period varies from 3 months to one year.
These funds mobilise the money from investors for investment outside their home country.
Mutual funds issue units to the investors in accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of mutual funds are known as unitholders.
The combined securities and assets the mutual fund owns is known as its portfolio, which is managed by a qualified investment professional also known as a fund manager. Each unit an investor holds represents a portion of the portfolio. The value of the units held fluctuates with respect to the underlying value of the portfolio. The value of each unit is represented by the Net Asset Value (NAV) of the fund.
The organisation that manages the investments is termed as the Asset Management Company(AMC). The AMC employs various employees in different roles who are responsible for servicing and managing investments.
The AMC offers various products (schemes/funds) in mutual funds, which are structured in a manner to benefit and suit the requirement of investors’. Every scheme has a portfolio statement, revenue account and balance sheet.
What is a Mutual Fund NAV?
In simple words, NAV or net asset value is the market value of the securities held by the scheme. Since market value of securities changes every day, NAV of a scheme also varies on day-to-day basis. The NAV of the fund is used to judge its performance.
How to Calculate Mutual Fund NAV?
NAV is the current market value of all the fund’s holdings, minus liabilities, divided by the total number of units. For example, if the market value of all securities held by a mutual fund scheme is Rs 150 lakh and the mutual fund has issued 10 lakh units to the investors, then the NAV per unit of the fund is Rs 15 (i.e.100 lakh/10 lakh).
NAV is required to be disclosed by the mutual funds on a daily basis. You can check the same on AMC website or at www.amfiindia.com.
How to Select Best Mutual Funds?
Mutual funds offer the most convenient way of investing in equity, debt and money markets. The increased participation of Indian investors bears testimony to the fact that there is a widespread realisation of the same. Also over the years, the Indian mutual fund industry has grown manifolds, not only in terms of size but also in terms of offerings. While on one hand that is good; the increased number of offerings has also given rise to a state of dilemma in the mind of investors. They often get confused when it comes to selecting the right Mutual fund from the plethora of funds available. And even worse, many investors think that 'any' mutual fund can help them achieve their desired goals.
The fact is, not all funds are the same. There are various aspects within a fund that an investor must carefully consider before short-listing it for making investments.
The past performance of a fund is important in analysing a mutual fund. However, one must remember that simply because a fund has performed well in the past does not mean that it will perform well in the future as well. It simply indicates the fund's ability to clock returns across market conditions. And if the fund has a well-established track record, the likelihood of it performing well in the future is higher than a fund which has not performed well.
A fund's performance in isolation does not indicate anything. Hence, it becomes crucial to compare the fund with its benchmark index and its peers, so as to deduce a meaningful inference. Again, one must be careful while selecting the peers for comparison. For instance, it doesn't make sense comparing the performance of a midcap fund to that of a largecap.
It's pertinent for investors to have a long term (at least 3-5 years) horizon if they wish to invest in equity oriented funds. Hence, it becomes important for them to evaluate the long term performance of the funds. This does not imply that the short term performance be ignored. Performance over the short term should also be evaluated; however, the focus should be more on the long term performance. Besides, it is equally important to evaluate how a fund has performed over different market cycles (especially during the downturn). During a rally it is easy for a fund to deliver above-average returns; but the true measure of its performance is when it posts superior returns than its benchmark and peers during the downturn.
Returns are obviously one of the important parameters that one must look at while evaluating a fund. But remember, although it is one of the most important, it is not the only parameter. Many investors simply invest in a fund because it has given higher returns. In our opinion, such an approach for making investments is flawed. In addition to the returns, investors must also look at the risk parameters, which in-turn explain how much risk the fund has taken to clock higher returns.
Risk is normally measured by Standard Deviation. It signifies the degree of risk the fund has exposed its investors to. Higher the Standard Deviation, higher the risk taken by the fund to clock returns. From an investor’s perspective, evaluating a fund on risk parameters is important because it will help them to check whether the fund’s risk profile is in line with their risk profile or not. For example, if two funds have delivered similar returns, then a prudent investor will invest in the fund which has taken less risk.
This is normally measured by Sharpe Ratio. It signifies how much return a fund has delivered vis-à-vis the risk taken. Higher the Sharpe Ratio, better is the fund’s performance. From an investor’s perspective it is important because they should choose a fund which has delivered higher risk-adjusted returns. In fact, this ratio tells us whether the high returns of a fund are attributed to good investment decisions, or to higher risk.
Funds that have a high concentration in particular stocks or sectors tend to be very risky and volatile. Hence, investors should invest in these funds only if they have a high-risk appetite. Ideally, a well-diversified fund should hold no more than 40% of its assets in its top 10 stock holdings.
The performance of a mutual fund scheme is largely linked to the Fund Manager and his team. Hence, it’s important that the team managing the fund should have considerable experience in dealing with market ups and downs. Also, investors should avoid fund’s that owe their performance to a ‘star’ fund manager. Even if the fund manager is present today, he might quit tomorrow, and then the fund will be unable to deliver its ‘star’ performance without its ‘star’ fund manager. Therefore, the focus should be on the fund houses which are strong in their systems and processes.
Fund house should be process-driven and not 'star' fund-manager driven.
If two funds are similar in most contexts, it might not be worth buying the high cost fund if it is only marginally better than the other. Simply put, there is no reason for an AMC to incur higher costs, other than its desire to have higher margins.
Annual expenses involved in running the mutual fund include administrative costs, management salary, overheads etc. Expense Ratio is the percentage of assets that go towards these expenses. Every time the fund manager churns his portfolio, he pays a brokerage fee, which is ultimately borne by investors in the form of an Expense Ratio. Therefore, higher churning not only leads to higher risk but also higher cost for the investor.
Due to SEBI’s recent ban on entry loads, investors now have only exit loads to worry about. An exit load is charged to investors when they sell units of a mutual fund within a particular tenure; most funds charge if the units are sold before a year. As exit load is a fraction of the NAV, it eats into your investment.
Try investing in a fund with a low expense ratio and stay invested in them for longer duration.
Among the factors listed above, while few can be easily gauged by investors, there are others on which information is not widely available in public domain. This makes analysis of a fund difficult for investors and this is where the importance of taking the help of a mutual fund advisor comes into force. At PersonalFN, we spend a lot of time and effort in short-listing funds which are best for investors, by using various qualitative and quantitative techniques. You can also benefit from the well-researched advice of PersonalFN on Mutual funds.
As a newbie, you may be wondering about how and which mutual fund schemes to invest in.
The plans differ from each other only in terms of cost.
The regular plan charges a higher expense ratio, as compensation to the distributor.
The direct plan, is devoid of this additional cost, hence, investors benefit with higher returns.
If you prefer simplicity and the process of investing sounds incomprehensible, opt for a mutual fund distributor. They will take care all administration, paperwork activity such as form filing, etc. All you need to do is submit relevant documentation and sign on the dotted line to begin your investment journey in mutual funds.
Just remember, “caveat emptor”... Buyer Beware.
Yes, there are several cases where distributors have mis-sold mutual fund investments. So, you need to read the fine print carefully before you sign anything.
When it comes to a direct plan, if you are tech-savvy and have basic financial knowledge, investing in mutual funds though this route will be a much better option. You can seek guidance from a fee-based mutual fund investment adviser about the right mutual fund schemes for your financial goals.
Investing through the direct route is a much better option as you can save a significant amount of money over the long term.
But before you embark on the journey of investing in mutual funds, you need to complete your KYC (Know Your Customer) formalities. KYC is a prerequisite for investing in mutual funds (and almost all financial instruments). It is vital compliance on the part of financial product manufacturers, to know their investor better.
The Government has appointed the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI) to establish a central KYC registry, which simplifies the process of complying to KYC procedures — and you need to do it just once; either with a bank, mutual fund, or an insurance company that you’ve invested in. This means you don't have to fill-up the KYC form another time with other financial product providers.
If you’ve opted for a regular plan, i.e. investing in mutual funds through a distributor, they will assist you with KYC compliances. However, if you plan to invest in mutual funds through the direct route, you can complete your C-KYC through five simple steps.
The list of acceptable documents for Proof of Identity and Proof of Address is published at the bottom of the KYC form.
Fill up the form and attach attested copies of your documents. You will then need to visit the office of the AMC or that of the registrar with the originals. Once verified, your KYC will be registered.
How to Invest In Mutual Funds Through a Distributor?
If you are investing in mutual funds through a distributor such as a bank or investment broker, they will assist you with the transaction forms and other required documentation. Some big distributors may offer online investment facilities to add to the convenience, while local distributors may offer purely offline services. The advice and service might be more personalised in the latter. Some may charge an additional fee for services offered, in addition to the commissions earned from your mutual fund investments.
If you would like to save on costs, you may opt for the direct route.
If you prefer the online route, you may invest in mutual fund schemes directly through the online portal of the fund house. However, if you have multiple funds, you will need to register and invest in each fund house individually. This can be inconvenient if you have a number of schemes from different fund houses. The registrars also facilitate online investing in mutual funds, however, the investment will be limited to the mutual funds enrolled with them.
Mutual Fund Utilities is a shared platform of different fund houses. You need to create an account first, before transacting. We explain how you can create a Common Account Number (CAN) later in the article. You can transact in mutual funds of almost all the AMCs. Through a single transaction form, you can invest in multiple funds of different fund houses.
You can even invest in mutual funds though the online route. Once your CAN is created, you can invest in mutual fund schemes through the portal of mfuonline.com.
If you hire the services of a fee-based investment adviser, you may send over your transaction documents to them to begin investing in mutual funds. Your investment adviser will also receive newsfeed from the fund house and they can keep track of your mutual fund investments.
There are several online automated investment portals, also known as robo-advisers. These are investment advisers who enable investment in direct plans at a nominal fee. The fee structure varies from one portal to another. Some offer their services free, up to a certain monetary limit. Do check the services offered before you invest in mutual funds through them. Choose one that has an established track record of picking the best mutual funds.
Investing through Mutual Fund Utilities gives you access to all the major mutual funds. To know more click here.
If you have sizeable amount of investible surplus that isn’t needed in the short-term, consider investing the lump sum. Only ensure that when you invest, the market is 10-15% down from its last impulse; or that you’re in a bear market so as to draw a sufficient safety margin while you invest your hard-earned money with an investment objective in mind.
Use our Mutual Fund Calculator to check the mutual fund returns now.
To learn about Mutual funds vs. Fixed Deposits, watch this video. | 2019-04-24T22:49:04Z | https://www.personalfn.com/calculator/mutual-fund-calculator |
The Runaway Project by PizzaExpress - Lower Parel, Mumbai.
There was this one episode in a satirical TV show where central characters manage to get into a fancy uptown restaurant only to be disappointed by the overly expensive minuscule portions of tasteless food.
Runaway project which tries to bankroll on the "goodwill" of its parent concern PizzaExpress is a real world example of that satire.
Located in the noisy second floor of the new Skyzone wing in the Phoenix mall complex, this restaurant has a classy lounge like ambiance where any notion of classiness fades away due to the deafening loud music that they play. Apparently, there is a competition going on between Runaway, Soda Bottle openerwala and Chili's where each tries to outdo the other by raising their volumes. The scene is worse than a foul mouthed politician's rally.
My small group decided to order two pizzas and an appetizer. Let me tell you that the pricing here is unforgiving. It is more expensive than the likes of Indigo and the food is neither good in quality nor quantity. I sometimes wonder if they are just extracting the prime location's expensive rent from the customers.
Cigar Club - Described rather fancily in the menu as Filo cigars of cottage cheese and marinated roasted peppers, spiced mayonnaise and balsamic glaze.
I wonder if they got a PR professional or a Food Blogger to write this fancy piece of falsehood.
The Spiced mayonnaise and Balsamic glaze were nothing but a few droplets sprinkled randomly in the ugly presentation above. Cottage Cheese translates to paneer here so its rather a cheap Paneer pastry snack that you can buy in most local street bakeries in Mumbai. The taste was dry and it required a dip like accompaniment which seemed to be missing. And I'd rather not call these six small pieces of puff pastry as cigars. Not to mention if your are paying INR 475 plus taxes for this - you expect a satisfactory portion size and a little bit of effort into making it look appetizing.
Hawaiian Pizza - The Pineapple on pizza trope might trigger some pizza enthusiasts but fear not, they replaced actual pineapple with Pineapple paste(chutney). This pizza which is priced at an unforgiving INR 625 plus taxes, was smaller than the smallest of pizzas offered by most pizza exclusive places. It was rather unsatisfying to say the least. The menu strangely doesn't even mention the carpet bombing of Basil. The basil leaves completely ruin the flavor profile of this pizza. It seemed like a last minute addition by an inexperienced but over enthusiastic chef.
Giardiniera Pizza - Recommended by the server for the vegetarians in the group, this was a visually displeasing and overdone pizza (Burns on the crust). Needless to say that it was too less even for one person - let alone be split by two people. The only thing big about this pizza was its name, one wonders if it was actually suggested by Dr. Shashi Tharoor.
This was definitely not worth the INR 625 we spent on it.
As the grub was far from satisfying or filling - we ended up going to Chili's next door to fill ourselves up. While there are similar expensive places around the city - the portion sizes there at least fill one up. Indigo has gone down in quality over the years but its pizzas at least feel satisfying, the same can be said for the pizzas at a place like Pizza by the bay.
The Runaway Project only appears to work on fancy nomenclature and paid promotions via "prominent"(but misleading) social media personalities. The ambiance is killed by the overly loud music, the pricing is bad and the food fails on all fronts.
Would I recommend Runaway Project to anyone? No.
I'd have to say at this point - if you want a drink - go to any bar themed restaurant in Phoenix. If you want a pizza go to Indigo or Francesco. If you want good mains - Go to Smokehouse or Delhi Heights.
Food festivals and special themed menus need no introductions. Every week, there are many food events all over Mumbai. However, your time and resources are still limited and precious so it literally pays to know which festivals and places to attend and which to skip.
I usually share my recommendations about festivals on my Instagram these days since it connects faster to an audience who may not have time to read a post like this. However, I want to chronicle my experience regarding the Paper Pot festival menu at the ITC Grand Central over here. I want this memory to remain in the universe.
Shanghai Club is known for its authentic Chinese food and its dishes are designed by ITC's very own Chef Jia who hails from China. The paper pot festival was his idea and he had to import the paper pots and ingredients straight from China .
Food served in Paper pots is a rare occurrence anywhere in the world, let alone in India. Food is usually cooked and served in Paper pots called as Washi - The paper is both fire proof and water proof. You could boil food inside it over high heat and the paper won't catch fire. Although, the restaurant did not cook the food in paper pots in this case, the food was served in paper pots with a flame underneath it to keep it warm.
This was a first time in my life, hence it had to be written.
I sampled two meaty pots along with one vegetarian pot. It was not just the pots but even the dishes that were unique to the festival. One may not find these dishes outside the festival.
Shanghai club offers an ambiance that seems like a perfect mix of class and luxury. Its good for the sophisticated white collared folks who prefer a noise free rich environment. And its good for the Tourist and food lover types who love a bit of Asian blended into their surroundings. After all, the ambiance does help you in enjoying your food more.
Like a good prologue to a rich novel, White Jasmine tea serves as a good starter to a wonderful Chinese dinner experience.
Not really a part of the menu, these dim sums were ordered by my company to add an appetizer course before the pot mains. The Chicken and Prawn based dim sums were of the best quality. Far superior to what one would have had at the many blooming Pan Asian places in the town.
The Chef's special Chilli bean pork was served in a silver colored paper pot. The paper's color was purely aesthetic. It was the chef's choice to differentiate meat based dishes from the vegetarian ones.
The best of the three pot based dishes, the flavor was the king here. Soft flavorful pieces of pork with comforting sauces and veggies tossed in, this dish was quite delightful.
It is important to note that Chinese cuisine has a lot of Pork based dishes. A lot of Asian restaurants discard Pork based dishes from their menus thereby sacrificing cuisine authenticity. Shanghai club thankfully remains truly Chinese.
The Prawns in Special Chilli Soya were the seafood lover's delight. The prawns had a rich flavor, texture and the sauces worked well in synergy. Although, I did feel that this dish would have looked better in a white pot.
The Chinese greens with Chilli Garlic Soya was a simple but flavorful vegetarian dish. Served in a white paper pot as part of the chef's convention - this dish truly exemplified the paper pot festival. As evident from my picture, the paper is both fire and wetness proof. Plus it does not contain any harmful chemicals or toxins that would affect the food.
I ended the meal with these delicious desserts.
ITC Grand Central is not as flashy with promoting its events as some other five star properties which call a legion of Instagrammers, journalists and socialites to promote their events. However, the food quality and the experience were no lesser than any other. In fact with an experienced Chinese Chef on their team, Shanghai Club ensures that food is truly Chinese.
El Toro Cantina - Reclamation, Bandra, Mumbai.
El Toro Cantina may sound Spanish due to its obvious naming and it does use the two words most Indians associate with Spanish. Cantina however is a term rarely heard of in India, I first heard of it in the 90s while watching Star Wars - a New Hope. A Cantina in Mexico or Spain usually serves drinks and small plates or Tapas. Literally, it could mean an equivalent of a canteen or a mess. However El Toro Cantina is a mix of a cantina, a sophisticated cafe and a fine dine.
It had a pleasant ambiance which felt very European in decor. Thankfully, it hadn't used any annoying stereotyped cultural props like most foreign cuisine restaurants in India now days do. I arrived here on a rainy afternoon for a late lunch. The place felt quite comfortable. The bar was radiant and looked straight out of a popular pub.
The food was very continental. It was a mix of Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese. Do note that there is a difference between Spanish and Mexican food. Spanish food is made out of native and European influences while Mexican food is a mix of Spanish, South American and Texan influences. The Mediterranean flavors suit Indian palates very well and as such I can see El Toro becoming quite popular in the future.
Here is what I sampled.
These colorful citrusy cocktails were ideal for a summer afternoon which was still hot despite the rain. The colors of these cocktails blended well with the vibrant ambiance of the Bar.
Beetroot Carpaccio was an Italian appetizer that worked well as a vegetarian version of the meat based Carpaccio. It added green to the red and white themes commonly associated with Carpaccio. The Beet was marinated in liquor and was the hero of the dish. Its addicting flavor made me gobble down this salad in no time. Crumbled Feta provided a salty depth to the sweet, tangy and candied beets.
Chicken Liver Pate. I will admit that Liver is one part of any meat that I vehemently avoid. However the pate here was a balance of both bitter and savory. The Pear Jam drizzle and the Melba toast helped augment the flavor profile. I could eat a substantial portion of it but I'd still stick to avoiding liver in the future.
Pollo, aceitunas y chorizo was a mix of spice rubbed chicken chunks tossed in Chorizo oil and mixed with Spanish Chorizo and Olives. This was quite a delicious snack. The flavor seduced my taste buds to no end. I love Chorizo and it was a nice change from the Goan chorizo that I am so used to. The flavor was subtle, less spicy and quite savory.
Gambas al Ajillo is a famous prawn dish from the region of Catalonia. Made with a mixture of native Catalonian, Spanish mainstream and Italian influences - this dish was a bowlful of flavor. Its garlicky and subtly spicy flavor will pamper Indian palates quite a lot. The dish went well with the drinks, although it could use a bit of improvement on the presentation part.
Braised Lamb. This delicious slow cooked lamb looked like a mountain of meat surrounded by a forest of vegetables sitting on top of a potato mash island surrounded by a sea of black pepper gravy. Maybe that's my travel seeking self drifting away while writing this though ha.
Risotto of the day. As the name suggests, this one changes everyday. The Arborio was topped with a ton of fried lotus stalks. The dish was delicious though I have had better.
Sticky Toffee Pudding. Pretty sure this was the puddin' Harley Quinn keeps jabbering about. This has to be one of the best Sticky Toffee Puddings that I have had anywhere and I'd say this was the best that I have had in Mumbai. The Toffee sauce was deliciously rich and the cake was soft and fresh. The Ice cream was of premium quality. All elements worked well over here. A sweet alchemy well orchestrated.
The service was good and the staff knew the menu well. Despite the place being new, the servers made it feel that they have been running the show for years.
The pricing is slightly on the higher side but if you have made it this far into reading this article, I am sure that you can tell that the grub was well worth the moolah.
To wrap this up, El Toro Cantina delivers well with its Pan European food, ambiance, drinks and service. But can it sustain itself in an area infamous for open and shut eateries? Time will tell but from my side I'd say it was a rainy afternoon well spent.
There is this Manga or Japanese comic strip that I read called One Piece. In it a character named Sanji is shown as a runaway Prince serving as a cook on board a ship Captained by the protagonist. The author of course has employed an adventurous fantasy. But fantasy sometimes does become real.
Chef Akshraj Jodha, a descendant of Rao Akheraj of the Akheraj dynasty in Rajasthan would technically be a Prince. A Prince of Chefs who brought amazing food from the House of Akheraj.
The Rajasthani food festival was one of many food festivals held at the ITC Grand Central. I will be honest, Mumbai's take on Rajasthani food had left me disillusioned. I did not attend this festival with big expectations. I mean, I was quite tired by the likes of those Rajasthani Thali restaurants serving inauthentic food.
However, not only did the food at Hornby's Pavilion take me by surprise, it made me completely change my perception of Rajasthani food. Chef Akshraj personally cooked everything for the duration of the festival. He ensured that the food remained authentic and completely followed his recipes. I enjoyed both the Vegetarian and the meat based grub in this festival. The man really is a Prince of cooking.
Here are some of the dishes that I tried.
Aloo Gawarphalli was a vegetarian dish made out of cluster beans and potatoes. I dislike cluster beans usually. I have since childhood swept them to the side of my plate, unconsumed. However, I found myself taking a second helping of the cluster beans over here. The flavor was completely different from the one I am acquainted to. It was a mix of bitter, sweet and salty flavors. I must call the chef a genius over here. No one has so far been able to make me eat Cluster beans before.
The salads and chaat counter had a mix of interesting appetizers. These "Chaats" had unusual ingredients like Jalebi in it. If you love good Indian food then these are for you.
Laal Maas or Read Meat was historically a curry made out of wild game meat like deer or Wild boar. It was a favorite among the royals. But now days its made of tender lamb. Hornby's version was a beautiful flavor pot of spicy and savory sensations. I do not think that I have had a tastier Laal Maas than this.
The Rajasthani Quail was a decent experience though I have had better variants elsewhere.
Apart from the above, there was a live counter with fish tikkis and vegetarian tikkis being cooked for the patrons. Being a Five star hotel property, the restaurant also had its regular buffet options along with the festival buffet options. In completeness, it was a great experience. My best at ITC so far.
The Dessert platter was one of the better ones in Mumbai. I found myself saving just enough space to hog a plate full of desserts.
The service at Hornby's Pavilion was as excellent as that at Shanghai Club and K & K. It goes hand in hand with ITC's exemplary hospitality.
The Pricing was on the higher side as it is a restaurant inside a five star hotel, however this was the best Rajasthani food that I have ever had. I think the food at the ITC makes the festivals well worth the cost and time.
Its shame that festivals are ephemeral. Nonetheless, Hornby's pavilion offers a GREAT dinner buffet platter. Well worth a visit at any time of the year.
Olio could mean a lot of things. It could mean Oil in Italian, Cooking pot in Latin or even a Spanish stew. But one thing is certain, it serves good food and that is in agreement with all of the above.
Located at Novotel Juhu, Olio is the classy western fine dine for those interested in an authentic western meal in a refined environment. Like Square next door which is Novotel's general purpose Buffet restaurant or the famed Chinese restaurant Sampan, Olio offers the guest a unique culinary experience.
I was part of a large chef's table that saw bloggers from around the town sample the food and express their opinion. The occasion was a revamped and upgraded menu.
Moderately sized with classy western decor that felt like a mix of Spanish and Italian, Olio had quite a comfortable ambiance. As opposed to overused Kenny Gs that I have grown up hearing in fine dines, this restaurant had live music and a guitarist who had an uncanny resemblance to Carlos Santana. I enjoyed his eighty's numbers. Anyone who loves the eighties has good musical taste.
A Four course Italian meal awaited me after I was done savoring the environment.
The dinner flagged off with this delectable Amuse Bouche which was made up of cheese and Italian seasoning.
The pickled watermelon and Arugula salad was quite flavorful. It paired excellently with Reviolo Grillo served along with it. It seemed to increase my appetite even more for the succeeding courses.
Lobster Tortellini in Salsa di burro di mandorie sounds like a quite a mouthful to speak but leaves you wanting for more when you eat. Soft melt in your mouth pasta with lobster and almond butter sauce was quite the smooth experience in the mouth. Paired with Reviolo Chardonnay, this course truly epitomized the spirit of a fine dine.
Chicken Di' Avolo was a main course with good old chicken breast, carrots and mashed potatoes. I felt it was juicy and delicious at the start but a little bland at the end. The flavor did not feel uniform. Though paired with the Cabarnet Sauvignon which had a strong flavor, it felt quite perfect. The wine pairing was done by someone who knew their wine and food well.
The dessert platter which comprised of Tiramisu and Flour less Chocolate cake felt a little flat. The Tiramisu felt too creamy and the cream felt too thin. The perfect coffee bitter could not be perceived. And I have definitely had better Flour less chocolate cake before.
Barring the Dessert course, the other courses were quite exemplary. It was worth the long travel during rush hours. The service was professional as expected. The crew ensured that every member of the table was satisfied. The pricing could be on the higher side. While the food is good and the location is prime, the pricing could be a slight turnoff to patrons who are not hotel guests.
Combined with the pleasant location near the sea where the coastal breeze caresses your senses, the comforting indoor ambiance, classy music and high quality food - The pricing can be overlooked by a true connoisseur. At least one trip seems to be in order for food lovers all around.
Mango, India's favorite food has the effect of driving the majority of the Indian population wild. As soon as the mango season begins, people crowd up at fruit stores buying them like hotcakes. Actually in India, one must say that hotcakes sell like mangoes.
I proudly declare that I am not in that majority. Nope, the fruit's presence or absence doesn't affect me. But Mango desserts are another story, they give me a high. I dropped by last week to sample a special menu of Mango based desserts at the Sin patisserie within Hotel Marine Plaza.
This seasonal special menu would last till the mid of June.
At INR 375(plus Taxes) per dessert , the place actually offers cheaper desserts than the likes of a place like Indigo Deli. The desserts are made of premium ingredients and have a great flavor. There is no compromise on quality.
This platter would make most of humanity salivate in front of their screens.
Aam Ka Panna would be India's favorite summer drink. Sweet and sour in flavor, this spice filled beverage isn't really a dessert but one could never have a Mango themed menu in India without the mention of this.
Mango and Mint Panna Cotta was a delectable panna cotta topped with a thick Mango paste and Mint pearls. Though initially I was a bit disappointed that it was Mint and not peppermint, the rich flavor of the cream made up for everything. I gobbled this up in a jiffy.
Mango Baklava is probably something that the Ottomans and the Greeks would never have imagined. The chefs at Sin took this old world favorite and gave it a Mango Twist. The result was classical Baklava with a perfect mango infusion. Baklava itself is rare to find in the city and Mango Baklava may just only be available at Sin. Though not aesthetically pleasing as its colorful counterparts, this was one of the high points of the seasonal menu.
Mango Cheesecake in my opinion was the best dessert in the menu. It delivered in both visuals and flavor. Not only was it the prettiest of the lot, its flavor was quite amazing. Unlike Cheesecakes at other places where vanilla cheesecake is merely topped with a compote, this truly was a mango cheesecake. The cream cheese and Mango had been perfectly fused together. The texture was smooth and perfect. Mango's sweet and tarty flavor combined with Cheesecake's original sweet flavor was quite a party in my mouth.
Mango Chocolate Sensation was Sin's take on the popular melting chocolate ball. Though these balls have long lost novelty due to being too common, these still make an excellent dessert for a bunch of food shutterbugs. I was disappointed with this one though. The flavor of the mango was far too subtle and as far as Chocolate ball desserts go, this was too mediocre.
Mango Raspberry Criollo was a delicious comfort dessert. Made with a Mango mousse centred with a Raspberry compote, the hero of the dish was undoubtedly the raspberry. While the mango served as a nice and alluring exterior, the flavor profile was dominated by the Raspberry. The dessert was however one of the best on the menu. Again like the cheesecake, it was both visibly pleasing and quite delectable.
This seasonal menu is said to last till the Mid (15th) of June, 2017. That is about the time when the Mango season goes offline from India and the Monsoon sets in. If you are a dessert fanatic like me, don't miss this opportunity to sample things like the Mango Cheesecake or the Baklava.
The Sunday Brunch at The Earth Plate in Hotel Sahar Star - Vile Parle, Mumbai.
The Earth Plate is a massive multi cuisine restaurant within the Sahara Star property. A meal here will always be an experience to remember. But when Sahara Star goes out of the way to take the meal experience to the next level - sparks fly, flavors explode and one experiences a culinary journey like none other.
The Sunday Brunch Buffet at "The Earth Plate" is a very special affair. Unlimited food, beverages, desserts, Live music and live food counters await the patron. As opposed to the other days of the week, this brunch is far more massive and has live counters which cannot be found on other days. And if this isn't impressive enough then how about a dip in the pool after your meal? As part of the package, Sahara Star allows the patrons to have a dip in the pool post Brunch.
Sahara Star's unique closed dome structure makes it a completely different biosphere isolated from the pollution, noise and chaos of the outside world. And within this Biosphere, each of its restaurants inspire unique feelings. For me, The Earth Plate felt like a resort restaurant in the midst of a popular tourist destination. The restaurant was classy, yet embraced simplicity in design. I completely forgot that I was still in Mumbai.
There were seven live food counters each managed by a resident chef. Pictured here is the Bombay Street food live counter.
These appetizers caught my eye, it was almost as if I was in a designer Jewellery store. These edible beauties were extremely pleasing to the eye.
Both these pictures sent my Instagram following into a frenzy. I received numerous messages about these two pictures. Take it from me, the food tasted as wonderful as it appeared.
After quickly framing the food on my phone, I went on my tasting spree. Each of the appetizer was extremely well made. I have to admit that the Kitchen team takes their job very seriously. These were some of the best starters that I have had anywhere in the world. Each morsel was an unique experience.
I am not a salad person but these Prawn salad cups made me go absolutely bonkers. These were quite scrumptious. I found myself picking up seconds after my initial tasting. Something one would rarely see me do with salads.
The mains rotate every brunch so its unlikely that one would find the same as those pictured in this article. There were far too many mains to taste. I managed to sample a few and below are some highlights of my experience.
The Beans Pie was extremely pleasing on the palate. T'was subtle in flavoring and made for a Global crowd. The Sweet bacon pork tarts were quite addictive and I found myself chomping down a few of these. The Panchporan Murg Tikka was Chicken Tikka with a twist. It was sprinkled with the Panchporan spice mix which is an East Indian specialty.
The Chicken Burrito and Shawarma were delicious wraps made at the live counters. One need not wait at the counter for their serving. Give the line cook your table number and a server will bring your food to the table. It was quite convenient and something not often seen in most five star hotels. The restaurant experience would surely spoil me ha.
The dessert platter felt like a wonderland where one could unleash their inner kid. You think you have grown up into a serious, mature and a professional man till you see these desserts and the world feels young again. There is always room for dessert but there were too many desserts in the room. I sampled quite a few and I found the Black Forest cake to be my favorite.
The service was exemplary despite the Sunday rush. It displayed the professional calibre expected off the staff of Sahara Star.
Priced at INR 3450 PAX, the brunch feels a bit steep initially but consider the fact that it includes unlimited premium liquor, wines and cocktails on top of unlimited food and desserts. This is a meal fit for a King and if you drink and eat to your heart's content then its worth every rupee spent. Lets not forget, this includes a dip in the pool which is far better than your average community pool.
The Brunch is here to stay for the time being. If you are near the Airport or planning a memorable Sunday Brunch, Sahara Star makes one of the best choices in the city. As far the buffet experience goes, its one of the best that I have had. Captain Says Onward, Ho. | 2019-04-23T14:45:24Z | http://www.grubzon.com/ |
Section 1. National Contingency Plan, Area Committees, and Area Contingency Plans.
“Section 1. National Contingency Plan.
“(1) The National Contingency Plan (“the NCP”), shall provide for a National Response Team (“the NRT”) composed of representatives of appropriate Federal departments and agencies for national planning and coordination of preparedness and response actions, and Regional Response Teams as the regional counterparts to the NRT for planning and coordination of regional preparedness and response actions.
“(2) The following agencies (in addition to other appropriate agencies) shall provide representatives to the National and Regional Response Teams to carry out their responsibilities under the NCP: Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Coast Guard, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“(3) Except for periods of activation because of response action, the representative of the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) shall be the chairman, and the representative of the United States Coast Guard shall be the vice chairman, of the NRT and these agencies' representatives shall be co-chairs of the Regional Response Teams (“the RRTs”). When the NRT or an RRT is activated for a response action, the EPA representative shall be the chairman when the release or threatened release or discharge or threatened discharge occurs in the inland zone, and the United States Coast Guard representative shall be the chairman when the release or threatened release or discharge or threatened discharge occurs in the coastal zone, unless otherwise agreed upon by the EPA and the United States Coast Guard representatives (inland and coastal zones are defined in the NCP).
“(4) The RRTs may include representatives from State governments, local governments (as agreed upon by the States), and Indian tribal governments. Subject to the functions and authorities delegated to Executive departments and agencies in other sections of this order, the NRT shall provide policy and program direction to the RRTs.
“(1) The responsibility for the revision of the NCP and all the other functions vested in the President by Sections 105 (a), (b), (c), and (g), 125, and 301(f) of the Act, by Section 311(d)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and by Section 4201(c) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 is delegated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (“the Administrator”).
“(2) The function vested in the President by Section 118(p) of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-499) (“SARA”) is delegated to the Administrator.
“In the event of a spill, the above named Federal trustees for natural resources shall designate one trustee to act as Lead Administrative Trustee, the duties of which shall be defined in the regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 1006(e)(1) of OPA. If there are natural resource trustees other than those designated above which are acting in the event of a spill, those other trustees may join with the Federal trustees to name a Lead Administrative Trustee which shall exercise the duties defined in the regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 1006(e)(1) of OPA.
“(d) Revisions to the NCP shall be made in consultation with members of the NRT prior to publication for notice and comment.
(b) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(4) of FWPCA, and Section 4202(b)(1) of OPA, respecting the designation of Areas, the appointment of Area Committee members, the requiring of information to be included in Area Contingency Plans, and the review and approval of Area Contingency Plans are delegated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (“Administrator”) for the inland zone and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating for the coastal zone (inland and coastal zones are defined in the NCP).
Sec. 2. National Response System.
(a) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(1)(A) of FWPCA, respecting the establishment of methods and procedures for the removal of discharged oil and hazardous substances, and by Section 311(j)(1)(B) of FWPCA respecting the establishment of criteria for the development and implementation of local and regional oil and hazardous substance removal contingency plans, are delegated to the Administrator for the inland zone and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating for the coastal zone.
(1) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(1)(C) of FWPCA, respecting the establishment of procedures, methods, and equipment and other requirements for equipment to prevent and to contain discharges of oil and hazardous substances from non-transportation-related onshore facilities, are delegated to the Administrator.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(1)(C) of FWPCA, respecting the establishment of procedures, methods, and equipment and other requirements for equipment to prevent and to contain discharges of oil and hazardous substances from vessels and transportation-related onshore facilities and deepwater ports subject to the Deepwater Ports Act of 1974 (“DPA”), are delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(3) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(1)(C) of FWPCA, respecting the establishment of procedures, methods, and equipment and other requirements for equipment to prevent and to contain discharges of oil and hazardous substances from offshore facilities, including associated pipelines, other than deepwater ports subject to the DPA, are delegated to the Secretary of the Interior.
(c) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(1)(D) of FWPCA, respecting the inspection of vessels carrying cargoes of oil and hazardous substances and the inspection of such cargoes, are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
(1) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(5) of FWPCA and Section 4202(b)(4) of OPA, respecting the issuance of regulations requiring the owners or operators of non-transportation-related onshore facilities to prepare and submit response plans, the approval of means to ensure the availability of private personnel and equipment, the review and approval of such response plans, and the authorization of non-transportation-related onshore facilities to operate without approved response plans, are delegated to the Administrator.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(5) of FWPCA and Section 4202(b)(4) of OPA, respecting the issuance of regulations requiring the owners or operators of tank vessels, transportation-related onshore facilities and deepwater ports subject to the DPA, to prepare and submit response plans, the approval of means to ensure the availability of private personnel and equipment, the review and approval of such response plans, and the authorization of tank vessels, transportation-related onshore facilities and deepwater ports subject to the DPA to operate without approved response plans, are delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(3) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(5) of FWPCA and Section 4202(b)(4) of OPA, respecting the issuance of regulations requiring the owners or operators of offshore facilities, including associated pipelines, other than deepwater ports subject to the DPA, to prepare and submit response plans, the approval of means to ensure the availability of private personnel and equipment, the review and approval of such response plans, and the authorization of offshore facilities, including associated pipelines, other than deepwater ports subject to the DPA, to operate without approved response plans, are delegated to the Secretary of the Interior.
(1) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(6)(A) of FWPCA, respecting the requirements for periodic inspections of containment booms and equipment used to remove discharges at non-transportation-related onshore facilities, are delegated to the Administrator.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(6)(A) of FWPCA, respecting the requirements for periodic inspections of containment booms and equipment used to remove discharges on vessels, and at transportation-related onshore facilities and deepwater ports subject to the DPA, are delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(3) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(6)(A) of FWPCA, respecting the requirements for periodic inspections of containment booms and equipment used to remove discharges at offshore facilities, including associated pipelines, other than deepwater ports subject to the DPA, are delegated to the Secretary of the Interior.
(f) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(6)(B) of FWPCA, respecting requirements for vessels to carry appropriate removal equipment, are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
(1) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(7) of FWPCA, respecting periodic drills of removal capability under relevant response plans for onshore and offshore facilities located in the inland zone, and the publishing of annual reports on those drills, are delegated to the Administrator.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j)(7) of FWPCA, respecting periodic drills of removal capability under relevant response plans for tank vessels, and for onshore and offshore facilities located in the coastal zone, and the publishing of annual reports on those drills, are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
(h) No provision of Section 2 of this order, including, but not limited to, any delegation or assignment of any function hereunder, shall in any way affect, or be construed or interpreted to affect the authority of any Department or agency, or the head of any Department or agency under any provision of law other than Section 311(j) of FWPCA or Section 4202(b)(4) of OPA.
(i) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(j) of FWPCA or Section 4202(b)(4) of OPA which have been delegated or assigned by Section 2 of this order may be redelegated to the head of any Executive department or agency with his or her consent.
The functions vested in the President by Section 311(c) of FWPCA and Section 1011 of OPA, respecting an effective and immediate removal or arrangement for removal of a discharge and mitigation or prevention of a substantial threat of a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance, the direction and monitoring of all Federal, State and private actions, the removal and destruction of a vessel, the issuance of directions, consulting with affected trustees, and removal completion determinations, are delegated to the Administrator for the inland zone and to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating for the coastal zone.
Sec. 4. Liability Limit Adjustment.
(a) The functions vested in the President by Section 1004(d) of OPA, respecting the establishment of limits of liability, with respect to classes or categories of non-transportation-related onshore facilities, the reporting to Congress on the desirability of adjusting limits of liability with respect to non-transportation-related onshore facilities, and the adjustment of limits of liability to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index with respect to non-transportation-related onshore facilities, are delegated to the Administrator, acting in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Energy, and the Attorney General.
(b) The functions vested in the President by Section 1004(d) of OPA, respecting the establishment of limits of liability, with respect to classes or categories of transportation-related onshore facilities, the reporting to Congress on the desirability of adjusting limits of liability, with respect to vessels or transportation-related onshore facilities and deepwater ports subject to the DPA, and the adjustment of limits of liability to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index with respect to vessels or transportation-related onshore facilities and deepwater ports subject to the DPA, are delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(c) The functions vested in the President by Section 1004(d) of OPA, respecting the reporting to Congress on the desirability of adjusting limits of liability with respect to offshore facilities, including associated pipelines, other than deepwater ports subject to the DPA, and the adjustment of limits of liability to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index with respect to offshore facilities, including associated pipelines, other than deepwater ports subject to the DPA, are delegated to the Secretary of the Interior.
(1) The functions vested in the President by Section 1016(e) of OPA, respecting (in the case of offshore facilities other than deepwater ports) the issuance of regulations concerning financial responsibility, the determination of acceptable methods of financial responsibility, and the specification of necessary or unacceptable terms, conditions, or defenses, are delegated to the Secretary of the Interior.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 1016(e) of OPA, respecting (in the case of deepwater ports) the issuance of regulations concerning financial responsibility, the determination of acceptable methods of financial responsibility, and the specification of necessary or unacceptable terms, conditions, or defenses, are delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(1) The functions vested in the President by Section 4303 of OPA, respecting (in cases involving vessels) the assessment of civil penalties, the compromising, modification or remission, with or without condition, and the referral for collection of such imposed penalties, and requests to the Attorney General to secure necessary judicial relief, are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 4303 of OPA, respecting (in cases involving offshore facilities other than deepwater ports) the assessment of civil penalties, the compromising, modification or remission, with or without condition, and the referral for collection of such imposed penalties, and requests to the Attorney General to secure necessary judicial relief, are delegated to the Secretary of the Interior.
(3) The functions vested in the President by Section 4303 of OPA, respecting (in cases involving deepwater ports) the assessment of civil penalties, the compromising, modification or remission, with or without condition, and the referral for collection of such imposed penalties, and requests to the Attorney General to secure necessary judicial relief, are delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(a) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(m)(1) of FWPCA, respecting the enforcement of Section 311 with respect to vessels, are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
(b) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(e) of FWPCA, respecting determinations of imminent and substantial threat, requesting the Attorney General to secure judicial relief, and other action including issuing administrative orders, are delegated to the Administrator for the inland zone and to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating for the coastal zone.
Sec. 7. Management of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and Claims.
(A) The functions vested in the President by Section 1012(a)(1), (3), and (4) of OPA respecting payment of removal costs and claims and determining consistency with the National Contingency Plan (NCP) are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
(B) The functions vested in the President by Section 6002(b) of the OPA respecting making amounts, not to exceed $50,000,000 and subject to normal budget controls, in any fiscal year, available from the Fund (i) to carry out Section 311(c) of FWPCA, and (ii) to initiate the assessment of natural resources damages required under Section 1006 of OPA are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating. Such Secretary shall make amounts available from the Fund to initiate the assessment of natural resources damages exclusively to the Federal trustees designated in the NCP. Such Federal trustees shall allocate such amounts among all trustees required to assess natural resources damages under Section 1006 of OPA.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 1012(a)(2) of OPA, respecting the payment of costs and determining consistency with the NCP, are delegated to the Federal trustees designated in the NCP.
(3) The functions vested in the President by Section 1012(a)(5) of OPA, respecting the payment of costs and expenses of departments and agencies having responsibility for the implementation, administration, and enforcement of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and subsections (b), (c), (d), (j) and (l) of Section 311 of FWPCA, are delegated to each head of such department and agency.
(b) The functions vested in the President by Section 1012(c) of OPA, respecting designation of Federal officials who may obligate money, are delegated to each head of the departments and agencies to whom functions have been delegated under section 7(a) of this order for the purpose of carrying out such functions.
(1) The functions vested in the President by Section 1012 (d) and (e) of OPA, respecting the obligation of the Trust Fund on the request of a Governor or pursuant to an agreement with a State, entrance into agreements with States, agreement upon terms and conditions, and the promulgation of regulations concerning such obligation and entrance into such agreement, are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation with the Administrator.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 1013(e) of OPA, respecting the promulgation and amendment of regulations for the presentation, filing, processing, settlement, and adjudication of claims under OPA against the Trust Fund, are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation with the Attorney General.
(3) The functions vested in the President by Section 1012(a) of OPA, respecting the payment of costs, damages, and claims, delegated herein to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, include, inter alia, the authority to process, settle, and administratively adjudicate such costs, damages, and claims, regardless of amount.
(1) The Coast Guard is designated the “appropriate agency” for the purpose of receiving the notice of discharge of oil or hazardous substances required by Section 311(b)(5) of FWPCA, and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating is authorized to issue regulations implementing this designation.
(2) The functions vested in the President by Section 1014 of OPA, respecting designation of sources of discharges or threats, notification to responsible parties, promulgation of regulations respecting advertisements, the advertisement of designation, and notification of claims procedures, are delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
(a) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(b) (3) and (4) of FWPCA, as amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, respecting the determination of quantities of oil and any hazardous substances the discharge of which may be harmful to the public health or welfare or the environment and the determinations of quantities, time, locations, circumstances, or conditions, which are not harmful, are delegated to the Administrator.
(b) The functions vested in the President by Section 311(d)(2)(G) of FWPCA, respecting schedules of dispersant, chemical, and other spill mitigating devices or substances, are delegated to the Administrator.
(c) The functions vested in the President by Section 1006(b) (3) and (4) of OPA respecting the receipt of designations of State and Indian tribe trustees for natural resources are delegated to the Administrator.
(d) The function vested in the President by Section 3004 of OPA, with respect to encouraging the development of an international inventory of equipment and personnel, is delegated to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation with the Secretary of State.
(e) The functions vested in the President by Section 4113 of OPA, respecting a study on the use of liners or other secondary means of containment for onshore facilities, and the implementation of the recommendations of the study, are delegated to the Administrator.
(f) The function vested in the President by Section 5002(c)(2)(D) of OPA, respecting the designating of an employee of the Federal Government who shall represent the Federal Government on the Oil Terminal Facilities and Oil Tanker Operations Associations, is delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(g) The functions vested in the President by Section 5002(o) of OPA, respecting the annual certification of alternative voluntary advisory groups, are delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(h) The function vested in the President by Section 7001(a)(3) of OPA, respecting the appointment of Federal agencies to membership on the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research, is delegated to the Secretary of Transportation.
(i) Executive Order No. 11735 of August 3, 1973, Executive Order No. 12123 of February 26, 1979, Executive Order No. 12418 of May 5, 1983 and the memorandum of August 24, 1990, delegating certain authorities of the President under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 are revoked.
Authorities and functions delegated or assigned by this order shall be exercised subject to consultation with the Secretaries of departments and the heads of agencies with statutory responsibilities which may be significantly affected, including, but not limited to, the Department of Justice.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this order, any representation pursuant to or under this order in any judicial proceedings shall be by or through the Attorney General. The conduct and control of all litigation arising under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 shall be the responsibility of the Attorney General.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this order, the authority under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to require the Attorney General to commence litigation is retained by the President.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this order, the Secretaries of the Departments of Transportation, Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, and/or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may request that the Attorney General commence litigation under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
(d) The Attorney General, in his discretion, is authorized to require that, with respect to a particular oil spill, an agency refrain from taking administrative enforcement action without first consulting with the Attorney General.
This page was last edited on 16 March 2013, at 08:30. | 2019-04-23T05:09:05Z | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_12777 |
The Democrats are rejoicing over the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to the governorship, whose overwhelming victory places him in a prominent place in the party for the presidential election in 1932. Numerical results show that Roosevelt outdid Alfred Smith’s best performance at any time. The election of Herbert H. Lehman for Lieutenant-Governor makes it a double victory, and he has gained prestige for himself as well as his party. The Republicans maintained control of the legislature. As for the Congressional elections New York State is sending two Democrats to the Senate. To the House of Representatives will go twenty-four Democrats and nineteen Republicans.
Wilbur L. Cross, editor, author, scholar and Dean Emeritus of the Yale Graduate School was elected governor of Connecticut. One of the first statements which Dean Cross gave out was “unless within a year Congress moves to submit the Eighteenth Amendment to the states for repeal’’ he will ask for the “cooperation of his fellow governors in a call for a constitutional convention to decide the fate of prohibition.” Dean Cross based his desire for office upon the feeling that the present conditions are easily comparable to those which characterized the Grant administration, which was followed by a period of great depression. He wishes to participate in remedial measures which will better these conditions. Connecticut is sending three Democrats to the House and two Republicans to the Senate.
Under a campaign of prohibition repeal and unemployment relief Joseph B. Ely, Democrat, was elected governor of Massachusetts. As a further result of the election the Massachusetts state prohibition enforcement law will go off the statute books. The Senate will receive two Democratic members for the Bay State, and the House eleven Republicans and four Democrats, a doubt still remaining concerning the other member.
Although it was not the year for the choosing of a governor in this state election returns indicate that the Republicans are still in control. Dwight Morrow, wet Republican, was elected to the Senate by a great plurality.
Europe as a whole and industrial centers especially are taking an optimistic view of the results of our elections, for in them she sees the probability of a restoration of economic equilibrium. Particularly are the Europeans hopeful of a more favorable attitude toward pressing international problems, and the establishment of a more amiable relationship between this country and others. So far has this feeling extended that already persistent reports are countenanced concerning the postponement of War debts and reparation payments, which, however, are only rumors as yet. In general, there is the attitude among foreign powers that the results of the elections will bring about a regime of prosperity to be shared 'both by this country and those of Europe.
All signs point to a coalition Congress for the next two years, for neither party has a working majority to support it. As the figures stand there are forty-eight Republicans, forty-seven Democrats, one Farm-Laborite and about a dozen insurgents.
Outing Club wants a name for its new cabin. For this purpose the club is holding a competition in which the whole college is asked to participate. Anyone interested may hand in suggestions of appropriate names to the Committee in charge. The Committee will then choose the best name, and a prize will be awarded. Suggestions must be in by November 19, so that the cabin may be named in time for the house-warming which is to be held on November 23. They may be handed in to any of the following girls, who compose the Committee: Priscilla Douglas, Chairman; Alice Gibbs, Eileen Thorne, Eileen Thompson.
Skidmore put its money on a losing horse! That is the least that can be said of the results of our recent straw, vote. It indicated one thing very definitely and that is that is was an unreliable political guide. Some very interesting conclusions, however, may be drawn from a comparison of the votes cast here and throughout the state.
From these figures one may deduce almost anything. Perhaps it can be argued that from the figures, Skidmore is more Commuistically inclined and even less inclined toward Prohibition than the State.
The first, thing, however, that must be taken into consideration is that only about one-half the student body cast a ballot. Only 365 students voted. This is partly due to the fact that students residing outside of New York state are not interested in its political affairs, but we must admit that it is also due in large measure to mental laziness as far as politics are concerned.
Richard Wagner is most famous for his compositions known as “musical dramas,” each an artistic opera. His music is far different from that of any of his predecessors and even his contemporaries and followers did not attain his mastery of style. He had the unending inspiration for countless melodies, all melodiously beautiful and particularly fit for the thing Wagner wishes them to express. He used these melodies contrapuntally (one against another) and by enriching the color of the orchestra and developing the instrumentation, he attained an unequalled result.
A new process has been discovered by which aluminum articles may now be made in color.
Recent observations on sleeping people show that on an average there are 33 changes of position during the night.
On November 14 or 15, after midnight that if you look in the northeastern sky you will see the Leonids— one of the most famous showers of “shooting stars.” There should be at least ten an hour,—-perhaps more, for it is predicted that we are getting into a denser region of these meteors, which comes around every 33 or 34 years.
It is almost impossible to dye clothes now-a-days without their shrinking, for when the materials are first made they are stretched, rather than shrunk. Sometimes they are even “set” with gelatin to make them hold the size to which they were stretched.
Pneumonia is not one disease, but a whole group of diseases between which doctors cannot yet distinguish.
Miners may now be quickly warned of fire by mixing a disagreeable odor, such as that of rancid butter, with the fresh air entering the ventilating system.
Ink has been used for generations in the Philippines as a successful household remedy for burns. Dr. Stammel of the U.S. Army points out that most black inks contain tannic acid, which has recently been found by scientists to be good for burns.
The disease germs in New York City dust vary from 8,400,000 to 84,000,000 per ounce of dust.
Ruth Draper, the famous dramatic impersonator, will present a recital at Page Hall, New York State College for Teachers, November 17, under the auspices of the Dramatic and Art Council of the college.
“The Magic Lady,” as one critic calls her, is not merely an interpretive artist but a creative one, for she writes all her own sketches. These Miss Draper presents with the least amount of stage effects possible. The repertoire will consist of thirty-six sketches, in which fifty characters will be portrayed. Each one delineates a distinct character such as—a New York society woman who never gets beyond the first sentence in her Italian lesson, an Irish peasant woman who lost her son in the great war, the typical telephone operator, the drawling and languorous Southern girl and so on.
Miss Draper composed and presented her first monologue just before the war. All her time, during the war, was spent in France where she gave her impersonations before the A. E. F. After the Armistice she played for a time in London where she met with great success. No less glorious, however, has been her appearance in America, for critics have lauded her realistic perceptions of character enthusiastically.
A very pleasant evening is in store for Skidmore students and faculty on November 15, when the University Double Quartet will give a concert in College Hall. This quartet consists of eight Harvard men under the direction of Douglas MacKinnon. The quartet has sung at Skidmore before and all who heard the concert given last year with our own chorus are eagerly anticipating this year’s program. Several numbers will be sung alone by the quartet and it will also sing with twenty members of the Skidmore Chorus. On Sunday evening the singers and Mr. MacKinnon were at Skidmore, rehearsing with the Chorus.
With lilting lyrical notes heralding the approach of the sweet young thing and heavy chords announcing the villain, “Maria Marten, or the Murder in the Red Barn” will unfold its story Friday and Saturday nights, November 21 and 22 in the Skidmore College Little Theatre. Omnibus, the Dramatic Society of the college, is producing the melodrama under the able direction of Miss Ruth Champlin and with the aid of the Workshop Procedure Class. All of the stage technique and acting devices of the period will be used, including the soliloquy and downstage comedy. The use of music is another part of the true presentation to be utilized, the name “melodrama” authorizing its part in interpreting character and situation.
As Montagu Slater writes in the introduction to this Barnstormer play, “It is just a hundred years since Maria Marten was made immortal in a barn. She shares with Dr. Johnson the distinction of being frequently on the lips of people who know next to nothing of her career. She is one of a large family, yet she alone has been mysteriously singled out for fame. They were all seduced—Agnes Primrose, Lucy Lisle, Zella Lee; the catalogue -could be extended indefinitely: one and all they came to a bad end— yet they are all heroines. One of the most popular novels of the age, Richardson’s Pamela, had a heroine and the daughter of the Vicar of Wake-who was always on the brink of ruin, field actually fell. But between these ladies and the Maria Marten sisterhood there are some important differences. Goldsmith’s heroine did insist on a certain modicum of formality, and would allow herself to be deceived by nothing less elaborate than a mock marriage.
The well expressed sentiment of somebody’s that, “I came to college for what I could get out of it, now I get out of it whenever I can,” seemed to be gloriously true at Skidmore last week-end. Well, we must admit that at least the gadders chose good places to gad to.
Our northern neighbor, Dartmouth drew the most Skidmorites. Marion Lee was at the Beta House, Dixie Kemper and Helen Saylor at the Deke House, Elsie Kramer and Clara Church at the Theta Delt, Elizabeth De Armand, Helen Talbot and Sarah Prescott at the Phi Gam House, Betty Dar-rah at the Phi Kappa Sigma House, Jane Shepard at the Zeta Psi House, Betty Hubbell at the Chi Phi, and Lois Moore at the Phi Psi Houses. Janice Campbell and Margaretta Roberts attended the football game and house dances also.
Williams 'College was the next popular resort last week-end. Kit Buek, Jane Reid, Mary Armstrong, and Roberta Brunner were there. So also were Eleanor Trauth and Laura Hood at the Delta Phi Lodge, Mary Jane Pealer and Mary Coyle at the Psi Upsilon House, Helen Miller at the Phi Delta Theta House and Ruth Powers at the Deke House.
Allie Green, Helen Danielson, Dotty Dove, Ruth Fenton and B. G. Gordon attened the Army-Illinois game in New York.
1. For any motoring after 6:00 p.m. (after spring vacation 8:00 p.m. Standard time) and for motoring for longer than half an hour during the day, students are required to make out one of the motoring registration slips provided in the dormitories for the purpose, to file it in the dormitory, and to sign it upon return. They are required to return by 10:00 p.m. (Saturday, 10:30 p.m.).
2. They may not have or drive motor cars in Saratoga Springs or neighboring towns except with special permission from the Dean’s office.
1. For any motoring after 6:00 p.m. and for motoring for longer than half an hour during the day, they are required to make out one of the motoring registration slips provided in 'the dormitories for the purpose, to file it in the dormitory, and to sign it upon return.
2. Freshmen are required to have at least three persons in the group when they are motoring.
3. Freshmen may not motor after 6:00 p.m. except on Saturday and Sunday nights. On Saturday, they are required to return by 10:30 p.m.; on Sunday night at 8:15 p.m.
1. Carelessness In any detail of making out or signing a motoring slip shall involve one house report, imposed by the House President and recorded on the slip.
2. Unexcused tardiness of ten minutes or less in returning from motoring shall involve a penalty of two house reports.
1920—perhaps that seems way back in the dark, dim ages, but after all; Skidmore was going strong, and already had many of the present faculty, though some were minus those “high sounding” degrees that they proudly attach to their names now. The graduating class (twelve husky girls all dressed up in serge middies for their Eromdiks picture) were just as happy to have Senior Privileges as 1930’s crowd. For instance, Seniors were allowed to go to the first performance of the motion pictures with out a chaperone, if they returned not later than nine o’clock! Besides, with special permission from the Dean, Seniors could attend motion pictures, dine at approved places, and drive in the daytime with men!!
Just think, ten years ago today. Scribner Hall (the pride and joy of the campus) had its “house-warming!” The oriental rooms on the fourth floor, all decorated in dark rich woodwork, the roof, which was the scene of many parties; the sun-parlor and usable fireplaces, were all so proudly possessed by the Juniors. Twice a week in the dining room, they had dinner by candle light to lend more charm to the evening meal. A penny box for tardy entry quickly filled with pennies which bought lots of gingerale for the roof parties.
Oh oh—those were the days when Freshmen were really Freshmen and Seniors were all “home-ecers,” but thank heavens for 1930!
Transcript Skidmore News VOLUME SIX SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1930 NUMBER SIX TEA DANCE New Gym Saturday 3 P. M. The ELM LEA PLAYERS Coming Monday, November 17 A Passing Glance On The Elections New York The Democrats are rejoicing over the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to the governorship, whose overwhelming victory places him in a prominent place in the party for the presidential election in 1932. Numerical results show that Roosevelt outdid Alfred Smith’s best performance at any time. The election of Herbert H. Lehman for Lieutenant-Governor makes it a double victory, and he has gained prestige for himself as well as his party. The Republicans maintained control of the legislature. As for the Congressional elections New York State is sending two Democrats to the Senate. To the House of Representatives will go twenty-four Democrats and nineteen Republicans. Connecticut Wilbur L. Cross, editor, author, scholar and Dean Emeritus of the Yale Graduate School was elected governor of Connecticut. One of the first statements which Dean Cross gave out was “unless within a year Congress moves to submit the Eighteenth Amendment to the states for repeal’’ he will ask for the “cooperation of his fellow governors in a call for a constitutional convention to decide the fate of prohibition.” Dean Cross based his desire for office upon the feeling that the present conditions are easily comparable to those which characterized the Grant administration, which was followed by a period of great depression. He wishes to participate in remedial measures which will better these conditions. Connecticut is sending three Democrats to the House and two Republicans to the Senate. Massachusetts Under a campaign of prohibition repeal and unemployment relief Joseph B. Ely, Democrat, was elected governor of Massachusetts. As a further result of the election the Massachusetts state prohibition enforcement law will go off the statute books. The Senate will receive two Democratic members for the Bay State, and the House eleven Republicans and four Democrats, a doubt still remaining concerning the other member. New Jersey Although it was not the year for the choosing of a governor in this state election returns indicate that the Republicans are still in control. Dwight Morrow, wet Republican, was elected to the Senate by a great plurality. Increased Votes for Socialists The Socialist party is pleased over its very definite gains in the election. As he predicted, Heywood Broun has already begun his 1932 campaign for Congress. Norman Thomas declared that the election provided unsatisfactory results to those who had hoped it would bring about a new political alignment in which the differences of the two major parties would be wiped out. He said, “The successes in Milwaukee and Reading, and increases in the general Socialist vote in New York City show once more the vital importance of organization.” Europe Looks On with Hope Europe as a whole and industrial centers especially are taking an optimistic view of the results of our elections, for in them she sees the probability of a restoration of economic equilibrium. Particularly are the Europeans hopeful of a more favorable attitude toward pressing international problems, and the establishment of a more amiable relationship between this country and others. So far has this feeling extended that already persistent reports are countenanced concerning the postponement of War debts and reparation payments, which, however, are only rumors as yet. In general, there is the attitude among foreign powers that the results of the elections will bring about a regime of prosperity to be shared 'both by this country and those of Europe. The New Congress All signs point to a coalition Congress for the next two years, for neither party has a working majority to support it. As the figures stand there are forty-eight Republicans, forty-seven Democrats, one Farm-Laborite and about a dozen insurgents. Prize To Be Offered By Outing Club Outing Club wants a name for its new cabin. For this purpose the club is holding a competition in which the whole college is asked to participate. Anyone interested may hand in suggestions of appropriate names to the Committee in charge. The Committee will then choose the best name, and a prize will be awarded. Suggestions must be in by November 19, so that the cabin may be named in time for the house-warming which is to be held on November 23. They may be handed in to any of the following girls, who compose the Committee: Priscilla Douglas, Chairman; Alice Gibbs, Eileen Thorne, Eileen Thompson. The Election At Home and Abroad Skidmore put its money on a losing horse! That is the least that can be said of the results of our recent straw, vote. It indicated one thing very definitely and that is that is was an unreliable political guide. Some very interesting conclusions, however, may be drawn from a comparison of the votes cast here and throughout the state. Candidate Skidmore State Roosevelt 35% 56% Tuttle 42% 33% Carroll 4% 6% Waldman 17% 5% Foster 2% ? From these figures one may deduce almost anything. Perhaps it can be argued that from the figures, Skidmore is more Commuistically inclined and even less inclined toward Prohibition than the State. The first, thing, however, that must be taken into consideration is that only about one-half the student body cast a ballot. Only 365 students voted. This is partly due to the fact that students residing outside of New York state are not interested in its political affairs, but we must admit that it is also due in large measure to mental laziness as far as politics are concerned. Comparing it with the straw vote of 1928, the political affiliations of the college seem to have changed. When Hoover was running, about 80% of the students voted the Republican ticket. The grave defection of about 40% of the party ranks here may be due to their failure to vote, or it may indicate that the national trend against Republicanism is also felt at Skidmore. The Democrats, likewise in accord- (Continued on Page Three) Wagner Program By Mr. Saxton The Monday afternoon organ recital of November 17th will be entirely composed of numbers taken from the operas of Wagner. It will include: Prelude to the Third Act Lohengrin Walther’s Prize Song Miestersinger Magic Fire Music Die Wulkurie Liebestod Tristan Pilgrim’s Chorus Tannhauser Richard Wagner is most famous for his compositions known as “musical dramas,” each an artistic opera. His music is far different from that of any of his predecessors and even his contemporaries and followers did not attain his mastery of style. He had the unending inspiration for countless melodies, all melodiously beautiful and particularly fit for the thing Wagner wishes them to express. He used these melodies contrapuntally (one against another) and by enriching the color of the orchestra and developing the instrumentation, he attained an unequalled result. Wagner, in reality, changed the opera. He was so versatile and so independent that he was able to explore the field of literature and find the best to put into music. The words and content of the drama which before had been practically negligible were now (Continued on Page Two) DO YOU KNOW— A new process has been discovered by which aluminum articles may now be made in color. Recent observations on sleeping people show that on an average there are 33 changes of position during the night. On November 14 or 15, after midnight that if you look in the northeastern sky you will see the Leonids— one of the most famous showers of “shooting stars.” There should be at least ten an hour,—-perhaps more, for it is predicted that we are getting into a denser region of these meteors, which comes around every 33 or 34 years. It is almost impossible to dye clothes now-a-days without their shrinking, for when the materials are first made they are stretched, rather than shrunk. Sometimes they are even “set” with gelatin to make them hold the size to which they were stretched. Pneumonia is not one disease, but a whole group of diseases between which doctors cannot yet distinguish. Miners may now be quickly warned of fire by mixing a disagreeable odor, such as that of rancid butter, with the fresh air entering the ventilating system. Ink has been used for generations in the Philippines as a successful household remedy for burns. Dr. Stammel of the U.S. Army points out that most black inks contain tannic acid, which has recently been found by scientists to be good for burns. The disease germs in New York City dust vary from 8,400,000 to 84,000,000 per ounce of dust. Science News Letter, Nov. 8 "The Magic Lady” Ruth Draper, the famous dramatic impersonator, will present a recital at Page Hall, New York State College for Teachers, November 17, under the auspices of the Dramatic and Art Council of the college. “The Magic Lady,” as one critic calls her, is not merely an interpretive artist but a creative one, for she writes all her own sketches. These Miss Draper presents with the least amount of stage effects possible. The repertoire will consist of thirty-six sketches, in which fifty characters will be portrayed. Each one delineates a distinct character such as—a New York society woman who never gets beyond the first sentence in her Italian lesson, an Irish peasant woman who lost her son in the great war, the typical telephone operator, the drawling and languorous Southern girl and so on. Miss Draper composed and presented her first monologue just before the war. All her time, during the war, was spent in France where she gave her impersonations before the A. E. F. After the Armistice she played for a time in London where she met with great success. No less glorious, however, has been her appearance in America, for critics have lauded her realistic perceptions of character enthusiastically. Joint Concert A very pleasant evening is in store for Skidmore students and faculty on November 15, when the University Double Quartet will give a concert in College Hall. This quartet consists of eight Harvard men under the direction of Douglas MacKinnon. The quartet has sung at Skidmore before and all who heard the concert given last year with our own chorus are eagerly anticipating this year’s program. Several numbers will be sung alone by the quartet and it will also sing with twenty members of the Skidmore Chorus. On Sunday evening the singers and Mr. MacKinnon were at Skidmore, rehearsing with the Chorus. OMNIBUS TO PRESENT A MELODRAMA Maria Marten, Or The Murder In The Red Barn With lilting lyrical notes heralding the approach of the sweet young thing and heavy chords announcing the villain, “Maria Marten, or the Murder in the Red Barn” will unfold its story Friday and Saturday nights, November 21 and 22 in the Skidmore College Little Theatre. Omnibus, the Dramatic Society of the college, is producing the melodrama under the able direction of Miss Ruth Champlin and with the aid of the Workshop Procedure Class. All of the stage technique and acting devices of the period will be used, including the soliloquy and downstage comedy. The use of music is another part of the true presentation to be utilized, the name “melodrama” authorizing its part in interpreting character and situation. As Montagu Slater writes in the introduction to this Barnstormer play, “It is just a hundred years since Maria Marten was made immortal in a barn. She shares with Dr. Johnson the distinction of being frequently on the lips of people who know next to nothing of her career. She is one of a large family, yet she alone has been mysteriously singled out for fame. They were all seduced—Agnes Primrose, Lucy Lisle, Zella Lee; the catalogue -could be extended indefinitely: one and all they came to a bad end— yet they are all heroines. One of the most popular novels of the age, Richardson’s Pamela, had a heroine and the daughter of the Vicar of Wake-who was always on the brink of ruin, field actually fell. But between these ladies and the Maria Marten sisterhood there are some important differences. Goldsmith’s heroine did insist on a certain modicum of formality, and would allow herself to be deceived by nothing less elaborate than a mock marriage. (Continued on Page 2) Social and Alumnae News The well expressed sentiment of somebody’s that, “I came to college for what I could get out of it, now I get out of it whenever I can,” seemed to be gloriously true at Skidmore last week-end. Well, we must admit that at least the gadders chose good places to gad to. Our northern neighbor, Dartmouth drew the most Skidmorites. Marion Lee was at the Beta House, Dixie Kemper and Helen Saylor at the Deke House, Elsie Kramer and Clara Church at the Theta Delt, Elizabeth De Armand, Helen Talbot and Sarah Prescott at the Phi Gam House, Betty Dar-rah at the Phi Kappa Sigma House, Jane Shepard at the Zeta Psi House, Betty Hubbell at the Chi Phi, and Lois Moore at the Phi Psi Houses. Janice Campbell and Margaretta Roberts attended the football game and house dances also. Williams 'College was the next popular resort last week-end. Kit Buek, Jane Reid, Mary Armstrong, and Roberta Brunner were there. So also were Eleanor Trauth and Laura Hood at the Delta Phi Lodge, Mary Jane Pealer and Mary Coyle at the Psi Upsilon House, Helen Miller at the Phi Delta Theta House and Ruth Powers at the Deke House. Betty Atwood and Adine Haviland attended the Penn-Notre Dame game at Philadelphia and also the dances at the Deke House. Janet Keyes and Enid Schmidt attended the game and dances at Cornell. They were at the Theta Delta Chi House and D. V. Jones was at the Phi Psi House. Doris Hoag also attended the game and house dances at the Phi Kappa Sigma House. Ginny Whitenack and Allie Wilber went down to Harvard to the game and a dance. Allie Green, Helen Danielson, Dotty Dove, Ruth Fenton and B. G. Gordon attened the Army-Illinois game in New York. Conference Committee Revises Regulations The following revised regulations have been adopted by Conference Committee on the recommendation of the Dean’s office: Upperclass Regulations (page 13) F. Motoring 1. For any motoring after 6:00 p.m. (after spring vacation 8:00 p.m. Standard time) and for motoring for longer than half an hour during the day, students are required to make out one of the motoring registration slips provided in the dormitories for the purpose, to file it in the dormitory, and to sign it upon return. They are required to return by 10:00 p.m. (Saturday, 10:30 p.m.). 2. They may not have or drive motor cars in Saratoga Springs or neighboring towns except with special permission from the Dean’s office. Freshman Regulations—First Semester (page 15) F. Motoring 1. For any motoring after 6:00 p.m. and for motoring for longer than half an hour during the day, they are required to make out one of the motoring registration slips provided in 'the dormitories for the purpose, to file it in the dormitory, and to sign it upon return. 2. Freshmen are required to have at least three persons in the group when they are motoring. 3. Freshmen may not motor after 6:00 p.m. except on Saturday and Sunday nights. On Saturday, they are required to return by 10:30 p.m.; on Sunday night at 8:15 p.m. The following penalties shall apply to any infringement of the above rules: 1. Carelessness In any detail of making out or signing a motoring slip shall involve one house report, imposed by the House President and recorded on the slip. 2. Unexcused tardiness of ten minutes or less in returning from motoring shall involve a penalty of two house reports. 3. An unexcused tardiness of more than ten minutes shall involve a report to Judicial Board and a penalty whose (Continued on Page 3) Skidmore Ten Years Ago 1920—perhaps that seems way back in the dark, dim ages, but after all; Skidmore was going strong, and already had many of the present faculty, though some were minus those “high sounding” degrees that they proudly attach to their names now. The graduating class (twelve husky girls all dressed up in serge middies for their Eromdiks picture) were just as happy to have Senior Privileges as 1930’s crowd. For instance, Seniors were allowed to go to the first performance of the motion pictures with out a chaperone, if they returned not later than nine o’clock! Besides, with special permission from the Dean, Seniors could attend motion pictures, dine at approved places, and drive in the daytime with men!! Just think, ten years ago today. Scribner Hall (the pride and joy of the campus) had its “house-warming!” The oriental rooms on the fourth floor, all decorated in dark rich woodwork, the roof, which was the scene of many parties; the sun-parlor and usable fireplaces, were all so proudly possessed by the Juniors. Twice a week in the dining room, they had dinner by candle light to lend more charm to the evening meal. A penny box for tardy entry quickly filled with pennies which bought lots of gingerale for the roof parties. Oh oh—those were the days when Freshmen were really Freshmen and Seniors were all “home-ecers,” but thank heavens for 1930! | 2019-04-24T05:00:43Z | http://digitalcoll.skidmore.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15968coll1/id/24471/ |
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Lines are open Monday to Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm. We are closed on weekends and Bank Holidays. | 2019-04-20T06:36:56Z | https://www.maisondopulence.com/termsandcondition/ |
"THE GREAT WORK IN SPECULATIVE FREEMASONRY"
"There can be no rational doubt, however, that the moral influence of Freemasonry would be much more powerful and efficient if the sources of intelligence amongst the Fraternity were augmented, and a higher grade of science substituted for the meagre outline which at present prevails in our Lodges."
THROUGHOUT the ages the spiritual doctrine which is concealed within the architectural phraseology of our modern Craft system has undergone the influence of many different traditions of the Ancient Wisdom. The student, therefore, who seeks to analyse Freemasonry as it stands to-day often finds himself lost in a bewildering maze of various tributaries of knowledge, and is apt to pore indefinitely over a mass of fragmentary facts without perceiving their inter-relation, or being able to coordinate them into one comprehensive scheme.
In this Paper the attempt will be made to present, for the guidance of Masonic students, an interpretation of the Egyptian metaphysical tradition in harmony with the teachings set forth in what are called the Mysteries the Egyptian tradition will then be briefly discussed in the light of its transmission and ultimate incorporation in Speculative Freemasonry finally, reasons will be given in support of the theory, which we hold to be valid, that the Great Work ("Magnum Opus") of the Rosicrucians and Spiritual Alchemists is the same as that which is symbolised in our Masonic legend of H.A. Thoughtful students may find in the references to the Old Wisdom and the Mystery tradition an introduction to a great subject nor should the Mysteries be thought of only as institutions long vanished into the night of time rather their re-establishment is to be accepted as inevitable. In years to come a wiser generation will restore the sacred rites which are indispensable to the spiritual, intellectual and social security of the race. Meanwhile, preserving the witness, Freemasonry keeps burning the light of the perpetual Mysteries in a dark age. If, in comparison with former witnesses, Freemasonry is but a "glimmering ray" rather than a powerful beam of light, it is none the less a true ray a kindly light lit from the world's central altar-flame, and sufficient at least to lead some aspirants on amid the encircling gloom until the existing "state of darkness" is dispelled by the dawn of a new era.
It is now generally acknowledged by those competent to judge, that of all the ancient peoples the Egyptians were the most learned in the wisdom of the Secret Doctrine indeed, there are some who would have it that Egypt was the Mother of the Mysteries, and that it was on the banks of the Nile that the Royal Art was born. We can affirm, without entering into any controversy on the matter, that the wisest of philosophers from other nations visited Egypt to be initiated in the sacred Mysteries Thales, Solon, Pythagoras and Plato are all related to have journeyed from Greece to the delta of the Nile in quest of knowledge and upon returning to their own country these illumined men each declared the Egyptians to be the wisest of mortals, and the Egyptian temples to be the repositories of sublime doctrines concerning the history of the Gods and the regeneration of men. To the earliest period of Egyptian metaphysical speculation belongs the fable of Isis and Osiris, and we find that the myth of the Dying God recurs in many of the great World Religions also it is an established fact that the life, death and resurrection of the immortal-mortal have become the prototype for numerous other doctrines of human regeneration.
"Isis, according to the Greek interpretation of the word, signifies knowledge as does the name of her professed adversary Typhon (signify) insolence and pride, a name therefore extremely well adapted to one, who, full of ignorance and error, tears in pieces and conceals that holy doctrine, which the Goddess collects, compiles and delivers to those who aspire after the most perfect participation of the divine nature."
We have in this passage a clear indication that Osiris is to be regarded as the personification of an Order of learning, because Plutarch identifies him beyond question with the "holy doctrine," or, in other words, the Mystery tradition. Hence, we may further deduce that since, in the Egyptian system, THOTH personifies the whole sphere of knowledge (and it was through THOTH that OSIRIS came into being), so Osiris embodies the secret and sacred wisdom reserved for those who were proficients in the ancient rites. To the Elect, therefore, Osiris represented "primordial knowledge," and He signified not only divine "at-one-ment" with the Absolute (which is the end of all illumination), but by his life, death and resurrection, He also revealed the means by which mortal consciousness could attain that end. Stated alternatively, the personality of Osiris typifies the Institution erected by the ancients in order to perpetuate the deathless truths of the soul.
We will next examine the Egyptian historical tradition. According to this, Osiris is the first of the five children of the Goddess NUT He therefore corresponds with the first of the five divine kings of China and the five exoterically known Dhyana-Buddhas of Lamaism. The five children of NUT are otherwise the five traditional root races which have populated the five continents which have appeared upon the earth. Isis is represented as being born on the fourth day, and is connected with the fourth race (populating Atlantis-see Plato "Timaeus" and "Critias"), the tradition of Osiris (the primitive revelation of the first race) coming into Egypt through the Atlantean Mystery School, of which Isis is the symbol. From the Egyptian account of the reign of Osiris as King we glean the following philosophical history there was a time, the Golden Age, when truth and wisdom ruled the earth, and this aristocracy of wisdom was a benevolent despotism in which men were led to a nobler state of being by the firm kindly hand of the enlighted sage. This was the dynasty of the mythological Priest-Kings, who were qualified to govern humanity by reason not only of temporal, but of divine attributes through his priests, Osiris, representative of the hidden tradition, ruled the entire world by virtue of the perfection resident in that tradition. If, then, we may concede that Osiris is the positive pole of the universal life agent, Isis becomes the receptive pole of that activity He is the doctrine, She is the Church and as in Christianity it is customary to refer to the Church as the Bride of Christ, so in ancient Egypt the institution of the Mysteries was the Great Mother, the consort of heaven itself. From this interpretation we gain a deeper insight into the symbolism of the whole Osirian cycle. Isis signifies the temporal order of the priesthood, the cumulative body of Initiates She is personified as the Temple She is the Mother of all good, the protectress of right, the patron of all improvement She ensures nobility, inspires virtue, and awakens the nobler passions of the soul like the Moon as reflector, She shines only with the light of Her sovereign Sun, even as the Temple can only be illumined by its indwelling truth.
In the Egyptian metaphysical system, TYPHON, the conspirer against OSIRIS, is the embodiment of every perversity He is the negative creation (the AHRIMAN of Zoroaster) He is black magic and sorcery, the Black Brotherhood and his wife, NEPHTHYS, is the institution through which He manifests. The traditional history relates that TYPHON lured OSIRIS into the ark of destruction, stated to be it chest or coffin (the symbol of material organisation-the imprisonment of the soul in a physical body), at the time when the Sun entered the house of Scorpio, i.e., the 17th day of the second month of the Egyptian year (corresponding to the month of November in our calendar) hence we know him to be the type of the eternal negative, the betrayer of the Lord, namely JUDAS. In the initiation rites Typhon is also the "tester" or "tryer" ("the Lord who is against us"), personifying ambition the patron of ruin. Typhon was assisted in his "impious design" to usurp the throne of Osiris by ASO (the Queen of Ethiopia) and seventy-two other conspirators. These conspirators represent the three destructive powers, "the three ruffians," which are preserved to modern Freemasonry as the murderers of the Master Builder they are ignorance, superstition and fear. Thus the advent of greed and perversion marked the end of the Golden Age, and with the death of Osiris, Typhon forthwith ascended the throne as regent of the world. It is further narrated that in consequence of the material organisation of the social sphere which followed upon the exile of Truth to the invisible world, Isis, the Mother of the Mysteries, was so defiled and desecrated by the profane, that her sages and prophets were forced to flee into the wilderness to escape the machinations of the evil one. At this stage, Isis, now represented by the scattered but still consecrated body of Initiates, began the great search for the secret that was lost and in all parts of the world the virtuous in "grief and distress" raised their hands to the heavens, pleading for the restoration of the reign of Truth. Continuing their search in all parts of the earth and throughout innumerable ages, the congregation of the just at last re-discovered the lost arcana and brought it back with rejoicing to the world over which it once ruled. In this manner, we learn, Isis by magic (the initiated priests were magicians), resurrected the dead God, and through union with him brought forth an order of priests under the collective title of HORUS. These were the HERJ SESHTA (the Brothers of Horus), the chief of whom wore the dog-headed mask of ANUBIS. Anubis was the son of Osiris by NEPHTHYS (the material world) and represents the divine man, or the mortal being who rose to enlightenment.
Ambition, however, personified by Typhon, knowing that temporal power must die if divine power, in the form of Truth, became re-established in the world, put forth all its might to again scatter the doctrine, and this time so thoroughly that it should never again be re-discovered. If, as Plutarch has suggested, Typhon in one of his manifestations represents the sea, then it would appear that the second destruction of Osiris may refer to the Atlantean deluge (alluded to in the dialogues of Plato) by which the doctrine was swallowed up or lost, and its fragments scattered among all the existing civilizations of that time. According to the narrative, the body of Osiris (the Secret Doctrine) was now divided into fourteen parts and distributed among the parts of the world that is, it was scattered through the seven divine and seven infernal spheres (the "lokas" and "talas" of the Indian tradition), or by a different symbolism, through the seven worlds which are without and the seven worlds which are within. The parts of Osiris were now scattered so hopelessly that Typhon felt his authority to be secure at last, but wisdom is not so easily to be cheated, and in due time, we are informed, Isis succeeded in recovering all the parts except one, the phallus, which had been thrown into the river and devoured by three fishes. Failing to recover the phallus, Isis is said to have substituted a golden replica for the missing organ. In our interpretation of this symbolism we must infer that mankind itself is represented by the fish, the phallus being the symbol of the " vital and immortal principle," and so used in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The phallus, therefore, denotes the Lost Word (the three-fold generative power), and the golden replica of Egypt, which was rendered alive by magic, is the equivalent of the three-lettered word of our modern Freemasonry, concealed (in the Royal Arch Degree) under the letters A-U-M. It should here be noted that in the Egyptian rites, Isis, by modelling and reproducing the missing member of Osiris, gives the body the appearance of completeness, but the life power is not there recourse is therefore had to magic and the golden phallus is brought to life by means of the secret processes rescued from the lost "Book of Thoth." The allusion is to the restoration of divine power through the regeneration of man himself and the Initiation processes.
the soul. The inner domain contains the unity of life and consciousness which, though once possessed, has been lost and must now be found again."
In the Egyptian rites HORUS is the saviour-avengert son of ISIS, conceived by magic (the ritual) after the brutal murder of OSIRIS hence he is the posthumous redeemer. The destruction of TYPHON is to be accomplished by ISIS through her immaculately conceived son, HORUS, which is a term concealing the collective body of the perfected adepts who were "born again" out of the womb of the Mother-ISIS, the Mystery School. We can apply this analogy to our great modern system of Initiation, which has certainly perpetuated the outer form of the ancient rites. Freemasonry as an Institution is, in this sense, the modern ISIS, the Mother of the Mysteries, from whose dark womb the Initiates are born in the mystery of the second or philosophic birth. Similarly, all Masonic adepts (Master Masons) are, by virtue of their participation in the rites, figuratively speaking, "Sons of the Widow" they are the offspring of the Institution widowed by the loss of the living Word, and theirs is the eternal quest-they discover by becoming.
The metaphysical significance of the death and resurrection of the Egyptian demi-god has for the most part been lost to the Craft, notwithstanding the undoubted fact that Masonic scholars of the calibre of Pike, Mackey and Oliver are in general agreement as to a definite association between the legend of Osiris and the drama enacted in the Third Degree. We may, however, attribute the failure of students to recognize the Egyptian origin of certain parts of Craft Lodge ritualism and symbolism to the transmission of the legend by way of the Hebrews who, naturally, superimposed their own terminology on the tradition they received from Egypt. In the Schools of Hebrew mysticism, the Mystery drama of the death and resurrection of Osiris became that of the slaying and raising of the Master Builder, and the Temple of Solomon took the place of the Egyptian " House of Light." With the Rabbinical mystics the erection and subsequent vicissitudes of Solomon's Temple provided a great glyph or mythos of the upbuilding of the human soul, and this secret lore also found partial, although cryptic, expression in the Hebrew public Scriptures in terms of building.
"Forasmuch as ye are stones of a Temple, which were prepared beforehand for a building of God, the Father, being hoisted up to the heights by the working-tool of Jesus Christ, which is the Cross, and using for a rope the Holy Spirit your faith being a windlass, and love the way leading up to God. So then ye are all Companions in the way, spiritual temples, carrying your Divine principle within you, your shrine, your Christ and your holy things, being arrayed from head to foot with the commandments of Christ."
The pronounced Masonic imagery used by St. lgnatius (who was martyred at Rome in A.D. 107) tends to corroborate the tradition that the Square, the Level and the Plumb-rule, now allocated to the Master and Wardens of a Lodge, were formerly associated with the Bishop, Priest and Deacon, when serving at the secret altars of the persecuted Christians. Put together, the three tools form obviously a Cross, which, on the worshippers being disturbed by the secular authorities, could be quickly knocked apart and appear as builder's implements.
The Mysteries came to an end as public institutions in the sixth century, when from political considerations they and the teaching of the Secret Doctrine and philosophy became prohibited by the Roman Government, at the instigation of Justinian, who aimed at inaugurating an official uniform State-religion throughout the Empire. Since the suppression of the Mysteries, however, their tradition and teaching have been continued under various concealments, and to that continuation our modern Masonic system is due. To the early Middle Ages the inner Christian tradition appeared again in the Knight Templars and the Mysteries of the Holy Grail, and it is significant that these henceforth become associated with Speculative Freemasonry. But, the most profound influence which went to make Freemasonry what it is today was that of the mysterious Order of the Rosy Cross. The memory of this Rosicrucian influence is preserved, not only in the Eighteenth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, but also (and perhaps as much) in the Craft Degrees, especially in the Third Degree.
We have the Mason Word and second sight."
showing how intimately the two Orders were identified. We also have the later testimony of Dr. Sigismund Bacstrom, who claims to have been initiated into the Society of the Rosicrucians on the Isle of Maritius on 12th September, 1794, by the mysterious Comte de Chazal, and who has left extensive manuscripts setting forth his findings and opinions on matters of importance to Masonic students. The learned Doctor describes the transition through which the Ancient Brotherhood passed in the process of externalising certain parts of itself in the system we know as Speculative Freemasonry. His conclusions agree with the available evidence, all of which points to the fact that one definite group was behind the movement which projected the Craft system. To trace the genesis of this movement, which came into activity some two hundred and fifty years ago (our rituals and ceremonies having been compiled round about the year 1700), is beyond the scope of our present subject. It should, however, be stated here that the movement itself incorporated the slender ritual and the elementary symbolism which, for centuries previously, had been employed in connection with the mediaeval Building Guilds, but it gave to them a far fuller meaning and a far wider range. We may regard it as certain that the Craft received from this source much that the old Operative Lodges had never possessed, such as the Third Degree (with its highly mystical Opening and Closing) the Craft Legend or Traditional History the central part of the Installation Rite (now observed in the Conclave or Board of Installed Masters) and many other allusions to occult science, mysticism, and even magic.
Centre, the Kingdom of Heaven, the pure essence of Mind, the Buddha-nature, the Inner Self, and the Christ within.
In the light of the foregoing, it will be seen that Freemasonry depends for its life and strength on the Ancient Wisdom teaching which is enshrined in it a Teaching designed to answer those eternal questions as to the why, the whence, and the whither of all human existence. These, indeed, are the deepest problems of life, and ultimately we are concerned only with their solution, for sooner or later we are forced to enquire-why live at all, why exert ourselves in any personal or social endeavour, if we know not whither it all leads? The problems of the why and whither of human life are those which have ever occupied thinking men they are at the bottom of every philosophic system, and the systems themselves are but an attempt to answer them. And yet no words can ever fully answer these problems, for no language can express the Reality of Life this can only be experienced by the living soul of Man. As Emerson truly says: "The soul answers never by words, but by the thing itself that is inquired after." It is in the experience of Life that the answers are found, and only the man who has lived deeply is really wise. The wisdom of the sage is the sum-total of his human experience, but even he cannot impart his knowledge to others they, in their turn, must first experience the realities of Life, for only by such means do they attain to a wider consciousness. How, then, is it possible that anything so profound and intimate as what Freemasonry calls "the Centre " in Man, can be held fast as a permanent force acting in the world of phenomena? It is possible, in virtue of the special power represented by tradition. A spiritual tradition is never objective knowledge, nor practice which has become mechanical, but a living continuance of the living impulse which created it.
Every great Initiation system, so long as its progress is guided by enlightened minds, distinguishes clearly between its Ritual and oral tradition. It is on the oral tradition that the main stress is laid tradition alone can teach how the text of the Ritual ought to be understood, which in the end is the only thing that matters. Whosoever claims that he can extract the original meaning from the text of the Ritual without the help of tradition, is really only reading his own meaning in to it and it is only if the two minds are specially congenial, or the one has a special gift for entering into the mind of another, that the new meaning in any measure coincides with the old. What is true of comprehension is even more generally true of being, for comprehension too is handed on as a state of being. Here the universally valid law is manifest, that everywhere like works upon like hence the eternal validity of the relation of Master and disciple, and the traditional reference in our Masonic Lectures "To seek for a Master and from him to gain instruction" (First Section, First Lecture).
"But the Mysteries are delivered mystically, that which is spoken may be in the mouth of the speaker not in his voice, but rather in his understanding. The writing of these memoranda of mine, I well know, is weak when compared with that spirit, full of grace, which I was privileged to hear. But it will be an image to recall the archetype to him who was struck by the Thyrsus."
Such an experience was of necessity always reserved for the few, but notwithstanding some shadow of it was also within reach of those who, although not fully qualified to become Initiates, were none the less genuine seekers for knowledge. For them there were the Lesser Mysteries, in which the actual change in consciousness did not take place, but something of its meaning was conveyed to the candidate by his participation in a series of rites in which the chief events of the Greater Mysteries were presented to him in dramatised form.
"The Sages have been taught of God that this natural world is only an image and material copy of a heavenly and spiritual pattern that the very existence of this world is based upon the reality of its celestial archetype and that God has created it in imitation of the spiritual and invisible Universe, in order that men might be better enabled to comprehend His heavenly teaching, and the wonder of His absolute and ineffable power and wisdom. Thus the Sage sees heaven reflected in Nature as in a mirror and he pursues this Art, not for the sake of gold or silver, but for the love of the Knowledge which it reveals he jealously conceals it from the sinner and the scornful, lest the mysteries of heaven should be laid bare to the vulgar gaze."
"But he knoweth the way that I take when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
"Every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is."
(1 Corinthians 3, verse 13).
The doctrine of Freemasonry in relation to the Rosicrucian mystery-teachings can best be appreciated after a preliminary statement of some of the basic principles on which, it is affirmed, rests all progress in the Royal Art. There is, however, independent evidence of the Rosicrucian influence on the genesis of the Craft system. Historical research indicates that the originators of Speculative Freemasonry, the members of the so-called " Invisible Society," simultaneously with launching the Craft, arranged for the formation of the Royal Society, which became chartered in 1662 for the advancement of scientific knowledge. Strictly in accordance with the Hermetic wisdom, therefore, the "Invisibles" projected two systems one (the Craft) intended to be devoted to mystical studies and personal spiritual development the other (the Royal Society) aiming at the promotion of natural science upon occult principles and under the guidance of qualified experts.
Science, in the popular mind, represents nothing more than the body of those beliefs, conclusions, or generalizations, which individual scientists at various times put forth in a tentative way as landmarks, so to speak, in their endless search for increasingly valid formulations of Reality. It is to these conclusions, often called "facts," that we allude when we state that "science teaches" this or that. But strictly speaking science does not "teach" anything at all. It is a method rather than a body of conclusions, and it is scientific method in Speculative Freemasonry with which we are here concerned. Let us illustrate by a few specific examples. We live in a world which the ordinary man accepts as a reality, existing quite independently of himself. To him it is supremely real, and to doubt this fact would seem to be sheer madness. Yet he cannot fathom his own relation to this world, and he cannot adequately explain how he actually perceives it. Is it by means of the senses? If so, how does the sense impression affect consciousness? When we "see" an object, all we can be sure of is that something outside us has affected our eyes by means of vibrations of a definite rate that our optic nerves convey the impression to the brain-cells that a chemical change takes place there, and then-we "see" the object we are aware of a certain shape, various colours and textures. What mystery has taken place by means of which the chemical change in the grey matter of the brain has created in our consciousness the image of the object? And, having "seen," as we say what do we, after all, really know about the object? Similarly, in the attempt to formulate a philosophical exposition of the world and life experience, almost any first statement we may make can be seized upon and criticized as one-sided, and therefore untrue. The world is a unity the world is pluralistic. Time is continuous time is composed of irreducible atomic elements. The world comes to the individual from without the world of the individual is a world of inner experience. Each of these premises is admitted to be true in one respect or another. But how are they true? In what sense are they true? In what general point of view can be set up in accordance with which the apparent conflicts are resolved? Is this world a dream world-daily existence, friends, work-is it all a fantastic illusion. Yes and no. This is a paradox the world in which we live is Real and yet Unreal the mystery of its relation to us and its measure of reality can only be disclosed in the depths of our own consciousness. Plato compares ordinary men to prisoners bound in a cave, of which they can see only the back wall. On this wall fall shadows cast by those who pass the mouth of the cave. The play of shadows is the prisoner's world it is reality to them but whenever one of them succeeds in freeing himself, and sees the entrance, sees the Light and the real beings moving in it, then he realizes that he has lived in a world of illusion, that he has been "in a state of darkness," and that his eyes have been "hoodwinked." We must know ourselves in order to know the world. The man, therefore, who becomes proficient in "that most interesting of all human studies, the knowledge of himself," renounces the popular world and he gradually attains consciousness in a world described as "not to be touched by hand or to be seen by eye," but otherwise supremely real. Withdrawal from this world of illusion, however, involves a transition from the ordinary natural state and standard of living towards what is @n as the regenerate state, with its correspondingly higher standard. A word now upon the faculty to be employed in the apprehension of interior truth.
It is often remarked @that a natural timidity affects those to whom is suggested a transition from old and familiar roads of study, comfortably charted and lit with the bright lamps of convention, to a new and unknown path of research striking away into the darkness of obscurity beyond the official boundaries of orthodox systems of knowledge. The earnest seeker after Truth, however, fortified by the imperative will to know, soon learns that the outer darkness on investigation reveals rare lights of its own, and is in fact but "darkness visible," although light of a quality hitherto undiscerned. In this difficult study, knowing depends entirely upon doing comprehension is conditional upon and the corollary of action " He that will do the will shall know of the doctrine " for the doing automatically liberates an inward faculty capable of directly cognizing self-evident truth. We know not how to describe a faculty which when awakened, exists and functions in complete independence of the physical organism. In our Masonic symbolism, as in other treatises of arcane psychology, it is described, in analogy with the natural luminary, as "the Sun, to rule the day," whilst the logical understanding is "the Moon, to govern the night" and direct the merely temporal affairs of life. This latter, embracing as it does the reasoning faculty and tie lower or objective mind, is appointed to serve as a light in the natural world, but, the gift notwithstanding, it forms a cloud of darkness as regards light from the spiritual element that is both within and without us, and indeed, may obscure all spiritual vision. Not until a man has learned to relegate this "lesser light" to its appropriate use in the natural world, can he, walking in darkness, hope to see the great luminary, which, invisible to the physical sense, but present in the central depths of his nature, lightens every man coming into the world, and which, to those who having clean hands and pure hearts, are fitted to evoke it, manifests in mental illumination and expanded consciousness.
We turn now from the psychologic to the metaphysical aspect of the Great Work. The entire object of the Royal Art of the Rosicrucians and spiritual Alchemists is said to be the uncovering of the inner faculty of insight and wisdom, alluded to above, and the removal of the veils intervening between the mind and dividing it from its hidden divine root. Not only does this science envisage an individual in whom the several constituents of consciousness are united, but it aspires towards the development of an integrated and free man who is likewise building up in the present life what is known in the technical language of mysticism as the "resurrection" or "arch-natural" body. This is also the profound idea which governs our symbolic craft of Masonry the "raising of a superstructure, perfect in all its parts and honourable to the builder." As to the metaphysical material of which these structures are to be reared, the Hermetic and Alchemical schools adopted the mystical terms of Scripture and called it a "stone," the "philosopher's stone." It is, indeed, the "white stone" which is given "to him that overcometh" the lower nature, as that Apostle did who thereupon received the name that implies "a stone" for it is only then that the individual aspirant becomes a "foundation," a "rock" upon which may be erected a "temple," a personal sanctuary of the Spirit whose abode is the souls of men rather than temples made with hands. The teaching of the Alchemists demonstrates how this "stone" must be "confected," worked up in the individual by a "manual art" (like our Masonic "art" not to be understood in the literal sense) from chaos to perfection. They describe the work as undergoing three stages: the black, the white, and the red, which are the Alchemical equivalents of the three Degrees of Speculative Freemasonry. Thus as, psychologically, regeneration involves the three traditional stages of purgation, illumination, and union, so, metaphysically, there are three corresponding stages of corporeal development. To each of these may be added a fourth, although unlikely of achievement in this life the attainment of divine union in permanence, which during physical life can only be temporary and partial and the corresponding perfecting and consolidation of the arch-natural vesture perfect holiness belongs only to the Lord."
The first stage in Alchemy "the stone at the black in Freemasonry a poor candidate in a state of darkness" is intended to typify the benighted mind and unclarified state of the soul's vesture at the outset of the Great Work. At this stage the physical nature must be accounted an integral factor in the "work," and is to be dedicated and employed accordingly. It is the vessel or crucible in which the alchemic change is to be wrought, but the regimen enjoined is "the renewing of your mind," not the maceration of the body for, in a deeper than the familiar sense, "corpus sanum" will ensue surely enough upon "mens sana." The second stage in Alchemy " the stone at the white" in Freemasonry "clothed in White Apron and gloves as emblems of innocence" signifies that the clouded mind and the soul's black vesture of "earth" have been cleansed by the baptism of "a fall of water"-the Alchemical remedy of "the Elixir of Life." The third stage in Alchemy "the stone at the red" in Freemasonry the sublime Degree" symbolises entrance into the sanctuary and denotes the aspirant whose purified soul enters the experience of the divine union. Following the Alchemical precedent Freemasonry recognizes that the third stage involves two "operations," known in Alchemy as the refining of silver and gold, and accordingly the three Degrees of Freemasonry also "include the Holy Royal Arch of Jerusalem" as their climax. The clothing, therefore, worn in the Master Mason Degree is distinguished by silver, the first of the "noble" or "precious" metals whereas in the Royal Arch Degree, "the completion of the Master Mason Degree," it is adorned with gold. The transmutation has now been effected in the Holy Royal Arch the soul is "all glorious within" and the clothing is of wrought gold " wrought," since gold indicates that holy ultimate substance, which, although always latent in each one of us, like gold-dust in common soil, needs mining, refining, and working up by skilful craftsmanship before becoming a "jewel" for the King's Treasury. Lastly, the "gold must be tried in fire" the growing celestial body must be perfected and fixated until capable of eternal endurance in the burning heat of the Divine "penetralia." This perfecting is scarcely to be looked for in the present life, but its achievement, as the state attained by those who become "king and priests unto God," is symbolically attested in Speculative Freemasonry by the robes worn by those who are called to corresponding rank in the outer Chapter the prince prelates of the Grand Sanhedrin, represented " in the persons of the three Principals."
"If we speak and write, it is but as guides to those who long to see: we send them to the place itself, bidding them from words to the Vision: the teaching is of the Path and the Plan, seeing is the work of each Soul for itself." | 2019-04-20T13:24:24Z | https://masonicshop.com/masonic-articles/article/?a=393 |
It had been a while since I'd placed a book order, and once I got thinking about that, I could resist. The great reviews of the Tiptree biography didn't help my ability to resist.
Well, I had hopes for Friday letting me get a better jump on the weekend relaxation, but I think I needed a couple of days to recover. Work politics are always stressful. So, nothing really got done today (not that anything needed to, but I do have a list of Debian things that I wanted to get done) and I ended up reading for most of the afternoon. I've finally finished A Feast for Crows and have several reviews stacked up, which will hopefully be coming soon.
For tomorrow, maybe I'll focus a bit more on finishing a few things up, cleaning out e-mail, uploading new versions of lintian and libpam-krb5, and maybe getting the new OpenAFS build uploaded as well. Or not. It's the weekend -- we'll see how it goes.
With Quanah's help, pam-krb5 has been ported to Solaris (Solaris 8 at least). I had to add a flag saying not to delete tickets when the session closes, though, since Solaris closes the session before running the user's shell (bizarre).
I'd been hanging on to those changes for a bit to see if I had time to do anything else, and then got a bug report that the prompting function in the module didn't properly handle multiple prompts due to an incompatibility between the Linux and Solaris PAM interfaces. That's now fixed (and I also figured out how to enable the feature of retrying authentication against the master KDC in krb5.conf, which will be useful).
Today, I finally got around to making a change I'd been planning on making for a long time, ever since the last time I imported someone else's Debian package into Subversion and had svnlog retag all the bugs as pending. Taking an idea from the lintian commit scripts, svnlog will now only scan the commit message for bug closers, not the diff of any file named debian/changelog. The latter was a neat idea and the code was rather fun, but there were too many false positives.
Also following the lintian commit script, it now sends a separate mail message to the Debian control address to tag the bugs rather than cc'ing it on the (possibly huge) commit message.
Dirk Jagdmann sent in a patch that allows one to specify options in the base cvsweb URL and still have cvslog put the file information into the appropriate place in the URL. I cleaned that up a little bit and added it and then discovered that I'd also rewritten the file wrapping code and had never committed that. So that's in this release too; hopefully it won't break anything.
This isn't the major update that adds better option parsing based on what I did for svnlog. I ran out of time this evening to do that.
Today was a very good day, a social day unlike the rest of the weekend. That means I had a good time (and some very good sushi), but don't have a lot of concrete work to show for it. Alas, tomorrow it's back to work. I'm going to start by finishing our local Kerberos 1.4.4 package and testing that for an upgrade on Thursday, and then will try to continue my catch-up on the many, many things that I need to be doing.
Yesterday I did manage to get my to-do lists up to date and did a lot of e-mail catchup, and I may try to do some of that tomorrow as well if I have time (and if not tomorrow, definitely Wednesday). That always makes me feel better.
I finally finished A Feast for Crows on Saturday, and am now reading Nicola Griffith's Stay , which is spectacular. I may finish that tonight. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a review written.
I decided last year that I'd done Usenet politics for long enough and was going to start cutting back, including getting out of doing Usenet newsgroup creation. The deadline is next month, so now I'm starting to really trim back. This past weekend, I started figuring out what I was going to do about Stanford's news peering and how I was going to cut it back to something that looks more like a top-tier university news server instead of a strange expression of my Usenet hobby and personal whims.
Part of the trouble is honestly an ego thing. I made the biggest splash of any community in my life on Usenet. For a long time, I've been a significant figure in Usenet politics, around Usenet software, and in Usenet peering. There's no getting around it -- that's a nice feeling, and it's hard to give it up. I liked being listened to and I liked having a lot of leverage, but if I'm not going to stay engaged in the politics and discussions, it doesn't make sense for me to try to keep the leverage or to continue to occupy that sort of position. I won't, even if I want to, and that's the way it should be. Still, I come away from that decision feeling smaller.
However, it's time to stop. I want to get the time back so that I can use it to work on Debian, or Kerberos software, or OpenAFS, or other things that involve less ego gratification but more productive and important work somewhat closer to the leading edge of technology (and somewhat more relevant to my day job). For that matter, I want to get the Usenet politics and peering time back so that I can use some of it to work on INN; I'm not going to give up the software side, and there's certainly a lot of work there that needs to get done.
Goal: By the time I go on vacation next month, unsubscribe from news.groups permanently, document and release the software that I use to maintain the ftp.isc.org archives, and finish some automation around the news.announce.newgroups posting so that I can get more time back there as well. By the end of the year, move all of Stanford's news servers to Debian (must decide if I'm going to create my own Debian packages or use Marco's), move the mail to news gateway to a separate system and spam-filter it, and possibly automate notification to peers that the server is running a backlog trying to talk to them. By next summer, release INN 2.5.
Thanks to Quanah's testing, I had accumulated various bug fixes for Solaris portability, the test suite, and builddir != srcdir builds. The interaction between gcc and glibc's sys/wait.h in unstable then caused a strange problem where the W* macros could not be applied to the int member of a const struct, so I added a workaround for that (and fixed various casting problems with printf on 64-bit systems).
In other words, no significant new functionality here, just a lot of minor bug fixes.
I'm pretty happy with how I'm managing to keep development moving forward rather effectively on the various random Kerberos and authentication packages I maintain. It helps that I've had an excuse to work on things due to Stanford's big Kerberos transition.
This release finally includes the (four-line) Apache 2.2 compilation fix that I've been sitting on for rather too long. I finally found the time to go add better logging to the WebKDC, so now it will spit out not only the IP address from which the request came but the IP address of the person logging in to weblogin if the weblogin script passes that in (and the standard one always does). This should help with auditing considerably. I also wrote a new manual section explaining what all that cryptic stuff in the webkdc log is.
The biggest challenge right now is to manage to concentrate on something for long enough to make real progress towards getting it done, since I'm getting interrupted by just about everything right now. This is very frustrating. It's particularly frustrating because in less than a month I'm going on vacation, and various things need to happen before then.
The first step, prioritization, I mostly finished last night. Now I have to actually get the work done.
Before October 10th, I want to get the Shibboleth SP packages finished and uploaded to Debian, I want to get a new internal mail server built using Puppet and port all of the necessary configuration from qmail to Postfix and from bundle to Puppet, and I need to have the test environment for the new password propagation and verification mostly finished.
That doesn't sound too bad. There are multiple steps to each one of those projects, but it should be doable. But I need to get more than five or six hours of real work done each week.
We're adopting Puppet as a configuration management system, but to date most of the work has been done by my co-worker, Digant Kasundra, and my only involvement has been getting briefed on how it works by the author and discussing theory and implementation with him. We're warming up to a very aggressive timeframe for starting to use it to manage all of our systems at work and deploying an infrastructure system using it is on the short list of things that I have to get done before my October vacation. Last night, I finally started writing Puppet configurations and getting into the rhythm of it, and all of today was devoted to working on Puppet.
This was extremely successful. I think some of that is focus and the willingness to simply ignore parts of work not related to the thing that I'm trying to get done. Another success factor was a complete lack of meetings today. At the end of the day today, I've ported pretty much everything our current Debian build system does after the initial build into Puppet, discussed implementation strategies for some additional features that we'll be contracting for, implemented the initial Postfix configuration, and started keeping notes on the things I still need to deal with. Most importantly, I think I have a handle on what the overall shape is going to look like (although getting support for overriding classes is going to be critical for us).
It's nice to reach the point in a major project like this where we've committed to the implementation technology. Nothing is every perfect and everything requires local customization, so there's always a long, uncertain initial period where I'm not sure if we're going the right route, I see a lot of different possibilities, and I'm not positive we're jumping in the right direction. When we commit, it takes a lot of the stress away and produces a sea change in how I look at the tools. Now, Puppet is something we're simply going to make work, and if it doesn't do what we want, we change it until it does.
This means that I now need to learn Ruby. I think learning Objective CAML just got pushed back farther again.
A bug-fix release, mostly in Pod::Man, that turns off hyphenation and justification properly on Linux and eliminates some unnecessary Unicode characters. It also adds a bit better backward compatibility with Pod::Parser.
This is the sequel to The Blue Place and is almost impossible to talk about without spoiling the end of that novel. The back cover of Stay even gives away the ending of The Blue Place . If spoilers bother you, you probably want to stop reading now until you've read the previous book (and try to avoid reading anything at all about this novel). I did have the ending spoiled for me and didn't mind too much, but it took away some emotional power.
The Blue Place was compelling but quite a mixture, moving between detective, travel, and romance plots and not always focused. Stay achieves a purity of emotion and tight observation that draws on some of the best parts of The Blue Place and sheds side plots with relentless focus. This book is intense. Some of the plot structure of a detective story and a thriller remains, but as scaffolding to hold the character study and the raw emotions. I've rarely felt as close to a character as I did to Aud over the course of this story.
Stay is, on its surface, about grief. Griffith writes effectively from the perspective of a character who withdraws, who reacts to pain by seeking an environment and interactions that she can control, and who gets frustrated and impatient with the ways people try to sympathize. This is a type of reaction to grief that I don't see enough, done as deeply and well as I've ever seen it. There is a plot, an investigation, rescue, and fallout from both, but it's Aud's grief that structures this story. The reader watches Aud go through stages of grieving and acceptance close enough to traditional patterns to provide satisfying verisimilitude and unique and personal enough to distinguish her as a person.
The character study also goes deeper than grief. Stay is about the interaction of a person with the world. It is the thematic conclusion of the arc of The Blue Place , which took Aud from a detached private detective into expressed love of both another person and a place. The arc of The Blue Place was partly character-driven and partly expressed through setting. Its conclusion in Stay is wholly character-driven and follows perfectly Aud's realignment of who she wants to be and the pains and adjustments that forces on her world. The plot intrudes on her life and forces her to interact with the world again. The violence comes from and echos her anger at the intrusion of the world and its destruction of her love. Rescuing another defies her ability to withdraw, forces her back into responsibility. And the rescue and the violence lead to more complications, leading her farther into the world, forcing her to make hard decisions about the right thing to do, and confronting her with a life after grief.
One of my favorite characteristics of this story is that every action has consequences, and often not obvious ones. Life is a mess of unforseen complications. Throughout Stay , the right thing to do isn't always obvious in advance, and when it is circumstances change. I love reading about someone who makes mistakes, is honest with themselves, deals with the consequences, and then acts again. The second half of the book seems headed towards more traditional thriller territory and the world again defies Aud's expectations.
All of this is done with subtlely handled exposition, emotion that comes naturally out of setting and reaction rather than direct description, and tight, effective language that is never maudlin or over-wrought. As with The Blue Place , Stay is told in the first person and crawls inside Aud's head, and Aud has no patience for extended emotional exposition. She and the reader both understand the real significance of some of her internal monologue without belaboring the point, which allows the book to keep moving forward.
Griffith succeeds here, even more than in The Blue Place , in taking a hypercompetent protagonist and making her painfully human. I found it the perfect blend between a strong plot and sufficient danger to create suspense, and deep enough observation of character to show the pain and reversals of growth. Stay centers in emotions and interactions rather than in the resolution of an external plot. The book is full of wonderful touches: the descriptions of Aud's cabin that describe her character through showing what she builds, the role of Julia that starts a bit creepy and becoming bittersweet, Aud's rhyming with her name, a late touch that would warm the heart of any reader. I can't recommend it highly enough, although do read The Blue Place first.
Followed by Always , due to be published in 2007. I will be buying that in hardcover.
Well, work on my day job towards wrapping up projects before my vacation has been going swimmingly, so rather than use the treadmill and read tonight, I decided to tackle pending Usenet work that I had been putting off. Mostly this involves writing (in some cases quite long) e-mail to people to whom I owed some, but I'm also working on the evaluation of the new Big Eight newsgroup creation system due October 1st.
From time to time, people at work tell me I write too long of mail. I'm not sure how much people have seen that on Usenet, since I haven't had many cases where I needed to write formal proposals or evaluations, but they're going to get a dose of it this time. Given that this is the last thing that I'm going to do for the Big Eight newsgroup creation process, I don't want to do a halfway job.
This is still a rather weird feeling, and I think I'm going to go through a grieving process probably sometime in November or December. Right now, though, it mostly feels like relief. I'm not sure how long I'm going to stick around for subsequent discussion after October 1st, but as of my vacation, I'm done, and I'm not going to start up again when I come back.
I'm not sure if this is going to feel as significant in retrospect as it does now, but it really does feel like the end of a phase of my life.
An off-hand comment in Zephyr about whether Usenet is dead, plus being in just the right mood this evening, prompted me to finally put this up on the web.
This is a post that I made to the largely dead net.subculture.usenet about a year and a half ago, another one of those posts that get stuck in my head and that I stay up well after midnight writing. I'm not really sure what to say about it, other than it's the best I will probably ever do at capturing what I feel about Usenet now. If anything, the feeling has gotten stronger over the past year and a half.
There's still a lot of emotion here.
Last night, I went to a good-sized chain bookstore for the first time in quite a while and spent a lot of time pointing out books that I thought she'd enjoy. It was only fair for me to spend a bit of money as well.
The Gene Wolfe books are the really beautiful trade-paperback printings of the Book of the New Sun series. I already own that series (and have read it), but have the old ugly Pocket Timescape mass market versions and wanted to have nicer versions that go with my nicer copies of his other series.
I'm a little wry about paying as much as I did for The Elements of Style , but I don't want an on-line version of a book. I want to be able to hold it in my hand. That's worth $8.
I'm mostly buying Elemental to support the cause, and it's probably going to be a while before I read the short stories in there. I have several other anthologies that I'm more immediately excited about.
The James White makes me very happy. James White was a mid-list SF author from Ireland who wrote a long series of books about alien medicine that are highly regarded as good, readable fun. The last few are still in print, but the first ones have been out of print for quite a while, and I was delighted to see a trade paperback reprint of the first three.
Steel is an astronomer rather than a historian, although he's clearly done quite a bit of research for this book. His focus shows in attention to the implications of different time systems, the astronomical processes that they attempt to model, and the detailed mechanics and mathematics of the calculation of Easter (which was the primary motivating force behind the Gregorian calendar). One of the most interesting parts of this book for me was the clear explanation of just how complex the revolution of the Earth around the Sun is, the various different "years" that one can measure, the problems with connecting a lunar cycle with a solar cycle, and the long-term drift that will require that any calendar based on nature, no matter how well-designed, eventually be corrected. Sometimes this is a bit hard to follow (particularly in the appendices which lay out more of the detail), but Steel repeats the same material from different angles and usually hit on one that made sense to me on the second or third try. I think I understand precession of the equinoxes now, and some of the bits of trivia are wonderful. I expect some of them will be old hat to an informed reader, but possibly different ones for different readers; I already knew a lot about the origins and rationale of time zones, for instance, but had never realized that obviously the Earth rotates slightly faster than once per 24 hours since it's also revolving around the Sun and the day is based on the return of the Sun to the same place in the sky.
The history, on the other hand, is more scattered and less satisfactory than the math and astronomy. We're introduced to most of the major players and some of the social history, but Steel's ability to create a sense of story is hit and miss. He points out interesting factual errors in common understandings of the origin of the calendar (and opens one's eyes to just how chaotic the calendar has been at times in the past), but he also speculates frequently about motives and digresses into math more often than he needs to. The most interesting parts of the history also suffer the most: the dating of Easter and the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar are complex topics that rightfully dominate much of the book, but he never convinced me of his theories about the motivations of British colonization. I suppose it's conceivable, given the religious feeling at the time, that the English really cared deeply about controlling "God's longitude" where the date of Easter would stay stable on a single day following the introduction of a proposed superior calendar no one actually used, but with a lack of supporting primary sources and much speculation in the book, I grew tired of having most major political events at the time connected back to this.
Still, this is certainly more analysis, detailed history, and fascinating trivia about the calendar and about time-keeping in general gathered in one place than I've ever seen before, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It takes a bit to get used to Steel's writing style -- he discusses the structure of his own book in advance quite a bit more than is necessary -- but he has an infectious enthusiasm for his topic and a good grasp of making the reader feel more intelligent than before. And if you want an exhaustive explanation of exactly how the date of Easter is calculated, with the rationale behind all the steps and a historical discussion of choice of date and system, you're not likely to find a better resource.
One of the first on-line diaries I read was Alan Cox's, quickly branching from there to read his wife's commentary on the other side of the story. I've never met either personally, but Alan's entries were often a useful way to follow Linux development (and now that Kernel Traffic has apparently stopped, it would be nice to have something like that). Telsa's, on the other hand, were just fun, often amusing commentary on day-to-day life and hacker doings.
Alan switched his diary to Welsh a while back and then stopped keeping it entirely, but Telsa kept on for a bit and I kept reading periodically. About a year and a half ago, the entries became rather intermittant, and then stopped entirely. She's now written a final post to close things down more formally.
Sad, a little, particularly for me as many things seem to be ending right now, but I certainly understand her reasons. Her paragraph on some of the ways in which the diary became more trouble than it's worth resonate with me and match some of my feelings about Usenet right now, particularly the point about an increasingly confrontational climate.
The archives are still there, linked off that last post. I quite enjoyed reading them the first time. Thank you from a random stranger for the moments of amusement and laughter. | 2019-04-23T09:01:13Z | https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/journal/2006-09/ |
Investor Relations：Risk Factors｜Japan Display Inc.
Japan Display Inc. (JDI) is confronted by risks that may affect our business results and financial condition. These risks are presented below. The forward-looking statements contained in this web page are based on judgments made by JDI as of February 14, 2018.
JDI conducts business operations in various regions of the world. Variability in the global economy determines increases or decreases in demand for our display products and can affect our overall business performance, results of operations and financial condition. Above all, as demand for mobile products that incorporate use of our small-medium displays is strongly affected by global economic trends, unexpectedly negative domestic or overseas economic conditions may result in lower demand for JDI's displays and the end-products that are equipped with our displays. This may in turn cause the economic climate surrounding our business to deteriorate and adversely affect our overall business performance, results of operations and financial condition.
The majority of JDI sales depend on sales of small-medium displays. The focus of our manufacturing and sales is on highly functional high-value added small-medium displays with high-resolution, wide-viewing angle, low-power consumption, thin/light form factor and narrow borders. Thus JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition can be affected by trends in the domestic and overseas markets for small-medium displays and by market trends for smartphones, tablets, automotive displays, digital cameras, medical devices and other end-products that incorporate small-medium displays manufactured by JDI.
In particular, smartphones in the premium price range which make a large contribution to JDI's sales are showing signs of maturity in advanced countries while the use of low-price smartphones in newly developing countries is expanding. This may result in lower than expected market growth for premium smartphones. As a result JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
JDI faces severe competition from other makers in the domestic and overseas small-medium display market. It is possible that among our competitors some have advantages with respect to financial resources, research & development, technology, manufacturing capacity, marketing, cost competitiveness, business portfolios or other. Also, if some competitors devote greater resources to the small-medium display business and increase production, or if they form alliances or execute mergers (recent years have seen the creation of competing alliances), the competitive environment may become more severe. An increase in competition in the small-medium display market due to these factors may have an adverse impact on JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition.
JDI takes various actions to protect itself against the risk of selling price declines. We endeavor to achieve greater added value and improve product quality to maintain or achieve premium price levels. We also try to reduce the number of components, improve yields and take other steps to reduce costs. However, overcapacity in the overall display industry, a drop in demand for high-specification displays, entry into the high-specification display market by makers in China and Taiwan, a growing ratio of JDI sales of displays used in medium-price smartphones (especially in China) and severe competition in the domestic and overseas markets are among the reasons why the prices of JDI products may fall below the level of cost reductions or may result in an expansion of sales of products that carry a low profit margin. If these events happen JDI may be unable to secure sufficient profits, which may adversely affect results of our operations.
In general the market for smartphones, tablets and other major end-products that use the small-medium displays manufactured by JDI strongly depends on business trends that are driven by economic conditions and consumer spending levels in various regions, sales timing of popular models, new model releases and the success of newly released models. At the same time sales of these end-products also depend on seasonal factors that can boost sales, such as the start of school terms in the US and Europe, Christmas and the Chinese New Year.
In a typical year these seasonal factors generally result in a slowdown in JDI's sales in the first quarter (April to June) and the fourth quarter (October to December). Our production is adjusted mainly in response to purchase orders placed by our customers. However, we often undertake advance sourcing of materials that have long lead times or make-to-stock production based on our customer demand forecasts in order to enable the timely supply of products. For these reasons, if market fluctuations cause actual orders from our customers to substantially change, this could lead to excess inventory of materials or semi-finished products, a lower fab utilization rate or damage suffered due to missed business opportunities, which in turn might have a significant adverse impact on results of our operations. Also, the seasonal factors described above can result in changes in orders and sales conditions, which can adversely affect results of our operations.
Since JDI manufactures and sells small-medium displays that require advanced technology, possessing superior technology is crucial to our ability to be competitive. We believe our core technology, LTPS, is currently the driving force behind the demand for displays with higher resolution, narrower bezels and lower power consumption in the small-medium display market and end-product market. However, since small-medium displays are a technology field subject to extremely fast innovation the ability to swiftly provide customers with products containing the latest technology may require long-term investment and resource allocation. Therefore, despite making these investment and resource commitments, any loss of technology advantages by JDI may cause us to become less competitive and profits obtained may not be commensurate with our investment and resource allocations. This in turn may adversely affect JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition.
JDI at this time recognizes that there is high demand for high-end high-value added small-medium displays with high-resolution, wide-viewing angles, low-power consumption, thin/ light-weight features and narrow borders for high-specification smartphones and tablets. However, sales of smartphones, tablets and other important end-products that use the small-medium displays manufactured by JDI are highly susceptible to consumer trends. If demand slows for the end-products that use our displays due to a change in consumer preferences, if we fail to accurately understand consumer trends or the needs of our customers, or if we are unable to supply products commensurate with demand from our customers, JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
In order to maintain our position as a leading company in the small-medium display business JDI is committed to investing in research and development (R&D). However, the possibility exists of being unable to realize the benefits expected from investment in R&D or of obtaining benefits that do not lead to sufficient profits. In order to minimize this kind of negative result we try to maximize our R&D investment benefits by cautiously making selective R&D choices based on clear development objectives. Also, at the development stage we make periodic reviews in order to judge whether to continue certain development initiatives. Despite the existence of these precautions if we are unable to obtain a return on investment in R&D this may adversely affect JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition.
The small-medium display business that JDI is involved in requires having and maintaining large-scale fabs and manufacturing equipment as well as hiring a large number of employees, which results in a relatively high level of fixed costs. Accordingly, if our fab utilization rate falls to a low level due to fewer orders from major customers, changes in demand, over-supply, competition with other companies or other factors, this may adversely affect results of our operations.
The production of high-end high-value small-medium displays with high-resolution, wide-viewing angles, low-power consumption and thin/lightweight features requires sophisticated manufacturing technology and advanced skills. The majority of JDI's manufacturing is devoted to custom products. Since components and manufacturing equipment settings are different for many of our products, making products based on new technologies backed by little accumulated know-how or making changes to manufacturing processes can require time before achieving high production yields and lead to product quality issues. Also, meeting the responsibilities imposed by customer supply contracts or satisfying customer needs may require continuing to manufacture products that have low yields. JDI carefully manages and integrates its development, design, process, manufacture and product quality assurance policies to minimize problems in these areas. We have also created a company structure that can quickly resolve any occurrence of problems. Further, we have educational programs for upgrading the skills of employees operating our manufacturing lines. Still, if yield problems or product quality issues occur they can adversely affect results of our operations.
JDI currently manufactures displays used in specific smartphone models that have large shares of the global smartphone market. Sales to a particular customer who is an end-product maker of these specific models represent a large portion of JDI's total sales. A reduction in the competitiveness of this customer or the specific models, an inability by JDI to meet demand from this customer, the development of new displays by competitors that substitute for our products or other adverse development may cause this particular customer to reduce or discontinue orders to JDI or deterioration in profit margins, or business conditions associated with the transactions with this customer could have an adverse impact on results of our operations.
In order to achieve stronger competitiveness and earnings potential, maintain a long-term supply structure and develop new technology and new products, JDI has business collaborations with component makers, equipment makers, end-product makers and other companies. Going forward, enhancing our competitiveness in R&D, manufacturing and other areas may involve additional collaborations as well as strategic alliances, buyouts and other actions. These collaborations, strategic alliances or buyouts may be unavoidably impossible to achieve or maintain or the associated benefits may be too few due to fundraising limitations, changes in strategic goals, occurrences of business problems related to technology management or product development, licensing or other regulatory problems or changes in the market. If any of these events happen it may adversely affect results of operations or financial condition. Also, the results of collaborations with particular third parties, strategic alliances or buyouts may interfere with our transactions involving collaborations or alliances with other companies or potential buyouts, resulting in restrictions on JDI's company management or business management choices.
JDI manufactures and sells small-medium displays that utilize advanced technologies. However, the products manufactured using advanced technologies may contain errors or defects that are undetected prior to shipping. If product quality problems occur after shipping, product returns or repairs, design changes or other corrective actions may require large costs or require us to divert engineering or other employee resources to resolve problems. Our relationships with customers or trust in JDI may also suffer damage. Further, defects in JDI products may lead to litigation against JDI or our customers. Since JDI operates around the world we are subject to the risk of litigation or becoming a party to legal proceedings in a variety of countries. If JDI does become involved in litigation or become a party to legal proceedings differences in judicial and court systems in other countries, or depending on the type of legal case, we may become subject to a legally enforceable order to pay large-scale compensation for damages or penalties.
Also, in relation to possible violations of competition laws governing the display business, JDI may face investigations conducted by government authorities that regulate commerce or litigation proceedings in Japan or other countries or regions. The result of such investigations or litigation may be legally enforceable orders to pay penalties or compensation for damages in multiple countries or jurisdictions. Anticipating penalties or legal enforcement actions imposed by regulatory authorities or a court of law is difficult. The resolution of legal enforcement matters may require considerable time and expense, which may in turn negatively affect JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition as well as seriously injure our reputation and creditability.
JDI was established on March 30, 2012 as a new company based on the integration of the small-medium display subsidiaries and certain related businesses of Sony Corporation, Toshiba Corporation and Hitachi, Ltd. under an arrangement mainly handled by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). At the end of the most recent consolidated accounting period INCJ had more than one-third of JDI's common stock voting rights. These voting rights allow INCJ to exert a certain amount of influence over fundamental JDI decisions about the appointment and dismissal of directors, organizational restructuring such as mergers with other companies, sales of important assets or business departments, changes in our articles of incorporation and declarations of dividends. The interests of INCJ may not always agree with the interests of our other shareholders. Also, as a sponsor that supports further increases in JDI's corporate value INCJ has indicated its intention to apply a long-term view to its JDI shareholdings. However, if INCJ sells a portion of its holding in the stock market the scale of the sale or some other market action may affect the supply and demand and the price of JDI shares.
JDI's customers, suppliers and business transactions span various regions around the world. Since the cost and prices of products and services denominated in foreign currencies are influenced by fluctuations in exchange rates in the foreign exchange market, this can have an effect on JDI's business, results of operations and financial condition. JDI engages in forward exchange contracts or other hedging transactions to minimize the influence of foreign exchange rate fluctuations, but there is no assurance that such arrangements will be sufficient to protect us against adverse movements in exchange rates. In addition, because the local currency-based assets and liabilities of our overseas subsidiaries are translated into yen terms when we prepare our consolidated accounting financial statements, JDI's financial condition may be adversely affected by foreign exchange rate fluctuations.
JDI purchases raw materials, components and other supplies from multiple suppliers. Our manufacturing is structured to acquire raw materials and other supplies as needed and in appropriate amounts. However, since some of these raw materials and components have special properties, the number of suppliers is limited or switching to alternative suppliers can be difficult. If the business environment affecting one of our suppliers turns negative, disasters or other problems result in delayed supplies of raw materials or components, or we experience insufficient supply or sudden price increases for supplies, this may cause delays in delivery of our products or a rise in our costs if we are compelled to procure supplies from an alternative supplier. Also, defects in the raw materials or components procured or supplies that do not meet the specifications of JDI or our customers can affect the quality and evaluation of JDI products or result in claims or legal action against JDI or our customers.
Further, JDI's business depends on large, steady supplies of energy. If the cost of electricity rises due to reductions in power supplies caused by restrictions in operating capacity at Japan's nuclear power plants or by rapid increases in prices for oil and other imported fuels due to sudden yen depreciation or other pricing factors, this may adversely affect results of our operations.
In addition to Japan, JDI has manufacturing sites in China, Taiwan and the Philippines, and we conduct business in many countries around the world. Sales made to overseas customers represent a large portion of our total sales. When we develop business overseas we examine such risk factors as changes in our overseas subsidiaries, economic and political instability of a country, wage growth due to inflation in newly emerging countries and antagonistic relations with local workers, strengthened foreign exchange controls, unexpected enactment of or changes in laws or regulations, differences in or adverse changes in taxation, the judicial system or business environment, taxation or other administrative actions, military conflict, terrorism and boycotts based on anti-Japanese sentiment. Any of these factors could affect JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition.
JDI may obtain funding through borrowing from financial institutions, leasing or issuing corporate bonds in order to sustain investment in R&D and advanced manufacturing lines. However, based on financial market or display industry trends or JDI's creditworthiness, the procurement of necessary funding may not be possible or funding procurement costs may increase. When borrowing from financial institutions, leasing or issuing corporate bonds, certain financial covenants may be prescribed in the relevant agreements. If we breach such financial covenants and lose the benefit of time, we may be obliged to repay the outstanding principal and interest thereof before the agreed repayment date, and, as a result, our cash management may be adversely affected. If some event has a negative effect on JDI's funding procurement, JDI's business development, capital expenditures, results of operations, financial condition or some other aspect of JDI may be adversely affected. Also, in the future funding may be obtained through the issuance of new stock. Procuring funds via an equity offering could result in dilution and may adversely affect JDI's stock price.
JDI has a number of fixed assets such as tangible fixed assets and goodwill. The carrying value of fixed assets in consolidated accounts is determined by the periodic evaluation of the realizable residual value of estimated future cash flow from these assets. If for competitive or other reasons our business profitability declines and we make a determination that these assets cannot generate sufficient cash flow, recognizing the impairment loss of these assets in our financial accounting becomes necessary, which may affect results of our operations and our financial condition.
Also, remaining competitive in the future means that JDI may need to close unproductive manufacturing facilities, cancel R&D projects or take other business restructuring steps. If such action is required business restructuring costs may be incurred in connection with impairment of equipment assets or employee downsizing, skilled employees may leave JDI or other consequences may appear that adversely affect results of our operations and our financial condition.
JDI believes that by hiring and retaining highly specialized personnel for its technology development departments it can maintain a competitive advantage. However, since the availability of highly specialized personnel is limited the competition involving the hiring and retaining of these personnel is severe. If personnel with superior qualifications cannot be hired this may affect results of our operations and our financial condition. Also, if highly specialized personnel resign to take positions with competitors and share the experience and knowhow they acquired while employed at JDI this could result in a relative decline in our competitive standing. Further, the capabilities and services contributed by JDI's senior management is considerable. If for some reason members of senior management resign their position at JDI and cannot be replaced, the health of particular members of our management declines, or the need to respond to litigation or other unexpected situations diverts the attention of company management away from the management of JDI's business, JDI's business performance, results of our operations and our financial condition may be adversely affected.
JDI considers the establishment and operation of internal controls to assure the integrity of financial statements as one of the most important responsibilities for management. Such controls are used throughout JDI to inspect and improve the oversight of group company operations and perform other important functions. However, there is no assurance that the establishment or operation of these internal controls will remain effective in the future. Moreover, as internal controls have inherent limitations, any failure by these controls to function effectively or any defects in these controls that relate to financial statements or that result in failure to disclose material information could adversely affect the credibility of JDI's financial statements.
JDI maintains and manages confidential information in a variety of formats that includes information about our company, business partner and customer technology, R&D, manufacturing, sales and marketing activities as well as private information received from customers, business partners and shareholders. We use appropriate management procedures to protect this confidential information. However, there is no assurance these procedures will always remain effective. If due to unexpected events the information we maintain and manage leaks and is subsequently acquired or used inappropriately by third parties this could lead to such consequences as litigation related to a demand that JDI provide compensation for damages. Any legal action pursued against JDI may have a negative effect on our business performance, results of operations, financial condition, reputation and credibility.
JDI seeks to protect its corporate technology by taking appropriate steps in Japan and other countries or regions to acquire intellectual property rights. However, it is possible that in some countries or regions we have not acquired a sufficient level of these rights.
Also, JDI often enters into licensing agreements with third parties to use third-party intellectual property assets. However, the possibility exists that JDI may not be able to secure the necessary licensing from third parties, that we can only secure licensing with unfavorable conditions attached or that competitors enter into more advantageous licensing agreements with third parties than we can obtain, any of which could result in a relative decline in JDI's competitiveness.
Moreover, the intellectual property rights associated with JDI products could become subject to patent infringement lawsuits or other litigation by a third party against JDI or our customers. As a result some of JDI's products may be unable to be manufactured or sold in certain countries or regions or JDI may become liable for payment of compensation due to damages to third parties or JDI customers.
Other companies that have licensing agreements with JDI maybe be bought out by third parties. In that case the buyout may allow a third party that has had no licensing arrangements with JDI to obtain access to JDI intellectual property assets. Such an event may result in a decline in JDI's competitiveness.
In addition, the content of new business that is based on an alliance or other cooperative arrangement with a third party may not be covered by the scope of an existing intellectual property rights licensing agreement with another third party. In that event JDI may be compelled by the latter third party to make new payments.
Finally, JDI may at times be forced to preserve its intellectual property rights by taking legal action against a third party. As a result of any litigation we may lose access to important technology. Further, under internal company policies JDI provides financial rewards to employees who realize a discovery or creation during the performance of his or her duties at JDI. However, the possibility exists that an employee may take legal action against JDI in regard to the amount of this financial reward or for other reasons.
JDI's business is subject to restrictions under various laws and regulations in Japan and other countries. Also, we abide by the application of pollution of air/land/water, hazardous substances, waste treatment, product recycling, prevention of global warming, energy and other environmental laws and regulations in countries and regions around the world. JDI's business operations pay careful attention to these laws and regulations. However, the possibility exists that restrictions on the manufacturing and sale of our products or on capital investment may harm the development of our business, compliance with any new or modified laws or regulations may impose greater costs on JDI or JDI may violate certain laws or regulations. Any of these outcomes may adversely affect results of our operations or cause harm to our reputation for social responsibility in local communities or countries.
JDI recognizes the realizable amount of deferred tax assets attributable to temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and for operating losses carried forward, taking into consideration future taxable income.
We review as appropriate future taxable income in light of changes in the business environment and other conditions. However, if the review results in a determination that the full amount or a partial amount of deferred tax assets cannot be recovered, a reduction in deferred tax assets may adversely affect results of our operations or our financial condition.
JDI has manufacturing facilities in Japan, China, Taiwan and the Philippines, and sales offices situated around the world. Major damages due to earthquakes, tsunamis, torrential rain, floods, lightening and other natural disasters; malware damage to computers; leakage of customer data; disruption of the supply chain due to a disaster at a components supplier; outbreaks or the spread of epidemics; military conflict; terrorist incidents; violent protests or labor strife or other disastrous events may have a crippling effect on JDI's business operations, resulting in production, supply or shipment stoppages.
Also, any instability in the electrical power systems or infrastructure caused by a disastrous event that may result in shortages of power supplies, distribution disruptions or other problems with public infrastructure may cause a decline in JDI's manufacturing output, interfere with supply acquisitions, delayed product deliveries or other negative consequence. As a result JDI's business performance, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. In order to protect ourselves against damage from disasters we have obtained various kinds of insurance that provide in our judgement appropriate levels of coverage for damage to or caused by buildings, structures, equipment, costs of substitute inventory or shipments in progress, business stoppages, product liability and other adverse events. However, as this insurance contains deductibles and other limiting conditions the full cost of any damages suffered by JDI may not be fully recoverable.
However, financial measures that will assure stable funds procurement and financing are being taken to improve cash flow. Also, based on revamping its manufacturing capabilities and streamlining of fixed assets, the selection and elimination of business activities and rebuilding of its organizational structure, JDI is making fundamental structural improvements to rationalize management that will support the transition to a more flexible and leaner corporate structure and bring other positive changes.
These actions are ultimately intended to lead to improvements in earnings. Furthermore, JDI is moving forward with accelerating the establishment of mass manufacturing technology to commercialize OLED displays and strengthening management resources in growth business areas in order to transform and improve its earnings structure. Based upon these observations and measures, JDI has concluded that there is no significant uncertainties related to going concern assumptions. | 2019-04-21T01:10:17Z | https://www.j-display.com/english/ir/risk.html |
TX - HB21 Relating to exempting textbooks purchased, used, or consumed by university and college students from the sales and use tax for limited periods.
TX - HB42 Relating to allocating a portion of oil and gas production tax revenue to the counties from which the oil and gas originated and to the use of that revenue.
TX - HB52 Relating to a franchise tax credit pilot program for taxable entities that contribute to an employee dependent care flexible spending account.
TX - HB54 Relating to the system for protesting or appealing certain ad valorem tax determinations; authorizing a fee.
TX - HB97 Relating to the eligibility of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land.
TX - HB150 Relating to honesty in state taxation.
TX - HB160 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation by certain taxing units of a portion of the appraised value of the residence homestead of the parent or guardian of a minor who is disabled and who resides with the parent or guardian.
TX - HB163 Relating to the additional tax imposed on land appraised for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land if a change in use of the land occurs.
TX - HB164 Relating to the exclusion from the market value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes of the value of any improvement, or any feature incorporated in an improvement, made to the property if the primary purpose of the improvement or feature is compliance with the requirements of standards that address accessible design of buildings or other facilities.
TX - HB185 Relating to a study of the impact, feasibility, and advisability of adopting a property tax system in which the disclosure of the sales price of real property is required by law.
TX - HB203 Relating to the authority of a county assistance district to impose a sales and use tax.
TX - HB240 Relating to installment payments of ad valorem taxes imposed on certain residence homesteads.
TX - HB263 Relating to an exemption from motor vehicle sales and use taxes for certain previously leased motor vehicles.
TX - HB275 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.
TX - HB276 Relating to a deduction under the franchise tax for certain contracts with the federal government.
TX - HB279 Relating to authorizing the Midland County Hospital District of Midland County, Texas, to impose a sales and use tax.
TX - HB297 Relating to the elimination of certain property taxes for school district maintenance and operations and the provision of public education funding by increasing the rates of certain state taxes.
TX - HB311 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for certain feminine hygiene products.
TX - HB313 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for child and adult diapers.
TX - HB315 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for condoms.
TX - HB322 Relating to the establishment of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that taxing units may impose on the residence homesteads of individuals who are disabled or elderly and their surviving spouses.
TX - HJR13 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to allocate a portion of oil and gas production tax revenue to the counties from which the oil and gas originated.
TX - HJR16 Proposing a constitutional amendment providing honesty in state taxation.
TX - HJR17 Proposing a constitutional amendment prohibiting the taxation of the sale or use of certain prescription medicine.
TX - HJR19 Proposing a constitutional amendment to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation by certain political subdivisions of a portion of the market value of the residence homestead of the parent or guardian of a minor who is disabled and who resides with the parent or guardian.
TX - HJR20 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to exclude from the market value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes the value of any improvement, or any feature incorporated in an improvement, made to the property if the primary purpose of the improvement or feature is compliance with the requirements of standards that address accessible design of buildings or other facilities.
TX - HJR23 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.
TX - HJR26 Proposing a constitutional amendment establishing a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that political subdivisions may impose on the residence homesteads of individuals who are disabled or elderly and their surviving spouses.
TX - SB129 Relating to eligibility for the exemption from ad valorem taxation of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of certain first responders.
TX - HB360 Relating to the extension of the expiration date of the Property Redevelopment and Tax Abatement Act.
TX - SB196 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.
TX - HB380 Relating to the authority of a district court to hear and determine certain ad valorem tax appeals.
TX - HB383 Relating to the limitation on increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation.
TX - HB384 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the total appraised value of the residence homesteads of certain elderly persons and their surviving spouses.
TX - HB385 Relating to a sales tax exemption for certain items sold during a limited period.
TX - HJR28 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to set a lower limit on the maximum appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation.
TX - HJR29 Proposing a constitutional amendment to exempt from ad valorem taxation the total market value of the residence homesteads of certain elderly persons and their surviving spouses.
TX - HB388 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of real property leased to and used by certain schools.
TX - HJR31 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation real property leased to certain schools organized and operated primarily for the purpose of engaging in educational functions.
TX - HJR32 Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring certain tax bills to be approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house of the legislature.
TX - HB451 Relating to an exemption from the sales and use tax for certain lightbulbs for a limited period.
TX - HB453 Relating to a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county of a portion of the value of the residence homestead of a physician who provides health care services for which the physician agrees not to seek payment from any source, including the Medicaid program or otherwise from this state or the federal government, to county residents who are indigent or who are Medicaid recipients.
TX - HJR33 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county of a portion of the value of the residence homestead of a physician who provides health care services for which the physician agrees not to seek payment from any source, including the Medicaid program or otherwise from this state or the federal government, to county residents who are indigent or who are Medicaid recipients.
TX - HB457 Relating to the use of tax revenue by certain municipalities for the payment of certain hotel-related bonds or other obligations.
TX - HB470 Relating to the calculation of the ad valorem rollback tax rate of a taxing unit and voter approval of a proposed tax rate that exceeds the rollback tax rate.
TX - HB483 Relating to the selection of the board of directors of an appraisal district; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
TX - HB484 Relating to the authority of an appraisal review board to direct changes in the appraisal roll and related appraisal records if a residence homestead is sold for less than the appraised value.
TX - HB486 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB490 Relating to the administration of the ad valorem tax system.
TX - HB491 Relating to the administration of appraisal review boards.
TX - HB492 Relating to a temporary local option exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.
TX - HB493 Relating to a temporary local option exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster and reimbursement of a taxing unit for refunds the taxing unit pays to taxpayers as a result of the exemption.
TX - HJR34 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a temporary local option exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.
TX - HJR35 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a temporary local option exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster and to provide for reimbursement of a political subdivision by the state for refunds the political subdivision pays to taxpayers as a result of the exemption.
TX - HB499 Relating to the extension of the expiration date of the Property Redevelopment and Tax Abatement Act.
TX - HB533 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HJR38 Proposing a constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual income tax.
TX - HB564 Relating to the definition of "heavy equipment" for purposes of the ad valorem taxation of certain dealer's heavy equipment inventory.
TX - HB569 Relating to the information required to be included in or with a school district ad valorem tax bill.
TX - HB605 Relating to a franchise tax credit for entities that establish a grocery store or healthy corner store in a food desert.
TX - HB614 Relating to the additional tax imposed on land appraised for ad valorem tax purposes as agricultural, open-space, or timber land if the land is sold or diverted to a different use.
TX - HB622 Relating to a temporary limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed by a taxing unit on a residence homestead rendered uninhabitable or unusable as a result of a natural disaster.
TX - HB627 Relating to the rate of the cigarette tax and the allocation of certain revenue from that tax to the foundation school fund; increasing the rate of a tax.
TX - HJR41 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to limit for a temporary period the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed by a political subdivision on a residence homestead rendered uninhabitable or unusable as a result of a natural disaster.
TX - HB631 Relating to exempting textbooks purchased, used, or consumed by university and college students from the sales and use tax for limited periods.
TX - HB639 Relating to the eligibility of land used as an ecological laboratory for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land.
TX - HB648 Relating to the substitution of a local sales and use tax for property taxes imposed by certain local governments; authorizing the imposition of a tax.
TX - SB320 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HB705 Relating to the substitution of a local sales and use tax for maintenance and operations property taxes imposed by certain local governments; authorizing the imposition of a tax.
TX - HB710 Relating to the computation of cost of goods sold for purposes of the franchise tax by taxable entities that transport ready-mixed concrete.
TX - HB716 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of part of the appraised value of the residence homestead of a severely disabled veteran or the surviving spouse of a severely disabled veteran based on the disability rating of the veteran.
TX - HJR44 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of part of the market value of the residence homestead of a partially disabled veteran or the surviving spouse of a partially disabled veteran based on the disability rating of the veteran and harmonizing certain related provision of the constitution.
TX - SB335 Relating to community land trusts.
TX - HB755 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for certain feminine hygiene products.
TX - HB768 Relating to the reappraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of property damaged in a disaster.
TX - HB791 Relating to the definition of volunteer fire department for purposes of certain motor fuel tax exemptions.
TX - HB794 Relating to the repeal of the additional ad valorem taxes imposed as a result of certain changes in the use of open-space land appraised as agricultural land.
TX - HB821 Relating to the information required to be included in or with a school district ad valorem tax bill.
TX - HB827 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of an improvement that is necessary to support the continued use or existence of a historic site.
TX - HB845 Relating to the eligibility of property used for a water desalination project for ad valorem tax benefits under the Texas Economic Development Act.
TX - HB861 Relating to the calculation of penalties and interest resulting from the final determination of an ad valorem tax appeal that changes a property owner's tax liability.
TX - HB878 Relating to a limitation on increases in the appraised value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HJR47 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to limit the maximum appraised value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HJR48 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation the total assessed value of the residence homestead of an unpaid caregiver of an individual who is eligible to receive long-term services and supports under the Medicaid program while the individual is on a waiting list for the services and supports.
TX - HB894 Relating to the repeal of the allowance authorized for the administration and enforcement of motor fuel taxes.
TX - HB905 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the total appraised value of the residence homestead of an unpaid caregiver of an individual who is eligible to receive long-term services and supports under the Medicaid program while the individual is on a waiting list for the services and supports.
TX - HB913 Relating to the calculation of the ad valorem rollback tax rate of a taxing unit other than a school district.
TX - HB916 Relating to the exemption of rural transit districts from motor fuel taxes.
TX - HB945 Relating to a limitation on increases in the appraised value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HB946 Relating to the limitation on increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation.
TX - HB947 Relating to exemptions from the motor vehicle use tax for a motor vehicle brought into this state by an active duty member of the United States armed forces or the member's spouse.
TX - HB948 Relating to the period for which certain land owned by a religious organization for the purpose of expanding a place of religious worship or constructing a new place of religious worship may be exempted from ad valorem taxation.
TX - HB950 Relating to the authority of an appraisal review board to determine the appraised value of property that is the subject of a protest to be an amount greater than the appraised value as shown in the appraisal records.
TX - HJR50 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to limit the maximum appraised value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HJR51 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to set a lower limit on the maximum appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation.
TX - HJR52 Proposing a constitutional amendment providing for the valuation of property for ad valorem tax purposes on the basis of its market value.
TX - HB966 Relating to providing a sales and use tax refund or franchise tax credit for businesses that employ certain apprentices.
TX - HB983 Relating to a franchise tax credit for enterprise projects for certain capital investments.
TX - HB994 Relating to the procedures for protests and appeals of certain ad valorem tax determinations.
TX - HB1032 Relating to the establishment of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that taxing units may impose on the residence homesteads of individuals who are disabled or elderly and their surviving spouses.
TX - HJR53 Proposing a constitutional amendment establishing a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that political subdivisions may impose on the residence homesteads of individuals who are disabled or elderly and their surviving spouses.
TX - HB1050 Relating to the procedure by which information required to be included in a notice of appraised value may be provided to a property owner by the chief appraiser of an appraisal district.
TX - HB1056 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of leased motor vehicles that are not held primarily for the production of income by the lessee.
TX - HB1058 Relating to the election of members of the boards of directors of certain tax increment reinvestment zones.
TX - HB1060 Relating to the authority of a property owner to request that notice of a protest hearing before the appraisal review board be delivered by certified mail or electronic mail.
TX - SB443 Relating to the period for which a property owner may receive a residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for property that is rendered uninhabitable or unusable as a result of a disaster.
TX - HB1062 Relating to the eligibility of the surviving spouse of an individual who is disabled to receive a limitation on the school district ad valorem taxes on the spouse's residence homestead.
TX - HB1068 Relating to strategies for railroad relocation and improvement, including a franchise tax credit for certain railroad reconstruction or replacement expenditures.
TX - HJR54 Proposing a constitutional amendment to allow the surviving spouse of a person who is disabled to receive a limitation on the school district ad valorem taxes on the spouse's residence homestead if the spouse is 55 years of age or older at the time of the person's death.
TX - SB449 Relating to testimony by an appraisal district employee as to the value of real property in certain ad valorem tax appeals.
TX - HB1077 Relating to public school finance, supporting public education funding through an increase in the state sales and use tax rate, and requiring a reduction in school district maintenance and operation ad valorem taxes; making an appropriation; increasing the rate of a tax.
TX - HB1081 Relating to the correction of an ad valorem tax appraisal roll and related appraisal records.
TX - HB1083 Relating to an exemption from the sales tax for certain beer or ale sold on July 4.
TX - HB1089 Relating to the classification of certain entities as primarily engaged in retail trade for purposes of the franchise tax.
TX - HB1102 Relating to a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that a school district may impose on certain residence homesteads following a substantial school tax increase.
TX - HJR56 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to limit the total amount of ad valorem taxes that a school district may impose on the residence homestead of an individual and the surviving spouse of the individual if the individual qualifies the property as the individual's residence homestead for 15 consecutive tax years and the school taxes on the property increase by at least 120 percent during that period.
TX - HB1144 Relating to sales and use taxes on e-cigarette vapor products to benefit the child health plan program; imposing taxes.
TX - HB1148 Relating to the rate at which interest accrues in connection with the deferral or abatement of the collection of ad valorem taxes on certain residence homesteads.
TX - HB1188 Relating to the appraisal of land for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land following a transfer between family members.
TX - HB1192 Relating to the amount deducted from certain distributions of local tax revenue as the state's share.
TX - HB1194 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district of certain property used to build low-income housing.
TX - HB1195 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HJR58 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation by one or more political subdivisions of this state property located near a public school or within a municipal management district that is owned for the purpose of building low-income housing.
TX - HB1197 Relating to the allocation of hotel occupancy tax revenue collected by certain municipalities.
TX - HB1201 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of real property owned by a charitable organization for the purpose of renting the property at below-market rates to low-income or moderate-income individuals or families.
TX - HB1213 Relating to the repeal of the additional ad valorem taxes imposed as a result of certain changes in the use of open-space land appraised as agricultural land.
TX - SB533 Relating to the severance tax exemption for oil and gas produced from certain inactive wells.
TX - HB1248 Relating to a credit or refund for diesel fuel taxes paid on diesel fuel used in this state by auxiliary power units or power take-off equipment.
TX - HB2 Relating to ad valorem taxation; authorizing fees.
TX - HB1254 Relating to the eligibility of land secured by a home equity loan to be designated for agricultural use for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - SB2 Relating to ad valorem taxation.
TX - HB1259 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB1265 Relating to the transfer of a limitation established by a county, municipality, or junior college district on the amount of ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homestead of an elderly or disabled person.
TX - HJR60 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the transfer of a limitation established by a county, city or town, or junior college district on the amount of ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homestead of an elderly or disabled person.
TX - SB579 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of certain property owned by the TexAmericas Center.
TX - HB1313 Relating to the authority of the chief appraiser of an appraisal district to increase the appraised value of property in the tax year following the year in which the appraised value of the property is lowered as a result of a protest or appeal.
TX - HB1333 Relating to the administration of the ad valorem tax system.
TX - HB1409 Relating to the qualification of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as timber land or restricted-use timber land.
TX - HB1414 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of property owned by a charitable organization that provides a meeting place and support services for organizations that provide assistance to alcoholics or their families.
TX - HB1444 Relating to the calculation of the ad valorem taxes imposed on real property on the basis of the lesser of the appraised value of the property or the average appraised value of the property over a specified time period.
TX - HJR65 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the assessment of ad valorem taxes on real property on the basis of the lesser of the appraised value of the property or the average appraised value of the property over a specified time period and authorizing exceptions to the assessment of those taxes based on that method.
TX - HB1484 Relating to the selection of the board of directors of an appraisal district; authorizing a fee.
TX - HB1485 Relating to the selection of the chief appraiser of an appraisal district; authorizing a fee.
TX - HB1486 Relating to the selection and administration of an appraisal review board; authorizing a fee.
TX - SB687 Relating to the use of information obtained by a person from the comptroller that relates to a taxpayer subject to an audit by the comptroller.
TX - HB1526 Relating to the treatment of a nursery stock weather protection unit as an implement of husbandry for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HB1534 Relating to the selection of the board of directors of an appraisal district; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
TX - HB1543 Relating to methods to enhance the enforcement of the collection of the use tax due on certain off-highway vehicles purchased outside this state; providing a civil penalty.
TX - HB1551 Relating to the selection of the chief appraiser of an appraisal district; authorizing a fee.
TX - HB1557 Relating to the authority of a municipality to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB1558 Relating to the severance tax exemption for oil and gas produced from certain inactive wells.
TX - HB1560 Relating to a tax on title insurance policies written by title insurance companies to fund housing programs and services; imposing a tax.
TX - HB1596 Relating to a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county, municipality, or junior college district of a portion of the appraised value of the income-producing tangible personal property owned by certain veteran-owned businesses during the businesses' initial period of operation in this state.
TX - HJR69 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county, municipality, or junior college district of a portion of the market value of income-producing tangible personal property owned by a veteran-owned business during the business's initial period of operation in this state.
TX - HB1606 Relating to a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county or municipality of a portion of the appraised value of real property of a business that provides, or pays for the provision of, certain services for honorably discharged veterans without cost.
TX - HJR70 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the governing body of a county or municipality to adopt a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion, expressed as a dollar amount, of the market value of real property of a business that provides, or pays for the provision of, certain services for honorably discharged veterans without cost.
TX - HB1607 Relating to a deduction under the franchise tax for certain contracts with the federal government.
TX - HB1633 Relating to the imposition and rate of the county hotel occupancy tax in certain counties; authorizing the imposition of a tax.
TX - HB1634 Relating to the imposition and rate of the county hotel occupancy tax in certain counties; authorizing the imposition of a tax.
TX - HB1652 Relating to the public resale by means of a public auction using online bidding and sale of property purchased by a taxing unit at an ad valorem tax sale.
TX - HB1703 Relating to the eligibility of a person to serve on the appraisal review board of an appraisal district.
TX - HB1704 Relating to the eligibility of a person for appointment as an arbitrator in a binding arbitration of an appraisal review board order.
TX - HB1707 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for certain feminine hygiene products.
TX - HB1726 Relating to an exemption from the motor vehicle sales and use tax for certain military service members serving on active duty.
TX - HB1727 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for United States flags and Texas state flags.
TX - HB1729 Relating to the amount of the discount allowed for prepayment of sales and use taxes.
TX - SB812 Relating to the application of the limit on appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem tax purposes to an improvement that is a replacement structure for a structure that was rendered uninhabitable or unusable by a casualty or by wind or water damage.
TX - HB1743 Relating to the additional ad valorem tax and interest imposed as a result of a change of use of certain land.
TX - HB1745 Relating to the authority of a property owner to bring suit to compel an appraisal district, chief appraiser, or appraisal review board to comply with a procedural requirement applicable to an ad valorem tax protest.
TX - HB1802 Relating to a request for binding arbitration of certain appraisal review board orders.
TX - HB1813 Relating to the use of tax revenue by certain municipalities for the payment of certain hotel-related bonds or other obligations.
TX - HB1815 Relating to the deadline for filing an application for an allocation of the value of certain property for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HB1816 Relating to ad valorem tax protests and appeals on the ground of the unequal appraisal of property.
TX - HB1841 Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of a housing unit that the owner or a predecessor of the owner acquired from a community land trust.
TX - HB1842 Relating to the application of the limit on appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem tax purposes to an improvement that is a replacement structure for a structure that was rendered uninhabitable or unusable by a casualty or by wind or water damage.
TX - HB1875 Relating to the times and dates of meetings of the boards of directors of certain political subdivisions.
TX - HB1882 Relating to a request for binding arbitration to appeal appraisal review board orders involving two or more contiguous tracts of land.
TX - HB1883 Relating to deferred payment of ad valorem taxes for certain persons serving in the United States armed forces.
TX - HB1885 Relating to the waiver of penalties and interest if an error by a mortgagee results in failure to pay an ad valorem tax.
TX - HB1923 Relating to the exemption from the franchise tax and certain filing fees for certain businesses owned by veterans during an initial period of operation in the state.
TX - HB1937 Relating to a franchise or insurance tax credit for certain low-income housing developments.
TX - HB1965 Relating to the sales and use tax exemption for certain amusement services.
TX - HB1970 Relating to the additional tax imposed on land appraised for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land if a change in use of the land occurs.
TX - HB1977 Relating to a requirement that a fiscal impact statement be provided before a taxing unit may enter into a tax abatement agreement.
TX - HB1978 Relating to the repeal of the additional ad valorem taxes imposed as a result of certain changes in the use of agricultural or open-space land.
TX - HB1525 Relating to the administration and collection of sales and use taxes applicable to sales involving marketplace providers.
TX - HB2008 Relating to the establishment of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that taxing units may impose on the residence homesteads of individuals who are disabled or elderly and their surviving spouses.
TX - HJR77 Proposing a constitutional amendment establishing a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that political subdivisions may impose on the residence homesteads of individuals who are disabled or elderly and their surviving spouses.
TX - HB2040 Relating to the exclusion from total revenue for purposes of the franchise tax of payments received from certain insurance organizations.
TX - HB2066 Relating to the sales and use tax exemption for the repair, remodeling, or maintenance of aircraft.
TX - SB925 Relating to calculation of daily production for purposes of the oil and gas production tax credits for low-producing wells and leases.
TX - HB2111 Relating to the period for which a school district's participation in certain tax increment financing reinvestment zones may be taken into account in determining the total taxable value of property in the school district.
TX - HB2115 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for firearm safety equipment.
TX - HB2121 Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of real property that includes improvements used for the noncommercial production of food for personal consumption.
TX - HB2124 Relating to the treatment for ad valorem tax purposes of property that was erroneously omitted from an appraisal roll in a previous year.
TX - HB2129 Relating to the extension of the expiration of certain parts of the Texas Economic Development Act.
TX - HB2153 Relating to a single local use tax rate as an alternative to combined local use tax rates for computing the amount of local use taxes remote sellers are required to collect and to the allocation of tax revenue collected at that rate.
TX - HB2159 Relating to the correction of an ad valorem tax appraisal roll.
TX - HB2160 Relating to the qualification of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land.
TX - HB2179 Relating to the grounds for imposing certain sanctions on certain persons for engaging in certain conduct in connection with the appointment of members of or the functions of appraisal review boards.
TX - HB2180 Relating to the eligibility of a person to serve on the board of directors of an appraisal district.
TX - HB2182 Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of real property that includes improvements used for the noncommercial production of food for personal consumption.
TX - HB2199 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - SB955 Relating to the matters that a taxing unit is entitled to challenge before an appraisal review board.
TX - SB956 Relating to the correction of an ad valorem tax appraisal roll and related appraisal records.
TX - HB2220 Relating to testimony by an appraisal district employee as to the value of real property in certain ad valorem tax appeals.
TX - HB2254 Relating to a study by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute on the collection of road use fees from owners of alternatively fueled vehicles.
TX - HB2256 Relating to procedures for tax auditing, determining amounts of overpayments, and obtaining reimbursements of overpayments of gas production taxes.
TX - HB2257 Relating to the authority of an appraisal review board to direct changes in the appraisal roll for a prior year.
TX - SB1006 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of income-producing tangible personal property having a value of less than a certain amount.
TX - HB2272 Relating to the county hotel occupancy tax rate in certain counties.
TX - SB1013 Relating to the calculation of the penalty for filing a late application for certain ad valorem tax exemptions and allocations.
TX - HB2293 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB2338 Relating to the exemption from the taxes imposed on the sale, use, or rental of a motor vehicle for certain motor vehicles used for religious purposes.
TX - HB2358 Relating to the payment of certain sales and use taxes by a retailer.
TX - HB2394 Relating to the expiration of the municipal sales and use tax for street maintenance in certain municipalities.
TX - HB2395 Relating to the treatment of a replacement structure for a structure that was rendered uninhabitable or unusable by a casualty or by wind or water damage as a new improvement for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HB2397 Relating to a sales and use tax refund and franchise tax credit for certain businesses that make investments in qualified opportunity zones.
TX - SJR47 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.
TX - HB2407 Relating to the authority of a municipality to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB2431 Relating to the authority of the commissioners court of a county to impose an additional vehicle registration fee and the effect of the fee on county ad valorem tax rates.
TX - HB2438 Relating to the extension of the expiration date of certain statutes authorizing ad valorem tax incentives for economic development.
TX - HB2441 Relating to the entitlement of a person who is disabled and elderly to receive a disabled residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation from one taxing unit and an elderly exemption from another taxing unit.
TX - HB2455 Relating to the limitation of certain special district tax on the homesteads of the disabled and elderly.
TX - HB2456 Relating to a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of the residence homesteads of certain volunteer first responders.
TX - HJR89 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of the residence homesteads of certain volunteer first responders.
TX - HB2460 Relating to providing a sales and use tax refund or franchise tax credit for businesses that employ former offenders.
TX - HB2480 Relating to a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed by a taxing unit on the residence homestead of a lower-income individual that is located in a homestead preservation district.
TX - HJR90 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the governing body of a political subdivision to limit the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed by the political subdivision on the residence homestead of certain lower-income individuals.
TX - HB2543 Relating to exempting textbooks purchased, used, or consumed by certain students from the sales and use tax.
TX - HB2545 Relating to franchise tax, oil production tax, and gas production tax incentives for certain desalination facility operations.
TX - HB2574 Relating to the administration of the ad valorem tax system; authorizing a fee.
TX - HB2611 Relating to the treatment of certain limited liability companies as passive entities for purposes of the franchise tax.
TX - SB1214 Relating to the sales and use tax exemption for certain aircraft.
TX - HB2647 Relating to the allocation of certain state hotel occupancy tax revenue.
TX - HB2650 Relating to the procedure for the sale by auction of real property pursuant to foreclosure of a tax lien.
TX - HB2666 Relating to the sales and use tax exemption for certain aircraft.
TX - HB2684 Relating to an exemption from the sales tax for items sold by a nonprofit organization at a county fair.
TX - SB1253 Relating to a public database maintained by the comptroller of information about certain political subdivisions.
TX - HB2695 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of a residence homestead based on the average appraised value of all qualified residence homesteads located in the same county.
TX - HB2702 Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of certain property that was erroneously omitted from an appraisal roll in a previous year.
TX - HJR93 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the assessed value of a residence homestead based on the average assessed value of all qualified residence homesteads that are located in the same county as the homestead.
TX - HB2719 Relating to the election of the board of directors of an appraisal district.
TX - HB2750 Relating to the selection of the board of directors of an appraisal district; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
TX - HB2759 Relating to the decrease of the rates of the franchise tax under certain circumstances and the expiration of that tax.
TX - SB1307 Relating to the use of hotel occupancy tax revenue by certain municipalities.
TX - HB2770 Relating to the payment in installments of ad valorem taxes on a residence homestead.
TX - SB1319 Relating to an annual report submitted to the comptroller by a county that imposes certain hotel occupancy taxes.
TX - HB2788 Relating to the use of hotel occupancy tax revenue by certain municipalities, including the authority to pledge certain revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB2799 Relating to economic development.
TX - HB2804 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of tangible personal property consisting of certain food products held by the owner of the property for sale at retail.
TX - HJR94 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation tangible personal property consisting of food or food products held by the owner of the property for sale at retail.
TX - HB2849 Relating to the imposition of a sales tax on ammunition, firearms, and firearms accessories to provide funding for a grant program for mental health services.
TX - HB2859 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of precious metal held in a precious metal depository located in this state.
TX - HJR95 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation precious metal held in a precious metal depository located in this state.
TX - HB2864 Relating to the E-Z computation of the franchise tax.
TX - HB2872 Relating to the collection, remittance, and administration of certain taxes on motor vehicles rented through a marketplace rental provider.
TX - HB2915 Relating to state and local taxes and fees.
TX - SB1393 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HB2958 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of certain property owned by the TexAmericas Center.
TX - HB2959 Relating to the authority of certain counties to impose a hotel occupancy tax.
TX - HB2993 Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of certain nonexempt property used for low-income or moderate-income housing.
TX - HB2995 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for educational materials purchased by a teacher.
TX - HB2996 Relating to the eligibility of land located in a residential subdivision for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land.
TX - HB3006 Relating to the administration of the mixed beverage sales tax.
TX - HB3036 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB3067 Relating to an oil and gas production tax credit for oil and gas producers that provide produced water for recycling.
TX - HB3072 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB3086 Relating to the sales and use tax exemption for property used in the production of motion picture, video, or audio recordings and broadcasts.
TX - SB1467 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HB3098 Relating to ad valorem taxation.
TX - HJR102 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the appraisal of certain real property for ad valorem tax purposes based on its purchase price, exempting all tangible personal property in this state from ad valorem taxation, and authorizing the legislature to permit legislators to appoint members of the board of equalization for an appraisal entity.
TX - HB3113 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB3118 Relating to the titling of certain off-highway vehicles purchased outside this state.
TX - HB3127 Relating to the maximum amount of the local option residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation by a taxing unit.
TX - HB3143 Relating to the Property Redevelopment and Tax Abatement Act.
TX - HJR103 Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring certain tax bills to be approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house of the legislature.
TX - HB3160 Relating to an election in certain municipalities to convert all or a portion of a sales and use tax originally adopted for the purpose of sports and community venues to a sales and use tax for economic development purposes.
TX - HB3168 Relating to the applicability of the prohibition on certain ad valorem tax incentives relating to wind-powered energy devices located near a military aviation facility.
TX - HB3197 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HB3208 Relating to providing a sales and use tax refund or franchise tax credit for businesses that employ persons with disabilities.
TX - HB3225 Relating to the penalty for failing to file or failing to timely file a Dealer's Motor Vehicle Inventory Tax Statement.
TX - HB3234 Relating to the deferral or abatement of the collection of ad valorem taxes on an appreciating residence homestead.
TX - HB3241 Relating to the system for appraising property for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HB3243 Relating to the payment of certain ad valorem tax refunds.
TX - HB3253 Relating to a study regarding ad valorem tax relief through the use of a circuit breaker program.
TX - HB3255 Relating to a county sales and use tax in certain counties for transportation improvement projects; authorizing the imposition of a tax.
TX - HB3256 Relating to the eligibility of an individual to be an employee of an appraisal district or to serve on the board of directors of an appraisal district.
TX - HB3258 Relating to an authorization to increase the sales and use tax collected in an advanced transportation district of a metropolitan rapid transit authority.
TX - HB3275 Relating to the repeal of the exemption from the severance tax for flared or vented gas.
TX - HB3298 Relating to a periodic review and expiration dates of state and local tax preferences.
TX - HJR106 Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring the periodic review of state and local tax preferences and the expiration of certain tax preferences if not reauthorized by law.
TX - HB3348 Relating to the eligibility of land on which the Texas Animal Health Commission has established a temporary quarantine for ticks for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as agricultural or open-space land.
TX - HB3355 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB3356 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HB3358 Relating to the repeal of the additional ad valorem taxes imposed as a result of certain changes in the use of certain land.
TX - HB3363 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB3364 Relating to sales and use taxes on electronic nicotine delivery system vapor products; imposing taxes.
TX - HJR107 Proposing a constitutional amendment repealing the provision that subjects land designated for agricultural use to an additional tax when the land is diverted to a purpose other than agricultural use or sold.
TX - HB3380 Relating to the inclusion of certain public safety facilities in a tax increment financing reinvestment zone and the making of improvements to public safety infrastructure in a zone.
TX - HB3384 Relating to the authority of the comptroller to conduct a limited-scope review of an appraisal district located in an area declared by the governor to be a disaster area.
TX - HB3386 Relating to the sales and use tax exemption for certain amusement services.
TX - HB3413 Relating to the application of the franchise tax to and computation of franchise tax owed by certain entities that hold precious metals.
TX - HB3423 Relating to ad valorem and franchise tax credits for donations to school districts to create or support career and technical education programs or courses.
TX - HB3427 Relating to an increase in the state sales and use tax rate for the purpose of reducing school district maintenance and operations ad valorem taxes; increasing the rate of a tax.
TX - HJR109 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a credit against ad valorem taxes imposed by a school district on the property owned by a business entity that donates money to the district to create or support career and technical education programs or courses.
TX - HB3437 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB3443 Relating to the rate of interest on certain tax refunds.
TX - HJR110 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide that the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem tax purposes is the market value of the property for the first year that the owner qualified the property for a homestead exemption or, if the owner purchased the property, the purchase price of the property.
TX - HB3475 Relating to the administration, collection, and remittance of the cigars and tobacco products tax; requiring a permit.
TX - HJR111 Proposing a constitutional amendment providing that a residence homestead is not subject to seizure or sale for delinquent ad valorem taxes.
TX - HB3491 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for taxable items used to assist persons with an intellectual or developmental disability.
TX - HB3493 Relating to a requirement that a purchaser of commercial real property disclose the sales price of the property to the appraisal district and to the use of that information by the appraisal district; creating a criminal offense.
TX - HB3497 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB3520 Relating to the calculation of the penalty for filing a late application for certain ad valorem tax exemptions and allocations.
TX - HB3579 Relating to the calculation, collection, and remittance of state hotel occupancy taxes.
TX - SB1772 Relating to a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.
TX - SJR57 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.
TX - HB3717 Relating to an oil and gas production tax credit for oil and gas producers that provide treated produced water to aquifer storage and recovery project operators.
TX - HB3754 Relating to the collection of local permit and license fees authorized under the Alcoholic Beverage Code; authorizing a fee.
TX - HB3764 Relating to the period for redeeming the residence homestead of an elderly person sold at an ad valorem tax sale.
TX - HB3779 Relating to the collection of state, municipal, and county hotel occupancy taxes by a short-term rental marketplace.
TX - HJR116 Proposing a constitutional amendment to lengthen the period for redeeming the residence homestead of an elderly person sold at an ad valorem tax sale.
TX - HB3787 Relating to the application of the sales and use tax to certain property and services.
TX - HB3793 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district for maintenance and operations purposes of the total appraised value of a residence homestead and the offsetting of the resulting revenue loss to school districts with state sales and use tax revenue.
TX - HB3796 Relating to reducing the limitation on the maximum amount of gross receipts taxes collected for combative sports events.
TX - HJR118 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation by a school district for maintenance and operations purposes all or part of the appraised value of a residence homestead and to use state money to offset the resulting revenue loss to school districts.
TX - HB3822 Relating to the calculation of the ad valorem taxes imposed on property for the year in which the property is acquired by a governmental entity.
TX - HB3823 Relating to a paid family care leave incentive for certain employers.
TX - HB3829 Relating to the adjustment of the limitation on the amount of ad valorem taxes imposed by a school district on the residence homestead of an elderly or disabled person if the school district adopts, changes the amount of, or rescinds a local option residence homestead exemption.
TX - HB3844 Relating to the period for which certain property acquired by a charitable organization to provide low-income housing may be exempted from ad valorem taxation.
TX - HJR120 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the adjustment of the limitation on the amount of ad valorem taxes imposed by a school district on the residence homestead of an elderly or disabled person if the school district adopts, changes the amount of, or rescinds a local option residence homestead exemption.
TX - HB3864 Relating to the expenditure of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue allocated by certain municipalities for certain purposes.
TX - HB3865 Relating to calculation of daily production for purposes of the oil and gas production tax credits for low-producing wells and leases.
TX - HB3866 Relating to a franchise tax credit based on the ad valorem taxes paid by a taxable entity on certain inventory.
TX - HB3868 Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of tangible personal property held for sale at retail and a franchise tax credit based on the ad valorem taxes paid on such property.
TX - HB3869 Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of tangible personal property held for sale at retail.
TX - HB3870 Relating to a franchise tax credit for ad valorem taxes paid by a taxable entity on certain inventory.
TX - HB3917 Relating to the collection of delinquent ad valorem taxes.
TX - HB3947 Relating to the authority of certain special purpose districts to use hotel occupancy tax revenue.
TX - HB3954 Relating to motor fuel taxes applicable to gasoline and diesel fuel within the bulk transfer system.
TX - HB3959 Relating to a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district of the total appraised value of the residence homesteads of certain elderly or disabled persons.
TX - HB3968 Relating to a periodic review and expiration dates of state and local tax preferences.
TX - HB4012 Relating to the procedure for qualifying for the exemption from ad valorem taxation of pollution control property.
TX - HB4013 Relating to sales and use taxes on e-cigarettes and vapor products; imposing taxes; providing an administrative penalty; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
TX - HJR125 Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring the periodic review of state and local tax preferences and providing an expiration date for certain tax preferences.
TX - HJR126 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district of the total market value of the residence homesteads of certain elderly or disabled persons.
TX - HB4032 Relating to the permitting and taxation of certain boats and boat motors; imposing a fee.
TX - HB4042 Relating to the municipal hotel occupancy tax.
TX - HB4043 Relating to a temporary exemption from the requirements regarding voter approval of a proposed ad valorem tax rate that exceeds a taxing unit's rollback tax rate following a disaster.
TX - HB4072 Relating to the dissolution of the municipal sales and use tax for street maintenance.
TX - HB4092 Relating to the maximum amount of the local option residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district and the effect of such exemptions on the provision of funding under the foundation school program.
TX - HB4102 Relating to the use of tax revenue by certain municipalities for the payment of certain hotel-related bonds or other obligations.
TX - HB4108 Relating to the required payment of taxes by an owner of a property used for nuclear electric power generation who appeals certain ad valorem tax determinations.
TX - HB4135 Relating to the effect of certain residential structures on a residence homestead exemption for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HB4139 Relating to the authority of the governing body of a taxing unit to adopt an exemption from ad valorem taxation of an individual's residence homestead.
TX - HJR127 Proposing a constitutional amendment to increase the maximum amount of the local option residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district.
TX - HJR129 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the governing body of a political subdivision that adopts an exemption from ad valorem taxation of a percentage of the market value of an individual's residence homestead to set the minimum dollar amount of the exemption to which an individual is entitled in a tax year.
TX - SB2137 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue by certain municipalities.
TX - HB4152 Relating to use of hotel occupancy tax be certain counties.
TX - HB4158 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HB4180 Relating to the applicability of the prohibition on certain ad valorem tax incentives relating to wind-powered energy devices located near a military aviation facility.
TX - HB4184 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of a percentage of the appraised value of the residence homestead of a partially disabled veteran and the amount of the exemption for the surviving spouses and children of certain disabled veterans.
TX - HB4194 Relating to the interest rate on a refund of ad valorem taxes made following the final determination of an appeal that decreases a property owner's tax liability.
TX - HB4198 Relating to the exclusion from total revenue of certain payments made by a performing rights society for purposes of computing the franchise tax.
TX - HJR131 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation a percentage of the assessed value of the residence homestead of a partially disabled veteran based on the disability rating of the veteran.
TX - HB4201 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to hotel projects.
TX - HB4203 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue by certain municipalities.
TX - HB4217 Relating to increasing the rates of the state gasoline and diesel fuel taxes.
TX - HB4225 Relating to a franchise tax credit for investment in certain communities; authorizing a fee.
TX - HB4228 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HB4253 Relating to the eligibility of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land on the basis of its use for wildlife management.
TX - HB4281 Relating to a county motor fuels tax in certain counties for mobility improvement projects; providing authority to impose the tax, issue bonds, and impose penalties.
TX - HB4295 Relating to default under a deed of trust or contract lien on certain residential property for the delinquent payment of ad valorem taxes.
TX - HB4305 Relating to the use of hotel occupancy tax revenue by certain counties.
TX - HB4326 Relating to imposing a local fee on the sale or lease of a new luxury motor vehicle in certain areas.
TX - HB4329 Relating to the limitation on increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation.
TX - HB4338 Relating to a limitation on increases in the appraised value for ad valorem tax purposes of commercial real property.
TX - HB4347 Relating to the use of certain tax revenue by certain municipalities for the payment of job training programs and the development of hotel and convention center projects.
TX - HJR134 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to set a lower limit on the maximum appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation.
TX - HJR136 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to limit increases in the appraised value of commercial real property for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - SB2208 Relating to the use of hotel occupancy tax revenue by certain counties.
TX - HB4352 Relating to an increase in the amount of the exemption of residence homesteads from ad valorem taxation by a school district, a reduction in the amount of the limitation on school district ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled to reflect the increased exemption amount, and the protection of school districts against the resulting loss in local revenue.
TX - HB4353 Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of income-producing tangible personal property having a value of less than a certain amount.
TX - HB4355 Relating to the correction of an ad valorem tax appraisal roll and related appraisal records.
TX - HB4356 Relating to the matters that a taxing unit is entitled to challenge before an appraisal review board.
TX - HB4363 Relating to an increase in the state sales and use tax rate for the purpose of reducing school district maintenance and operations ad valorem taxes and a study of additional changes to the rate and application of the state sales and use tax for that same purpose; increasing the rate of a tax.
TX - HB4366 Relating to a sales and use tax exemption for school supplies purchased by certain teachers for a limited period.
TX - HB4367 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the residence homesteads of certain disabled first responders and their surviving spouses.
TX - HB4373 Relating to the limitation on the amount of supplemental payments that a person may agree to provide to a school district or any other entity on behalf of a school district under the Texas Economic Development Act.
TX - HB4376 Relating to the temporary exemption of certain tangible personal property related to certain colocation data centers from the sales and use tax.
TX - HB4377 Relating to the authority of certain special purpose districts to use hotel occupancy tax revenue.
TX - HB4387 Relating to the applicability of sales and use taxes to unprocessed sand, dirt, and gravel and the use of certain state revenue derived from those taxes for county road maintenance.
TX - HJR137 Proposing a constitutional amendment to increase the amount of the exemption of residence homesteads from ad valorem taxation by a school district and to reduce the amount of the limitation on school district ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled to reflect the increased exemption amount.
TX - HJR139 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homesteads of certain disabled first responders and their surviving spouses.
TX - HB4425 Relating to the exemption for depreciable tangible personal property used in qualified research from the sales and use tax and the tax credit for certain research and development credit activities for franchise tax purposes.
TX - HB4433 Relating to a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.
TX - HJR142 Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.
TX - HB4482 Relating to the periodic evaluation of certain exemptions from property taxes and state taxes and the application of the sunset review process to those exemptions.
TX - HB4488 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the portion of the appraised value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of certain water conservation systems.
TX - HB4494 Relating to the limitation on increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem tax purposes.
TX - HJR146 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation the portion of the assessed value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of a rainwater harvesting or graywater system.
TX - HB4524 Relating to the authority of certain municipalities to pledge certain tax revenue for the payment of obligations related to multipurpose convention center facility projects.
TX - HB4528 Relating to the ad valorem taxation of a leasehold or other possessory interest in certain property owned by a municipality.
TX - HB4542 Relating to reports by persons involved in the manufacture and distribution of alcoholic beverages for purposes of sales and use taxes.
TX - HB4581 Relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue in certain municipalities.
TX - HB4614 Relating to the administration, collection, and remittance of the cigarette tax; requiring a permit.
TX - HB4617 Relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of certain dealer's heavy equipment inventory.
TX - HB4621 Relating to the imposition of sales and use taxes and the allocation of certain revenue from sales and use taxes to school district property tax relief and public education; authorizing the imposition of a tax.
TX - HJR3 Proposing a constitutional amendment to provide funding for the cost of maintaining and operating the public school system and to reduce school district ad valorem tax rates through an increase in the state sales and use tax rate.
TX - HB4756 Relating to authorizing the increase or decrease of the rates of the gasoline and diesel fuel taxes based on the cost of certain highway projects. | 2019-04-26T07:06:58Z | https://trackbill.com/committee/texas-house-ways-and-means/601-3572/ |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definition of accelerated filer, large accelerated filer, smaller reporting company and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
As of June 30, 2018, the aggregate market value of the registrants common stock, $.20 par value, held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $104,737,263 based on the closing sale price as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market for such date (the exchange on which the registrants common stock was listed on June 30, 2018).
Portions of Citizens Holding Companys Annual Report to Shareholders for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 are incorporated by reference into Part II of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Portions of Citizens Holding Companys Definitive Proxy Statement with respect to its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements subsequent to the date on which they are made. Please also refer to Item 1A, Risk Factors, for a detailed discussion of the risks related to the Company, the Bank in particular, and the banking industry generally.
The Company is a one-bank holding company incorporated under the laws of the State of Mississippi on February 16, 1982. The Company is the sole shareholder of The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia (the Bank). The Company does not have any subsidiaries other than the Bank. The Company, we, or our, as used herein, includes the Bank, unless the context otherwise requires.
The Bank was opened on February 8, 1908 as The First National Bank of Philadelphia. In 1917, the Bank surrendered its national charter and obtained a state charter, at which time the name of the Bank was changed to The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia, Mississippi. At December 31, 2018, the Bank was the largest bank headquartered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, with total assets of $958.630 million and total deposits of $756.222 million. For more information regarding the assets, revenue and profits of the Company, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company contained in Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. The Companys only reportable segment is the assets and cash flow of the Bank, resulting in revenues of $40,106,707, operating profit of $7,011,807 and total assets of $975,454,918 for the Company as of December 31, 2018.
Through its ownership of the Bank, the Company engages in a wide range of commercial and personal banking activities, including accepting demand deposits, savings and time deposit accounts, making secured and unsecured loans, issuing letters of credit, originating mortgage loans, and providing personal and corporate trust services. The Company also provides certain services that are closely related to commercial banking such as credit life insurance and title insurance for its loan customers.
Revenues from the Companys lending activities constitute the largest component of the Companys operating revenues. Revenue from loan interest and fees made up 50.7% of gross revenues in 2018, 48.3% in 2017 and 50.2% in 2016. Loan demand has improved, loan yields are gradually increasing and the investment portfolio is decreasing, all of which has contributed to this percentage increasing from 2017. The increase in lending has been distributed among the Banks leading products, including commercial, real estate, installment (direct and indirect) and credit card loans. The Companys primary lending area is East Central and South Mississippi, specifically Neshoba, Newton, Leake, Lamar, Forrest, Scott, Attala, Lauderdale, Oktibbeha, Lafayette, Rankin, Harrison, Jackson, Winston and Kemper counties and contiguous counties. In 2008, the Company entered the southern Mississippi market with the opening of a branch office in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which is located in Lamar County. In 2009, the Company opened a Loan Production Office (LPO) in Biloxi, Mississippi to serve the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in April 2014 converted this office to a full service branch and at the same time opened another branch in Biloxi. In 2011, the Company opened a branch in Flowood, Mississippi. In December 2016, the Company opened a LPO in Oxford, Mississippi to offer commercial loans to the people in North Mississippi. On a very limited basis, the Company extends out-of-area credit to borrowers who are considered to be low risk, as defined within the Banks lending policy. The Company is not dependent upon any single customer or small group of customers, and it has no foreign operations.
The Companys market area is mainly rural, with Hattiesburg, population 50,233, Biloxi, population 50,644, and Meridian, population 38,314, being the largest markets. Agriculture and some light industry comprise a significant portion of the economy of this area. The largest employer in the Companys service area is the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Its schools, manufacturing plants and The Pearl River Resort (the Resort) generate a significant number of jobs in the area. The Resort and its related services employ approximately 2,400 people within the Companys market. For more information regarding revenue from external customers for the last three fiscal years, attributed by geographic region, please refer to Item 7, Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, which is included in the Companys Annual Report and attached as an exhibit hereto.
The Company has historically made, and intends to continue to make, most types of real estate loans, including, but not limited to, single and multi-family housing, farm, residential and commercial construction, and commercial real estate loans. At December 31, 2018, approximately 81.1% of the Companys loan portfolio was attributed to real estate lending, 15.6% of the Companys loan portfolio was comprised of commercial, industrial and agricultural production loans, and consumer loans made up the remaining 3.3% of the Companys total loan portfolio.
The Companys loan personnel have the authority to extend credit under guidelines established and approved by the Companys Board of Directors. Any aggregate credit that exceeds the authority of the loan officer is forwarded to the Boards loan committee for approval. The loan committee is composed of certain independent Company directors. All aggregate credits that exceed the loan committees lending authority are presented to the Board of Directors for ultimate approval or denial. The loan committee not only acts as an approval body to ensure consistent application of the Companys loan policies, but also provides valuable insight through the communication and pooling of knowledge, judgment and experience of its members.
All loans in the Companys portfolio are subject to risk based on the state of both the local and national economy. As our footprint expands, the Companys portfolio risks are more closely aligned with the state economy. The state economy remains strong with 2018 being one of the best in recent years. The state economy is expected to slow down some but still projected to see growth over the next couple of years. The national economy remains strong but is seeing signs of slowing. It is still uncertain how the slowing economies on the local, state and national levels will affect the Company in the future.
The Company continues to invest in technology as we understand it is necessary to compete in todays market. The Company has the technology for consumers to perform many of the routine, transaction-related items through its online and mobile platforms. Additionally, the Company continues to build out a robust treasury management suite of products for business banking such as remote deposit capture, ACH transactions and wire transfers. The Company is evolving with the market to ensure we continue to offer a great customer experience that they have come to expect from the Company.
Greg L. McKee, 57, has been employed by the Bank since 1984. He was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank in January 2003. He has served as President of the Bank since January 2002 and served as Chief Operating Officer of the Bank from January 2002 until December 31, 2002. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of both the Company and the Bank since 2001. Mr. McKee served as Executive Vice-President of the Bank from 2001 to 2002, Senior Vice-President of the Bank from 2000 to 2001, Vice-President of the Bank from 1992 to 2000, Assistant Vice-President of the Bank from 1989 to 1992, and Assistant Cashier of the Bank from 1984 to 1989.
Robert T. Smith, 67, has been employed by the Bank since 1986. He has served as Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of the Bank since January 2001. Prior to January 2001, Mr. Smith held the title of Vice-President and Controller of the Bank from 1987 until 2001 and Assistant Vice-President of the Bank from 1986 to 1987. In addition to his position with the Bank, Mr. Smith has served as Treasurer of the Company since February 1996 and Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer since January 2001.
The Company has no employees other than three Bank officers who provide services to the Company. These officers receive no compensation from the Company for their services to it as their compensation is paid by the Bank. At December 31, 2018, the Bank employed 235 full-time employees and 24 part-time employees. The Bank is not a party to any collective bargaining agreements, and employee relations are considered to be good.
The Bank is chartered under the banking laws of the State of Mississippi and is subject to the supervision of, and is regularly examined by, the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Company is a registered bank holding company within the meaning of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the BHC Act), and is subject to the supervision of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB). Certain legislation and regulations affecting the businesses of the Company and the Bank are discussed below.
The current regulatory environment for financial institutions includes substantial enforcement activity by the federal and state banking agencies, and other state and federal law enforcement agencies, reflecting an increase in activity over prior years. This environment entails significant increases in compliance requirements and associated costs. The FRB requires the Company to maintain certain levels of capital and to file an annual report with the FRB. The FRB also has the authority to conduct examinations of the Company and the Bank and to take enforcement action against any bank holding company that engages in any unsafe or unsound practice or that violates certain laws, regulations, or conditions imposed in writing by the FRB.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as amended, (Dodd-Frank Act) made extensive changes in the regulation of financial institutions. There are many provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act mandating regulators to adopt new regulations and conduct studies upon which future regulation may be based, a number of which still have not been implemented. It is anticipated that these rules and enforcement by the Banks regulators will continue to evolve through regulatory amendments, informal interpretations, and enhanced enforcement in the future. Congress and the President have announced proposed reforms and changes to the Dodd-Frank Act, and it is uncertain how the Dodd-Frank Act provisions may be modified or the ultimate impact any such modifications may have to our business operations.
In November 2017, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman, introduced the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (the Economic Growth Act). The Economic Growth Act, signed into law on May 24, 2018, provides relief from certain regulatory requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act. Generally, the Economic Growth Act addressed the following areas: the threshold at which banks are classified as systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs), and therefore subject to stricter oversight; targeted relief from Dodd-Frank Act requirements for smaller banks; capital formation; mortgage lending; student borrower debt and provisions addressing veterans, consumers and homeowners. While we expect the Economic Growth Act to have an overall positive impact on our business going forward, we continue to evaluate its impact on our business and that impact remains uncertain.
The FRB, FDIC and other federal banking agencies have established risk-based capital adequacy guidelines. These guidelines are intended to provide a measure of a banks capital adequacy that reflects the degree of risk associated with a banks operations.
A banking organizations risk-based capital ratios are obtained by dividing its qualifying capital by its total risk-adjusted assets and off-balance sheet items. Since December 31, 1992, the federal banking agencies have required a minimum ratio of qualifying total capital to risk-adjusted assets and off-balance sheet items of 8%, and a minimum ratio of Tier 1 capital to risk-adjusted assets and off-balance sheet items of 4%. At December 31, 2018, the Companys ratio of qualifying total capital to risk-adjusted assets and off-balance sheet items was 18.02%, and its ratio of Tier 1 capital to risk-adjusted assets and off-balance sheet items was 17.40%.
In addition to the risk-based guidelines, federal banking regulators require banking organizations to maintain a minimum amount of Tier 1 capital to total assets, referred to as the leverage ratio. For a banking organization rated in the highest of the five categories used by regulators to rate banking organizations, the minimum leverage ratio of Tier 1 capital to total assets is 4%. The Companys leverage ratio at December 31, 2018 was 9.93%.
reforms; and (2) the standardized approach of Basel II for non-core banks and bank holding companies, such as the Bank and the Company. The capital framework under Basel III will replace the existing regulatory capital rules for all banks, savings associations and U.S. bank holding companies with greater than $500 million in total assets, and all savings and loan holding companies.
Maintain the minimum total risk-based capital ratio at 8%.
In addition, the Basel III rules will subject a banking organization to certain limitations on capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments to executive officers if the organization does not maintain a capital conservation buffer of common equity Tier 1 capital in an amount greater than 2.5% of its total risk-weighted assets. The capital conservation buffer increases the minimum common equity Tier 1 capital ratio to 7%, the minimum Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio to 8.5% and the minimum total risk-based capital ratio to 10.5% for banking organizations seeking to avoid the limitations on capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments to executive officers.
The Basel III rules also changed the capital categories for insured depository institutions for purposes of prompt corrective action. Under the rules, to be well capitalized, an insured depository institution must maintain a minimum common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6.5%, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of at least 8%, a total risk-based capital ratio of at least 10.0%, and a leverage capital ratio of at least 5%. In addition, the Basel III rules established more conservative standards for including an instrument in regulatory capital and imposed certain deductions from and adjustments to the measure of common equity Tier 1 capital.
Management believes that, as of December 31, 2018, the Company and the Bank met all capital adequacy requirements under Basel III. Management will continue to monitor these and any future proposals submitted by the Companys and Banks regulators.
Prompt Corrective Action and Other Enforcement Mechanisms.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991, as amended (FDICIA) requires each federal banking agency to take prompt corrective action to resolve the problems of insured depository institutions, including, but not limited to, those that fall below one or more of the prescribed minimum capital ratios. The law requires each federal banking agency to promulgate regulations defining the following five categories in which an insured depository institution will be placed, based on the level of its capital ratios: well capitalized; adequately capitalized; undercapitalized; significantly undercapitalized; and critically undercapitalized. The Company and the Bank are classified as well capitalized under the guidelines promulgated by the FRB and the FDIC.
FDICIA also implemented certain specific restrictions on transactions and required the regulators to adopt overall safety and soundness standards for depository institutions related to internal control, loan underwriting and documentation, and asset growth. Among other things, FDICIA limits the interest rates paid on deposits by undercapitalized institutions, the use of brokered deposits and the aggregate extension of credit by a depository institution to an executive officer, director, principal shareholder or related interest, and reduces deposit insurance coverage for deposits offered by undercapitalized institutions and for deposits by certain employee benefits accounts.
Restrictions on Dividends and Other Distributions.
The Companys ability to pay dividends depends in large part on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends to the Company. The power of the board of directors of an insured depository institution to declare a cash dividend or other distribution with respect to capital is subject to federal statutory and regulatory restrictions, which limit the amount available for such distribution depending upon the earnings, financial condition and cash needs of the institution, as well as general business conditions.
The approval of the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance is also required prior to the Bank paying dividends. The departments regulations limit dividends to earned surplus in excess of three times the Banks capital stock. At December 31, 2018, the maximum amount available for transfer from the Bank to the Company in the form of a dividend was approximately $81.5 million, or 99.3% of the Banks consolidated net assets.
FRB regulations limit the amount the Bank may loan to the Company unless those loans are collateralized by specific obligations. At December 31, 2018, the maximum amount available for transfer from the Bank in the form of loans was $8.2 million, or 10% of the Banks consolidated net assets. The Bank does not have any outstanding loans with the Company.
The FDIC insures the deposits of federally insured banks up to prescribed statutory limits for each depositor, through the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and safeguards the safety and soundness of the banking and thrift industries. The amount of FDIC assessments paid by each insured depository institution is based on its relative risk of default as measured by regulatory capital ratios and other supervisory factors.
The FDICs deposit insurance premium assessment is based on an institutions average consolidated total assets minus average tangible equity.
We are generally unable to control the amount of premiums that we are required to pay for FDIC insurance. At least semi-annually, the FDIC will update its loss and income projections for the DIF and, if needed, will increase or decrease assessment rates, following notice-and-comment rulemaking, if required. If there are additional bank or financial institution failures or if the FDIC otherwise determines to increase assessment rates, the Bank may be required to pay higher FDIC insurance premiums. Any future increases in FDIC insurance premiums may have a material and adverse effect on our earnings.
The BHC Act requires a bank holding company to obtain the prior approval of the FRB before acquiring direct or indirect ownership or control of more than 5% of the voting shares of any bank that is not already majority-owned by such bank holding company. The BHC Act provides that the FRB shall not approve any acquisition, merger or consolidation that would result in a monopoly or that would be in furtherance of any combination or conspiracy to monopolize or attempt to monopolize the business of banking. The FRB also will not approve any other transactions in which the effect might be to substantially lessen competition or in any manner be a restraint on trade, unless the anti-competitive effects of the proposed transaction are clearly outweighed by the public interest in the probable effect of the transaction in meeting the convenience and needs of the community to be served.
The BHC Act also prohibits a bank holding company, with certain exceptions, from engaging in or from acquiring direct or indirect control of more than 5% of the voting shares of any company engaged in non-banking activities. The principal exception to this rule is for engaging in or acquiring shares of a company whose activities are found by the FRB to be so closely related to banking or managing banks as to be a proper incident thereto. In making such determinations, the FRB is required to consider whether the performance of such activities by a bank holding company or its subsidiaries can reasonably be expected to produce benefits to the public such as greater convenience, increased competition or gains in efficiency of resources that outweigh the risks of possible adverse effects such as decreased or unfair competition, conflicts of interest or unsound banking practices.
The BHC Act prohibits the acquisition by a bank holding company of more than 5% of the outstanding voting shares of a bank located outside the state in which the operations of its banking subsidiaries are principally conducted, unless such an acquisition is specifically authorized by statute of the state in which the bank to be acquired is located.
The Company and the Bank are subject to certain restrictions imposed by the Federal Reserve Act and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act on any extensions of credit to the Company or the Bank, on investments in the stock or other securities of the Company or the Bank, and on taking such stock or other securities as collateral for loans of any borrower.
The BHC Act was amended in 2000 by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 to permit financial holding companies to engage in a broader range of nonbanking financial activities, such as underwriting and selling insurance, providing financial or investment advice, and dealing and making markets in securities and merchant banking. In order to qualify as a financial holding company, the Company must declare to the FRB its intention to become a financial holding company and certify that the Bank meets the capitalization management requirements and that it has at least a satisfactory rating under the Community Reinvestment Act of 1997, as amended (the CRA). To date, we have not elected to become a financial holding company.
evaluate compliance with the CRA. CRA compliance is also a factor in evaluations of proposed mergers, acquisitions and applications to open new branches or facilities. Overall CRA compliance is rated across a four-point scale from outstanding to substantial noncompliance. Different evaluation methods are used depending on the asset size of the bank.
The FDIC examined the Bank on July 12, 2016 for its performance under the CRA. The Bank was rated Satisfactory during this examination. No discriminatory practices or illegal discouragement of applications were found.
The Bank is subject to a number of federal and state consumer protection laws. These laws provide substantive consumer rights and subject the Bank to substantial regulatory oversight. Violations of applicable consumer protection laws can result in significant potential liability from litigation brought by customers, including actual damages, restitution and attorneys fees. Federal bank regulators, state attorneys general and state and local consumer protection agencies may also seek to enforce consumer protection requirements and obtain these and other remedies, including regulatory sanctions, customer rescission rights, action by the state and local attorneys general in each jurisdiction in which our bank subsidiary operates and civil money penalties. Failure to comply with consumer protection requirements may also result in the Banks failure to obtain any required bank regulatory approval for merger or acquisition transactions the Bank may wish to pursue or its prohibition from engaging in such transactions even if approval is not required.
The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act) requires financial institutions to establish anti-money laundering programs and due diligence policies, procedures and controls with respect to bank accounts involving foreign individuals and certain foreign banks, and to avoid establishing and maintaining accounts in the United States for, or on the behalf of, foreign banks that do not have a physical presence in any country. We believe that we are in compliance with the requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbanes Act) requires publicly traded companies, such as the Company, to adhere to several directives designed to prevent corporate misconduct. As a result, additional duties have been placed on officers, directors, auditors and attorneys of public companies. The Sarbanes Act requires certifications regarding financial statement accuracy and internal control adequacy by the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer to accompany periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Sarbanes Act also accelerates insider reporting obligations under Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, restricts certain executive officer and director transactions, imposes new obligations on corporate audit committees and provides for enhanced review by the SEC.
payments in connection with approvals of mergers and acquisitions. The Dodd-Frank Act also authorizes the SEC to promulgate rules that would allow stockholders to nominate their own candidates using a companys proxy materials. Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Act directs the federal banking regulators to promulgate rules prohibiting excessive compensation paid to executives of depository institutions and their holding companies with assets in excess of $1.0 billion, regardless of whether the company is publicly traded. The Dodd-Frank Act gives the SEC authority to prohibit broker discretionary voting on elections of directors and executive compensation matters.
Banking is a business that substantially depends on interest rate differentials. In general, the difference between the interest paid by a bank on its deposits and other borrowings and the interest rate earned by banks on loans, securities and other interest-earning assets comprises the major source of banks earnings. Thus, the earnings and growth of banks are subject to the influence of economic conditions generally, both domestic and foreign, and also to the monetary and fiscal policies of the United States and its agencies including the FRB. The nature and timing of any future changes in such policies and their impact on the Company cannot be predicted.
Various legislation affecting financial institutions and the financial industry is from time to time introduced in Congress. Such legislation may change banking statutes and our operating environment in substantial and unpredictable ways and could increase or decrease the cost of doing business, limit or expand permissible activities or affect the competitive balance depending upon whether any of this potential legislation will be enacted, and if enacted, the effect that it or any implementing regulations, would have on the financial condition or our results of operations. With the proposals to alter the Dodd-Frank Act and the evolution of the CFPB, the nature and extent of future legislative and regulatory changes affecting financial institutions continues to be very unpredictable.
The banking business is highly competitive. The Companys market consists principally of Neshoba, Newton, Leake, Lamar, Forrest, Scott, Attala, Lafayette, Lauderdale, Oktibbeha, Lafayette, Rankin, Harrison, Jackson, Winston and Kemper and contiguous counties in Mississippi. In 2008, the Company entered the southern Mississippi market with the opening of a branch office in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which is located in Lamar County, and in 2009, opened a loan production office in Biloxi, Mississippi, which in April 2014, was converted into a full service branch. In 2011, the Company opened a branch in Flowood, Mississippi. In 2014, the Company established an additional branch in Biloxi to better serve the Gulf Coast. In 2016, the Company entered North Mississippi with the establishment of a loan production office in Oxford, Mississippi. The Company competes with local, regional and national financial institutions in these counties and in surrounding counties in Mississippi in obtaining deposits, lending activities and providing many types of financial services. The Company also competes with larger regional banks for the business of companies located in the Companys market area.
All financial institutions, including the Company, compete for customers deposits. The Company also competes with savings and loan associations, credit unions, production credit associations, federal land banks, finance companies, personal loan companies, money market funds and other non-depository financial intermediaries. Many of these financial institutions have resources significantly greater than those of the Company. In addition, financial intermediaries, such as money-market mutual funds and large retailers, are not subject to the same regulations and laws that govern the operation of traditional depository institutions. The Company believes it benefits from a good reputation in the community and from the significant length of time it has provided needed banking services to its customers. Also, as a locally owned financial institution, the Company believes it is able to respond to the needs of the community with services tailored to the particular demands of its customers. Furthermore, as a local institution, the Company believes it can provide such services faster than a larger institution not based in the Companys market area.
Changes in federal and state law have resulted in, and are expected to continue to result in, increased competition. The reductions in legal barriers to the acquisition of banks by out-of-state bank holding companies resulting from implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and other banking laws and regulations are expected to continue to further stimulate competition in the markets in which the Company operates, although it is not possible to predict the extent or timing of such increased competition.
Currently, there are approximately thirty different financial institutions in the Companys market competing for the same customer base. According to the FDICs Summary of Deposits that is collected as of June 30 each year, the Companys market share in its market area was approximately 5.48% at June 30, 2018. The Company competes in its market for loan and deposit products, along with many of the other services required by todays banking customer, on the basis of availability, quality and pricing. The Company believes it is able to compete favorably in its markets, in terms of both the rates the Company offers and the level of service that the Company provides to its customers.
The Companys Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments thereto, along with other information about the Company, are available, free of charge, on our website, http://www.citizensholdingcompany.com. The information contained on our website is not incorporated into this report. Upon request, the Company will provide to any record holder or beneficial holder of its shares a copy of such reports without charge. Requests should be made to Robert T. Smith, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, Citizens Holding Company, 521 Main Street, Philadelphia, Mississippi 39350.
In addition to the other information contained in or incorporated by reference into this report and the exhibits hereto, the following risk factors should be considered carefully in evaluating the Companys business. The risks disclosed below, either alone or in combination, could materially adversely affect the business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations of the Company and/or the Bank. Additional risks not presently known to the Company, or that the Company currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Companys business, financial condition or results of operations.
The Company is subject to interest rate risk.
One of the most important aspects of managements efforts to sustain long-term profitability for the Company is the management of interest rate risk. Managements goal is to maximize net interest income within acceptable levels of interest-rate risk and liquidity.
The Companys assets and liabilities are principally financial in nature and the resulting earnings thereon are subject to significant variability due to the timing and extent to which the Company can reprice the yields on interest-earning assets and the costs of interest bearing liabilities as a result of changes in market interest rates. Interest rates in the financial markets affect the Companys decisions on pricing its assets and liabilities, which impacts net interest income, an important cash flow stream for the Company. As a result, a substantial part of the Companys risk-management activities is devoted to managing interest-rate risk. Currently, the Company does not have any significant risks related to foreign currency exchange, commodities or equity risk exposures.
The Companys earnings and cash flows are largely dependent upon the net interest income of the Company. Net interest income is the difference between interest earned on assets, such as loans and securities, and the cost of interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowed funds. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond the Companys control, including general economic conditions and policies of various governmental and regulatory agencies and, in particular, the FRB. Changes in monetary policy, including changes in interest rates, could influence not only the interest the Company receives on loans and securities and the amount of interest the Company pays on deposits and borrowings, but such changes could also affect (i) the Companys ability to originate loans and obtain deposits, which could reduce the amount of fee income generated; (ii) the fair value of the Companys financial assets and liabilities; and (iii) the average duration of the Companys mortgage-backed securities portfolio. If the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings increase at a faster rate than the interest rates received on loans and other investments, the Companys net interest income could be adversely affected, which in turn could negatively affect its earnings. Earnings could also be adversely affected if the interest rates received on loans and other investments fall more quickly than the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings.
Although management believes it has implemented effective asset and liability management strategies to reduce the potential effects of changes in interest rates on the results of operations of the Company, any substantial, unexpected, prolonged change in market interest rates could have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial condition and results of operations. For the reasons set forth above, an increase in interest rates generally as a result of such a credit rating downgrade could adversely affect out net interest income levels, thereby resulting in reduced earnings, and reduce loan demand. Volatility in interest rates may also result in disintermediation, which is the flow of funds away from financial institutions into direct investments, such as United States Government and Agency securities and other investment vehicles, including mutual funds, which generally pay higher rates of return than financial institutions because of the absence of federal insurance premiums and reserve requirements. Disintermediation could also result in material adverse effects on the Companys financial condition and results of operations.
The Company is subject to lending risk.
There are inherent risks associated with the Companys lending activities. These risks include, among other things, the impact of changes in interest rates and changes in the economic conditions in the markets where the Company operates as well as those across the United States. Increases in interest rates or weakening economic conditions could adversely impact the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans or the value of the collateral securing these loans.
As of December 31, 2018, approximately 65.4% of the Companys loan portfolio consisted of commercial, construction and commercial real estate loans. These types of loans are generally viewed as having more risk of default than residential real estate loans or consumer loans due primarily to the large amounts loaned to individual borrowers. Because the loan portfolio contains a significant number of commercial, construction and commercial real estate loans with relatively large balances, the deterioration of one or a few of these loans could cause a significant increase in non-performing loans. An increase in non-performing loans could result in a net loss of earnings from these loans, an increase in the provision for possible loan losses and an increase in loan charge-offs, all of which could have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial condition and results of operations.
Delays in the Companys ability to foreclose on delinquent mortgage loans may negatively impact our business.
Certain expenses associated with the ownership of real estate, principally real estate taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs, may adversely affect the net proceeds received from the real estate, if any. The ability to mitigate the losses on defaulted loans depends upon the ability to promptly foreclose upon the collateral after an appropriate cure period. Any delay in the foreclosure process adversely affects us by increasing the expenses related to carrying such real estate and exposes us to losses as a result of potential additional declines in the value of such collateral. As a result, the increased cost of owning and operating such real estate may exceed the rental income earned from the real estate (if any), the Company may have to advance additional funds to protect our investment or the Company may be required to dispose of the real estate at a loss.
The allowance for possible loan losses may be insufficient.
Although the Company tries to maintain diversification within its loan portfolio in order to minimize the effect of economic conditions within a particular industry, management also maintains an allowance for loan losses, which is a reserve established through a provision for loan losses charged to expense, to absorb probable credit losses inherent in the entire loan portfolio. The appropriate level of the allowance is based on managements quarterly analysis of the loan portfolio and represents an amount that management deems adequate to provide for inherent losses, including collective impairment. Among other considerations in establishing the allowance for loan losses, management considers economic conditions reflected within industry segments, the unemployment rate in the Companys markets, loan segmentation and historical losses that are inherent in the loan portfolio. The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses inherently involves a high degree of subjectivity and requires management to make significant estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes. Changes in economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding existing loans, identification of additional problem loans and other factors, both within and outside of the Companys control, may require an increase in the allowance for loan losses.
The Company depends on the accuracy and completeness of information about customers and counterparties.
In deciding whether to extend credit or enter into other transactions, the Company often relies on information furnished by or on behalf of customers and counterparties, including financial statements, credit reports and other financial information. The Company may also rely on representations of those customers, counterparties or other third parties, such as independent auditors, as to the accuracy and completeness of that information. Reliance on inaccurate or misleading financial statements, credit reports or other financial information could have a material adverse impact on the Companys business and, in turn, its financial condition and results of operations.
The Company is subject to environmental liability risk associated with lending activities.
hazardous or toxic substances are found, the Company may be liable for remediation costs, as well as for personal injury and property damage. Environmental laws may require the Company to incur substantial expenses and may materially reduce the affected propertys value or limit the ability of the Company to use or sell the affected property. In addition, future laws or more stringent interpretations or enforcement policies with respect to existing laws may increase the Companys exposure to environmental liability. Although management has policies and procedures to perform an environmental review during the loan application process and also before initiating any foreclosure action on real property, these reviews may not be sufficient to detect all potential environmental hazards. The remediation costs and any other financial liabilities associated with an environmental hazard could have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial condition and results of operations.
The Company is subject to risk from adverse economic conditions.
Our operations and profitability are impacted by general business and economic conditions in the State of Mississippi, and the United States. These conditions include recession, short-term and long-term interest rates, inflation, money supply, political issues, legislative and regulatory changes, fluctuations in both debt and equity capital markets, broad trends in industry and finance, and the strength of the U.S. economy and the local economies in which we operate, all of which are beyond our control. A deterioration in economic conditions could result in an increase in loan delinquencies and nonperforming assets, decreases in loan collateral values and a decrease in demand for our products and services, among other things, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
The FRB has implemented significant economic strategies that have impacted interest rates, inflation, asset values, and the shape of the yield curve, and currently is transitioning from many years of easing to what may be a new period of tightening.
In recent years, the FRB has begun to gradually unwind the remaining domestic monetary policy initiatives as the economy continues to recover. During 2018, the FRB raised the target federal funds rate by 25 bps in March, June, September and December, bringing the current range to 2.25 to 2.50 percent. This development, along with the U.S. governments credit and deficit concerns and international economic considerations, could cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise, which may negatively impact our ability to access the debt markets on favorable terms. Other significant monetary strategies could be implemented in the future including, in particular, so-called tightening strategies. FRB strategies can, and often are intended to, affect the domestic money supply, inflation, interest rates, and the shape of the yield curve. Effects on the yield curve often are most pronounced at the short end of the curve, which is of particular importance to us and other banks. Risks associated with interest rates and the yield curve are discussed in this Item 1A under the caption The Company is subject to interest rate risk. Such strategies also can affect the United States. and world-wide financial systems in ways that may be difficult to predict.
The profitability of the Company depends significantly on economic conditions in the State of Mississippi.
services to customers primarily in East Central and South Mississippi. The local economic conditions in this area have a significant impact on the demand for the Companys products and services, as well as the ability of its customers to repay loans, the value of the collateral securing loans and the stability of its deposit funding sources.
The Company is subject to extensive government regulation and supervision.
The Company and the Bank are subject to extensive federal and state regulation and supervision. Banking regulations are primarily intended to protect depositors funds, federal deposit insurance funds and the banking system as a whole, and not the economic or other interests of shareholders. These regulations affect the Companys and the Banks lending practices, capital structure, investment practices, dividend policy and growth, among other things. Changes to statutes, regulations or regulatory policies, including changes in interpretation or implementation of the foregoing, could affect the Company or the Bank in substantial and unpredictable ways. Such changes could subject the Company to additional costs, limit the types of financial services and products it may offer or increase the ability of non-banks to offer competing financial services and products, among other things.
Under regulatory capital adequacy guidelines and other regulatory requirements, the Company and the Bank must meet guidelines that include quantitative measures of assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items, subject to qualitative judgments by regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors. If the Company fails to meet these minimum capital guidelines and other regulatory requirements, its financial condition would be materially and adversely affected. The Companys failure to maintain the status of well capitalized under its regulatory framework could affect the confidence of its customers in the Company, thus compromising the Companys competitive position. In addition, failure to maintain the status of well capitalized under the Companys regulatory framework or well managed under regulatory examination procedures could compromise the Companys status as a bank holding company and related eligibility for a streamlined review process for acquisition proposals.
The Company is also subject to laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes Act, the Dodd Frank Act and SEC regulations. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations in many cases, and as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies, which could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. The Company is committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, the Companys efforts to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased expenses and a diversion of management time and attention.
Failure to comply with laws, regulations or policies could also result in sanctions by regulatory agencies and/or civil money penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on the Companys business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. While the Company has policies and procedures designed to prevent any such violations, it cannot assure that such violations will be prevented. The information under the heading Supervision and Regulation in Item 1, Business, and Note 16, Regulatory Matters to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company in Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, provides more information regarding the regulatory environment in which the Company and the Bank operate including descriptions of the laws, regulations or policies applicable to us.
From time to time, customers and others make claims and take legal action pertaining to our performance of our responsibilities. Whether customer claims and legal action related to our performance of our responsibilities are founded or unfounded, or if such claims and legal actions are not resolved in a manner favorable to us, they may result in significant financial liability and/or adversely affect the market perception of us and our products and services, as well as impact customer demand for those products and services. Any financial liability or reputation damage could have a material adverse effect on our business, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
The Company operates in a highly competitive industry and market area.
The Company faces substantial competition in all areas of its operations from a variety of different competitors, many of which are larger and have more financial resources. Such competitors primarily include national, regional and community banks within the various markets in which the Company operates. The Company also faces competition from many other types of financial institutions, including savings and loans, credit unions, finance companies, brokerage firms, insurance companies, factoring companies and other financial intermediaries. The information under the heading Competition in Item 1, Business, provides more information regarding the competitive conditions in the Companys markets.
The Companys industry could become even more competitive as a result of legislative, regulatory and technological changes and continued consolidation. Banks, securities firms and insurance companies can merge under the umbrella of a financial holding company, which can offer virtually any type of financial service, including banking, securities underwriting, insurance (both agency and underwriting) and merchant banking. Also, technology has lowered barriers to entry and made it possible for non-banks to offer products and services traditionally provided by banks, such as automatic transfer and automatic payment systems. Many of the Companys competitors have fewer regulatory constraints and may have lower cost structures. Additionally, many of the Companys competitors have substantially greater resources than the Company, including higher total assets and capitalization, greater access to capital markets and a broader offering of financial services.
the ability to develop, maintain and build upon long-term customer relationships based on top quality service, high ethical standards and safe, sound assets.
the ability to expand the Companys market position.
the scope, relevance and pricing of products and services offered to meet customer needs and demands.
the rate at which the Company introduces new products and services relative to its competitors.
customer satisfaction with the Companys and the Banks level of service.
Failure to perform in any of these areas could significantly weaken the Companys competitive position, which could adversely affect its growth and profitability, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to a variety of operational risks, including the risk of fraud or theft by employees, which may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We are exposed to many types of operational risks, including liquidity risk, credit risk, market risk, interest rate risk, legal and compliance risk, strategic risk, information security risk, and reputational risk. We are also reliant upon our employees, and our operations are subject to the risk of fraud, theft or malfeasance by our employees. We have established processes and procedures intended to identify, measure, monitor, report and analyze these risks, however, there are inherent limitations to our risk management strategies as there may exist, or develop in the future, risks that we have not appropriately anticipated, monitored or identified. If our risk management framework proves ineffective, we could suffer unexpected losses, we may have to expend resources detecting and correcting the failure in our systems and we may be subject to potential claims from third parties and government agencies. We may also suffer severe reputational damage. Any of these consequences could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In particular, the unauthorized disclosure, misappropriation, mishandling or misuse of personal, non-public, confidential or proprietary information of customers could result in significant regulatory consequences, reputational damage and financial loss.
Our risk management policies and procedures may not be fully effective in identifying or mitigating risk exposure in all market environments or against all types of risk, including employee misconduct.
We have devoted significant resources to develop our risk management policies and procedures and will continue to do so. Nonetheless, our policies and procedures to identify, monitor and manage risks may not be fully effective in mitigating our risk exposure in all market environments or against all types of risk. Many of our methods of managing risk and exposures are based upon our use of observed historical market behavior or statistics based on historical models. During periods of market volatility or due to unforeseen events, the historically derived correlations upon which these methods are based may not be valid. As a result, these methods may not predict future exposures accurately, which could be significantly greater than what our models indicate. This could cause us to incur investment losses or cause our hedging and other risk management strategies to be ineffective. Other risk management methods depend upon the evaluation of information regarding markets, clients, catastrophe occurrence or other matters that are publicly available or otherwise accessible to us, which may not always be accurate, complete, up-to-date or properly evaluated.
of risk. Insurance and other traditional risk-shifting tools may be held by or available to us in order to manage certain exposures, but they are subject to terms such as deductibles, coinsurance, limits and policy exclusions, as well as risk of counterparty denial of coverage, default or insolvency.
The Company may be subject to more stringent capital and liquidity requirements which would adversely affect its net income and future growth.
The Dodd-Frank Act applies the same leverage and risk-based capital requirements that apply to insured depository institutions to most bank holding companies, which, among other things, will change the way in which hybrid securities, such as trust preferred securities, are treated for purposes of determining a bank holding companys regulatory capital. In 2011, the federal banking agencies published a final rule regarding minimum leverage and risk-based capital requirements for banks and bank holding companies consistent with the requirements of Section 171 of the Dodd-Frank Act. For a more detailed description of the minimum capital requirements see Supervision and Regulation Capital Standards. The Dodd-Frank Act also increased regulatory oversight, supervision and examination of banks, bank holding companies and their respective subsidiaries by the appropriate regulatory agency. These requirements, and any other new regulations, could adversely affect the Companys ability to pay dividends, or could require the Company to reduce business levels or to raise capital, including in ways that may adversely affect the Companys results of operations or financial condition.
Tier 1 Common Equity. For all supervised financial institutions, including the Company and the Bank, the ratio of Tier 1 common equity to risk-weighted assets (Tier 1 Common Equity Capital ratio) must be at least 4.5%. To be well capitalized the Tier 1 Common Equity Capital ratio must be at least 6.5%. If a capital conservation buffer of an additional 2.5% above the minimum 4.5% (or 7% overall) is not maintained, special restrictions would apply to capital distributions, such as dividends and stock repurchases, and on certain compensatory bonuses. Tier 1 common equity capital consists of core components of Tier 1 capital: common stock plus retained earnings net of goodwill, other intangible assets, and certain other required deduction items.
Tier 1 Capital Ratio. For all banking organizations, including the Bank, the ratio of Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets must be at least 6%. The threshold is raised from the prior 4%, and the risk-weighting method is changed as mentioned above. To be well capitalized the Tier 1 capital ratio must be at least 8%.
Total Capital Ratio. For all supervised financial institutions, including the Company and the Bank, the ratio of total capital to risk-weighted assets must be at least 8%. Although this threshold is unchanged from prior requirements, as mentioned above the method for risk-weighting assets has been changed. As a result of that method change, many banks could have experienced a reduction in this ratio if the change had been effective immediately when the rules were adopted.
Leverage Ratio Base. For all banking organizations, including the Bank, the leverage ratio must be at least 4%. To be well capitalized the leverage ratio must be at least 5%.
Leverage Ratio Supplemental. For the largest internationally active banking organizations, not including the Bank, a minimum supplementary leverage ratio must be maintained that takes into account certain off-balance sheet exposures.
The revised standards took effect on January 1, 2015 for the Company and the Bank. The capital conservation buffer requirement is subject to a phase-in period.
Future increases in minimum capital requirements could adversely affect the Companys net income. Furthermore, the Companys failure to comply with the minimum capital requirements could result in regulators taking formal or informal actions against the Company which could restrict future growth or operations.
Negative perceptions or publicity could damage our reputation among existing and potential customers, investors, employees and advisors.
Our reputation is one of our most important assets. Our ability to attract and retain customers, investors, employees and advisors is highly dependent upon external perceptions of our company. Damage to our reputation could cause significant harm to our business and prospects and may arise from numerous sources, including litigation or regulatory actions, failing to deliver minimum standards of service and quality, compliance failures, any perceived or actual weakness in our financial strength or liquidity, technological, cybersecurity, or other security breaches resulting in improper disclosure of client or employee personal information, unethical behavior and the misconduct of our employees, advisors and counterparties. Negative perceptions or publicity regarding these matters could damage our reputation among existing and potential customers, investors, employees and advisors. Adverse developments with respect to our industry may also, by association, negatively impact our reputation or result in greater regulatory or legislative scrutiny or litigation against us. In addition, the SEC and other federal and state regulators have increased their scrutiny of potential conflicts of interest. It is possible that potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to litigation or enforcement actions. It is possible also that the regulatory scrutiny of, and litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest will make our clients less willing to enter into transactions in which such a conflict may occur and will adversely affect our businesses.
The Company may be required to pay significantly higher FDIC premiums in the future.
The FDIC insures deposits at FDIC insured financial institutions, including the Bank. The FDIC charges the insured financial institutions premiums to maintain the Deposit Insurance Fund at an adequate level. The FDIC may increase these rates and impose additional special assessments in the future, which could have a material adverse effect on future earnings.
The Companys controls and procedures may fail or be circumvented.
Management regularly reviews and updates the Companys internal control over financial reporting, disclosure controls and procedures and corporate governance policies and procedures. Any system of controls, however well designed and operated, has inherent limitations, including the possibility that a control can be circumvented or overridden, and misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected. Also, because of changes in conditions, internal control effectiveness may vary over time. Accordingly, even an effective system of internal control will provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the Companys adherence to financial reporting, disclosure and corporate governance policies and procedures.
The Company may be adversely affected by the soundness of other financial institutions.
Financial institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty, or other relationships. The Company has exposure to many different industries and counterparties, and routinely executes transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including commercial banks, brokers and dealers, investment banks, and other institutional clients. Many of these transactions expose the Company to credit risk in the event of a default by a counterparty or client. In addition, the Companys credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral held by the Company cannot be realized or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the credit or derivative exposure due to the Company. Any such losses could have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial condition and results of operations.
The Company relies on third party vendors for a number of key components of its business.
The Company contracts with a number of third party vendors to support its infrastructure. Many of these vendors are large national companies who are dominant in their area of expertise and would be difficult to quickly replace. Failures of certain vendors to provide services could adversely affect the Companys ability to deliver products and services to its customers, disrupting its business and causing it to incur significant expense. External vendors also present information security risks.
Slower than anticipated growth in new branches and new product and service offerings could result in reduced income.
The Company has placed a strategic emphasis on expanding its branch network and product offerings. Executing this strategy carries risks of slower than anticipated growth both in new branches and new products. New branches and products require a significant investment of both financial and personnel resources. Lower than expected loan and deposit growth in new investments can decrease anticipated revenues and net income generated by those investments and opening new branches and introducing new products could result in more additional expenses than anticipated and divert resources from current core operations.
The Company is substantially dependent on dividends from the Bank for its revenues.
the Bank is unable to pay dividends to the Company, it may not be able to pay obligations or pay dividends on the Companys common stock. The inability to receive dividends from the Bank could have a material adverse effect on the Companys business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. The information under the heading Supervision and Regulation in Item 1, Business, provides a discussion about the restrictions governing the Banks ability to transfer funds to the Company.
Potential acquisitions may disrupt the Companys business and dilute shareholder value.
potential changes in banking or tax laws or regulations that may affect the target company.
In addition, acquisitions typically involve the payment of a premium over book and market values, and, therefore, some dilution of the Companys tangible book value and net income per common share may occur in connection with any future transaction. Furthermore, failure to realize the expected revenue increases, cost savings, increases in geographic or product presence, or other projected benefits from an acquisition could have a material adverse effect on the Companys business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
The Companys success depends in part on its ability to retain key executives and to attract and retain additional qualified personnel who have experience both in sophisticated banking matters and in operating a bank of the Companys size. Competition for such personnel is strong in the banking industry, and the Company may not be successful in attracting or retaining the personnel it requires. The unexpected loss of one or more of the Companys key personnel could have a material adverse impact on its business because of their skills, knowledge of the Companys markets, years of industry experience and the difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacements. The Company expects to effectively compete in this area by offering financial packages that are competitive within the industry.
The Companys information systems may experience an interruption or breach in security. Evolving technologies and the need to protect against and react to cybersecurity risks and electronic fraud requires significant resources.
The Company relies heavily on communications and information systems to conduct its business. Furthermore, the Bank provides its customers the ability to bank online. The secure transmission of confidential information over the internet is a critical element of online banking. The Company needs to invest in information technology to keep pace with technology changes, and while the Company invests amounts it believes will be adequate, it may fail to invest adequate amounts such that the efficiency of information technology systems fails to meet operational needs. Any failure, interruption or breach in security of these systems could result in failures or disruptions in its customer relationship management, general ledger, deposit, loan and other systems. While the Company has policies and procedures designed to prevent or limit the effect of the failure, interruption or security breach of the Companys information systems, there can be no assurance that any such failures, interruptions or security breaches will be prevented, and if they occur, that they will be adequately addressed. Additionally, to the extent the Company relies on third party vendors to perform or assist operational functions, the challenge of managing the associated risks becomes more difficult. The occurrence of any failures, interruptions or security breaches of the Companys information systems could damage its reputation, result in a loss of customer business, subject the Company to additional regulatory scrutiny, or expose it to civil litigation and possible financial liability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
The Company continually encounters technological change.
The Companys industry is continually undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. The effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to better serve customers and reduce costs. The Companys future success depends, in part, upon its ability to address the needs of its customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy customer demands, as well as to create additional efficiencies in the Companys operations. Many of the Companys competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. The Company may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to its customers. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological change affecting the Companys industry could have a material adverse impact on its business and, in turn, the Companys financial condition and results of operations.
The operational functions of business counterparties may experience similar disruptions that could adversely impact us and over which the Company may have limited or no control.
Over the course of the past few years, companies such as major retailers have experienced data systems incursions reportedly resulting in the thefts of credit and debit card information, online account information, and other financial data of tens of millions of the retailers customers. Retailer incursions affect cards issued and deposit accounts maintained by many banks, including the Bank. Although the Bank systems are not breached in retailer incursions, these events can cause the Bank to reissue a significant number of cards and take other costly steps to avoid significant theft loss to the Bank and its customers. Other possible points of incursion or disruption not within the Banks control include internet service providers, electronic mail portal providers, social media portals, distant-server (cloud) service providers, electronic data security providers, telecommunications companies, and smart phone manufacturers.
While the Company continually attempts to use technology to offer new products and services, at the same time, technology and other changes are allowing parties to complete financial transactions that historically have involved banks through alternative methods. For example, consumers can now maintain funds in brokerage accounts, mutual funds or use electronic payment methods such as Apple Pay or PayPal, that would have historically been held as bank deposits. Consumers can also complete transactions such as paying bills or transferring funds directly without the assistance of banks. The process of eliminating banks as intermediaries, known as disintermediation, could result in the loss of fee income, as well as the loss of customer deposits and the related income generated from those deposits. The loss of these revenue streams and the lower cost deposits as a source of funds could have a material adverse effect on the Companys financial condition and results of operations.
Severe weather, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism and other external events could significantly impact the Companys business.
The Bank has branches along the coast of Mississippi that are subject to risks from hurricanes from time to time. Severe weather, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, and other adverse external events could have a significant impact on the ability of the Company to conduct business. Such events could affect the stability of the Companys deposit base, impair the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans, impair the value of collateral securing loans, cause significant property damage, result in loss of revenue or cause the Company to incur additional expenses. The occurrence of any such event could have a material adverse effect on the Companys business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
The Company is subject to Accounting Estimate Risks.
The preparation of the Companys consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make significant estimates that affect the financial statements. The Companys most critical estimate is the level of the allowance for credit losses. However, other estimates occasionally become highly significant, especially in volatile situations such as litigation and other loss contingency matters. Estimates are made at specific points in time; as actual events unfold, estimates are adjusted accordingly. Due to the inherent nature of these estimates, it is possible that, at some time in the future, the Company may significantly increase the allowance for credit losses or sustain credit losses that are significantly higher than the provided allowance, or the Company may make some other adjustment that will differ materially from the estimates that the Company makes today.
Expense Control could have an effect on the Companys earnings.
Expenses and other costs directly affect the Companys earnings. The Companys ability to successfully manage expenses is important to its long-term profitability. Many factors can influence the amount of the Companys expenses, as well as how quickly they grow. As the Companys businesses change or expand, additional expenses can arise from asset purchases, structural reorganization, evolving business strategies, and changing regulations, among other things. The Company manages expense growth and risk through a variety of means, including actual versus budget management, imposition of expense authorization, and procurement coordination and processes.
The Companys stock price can be volatile.
Additionally, general market fluctuations, industry factors and general economic and political conditions and events, such as economic slowdowns or recessions, interest rate changes or credit loss trends, could also cause the Companys stock price to decrease regardless of operating results.
The trading volume in the Companys common stock is less than that of other larger bank holding companies.
The Companys common stock is listed for trading on NASDAQ Global Market. The average daily trading volume in the Companys common stock is low, generally less than that of many of its competitors and other larger bank holding companies. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence in the marketplace of willing buyers and sellers of the Companys common stock at any given time. This presence depends on the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions over which the Company has no control. Given the lower trading volume of the Companys common stock, significant sales of the Companys common stock, or the expectation of these sales, could cause volatility in the price of the Companys common stock.
An investment in the Companys common stock is not an insured deposit.
The Companys common stock is not a bank deposit and, therefore, is not insured against loss by the FDIC, any deposit insurance fund or by any other public or private entity. Investment in the Companys common stock is inherently risky for the reasons described in this Risk Factors section and elsewhere in this report and is subject to the same market forces that affect the price of common stock in any company. As a result, if you acquire the Companys common stock, you may lose some or all of your investment.
Issuing additional shares of our common stock to acquire other banks, bank holding companies, financial holding companies and/or insurance agencies may result in dilution for existing shareholders and may adversely affect the market price of our stock.
We may issue, in the future, shares of our common stock to acquire additional banks, bank holding companies, and other businesses related to the financial services industry that may complement our organizational structure. Resales of substantial amounts of common stock in the public market and the potential of such sales could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities. We may be required to pay an acquisition premium above the fair market value of acquired assets for acquisitions. Paying this acquisition premium, in addition to the dilutive effect of issuing additional shares, may also adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock.
We may issue debt or equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities, any of which may be senior to our common stock as to distributions and in liquidation, which could negatively affect the value of our common stock.
In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by entering into debt or debt-like financing that is unsecured or secured by all or up to all of our assets, or by issuing additional debt or equity securities, which could include issuances of secured or unsecured commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior notes, subordinated notes, preferred stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for equity securities. In the event of our liquidation, our lenders and holders of our debt and preferred securities would receive a distribution of our available assets before distributions to the holders of our common stock. Because any decision to incur debt or issue securities in future offerings will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of any such future offerings and debt financings. Further, market conditions could require us to accept less favorable terms for the issuance of our securities in the future.
The Companys Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, as well as certain banking laws, may have an anti-takeover effect.
Provisions of the Companys Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, which are exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the federal banking laws, including regulatory approval requirements, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire the Company, even if doing so would be perceived to be beneficial to the Companys shareholders. The combination of these provisions impedes a non-negotiated merger or other business combination, which, in turn, could adversely affect the market price of the Companys common stock.
The Bank owns its offices, except for the Flowood Branch and the Oxford LPO, each of which is leased. The main office facility, originally occupied in 1966, is used solely by the Company and the Bank. This facility contains approximately 20,000 square feet and houses the executive offices and all operations-related departments of the Company. The other branches range in size from nearly 1,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet.
There are no material pending legal proceedings, other than routine litigation incidental to their business, to which either the Company or the Bank is a party or to which any of their property is subject.
Information required in partial response to this Item 5 can be found under the heading Market Price and Dividend Information in the 2018 Annual Report to Shareholders, a copy of which is filed as an Exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such information in incorporated herein by reference.
The information appearing under the caption Equity Compensation Plan Information in Item 12 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated herein by reference.
There were no unregistered sales of equity securities not covered by the filing of a Form 10-Q or Form 8-K during the period covered by this filing. On July 26, 2017, the Companys Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 200,000 shares of the Companys outstanding shares of common stock over the next thirty-six months. There were no repurchases of equity securities not covered by the filing of a Form 10-Q or Form 8-K during the period covered by this filing.
Information required in response to this Item 6 can be found under the heading Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016Selected Financial Data in the 2018 Annual Report to Shareholders, a copy of which is filed as an Exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
Information required in response to this Item 7 can be found under the heading Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 in the 2018 Annual Report to Shareholders, a copy of which is filed as an Exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
Information required in response to this Item 7A can be found under the headings Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk in the 2018 Annual Report to Shareholders, a copy of which is filed as an Exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
Information required in response to this Item 8 can be found under the heading Consolidated Financial Statements and Quarterly Financial Trends in the 2018 Annual Report to Shareholders, a copy of which is filed as an Exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
The management of this Company, with the participation of its principal executive and financial officers, has evaluated the effectiveness of the Companys disclosure controls and procedures in ensuring that the information required to be disclosed in our filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commissions rules and forms, including ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Companys management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on such evaluation, the Companys principal executive and financial officers have concluded that such disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2018 (the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K).
Information required in response to this item can be found under the headings Managements Assessment of Internal Control over Financial Reporting and Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm in the Companys Consolidated Financial Statements contained in its 2018 Annual Report to Shareholders, a copy of which is filed as an Exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
There were no changes to the internal control over financial reporting in the fourth quarter of 2018 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, internal control over financial reporting.
Information required in partial response to this Item 10 can be found under the heading Executive Officers of the Registrant in Item 1, Business, and under the headings Stock Ownership and Board of Directors in the Companys Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC on or about March 18, 2019, relating to its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
The Company has adopted a Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct in compliance with Item 406 of Regulation S-K for the Companys principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer and controller. Copies of both the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct can be found on the Companys website: http://www.citizensholdingcompany.com. The Company intends to satisfy the disclosure requirement under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K regarding an amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct by posting information on the Companys website at the address specified above.
Information required in response to this Item 11 can be found under the headings Board of Directors, Executive Officers and Executive Compensation, Report of the Compensation Committee, and Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation in the Companys Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC on or about March 18, 2019, relating to its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
Information required in partial response to this Item 12 can be found under the heading Stock Ownership in the Companys Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC on or about March 18, 2019, relating to its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
The following table provides information about the Companys equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2018.
Consists of the 1999 Directors Stock Compensation Plan and the 2013 Incentive Compensation Plan.
Information required in response to this Item 13 can be found under the heading Board of Directors in the Companys Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC on or about March 18, 2019, relating to its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
Information required in response to this Item 14 can be found under the heading Proposal No. 3, Appointment of HORNE LLP as the Companys Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm in the Companys Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC on or about March 18, 2019, relating to its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Such information is incorporated herein by reference.
Filed as Exhibit 3(A) to the Companys Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 000-25221) filed on May 10, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
Filed as Exhibit 3(B) to the Companys Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 000-25221) filed on May 10, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
Filed as an exhibit to the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002 (File No. 000-25221) filed on March 31, 2003 and incorporated herein by reference.
Filed as an exhibit to the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 (File No. 000-25221) filed on March 16, 2005 and incorporated herein by reference.
Filed as an exhibit to the Companys Definitive Proxy Statement relating to its 2013 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (File No. 000-15375) filed on March 21, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference.
Filed as an exhibit to the Companys Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 000-15375) filed on April 25, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference.
Filed as an exhibit to the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003 (File No. 000-25221) filed on March 26, 2004, as updated on the Companys website, http://www.citizensholdingcompany.com and incorporated herein by reference.
The Company has elected not to include summary information. | 2019-04-21T18:57:20Z | https://q10k.com/CIZN |
Lucky Health Pty Ltd (ACN 613 773 149) (‘Lucky Health’, ‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’) is an Australian technology company specialising in the provision of an innovative mobile application designed to assist end users to manage and adhere to their treatment plans in a positive, effective and rewarding way (Perx App) and other health and wellbeing services made available through the Perx App and other online platforms and websites provided by Lucky Health (collectively the Services). We have services agreements with a number of organisations including insurers, pharmaceutical companies and medical providers (Commercial Partners) pursuant to which we make the App available for use by people like you. We also have arrangements with a number of business partners for the provision of rewards (such as discounted goods or services) to users based on reported adherence through the Perx App (Rewards Partners). Despite any relationship you may have with one of our Commercial Partners or Rewards Partners, you acknowledge that your access to and use of any of our Services including the Perx App is governed solely and exclusively by us in accordance with these Terms and Conditions of Use (Terms) which shall form a legally binding agreement between you and Lucky Health Pty Ltd.
You acknowledge that we may amend these Terms from time to time. Any changes will be notified to you by email to the email address provided by you to us (if any) and also via a notification in the Perx App. If you do not accept the changes to the Terms you cannot continue to use the Perx App. By using the Perx App or our Services, you agree that the then current version of these Terms applies to your use of the Perx App and our Services.
making it easier for you, Commercial Partners, Reward Partners and us to communicate with each other and deliver our Services in a fast and secure manner.
The Perx App allows individuals with a registered user account (Members) to access and use our Services. The Perx App offers, among other things, a convenient way to set reminders for prescription medications and other health care activities, to receive tailored information about your medical condition, as well as the opportunity to participate in our Perx Rewards Program.
In order to access the Services, you are required to register for a user account (Account) through the Perx App or via a web portal on our website. Typically, your access to the Perx App as a Member will be authorised via the Commercial Partner that has enabled your access, and therefore your ongoing use of the Perx App through your Account is subject to the relevant Commercial Partner maintaining your Account access on your behalf.
health insurance and/or pharmacy details or such other identifier or signup code as is provided by the Commercial Partner that authorises your access.
You warrant that any information you give to Lucky Health in the course of completing the registration process or at any other time is accurate, correct, complete and up to date. You must also update the information you have uploaded into the Perx App where such information changes at any time. You also acknowledge that as a Member, the “display name” you create when using the Perx App in your profile is visible to other users of the Perx App.
Once you have completed the registration process, you will be a Member and will be bound by these Terms. You may not use the Services and may not accept the Terms if you are a person barred from receiving the Services under the laws of Australia or other countries including the country in which you are resident or from which you use the Services.
not contain any unauthorised material, which includes but is not limited to material that we believe would be likely to cause annoyance or harm, or which is intimidating, threatening, racist, defamatory, pornographic, or which is or may be detrimental to our systems or a third party’s systems or network security.
commercial advertisements, affiliate links and other forms of solicitation may be removed from Member profiles without notice and may result in termination of your Membership.
any automated use of the Perx App or the Services is prohibited.
Appropriate legal action will be taken by Lucky Health in respect of any use of the Perx App that breaches the above terms.
In order to obtain the full benefit of the Services you will be required to input into the Perx App certain information including your medical conditions, medications, prescription schedule, health insurance policy and pharmacy details which will all form part of Your Content. By submitting any information, data, materials or other content to us through the Perx App, or otherwise permitting its collection from you, you are granting to us and our Commercial Partners and Rewards Partners, a licence to store, use, modify, display, manipulate and create derivative works using Your Content for the sole purpose of providing our Services to you.
You are solely responsible for ensuring that Your Content is accurate, complete and up to date and Lucky Health is not responsible for the consequences of any inaccuracy in Your Content whether or not that inaccuracy was caused or contributed to by Lucky Health. You are responsible for managing your condition and medication regime and in the event of any uncertainty you should consult your healthcare provider.
You can remove any of Your Content by deleting it from the Perx App. If you are unsure how to do this please contact us at [email protected]. In certain instances, some of Your Content may not be completely removed and copies of Your Content may continue to exist on the Perx App and/or elsewhere. We are not responsible or liable for the removal or deletion of (or the failure to remove or delete) any of Your Content on the Perx App.
Unless otherwise indicated, we own, or licence from third parties, any and all right, title and interest (including as the case may be any copyright, designs, patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights) in the Perx App and in all of the material (including but not limited to information, text, graphics, logos, button icons, video images, audio clips, application, code, scripts, design elements and interactive features) made available on the Perx App or as part of providing the Services (Lucky Health Content).
print pages from the Perx App for your own personal and non-commercial use.
Lucky Health does not grant you any other rights whatsoever in relation to the Lucky Health Content, the Perx App or the Services. Nothing you do on or in relation to the Perx App will transfer any Lucky Health Content or any other intellectual property rights of Lucky Health to you.
You may not, without the prior written permission of Lucky Health and the written permission of any other relevant rights owners, broadcast, republish, upload to a third party, transmit, communicate, post, distribute, show or play in public, adapt, change in any way or reverse engineer the Lucky Health Content, the Lucky Health IP, the Perx App or the Services or any third party content displayed on the Perx App for any purpose, unless otherwise expressly provided by these Terms.
As part of our Services, we may make available a reward program (Reward Program) to you, where you may be eligible to receive rewards such as gift cards, charity donations made on your behalf to nominated charities and other items (collectively, Rewards) by performing certain actions related to your medication or healthcare regime (Rewarded Actions) and recording your performance of those actions on the Perx App. Rewarded Actions may include verifying through the Perx App that you have taken your medications according to your medication schedule, the performance of other prescribed healthcare and health related activities, and other in-app actions.
We offer different Reward Programs to different Commercial Partners and their Members. Where your access to our Services has been authorised by one of our Commercial Partners the Reward Program made available to you will be the Reward Program agreed with the Commercial Partner with whom you are associated. If you are not associated with one of our Commercial Partners then we will assign a Reward Program to you at our sole discretion.
The total value of Rewards that you are eligible to receive (Maximum Reward Allocation) is determined by Lucky Health in its sole discretion. The Maximum Reward Allocation may vary depending on the particular Reward Program that you are enrolled in. If you complete all Rewarded Actions then you will receive the Maximum Reward Allocation.
Increasing the number of Rewarded Actions available to you will not increase the value of your Maximum Reward Allocation or the number of Rewards that you will earn. For example, scheduling additional medication actions will not change the Maximum Reward Allocation in your Reward Program.
The actions of other Members, do not influence the value of Rewards available to you nor the likelihood of you earning a Reward for completing a Rewarded Action.
Please note that you may be required to provide additional information to Lucky Health or a Rewards Partner in order to redeem certain Rewards, and processing fees may also be applicable to the redemption of Rewards.
We will use reasonable efforts to ensure that any Rewards that you obtain through participation in a Reward Game are viewable via your Account within 7 days. You should contact us if it has been more than 7 days and the Rewards have not been applied to your Account. We may also, at our discretion, delay any Reward redemption in order to validate or verify your actions via the Service.
Lucky Health may modify or discontinue the Reward Program, or any Rewards related thereto at any time.
The Rewards Program is subject to these Terms (including the provisions of this clause 6) and all applicable, federal and state laws and regulations that may apply.
While your participation in the Reward Program and each Reward Game is governed by these Terms, your redemption and use of any Reward will be governed by the terms and conditions of redemption/usage as stipulated by the relevant third-party Rewards Partner at the time the Reward is provided to you. You agree that Lucky Health is not responsible for any third-party Reward terms and conditions, and disclaims any and all liability relating thereto. Your participation in the Rewards Program and your use of any Rewards is at your own risk.
you acknowledge that the information you may receive in relation to these optional additional services will be matched and targeted to your condition or drug profile. You may opt out of the additional services at any time by emailing us at [email protected].
and accordingly, you use the Perx App at your own discretion and risk and will be solely responsible for any loss or damage of any kind that you suffer as a result of or in connection with any disruption or other difficulties you experience in using the Perx App or arising from your reliance on any Lucky Health Content or other information obtained via the Perx App.
IMPORTANT: ALL LUCKY HEALTH CONTENT AND OTHER INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE ON THE PERX APP IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE ADVICE OF A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU CONSULT WITH A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL PRIOR TO USING THE PERX APP, PARTICULARLY IF YOU HAVE A PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITION. YOU SHOULD NEVER DISREGARD MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY IN SEEKING IT BECAUSE OF INFORMATION YOU HAVE READ ON THE PERX APP OR THE MEDICAL HISTORY YOU RECEIVE THROUGH OUR SERVICES. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH YOUR MEDICATION REGIME.
howsoever caused and whether arising in contract, tort, under statute or otherwise.
We acknowledge that certain legislation including the Australian Consumer Law, may imply warranties or conditions or impose obligations, remedies or guaranties which cannot be excluded, restricted or modified by law. To the extent that such legislation applies, these Terms must be read subject to those statutory provisions. If those statutory provisions apply, notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms, and to the extent permitted by law, Lucky Health limits its liability pursuant to those provisions to the resupply of the Services or the payment of the cost of having the Services supplied again.
Lucky Health’s liability in connection with the Services is reduced proportionately in the event that you contributed to any claim or loss suffered by you.
any breach of an applicable law, regulation or licence arising from your use of the Perx App or from the use of the App by any other person accessing the Perx App using your Account or password.
misconfiguration between any of the Perx App, Commercial Partner, pharmacies and government medication databases.
The Perx App may be provided with third-party plug-ins or other third-party software, or this may be provided as a plug-in for, or otherwise in association with, third party software. Use of any such third-party software will be governed by the applicable license agreement, if any, with such third party. Lucky Health is not responsible for any third-party software and will have no liability of any kind for your use of such third-party software and makes no warranty of any kind with respect to such third-party software.
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This Economic Letter is adapted from speeches delivered by Janet L. Yellen, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, on September 4 and 5, 2008, to a group of community leaders in Salt Lake City, Utah, and to the Rotary Club of Los Angeles, respectively.
Regrettably, the nation’s economy has been in rough waters for over a year now. Last summer, a precipitous slide in house prices triggered a crisis in financial markets and a credit crunch that is making it hard for consumers and some firms to borrow. These developments are ongoing and perhaps deepening, as banks and other financial intermediaries are continuing to delever by scaling back their balance sheets and shrinking their lending activity. In the face of these developments, firms and consumers have also been pulling back, causing unemployment to rise. As if this cycle of events feeding back on each other weren’t bad enough, oil and other commodity prices have surged in recent years, generating worrisome numbers for headline consumer inflation. So, the problems facing the Fed have been myriad, complex, and difficult. We have had to balance concerns about economic weakness with equally compelling, but conflicting, concerns about inflation.
Quite recently, there has been a bit of a shift in the inflation picture, however. Commodity prices—most notably oil prices—have fallen well below their earlier peaks. I will argue that this development probably largely reflects a weakening in economic conditions in many industrialized countries, including European nations and Japan. By reducing the worldwide demand for commodities, weaker global growth should relieve upward pressure on U.S. inflation. Lower commodity prices should also be good for U.S. economic growth, although this benefit is likely to be counterbalanced to some degree by the detrimental effects of slower foreign economic growth on our exports, which have been surging. If commodity prices keep falling—or even if they remain at current levels—the Fed’s objective of promoting both price stability and full employment will become more readily achievable. In the remainder of my remarks, I want to elaborate on these points.
I’ll begin with housing, because the “boom and bust” cycle in the housing market was the trigger for many of the developments I’ll be discussing. The effect of the collapse in the national housing market on our economy has been profound. First, outlays for residential construction have been falling at double-digit rates in inflation-adjusted terms since 2005 and this decline has been a huge drag on growth. Slower economic growth has pushed up the national unemployment rate to 6.1%—over a full percentage point above the level that, in my view, is consistent with “full employment.” Going forward, it seems unlikely that construction activity will pick up any time soon. Inventories of unsold homes remain at elevated levels, and, although home sales have shown signs of leveling off recently—certainly a ray of hope—the volume of sales remains quite weak.
Second, the drop in house prices—around 15-20% off its peak depending on which measure you use—has weakened the financial condition of many consumers. The value of their homes is an important part of their wealth, and equity in those homes serves as collateral for home equity loans and other types of borrowing. The result is that consumers are likely to spend less, reducing the pace of economic activity. Declining house prices also appear to be the single biggest factor behind the recent rise in mortgage delinquencies and home foreclosures. When families face financial difficulties due to illness, job loss, or divorce, an equity cushion often allows them to get through the hard times by borrowing needed funds or even selling the house. But when home price declines have wiped out home equity or driven it into negative territory, people often end up in delinquency or foreclosure. The vitality of the subprime mortgage market appeared to depend on continued home price appreciation, and, of course, it is now in shambles with around 20% of subprime mortgages currently delinquent or in foreclosure nationwide. Delinquency rates on prime mortgages are far lower. But they, too, are on the rise.
The third profound impact of the national housing market collapse has been on financial markets, and the turmoil that began last August is still alive and well. For example, spreads between the rates that must be paid by risky borrowers over those on Treasury securities remain very high. And, as you know, we’ve begun to see a growing number of failures of depository institutions—notably IndyMac, which represented the largest failure in decades.
In addition, many financial markets are still not operating efficiently or effectively. In particular, the market for so-called private-label securitized mortgages of even the highest quality remains moribund. These complex instruments were the primary source of financing for nonconforming residential mortgages, including subprime loans.
Outside of expanded lending by the FHA, there is now little or no lending to higher-risk residential mortgage borrowers. Jumbo mortgages for prime borrowers are available, but at historically high spreads over rates on conventional mortgages, as banks have been reluctant to make these loans. Beyond higher rates, many depositories are tightening the terms of their lending, capping or terminating some home equity loans, and in general trying to reduce their exposure to credit losses by reducing the scale of their lending. Importantly, the government-sponsored agencies—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest of all mortgage lenders—have suffered credit losses and are having to pare back their crucial roles in the mortgage market. The result of all of this is a severe economy-wide credit crunch, comparable to the one that hit the economy in the recession of the early 1990s.
The story of how falling house prices, and, in particular, their effects on the subprime mortgage market, triggered the problems in financial markets is well known. At the most basic level, financial market participants suddenly realized that house price declines could result in substantial losses on subprime mortgages through delinquencies and foreclosures, that the extent of those losses was highly uncertain, and that the complexity of mortgage-backed securities and the collateralized debt obligations incorporating them made it difficult to know which participants would suffer the losses.
The story of how these problems will ultimately be resolved is far less clear. Obviously, it would help a lot if house prices stopped falling. But even though the rate of decline of house prices has shown signs of moderating, it appears that these prices will keep heading down for some time. The ratio of house prices to rents—a kind of price-dividend ratio for housing—still remains high by historical standards, despite having fallen substantially from its historical peak in early 2006. This suggests that further price declines are needed to bring housing markets into long-run balance. Moreover, large inventories of unsold homes can be expected to continue to put downward pressure on housing prices. In view of these factors, it’s not surprising that the futures market for house prices predicts further declines this year.
Going forward, the ability and willingness of commercial banks and other intermediaries to extend credit depends in part on their capital levels. Capital has been depleted by large losses, but it is encouraging that financial institutions have raised a considerable amount of new capital over the past year. Even so, balance sheet pressures and broader financial market dislocations may well be with us for some time. My guess is that market functioning will improve in 2009, but things could get worse before they get better. One major concern is that home prices could fall more than markets now expect, leading to larger losses for financial institutions, which would further impair their ability to make new loans. The deepening of the credit crunch could then lead to further declines in house prices, intensifying the adverse feedback loop that seems to be operating in our economy.
Beyond the many repercussions of falling house prices, another factor putting a damper on economic activity has been surging prices for commodities, including energy, food, and metals. There’s plenty of debate about where this surge in commodity prices came from. Some have argued that speculative trading in commodity markets is the main cause but, personally, I’m not persuaded by that explanation. For example, if speculators were important in driving prices up, then inventories would have risen as these speculators sought to profit from future sales at higher prices. However, inventories have instead been declining in most commodity markets, apparently reflecting high fundamental demand from buyers who actually use the commodities in the production of other products.
In fact, in general, I’m more persuaded by arguments based on the fundamentals of demand and supply—and I think they explain not only much of the run-up in commodity prices, but also the recent declines. In the run-up, demand was boosted by rapid worldwide economic growth, with China and other developing countries accounting for a good deal of the increase. At the same time, new supplies of oil have been harder to come by. As for food prices, supply has been constrained by a number of factors, including drought conditions that hampered wheat production in Australia, and demand for biofuels that has diverted crops away from food usage.
As I said, the fundamental forces of supply and demand can also explain the drop in energy and some other commodity prices since June. Most important is that the demand for commodities has probably fallen in response to a weakening of economic growth in many industrialized countries. In the second quarter, it was only barely positive in the 30-country OECD bloc as a whole, and Japan, France, Germany, and Italy all experienced outright contractions. Moreover, prospects for growth do not appear to be that good for the second half of this year; for example, the OECD Economic Outlook projects growth of only 1-1/4% for Japan, the euro area, and the total of OECD countries in this period.
Several factors are behind the worsening outlook abroad. First, as in the U.S., higher oil and food prices have cut into consumer spending. Second, although most of Europe had little subprime lending of its own, deteriorating U.S. financial market conditions have affected banks and markets abroad that invested in structured products originated in the U.S.; this is particularly true for banks in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, and France. As in the U.S., this exposure has led to higher funding costs, tighter bank lending standards, and wider spreads for riskier borrowers. Third, several countries, including Spain, Ireland, and the U.K., have experienced their own housing booms and downturns, creating further stress on their banking sectors. Fourth, slower growth in the U.S. and the depreciation of the dollar against their currencies have dampened European and Japanese exports.
Finally, monetary policy in Europe has been less accommodative during this period than in the U.S. For example, while the Fed cut its target interest rate substantially to 2% during the course of the credit crisis that began last summer, the European Central Bank kept its policy interest rate steady throughout, and then tightened by 25 basis points to 4¼% in July. Part of the reason for the difference is that the European Central Bank’s mandate requires it to focus exclusively on controlling headline inflation, which reached 4% for the 12 months ending in July—a rate well above its official objective of below, but close to, 2%. In addition, even though much of the recent increase in inflation is attributable to commodity prices, and therefore likely to be a temporary phenomenon, the central bank has been worried about second-round effects on inflation expectations, wages, and other costs, and justifiably so. The euro zone has a greater degree of wage indexation and collective bargaining than the U.S. So it is more likely that higher headline inflation will fairly quickly get built into wages there, setting off a wage-price spiral that could be persistent and difficult to stop.
Now that growth appears to be weakening outside the United States and prospects for inflation have improved with recent declines in commodity prices, financial markets have revised down expected future levels of interest rates in the euro zone and elsewhere. As a result, in recent months the course of the dollar has changed from the steady decline over the prior six years to an appreciation. A stronger dollar will tend to weaken demand for our exports, reinforcing the effects of weaker growth abroad.
Turning back to our own economy, it was recently reported that growth in the second quarter came in at a fairly robust rate of 3¼%. And this seems like good news—especially considering what the economy has just been through. Growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of last year, and, indeed, the data show that activity actually contracted slightly. Though growth turned positive in the first quarter, it was tepid at best.
While one might be tempted to interpret the recent strong numbers as a sign that things are turning around, there are three important reasons to think that the strength will not hold up, and that economic performance will be decidedly subpar in the second half of the year. First, consumer spending in the second quarter came in at only a moderate rate, even though it was boosted by substantial tax rebates. But there are no plans in place to repeat those rebates, so by the fourth quarter, the economy will no longer benefit from that fiscal stimulus.
Second, export growth alone contributed one-half of the total real GDP growth registered in the second quarter. This element has been an important source of strength in our economy for over a year, buoyed by strong growth abroad and by the weakening of the dollar. However, the dollar has rebounded some in recent months and, as I noted, economic growth in many of our industrialized trading partners has slowed or even turned negative, suggesting that exports will no longer give much of a boost to the pace of our economic growth.
Third, the problems in the housing markets, financial markets, and labor markets continue to be a drag on growth and employment. Fortunately, the recent fall in commodity prices should help to cushion some of this downward pressure on activity.
Overall, I anticipate that real GDP growth in the second half of this year will come in below the growth of potential output, which implies that the unemployment rate will rise further. On its own, this obviously is not good news. And its interaction with the housing and financial markets raises the potential for worse news—a deepening of the adverse feedback loop I’ve been describing: more unemployment causing more people to fall behind on their mortgage payments, leading to further delinquencies and foreclosures, tighter credit conditions and further downward pressure on activity and employment. This kind of process represents a downside risk for the economy, and the September 5 jump in the unemployment rate highlights that risk.
Finally, let me turn to inflation, where recent performance has been a serious concern. As of July, the headline PCE price index—a comprehensive measure of consumer prices—was up by a whopping 4¼% over the past year, compared to 2½% over the prior year. An important reason why inflation was so high, of course, was because of the steep increases we experienced in food and energy prices. On top of that, the rise in commodity prices boosted the costs of the wide array of businesses that use them as inputs, and some have responded by passing those cost increases through to their own prices. The consequence is that core inflation, which excludes food and energy, is also up. The core PCE price index rose by 2½% over the past 12 months, which is somewhat above the range that I consider consistent with price stability, but close to its pace of increase over the last several years.
As bad as inflation has been, I am very hopeful that inflation will come down quite substantially, though perhaps not as fast as I’d like; we probably need to live through another quarter or two of higher inflation, as previous increases in commodity prices boost the prices paid by consumers for food and energy.
One reason for inflation to come down thereafter is the recent decline in commodity prices. As long as they don’t keep going up, they will cease to put direct upward pressure on headline inflation. Furthermore, the slack we now have in labor and product markets will impart some downward pressure on the growth of labor compensation. The pace of wage and salary increases has been stable and quite modest in recent years and a weak labor market may cause it to decline even further.
Another important factor in the inflation outlook is inflation expectations. If the public were to conclude that the recent experience of high inflation will be long-lasting and not temporary, then workers might demand higher compensation and firms might satisfy those demands, setting off a wage-price dynamic that would be costly to unwind. I argued earlier that such a wage-price spiral was less likely here than in Europe because our economy has less wage indexation than exists in the euro area. However, that does not mean that we can afford to ignore the risk that such a damaging spiral could develop here.
Fortunately, I do not see signs of this development at this point. Outside of a few booming sectors such as energy, there are no real signs of escalating wage pressures, and the two broad measures of national labor compensation that we monitor have shown remarkably small increases recently and over the past year. Taking productivity growth into account, growth in labor costs per unit of output in the overall economy has been quite modest. Moreover, various measures of longer-term inflation expectations suggest that they remain relatively well contained. With the recent decline in commodity prices, inflation expectations for the next five years have edged down slightly in both the Michigan Survey of households and the Philadelphia Fed’s Survey of Professional Forecasters. Furthermore, since June, compensation for inflation and inflation risk over the next five years—as measured in markets for Treasury Inflation Protected Securities—has dropped noticeably and is now under 2%. For the period from five to ten years ahead, compensation has dropped a bit and remains at the lower end of its trading range of recent years. In summary, it seems clear that inflation risks have diminished somewhat in recent months as commodity prices have come down from their highs. But they have by no means disappeared and are very much at the forefront of the Federal Open Market Committee’s attention.
This brings me to my views on monetary policy. The Committee responded to the difficult economic conditions that emerged last year by easing monetary policy substantially, cutting the federal funds rate to 2%, which is more than three full percentage points below where it was just last summer. Although this rate is low by historical standards, I still don’t consider the stance of monetary policy to be excessively stimulatory. In light of all of the disruptions to the financial system I described, I consider financial conditions to be more restrictive overall now than when the financial crisis struck a year ago. Policy must be calibrated to push through the substantial headwinds the economy faces.
So, to summarize the outlook, while the economy did well in the second quarter, that strength is unfortunately likely to prove ephemeral. I anticipate sluggish growth in the second half of this year. Overall inflation over the past year has been unacceptably high. But, the prognosis for the not too distant future is favorable. The recent drop in commodity prices has improved the policy choice facing the Committee. However, going forward, it is clear that we must keep a close eye on both inflation and inflation expectations to ensure that we continue to earn the inflation credibility that we have built up over the past two and a half decades. | 2019-04-26T16:03:39Z | https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2008/september/us-economy-monetary-policy-september-2008/ |
Another is to Peter the Hermit from 1274 AD: The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress (Peter the Hermit, 2010).
One particularly salient and instructive example of a full blown Juvenoia from recent times was the comic book scare of the 1950s, elaborated in a fascinating book by David Hajdu, The 10 Cent Plague (Hajdu, 2009). Hajdu recounts how in 1954, psychiatrist Frederick Wertham wrote a book, Seduction of the Innocent, accusing comic books of breeding juvenile delinquency. There followed a tremendous public outcry against comics led by editorialists and religious leaders. Estes Kefauver, senator from Tennessee and subsequent Democratic vice presidential candidate, organized congressional hearings at which the comic book publishers were excoriated. There were comic book bonfires and the industry was decimated.
Another example was the super-predator scare of the 1990s. Criminologists John DeIulio and others predicted at the time an increase of 270,000 violent juveniles, a “crime bomb” of “fatherless, Godless, jobless” super-predators who would be “flooding the nation’s streets.” Of course, the opposite happened, juvenile crime started to decline right around then and has ever since. But the scare led to the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act of 1997, and legislation in 47 states that toughened their penalties on juvenile criminals, sending many into adult criminal court, removing confidentiality protections from juvenile proceedings, and increasing sentence length and severity (Krisberg, 2005).
In very contemporary period, in addition to the Internet anxiety, there have been recent books lamenting children who are being over-coddled and protected by helicopter parents (Honore, 2008; Skenazy, 2009), children who no longer have any free time to play (Elkind, 2001) and a generation that is growing up thinking they are the center of the universe (Twenge & Campbell, 2009).
Coddling is an extension of an article published in 2015. The authors present the case that there are new and endemic troubles on college campuses these days beginning in 2013, in the form of students protesting or otherwise complaining about invited speakers, faculty and others on campus whom they find offensive. The effect of this, we are told, is a large-scale squelching of free expression that will, at least according to the title, lead the entire generation to fail. The problem is presented to be of monstrous proportions.
While recognizing that there are a number of contributing factors, the authors insist that the major issue is how children are being raised these days, which allegedly leads them to be too soft and immature to cope with adversity when they reach adulthood. As the harbinger of doom, they cite to increasing mental health issues and suicide rates among adolescents. This is blamed largely on the use of smart phones that became prevalent after 2008.
But before we analyze the data they have presented and what it may or may not mean, we need to bring in another cognitive expert, Professor Gerd Gigerenzer of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. In 2015 Professor Gigerenzer published a book entitled “Risk Savvy: How To Make Good Decisions.” A good portion of that book explains how the Law of Small Numbers works in practice, is used in marketing and even fools most physicians on the efficacy and risks of proposed medical treatments.
Basically, it works like this: when a proponent is trying to push a narrative using statistics, he or she will focus on relative differences to amplify to the supposed problem or effect of treatment. In contrast, when a proponent is trying to downplay or oppose a narrative using statistics, the proponent will use base rates to minimize the problem or effect of treatment. In reality, the base rates are the important statistics, while the relative statistics are usually misleading and often lead to a cognitive misapprehension of the true situation, causing the reader to overvalue the meaning of small numbers as the heuristic suggests.
So for example, suppose you were told that a certain new treatment reduced the probability of a certain form of otherwise undetectable but fatal cancer by 50%. Impressive, right? Significant, yes? We should all start taking it immediately, shouldn’t we? That is the use of relative statistics. But now suppose we looked at the base rate instead. At it happens, the base rate for this form of cancer is .02 percent. Looking that as a natural frequency which is easier to comprehend, this means that only 2 persons in 10,000 have it. The treatment reduces it by 50% to .01 percent, or 1 person in 10,000. Hmm – maybe it’s not so significant after all. So should the 9998 people out of 10,000 who don’t have the problem get anxious and seek the treatment anyway? Maybe not. To overreact in this situation is to fall prey to the cognitive bias of The Law of Small Numbers.
The authors claim that the confrontation in Berkeley, California in February 2017 heralded “the start of a new and more dangerous era.” (Yes, they really said that, while at the same time also criticizing others for “catastrophizing” their problems.) To add more drama to the narrative, they add the incident involving a racist mob and murder over a Confederate monument that occurred in Charlottesville a few months later, even though, curiously, that incident did not take place on a campus other than an unauthorized march across the grounds, did not involve student protests and did not even take place when school was in session. In other words, it would appear to represent a different societal problem altogether, and one that is probably more serious in that it involved a number of criminal acts, pleas, trials and sentences.
But is the doom-is-neigh conclusion based on misleading relative statistics or reality-based base rates?
The statistical presentation begins with the presentation of the “Disinvitation Database”, which is a collection of all known incidents where a speaker was disinvited to a campus. There are 379 such incidents since 2000. However, in only 46% of those cases, or about 175, was the speaker actually disinvited.
In figure 2.1 the authors present a graph that seems to show these disinvitations running out of control, rising from about 10 per year in the early 2000s to around 40 in 2016-2017. A relative increase of about 300% - wow! And they increased significantly around 2013 – just when the authors contend the “crisis” arose.
Of course, the problem here is the complete lack of any discussion of base rates. Critically missing is the number of speakers invited to college campuses every year, which would be the denominator in an analysis. To get an idea of what that might look like, consider that there are 2474 4-year colleges in the United States another 1666 two-year institutions. Since the authors include both in their database, that makes 4,140 institutions. The database covers 19 years. So in order to calculate a base rate, we would need to calculate, or at least estimate, how many speakers were invited to these 4,140 institutions over 19 years. We pretty much know they all had commencement speakers – that would be 78,660 speakers if each institution invited just one speaker per year. If we used that very generous estimate, according to the authors, the base rate for disinvitations would have been 379/78,660, which equals 0.48% who were objected to, and 175/78,660, which equals 0.22% who were actually prohibited from speaking. If we assume that the institutions averaged just 10 speakers per year, those figures fall to an appallingly low 0.048% of speakers receiving objections and 0.022% actually prohibited from speaking.
Now we can reasonably estimate that the average number of speakers invited was greater than ten per institution per year, but the point is rather obvious – the reality of the situation is that the base rates are so low one cannot say with a straight face that there is an actual disinvitation crisis going on in post-secondary institutions when 99.952% never even receive an objection in the first place.
They also note – in footnote 18 on page 103 -- that the “crisis” seems to be confined to a very small group of institutions confined to New England, the Upper Midwest and the three states on the West Coast. Meaning that most of the country is apparently unaffected or so afflicted.
Later in the book at pages 175-176, they note that they are not really talking about all the kids in the generation, but really just the upper class and upper middle class that primarily attend the schools they are most focused upon.
Finally, they acknowledge elsewhere that there are about 20 million college students. Yet their anecdotes only involve a few hundred at a time at most. Again, applying base rates instead of relative statistics, it is clear than only a tiny minority of these students are involved in this purported Juvenoian crisis. While it plays nicely on the nightly news, it is far from an endemic problem.
The other critical set of data presented in the book to support the Juvenoian hypothesis concerns suicide rates of young people and their alleged connection to smart phones. As we shall see, this data actually undermines the Juvenoian thesis of the book.
In this regard, the authors lean almost exclusively on the work of Professor Jean Twenge, who wrote another tome in the Juvenoian genre, “iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--and What That Means for the Rest of Us”. Unfortunately, they are uncritical of her work even though they also present evidence that contradicts it without apparently realizing what they have done.
Twenge contends that “a new generation” appeared suddenly in 1995, which she dubs iGen. According to her, the salient characteristic of iGen is that they were the first to use smart phones as teenagers. Before we get to the data, there is a fundamental problem with this thesis, which anyone familiar with the study of historical demography would know through the work of William Strauss and Neil Howe (those guys who coined the term “Millennial” in the mid-1990s). The problem is this: generations are not defined by changes in technology that only affect part of a society in a certain way. Rather, generations are defined by large socio-economic events that define an era. A new generation begins to form when the children being born would not have a firm memory of the time before the major socio-economic events in question. Moreover, generations are also approximately 20 years long and do not have hard start and end dates, but rather incorporate transitional periods.
So looking at the generations of the past century, the Greatest Generation was born beginning in the early 1900s and did not remember a time before Teddy Roosevelt and the Progressive era reforms and Constitutional Amendments. It was not defined by the proliferation of radios and telephones and the invention of the tabloid newspaper in the 19-teens. The Silent Generation was born beginning in the mid-20s and did not remember a time before the Great Depression. It was not defined by the invention of talking motion pictures and proliferation of automobiles. The Baby Boomer Generation was born beginning in the 1940s and did not remember a time before the end of World War II and the new world order that was created. It was not defined by the proliferation of televisions or drive-ins. Generation X was born beginning in early 1960s and does not remember a time before the Civil Rights era or any of the turmoil of the 1960s, including the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King. It was not defined by the invention of personal computers and accessible mainframes. The Millennial Generation was born beginning the early 1980s and does not remember a time before the end of the Cold War (which is why the word “socialism” does not scare them much). It was not defined by the invention of the worldwide web and cable modems. Finally, Gen-Z was born starting around the turn of the century – the transition period is estimated as 1998-2004 and does not remember a time before the existence of the Department of Homeland Security and the Great Recession. It was not defined by changes in phone and computer technology.
Consequently, the idea that a new “iGen” generation suddenly sprung up in 1995 is not well supported. In fact, those kids are just late Millennials. (As an aside, my personal experience with children born 1995, 1998 and 2001 and dozens of their contemporaries suggests little or no difference between children born in early and late 1990s and only subtle differences post-2000.) And we know they are late Millennials from elsewhere in this very book, as the key difference between Millennials and their Gen-X predecessors was the sharp turn away from free-range parenting in the 1960s and 1970s to the protective parenting that began in the 1980s and continued through the 1990s.
The authors do an excellent job explaining this history of parenting and when it changed. As they recount, Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers were parented in a permissive environment influenced by the theories of Dr. Benjamin Spock. Generation X was probably the least-parented generation of any currently living. This came to an abrupt end in the early 1980s with the Millennial generation. As the authors recount: “[B]eginning in the 1980s and accelerating into the 1990s, “the dominant ideas and social norms about good parenting [had] shifted from Spock’s ‘permissive parenting’ to a new model of ‘intensive parenting.’ This is, in fact, one of the defining characteristics of the Millennial Generation. It is also true that Gen-Z has been even more intensely parented, especially since the early 2000s. In effect, Gen-Z, which is still being born, is the exact opposite of Gen-X in terms of amount of parenting. But it does not change the fact that those born in 1995-2000 are not substantially different from earlier Millennials.
Now getting to the Twenge data, the “smoking gun” touted by the authors is the data about increasing anxiety among younger people, which they contend tells a “shocking” story. Again this seems dictated more by The Law of Small Numbers narrative than the actual data.
The first data set shows rates of depressive episodes for 12-17 year olds from 2004-2018. The boys’ rate started at 5% in 2004, went down until about 2011 and then went up slightly to 6.4% in 2016. The girls’ rate is always higher, starting at about 13% in 2004, dipping and then going up to about 19% in 2018. For some unstated reason, the authors chose to focus on the gap between boys and girls and were worried that the gap was “widening”. This seems to suggest that they would have felt the problem would have been lessened if more boys were having such episodes.
In any event, instead of “shocking”, these graphs seem to suggest that the base rates are low and not changing very much. Taken together, 88% of the children surveyed are not suffering from any form of depressive episodes. In fact, combined the data suggest that only 4% of episodes have anything to do with events that occurred after 2011. And the authors suggest that at least part of it is due to over diagnosis.
The next graph depicts adolescent suicide rates from 1999-2016. To make this data more “shocking”, they ignore the base rates and focus on relative rates, trumpeting “nearly twice as many teenage girls now end their own lives” between 1999 and 2016. Double you say? But double of what? The authors don’t say in the text. However, looking at the data itself, we see that the suicide rate among girls went from 2.5 (let’s call it 3) per 100,000 to 5 per 100,000. Stated differently it went from 99,997 girls out of 100,000 who did not commit suicide to 99,995 out of 100,000 who did not commit suicide. Percentage-wise, the base rate goes from 0.003% to 0.005%.
At this point, Professor Gigerenzer would be shaking his finger, because THESE BASE RATES ARE INSIGNIFICANT to the overall population. This does not suggest a nationwide Juvenoian crisis that requires a sea-change in parenting at all, but instead that very targeted measures should be taken regarding specific individuals.
The data is further confounded by the fact that suicide rates for ALL generations have been increasing since 2008. To claim that this was caused by the proliferation of smart phones seems rather specious. The occurrence of the Great Recession is much more likely to have played a significant role, which fairly eviscerates the Twenge iGen thesis.
More telling is other data they present in passing about an earlier generation of adolescents. Apparently, the suicide rate for teen girls peaked in 1981 and was highest for boys in 1991. These teens were all part of Generation X, the least parented and most free-range generation in a century. And Generation X continues to lead all generations in suicide into middle age, even surpassing the suicide rates of the very elderly. This evidence is damning, because it contradicts the entire Juvenoian thesis of the book. It would seem to suggest that the “cure” of going back to full-blown free-range parenting may be worse than the disease it is supposed fix. Professor Gigerenzer would raise an eyebrow.
The Twenge data section concludes with data about non-lethal self-inflicted wounds, again trying to “shock” the reader by declaring that the rate of such acts has tripled among girls ages 10-14 in the past few years. But yet again, the base rates belie this tale of woe. The rate went from 110 per 100,000 to 318 per 100,000, or 0.11% to 0.32%. Again, this means that 99,682 out of 100,000 of girls aged 10-14 apparently are not injuring themselves due to the use of smart phones – or for any other reason.
The fascination with using relative rates instead of base rates continues unabated throughout the book. Regarding self-reported psyche disorders at 138 selected colleges (basis for selection unknown), the authors write: “That number increased from 2.7 to 6.1 for male college students between 2012 and 2016 (that’s an increase of 126%). For female college students, it rose even more: from 5.8 to 14.5 (an increase of 150%).” Again, the base rates tell us that the vast majority of college students are not suffering from any such issues.
We see this in the Coddling book where the risk of abduction is discussed. Here, unlike their presentation of the Twenge data, the authors use base rates to show that the risk is minimal and has been overblown. They also note that while crime rates have fallen, fear of crime has not. Therefore, they imply, over-parenting is somewhat irrational and is based on System 1 thinking. However, the same applies to Juvenoia.
I would submit that the truth would be more readily evident if the authors dispensed with the attractive narrative of Juvanoia and the use of relative rates to trigger cognitive bias of The Law of Small Numbers as “evidence”.
In the base-rate world, the Millennials and Gen-Z are no more likely to fail en masse as the title of the book suggests than Generation X is failing today. (The Boomers may be another story given their apparent inability to compromise and govern.) Indeed, we are just as likely at another inflection point where the trend in parenting with simply swing back towards free-range parenting on its own accord with a little push from the Juvanoian writings that have multiplied in the past few years. This is the nature of generations – going overboard one way, and then going overboard the other way a few decades later when people have forgotten the history of the issue.
Now what if we were to strip this book of its Juvenoian pretenses and ask again, “what is causing the current attitudes on campus about free speech”, which is really what the authors are complaining about. The authors present two alternative contributing sources to the problem: the administrators and the faculty of colleges and universities. This, in fact, makes the most sense from a System 2 perspective. After all, these are the repeat players who actually control what goes on at colleges. And neither group appears to be prioritizing “free speech” as one of their top goals, as the authors lament.
The guilt of the administrators is undeniable, because they are, in fact, in control of the colleges – not the students who were the primary actors in the newsworthy narratives earlier in the book.
As for the faculty, they do not fare much better in the quest to preserve free speech on campuses. The authors note that faculty have largely ceded authority that they once had to administrators, and have been “happy to released” from such duties. The authors further note that the “purpose” of a university ought to be “seeking the truth”, but that many faculty have other agendas. Some believe that the purpose of education is to bring about social change, which is contrary to what the authors believe. Others engage in the ritual of “open letters of denunciation”, whereby they round up a crowd of signatories to condemn what another member of the faculty has written and often demand its retraction.
There seems to be almost open warfare between the faculty Social Justice Warriors described in the book and the Free Speech Warriors represented by the authors. Yet, if we looked through the Mimetic Lens, we would see that they are, like most mimetic rivals, more alike than different. Both hold to certain “imperatives” that, for them, trump most if not all other considerations.
Perhaps because it may be a touchy subject and even though they recognize that “something has been changing among the faculty, as well as among the students”, the authors miss a golden opportunity to really explore further the effect of faculty attitudes on the changes in faculty as of the mid twenty-teens. Haidt does note that the makeup of the faculty has changed drastically since the 1990s, with fewer and fewer conservative-leaning faculty in residence and more lack of view-point diversity in certain places and departments, notably in colleges in New England. But there are substantial untapped troves of data showing how college faculty has changed since the 1990s, including, for example, Taking the Measure of Faculty Diversity (2016). It is notable that during this mid twenty-teens is when the first Millennial faculty would have been appearing on campuses in substantial numbers, and would be interesting to explore what impact they have had. For a perhaps spurious relative statistic, the growth of women faculty has been twice as fast as that of men.
The take-away from this book under examination through the Prospecting Lens is that it is indeed plagued by the narrative of Juvenoia and inappropriately titled. A better title might have been “Conflicts on Campus: How Administrators and Faculty are Coddling the Customer and Destroying the Search for Truth.” It would have been much shorter and probably would not have garnered the nice reviews up front, but probably would not have sold nearly as well. Juvenoia is a perennial best seller and does not pit one group of adult professionals against another.
Which leads to another point, looking through the Mimetic Lens. It is easier for both sides of the administrator/faculty debates about the goals of universities to scapegoat the students than confront each other directly. They also make a good pawn in support of the argument that the other side is “harming the children and jeopardizing our collective future.” And this relieves the crisis between them for another year or two.
There are a few other points of interest in this book that pertain to the Lenses of Wisdom. In Chapter 5, the authors describe the process of how witch hunts and scapegoating work: “There are three features common to most political witch hunts: they arise very quickly, they involve charges of crimes against the collective, and the offenses that lead to charges are often trivial or fabricated.” Yet, they believe this activity is highly unusual. We know that is not the case from this post, as it arises time and time again throughout history. The witch hunt has been more of a reoccurring feature whenever conflict reaches a boiling point.
A quick view through the Fractal Lens shows why this is, as you never know which grain of sand dropped onto the proverbial pile will start the avalanche. As P.W. Anderson taught us, “More is Different”. This is just as one would expect – a concentration of the same view-point can eventually lead to rivalry and a conflagration, similar to Salem, which was discussed in the post on Microaggressions.
That post also discussed the Campbell/Manning paper referenced in Chapter 10 of Coddling. Regarding “Victimhood” culture, as distinguished from “Dignity Culture”. In fact, viewed through the Mimetic Lens, these two are part of the same thing. “Dignity” simply means that everyone has rights that should be respected. “Victimhood” simply means that one is claiming one’s rights have been violated and seeks recognition or recompense. Both of these are features of Western or WEIRD societies and form the basis for all policy debates, as we discussed in the post, the Mimetic Weirding Way.
Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the University of Virginia’s rowing teams, which Haidt discusses in Chapter 11. Haidt seems to imply that the men ought to be upset that the women’s team is recognized as a varsity sport, while the men’s team holds only club status. As the proud father of a UVA rower and supporter of the program, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. The men’s program is thriving and has even produced an Olympic athlete. And they love cheering for the women. The lesson there – from the Mimetic Lens to the Prospecting Lens– is that envy and rivalry are only as bad as your System 1 heuristics make them. | 2019-04-20T11:15:05Z | https://www.prospectingmimeticfractals.com/the-view/category/juvenoia |
Hi Schweiss, I have come across your doors, specifically the "funky storefront doors" you did for an architect in Brooklyn. We are working on a project that could use a similar system: steel perforated panels covering your door assembly. I have filled in your opening size for the door in question, we are already manufacturing the perforated panels for another aspect of the building and want to do likewise with decorative perforated panel bifold strap doors. Please send me a quote ASAP, and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about this.
I am an architect with a commercial door building project that would benefit from two large 34' x 28' bifold doors. Please let me know if you have some Schweiss detailed CAD or BIM drawings that we can use in our documents. This is a renovation that has very limited height inside the perimeter steel of the floor above and little opportunity to reframe for a conventional roll-up door inside the building. There is some flexibility outside the building and it appears that the Schweiss liftstrap belt lift bi-fold door should work well in this application. It appears that there are several door skin options for these doors. Please indicate if custom metal panel could be used to match the finish of the metal panels on the rest of the building. Lastly if you have thermal data for insulated panels, I would very much like to see it.
I am in search of a (2) 12 meter by 12 meter Schweiss bifolding overhead doors for commercial use in a vehicle airlock. They must be suitable to handle local wind loads in Australia. The doors will be pressurized from the the inner side of the outer door (the one subject to wind load design) and the outer side of the inner door. Internal building pressure maximum design loads are 2.5 w.c., or 13 pounds per square foot (63.4716 kilogram/square meter). Please provide a quote for the doors and installation, if applicable.
Hello, I am an architect in Baltimore, MD working on a project for Johns Hopkins Hospital. We are in the process of designing a loading dock. Given the site conditions, the loading dock must be adjacent to the main entrance of the building, on a busy street. We are looking to conceal the dock behind a bi-fold door. I would like a representative to come to the office to discuss the project and provide more information.
Hello, working on a project where we would like to use your bi-fold or hydraulic door system. however, we only have 15'-1" clear. we would like to maintain a 14'-0" clear since it would serve a loading dock. can you please confirm whether a bi-fold or hydraulic door would work under this condition. a prompt response would be greatly appreciated. thanks, Martha.
Pricing. Great product curious to see if this in our project's budget. We are looking at something similar to your product at Sam Tavern in Seattle.
Good day. We are looking at bi-fold hangar style architectural doors for a project in Miami connecting a 3,600 SF air-conditioned space with a courtyard, with a similar aesthetic to the one that your company did for the Fermilab in Illinois. Does your company have experience in projects requiring Miami-Dade county NOAs?
is there a minimum height? I'm working on specifying an operable bifold door/window for a restaurant patio area. The opening is 7' wide by 4'-6" tall. thanks!
I am working on a small commercial project. The owners want a glass bifold garage door. The opening will be 8' wide x 9' tall. It will open to a deck, I think the door opening and acting as a cover, may be an added feature a garage door can't provide. Can this type of door be a cost competitive option? Thank you for your help.
I have a commercial indoor installation in which I need an bifold style lift door system in glass & wood or glass and metal. I can send you more details by email with layouts.
Hello, We would like to have a Schweiss lift-strap Bi-fold door for a commercial project in Miami, FL. I see that most of your literature shows an 18' clear height. Is this a maximum or does it have to be 18'? Also, does your product have an NOA for Miami-Dade?
We are trying to do (5) separate bifold garage doors within an 11'-11"W x 11'-4"H Opening. This will be to create an indoor/ outdoor bar for a hotel in San Antonio TX. Some of the doors will be the full height of the rough opening, and some will only be to the top of the counter.
We have an existing storefront that we are redesigning in Baltimore. It currently has a roll up security door. we are looking for something more aesthetically pleasing. Could you please give me a quick budget number if I wanted to use a bifold metal door. the opening is 24' wide by 10' high please email or call me at your earliest convenience.
I'm quoting a restaurant in Bright, IN. Owner wants tow upward bifold doors at his bar area. I have drawings available. I'm in need of quick pricing. He wants a price from me by the end of the day tomorrow. Please call and I can e-mail the drawings to you.
Dear Sir, Good Day We have Bi Fold Commercial Warehouse Doors Installed in one of our Warehouses and now want an additional six bifold warehouse doors of the same size for our steel building. We would like these steel doors to have four windows and walk doors.
My building will be a concrete tilt wall construction with a retail storefront windows and entry way. I am looking for protection (hurricanes), security, and sun/awning relief for my retail windows. The strap lift bifold system may be helpful for my new building.
Hi, I will like to get a quote for 12' tall openings 17'-4" and 22'-0" wide. I am preparing budget pricing for a new three store restaurant in the Bahamas. Once we make contact I can send plans and images of the shutter similar to what appear on your website. Can the doors be used as primary barrier for hurricane? are your door rated? I look forward to hearing from you.
I would like to get a quote for a 40x18 glass bifold door. This is early in the design process, so I'm not sure of all my answers. We are looking for the most affordable option, but it will be in a restaurant, so we will be balancing budget and aesthetics. We want glass.
I'm looking for a aluminum glass bifold door for a storefront. The aluminum I would like powder coated to a dark bronze and fitted for half inch insulated glass. I do not want the door shipped with glass because the contractor is going to install matching glass with the rest of the storefront. My opening dimensions is 9 foot 11 and 3/4 by 8 ft 8 in. The header is a 5 inch steel tube. The jam Dimension is in between jam and the jams are poured concrete. I am looking for a door option that would fit this opening.
Hello, We are interested in spec'ing one of your bifold doors for an interior conference room of a commercial project in North Carolina. We're looking for details for the head and jambs, in particular. Thank you for your help, Johnathan.
Starting to plan a commercial building, curious about a designer bifold door, tentatively 16x30. I want to compare pricing to standard doors.
I'm an architect working on a project for a school client in western Massachusetts. I'd like to see if your strap-lift bifold doors may be appropriate for this large commercial job. The project is a new 4-season enclosure over existing tennis courts. The tennis pavilion is 336'x130' and needs an enclosure system about 14' high around all sides (roughly 13,000 sf). The bifold school doors must be lifted up during summer weather and closed during rainstorms and colder days. Here are a few questions you may be able to help me out with: 1. What size panels would your enclosure system work with? Our largest bay sizes are 27'-6" x 14'h, but can be divided into smaller openings or grouped into larger openings as necessary. I'm interested in keeping the quantity of openings cost efficient, so if fewer and larger openings are more cost effective, I can make modifications to the bay sizes. 2. The building is in a flood zone. The doors should be open during a flood event to allow water (up to a few feet) to pass through the building. In order to keep the doors from a "fail closed" situation we would require a Schweiss door battery backup system to lower during a power failure. Are there options with the system to enable the doors to operate during a power failure and ensure they stay open during a storm? 3. I understand that Schweiss provides either a steel frame to be clad by others, or a glazed aluminum frame. Have you had any experience with using fabric or clear vinyl to clad these doors? We're looking for a transparent door material to daylight the space, but does not need to be insulated. 4. Is it possible to integrate swing doors into the bifold door panel for egress?
I'm a builder and have customers that want commercial doors in their new shops that we are bidding on. I'm shopping and lookin for number to add to my bid. They will both be 16 ft tall not sure on widths one maybe 26 on a gable and 20 on a eve side. Include price for delivery, install and repair service.
Good afternoon. We would like commercial door services for a parking garage on a 40 unit apartment building that is under construction in Boston. I would like some assistance in making sure we select the correct door for this situation, and that it will work in the space we have. Please contact me via email and i will send drawings showing where the door will be located. Thanks!
We are building a patio for an ice cream store. Seems like commercial glass doors would be a great way to open up the patio for a wide open feel during nice days. Saw pix of a bar in Clear Lake Iowa that did this sort of thing. Any price advantage in ordering 3 doors? THANKS.
Could you please quote me on commercial door installation for 2 -16 ft x 14 ft bifold doors. with lift straps and auto latches for a building I am bidding in Durand Wisconsin. The owner has two of your doors on another building now so if need be I can try to get some additional info off the doors if that would be required to price. The building would be wood frame construction. The outside skin would be a poly carbonate panel to let in light. There are large cam latches on the sides. I can send pictures also if needed. They are for a fertilizer mixing room if that influences the type of operator motor or a protective paint applied to doors.
I am interested in commercial door service for our 24x30 restaurant. We will be selling food out of the door so the outside overhang and free overhead interior space sounds very appealing. The finished opening is approx 10' wide and 15' tall, roof pitch is 3-12, and approx 9' to the first roof truss.The shed has been framed in with 2x6 studs. Also, was wondering if this can be done with a traditional outside raised panel look. Please contact me and let me know if this is possible. We are located in Chicago. I would be able to install myself if we are too far away.
LOOKING FOR COMMERCIAL DOOR REPAIR IN HOUSTON, TX. REPLACE A STEEL CABLE DOOR WITH STRAPS. PRICE WITH AUTOMATIC DOOR LATCHING FEATURE.
Looking for commercial door services in Hollywood specifies (2) Schweiss O/H bi-fold doors. Door frame is metal with infill of tempered door glass on both the top and bottom panels. They are 6'-0" wide and 8'-0" tall. Do you provide an absolute complete bifold door system? In that you provide the motor, the frame (panted/powder coated) and the glass infill? Or do you just provide a door frame with motor?
Good afternoon. We would like commercial door services for a parking garage on a 40 unit residential building that is under construction in Boston. I would like some assistance in making sure we select the correct door for this situation, and that it will work in the space we have. Please contact me via email and i will send drawings showing where the door will be located. Thanks!
I have a 100' x 100' x 25' tall building that is currently open on 2 sides. We are considering Schweiss commercial door services for a rock climbing gym in this building. We want to keep the open design to take advantage of the good weather, however, for the cold months we need to be enclosed. do you have doors (or a series of doors) to cover that kind of footage? if so, what would a ball park price point be? Thanks.
Could you please quote the following: 35' wide, 20' High hydraulic door - used for commercial building Door to be installed in the endwall of a wood frame building.
I am looking for 2 Schweiss doors for a commercial door service. I prefer insulated doors and am interested in the hydraulic one piece doors. I would need a quote on a 16ft Wide x 14ft High and also on an 8ft x 14ft. I'm not sure what you would call this building per se, but its an indoor/outdoor driving range to let golfers stand protected inside while golfing out onto the driving range. If you have any questions, please call me. Thanks.
Hello, I would like to request quote for commercial project located in New York, NY. We are looking for similar door type as SST-II Hydraulic Bi-Folding System with the following parameters: Schweiss Bifold door options we are considering: -Metal frame construction -Commercial grade -Job Site Location: Brooklyn, New York (Brooklyn Navy Yard) -Building type: Steel, Existing Structure with existing rough opening for the doors -Load Wind Requirements: None for interior bifold doors installation. One is exterior bifold door installation. -Door Quantity: Manufacturing facility grade -Header Material: Steel -Jamb Material: Steel -Door Opening Sizes: Interior (6 ea) 14'-0" x 10'-0" x 0'-4" %u2026and.. exterior (1 ea) 19'-11" 1/2 x 17'-0" x 0'-4" -Type of Door Covering/Skin: Glass -Options to Include in Bifold Door: The (1) big exterior bifold door to have integrated single swing door in the middle. Door schedule is available per request with door elevation and sizes. Quote should include: Shop Drawings, Field Measurements, Installation of the doors, or authorized company supervisor for installation by others (if installed by local crew hired independently). Please contact me and let me know if you need any further information, and if you have any comments.
Hello, I would like to install a bifold door in a conference room in San Francisco. I have a photo of the glass clad type of Schweiss commercial door I'm trying to achieve so if you email me back I can attach a photo of what I want. I would like the door to be manually operated and I would like to know my size options and limitations. Thanks!
I have two of your economical Schweiss commercial grade bifold doors. The one installed in 1999 was insulated and weather stripped. I would like you to ship me some replacement weatherstripping. The original installation contractor as well as overhead door and insulation dealers are unable to help me locate materials to seal the gaps at the bifold door hinge and at the top of the door. Can you help me?
Need quote for (1) 60' x 14'6" bifold liftstrap commercial door with remote operator and photo eye sensors. The building is there, we need specs on the requirements for reinforcing the building for this door.
Hello, We are looking for an inward opening door system for 4.75M high minimum clearance loading doors on a new commercial building in London. Can you provide more information on an inward opening bi-fold door system and an inward opening one-panel hydraulic door system (similar to the up and over style but inward opening). The design consists of two loading doors each at 6.1 meters wide. This is a high end building so we would not like to have any exposed operators or motors on the exterior. Please let me know if you require any additional information.
New construction bifold multi-use door. Reinforced steal beam and footers. Bifold liftstraps and autolatches, Commercial concrete building door containing windows and key lockset separate entry door. Price two extra handheld remotes for this 32 ft. x 16 ft. door.
Bifold designer door information for 35 x 16 ft. commercial business door on concrete and metal building. Glass bifold door to have liftstraps, autolatches, aluminum frame, pedestrian door and remote door opener.
Our hotel door project here in Hollywood specifies (2) Schweiss O/H bi-fold doors. Door frame is metal with infill of tempered door glass on both the top and bottom panels. They are 6'-0" wide and 8'-0" tall. Do you provide an absolute complete bifold door system? In that you provide the motor, the frame (panted/powder coated) and the glass infill? Or do you just provide a door frame with motor?
I would like to price both the bifold liftstrap and hydraulic doors for commercial door use. Sizes on two seperate steel doors : 40' wide x 18' clearance height, and 30' wide x 18' clearance height. I will need the costs of these Schweiss commercial doors shipped directly to location near Lubbock, TX.
I have a client requesting six (6) 20' - 22' wide x 16' tall bifold liftstrap autolatch mini-mall doors with photo eye sensors to be installed on a new pre-engineered building. Concrete block building doors 160' x 125' x 28' with a 4:12 pitch.
We're looking to install a 5-7m tall store front door. We would require 2-3 bifold liftstrap doors with windows. Photo eye sensors, door base safety edge and remote openers.
We are looking to get a price on a bifold greenhouse glass door with straps (no door cables) at 40' wide x 14' open height. Also price your auto latch and a glass walk-in door.
I would like an estimate for an insulated wall door for a commercial business building. The size is about 20 feet wide by 12 feet height. We have side rolling doors now and want to retrofit with Schweiss bifold liftstrap door and locking combination walk door. Windows will be useful.
Looking for a store front entrance door for a business. All glass look with aluminum door frame. Bifold door that turns into an awning. I need two options: 1) 9'10" x 10'. 2) 6' x 10'. Not looking for cables, only liftstraps. Include photo eye sensors.
We require information for a radiation shield doors listed below, a lead lined door, as well as heftier door installation details.
I want a 20' section by 14' high bi-fold glass commercial grade door. Aluminum frame storefront door with automatic electric opening door with door latching feature and lift straps.
I need some Bifold Strap Doors for a strip mall project. Require 1 ea 77 x clear height 28' 2 ea 57 x Clear hieght 20' 1 ea 47 x Clear Height 16' 2 ea 42 x Clear height 16' Please provide necessary Rough Opening Size. Could you also price these as aluminum frame doors?
Looking for Schweiss glass garage doors for a restaurant space. Probably 4 of them 8' wide and 7' high. Looking for a guesstamate. But really need to know if they are hurricane rated and which door, bifold or hydraulic seals up best. The restaurant is on the boardwalk at the Jersey shore. Thanks, Vito.
I'm looking for a quote for renovating my restaurant. I have a plan to change my front window to a straplift bi-fold door. Can you quote me how much to replace a bi-fold door, including the installation and excluding the installation cost? I'm looking at an aluminum frame, glass door.
Interested in budget pricing for a bi-fold liftstrap commerical door to replace a rolling dock door on a commerical building. Rough dimensions of opening are: 24' wide x 15'6" tall. Photo of existing door available for review. How soon can you deliver, and can you install on a weekend vs. weekday?
We are Detailing a Bus Maintenance Garage in Toronto, Canada with Bi-Folding curtain wall window sections. Our specification calls up your Schweiss liftstrap bi-fold door so I have some details worked up that I would like to send you to see if they would work. Anything specific that you will need at this point.
I am interested in an insulated overhead bifold liftstrap [manual] that we can use in our 24x30 metal shed. We will be selling food out of the door so the outside overhang and free overhead interior space sounds very appealing. The finished opening is approx 7'10" wide and 7'6" tall, roof pitch is 3-12, and approx 9' to the first roof truss.The shed has been framed in with 2x6 studs. Also, was wondering if this can be done with a traditional outside raised panel look. Please contact me and let me know if this is possible. We are located in Illinois. I would be able to install myself if we are too far away.
I would like to speak with a representative regarding a bifold designer Schweiss door for a small storefront in NYC. We would like the door to serve as an awning when in an open position, and it should be able to close down and lock (from the street, rather than from inside as is typical in most of the scenarios I see on your website. The total storefront is rather small, measuring approximately 8'8" wide by 10'2" tall. These are the dimensions which would include the frame/track. Please give me a call to discuss at some point today. Thanks!
We have been asked by the City of Redwood Falls to submit a bid to add a bifold door to the existing arrival and departure building we constructed for them in 2002. The building was constructed to add a future door where there presently are three overhead doors. The building drawings showing the framing and connection points are attached. The liftstrap door would be 50' x 17' clear opening. They are also interested in an alternate price for a hydraulic door, if it would work with the existing structure.
Could you please quote me on providing and installing 2 -16 ft x 14 ft bifold doors with lift straps and auto latches for a building I am bidding in Durand Wisconsin. The owner has two of your doors on another building now so if need be I can try to get some additional info off the doors if that would be required to price. The building would be wood frame construction. The outside skin would be a poly carbonate panel to let in light. There are large cam latches on the sides. I can send pictures also if needed. They are for a fertilizer mixing room if that influences the type of operator motor or a protective paint applied to doors.
We are interested in your premier bi-fold liftstrap door products. We are looking for immediate action and development. This will be a commercial retail storefront application along a blvd in Westwood CA. 1. The building type is combination of existing timber with new steel seismic reinforced framing. These will create possible conflicts for interior swing allotment. 2. We are currently working on the wind load requirements at this time. The exterior part of the doors cannot overhang more than 4\' from lease line. 3. Header and jambs will be steel. Intermediate supports between doors will be 4x4\" steel beams. 4. Each door opening would be approximately 16\' width x 14\' height. Motorized is required. 5. We prefer clear powder coated 2x4\" hot rolled tube steel w/ 1\"glazing stops w/ (2) layers of 1/4\" laminated and tempered glazing. If you do not offer steel, we would consider using an aluminum product and powder coating. 6. No pass thru doors will be necessary. 7. Installation may be contracted by GC, supervised may be preferred. 8. Please see the attached schematic package for your reference. Please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss the details of this opportunity.
We are about to open up a bar in Houston, Texas. I saw the custom bi-fold door made for TGIF that is posted on your website. I was hoping to get an idea about pricing for a door like that one, 18\' wide and 12\' high. I want the quieter opening lift straps on it.
Hi, We have a problem and wondered if you could help us solve. We are looking to add two doors at the ends of a wash bay to provide protection from the elements (rain, wind, not thermal, since it is an unheated space). Opening are 12 wide x 27 high. Desire is for quick opening/closing (5 -20 seconds). We are looking at bi-folding lift strap, swinging, and overhead coiling (with a wire bridge) doors, and could use your expert recommendation. There is no side room for sliding doors. Rail/train cars will enter/exit the space. There is an overhead catenary (high-voltage) wire that is suspended a couple of feet down and offset from center. We could conceivably hang weatherstripping (from the opening header down to the wire) and mount the doors below that. Mounting location not finalized (utilities/equipment would have to be relocated for mount to interior vs. exterior). See attached drawings. Can you help? We need a concept and a budget.
We are interested in the Red Power hydraulic doors for our motorcycle shop! We would like it to have a designer look like you did for Cycle City in Hawaii. Do you have any info you could mail or fax to use?
I am interested in speaking with someone about a specific bifold designer door for my sales room for some pricing and additional info. You show some great looking doors on your Schweiss Web site. I'm excited about getting one soon.
2 openings in existing storefront to be replaced with a bi-fold or hydraulic pivot project near Crater Lake. 10'4" H x 15'4" W and 10'4" H x 12'10" W. Doors should be wind loaded and have back up systems.
Dear sirs, We are pricing these doors for a new retail shop that we are thinking of building this fall and I would like to have the specs for these doors. The new building is being added to a building that is already there and the overall hight is a deciding factor of which door, bifold or hydraulic, that we will be using. We have a 30 foot Schweiss bi-fold in another building and it works great. thanks.
Would like to use Schweiss bifolding doors to place at the front of a restaurant. one rough opening would be 12' wide 14' height and one opening at 6' wide by 14' high. I didnt know if you could make doors this small. If so please price for budget estimate.
I am considering building a 10,000 sq ft. building for auctions. Your hangar door looks like it may fit well into my plans. I am interested in getting a pricing idea on your bifold doors as well as your one piece hydraulic Schweiss doors. Can your doors be insulated and fitted with walk through doors.
Need pricing for a 50'x18 clear opening bifold door for a cold storage building in S.D. Could I also get a price for two 30'x19' clear opening hydraulic doors for a cold storage building in N.D. Bot jobs are on pre-engineered structures. I will need clearance dimensions for installation of each door.
I am doing a capital needs "wish list" for the fertilizer plant I manage and I would like a quote for 4 strap bi-fold doors that are 16'x16' on a steel built building in Wolf Point, MT. I am only looking for a quote at this time, thank you.
This door, Schweiss Bifold w/straps, would go into a factory for future access to deliver large equipment. We are looking at using your door in what the owner calls a temporary opening. They want something that will match the wall thickness which is 8" thick and not look like a door when not in use, both interior and exterior. They want it to be a good sealed door not to allow for dirt, rodents and anything else to get in. Please send us any head, jamb and sill detail for our use in detailing your door for possible consideration.
I would like to speak to a sales rep about a project that I am bidding, the conversion of a 20' shipping container into a pop up store. One idea my client has is to convert the approx. 20'X8' side into a drop down platform, I've seen this done and would like to discuss the Schweiss hydraulic one piece door & parts needed. Thanks, Riley., Brooklyn, N.Y.
I have received your Schweiss Doors commerical building quote. It reflects designing the building to accomodate a 35' x 18' Hydraulic door centered in each end wall in a 60' x 110' x 20' building just as we asked. Thank you for your quick reply. We'll contact you soon for installation of the hydraulic doors.
I just need ball park pricing, we are in the design process for a shopping mall. Please quote 40 ft and 32 ft. wide with 14 ft. clear opening for a Schweiss bifold door with lift straps and 2-button constant hold control to be installed in Xenia, OH.
we require few doors for our new ware house and we are very much interested in your Schweiss Bifold and Hydraulic door products, we are out of state. I know you do a lot of out-of state biz, how soon could you get to us once we place an order?
I would like a quote for a 40'wide x 18' Schweiss bifold or hydraulic door. The building is 60x100x18' what do i need for extra material for the header? This door will be installed on the end wall.
Looking for two insulated Schweiss comertial bifold doors. 32 feet wide with a 23 foot high clearance. Can this be done on a 26 foot under eave height? Do you have installation crews?
Hello, I'm working on a large commercial renovation project in New York city and we are looking at putting a system of architectural bifold doors around the perimeter of a space. The doors would be sized to accommodate an existing structural grid that's 20' on center and the doors would be 32' high. There would be a total of 700 linear feet; 34 20' bays. We're looking at options of both 20' wide doors and 40' wide doors along the system. The finish material would all be glazing. Does this seem like something your Schweiss Door product could accommodate? Also, could you provide a rough estimate of the price range per square foot of a system of this sort? Any feedback and product recommendations are welcome Thanks.
Hello, I work for a Tent Manufactor and we are getting ready to launch a Aviation Product Line and have come accross your product. We have units from 30' wide up to 160' wide and have an unlimited length. We have a system that already opens and closes the entire end of the structure but we are also looking at flat end strutures with Bi-Fold Doors. We think your doors will be best.
I need a quote for a vertical folding door with a 120mph wind load. Add to the quote for auto-latches, I live in FL. I also need it to include delivery and installation. THANKS!
We are looking for something like your "Glass Paneled Bifold Designer Doors", but with semi-opaque glass. My team has the perfect use of the door. A store owner wants his coffee shop to be more accessible. Thanks.
Just checking pricing for an upcoming project on a steel warehouse... 44 x 12 Hangar door. Bi-fold type. Key word is cheap. Delivered to Oregon. What are we looking at for pricing vs. using the company from Oregon to get it.
I hope to specify 3 glass bifold doors for a restaurant in Colorado. Please call so we can coordinate. Thanks!
We have an application for 2 doors on a restaurant to separate the bar from the patio dining. Need a glass bi-fold or single door from the bar top up. I would also like to investigate a new door on my hanger at FCM.
The bi-fold door and hydraulic door are exactly what I have been looking for. Our church just purchased a building in our village that we will use for outreach events. We want to turn an existing garage door opening into a door opening that opens out like your doors do so we can open the building up when we are playing live music and such. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
Please mail a complete product information. We are designing a tropical restaurant place in Colombia (S.A.)It is a 3 facadas cornner lot with multiple window openings (7'8"w.x9'h.) We think your bifold designer Schweiss product may match our ideas.
We have a need for 28 doors to replace existing for street car repair/maintenance facilities. We have a budget to work to and would like to explore bi-fold doors as an option. The door openings are approximately 12 feet wide by 16 feet high. Location is Toronto Ontario.
Recently, I received a response from one of your sales reps. However, it was sent to my spam email and inadvertently deleted. We are working on a new hotel project in Jamaica, NY where there will be an entry to an underground parking garage. We were in the process of specifying a door that was attractive (I believe it was a designer hydraulic door) that had the ability to automatically open quickly by a remote sensor. We are not sure which door you could recommend, but I have filled out the size we would need below. Not sure if our situation would be a side wall or end wall configuration. Please send information on your doors. Thank you!
We are doing a Market building. 35' tall with opening of about 8' wide by 29' tall Can I get you to answer some bifold door questions and maybe get a quote.
We are bidding a project, Garrett County Trade Enterprise Center/Exhibit Hall, on which your Schweiss bifold designer style doors are specified. We would appreciate receiving a proposal from your firm. If you can have a sales rep. contact me, I can discuss details.
Hi, I am interested in using the Bi-Fold (vertical) designer style Schweiss bifold door in a restaurant storefront. I would like to request a price quote for the client. The rough dimensions are approximated and written in the form. Also, how is the fabrication/installation process work? Do we provide the drawings or is there a contractor provided? Please call or email back. Thank you!
Dear Sir I am looking for a way of separating off a section of our school assembly hall. Can I use one of your hydraulic bifold doors to do this? The door would be used internally. The door would close off the stage area used during school assemblies from the larger area of the hall which would be used as a gymnasium when not in use for assemblies. With the door in the open position during assemblies we would need to seat students under the open door. Is this possible? Thanks Richard C.
Loooking for information on vertical folding door to close flexible use conference / meeting room between office and retail space. Interior use.
Hello, I am in a construction management estimating class. I am doing a bid project for a fire station. Wondering if you can give me any ball park idea of a pricing for custom garage doors. Here's what I have to get a price for:7'x14'x1.75" with two tempered glass panels in each section. total of 6 pairs for vehicle openings. If you can just give a range of price that would be great! I reall appriciate any assistance. Robyn T.
Working on an indoor soccer complex in MN that is considering the installation of hanger doors to provide an "outside" playing atmosphere for a fully enclosed building. New construction this summer.
We are doing some renovations at American International College in Springfield, MA this summer. The architect on this project would like to use 4 of your bifold doors 10'-2" x 12'-6". 3 would be operable and 1 fixed. Whom would I contact to get a installed price?
I need a price for a bi-fold garage door. I am building a pizza restaurant and the owner wanted to price out the option of your door versus a conventional garage door. The door needs to be 9' wide by 8' tall. Thank you, Chadd M.
I am in the early stages of designing a building for our customer. He wants a private hanger with a 50' x 14' bifold door that I will design the building around and at this point I'm just looking for technical information for the building design. We are a Varco Pruden pre-engineered building distributor. 1. What do you recommend for framed opening size? 2. How much room do I need to allow above the door for the header? 3. What are the weights and forces that I need to apply to the building? 4. From looking at the pictures, it appears that you just supply the frame work and we apply the panel to match the building. Is this correct? 5. Do you insulate the door or is that our responsiblity? 6. Any information that you can provide that will help with this design would be appreciated. You can email me at the above email address, or fax it. Thank you, Duane C.
I am inquiring about a Schweiss bi-fold door that an architect has specified on the Des Moines Art Center addition project. The door measures 12' wide and 16' tall. The specifications state, "Framework for a motorized hanger-style horizontally bifolding door, for applicaton of stone wall panels, product by Scweiss Bi-Fold Doors. Can you contact me by the end of the day with a quote. The architects have requested that I provide them with a budget estimate for this potential project by the end of the day today. Thanks you for your help.
I am doing a design/build project for the Department of Horticulture and we are interested in putting in your hanger doors. the opening dimensions are three bays of 15' wide by 14' tall. Possibly just one door at 45' wide by 14' tall. I would love to possibly send you a section to see what options you think might be best.
Looking to enclose a deck of a water-front resaurant/bar and am interested in the bifolds.
We have a train car wash building that has overhead catenary wires through the building. The train cars get their propulsion power to drive through the building. We are looking for a new type of bi-fold door that will allow accomodate overhead wire when door is closed. Possible a vertical bi-fold with a block out for overhead wires. The current door sizes are 15' wide x 23' tall. Please contact me.
We are looking at a number of options for doors for a Fire Department Apparatus Building. Width and quantity of doors will vary as we look at different options. If you can provide a range of costs for doors (34' wide and 50' wide) all with 14' clear opening height.
I am interested in pricing info. for a 10'x10' rough opening bi-fold door assembly. The door is part of a remodel project for county health services and needs to be some type of metal panel (i.e. aluminum coiled garage door)for the security of the medical supplies which will be stored there. The existing building has a steel structure with an exterior finish of EIFS. Also, there is an existing storefront window which will be removed before installation of the new garage door. Cargo vans and small shipping trucks will be the intended vehicles used to bring in the required medical supplies. Also, if you could price this next to your competitors I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your assistance and I look forward to your reply.
We are in the preliminary stages of proposing some possible changes for an existing shopping center in Oahu, Hawaii. I was wondering if you are able to build bi-fold overhead doors that are only 6ft wide by 8 ft high. If so, what is the rough cost for these doors? FOB Oahu, Hawaii.
Currently looking at a Bi-Fold door to use in a small project - Golf Course/Country Club (Indoor Driving Range) However, I do not see any CAD files to add to my Construction Documents. Can a data CD or files be emailed.
We are getting ready to bid a project called Gold Star Museum Addition/Alteration at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa. Are there any suppliers/installers in this area that you can recommend?
We have two entrances to our parking garage; personal vehicles and our loading dock/waste/bus transit operation. Our loading dock operation is accessed by a large opening, 15' high, 40' wide. I am worried about weight of ice and snow on that portion of the bi-fold that will extend outside. Also, on a door this size, how long would it take to open and shut? The passenger car entrance is much smaller, 10' high and 24' wide, but will be opening and closing hundreds of times a day. Problem? Thank you, Whit S.
I have schweiss bi fold doors specified on a 2nd floor in front of store front windows at the Kent Events Center. For servicing - how do we access the motors behind the door? do we need to provide access from the interior side or are there access panels from the exterior side?
We are quoting a building addition to Scot Forge in Spring Grove, IL. They want an 18'x 20' bi-fold door in the endwall of addition. Project will start in September.
Our office is designing a youth swimming pool house with 6 12' wide by 10' (8' clear) high bi-fold doors with storefront glazing. We are interested in information regarding cost, installation, head and jamb details, structural loads, forces and framing requirements, glazing (if provided or if the GC must provide the glazing system). We are not opposed to the possibility of using hydraulic doors instead.
We are building a new showroom and workshop for our auto dealership. I need a door between the showroom and the workshop 14 feet wide and 14 feet high. Must be accoustic panels so that noise from the workshop does not disturb the showroom. Four sections each 3ft 6in would work with lock in centre of aperture. I prefer that the surface is flat when closed. John P.
WE MANUFACTURE COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSES AND SHIP THEM NATIONWIDE - I HAVE A CUSTOMER NEEDING A 34'W X 15'H BIFOLD - I NEED COST, INSTALLATION DETAILS, FRAMING DIMENSIONS, WT, AND SHIPPING COST. ALSO COST TO ZIP 50131 FOR FREIGHT. WOULD NEED A COST FOR 2 EACH. I WOULD APPRECIATE A CATALOG IF YOU HAVE ONE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION LINDA B.
We need to get as much information on your bi-fold doors for use in an office space as possible. It would be nice to know what the approx. retail prices are on your doors also if possible. Maybe a cost per lineal foot would be appropriate. We have some 20 foot openings we're thinking of putting them into. Thanks!
I am interested in price of a commercial bi-fold door for a three car garage on Long Island, New York. Please advise what information you need in order to provide a quote. I am interested in knowing the different types of material for commercial bi-fold garage door. Also, I need automatic feature. Thank you.
I am building a concession stand and your bi fold door has been spec'd and I need to get some information on your products. I can e mail a pdf drawing of the door I need as well as the specs on it. size 8'-0" x 7'-0"
Please provide a quote on the specified doors. This application will require a minimum of 16' of clearance. The sidewall where these will be installed is 30' in height so there should be no problem in sizing the opening to what ever is required to achieve 16' of clearance with the doors in an open position. Please allow 6" or whatever "fudge factor" you suggest to make sure that under field conditions we will have the FULL 16' clearance. (This is going into a landfill building and one of the container vessles utilized measures 15' 5" - thus the concern about making sure we don't encounter a problem. Thanks for your suggestions and assistance.
I'm putting together a budget to re-model the restuarant for the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta and have a fold up door at the buffet. I have listed the size below. I'd like a budget price for this door. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thank you.
We have dry kilns that we aree needing to replace the doors on thought this might be an option.
Dear Bifold Door, Marquette State fish Hatchery has 3 open ended biuldings covering fish raceways. We are intersted closing in the south/west ends of two biulds to provide additional shade for the fish. Each new bifold door must have 2 to 3 man doors for ailse access. These man doors would be used most of the year. The bifold door would be lifted during disinfection and clean out periods (twice yearly). I can send pictures if needed.
Have an RV storage carport that I need to add door to. Look at bifold but limited on header area. Door wqould be approx 24' wide by 13' tall. What would be approx clearance measurement of door when folded at open end of "V"? Need to make look like normal steel garage door. Wind load would be from both inside and outside as carport is open on sides.
I'm working on a fast track showroom project within the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. We have a large storefront area that we'd like to completely open up, and it seems that Schweiss might do the trick. We have a 140' span, but it could be broken up into multiple doors if necessary. Please contact me as soon as possible to discuss. Thank you.
We anticipate constructing an addition to our museum. We will need a non electric hangar door 100' x 33' with a tail door. We would appreciate talking to one of your representatives. I work on Tues - Thur only. Thanks! Jack F.
Job Name: Laguna Honda Hospital I'll fax you the information I have. It's not much. Thanks Ken S.
I am bidding a municipal Community Events Center on Nov. 21, 2007 that has an 18'-0" X 12'-6" and a 20'-0" x 12'-6" bi-fold glass hanger door called out. Can you connect me with a salesperson/distributor/installer for a quote. The project in WA.
Dear Sir, We are interested in your bi-fold doord for our timber dryers which we manufacture. We are also interested in marketing your doors in our area. Kindly refer to our website. Kindly send us your brochures and prices. Regards !
We require a well insulated, well sealed door for the front of our lumber kiln. The inside temp. reaches 160 F. and the humidity often reaches near 100%.
We are looking for an alternative to our current bi-fold "garage doors" for a retailer we are working with. We will be doing 5 more stores in 2008 and 10 in 2009. We use the bi-fold doors as an alternative front entry into a department in the store. Our basic specs are 3 separate doors with glazing and aluminum frames, 10-11ft tall x 9-10ft wide. Could you please provide us with pricing and finish options. Thank you, Sarah H.
My name is Butch T. and I own a Hardware & Lumber co. in Maine. We are in the process of designing and building a new store. I am looking for either a bi-fold or hydraulic one piece door ( actually 2 doors the same size ) to put in the front of the store on each side of the entrance door. We are planning on having a 12 ft. overhang on the front of the store to use as a display area. I want to be able to just put these doors up in the morning and close them down at night for security. The heighth of each door would be 12ft high and the width would be 36 ft. each. Could you please give me the pricing for doors this size in both bi-fold model and the hydraulic model. Thank you Sincerely, Butch T.
We are looking at using bi-flod doors for a fire hall project. We plan to incorporate a lot of glass into the door and also between doors. Could you provide us with some standard details for jambs and heads for bi-fold doors.
I have a project where we would like to use four bi-fold doors. The doors will be approximately 24' high X 70' wide, and identical to one another. I would like to get the design and drawings for the doors started in the next few days. Please send send me a proposal for the design through shop drawing stage of the project. Also, please let me know where and to whom I should send the current in progress construction drawings for your use. I look forward to working with Schweiss Bi-fold Doors on this project and I am interested in learning the intricacies of the product. Please, contact me at any time with any questions or concerns.
Seeking urgent quote for commercial bifold door for community airport application. Installation will also require electric closer.
Our customer is resizing an opening and would like to replace a sectional door with bifold insulated with exterior steel sheeting. Building is to be converted into an Aviation Mechanic school. -Vertical and horizontal steel support will be placed to support new opening dimension. Question: can bifold door be installed directly onto precast or do steel tubes have to be installed for mounting. Please quote as soon as possible. Call with any questions. Thank you, Tony A.
This door will be used as a sunshade device for a building that is now under construction. I would like to use a perforated corrugated aluminum skin on the door - is this something you can provide? Thanks.
We are designing a restaurant with an outdoor deck, and the client has requested 2 all insulated glass swing-out doors approximately 8'x24'each to the deck. The installa-tion must have a clean look. I have looked at your Bi-fold's and Hydraulic doors. Can they be installed without the web at the bottom? We were thinking a reinforced tube as part of the frame to resist wind load. The building is a masonry structure.
Looking for a commercial application door that is 40' wide and 14' high with a minimum oc 12' clear.
Interesed on your bi-fold doors for commercial use (restaurant)for future projects. Please send me a catalogue and if you have waterproofing details.
I AM LOOKING FOR A 13' TALL BY 19' WIDE DOOR, I WAS GOING TO USE A REGULAR OVER HEAD DOOR ,BUT FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO GET THE ODD BALL SIZE FOR A REASONABLE RATE. THIS DOOR NEEDS TO BE INSULATED AND COMMERCIAL GRADE. I WOULD ALSO LIKE IT TO BE EQUIPPED WITH AN OPENER.
Interested in Bifold Gate for smaller application (public bike parking facility/vendor space).
The building is concrete below where the hangar is, with steel ceiling web beams which support a one-story wood structure/office above the hangar space. | 2019-04-21T10:29:16Z | https://www.bifold.com/q-list.php?id=Commercial_Doors |
Ultra lavspenning / laveffekt blandet digitale og analoge kretser. Defekt- og strålingstolerante kretser og mikroarkitekturer.
Emneord: defekt tolerante nanorarkitekturer, subthreshold kretser, radhard kretser.
Hossein Zadeh, Somayeh; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2018). Comparison of Ultra Low Power Full Adder Cells in 22 nm FDSOI Technology, In Juri Mihhailov & Maksim Jenihhin (ed.), Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE Nordic Circuits and Systems Conference (NORCAS): NORCHIP and International Symposium of System-on-Chip (SoC). IEEE. ISBN 978-1-5386-7656-1. paper.
Most ultra low power SRAM cells operating in the sub and near threshold region deploy 8 or more transistors per storage cell to ensure stability. In this paper we propose and design a low voltage, differential write, single ended read memory cell that consists of a total of 6 transistors. The innovative idea is to bring the loadless 4-transistor latch into the realm of low voltage memory cells by exploiting features of the 28 nm FDSOI Process and by adding a 2-transistor readbuffer with a footer line. Stand-alone and on a system level, the cell is stable during read, write and hold operations and it has great write-ability due to its differential write and loadless nature. The single NWELL option in 28 nm FD-SOI allows the loadless core to have minimal device widths while greatly improving the time it takes to evaluate the read bit-line. The cell has, in this paper, been used in a 128 kb (2 17 ) SRAM in a 16 block configuration exploring 3 different types of logic libraries for the peripheral logic of the system. Depending on the application, the IO-peripheral logic may be implemented using either high threshold voltage transistors or low threshold voltage transistors in where the power consumption of the 128 kb system was found to range from 1.31 µW to 71.09 µW, the maximum operational frequency lies within 1.87 MHz and 14.97 MHz while the read energy varies from 13.08 to 75.21 fJ/operation/bit for a supply voltage of 350 mV. The minimum retention voltage of the loadless SRAM cell is found to be 230 mV covering 5σof variation with Monte Carlo simulations.
Nine D-type Flip-Flop (DFF) architectures were implemented in 28 nm FDSOI at a target, subthreshold, supply voltage of 200 mV. The goal was to identify promising DFFs for ultra low power applications. The single-transistor pass gate DFF, the PowerPC 603 DFF and the C2MOS DFF are considered to be the overall best candidates of the nine. The pass gate DFF had the lowest energy consumption per cycle for frequencies lower than 500 kHz and for supply voltages below 400 mV. It was implemented with the smallest physical footprint and it proved to be functional down to the lowest operating voltage of 65 mV in the typical process corner. During Monte Carlo (MC) process and mismatch simulations it was also found that the pass gate DFF is least prone to variations in both minimal setup- and minimal hold-time. Race conditions, during mismatch variations, occurred for the flip-flop that is constructed from NAND and inverter based multiplexers. The pass gate DFF is outperformed slightly when it comes to D-Q-based power-delay product and more significantly when it comes to the maximum clock frequency. The flip-flops having the shortest D-Q delays were the PowerPC 603 and the transmission gate D flip-flop, these also had the lowest D-Q-based power-delay of 26% and 30% respectively of that of the worst-case S2CFF power-delay product.
Balancing the PMOS/NMOS strength ratio is a key issue to maximize the noise margin, and hence, the functional yield of CMOS logic gates and minimize the leakage energy per cycle in the subthreshold region. In this work, the PMOS/NMOS strength ratio was balanced using a poly-biasing technique in conjunction with back-gate biasing provided in a 28 nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) CMOS technology. A 32-bit adder based on minority-3 (min-3) gates and a 16-bit adder based on Boolean gates have been implemented. Chip measurement results of nine samples show highly energy efficient adders. The 32-bit and 16-bit adders achieved mean minimum energy points (MEP) of 20.8 fJ at 300 mV and 12.34 fJ at 250 mV, respectively. In comparison to adders reported in other works in the same technology, the energy per 1-bit addition of the 32-bit adder is improved by 37% . This improvement in energy consumption is 25% for the 16-bit adder. According to the measurement results of ten chips, the designed adders exhibited functionality down to supply voltages of 110 mV-125 mV, without body biasing. Additionally, the minimum Vdd of all the 32-bit adders based on minority-3 gates decreased to 80 mV by applying a reverse back bias voltage to the PMOS devices. One sample was functional at 79 mV with a 430 mV reverse back bias voltage applied to its PMOS devices.
In this paper, we investigate the single event upset (SEU) response of five D flip-flops (DFFs) employing temporal redundancy, dual redundancy, and triple modular redundancy (TMR), across a wide supply voltage range. The DFFs were designed and fabricated in a low-power commercial 65 nm bulk CMOS process and were tested using heavy ions with linear energy transfer (LET) between 5:1 MeV-cm2=mg and 99:1 MeV-cm2=mg. Results show an increasing SEU vulnerability with decreasing supply voltage, for most of the DFFs. Nevertheless, radiation tolerant topologies exhibit 14x to 1328x better SEU tolerance than a standard non-radiation tolerant DFF, depending on supply voltage and LET. The general observation is that at normal incidence, while taking the entire LET spectrum into account, the dual interlocked storage cell (DICE) DFF has the best SEU tolerance at supply voltages of 1 V and 0.5 V. At a supply voltage of 0.25 V, a temporal redundant DFF shows the best SEU tolerance, while the TMR DFF shows the best SEU tolerance at a supply voltage of 0.18 V. At supply voltages of 0.5 V and below, increasing the angle of incidence to 45 degrees can increase the SEU rate of the implemented DICE DFF by up to a factor of 22x, making it one of the most SEU sensitive DFFs. Furthermore, utilizing high drive strength components in temporally redundant DFFs can reduce the SEU sensitivity by a factor of 3x to 112x, compared to when standard drive strength components are used.
Balancing the PMOS/NMOS strength ratio is a key issue to maximize the noise margin, and hence, functional yield of CMOS logic gates in the subthreshold region. In this work, the PMOS/NMOS strength ratio was balanced using a poly-biasing technique in conjunction with back-gate biasing provided in a 28 nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) technology. A 32-bit adder based on minority-3 (min-3) gates and a 16-bit adder based on Boolean gates have been implemented. Chip measurement results show highly energy efficient adders, so that the 32-bit and 16-bit adders achieved minimum energy point (MEP) of 21.5 fJ at 300 mV and 12.62 fJ at 250 mV, respectively. In comparison to adders reported in other works in the same technology, the energy per 1-bit addition of the 32-bit adder is improved by 35% and for the 16-bit adder this improvement in energy consumption is 23%. The designed adders were functional down to a supply voltage of 110 mV. Additionally, the minimum Vdd of the 32-bit adder decreased to 79 mV by applying a reverse back bias voltage to the PMOS devices.
This paper presents the design of digital logic cells for subthreshold applications using 28 nm ultra-thin body and box fully depleted silicon on insulator technology. The sizing approach relies on balancing pull-up/pull-down networks (PUN/PDN) strength ratio by applying an additional forward back-gate biasing (FBB) voltage to the back-gate of PMOS transistors. The minimum width of PMOS and NMOS transistors have been chosen by taking the narrow width effect into account. Moreover, to increase the functional yield of the logic cells, a trade-off has been made between Ion/Ioff ratio and energy consumption through increasing the channel length by 4 nm. Energy consumption of logic gates analyzed using ring-oscillators consisting of basic logic gates. It has been shown that balancing logic gates through applying an additional FBB to the PMOS back-gate instead of up-sizing PUN results in 30% lower energy consumption in ring-oscillators. An 8-bit multiply-accumulate (MAC) block was synthesized using the fully customized logic cells with asymmetric back-gate biasing. Compared to a state-of-the art MAC, the energy consumption of our MAC was improved by 21% at a relatively high speed (147 MHz).
A sub-threshold 9-bit adder based on a minority-3 based full adder is designed and analyzed versus technology. A power-delay design space exploration is presented in multiple technology nodes. The performances are demonstrated and compared on spanning technology nodes of 130nm-LP, 65nm-LP-BULK, 28nm-LP-high-k-bulk, 28nm Ultra-Thin-Body-and-BOX (UTFF) FDSOI. An extensive body biasing was then applied to the UTBB FDSOI 28nm technology to adapt the circuit to the target operating frequency of 65MHz. The extensive body biasing exploits the feature provided by the Ultra-Thin-Body-and-BOX Fully Depleted SOI (UTBB FDSOI) technology, which allows a bias range of -300mV/+3V. The design was implemented in physical level, and all the results account for the layout parasitics. A minimum energy point of 1.03fJ/(bit.cycle) is achieved in the 28nm-UTFF-FDSOI, at the 0.24V supply with the 1.8MHz operating speed. For the target frequency of 65MHz and a 9-bit adder, a total minimum energy operation of 11fJ per cycle for a supply voltage of 0.309V and a body voltage of 1.35V is achieved.
In this paper we investigate the efficiency of using temporal and spatial hardening techniques in flip-flop design for single event upset (SEU) mitigation at different supply voltages. We present three novel SEU tolerant flip-flop topologies intended for low supply voltage operation. The most SEU tolerant flip-flop among the proposed flip-flop topologies shows ability of achieving maximum SEU cross-section below 1.9 ·10-10 cm2 /bit (no SEUs detected) at 500 mV supply voltage, 4 ·10-10 cm2 /bit at 250 mV supply voltage, and 2 ·10- 9 cm2 /bit at 180 mV supply voltage. When scaling the supply voltage from 1 V down to 500 mV, 250 mV and 180 mV, the proposed flip-flops achieve at least - 72%, - 92.5% and - 95% (respectively) reduction in energy per transition compared to a Dual Interlocked Storage Cell based flip-flop when operated at a supply voltage of 1 V. The flip-flops have been designed and fabricated in a low-power commercial 90-nm bulk CMOS process and were tested using heavy ions with LET between 8.6 MeV-cm2 /mg and 53.7 MeV-cm2 /mg.
Nine D flip-flop architectures were implemented in 28nm FDSOI at a target, subthreshold, supply voltage of 200mV. The goal was to identify promising D flip-flops for ultra low power applications. The pass gate flip-flop was implemented using 49% of the S2CFF’s area and was functional at the lowest operating voltage of 65mV in the typical process corner. At the targeted supply voltage of 200mV the racefree DFF gives the best functional yield of 99.8%. The flip-flops having the shortest D-Q delays were the PowerPC 603 and the transmission gate D flip- flop. These also had the lowest power delay products of 52.08aJ and 61.09aJ respectively.
Four different flip-flops dimensioned for subthreshold operation have been designed and implemented in layouts. The four full custom, race-free, D-flip-flops were implemented in a standard 65 nm CMOS process and verified by measurements, when used in 2 divide-by-3 circuits. The first frequency divider, using standard topologies, demonstrated functionality down to a supply voltage of 132 mV, while the second variant, based on a recently proposed ”‘slice-based”’ approach, was functional for a supply voltage down to 137 mV. The frequency divider using traditional 4-transistor NAND and NOR topologies had lower energy per operation than the alternative 8-transistor NAND and NOR implementation. At 0.1 MHz, the figures were about 2.1 fJ and 3.5 fJ, respectively. For supply voltages from 0.2 to 1.2 V, a static flip-flop using 8-transistor NOR- gates plus one inverter had the lowest static power consumption among the 4 flip-flops.
When using standard multi-Vt CMOS processes when making logic gates, often for example Low-Vt (LVT), or Standard-Vt (SVT) or High-Vt (HVT) transistors are used within one and the same basic logic building block, like for example a NAND or NOR circuit. We show, to the contrary, how a combination of different types within a single logic circuit may be exploited to reduce energy consumption and increase robustness towards process variations. Additionaly, Reverse Short Channel Effects (RSCE) are exploited by using non-minimum gate lengths for increased robustness agains process variations. Also, a recently proposed technique using very regular layouts accompanying the above mentioned techniques in a 16-bit adder implemented in 65 nm CMOS. Chip measurements using Sub-/Nearthreshold supply voltages demonstrate the functionality of the adder for a voltage range of 119 mV to 350 mV. Simulations show that by increasing gate lengths to 200 nm instead of the minimum 60 nm, may increase the footprint area of logic gates by only 12%, while at the same time reducing probability of failure by up to several orders of magnitude. Simultaneously, energy per operation is reduced, when compared to conventional design methods using minimum, or relatively short, gate lengths.
Bjerkedok, Jonathan Edvard; Vatanjou, Ali Asghar; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2014). Modular Layout-friendly Cell Library Design Applied for Subthreshold CMOS, In Proceedings of the 32nd Norchip Conference. IEEE conference proceedings. ISBN 978-1-4799-5442-1. kapittel.
Værnes, Magne; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2014). Performance comparison of 5 Subthreshold CMOS flip-flops under process-, voltage-, and temperature variations, based on netlists from layout, In Proceedings of the 32nd Norchip Conference. IEEE conference proceedings. ISBN 978-1-4799-5442-1. kapittel.
Abstract—An energy-efficient SoC with 32 b subthreshold RISC processor cores, 32 kB conventional cache memory, and 9T ultra-low voltage (ULV) SRAM based on a flexible and extensible architecture was fabricated on a 2.7 mm test chip in 65 nm low power CMOS. The processor cores are based on a custom standard cell library that was designed using a multiobjective approach to optimize noise margins, switching energy, and propagation delay simultaneously. The cores operate over a supply voltage range from 200 mV (best samples) to 1.2 V with clock frequencies from 10 kHz to 94 MHz at room temperature. The lowest energy consumption per cycle of 9.94 pJ is observed at 325 mV and 133 kHz. A 2 kb ULV SRAM macro achieves minimum energy per operation at averages of 321 mV (0.030 sigma/micron), 567 fJ (0.037 sigma/micron ), and 730 kHz (0.184 sigma/micron), for equal number of 32 b read/write operations. The off-chip performance and power management subsystem provides dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) combined with an adaptive supply voltage generation for dynamic PVT compensation.
Aunet, Snorre (2011). On the Reliability of Ultra Low Voltage Circuits Built From MINORITY-3 GATES, In J Jacob Wikner (ed.), Proceedings of the European Conference on Circuit Theory and Design. IEEE conference proceedings. ISBN 9781457706165. chapter.
Berge, Hans Kristian Otnes & Aunet, Snorre (2011). Multi-Objective Optimization of Minority-3 Functions for Ultra Low Voltage Supplies, In Marcelo Lubaszewski; ISCAS IEEE (ed.), Proc. 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems. IEEE conference proceedings. ISBN 978-1-4244-9472-9. paper.
Berge, Hans Kristian Otnes; Hasanbegovic, Amir & Aunet, Snorre (2011). Muller C-elements based on Minority-3 Functions for Ultra Low Voltage Supplies, In Heinrich Vierhaus (ed.), Proceedings of the 14th IEEE Symposium on Design and Diagnostics of Electronic Circuits and Systems. IEEE conference proceedings. ISBN 978-1-4244-9753-9. kapittel.
Moradi, Farshad; Cao, Tuan Vu; Wisland, Dag T; Aunet, Snorre & Mahmoodi, Hamid (2011). Optimal Body Biasing for Maximizing Circuit Performance in 65nm CMOS Technology. The ... Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems conference proceedings. ISSN 1548-3746.
Two memory elements, or latches, are introduced. They are similar in functionality to widely used NOR- and NAND-based crosscoupled latches, but unlike the traditional latches they do not risk to produce stable states where Q and Q' have identical binary values. The suggested solutions are built from two inverters and one minority-3 gate. Monte Carlo simulations in 90 nm CMOS are used to demonstrate that the circuits may maintain the digital abstraction under mismatch and process variations for a supply voltage down to 140 mV at 20 degrees C and 100 nm gate lengths. Chip measurements are included, for a supply voltage of 160 mV.
Tørresen, Jim; Aunet, Snorre; Lande, Tor Sverre; Grutle, Øyvind Kallevik & Nielsen, Ivan R. (ed.) (2015). Nordic Circuits and Systems Conference (NORCAS): NORCHIP & International Symposium on System-on-Chip (SoC), 2015. IEEE conference proceedings. ISBN 978-1-4673-6576-5. 275 s.
Sekanina, Lukas; Fey, Görschwin; Raik, Jaan; Aunet, Snorre & Růžička, Richard (ed.) (2013). Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE 16th International Symposium on Design and Diagnostics of Electronic Circuits & Systems (DDECS). IEEE. ISBN 978-1-4673-6133-0. 320 s.
Aunet, Snorre (2018). Possibilities with ultra low power / low energy integrated circuits.
The S-DAM front-end board (S-DAM-FEB) is a photomultiplier readout module for charged particles detection. This board has been designed for the readout of sensors in radiation monitors by the company, Integrated Detector Electronics AS (IDEAS). A large amount of S-DAM-FEB will be used in the neutron detector in the ESS (European Spallation Source) in Sweden for scientific research. Thus, hundreds of these modules are planned to be manufactured by third party of EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Service) and each board has to be validated after production. To be able to validate the DUTs efficiently, it has been decided to create a test system. In this thesis, the main focus was on the implementation of the test system to validate the functionality of the S-DAM-FEB. The project work included specifying the test requirements, conceptualization of the test system, schematic design and PCB design of needed hardware as well as implementing firmware and software for the test system. The needed Python scripts were created to run the test and log the test results into a test report. The mechanics of the test system was modelled by drawing a 3D-model, and the mechanical components were chosen according to the drawings. After implementing all the modules to be used for the test system, these modules were assembled together. The S-DAM-FEB was tested using the implemented test system. All functionality of the DUT was tested, including power consumption and temperature as well as gain, threshold and baseline for all channels. Minor fault in the DUT were found by the test, indicating that some failure has occurred during the production process. All the test results were logged into a test report for tracking the modules for future use and determine the condition of DUTs after production. The test system is in a working condition. Performing the validation test simple and easy. The runtime of the test is decreased, and most of the manual work is replaced by automatized process to get more reliable data and minimize possible human errors. The implementation of the test system was successful, and a large amount of S-DAM-FEB are ready to be validated.
A lot of components in modern digital designs have very regular structures. Some examples are Programmable Ring Oscillators, Time to Digital Converters and CPU register files. The proper functioning of these components heavily depend on the way they are implemented in the design with respect to the placement of standard cells. This is due to the fact that many of these components are delay sensitive and the placement of cells in the layout affects the delay. Standard place and route tools, however, do not always ensure that the placement of standard cells is regularised, which can lead to sub-optimal results from these designs. The work on this thesis is aimed towards ensuring a regular placement of standard cells for such components, by developing a framework in a high-level language, from which the placement information needed by the place and route tools can be obtained. This information, when used by the tool, should result in a more predictable placement of standard cells, and should thus result in more optimal behaviour of such components.
Rørstad Helle, Even; Moldsvor, Øystein; Hernes, Bjørnar & Aunet, Snorre (2018). Humidity Sensor.
Disruptive Technologies are developing sensor solutions for the Internet of Things. Their current sensors can measure touch, temperature, and proximity. To expand the area of applications their current sensors cover, new sensor solutions are examined. The one studied in this thesis is a capacitive sensor measuring force. The idea is to place a compressible material on the front of Disruptive Technologies capacitive proximity sensor and use it to measure force. A compression of the material would lead to an increased capacitance measured. This thesis covers the work of finding suitable materials and the practical measurements done to characterize the capacitive sensor and the compressible material. Testing was done at two different materials that had properties useful for the intended application. These tests revealed that neither of the materials was optimal for a solution as described above. For different series of measurements, the values measured by the sensor variated for the same applied load. This made the work of creating a good fitting data model difficult. The proposed models could not predict with high probability the values measured by the sensor for the various applied loads. This lead to the conclusion that either the materials or the chosen sensor solution was not the optimal one for measuring force. As a result of this, two other force sensing methods using the same sensor is presented that can be further investigated in future work.
Two different CMOS transistors with a low threshold voltage, given by a commercial available 22 nm FDSOI CMOS technology were investigated and assembled into several libraries of logic gates. The logic gates provided in the cell library should be sufficient to create most digital logic circuits, and are in addition designed to work in the subthreshold region with a supply voltage of 350 mV. Physical layout designs were made for the different digital ports, where parasitic capacitances were then extracted to provide more realistic simulations and performance results. Compared to schematic simulation, layout design and parasitic capacitances proved to reduce speed by a factor of 5 to 10, as well as increasing the transistors’ threshold voltage by 14.6 % for the NMOS, and 32.5 % for the PMOS. The increased threshold voltage thus led to a reduced static power consumption and increased switching energy. The transistor with the lowest threshold voltage showed especially good performance results with respect to low power consumption while still maintaining speed requirements. This transistor is throughout the report referred to as mosfet low. Two cell libraries were made for this transistor, where one applies a forward body-bias of ±2 V while the other have the bulk nodes connected to ground, which gives a 0 V body-bias. The libraries are supplied with schematics and layout designs, and are in addition mapped for performance data such as static power consumption, delay and switching energy consumption for every logic gate. A minimum speed of 40 MHz with a lowest possible power consumption for a 16by12-bit adder, was the aim of the project. Presented in this report is a 16by12-bit Adder built by Ripple-Carry Adders, which were simulated to reach a speed of 44.26 MHz at a supply voltage of VDD=350 mV with 0 V body-bias. Static power and switching energy consumption were simulated to 26.60 µW and 207.95 fJ, respectively.
Aunet, Snorre (2017). Introduction to ultra-low power electronic circuits design.
Aunet, Snorre (2017). Ultra-low power electronic circuits for medical applications.
Hasanbegovic, Amir; Siem, Sunniva; Søråsen, Oddvar & Aunet, Snorre (2017). Exploring the SEU Dependence on Supply Voltage scaling in 90 nm and 65 nm CMOS Flip-flops. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv.
L'Orange, Simon; Hagen, Anders; Blekken, Brage; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2017). 4-7Ghz Tunable Programmable Pulse Generator in 65nm CMOS.
Lesund, Martin; Tjora, Sigve & Aunet, Snorre (2017). Ultra-low power serial communication for Internet of Things.
Lid, Gunnar; Hagen, Anders; Blekken, Brage; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2017). Ultra-low power Design of DSRC modulator/demodulator in 28nm FD_SOI.
Vatanjou, Ali Asghar; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2017). Ultra-Low Voltage/Energy CMOS Building Blocks in 28 nm FDSOI Technology.
Barua, Anomadarshi; Edwin, David & Aunet, Snorre (2016). Voice over mesh network.
There is a strong interest in ultra low voltage digital design as emerging applications like Internet of Things, wearable biomedical sensors, radio frequency identification, sensor networks and more are gaining traction. This thesis describes the implementation, synthesis and testing of a microcontroller using a near-threshold library. The system has been described in VHDL and synthesized for near-threshold operation on 28 nm FDSOI production technology from STmicroelectronics. The microcontroller implements a 32 bit RISC-V subset compatible pipelined processor and has SPI connectivity. Two single port 2kB SRAM modules are used as RAM. A power gating technique that reduces the static power in an ALU during runtime has been implemented and compared to a traditional ALU. Traditional coarse grain power gating of the processor has also been implemented. Using a supply voltage of 350 mV and a clock speed of 1 MHz the schematic SPICE simulation reported an average power consumption of 4.42 mW during program execution. In power gated mode the microcontroller consumed 2.98 mW. In a sensor logging program the average energy per executed instruction was 4.91 pJ. Runtime power gating reduced the average energy consumption of the ALU with 58 - 57% with a propagation delay penalty of 346 - 143% depending of the sizing of the power gating transistors.
Three 64-byte memory systems were designed for a 0.18µm standard CMOS technology, one 6T-SRAM system and two D-Flip-Flop systems. The leakage current, read energy and write energy of these systems were determined by simulation. A set of extrapolation formulas for area, leakage current, read energy and write energy were designed to determine the characteristics of the systems as the size of the memory increases. The simulations showed that the 64-Byte 6T-SRAM system had a 39% lower area, an 83% lower leakage current, an 89% lower write energy and an 82% lower read energy than the reference D-Flip-Flop memory system. The extrapolation formulas predicted that as memory sizes increases, SRAM becomes more and more favorable in terms of area, leakage current, write energy and read energy.
Vatanjou, Ali Asghar; Låte, Even; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2016). Ultra-Low Voltage Adders in 28 nm FDSOI Exploring Poly-Biasing for Device Sizing.
Vatanjou, Ali Asghar; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2016). 28 nm UTBB-FDSOI energy efficient and variation tolerant custom digital-cell library with application to a subthreshold MAC block.
Atarzadeh, Hourieh; Aunet, Snorre & Ytterdal, Trond (2015). An Ultra-Low-Power/High-Speed 9-bit Adder Design: Analysis and Comparison Vs. Technology from 130nm-LP to UTBBFD-SOI-28nm.
Aunet, Snorre (2015). Ultra Low Power / Low Energy Integrated Circuits.
Aunet, Snorre (2015). Ultra Low-Voltage / Low energy circuits.
The thesis is done in cooperation with Kongsberg Defence Systems.
Hals, Erik; Aunet, Snorre; Ramstad, Tor Audun; Hagen, Anders & Blekken, Brage (2015). Lav effekt sensornettverk, for registrering av kjøretøy.
Holen, Aslak Lykre; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2015). Implementation and Comparison of Digital Arithmetics for Low Voltage / Low Energy Operation.
Nine D flip-flop architectures were implemented in 28nm FDSOI at a target, subthreshold, supply voltage of 200mV. The goal was to identify promising D flip-flops for ultra low power applications. The pass gate flip-flop was implemented using 49% of the S2CFF's area and was functional at the lowest operating voltage of 65mV in the typical process corner. At the targeted supply voltage of 200mV the racefree DFF gives the best functional yield of 99.8%. The flip-flops having the shortest D-Q delays were the PowerPC 603 and the transmission gate D flip-flop. These also had the lowest power delay products of 52.08aJ and 61.09aJ respectively.
The development of an upcoming ASIC by the company IDEAS calls for the design of an accompanying evaluation kit so that it may be accessible for testing in a laboratory setting. In addition to supporting the ASIC in question, the kit was decided to be made general purpose, leading to the support of various other ASICs from IDEAS, both future and existing ones. This thesis focuses on the creation of the primary board in the evaluation kit, named the Galao board. The project work included conceptualization, schematic design and PCB design of the Galao board, as well as producing relevant documentation for IDEAS. Being a mixed-signal general purpose board, effort has been made to include a high number of features and connectivity options: Galao holds specialized analog circuits for receiving differential signals, transmitting fast pulses of adjustable amplitude, registering trigger signals for readout synchronization as well as containing a broad assortment of both voltage and current bias generators. On the digital side, a System on Module solution has been incorporated, serving as a control unit for all the analog circuitry while providing a large amount of digital I/Os. The board has been made so that it may be accessed through Ethernet, USB and JTAG interfaces. Furthermore, the Galao board has several power rails, both for the analog and digital domain, with the PCB designed so that digital switching has a minimal impact the analog signals. The Galao board was finally produced, allowing for some initial testing. The results of the conducted tests are positive, as the board powers up and is operational with its digital logic being fully controllable. Some faults in the schematic have been discovered after the manufacturing of the Galao board, but these have all been readily fixable. The board is hence in a working condition, and ready to be interfaced towards an ASIC with an ASIC test board that is to be designed.
Skjølsvik, Hallstein; Vatanjou, Ali Asghar; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2015). Ultra low voltage combinatorial logic building blocks.
Talstad, Joar Nikolai; Diaz, Isael; Øye, Jan Egil & Aunet, Snorre (2015). Channel Filter Cross-Layer Optimization.
This manuscript includes chip measurements for a 32-bit Ripple-Carry Adder (”RCA”), demonstrating functionality for a supply voltage ("Vdd") down to 84 mV. The low Vdd might be the lowest reported for comparable CMOS circuitry, not depending on special schmitt-trigger based logic or body biasing. Two 32- bit ripple-carry adders are implemented in 65 nm CMOS, having all gate lengths of 60 nm and 80 nm, respectively. The implementation having 80 nm gate lengths exploits secondary effects like the Reverse Short Channel Effect (”RSCE”) to provide lower energy per operation, compared to the 60 nm implementation, when operated down to subthreshold supply voltages. Dimensioning for symmetric noise margins, and using minority-3 circuits and inverters only, with regular layouts, contribute to the ultra low Vdd potential. According to simulations, the energy per operation could be down to about 1.5 fJ/bit for the implementation, based on L = 80 nm. For delays in the 20 ns to 110 ns range, the energy consumption for the RCA having L = 60 nm, was from 18.5 to 47 % higher than the RCA having L = 80 nm. The area was 9.7 % less for the L = 80 nm implementation, compared to the L = 60 nm RCA.
Zapatero, Miguel & Aunet, Snorre (2015). Synthesis of low-energy near-threshold SHMAC processor core.
Benemann, Danton Canut; Milch Pedersen, Frode & Aunet, Snorre (2014). Ultra-low voltage embedded processor system for Internet-of-Things microcontrollers.
Bjerkedok, Jonathan Edvard; Vatanjou, Ali Asghar; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2014). Modular Layout-friendly Cell Library Design Applied for Subthreshold CMOS.
Dybwad, Patrick; Hasanbegovic, Amir & Aunet, Snorre (2014). Automated Single Event Transient simulation program using high-level programming.
The work is done in cooperation with Atmel Norway, with Ronan Barzic as advisor at Atmel. Summary: The fast evolution of the Internet of Things suggests an unavoidable transition to this infrastructure in the near future, and to achieve this multiple nodes need to interconnect and communicate efficiently. All nodes will need a power source to operate. Most of them will have very low power consumption requirements. Therefore, a possible solution would be to have an energy harvesting system for the nodes. The energy harvesting systems will need a CPU to control all operations and to manage the power consumption. The goal of this assignment is to create a base processor capable of controlling the system using ultra-low levels of power. The proposed approach for the assignment is to use a stack processor. Using the J1 processor as a reference, a new architecture was designed. The design process was done following the design flow tools used by Atmel and covered the simulation, testing, synthesis and place and route process. The end result of the assignment was a functional stack processor system with the capability to communicate with I/O modules using a Wishbone bus. A custom assembler was created using Arch C to simplify the testing of the architecture. The design was simulated, synthesized and routed using specific libraries from Atmel. The assignment completed a working design flow that will allow the realization of a proper power analysis in the next phase of development. The stack processor architecture shows high potential for ultra-low power operations. Further time and power analysis is needed to have a complete comparison with other processors.
The work was done in coopertion with Atmel Norway (www.atmel.com). Summary: This thesis presents a cell library with limited functionality targeting to operate in sub-threshold (350mV) as well as above-threshold (1.2V) voltages utilizing the dynamic speed requirement of the circuit. The sub-threshold cell library can be used to synthesize any general Finite State Machine (FSM) since it contains logic gates and a D-FF memory element. The sub-threshold cell library proposed in this thesis consists of: Inverter, NAND2, NOR2, XNOR2, XOR2, AOI22, OAI22 and D flip-flop. All cells are designed with static CMOS and use of 130 nm HVT n-well process. The main motivation behind this work is the desirable for longer lasting battery powered IC chips. CMOS power consumption includes three components where the dynamic component is Pdyn ∝ V 2 DD . Hence, a promising method to reduce power consumption is to reduce the supply voltage V DD to the sub-threshold region. The reduction of V DD increases the delay through the circuit (excellent trade-off in application with low performance requirements) and increases sensitivity to process, voltage and temperature (PVT) variations. The sub-threshold cells are evaluated with an ALU synthesized into three circuits: No.1: unlimited, with use of provided above-threshold cells; No.2: limited to INV, NAND2, NOR2 and D-FF with sub- and above-threshold cell library; and No.3: limited as No.2 + XNOR2, XOR2, AOI22 and OAI22 with sub- and above-threshold cell library. The results shows a power consumption reduction of ∼ 14 times from V DD = 1.2V to 350mV for both No.2 and No.3 ALU circuit. It is also shown that a more complex library including XNOR2, XOR2, AOI22 and OAI22 reduces the power consumption with ∼ 7.7% compared to a library with only Inverter, NAND2, NOR2 and D-FF at 350mV. The No.3 circuit is shown to be the best ALU with use of sub-threshold cells in term of delay and power consumption. Both No.2 and No.3 only fails to comply with the 32KHz frequency in SS and FS corner in −40 ◦ C , 350mV and with use of sub-threshold cells, whereas with use of above-threshold cells fails in all except FF corner in −40 ◦ C , in addition to failing in SS corner at 25 ◦ C .
The work was done in cooperation with Oracle, Oslo, Norway. Summary: PCI Express(PCIe) is a packet-based, serial, interconnect standard that is widely deployed within servers and workstations for it’s attractive performance capabilities. A platform that has a PCIe architecture also includes a PCIe Root Complex(RC) for linking the PCIe device-tree to the host CPU and memory. During the design-phase of a PCIe endpoint-device it is highly desired to conduct computer aided simulations of the device in a relevant environment. Having a simulation software that can be applied early and iteratively in the design-phase enables engineers to tweak the product without realization of hardware. Causing a great reduction in the number of physical prototypes required before mass production. In this thesis a transaction level model(TLM) of a PCIe RC was assembled using SystemC, with a focus on latency and jitter as performance parameters. The model gives the Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC) developers at Oracle a timing accurate alternative to the existing processor emulator(QEMU) that is used for the same purpose. To correlate the RC TLM with real hardware, a PCIe protocol analyzer from LeCroy was utilized. Traffic between a first generation PCIe endpoint-device and a SUN FIRE X4170 M3 server was traced. The RC TLM was made in a modular manner allowing support for other micro-architectures through insertions of trace files. The recorded traces between requests and completions were processed and inserted directly into a delay database within the RC model, to ensure high correlation between the RC TLM and the real hardware. A simple model of a PCIe endpoint-device was implemented to serve as a suitable test-environment. The functionality and the hardware realisticness of the RC model was successfully tested with targeted transaction scenarios. A simulated latency distribution of 15000 packets, proved to fit the latency distribution that was randomly drawn in the RC TLM. Only a small amount of negligible delay anomalies from imperative switch cycles were found. The PCIe RC TLM is close to optimal for modeling latency and jitter using a database of targeted trace calbrations. The principle of modeling delays in an RC TLM using latency databases, was found to be a favorable alternative to the constant delay nature of the QEMU test-environment. The master thesis won the award for the best thesis within microelectronics, at NTNU, 2014.
Oppgaven er båndlagt. / The thesis will not be public until 3 years from now (some time in 2017).
Energy harvesting systems typically contain a low-power embedded processor in order to collect and interpret sensory data and such a processor will need memory to store that data. The most effective method of reducing power consumption in an electronic circuit is to decrease the supply voltage and this thesis explores the viability of implementing an ultra-low voltage SRAM architecture in a 130nm CMOS process for Atmel Norway AS. The architecture supports voltage scaling between 400mV and a regular supply voltage of 1.2V. The architecture was implemented with conventional 6T SRAM cells and 10T SRAM cells designed for low-voltage operations using state of the art design techniques and literature. The SRAM architecture is asynchronous and self-timed to more easily cope with the effects of process and temperature variations. To realize the architecture a small set of logic gates were also designed for ultra-low voltage operation and used in the SRAM read and write control circuitry. All building blocks in the architecture were simulated with extracted parasitics to get more realistic simulation results. Corner and Monte Carlo simulations were used to show how temperature and process variations statistically affected the building blocks and their performance. Simulation results showed that the 10T SRAM cell is more robust with a 60-100% larger static noise margin compared to the conventional 6T cell, but draws 1.2-1.6 times more leakage power and is physically 64% larger. The differential nature of the 6T cell makes its read operations faster compared to the 10T cell, but the offset voltage in the sense amplifiers used for reading reduces the potential speed gain somewhat. The 6T cell also experience a disturb voltage during read operations and the nature of this disturbance is different at subthreshold and superthreshold voltages, making it difficult to assess yield in a system supporting voltage scaling. the 10T cell does not experience this problem which makes it the more predictable and safe choice for future implementations. Reducing the voltage from 1.2V to 400mV gives a power saving in the range 4-18 depending on process variations and temperature. At low temperatures the supply voltage must be increased either permanently or by using dynamic voltage compensation to perform a read operation within a 32kHz clock cycle. This thesis has showed that it is viable to implement a subthreshold SRAM architecture in the Atmel 130nm CMOS process and some important effects of applying voltage scaling have been explored. Reducing the power supply to such an extent reduces performance and will need some form of voltage compensation to increase performance at low temperatures.
Værnes, Magne; Ytterdal, Trond & Aunet, Snorre (2014). Performance comparison of 5 Subthreshold CMOS flip-flops under process-, voltage-, and temperature variations, based on netlists from layout.
Aunet, Snorre (2013). Low Voltage / Low Energy CMOS.
Aunet, Snorre (2013). Ultra low voltage CMOS reducing power consumption up to several orders of magnitude, or energy per switching up to 1-2 orders of magnitude.
Bjerkedok, Jonathan Edvard; Aunet, Snorre; Grannæs, Marius & Ekelund, Øivind (2013). Subthreshold Real-Time Counter.
Myhre, Petter; Pihl, Johnny & Aunet, Snorre (2013). A novel 55 nm Path Delay Monitor - saving power with DVFS.
Schjolden, Lars-Frode; Aunet, Snorre & Ytterdal, Trond (2013). Low Energy Implementation of Robust Digital Arithmetic in Sub/Near-Threshold Nanoscale CMOS - for ultrasound beamforming.
Taugland Kollerud, Martin; Pihl, Johnny & Aunet, Snorre (2013). Extended Bubble Razor Methodology and its Application to Dynamic Voltage Frequency Scaling Systems.
Værnes, Magne; Aunet, Snorre & Hagen, Anders (2013). Trade-offs between Performance and Robustness for Ultra Low Power/Low Energy Subthreshold D flip-flops in 65nm CMOS.
eurobot er en årlig internasjonal konferanse for autonome roboter. Gruppen har utviklet en komplett, fungerende robot, med gode mekaniske løsninger. Det utviklede styresystemet tillater hurtig re-programmering av strategier, selv like før en kamp. posisjoneringssystemet kan frakte roboten til en hvilken som helst koordinat på spillebrettet. Roboten vant fem kamper i Eurobot 2012, noe som resulterte i en 23. plass blant 43 internasjonale lag.
Aunet, Snorre & Lindstad, Siri (2012, 10. mai). Nøkkelen i nakken. [Internett].
Aunet, Snorre & Lindstad, Siri (2012, 01. mai). Nøkkelen i nakken.
Bjørnstad, Tor-Eivind; Mikkelsen, Sindre & Aunet, Snorre (2012). Exploring laser induced Single Event Latch-up in AMS 0.35um.
Bårdsen, Sigurd; Tjora, Sigve & Aunet, Snorre (2012). Implementation of High Speed Serial Links.
Cao, Tuan Vu; Aunet, Snorre & Ytterdal, Trond (2012). A 9-bit 50MS/s Asynchronous SAR ADC in 28nm CMOS.
E. Koch, Kristoffer; Aunet, Snorre & Aamodt Gulbrandsen, Truls Magnus (2012). Low Power Capacitive Touch Digital Detection Filter.
Haugland, Martin Severin O; Berge, Hans Kristian Otnes; Hasanbegovic, Amir & Aunet, Snorre (2012). Multiobjective Optimization of an Ultra Low Voltage / Low Power Standard Cell Library for Digital Logic Synthesis.
Aunet, Snorre (2011). On the Reliability of Ultra Low Voltage Circuits Built From MINORITY-3 GATES.
Moradi, Farshad; Wisland, Dag T; Aunet, Snorre & Berg, Yngvar (2011). Ultra Low Power Digital Circuit Design for Wireless Sensor Network Applications. Series of dissertations submitted to the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo.. 1121.
Nguyen Le, Thanh & Aunet, Snorre (2011). Suksessiv Approksimasjonsregister A/D-omformer.
Aunet, Snorre (2010). German and Norwegian subthreshold CMOS research under the "Robust Ultra-Low-Power Circuits for Nano-Scale CMOS Technologies" project.
Aunet, Snorre (2010). Moore’s law and beyond – some technological challenges.
Aunet, Snorre (2010). Organisering og ledelse av hardware-utvikling.
Aunet, Snorre (2010). The IC Industry and Education in Norway.
Aunet, Snorre (2010). Ultra Low Voltage / Low Power CMOS Circuits.
Aunet, Snorre & Hasanbegovic, Amir (2010). Memory Elements Based on Minority-3 Gates and Inverter5s Implemented in 90 nm CMOS. | 2019-04-24T08:07:18Z | https://www.mn.uio.no/ifi/personer/vit/sa/index.html |
In the Bible stones are interestingly used. In Ezekiel 36:26, the heart is referred as a heart of stones. Too hard to be changed or break. Will not take anything. Will not listen to anything. So the people of Israel during those time has a heart of stones. They will not listen to any advice at all. To make matters worst, they not only will not listen, they will not response, just like any stone!
But, the verse above is on the contrary. If the disciples do not cry out with joy, the stones will. Even the stones will cry out. Why will the stones cry out in such circumstances? I believe, God is telling us, when Jesus enters our hearts, there is this exceeding joy of praise and worship that we could not contain. We need to understand what will happen to any Christian who receive Jesus into his or her heart. He will not be ashamed to praise God, even infront of the assembly. But the teachers of the law were ashamed. They asked Jesus to advice his disciples not to make so much noise. To the teachers of the law, they prioritized disciplines and orderliness. There is nothing wrong with that but a person with full of love will not break the law. If the disciples do not cry out, even the stones will cry out. Stones are just stones! If somebody says you have a stone face, your face has not expression at all. If such a expressionless object will shout for joy, what will that mean to us who show no joy or any expression at all in worship. To some lifting of hand is too holy. Others refer to dancing with joy as very offensive, and thought that such expression is for the night clubs. Some people say that we must have discipline in worship, and what is discipline in worship? When King David danced with joy, his wife was not happy. She was punished for rebuking David. She became unfruitful.
So when Jesus said that the stones will, I believe, all creation should worship God freely as he or she feels as the joy of heaven shakes their lives. We should not stop people from expressing themselves because they have chosen to worship God and not people. When the wind blows, the trees will sway and the waves will roar. There appear life and movement or reponse unlike the stones which are unmoved or very still. However if the stones do shout, then it would mean, a heart that offer no expression of worship is even harder than the stones themselves.
Let no one stop others from worshipping God with joy.
I like the song, “Heart of Gold” by one singer who says he is searching for a heart of gold. He said he wanted to live, he wanted to give. That, according to him is one expression that he have yet to do- giving.
When I read this verse, I could figure out in my mind, what David’s intention was. He had been thinking of blessing somebody, someone from the house of Saul. Saul had been trying to kill David before Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle with the Philistines. King David wanted to bless somebody from his former enemy’s household. How many of us are thinking of blessing others and showing kindness to others? Many will only think of doing bad to others or trying to manipulate others to gain something for themselves. Now David was seeking to be kind to others. And when Ziba told him about Mephibosheth, who was a crippled, he was asked to get him. Ziba thought that David will not take him if he knew that Jonathan’s son will not be of benefit to him. But Ziba was wrong. King David reinstated all that belong to Saul and gave them to that crippled man. He also took him to eat at the king’s table, as one of the princes. David manifested grace upon someone who will not be able to repay him. That is the heart of gold. How many of us are looking around for a needy to help? As the customs of that day, Mephibosheth deserved death.
When Saul was king, Mephibosheth was a small boy full of life and potential. But when the king and his own father were killed in the battle, everything collapsed. In her hurry to flee, the maid carrying the little boy slipped causing the legs of the little boy to break and became crippled. They hid him far away, living in fear and poverty. We all are like that. Crippled by sins and nothing we can do to help ourselves. Only God, out of love and mercy, send His son to seek and save us. There is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. Only by the grace of God.
As Christians, is our mind thinking of blessing someone’s life? Somebody who could not repay us. Are we thinking of doing good or are we thinking otherwise, seeking the destruction of others?
David, the man after God heart has this special heart, he has the heart of gold. We too have this heart of gold but the gold is still in us and we have yet to share it. God’s love is generous and extravagant. We need to seek the needy upon which we can pass God’s blessing to the others who have yet to receive this grace.
The marriage of Cana is very significant. Here we were told that Jesus was invited and at the most important stage, the wine was about to finish. Wine during those days, especially during marriage, makes the celebration complete. It is also family honour and joy to serve people with the best wine. People will be happy and the marriage blessed by those who come. Nobody want to face shortage of wine during the feast. It would be embarassing to the couple and the family. When the wine was about to finish, somebody was asked to tell Jesus about it. Why tell Jesus? They knew, He has the answer. Yes, true he had the answer. But to ensure that the answer materialize, it must be done. The person was told to follow whatever Jesus asked him to do. Just do what he asked.
The servant was asked to put water in the jars. Just water! If you tell people nowadays to put water instead of wine, they will tell you that you are crazy. He was asked to ” just follow!”. He just followed and what happened, that water had turned into the best wine. Obedience resulted in reward.
1. Marriage will turn dry but we need new wine to bring the love and joy back to our marriage.
2. Only Jesus is the answer. We all know that.
3. But things don’t just happen without obedience to the will of God.
4. Any marriage must have Jesus as the centre. Only He can calm the storms of marriage because He instituted marriage.
How to save our marriage? How to ensure that the best wine remain? Only Jesus and obedience to His command can do that. Just do what he asked you to do.
1. The love of God is full of mercy. This poor man did not deserve to go to heaven. All his life, he was against what was good. He robbed or steal. If he is facing a world court today, he will not go unpunished. There will be alot of rules or obstacles in his way to be free. God’s mercies endures forever.
2. The love of God is ever forgiving. When we are merciful, we will surely forgive. This does not separate. They go hand in hand. A forgiving person wants to help the person by freeing him from guilt and shame. Once a person find forgiveness, he finds peace. If God does not forgive, we will never enter His rest.
3. The love of God is full of Lovingkindness. Loving and kind does not separate too. If we love a person, sure, we will give the person what he needs. That poor thief need salvation, so Jesus gave it to him and that allowed him into paradise.
The phrase ” Lord remember me,” is not found in this verse only. There are also used by David and some prophets too. Its a powerful request that will unlock God’s attention to the person who asks.
What happened on the cross tells us many things too. If golden deeds are a condition to get our salvation, the poor man would not be permitted. If lofty prayers is a must to enter, this man would not be able to enter. If spiritual gifts are the condition, this person had none, and would not be able to be saved too.
God’s love is greater far. God’s love is greater far.
1. God wants us to be sincere ( to be truthful ).
Before we choose to rebuke or tell someone of his mistakes, are we qualified to do so? If we do the same mistakes, we are not qualified so its better to rectify our problem first. Normally a person will comply if they find we are blameless. Many people want to take the leadership role or want to be in power so that they have such power to rebuke others. But if we cannot tackle such problem in our life, why must we demand such position as a judge or someone in authority. Jesus wants us to humble ourselves and do things in love. To be patient prevents us from making mistakes when dealing with people.
2. God wants us to be merciful and kind.
The position of a judge is to find who is guilty and met out punishment. Normally this is done infront of others. People will know. It is not a good thing to be told that you are wrong, in front of witnesses or infront of a crowd. If we purposely do such action upon others’ life with the intention of hurting and shaming, it will return to us. It is not wrong to rebuke a person of wrong doing but according to Paul, talk to the person personally, not in a meeting or infront of many people. If we do this infront of a crowd, then many people will judge us. It is adviseable to get someone who are better than us to advise the person concern then to do it ourselves. Slow to speak or be kind to people in our words will prevent ourselves from becoming a judge. Knowing that we are sinners to will make us merciful in the words we use.
3. God wants us to Live in peace with others.
To be judgemental in our attitude or thoughts will have a negative influence in our life. More often than not, our relationship is affected if we think negatively about other people. We will treat them badly, look down on or we will dislike them etc. The reason why some people do not approach other people is due to a judgemental attitude. When we accept others as they are, we are beginning to exercise what true love is. Judgemental attitude is a lot to do with personal pride. Sometimes we want to put ourselves better than the others by doing some comparasion. To improve our inner being, avoid life of comparasion. We can only live in peace when we are able to be at peace with others.
So brothers and sisters, these verses are not meant to scare us and make us not willing to help others but rather God wants us to reflect on our own life so that we will be more affective in helping others and ourselves.
1. Seeking Him to know and understand God.
We must know God if we have to start loving Him. We can’t love some one if we do not know the person. To know a person, we need to meet the person, talk and have conversation and eventually we will understand one another. Eventually trust and love will emerge. Similarly, we must know God first, understand Him and know what He desires and what God doesn’t like. Seek God and He is found. Seek me with all your heart and you will find Me, God says in Jeremiah. Know and understand God so that whatever God loves, we also love. Whatever God hates, we also hate. Whatever God is concern of, we also so concern; then we are loving God.
2. Shepherd( feed, take care, protect, lead etc) the Sheep.
In John 21: 15-17, Jesus asked Peter whether he truly loves Him or not. Three times He asked Peter, and every time peter answered ” yes”, Jesus instructed him. First Jesus said, ” Tend my lambs.” Second Jesus said, ” Shepherd my sheep.” And finally, Jesus said, ” Tend or feed my sheep. So loving God is to take care, to feed, to protect, to look after and to sacrifice even your life for the safety of the flock.
“What we do to any one of these, you do to Me” which are feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty etc. We help those in need, we are loving God.
4. Do good and be rich in good deeds.
Paul commanded Timothy to remind the Christians to do good and to be rich in good deeds. To support those who preach the good news, for they deserved their wages. Remember that only good deeds will follow us, not our worldy wealth. So when we do good, we are helping to get rid of evil. It is war between good and evil. When we do God, we are supporting God’s battle against evil. So on which side are we? If we say we love God, we should be fight against evil.
Those who labor in the Word, the pastors or who preach the word deserve their financial support. The tithes and offering are for them and the needy.
6. King David was a man after God’s heart. What did he do? He was a good repentant. He meditates upon God’s word day and night. He praise and honor God. He longs to dwell in the house of the Lord. He was full of thanksgiving. Just to know what he did will help us to know what we need to do to show that we love God.
So all these efforts point to the fact that we love God.
Myself in particular, I want to do something like that. I want to have the highest earning job, buy me a great car, a big house and have all the things that can supply me all the things that I would need. Or some will aim to be a millionare before they reach 30 years old. Tell me, who has no such thoughts? Everyone has.
When Jesus mentioned these words, He appeared to warn us on a number of things. The first thing is, such things could lead us into worries and troubles. Do we really need so much since God will provide just enough for us? The sparrows are taken care of by God. We are always thinking and going for the extras. The second thing is, we are going towards selfcenteredness. Soon we will think that everything that we have is due to our own effort. Pride is coming in. Ego is setting in. When all these things come in, we will not even think of God. Why? Because think we have everything. The third thing of course is we will want to stay put. What do I mean by this. If you have so much property, do you think you would want to leave them behind? Paul reminded us to always look up and look forward to heaven. When we have our sights upwards, we will not be tempted to stay put in this world. The book of proverbs reminds us that when we die, our material wealth will not follow us.
However, for those of us who dream big, why not we build bigger barns so that we can share to more people? So that we can feed the hungry and help the sick?
The Bible is full of dreams and visions. God speaks to man in dreams or visions. He spoke to the Prophets and many others in the Bible. He speaks to believers and non believers a like. He spoke to Abimelech in a dream so that he does not take Sarah. He spoke to Nebuchadnezzar and the Pharoah.
There are 3 types of dreams; 1. Spiritual dreams or visions from God. 2. Our own natural soulful dreams from our daily activities. 3. From an evil heart or the devil, where the heart is full of deceit and wickedness.
The main functions of dreams or visions are mentioned in Job 33. To instruct man and to prevent man from being destroyed by his own sins. There are plenty of that in the Bible where God instruct people to do this or that or go here or there. God instruct Joseph to take Mary as his wife and also to go to Egypt with the baby Jesus. God convicts us in our dreams because of our pride of not listening to others. He convicts us and not condemning us. He tells us our wrong first. This shows how merciful God is.God uses dreams and vision to tell what is going to happen in the future. The Book of Daneil and Revelation are some examples. We cannot see the spiritual realms but God will reveal to us, especially in spiritual warfare.
Sometimes God uses symbols and we have to interpret based on Biblical principles, for instant, King Nebucharnezzar dreamed of a huge tree which was being chopped down. It was about himself of being removed. House or tent represent ourselves. Fish is people or ministry. Driving in a vehicle or flying means we are in a ministry. Snake or serpent represent the devil. Storms or floods? Remember the foolish man who build his house upon the sand?
Dreams or visions are mainly about ourselves, unless there are instruction from God. It can reveal our character or sins in our lives. We have to be careful not to always think that it is a revelation about others. If we see someone, perhaps our character is like him. It can reveal dangers or difficulty.
Paul saw a man from Macedonia in a dream. So he started his ministry there. A couple had a bad quarrel and the man was chased away from the house by his wife. Attempt to reconcile them by the church leaders were futile. But I saw something in a vision. I went to the house and prayed to get rid of the serpent there. We called the couple, held both hands and I prayed for them. They were restored to each other. Without the vision, I would not have known what to do next.
Dreams and visions reveal the activities of the Holy Spirit( Joel 2: 28 /Acts 2:17) so it is not something that we can ignore.
We have to interpret by asking God to help us. All dreams must be interpreted based on Biblical principles. God sometimes give an answer in dreams or visions. So don’t ignore dreams that make an impression. We can write it down, pray about it so that God will tell us what to do next.
I love fishing, since I was a small boy. Basically I know how to fish. Most of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen. When Jesus asked them to follow Him and become fishers of men, it was not difficult for them to understand. He understood what they we had been doing and they too will understand what it means by fishers of man.
Fishing is to catch a fish. We can use all kinds of methods to catch a fish. The important thing is, to lay our hands on a fish and thats it. It is not easy to catch a fish with our bare hands. Some of the fish are slippery or dangerous even. Some we can catch with our hand but some are not. Like wise, it is not easy to fish men for the Kingdom of God too. Some would be easy but some are not.
God’s word and God will be the One who will persuade the heart of men. Many people use all kinds to trick to catch men. Many people are discouraged because they cannot catch any fish in their ministry.
the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. We just be obedient to His calling or His Word.
When we do not catch any fish, it is because we are depending on our own effort. Perhaps we take all the credit for ourselves! We think that it is due to our ability that people come to God. Remember God gives us gifts which can be used to catch people for God. The special gift does not belong to us. When God gives us the gift of healing, people are caught because of the healing- but that gift of healing is from God and not ourselves. A generous Christian can make a lot of catch through his giving. When we share what we have with the needy, the person at the hand of such kindness will be caught. Many people accept Christ because of the love that they received for Christians. So, not necessary we must go to Bible school first. Any Christians can be fishers of men.
So there are many ways to be fishers of men. Let God gives us the ability and we will be fishers of men.
What do we learn from Moses? We know he did not take pride in being brought up in the Palace. In fact he left it. He told God that he could not speak like his brother, but nevertherless he complied and did what God wanted him to do. He did what God asked him to do.
Basically, he was humble because of obedience. He was like any other in many ways but he did what God asked of him. He also listened to his father-in-law to reorganize and empower other people. Frankly speaking, obedience is a barometer for humility. We who refused to do something when asked by our superior is because of resentment. We did not want others to have a better of us. It is also disagreement, because we think that our ideas are better. We do not follow the directive because the person who asked us to do so is a person we did not acknowledge as our boss.
It is personal pride that prevents us from doing what others want us to do. The heart of man actually want to be better than others. He wants fame, wealth and position. These will make him refuse to submit to anyone. It is personal pride also to refuse duties or reponsibility. Why is this so? Because we do not want to have anything to do with other people. Because we want to be free and not be subject to the will of men. We want to avoid criticism because we do not want to be seen as faulty or failure. We do not want others to make negative comments so as to shame us. The only way is not to accept responsibility. This is pride, not humility. Some people said that they cannot do it saying they are not good enough. We think that that is humility, but actually he is trying to avoid responsibility.
But the heart of man will change if God’s love dwells in him and change him. If the Spirit of God dwells in us, we will know what true love is. True love brings humility in our heart. Have you ever felt jealous when someone else did something better than you? Or have you ever felt being happy for someone who did something good? Jealousy is part of pride; we do not want others to be better than us. When we want others to be better than us, love is evident. Submission to the will of God, whom we cannot see is humility.
Learn to love so that we will experience humility.
Many of us love fishing. When I was younger, I love to catch fish, using fishing nets, fishing hooks, basket etc. When I was a primary school student, i remembered having fished many catfish from a small stream that was rising due to heavy rain. I caught the same spesis of fish. They came out of their holes as the waters were rising. I was there at the right time. The catch really surprised me. And mind you, the circumstance was not the same. It was raining, the water of the small stream was rising steadily resulting in the fish coming out from their hiding places. Before the rain, you will not believe that there were fish that many there.
Simon Peter and his friends casted the nets many times but to no avail. Not even a fish was caught. Not until some one called him from the shore to cast the net again. When he did just that, there were many fish. In all, 153 in number. Peter told Him he had cast the net before but there were no fish. Since you asked, I will do it. Many at times, we want things to be done just like before. We are used to do things that we are used to. We prefer to repeat the same thing over and over hoping to get something different. One reason why we refuse something different is we are happy with what we have and knew. We do want something different but we do not want to change.
The problem with us is we do not want to try new ways, new situation or new development. We just want to do something that are familiar and repeated because we already can anticipate the outcome.
I caught a lot of fish in a different setting where I have to stand in the rain. Peter obeyed Jesus even though, earlier, he casted the net but there was no fish. He just did what Jesus asked. He was astonished at the catch. Our spiritual life is like that too. In the ministry, we had become unfruitful- no one received Christ and even our spiritual life is no longer moving forward. If this happen, it is because we just do not want to move into something that we are not familiar with. Most of the time, we have been used to do something that we are used to doing, example our experience. We say we have done these and that before, so we refuse new ideas or new ways. Perhaps, if we set aside our ego or pride and listen to others, perhaps we will experience new things again.
We Christians are thinking of performing sign and wonders, ministering to thousands of people and being invited everywhere to share the Word of God, which of course are good. However, not many will be given such opportunity by God. The problem is, when we want to expect ourselves to do have ” power gifts” as some call them, we tend to wait and wait and do nothing. When we do nothing, nothing is done.
When we talk about walking in love as what Paul meant, he is telling us to live it everyday and not to wait for the big Bang! Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13, where he says that the greatest is love. True, the greatest is love- that is why Jesus came to die for us. All because of God’s love. When Christ came, there were many things that he was willing to sacrifice. First, He was willing to forgive us inspite of what we have done. How many of us have forgiven those who hurt us right now? Some Christians could not see eye to eye with one another because they are not willing to forgive others. Some keep grudge or keep the wrong of others so much so that hatred prevail. But the moment we forgive others, many good things happen. Secondly God is patient with us. He is still knocking on our doors. How patient are we with others. Thirdly, Jesus went about doing good. He healed the broken hearted, he healed the sick, he cast out demons and He fed the hungry. Fourthly, he came to save others. But here we are, those not with us are being driven away. To many of us, our ministry for God is to lead comfortable life isn’t it. How many of us are willing to give a glass of cold water to the needy? But we are used to give something but not to the needy, but to those who came pay us back.
Giving a glass of cold water to the needy, God says, is giving a glass of cold water to God. To many, this act is the least but to God nothing is not important in His eyes. Every little effort that we do for God is not in vain. Some of us do not want to do this because we regard it as unimportant. But this act of love is far greater than what we read in the first 4 verses of 1 Corinthians 13.
How do we walk in love? Immitate Christ and we will not go wrong.
I have a fruit garden. In it, I grew different kinds of fruit trees. We have durian, rambutans etc. Because I love durian, i planted durian trees so that I would have durian fruits. The verse above is about fruits. A good person of course will bear good fruits. Good things will come out of that person. Likewise, a bad person will not do good things too. Just like a durian tree cannot bear other types of fruit except durian fruits. Until the tree produce fruit, we won’t know whether it will bear fruit until you see the flowers and fruits.
People are like a tree. We can hide what is in us but eventually people will be able to see our deeds and conduct. These are the ones that will tell who we really are. The same to the different faiths or religions of the world. How do we know they are true or fake? By the fruits. What do the believers do? Good or bad? We will be able to know by their deeds. We can always ask those people about why they say their faith is good but the fruits are bad? A friend of mine confronted a hindu and a muslim. He asked them, what did their religion changed in their life? Did their religion brought good change in them or not. One admitted no and the other just walk away. Jesus Christ is the truth and anyone who find and believe in Jesus will know what is the truth and will live in the truth. One of the changes Jesus bring is speaking the truth. We can also know whether a person is truly saved or not.
This verse is telling to check our own self. If we keep on bearing bad fruits, it is because we haven’t changed yet. So it is self evaluation also.
I believe that what the verse tells us is to be careful in our choice of faiths or friends and also to check ourselves because we do not want to be stopped at the gate of heaven after thinking that we expected to get through. We should be able to know about something without getting a second opinion. We must be able to discern so that we are not easily be misled. The Bible has all the answers, so we need to read and understand more.
” YOU WILL BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO YOUR CONDUCT AND YOUR ACTION” declares the Lord.
Many years ago, i dreamed that my hair had turned white. I was wondering why, on that occasion, my hair had turned white, in that dreamed. Then a few days later, i realized that I had made one of the most important spiritual decision ever. God had indicated that He had given me wisdom for that particular time. In fact, when i was young I wonder why British judges wear white wigs on their head when they execute judgment.
We will be judge according to our conduct and action. When? When we die because our spirit and soul will meet with God. If we are permited into the City of God, meaning we are forgiven and not condemned. Our conduct is our attitude, our response and our thoughts. In fact, our conduct portrays what we have decided in our hearts. Are we supportive of God’s ministries or not. Are we showing negative conducts that will discourage others? What did we say to others today? We will also be judged according to our actions. Our actions refer to our deeds or what we do. In Revelation, God says, ” Their deeds will follow them.” Why are their deeds following them when they die? Our earthly wealth will not follow us but our deeds that made us acquire such wealth will follow us. Because we are going to face the Ultimate Judge- God Himself. That will be terrible, isn’t it. How can escape from God? The soul that sins will die.
What is the punishment? Second death in the lake of fire, with the devil and all those who reject Jesus.
We must be wondering why Jesus was hanged. He was hanged so that all the punishment that we are supposed to receive at judgment day is put upon Him, on our behalf. Those who believe and received Him will be forgiven of their sinful actions and deeds. There will be no condemnation for those who believe and receive Jesus as Lord and saviour. That is God’s promise. Jesus is our lawyer acceptable to God the Father. Take Jesus as our lawyer and Savior. There is no other.
We can only be saved from the coming wrath if Jesus is our advocate.
No one can live without water. Water is a necessity of life. Go without water and we will die. The above verse tells us about the Spirit who gives life to all those who receive Christ as Lord and Saviour. Jesus said that those who believes in Him, streams of living water will flow from within him, meaning the Holy Spirit. That is why every believer is given a new life which is eternal life. And what else will happen to the believer? The river of life flow bringing healing to him in the inside. When it overflows, we bring healing to the others.
Jesus invites us to drink water that will quench our thirst. What is this water? The psalmist says in chapter 1 verses 1-3, that whosoever read and meditate upon the Word of God day and night is like a tree planted by the water, where it will bear fruits and will not wilther but will prosper. So reading the Word of God is drinking from the Holy Spirit. Having fellowship with God. Namaan was asked to dip 7 times in the Jordan, not once, in order to be healed. So we need to read the Bible and meditate upon it many times to reach the depth.
The crystal clear water tells us the purity and righteous nature of God that can transform us. Where this river flows everything lives. What is so free than water?
Jesus is the light of the world. When he came down, there were a number of things he did. He went about preaching the word and healing the sick and casting out evil spirits. He did many things for the people, before he was crucified and died. Then He rose again. Likewise, we are now the light of the world. How? First, we have been forgiven, cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb and destined to do good works, just like what Jesus did. If we are a lamp, then there must be something to be done first.
First: It has to have an oil.
To shine, we must have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in us. He is the One who will transmit His light in us. Without Him we are nothing. Once we have accepted Christ, He is in us, and we need to obey Him and follow His leading. We need to be annointed and sent. That is we are being lighted for service. The only thing a lighted lamp is of use is during night time or when it is dark. In other words, we must bring it to where it is difficult to see. That is, we must put it where there is darkness. Where the gospel is yet to be heard, that is where we put the light. We need to go out to places where the gospel is yet heard. We need to go where the people have yet to know about God. To sustain, we need to be refilled with the Word of God. We need to have a deep relationship with God and we need others to encourage and help us.
What makes us shine? Righteousness needs to increase, because righteousness leads us to do good work or deeds. Only good can produce the good. Only an apple tree will produce apple. A bad thing cannot bear good thing. Those who are increased in righteousness will shine like stars. Our good deeds are the light. Good deeds only point to something. When some one does good, it points to something that has transformed a person. Man cannot change himself without God. So when we do good, it speaks louder than words. It points to God as the cause of the transformation. It glorifies God when we do good deeds or work. Why, because only God is good. When we live in the truth, speak the truth and do what is truthful and right, everyone will know. In fact, the reason we do good is because of Love.Love is the fuel that cause us to serve others and do good things. Love is of God and God is love. When we practice love, that is when we shine.
We bring others to Christ without speaking to convince people. Our good works attract others to the kingdom. So do we need to be eloquent? Famous? or wealthy? No!
The story of Jesus calming a storm is a very familiar story in the three Gospels. Jesus had been teaching the crowd and when evening came, Jesus decided to go to the other side of the lake with his disciples. They boarded a boat and left the crowd. On the way, a storm appeared while Jesus was sleeping and the frightened disciples woke up Jesus. Jesus commanded the storm to stop and it stopped. The diciples were astonished. Even the storm obeyed Jesus.
Life is a journey towards a destination. Life on earth begins at birth and ends with death of the physical body. The spiritual body or spirit enters either heaven of hell. These are the two destinations that we are heading towards. Heaven is on the other side. Our life is like a ship or a boat. The ship must move towards that destination, that is heaven. AS LIKE any ship that cross the ocean or sea towards a destination, is our life also heading towards death and our final destination. Is there any sea without storms or calm? Is there any seas without waves? Is there any seas without hidden menace? The same to life. In this life, according to Scriptures, there will be trials and difficulties. There will be troubles. There will be tribulations, but there is also peace. There will be a period of calm but there is also a period of roughness.
Looking at a ship, the success is reaching the destination without sinking. The ship might be badly bruised, battered but that does not matter. What matters is it reaches its destination. Our life will be wounded, bruised and badly damaged but the spirit does not waver. It is steadfast in the faith. There will be great difficulties but the trust and faith in Jesus Christ remain strong and steadfast until the end. What is important is to finish the race, to reach heaven. If we look at sailing ship in the past, they depend on the wind, especially strong winds to push the sail. We also need storms to ensure our faith in Jesus is tested and strong. So without srong winds or storms, the ship is not tested.
To reach the pearly shores of heaven, we need Jesus to be in our boat or ship. If Jesus is in our boat, we need not fear. That depend on us to receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. We need to welcome him in our heart. We must restore the temple of God in us so that there is life of worship in our life. We need Jesus in our life to enable us to withstand the test of time. Is Jesus in your life now?
I remembered many years ago, when my friends in Limbang was told that I had died due to sickness. In fact, my family went back home for a two week holiday. When we returned to Limbang, where i worked, some of the people saw me and was shocked because a few days earlier, someone told that i had died. My church members also told us what they had heard. Based on our tradition, i will have a long life.
Death will eventualy come to everyone and people will talk about us when we die. Death will come and we cannot deny it or avoid it. So rather than avoid it, we better face the reality. The Prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah to ” Put your house in order because surely you will die soon.” God wants us to prepare to die because when we are prepared to die, only then are we prepared to live.
What to prepare? We must know that there is judgement waiting for everyone of us. God will judge us based on how we live while on earth. The Word of God teaches us to receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Then we will not perish but have everlasting life( John 3:16). There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. So this we must put right.
We must be an overcomer, as in the book of Revelation. We must seek righteousness and not live in sins. Only those who had his robes washed clean will enter heaven. Do not deceive ourselves thinking that what we think and not what God think is okay. We must not take for granted that everything is fine, when in fact we have not really given our lives to God.
Finishing strong or finishing the fight is what Paul mentioned. Life is like a race, to be won. We might have started wrongly but we must end correctly. What matters is the end, not the beginning. Do not dwell in the past glories. Remember what counts is what happens at the finishing line.
Whatever we tie on earth is tied in heaven. Forgive others and do not keep grudge against others. Jesus ask us to ask for the forgiveness of those we had sins. We aslo need to forgive those who sins against us. We must make every effort to be at peace with all men. Our sins will find us and testify against us on the last day if we do not untie every cords of sins in us.
So do not deny death or try to avoid this subject. We must face it and get it right because after we have died, we cannot relive another life on earth.
Naomi lost her husband and eventually her two sons. He would have lost her properties had not God allowed her daughter-in-law, Ruth to marry Boaz, who eventually redeemed them. Naomi said to her people, I went away full but came back empty. God had allowed affliction upon her life. Job was even worst, he lost everything he as except his wife. He lost 10 children. All because God allowed satan to torment him.
Naomi and Job had terrible storms of life. These are troubles that we will face in our life journey. The Bible says that we will have trouble but I have overcome, said Jesus. The apostles had all kinds of trouble and dangers and some died at the hands of wicked men. Jesus also suffered. From our reading, God knows what we are going through and He allowed them- to refine us, to test us, to rid evil in our hearts, to prune us, to get us back to Him. That is what a loving father will do to his children.
God gives us the storm so that we will know that only He is the shelter. The reason why many people cannot accept what happened to them is because of their self-centeredness. I was like that in the beginning. Refuse to admit my weakness, thinking that i should not be done like this! because i don’t deserve it. That is what we always think. We always think that others should be the one not us. That is what our self is. We want to be better, we want to be the best, we want to be praised, we don’t want to be seen as weak, or poor. That is our real self. That is what God wants us to be rid off so that we will be teachable, humble and respectful. We need to acknowledge that God is sovreign and we are nothing at all, nor can we deserve anything. When we do this, the pain is lifted from our heart.
Inspite of that, he will bandage or heal us. He will comfort us as the Scriptures promised. He will not allow us to be tempted beyond our means. He allowed the storms of life to come so that we will not perish. He also wants us to be refined so that we will be able to serve Him better. He wants us to bear more fruits. He does not want any of us to be lost.
As our ship sails through the dark seas to the pearly heavenly shores. Our sails might be battered, but Jesus will be with us. after all, He is in us. He will not let us sink to the bottom of the dark seas. Jesus is our anchor. He is the anchor of our souls.
If you read about John the Baptist in the Gospels, you will see that he was the first person to baptize anyone. He became so popular that everyone went to hear him and repented. Those who repented were then baptized. Eventually, he has disciples. John knew and testified that he was sent a head of Jesus to prepare the way. In our time, such popularity would have made us proud, wealth and happy. But John was not. He sticked to what God had planned for him. He shun the worldy life, he just live a simple life in the wilderness, living on honey and wearing animal skin. He rebuked and many were baptized. Then Jesus came. He baptized Jesus and told his own disciples that Jesus is the Messiah, and not him.
SOON Jesus’s asked His disciples to baptize people. When John’s disciples to him that the people are flocking towards Jesus, John told them that he must decrease but Jesus must increase. He knew where he was. In our days, we would have been dissapointed, envious or angry when someone are doing better than us, or attracting more attention than us. We would have given up and even leave the ministry. We would not like other people to be more successful. But John told his disciple to follow Jesus and not him. John did not prevent them. He had to disappear from the scene. He had done his part and he recognized that even before he started his ministry.
What about us? When we received Jesus as our Lord and saviour, God lives in us. But do we let God increase in our life or are we trying to increase ourselves more? Are we trying to take what we know belongs to God, especially the glory and honour? Do we acknowledge God’s power and grace in our lives or are we claiming all the glory to ourselves? Sometimes we attribute what we have , our resourcefulness and wealth to ourselves. We say that all are due to our effort. That is increasing ourself and not God. We boast of what we achieve and we become proud. The Bible tells us that whatever belongs to us is from God. We need to glorify God more and more and not be silent about it, but rather to be thankful to God for His providence and grace.
What is joy? Joy means being in the state of being very happy. A joyful person portrays a lively positive character. The person smiles or even laugh easily. It is easy to dectect a joyful person. He or she is cheerful. There is reasons for people to be joyful. Most likely someone gave something that he or she likes. May be the person had found friendship, promotion, wealth etc. When a person is joyful, there is normally a good reason behind it. When Jesus spoke about true happiness and joy, He was refering to the person having known and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. True happiness is from deep within us, where God will communicate within us of His love and peace. When we know that God loves us, and we are forgiven and given eternal life, we have real joy in us. Here God says that real joy is in Christ Jesus. Not in material possessions, beautiful spouses etc but in Jesus Christ. World wealth, promotion, friendship do make us happy but, unfortunately these are temporary and does not satisfy us like Jesus.
Why must we be joyful? If Christ is in us, we should be joyful because what we ever need is in Jesus Christ! We need to know that we are bound for eternal life. We have privileges as children of God. When a person is joyful, his joy will transmit to the others. Joy is contagious. It brings life to an otherwise gloomy situations. It is a testimony of finding freedom in Christ where our worries and anxieties of life are no more because we have put our trust in God. What will a joyful person do? He or she will easily be brought to sing praises unto God. A joyful person can easily sing. When a person is sad, he or she is most likely not willing to sing.
A person full of joy is very generous. That is why the Holy Scriptures asks us to give cheerfully. A cheerful giver gives freely. It is the joy that enables him to give without being force to. Joyful people is ever willing to help others. They sometimes volunteer to do something. It is not difficult to ask people who are joyful to do some kind of work. They are very willing to help. That is why Paul ask the Thessalonians to be joyful always. If you are in the company of joyful people, it is a wonderful experience. Everything is positive.
A joyful person is very open to others. He or she easily accepts teaching or rebuke. That is why a joyful person does not harbour grudges. Normally what makes a person angry, gloomy or passive is due to the person keeping the wrong of others and not wanting to forgive others for their wrong. These makes us unhappy or what some people called in”bad mood.” Our outer character is influenced by what is inside us.
No one wants to sit with an angry person, a gloomy character or a bad character. These does not give a good picture of a true Christian. If we are to shine for Christ, it is our character- love, joy and peace that will draw others to God. If we ever want to draw others for Christ, we must have the character of Christ in us.
The Bible says, “but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy and peace.” If the Spirit of God is truly in us, we should have love peace and joy. These and some others make up the true love that only God gives.
As a conclusion, joy is part of the true Christian character. Joy emits love, peace and generousity. It welcomes others and is willing to be of service to others. When we have joy of heaven in us, we have everything. Be joyful always.
A farmer sowed a basket of padi grains, he harvested about a hundred bags from it at the end of the year. Another sowed 2 baskets of padi grains and he harvested 200 bags of padi at the end of the year. So it depends on the amount or the number of what we sow or plant. If we do not plant, we do not harvest. If we do not sow anything, don’t expect anything coming to us. You ask a farmer, he will agree. Its about willingness to sow more to get more harvest. Jesus gave an illustration about the trees and its fruits. If we plant a durian tree, you will expect to eat a durian fruit from it. Not an apple from a durian tree. This principle applies to our life. We do good things, we get good things. Be kind with your neighbour, he will be kind to you. You scream at your neighbour, he will do the same too. Talk bad about somebody, someone will do the same to us. How do we harvest righteousness? Sowing truth in our life. The tragedy taught me a lot. We received so much from people we do not know and people we know. I had never thought that people will be touched by simple kindess that we gave a a teacher. If you are a teacher, you are going to help people change their life for the better. Sometimes, you buy this and that for your students out of your own pocket. During your difficult times, those you had helped will not forget you. God cannot be mocked. God had already set this principle. It depends on us. We do good, we receive what is good. Do not expect blessings if you do not bless. Do not think of receiving much we we do not give much. Did anyone showed dislike to us? What’s the reason? Many people, including myself want more and more, and some are so angry if they are not given…but do we ever think, why do we demand more when we refuse to give? As a head teacher, we handle many cases of indiscipline. Fights do happen. It begins doing something bad to somebody. It will end in quarrel and eventually fights. We do something bad to somebody, somebody will retaliate! The principle applies to our life. We don’t expect to have peaceful life if we live a wild kind of life. We smoke, we ourselves will reap the side effect of smoking. We teach ourselves to dislike other people, it will grow into fruition- hatred. I told my students and congregation that many people wnat to get the best in life but they never do good things. Only good things come from good deeds. Don’t expect good things from the bad things that we do. God cannot be decieved. We start bad, we will reap what is bad. Bad fruits come from bad trees.
So what must we do with our lives to gain good harvests? Its that easy if we follow the principle of reaping what we sow. Change our mind set by doing what is good and we will get what is good.
1. Invite blessings upon us. Have you ever been bless by your parents? Our culture seems to make us not willing to bless others. Isaac blessed his children. Are we doing the same? But if we ever give something to someone that will help that person, do you thing he or she will curse you? It also makes us prosperous in many ways. Our act infact make us friends with those whom we had help. They would surely pray for us. They could bless us. An act of giving will always be remembered for life. A very wealthy man was asked by my brother, how he could have so much wealth. And he said, ” I provide work and opportunity for people to help themselves, and they in turn will help me. I had helped them, that is why they are looking after the business well.
2. Our giving refreshes others. It makes people happy. It motivates people to help others. When we give, somebody will benefit. For instance, a kind word will encourage others. If we give in kinds, it will of benificial in many ways. The person will be even more thankful to us because we are giving him options. They will surely help you if they have the opportunity, but we are not looking at that. | 2019-04-21T10:21:43Z | http://www.lifespring-buedulun.net/short-sermon/ |
India is the second fastest growing economy of the world but along with an ascendant economy comes a mounting hunger for energy. So the energy policy has to be made keeping in mind all the standards required to meet the needs of such a developing country with a gigantic population. As such India’s energy needs are likely to balloon over the coming decades. India, the world’s fifth biggest energy consumer, is projected to surpass Japan and Russia to take third place by 2030. Doing so will test India’s ability to create a domestic policy for its semi-privatized energy sector, as well as its capacity to develop relationships with foreign energy exporters.
Already, surging energy demand is outstripping supply, raising hard questions about how India will cope in the future. Despite vast coal reserves, domestic production has lagged behind demand for ten years, and the shortfall is growing. In such a situation India has to take necessary steps to increase the availability of affordable energy.
Presently our energy policy is largely defined by the country’s burgeoning energy deficit and increased focus on developing alternative sources of energy, particularly nuclear, solar and wind energy. But intermittent energy like solar and wind power—is mathematically impossible. So in this paper we would like to deal with the aspects of utilizing nuclear energy as a source to balance this deficit. Our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru recognized early that nuclear technology offered a tremendous potential for economic development, especially for a developing country aspiring to leapfrog technology gaps brought about by long years of colonial exploitation.
Nuclear energy originates from the splitting of uranium atoms in a process called fission. At the power plant, the fission process is used to generate heat for producing steam, which is used by a turbine to generate electricity. Although nuclear plants also have a high capital cost but to balance it the operating cost is very low. There is a lot of risk up front but once the plant is running, over a certain lifespan it more than pays for itself. It should also be kept in mind that its alternatives like wind energy and solar energy costs between 3 and 20 times more than nuclear. Nuclear energy has perhaps the lowest impacts on environment, especially in relation to kilowatts produced because nuclear plants do not emit harmful gases and require a relatively small area for production. It can be termed as a clean source of energy as there are no significant adverse effects to land, water, habitat, species and air resources.
This can have major effects on agriculture, environment as well as trade of the country. Knowing the fact that India is agriculture based country, energy Our farmers know that over the years their demand for energy has gone up. Our farmers need power for their pump sets to irrigate their fields. Many farming operations are now getting mechanized and these machines need electricity. But it is an unfortunate fact that we are unable to meet this growing demand. Most of our people still lives without regular and reliable power supply. But with the evolution of nuclear energy we may set this up. With the development of such a source of clean and renewable energy, environment also seems to strengthen up.
Any means of producing electricity involves some wastes and environmental hazard. But the nuclear industry is unique in that it is the only energy-producing industry that has taken full responsibility for the disposal of all its wastes and meets the full cost of doing so without even contributing to global warming. This will also have effect on trade as it seems to empower the relations between different countries making bilateral agreements.Generations of different trade relations will gear up the rate of foreign direct investment in different sectors of the economy which will directly result into the fulfilment of the needs of common citizens of the country. The first milestone in the pathway of the development of Atomic energy in the country was achieved in the year 1948,with the establishment of Atomic Energy Commission for framing policies in respect of development of atomic energy in the country. Further the department of Atomic energy was established in the year 1954. Since then India has been continuously trying to mould its ways towards the generation of nuclear energy within the country itself.
How does a nuclear power plant functions? The purpose of a nuclear power plant is to produce electricity. It should not be surprising that a nuclear power plant has many similarities to other electrical generating facilities. It should also be obvious that nuclear power plants have some significant differences from other plants.In a nuclear power plant, many of the components are similar to those in a fossil-fueled plant, except that the steam boiler is replaced by a Nuclear Steam Supply System (NSSS). The NSSS consists of a nuclear reactor and all of the components necessary to produce high pressure steam, which will be used to turn the turbine for the electrical generator. Like a fossil-fueled plant, a nuclear power plant boils water to produce electricity. But unlike a fossil-fueled plant, the nuclear plant’s energy does not come from the combustion of fuel, but from the fissioning(splitting) of fuel atoms.
There are two basic types of reactor plants being used to produce electricity, the boiling water reactor (BWR) and the pressurized water reactor (PWR). Both boiling water reactor and pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies consist of the same major components. These major components are the fuel rods, the spacer grids, and the upper and lower end fittings. The fuel rods contain the ceramic fuel pellets. The fuel rods are approximately 12 feet long and contain a space at the top for the collection of any gases that are produced by the fission process. These rods are arranged in a square matrix ranging from 17 x 17 for pressurized water reactors to 8 x 8 for boiling water reactors. The upper and lower end fittings serve as the upper and lower structural elements of the assemblies. The lower fitting (or bottom nozzle) will direct the coolant flow to the assembly through several small holes machined into the fitting. There are also holes drilled in the upper fitting to allow the coolant flow to exit the fuel assembly.
For pressurized water reactor fuel, there will also be guide tubes in which the control rods travel. The guide tubes provide a channel for the movement of the control rods and provide for support of the rods. The boiling water reactor operates in essentially the same way as a fossil-fueled generating plant. Inside the reactor vessel, a steam/water mixture is produced when very pure water (reactor coolant) moves upward through the core absorbing heat. The steam/water mixture leaves the top of the core and enters two stages of moisture separation, where water droplets are removed before the steam is allowed to enter the steam line. The steam line, in turn, directs the steam to the main turbine, causing it to turn the turbine and the attached electrical generator. The unused steam is exhausted to the condenser where it is condensed into water. The resulting water (condensate) is pumped out of the condenser with a series of pumps and back to the reactor vessel.
The pressurized water reactor (PWR) differs from the boiling water reactor in that steam is produced in the steam generator rather than in the reactor vessel. The pressurizer keeps the water that is flowing through the reactor vessel under very high pressure (more than 2,200 pounds per square inch) to prevent it from boiling, even at operating temperatures of more than 600EF. To operate properly, all steam plants, whether nuclear or fossil-fueled, need a circulating water system to remove excess heat from the steam system in order to condense the steam, and transfer that heat to the environment. The circulating water system pumps water from the environment (river, lake, ocean) through thousands of metal tubes in the plant’s condenser. Steam exiting the plant’s turbine is very rapidly cooled and condensed into water when it comes in contact with the much cooler tubes. Since the tubes provide a barrier between the steam and the environment, there is no physical contact between the plant’s steam and the cooling water. Because a condenser operates at a vacuum, any tube leakage in this system will produce an “inflow” of water into the condenser rather than an “outflow” of water to the environment.
Our farmers know that over the years their demand for energy has gone up. Our farmers need power for their pump sets to irrigate their fields. Many farming operations are now getting mechanized and these machines need electricity. Rural households need electricity. But it is an unfortunate fact that we are unable to meet this growing demand. Most of our people still live in villages without regular and reliable power supply. The Government has committed itself under Bharat Nirman and Rajiv Gandhi VidyutikaranYojana to ensure complete electricity connectivity across the country.
Nuclear power is clean, safe, reliable, compact, competitive and practically inexhaustible. Today over 400 nuclear reactors provide base-load electric power in 30 countries. Fifty years old, it is a relatively mature technology with the assurance of great improvement in the next generation. One gram of uranium yields about as much energy as a ton of coal or oil.It is the famous “factor of a million”. Nuclear waste is correspondingly about a million times smaller than fossil fuel waste, and it is totally confined. Nuclear energy produces almost no carbon dioxide, and no sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides whatsoever. These gases are produced in vast quantities when fossil fuels are burned. So it is eco- friendly and helpful for the society as it emits less emission and does not hamper the environment as such. Today the radiations obtained from nuclear energy are used in Industries, Health sector, Agriculture and other important sectors of the economies.
Radiation from radio-isotopes and from accelerators has a variety of applications, including health care, agriculture, food preservation, industry and research. Research reactors at Trombay regularly produce a variety of radio-isotopes and meet a major part of the demand in the country. In addition to research reactors, power reactors too have been equipped to produce cobalt-60. Work on the development of accelerators is being pursued at Centre for Advanced Technologies (CAT), Indore, and at BARC. Development of radiation technology applications is a major thrust area in the R&D programme at BARC. These applications are being commercialized by the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT).
THE VARIABLE ENERGY CYCLOTRON CENTRE:-The Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) at Kolkata has been operating the nation’s largest and the first indigenously built Cyclotron in the country, providing charged particle beams of various energies. It has been serving the research needs of a distinguished community of scientists belonging to 36 national laboratories and universities. The facilities include those for in vitro studies like RIA and IRMA, gamma cameras for diagnostic and 4MeV LINAC for therapy. Radio-pharmaceuticals and other preparations for these and several other medical Centre’s in the country are regularly supplied by BRIT.
Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), a fully autonomous institute aided by the DAE, provides comprehensive treatment for cancer and allied diseases and is one of the best internationally. It carries out a vast number of patient investigations every year (about 800,000 pathological investigations in 1999-2000).
Application of radiation to agriculture has resulted in the release of 22 improved varieties of seeds, which are contributing directly to the increase of GDP in the country. Of these mutant varieties, black gram (urad) accounts for 95 per cent of the cultivation of this pulse in the State of Maharashtra. At an all-India level, four BARC black gram varieties account for over 49 per cent of the total national breeder seed indent of all the black gram varieties taken together breeder seed indent. At a conservative estimate, these varieties constitute a GDP of over Rs.10,000 million per year. Research done in BARC and other Centre’s in the world, has clearly demonstrated the advantages of food preservation by irradiation, and the Government of India has cleared several items for radiation processing. Setting up of such plants is expected to reduce the percentage of food that is lost due to various causes and provide the means for improving food hygiene and facilitate export.
Over 6,000 technicians have been trained in the use of radiography and they have found employment in India and abroad, where the certification provided by BARC is well recognized. BARC has also developed many applications using electron beam machines, for radiation processing of products such as cross-linking of polyethylene insulation, heat shrinkable, and vulcanization of natural rubber.
Therefore Nuclear power is safe, as proven by the record of half a century of commercial operation, with the accumulated experience of more than 12,000 reactor in these years. There have been only two serious accidents in the commercial exploitation of nuclear power: Three Mile Island in 1979 (in Pennsylvania, USA) and Chernobyl in 1986 (in the Soviet Union, now in Ukraine).Nuclear reactors provide base-load power and are available over 90% of the time; an interval between refueling has been extended and down time for refueling has been reduced. Uranium is found everywhere in the crust of the Earth and it is more abundant than tin, for example Major deposits are found in Canada and Australia. It is estimated that increasing the market price by a factor ten would result in 100 times more uranium coming to market. Eventually we will be able to recover uranium from sea water where 4 billion tons are dissolved. So nuclear energy has a wide impact on the society and on the life of the people as it is inexhaustible and competitive, reliable and safe.
Environment Protection laws have been enacted to further two primary goals: preventing irreparable environmental damage and forcing the consideration of environmental values into all realms of private and commercial activities. They reflect a sense of community, wherein the health and safety of individuals are as important as the economic wellbeing of the nation.
Energy is the only Universal currency. One of its many forms must be transformed to another in order for stars to shine, planets to rotate, plants to grow, and civilizations to evolve. It is a well-known fact that the production of electric power is a major source of environmental pollution. The burning of fossil fuels create s copious quantities of various criteria pollutants and other pollutants. In the view of some environmentalists, electric power is a major souce of pollution but in societal view, electric power is a resource that has shaped the modern era. So keeping both in mind, we need to find a new way out having the collaboration of both of these view, i.e, to choose that source of energy that least pollutes the environment. So a need arises to look up at different sources of energy and the most desirable is the nuclear energy.
It is the only source of energy that can replace a significant part of the fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) which massively pollute the atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect.If we want to be serious about climate change and the end of oil, we must promote the more efficient use of energy, we must use renewable energies – wind and solar – wherever possible, and adopt a more sustainable life style. But this will not be nearly enough to slow the accumulation of atmospheric CO2, and satisfy the needs of our industrial civilization and the aspirations of the developing nations. Nuclear power should be deployed rapidly to replace coal, oil and gas in the industrial countries, and eventually in developing countries. The pollution of land, air and water all can occur from electric power production. The environmental impacts of electricity prod occur at each stage of energy process.There are environment repercussions from the extraction and processing of energy resources, especially from drilling for oil and gas and from mining for coal. There are environmental costs associated with the combustion of fossil fuels, resulting in emissions that can be harmful to human health and environment.
Our industrial civilization runs on energy and 85% of the world’s energy is provided by the fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas. Coal began to be used extensively in Britain when its forests were no longer able to satisfy the energy requirements of an embryo industrialization. Coal is found almost everywhere and reserves should last several centuries. Petroleum began by replacing whale oil at the end of the 19th century, and its use has grown ever since. Discoveries of new deposits are not keeping up with consumption and production of oil is about to peak. At the present rate of consumption, reserves are estimated to last a few decades, but consumption is growing rapidly. More than half the world’s oil production today is located in the fragile and politically unstable area of the Persian Gulf, as is an even greater fraction of our future reserves, Gas was at first a byproduct of oil extraction and it was thrown away. It has since been mastered to become a major source of energy. Reserves are similarly limited and estimated to last for a few decades.
But these can have adverse environmental consequences. In burning fossil fuels, we inject 23 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year into the atmosphere – 730 tons per second. Half of it is absorbed in the seas and vegetation, but half remains in the atmosphere. This is significantly altering the composition of the atmosphere and seriously affecting the climate of our planet. This shows that there is a urgent need for an alternative source of energy to keep this planet liveable. The fuller use of commercial nuclear power, if done to exacting standards of safety and protection against proliferation, can play an important role as part of a larger strategy to slow the growth in emissions of the gases that cause global warming. That is because nuclear power emits essentially no carbon dioxide , the most powerful prevalent of these so-called “greenhouse gases”.
Some environmentalists often say that we only need to conserve energy and rely upon renewable energies. Solar and wind are the major renewables. We agree, of course, that conservation is highly commendable, even essential. But in the light of the world’s growing population, widespread economic development and comparing the enhanced life expectancy with the finite fossil fuel resources, this conservation can only delay the crisis that will arise from the penury of oil and gas.
– As an environmentalist the idea of developing more coal, the most polluting energy source on the planet, and the greatest contributor to global warming, is simply not acceptable.
unlikely to be put into wide-spread practice.
– One gram of uranium yields about as much energy as a ton of coal or oil – it is the famous “factor of a million”.
– Nuclear waste is correspondingly about a million times smaller than fossil fuel waste, and it is totally confined.
– The impact nuclear waste on the ecosystem is minimal. Nuclear waste spontaneously decays over time while stable chemical waste, such as arsenic or mercury, lasts forever.
– Most fossil fuel waste is in the form of gas that goes up the smokestack. We don’t see it, but it is not without effect, causing global warming, acid rain, smog and other atmospheric pollution.
– The cost of nuclear power is competitive and stable. The cost of nuclear fuel is a small part of the price of a nuclear kilo Watt-hour, whereas fossil fuelled power, especially oil and gas, is at the mercy of the market.
– Uranium is found everywhere in the crust of the Earth – it is more abundant than tin, for example. Major deposits are found in Canada and Australia. It is estimated that increasing the market price by a factor ten would result in 100 times more uranium coming to market. Eventually we will be able to recover uranium from sea water where 4 billion tons are dissolved.
Moving on to the protection of Environment in India, It seems that Government is active in this phase and has taken quite a number of steps towards it including numerous international treaties and agreements.
Protocol of 1978 relating to the Inetrnational Conevention for the prevention of pollution from ships.
Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals 1979.
Convention on the conservation of Antarctic Marine Living resources 1980.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.
Convention for the protection of the Ozone Layer 1985.
Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer 1987.
Amendments to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone layer 1990.
Convention on the control of Trans-boundary movements of Hazardous wastes and their disposal 1989.
United Nations framework convention on Climate Change 1992.
Convention on Biological Diversity 1992.
Covention to combat desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa 1994.
International Tropical Timber Agreement 1994.
Protocol on the Environment Protection and the Antarctica Treaty 1991.
Thus it becomes binding on the Government of India to pick that source of energy that favours the environment the most. As is also mentioned in the art 51(c) of the Constitution of India, the state is obliged to foster respect for International Law and Treaty Obligations. The choice of Nuclear energy can be given preference to other forms of energy by the very fact that it pollutes the environment the least and that the Constitution of India imposes a duty on the State and also gives a right to the people. The duty is to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country and the right is the Fundamental right to healthy environment. The fundamental right to life has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean that every person has a right to a wholesome or healthy environment.
The right to life includes the right to enjoy unpolluted air and water.
A decent environment with sufficient clean air and water are implicit in the right to life.
The right to live with human dignity encompasses clean and healthy environment.
Environment Pollution and ecological degradation violate the right to life.
Corresponding to the right to a healthy environment is a duty imposed on the state to protect and improve the natural as well as manmade environment.The involvement of the Government can also be seen by the acts it has passed. The Air(Prevention and control of Pollution) Act 1981 was enacted to implement the decision taken at the United Nations Conference on the human Environment in 1972. At the conference it was decided that the participants take appropriate steps for the preservation of natural resources which included the preservation of the quality of air and the control of air pollution. Thus it becomes binding on the state to comply with this and to choose that source of energy that pollutes the environment the least. There are some other acts working in the same direction, such as Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution)Act 1974, Environment Protection Act 1986, Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 and so on.The standards for emission or discharge of environmental pollutants are prescribed by the Environmental (Protection) Rules 1986.
For the Third Five Year Plan (1961-66), Prime Minister Nehru and the INC made an adjustment in its economic policies, shifting focus away from “rapid industrialization” over to a program of “self-sustained growth.” At the same time, India’s trade policy shifted from “import substitution” to “efficient substitution of imports,” which in effect opened up new trade opportunities for goods considered crucial to economic growth and development. This adjusted economic policy remained in effect until the end of the Seventh Five Year Plan in 1990. In 1990 and 1991, India was struck by a number of political and economic shocks. But India adopted policies of Liberalisation, Privatisation, and Globalisation in India which further shaped and increased the pace of growth.
Today the world is saying India in not an emerging state India has already emerged. This is not because to make India happy or appeased him but because India has emerged as powerful state in the political and trade affairs of Asia. Indian economy is 2nd highest growing economy among the developing countries and India has one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world. India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 9.2% in 2006 — a growth rate second only to China among Asian nations. The strong GDP performance in 2006 capped five years of rapid economic expansion, transforming India into the third largest economy in Asia (after Japan and China). Its recent economic success is generally attributed to a combination of internal and external factors. Internally, a series of economic reforms (begun when the current prime minister was finance minister) have stimulated solid growth of India’s manufacturing and service sectors. Externally, a relatively strong global economy, combined with India’s trade and investment liberalization policies, have stimulated increased trade and investment flows to and from India.
Since India tested a nuclear explosive in 1974, then in 1998 in Pokhran and after that several US allies has put economic sanction on India. This was also because subject to sanctions India refused to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and does not permit the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect all its nuclear facilities. But when in October 2008, India and the United States signed a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement. It entered into force two months later, following a decision by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)—comprised of 46 advanced NPT states which set the rules for global nuclear commerce—to exempt India from its trade restrictions. Until then, NPT states had denied access to nuclear trade to states which are outside the NPT and have nuclear weapons, including India, Pakistan, and Israel. Civil Nuclear deal is the milestone in the pathway of India’s trade Industry. Secondary sector of a economy requires lots of energy and as India is a developing country but can’t have that much capability to concert renewable source of energy at such a large scale. Nuclear trade with different countries has created an opportunity to increase its growth rate. India’s bilateral trade has also increased that will supply enough FDI to India’s manufacturing industries.
The United States wanted the India deal to forge a broad new strategic relationship with India. India had a more limited view and regarded the deal as an opportunity to enhance its nuclear program and status. Both claimed India is an emerging democratic world power unfairly constrained by global nonproliferation norms. Emerging countries such as Brazil, China,and India, which haveexperienced rapid growth and increased integration with the global economy in recent years, have significant potential to contribute to global food security—not only by alleviating hunger among their own citizens, but also by increasing trade and financial linkages as well as technology and knowledge exchanges with developing countries.
On the basis of the 2008 bilateral agreement, U.S. companies—most importantly Westinghouse and GE-Hitachi—plan to build nuclear power plants in India. A U.S.–India trade group claims that this business may ultimately be worth $130 billion by 2030.
According to official U.S. trade statistics, bilateral merchandise trade with India has grown from under $10 billion in 1996 to nearly $31 billion in 2006 — a trebling in a decade. In 1996, India was the 32nd largest market for U.S. exports and the 25th largest source of imports. By 2006, India had risen to be 21st biggest export market for the United States and the 18th biggest supplier of imports. The United States’ total trade with India in 2006 exceeded that with Israel, Nigeria, and Thailand. Both governments appear to be committed to improving trade relations. On March 2, 2006, President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh endorsed the goal of doubling bilateral trade in three years. On December 18, 2006, President Bush signed into law H.R. 5682, the Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-401), signaling an intent to waive restrictions on civil nuclear cooperation with India With the reprocessing arrangements and procedures in place, the main hurdle standing in the way of full implementation of the cooperation agreement for American companies is that there is no nuclear liability protection under Indian law. India’s government prepared legislation for the Indian parliament last month which would protect foreign equipment suppliers from all civil liability claims in case of a nuclear accident.
In terms of exports from India, the top ten countries include the U.S. (11.98%), United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) (11.15%), Singapore (5.00%), China (4.67%), Hong Kong (3.71%), Netherland (3.67%), the U.K. (3.57%), Germany (3.33%), Saudi Arab (3.12%) and Belgium (2.64%), as per the export values during the first nine months of the fiscal year 2008-09. On the other hand, the top ten countries exporting to India include China (10.27%), Saudi Arab (7.24%), U.A.E. (6.57%), the U.S. (5.90%), Switzerland (4.59%), Iran (4.29%), Germany (3.52%), Nigeria (3.44%), Kuwait (3.36%) and Australia (3.22%).
India’s bilateral trade with Russia, one of the country’s long time strongest trade partners, is targeted to be almost double at about $10 billion by 2010 from $5.3 billion in 2008. The two countries had signed a number of agreements in the fields of nuclear energy, space research and military technical cooperation etc. in December last year, when the president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev visited India.
India’s trade with the U.S. was severely impacted due to recession in the U.S. economy. India’s trade with the U.S. dipped by 23.47% to $8.2 billion in the quarter January-March 2009 compared with $10.69 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. India’s exports to the U.S. declined by 22.63% to $5.22 billion during this period, while India’s imports were down by 24.9% to $2.96 billion. Lower demand in the U.S. for natural pearls, precious and semiprecious stones and pharmaceutical products from India impacted the exports. The U.S. contributed about 12% of India’s total exports of $168.70 billion in the fiscal year 2008-09. In the year 2008, India’s total exports to the U.S. stood at $25.86 billion, while imports from the U.S. were at $17.33 billion.
As a region, the European Union (E.U.) is India’s largest trading partner with total bilateral trade worth more than $70 billion in 2008-09. The participation of European companies in building India’s power generation capacity will help achieve the €100 billion ($140 billion) trade target by 2013 set at the Ninth India-European Union Summit in Marseille, France last year. The 27-member E.U. is also the largest investment partner of India. The E.U. investments in to India more than doubled to €5.4 billion ($7.73 bln) in 2007 compared with €2.5 billion ($3.58 bln) in 2006. This figure, however, dropped sharply to €852 million ($1.22 bln) last year due to recession in the European economies.
Africa as a region has now become one of the important trade partners of India with rapid increase in bilateral trade in recent years. The trade between India and Africa has moved up to $36 billion in 2007-08 from $3 billion in 2000-01. India plans to double the trade with this region in the next five years. India, the largest importer of rough diamonds in the world, sources most of its requirement from Africa. India also has a duty free preferential tariff scheme for 49 least developed countries (LCDs) including 33 African countries. The potential areas of co-operations between the two regions include Information Technology (IT), Telecom, agriculture, agro-processing, irrigation, mining, power, pharmaceuticals etc.
Therefore, the trade sector of the country has main impacts of nuclear energy, because these sector includes manufacturing Industries which needs enormous amount of energy and that energy needs can be satisfied by the civil nuclear Programme.
From this paper, the authors have analyzed that nuclear energy is the most reliable and inexhaustible form of energy available to the society which is clean and safe. The authors also conclude that when every nation is trying hard to achieve the desired growth rate and to accelerate the pace of their economies, so the demand for energy is primary concern for obtaining the desired goal the demand for energy comes into the first place. This paper also emphasize on how nuclear energy have its impact on the agriculture, environment and trade. Over the recent years, It has come to the notice that radiations obtained from nuclear energy are used by several research institutions and it is playing a key role in order to attain the positive results in their research.
Even on the verge of nuclear programme, India has travelled a long way in the pathway of shaping foreign relations and improved the strategic relations with many developed and developing countries.
Nuclear energy is safe for the society as proven by the record of half a century of commercial operation, with the accumulated experience of more than 12000 reactors. Uranium is found everywhere in the crust of Earth and is more abundant than tin. So it is estimated that increasing the market price by a factor ten would result in 100 times more uranium coming to market. Eventually, uranium from sea water we will be able to recover those 4 billion tonnes which are dissolved there. Therefore, as nonrenewable sources of energy are limited and scarce, it creates a problem of sustainable use of resources but nuclear energy without harming the environment fulfills the energy needs.
It would not be incorrect to say that well designed, well-constructed, well operated and well maintained nuclear energy is not only clean, but it is also safe, reliable, durable and competitive. The fuller use of commercial nuclear power, if done to exacting standards of safety and protection against proliferation, can play an important role as part of a larger strategy to slow the growth in emissions of the gases that cause global warming.
Although some countries have slowed down their nuclear energy programmes, the abandonment of nuclear fission would, however, be neither wise nor justified. It is important at this stage of nuclear power development that increased efforts should be devoted to detailed in-depth studies of the different environmental impacts. The fuller use of commercial nuclear power, if done to exacting standards of safety and protection against proliferation, can play an important role as part of a larger strategy to slow the growth in emissions of the gases that cause global warming.
When we cover the issues of trade, the authors conclude that, trade governed by the political relations , economic relations and availability of natural resources in that particular country. When we cover with reference to India after the civil nuclear deal with USA, India has established good strategies and foreign relationships with US and its allies. Bilateral agreement between the countries have resulted into the atmosphere which leads to FDI in different sectors of the economy. India has also improved its trade relations with African countries and European Union becomes the largest trading partner of the country. Therefore this paper is a combined inter-disciplinary evaluation of trade agriculture and environment vis-a-vis Indian nuclear programme and its impact on these major sectors.
– IAEA. 1986. “Economic Evaluation of Bids for Nuclear Power Plants”. 1986 Edition : A guidebook.
– Schaffer, W A. 1999. “Regional Impact Model”, Gegional Research Insitute, West Virginia University.
– INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Power Reactors in member States, IAEA, Vienna(1976).
– OECD, Energy Prospects to 1985, OECD, Pans (1974).
– OECD-NEA/IAEA, Uranium Resources, Production and Demand, Rep OECD, Paris (1976).
– HANRAHAN, E J , Demand for uranium. Atomic Industrial Forum, Phoenix, 1976.
– NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, The efforts on populations of exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation (BIER Report), Washington (1972).
– EDSALL.J.T , Environ Conservation 1 (1974) 21.
– MASTERS, G M , Introduction to Environmental Science and Technology, Wiley, London (1975).
– Halsbury’s Laws of India(14): Environment, misrepresentation and Fraud.
– Steven Ferrey, Environmental law 5th Ed, 2010.
– The Antarctic treaty 1959.
– Convention on wetlands of International importance, 1971.
– Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage 1972.
– Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild flora and fauna,1973.
– Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the prevention of pollution from ships.
– Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals 1979.
– Convention on the conservation of Antarctic Marine Living resources 1980.
– United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982.
– Convention for the protection of the Ozone Layer, 1985.
– Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer, 1987.
– Amendments to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone layer, 1990.
– Convention on the control of Trans-boundary movements of Hazardous wastes and their disposal, 1989.
– United Nations framework convention on Climate Change, 1992.
– Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992.
– Convention to combat desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, 1994.
– International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994.
– Protocol on the Environment Protection and the Antarctica Treaty, 1991.
– Environment Protection Act, 1986.
– Air(Prevention and Control of pollution) Act, 1981.
Steven Ferrey, Environmental law 5th Ed, 547.
Dhandapani Alagiri, E Naveen Kumar, Environment issues in india: an introduction, 155.
A greenhouse gas is one of several gases that can absorb and emit longwave (infrared) radiation in a planetary atmosphere.
402 units 71. India ratified the treaty with qualifications on 19 august 1983.
(1972) 11 ILM 963. Convention entered into force on 21 december 1975. India signed it on 1 october 1981.
(1972) 11 ILM 1358. Convention entered into force on 17 December 1975. India signed it on 16 November 1972.
(1973) 11 ILM 1055. Convention entered into force on 1 july 1975. India signed it on 9 july 1974 and ratified it on 20 july 1976.
(1978) (MARPOL) 1973. Convention entered into force on 2 October 1983. India ratified it with qualifications on 24 September 1986.
(1980) 19 ILM 15. Convention entered into force on 1 November 1983. India signed it on 23 June 1979 and ratified it on 4 May 1982.
(1980)19 ILM 841. Convention entered into force on 7 april 1982. India ratified it on 17 june 1985.
(1982) 21 ILM 1261. Convention entered into force on 16 November 1994. India signed it on 10 December 1982.
(1987) 26 ILM 1529. Convention entered into force on 22 September 1988. India ratified it on 18 March 1991.
(1987) 26 ILM 1550. Protocol entered into force on 1 January 1989. India accepted to it on 19 June 1992.
(1991) 30 ILM 541. Amendments to the Montreal Protocol entered into force on 1 Jan 1989. India accepted to it on 19 June 1992.
(1989) 28 ILM 657. Convention entered into force on 5 May 1992. India signed it on 5 March 1990 and ratified it on 24 June 1992.
31 ILM 849. Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994. India signed it on 10 June 1992 and ratified it on 1 November 1993.
(1992) 31 ILM 818. Convention entered into force on 29 December 1993. India signed it on 5 June 1992 and ratified it on 18 February 1994.
(1994) 33 ILM 1332. Convention entered into force on 26 December 1995. India signed it on 14 October 1994 and ratified it on 17 December 1996.
(1994) 33 ILM 1016. Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1997. India signed it on 17 September 1996. India ratified it on 17 October 1996.
Protocol entered into force on 15 Jan 1998.
Constitution of India art 48A.
Constitution of India art 21.
Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board v. M V Nayudu (2001) 2 SCC 62; Vellore citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India AIR 1996 SC 2715.
Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar AIR 1991 SC 420; M C Mehta v. Union of India (1992) 3 SCC 256; Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India AIR 2000 SC 3751; Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board-II v. M V Nayudu(2001) 2 SCC 62.
Virender Gaur v. State of Haryana (1995) 2 SCC 577.
Virender Gaur v. State of Haryana (1995) 2 SCC 577; MC Mehta v. Kamal Nath AIR 2000 SC 1997.
Virender Gaur v. State of Haryana (1995) 2 SCC 577; Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board v. M V Nayudu (2001) 2 SCC 62; Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar AIR 1991 SC 420.
Air(Prevention and Control of pollution) Act 1981 preamble.
Environment (Protection) Rules 1986 r3. | 2019-04-20T22:54:23Z | http://ijlljs.in/an-assessment-of-indias-nuclear-energy-programme-and-its-impacts-on-agriculture-environment-and-trade-anil-vishnoi2nd-year-national-law-university-orissa-and-abhinav-ku/ |
Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo (24 August 1924 – 30 November 1989) was a Cameroonian politician who was the first President of Cameroon, holding the office from 1960 until 1982. Ahidjo played a major role Cameroon's independence from France as well as reuniting the French and English-speaking parts of the country. During Ahidjo's time in office, he established a centralized political system. Ahidjo established a single-party state under the Cameroon National Union in 1966. In 1972, Ahidjo abolished the federation in favor of a unitary state. Ahidjo resigned from the presidency in 1982, and Paul Biya assumed the presidency. This was an action which was surprising to Cameroonians. Accused of being behind a coup plot against Biya in 1984, Ahidjo was sentenced to death in absentia, but he died of natural causes.
Ahidjo was born in Garoua, a major river port along the Benue River in northern Cameroun, which was at the time a French mandate territory. His mother was a Fulani of slave descent, while his father was a Fulani village chief.
Ahidjo's mother raised him as a Muslim and sent him to Quranic school as a child. In 1932, he began attending local government primary school. After failing his first school certification examination in 1938, Ahidjo worked for a few months in the veterinary service. He returned to school and obtained his school certification a year later. Ahidjo spent the next three years attending secondary school at the Ecole Primaire Supérieur in Yaoundé, the capital of the mandate, studying for a career in the civil service. At school, Ahidjo also played soccer and competed as a cyclist.
In 1942, Ahidjo joined the civil service as a radio operator for a postal service. As part of his job, he worked on assignments in several major cities throughout the country, such as Douala, Ngaoundéré, Bertoua, and Mokolo. According to his official biographer, Ahidjo was the first civil servant from northern Cameroun to work in the southern areas of the territory. His experiences throughout the country were, according to Harvey Glickman, professor emeritus of political science at Haverford College and scholar of African politics, responsible for fostering his sense of national identity and provided him the sagacity to handle the problems of governing a multiethnic state.
In 1946, Ahidjo entered territorial politics. From 1953 to 1957, Ahidjo was a member of the Assembly of the French Union. From 28 January 1957, to 10 May 1957, Ahidjo served as President of the Legislative Assembly of Cameroon. In the same year he became Deputy Prime Minister in de facto head of state André-Marie Mbida's government. In February 1958, Ahidjo became Prime Minister at the age of thirty-four after Mbida resigned. While serving as Prime Minister, Ahidjo had administrative goals to move toward independence for Cameroon while reuniting the separated factions of the country and cooperating with French colonial powers. On 12 June, with a motion from the National Assembly, Ahidjo became involved in negotiations with France in Paris. These negotiations continued through October, resulting in formal recognition of Cameroonian plans for independence. The date for the simultaneous termination of French trusteeship and Cameroonian independence was set by Cameroon's National Assembly for 1 January 1960. During and immediately after Cameroon was decolonized, Ahidjo recruited follow northern, Muslim Fulani and Peuhl into the army and an elite guard.
Ahidjo's support and collaboration in allowing for continued French influence economically and politically was faced with opposition from radicals who rejected French influence. These radicals were sympathetic to a more revolutionary, procommunist approach to decolonization. They formed their own political party, Union des Populations du Cameroun. In March 1959, Ahidjo addressed the United Nations General Assembly in order to gather support for France's independence plan. Influenced by Cold War tensions, the United Nations expressed concern about the UPC due to the party's pro-communist disposition. The United Nations moved to end French trusteeship in Cameroon without organizing new elections or lifting the ban that France had imposed on the UPC. Ahidjo experienced a rebellion in the 1960s from the UPC, but defeated it by 1970 with the aid of French military force. Ahidjo proposed and was granted four bills to gather power and declare a state of emergency in order to end the rebellion.
Following the independence of the French-controlled area of Cameroon, Ahidjo's focus turned on reuniting the British-controlled area of Cameroon with its newly independent counterpart. In addressing the United Nations, Ahidjo and his supporters favored integration and reunification whereas more radical players such as the UPC preferred immediate reunification. However, both sides were seeking a plebiscite for reunification of the separated Cameroons. The UN decided on the integration and reunification plebiscite. The plebiscite resulted in northern area of the British Cameroons voting to join Nigeria and the southern area voting to reunite with the rest of Cameroon. Ahidjo worked with Premier John Foncha of the Anglophone Cameroon throughout the process of integrating the two parts of Cameroon. In July 1961, Ahidjo attended a conference at which the plans and conditions for merging the Cameroons were made and later adopted by both the National Assemblies of the Francophone and Anglophone Cameroons. Ahidjo and Foncha met in Bamenda in order to create a constitution for the united territories. In their meetings, Ahidjo and Foncha agreed not to join the French community or the Commonwealth. In the summer of 1961, Ahidjo and Foncha resolved any issues between them and agreed upon the final draft for the constitution, which was drawn in Foumban, a city in West Cameroon. Despite the fact that the plans to establish a federalist state were made public in Foumban, Ahidjo and Foncha had private discussions before the official Foumban conference. On 1 October 1961, the two separate Cameroons were merged, establishing the Federal Republic of Cameroon with Ahidjo as the president and Foncha as the Vice President.
The issue of territorial administration was a topic of disagreement between Foncha and Ahidjo. In December 1961, Ahidjo issued a decree that split the federation into administrative regions under the Federal Inspectors of Administration. The inspectors were responsible to Ahidjo and for representing the federation, with access to police force and federal services. The power given to these inspectors led to conflict between them and Prime Ministers.
In 1961, Ahidjo began calling for a single-party state. On 12 March 1962, Ahidjo issued a decree that prevented criticism against his regime, giving the government the authority to imprison anyone found guilty of subversion against government authorities or laws. In July 1962, a group of opposition party leaders who had served in the government with Ahidjo, André-Marie Mbida, Charles Okala, Marcel Bey Bey Eyidi, and Theodore Mayi Martip, challenged Ahidjo's call for a single-party state, saying that it was dictatorial. These leaders were arrested, tried, and imprisoned on the grounds of subversion against the government. The arrest of these leaders resulted in many other opposition leaders joining Ahidjo's Party, the Union Camerounaise. On 1 September 1966, Ahidjo achieved his goal of creating a single-party state. The Cameroon National Union was established, with Ahidjo maintaining that it was essential to the unity of Cameroon. In order to be elected to the National Assembly, membership in the CNU was required. Therefore, Ahidjo approved all nominations for the National Assembly as head of the party, and they approved all his legislation.
Ahidjo placed the blame for Cameroon's underdevelopment and poorly implemented town and public planning policies on Cameroon's federal structure, as well as charging federalism with maintaining cleavages and issues between the Anglophone and Francophone parts of Cameroon. Ahidjo's government also argued that managing separate governments in a poor country was too expensive. Ahidjo announced on 6 May 1972, that he wanted to abolish the federation and put a unitary state into place if the electorate supported the idea in a referendum set for 20 May 1972. This event became known as "The Glorious Revolution of May Twentieth." Because Ahidjo held control over the CNU, he was ensured the party's support in this initiative. Ahidjo issued Presidential Decree No. 72-720 on 2 June 1972, which established the United Republic of Cameroon and abolished the federation. A new constitution was adopted by Ahidjo's government in the same year, abolishing the position of Vice President, which served to further centralize power in Cameroon. Ahidjo's power presided over not only the state and government, but also as commander of the military. In 1975, however, Ahidjo instituted the position of Prime Minister, which was filled by Paul Biya. In 1979, Ahidjo initiated a change in the constitution designating the Prime Minister as successor. Until 1972, Cameroon's federation consisted of two relatively autonomous parts: the francophone and anglophone. After the federation was abolished, many anglophones were displeased with the changes.
In 1972, when Cameroon hosted the Africa Cup of Nations, Ahidjo ordered the construction of two new stadiums, the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium and the Unification Stadium. The Unification Stadium was named in celebration of the country being renamed as the United Republic of Cameroon.
Though many of his actions were dictatorial, Cameroon became one of the most stable in Africa. He was considered to be more conservative and less charismatic than most post-colonial African leaders, but his policies allowed Cameroon to attain comparative prosperity. Courtiers surrounding Ahidjo promoted the myth that he was "father of the nation."
Ahidjo's presidential style was cultivated around the image of himself as the father of the nation. He carried many titles, and after he visited Mecca, Ahidjo gained the title of "El Hadj." Ahidjo used radio to regularly lecture the nation and to announce the regular reassignment of government positions. Ahidjo built up a clientelistic network in which he redistributed state resources to maintain control over a diverse Cameroon. When Cameroon began seeing oil revenue, the president was in control of the funds. People received jobs, licenses, contracts, and projects through Ahidjo in exchange for loyalty.
During Ahidjo's presidency, music served a role in maintaining for national unity and development. Musicians wrote songs with themes of independence, unity, and Ahidjo as the father of the nation. On official holidays, schools would compete by writing patriotic songs in Ahidjo's honor. Songs that were critical of politicians were rare. Musicians such as Medzo Me Nsom encouraged the people of Cameroon to turn out at the pools and vote for Ahidjo.
Ahidjo resigned, ostensibly for health reasons, on 4 November 1982 (there are many theories surrounding the resignation; it is generally believed that his French doctor "tricked" Ahidjo about his health) and was succeeded by Prime Minister Paul Biya two days later. That he stepped down in favor of Biya, a Christian from the south and not a Muslim from the north like himself, was considered surprising. Ahidjo's ultimate intentions are unclear; it is possible that he intended to return to the presidency at a later point when his health improved, and another possibility is that he intended for Maigari Bello Bouba, a fellow Muslim from the north who succeeded Biya as Prime Minister, to be his eventual successor as President, with Biya in effectively a caretaker role. Although the Central Committee of the ruling Cameroon National Union (CNU) urged Ahidjo to remain President, he declined to do so, but he did agree to remain as the President of the CNU. However, he also arranged for Biya to become the CNU Vice-President and handle party affairs in his absence. During the first few months of Biya's administration, there was cooperation between Biya and Ahidjo. In January 1982, Ahidjo dismissed four CNU members who opposed Biya's presidency. Additionally that month, Ahidjo and Biya both went on separate speaking tours to different parts of Cameroon in order to address the public's concerns.
Later that year, however, a major feud developed between Ahidjo and Biya. On 19 July 1983, Ahidjo went into exile in France, and Biya began removing Ahidjo's supporters from positions of power and eliminating symbols of his authority, removing official photographs of Ahidjo from the public as well as removing Ahidjo's name from the anthem of the CNU. On 22 August, Biya announced that a plot allegedly involving Ahidjo had been uncovered. For his part, Ahidjo severely criticized Biya, alleging that Biya was abusing his power, that he lived in fear of plots against him, and that he was a threat to national unity. The two were unable to reconcile despite the efforts of several foreign leaders, and Ahidjo announced on 27 August that he was resigning as head of the CNU. In exile, Ahidjo was sentenced to death in absentia in February 1984, along with two others, for participation in the June 1983 coup plot, although Biya commuted the sentence to life in prison. Ahidjo denied involvement in the plot. A violent but unsuccessful coup attempt in April 1984 was also widely believed to have been orchestrated by Ahidjo.
In his remaining years, Ahidjo divided his time between France and Senegal. He died of a heart attack in Dakar on 30 November 1989 and was buried there. He was officially rehabilitated by a law in December 1991. Biya said on 30 October 2007 that the matter of returning Ahidjo's remains to Cameroon was "a family affair". An agreement on returning Ahidjo's remains was reached in June 2009, and it was expected that they would be returned in 2010.
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^ Brennan, Carol (2010). "Ahidjo, Ahmadou". Contemporary Black Biography. 81: 1–3.
^ a b c Chem-Langhëë, Bongfen (1995). "The Road to the Unitary State of Cameroon 1959-1972". Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kultukunde. Frobenius Institute. 41: 17–25 – via JSTOR.
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^ Abbink, J. (2012). Fractures and reconnections : civic action and the redefinition of African spaces : studies in honor of Piet J.J. Konings. Zürich. ISBN 978-3643902566. OCLC 822227488.
^ a b Nyamnjoh, Francis B.; Fokwang, Jude (April 2005). "Entertaining Repression: Music and Politics in Postcolonial Cameroon". African Affairs. 104 (415): 251–274. doi:10.1093/afraf/adi007.
^ Joseph Takougang, "The Nature of Politics in Cameroon", The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon Under Paul Biya (2004), ed. John Mukum Mbaku and Joseph Takougang, page 78.
^ a b c DeLancey, Mark W. (1989). Cameroon: Dependence and Independence. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 0-89158-882-5.
^ a b Milton H. Krieger and Joseph Takougang, African State and Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's Political Crossroads (2000), Westview Press, pages 65–73.
^ a b "Cameroun : Ahidjo rentrera au pays en 2010" Archived 2 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine, GabonEco, 29 June 2009 (in French).
^ Mamadou Diouf, Les figures du politique en Afrique (1999), page 84 (in French).
Glickman, Harvey (ed.) (1992), Political Leaders of Contemporary Africa South of the Sahara, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-26781-2 CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link). | 2019-04-24T12:43:17Z | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadou_Ahidjo |
Most of this summary information is from Francis Bacon Trowbridge's TROWBRIDGE GENEALOGY. I have borrowed information from the fine web site of Arthur Steele (see my Trowbridge links page) on the earliest Trowbridge's down to Thomas who came to America. Please see his web site for proofs I have not included on my site.
Thomas Trowbridge, born about 1482 in Brushford, Somersetshire, England and died about 1525 in Taunton, Somersetshire, England. Married Ann about 1510 in Brushford. Note that Thomas was born ten years before Columbus stumbled onto the West Indies.
John Trowbridge, son of Thomas, was born in 1512 at Shalford, Essex, England and died about 1545 in Taunton, Somersetshire, England. Married Alice about 1537 in Brushford, Somersetshire.
Thomas Trowbridge, son of John, was born in 1542 in Taunton was a wealthy merchant in Taunton, Somersetshire, England. He died on February 20, 1619 in Taunton. Thomas was once the mayor of Taunton. He married Joan Hutchins Lawrence about 1569 in Somersetshire.
John Trowbridge, son of Thomas and Joan Hutchins, was born March 25, 1570 in Taunton, Somersetshire, England where he spent his entire life. John was a wealthy merchant engaged in the woolen trade. He married Agnes Prowse. He died on July 5, 1649.
Thomas Trowbridge, son of John and Agnes Prowse, was probably born about 1600 in Taunton, England. He married Elizabeth Marshall on March 26, 1627 in Exeter, Devonshire, England. Thomas came to America with his wife Elizabeth and two sons. A third son was born in America. Thomas returned to England after the death of his wife but left his three sons, first in the care of a servant. Later a friend, Thomas Jeffery, raised them to manhood. Thomas Trowbridge never returned to America and died in England in February 1672/73.
William Trowbridge, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Marshall, was born about 1633 in Exeter, Devonshire, England and died in November 1688 in West Haven, Connecticut. He married Elizabeth Lamberton on March 9, 1656/57 in Milford, Connecticut. William had ten children.
Joseph Trowbridge, son of William and Elizabeth Lamberton, was born in 1676 in New Haven, Connecticut and died in May 1715 in Stratfield, Connecticut. He married Anne Sherwood about 1708 in Fairfield, Connecticut. Joseph had three children.
David Trowbridge, son of Joseph and Anne Sherwood, was born December 30, 1709 in Stratfield, Connecticut and died November 17, 1768 in Morristown, New Jersey. He married Lydia Holmes on July 3, 1735 in Bedford, New York. David had thirteen children.
Samuel Trowbridge, son of David and Lydia Holmes, was born February 23, 1741/42 in Morristown, New Jersey and died about May 1823 in Frederick County, Virginia. He married first Jane Ruble about 1768 probably in Morristown, New Jersey. Jane died in November 1785 in Frederick County, Virginia and Samuel married second Christianne Dumire. Samuel had fourteen children.
David Trowbridge, son of Samuel and Christianne Dumire, was born in 1772 in Frederick County, Virginia and died on April 7, 1864 in Kingwood, Preston County, West Virginia. He married Mary Grady in 1797 in Frederick County, Virginia. David had six children.
Samuel Grady Trowbridge, son of David and Mary Grady, was born July 2, 1801 Frederick County, Virginia and died on April 16, 1887 in Kahoka, Clark County, Missouri. Samuel married Jane McGrew on February 17, 1825 in Brandonville, Virginia. He had ten children.
James McGrew Trowbridge, son of Samuel and Jane McGrew, was born in Kingwood, Preston County, (West) Virginia on January 24, 1826 and died in Kingwood on April 3, 1909. He married Sarah Ann Snider on November 18, 1850 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. James had eleven children.
Luvenia Margaret Trowbridge, daughter of James and Jane McGrew, was born probably in Kingwood on November 3, 1863 and died in Wadsworth, Ohio on November 8, 1940. She married Nathaniel Jonathan Westfall on June 20, 1880 in Lewis County, West Virginia. Luvenia had seven children.
Osa B. Westfall, daughter of Luvenia and Nathaniel Westfall, was born April 24, 1899 in Lewis County, West Virginia and died in Fort Smith, Arkansas on July 15, 1992. Osa married Arthur Edmond Corbett September 12, 1919 in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland. Osa had six children.
Clara Luvenia Corbett, daughter of Osa Westfall and Arthur E. Corbett, was born January 8, 1921 in Copley, Summit County, Ohio and died November 26, 1990 in Wagon Wheel, Arizona. She married first Vivian Arlie Wall on June 14, 1941 in Copley, Ohio. Clara had three sons.
One of the unpleasant circumstances that can arise when researching your family history is to discover that a cherished family tradition is without foundation. It is even more unpleasant to have to tell this to family members who have invested a lot of pride in that tradition. Such is the case with my Trowbridge family history. My grandmother, Osa (Westfall) Corbett, believed that her grandfather was English Lord James Trowbridge, and that he was born and married near Trowbridge, England. When I first started investigating this branch of my family I fully expected to find evidence of the English birth, if not the title, of Grandma’s grandfather Trowbridge. As I began my research, it quickly became evident that such was not to be. All evidence pointed to a long ancestry in America and at least three generations of Trowbridge's in West Virginia before the birth of my Great-great-grandfather James McGrew Trowbridge, who supposedly was the Lord Trowbridge.
At first I was hesitant to draw any conclusions based on my research, knowing the depth of personal pride Grandma Corbett had for this story of her ancestry. If she remembered accurately what her mother, Luvenia (Trowbridge) Westfall, had told her, it did not seem possible that the story could become so distorted in only two generations. After all, Luvenia should have known something about her parents’ histories, and probably even her grandparents. The question was settled, for me at least, when I found the Trowbridge genealogy in the Library of Congress.
Grandma told me that someone compiled a genealogy on the Trowbridge's many years ago and that some of the family in Akron, Ohio might have it. I decided to call the Summit County library in Akron on the chance that they might have a copy. In one of those coincidences that seem to border on the supernatural, the librarian that answered my call was also a Trowbridge descendant.
Yes, she said, she knew of the genealogy. It was compiled by Francis Bacon Trowbridge and published in 1908. Armed with this information I made a trip to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (we lived in nearby Fort Meade, Maryland at the time). The library had the book. It is a very large volume, probably five or six inches thick. I made several visits to the library and spent hours extracting the information I needed. The book contains over one thousand descendants of John and his son Thomas Trowbridge in the male line. My line extended nine generations in America to my great-grandmother Luvenia Trowbridge who married Nathaniel Westfall, my grandmother’s parents. The book makes no mention of English titles in our family line.
Why and how did the story of Lord Trowbridge originate? I can only guess that it was based on several things. There is actually a Troubridge title (one variation of Trowbridge) in England, created in 1799 to honor a naval hero. It is likely that Lord Troubridge of England was descended from the same remote ancestor as our family, and it may be that the Preston, West Virginia Trowbridge family knew about it. As late as the 1960’s, there was still an English Troubridge title, a baronetage, and the man who carried it was a member of the House of Lords.
I am certain that James M. Trowbridge knew of the genealogy published in 1908, a year before his death. The information on his family could only have come from him or an immediate family member. A casual reading might lead you to believe that the early Trowbridge's were aristocrats – they were not. They were members of the wealthy merchant class. So, where did my grandmother’s story of Lord Trowbridge come from?
Grandma told me that her mother often said that her father did not care much for hard work. Even though he was not wealthy, he dressed in fine clothes, rode in a fine carriage, and generally "lorded it over everybody." It is possible that people sarcastically referred to him as "Lord Trowbridge." My grandmother was only about eight years old when her grandfather died, but she did have brief memories of him. A seven or eight year-old would probably take those words literally. The mystery is why her mother did not correct this misconception, if my grandmother ever spoke of her grandfather as Lord Trowbridge.
I do not believe that we have suffered from the loss of a Lord in the family. We have traded a counterfeit English Lord for some real American heroes; ancestors who were in the American colonies only sixteen years after the pilgrims landed at Plymouth and who were very much a part of the building of this country. I firmly believe that the truth is the best foundation for family traditions and it is certain to avoid the embarrassment of a myth as easily refuted as this one was. I also believe that we owe it to our ancestors to know the truth about them, some of what they did, and what they handed down to us – especially if we desire that our descendants do the same for us.
Having said this, I have to admit that I never had the courage to tell my grandmother the truth about her grandfather. She was so proud of the tradition and so certain of the truth of it that I just could not bring myself to tell her it was a myth. I did not lie to her about it; I simply managed to avoid the topic until her death in 1992. I think I can be forgiven for this small transgression.
I cannot show independent proof of the Trowbridge line down to the Trowbridge's in West Virginia. Anyone interested in this proof should consult "The Trowbridge Genealogy" by Francis Bacon Trowbridge, New Haven, Connecticut (1908). I spent many hours extracting the information from this book and neglected to copy all the source references he gave. Mr. Trowbridge obviously spent much time and money on this genealogy. He used the services of researchers and genealogists in many parts of the country to gather his evidence, and interviewed family members now long dead. I could never hope to match his effort. I was satisfied, for my purposes, to "take his word for it." I do believe his word is about as accurate as one can hope for today, almost a hundred years later. However, I have included at the end of this history the sources that I collected when I first began this effort which support Mr. Trowbridge’s work.
In the early records there are numerous variations in the spelling of Trowbridge. They include such unlikely variants as Troubrugge and Troblebridge, even Sturbridge and Strawbridge. Today the most common are Trowbridge and Troubridge. People with the surname Strawbridge may also be descended from the same remote ancestors as our Trowbridge's.
The surname may be derived from the town of Trowbridge in Wiltshire, England. It is just as likely that the town got its name from an early resident named Trowbridge. In either case, the first syllable of the name is probably derived from the word "trough," a natural channel in a stream and the second syllable is obviously from "bridge." The early English word for bridge is brugge, which helps to explain some of the strange variations of the name. If the surname did not come from the town, the first people to bear it probably lived near a stream running swiftly in a well-worn channel through the arches of a bridge. Or, perhaps the first Trowbridge male may have gotten his name because of some feat of daring at or near a bridge, or possibly because he took part in its defense during a time of war. Now, more than a thousand years later we can only speculate.
In the early twentieth century Trowbridge, England was a thriving market town situated on a rocky hill, three miles long and one mile wide, rising from the valley of the Biss river. It was the largest town in Wiltshire. For centuries, it was an important center for the manufacture of woolen goods. Long before then, in A.D. 1100, the town was in the possession of Edward of Salisbury, a great Norman nobleman who was the sheriff of Wiltshire and who had an amazing thirty-eight manors in Wiltshire. In 1158 the town was an insignificant village but town records mention a John Troubrugge.
During the reign of Edward I (1272-1300) the Trowbridge family had long been centered in Devon and the town of Trowbridge in Crediton parish was in possession of the family. By about the early sixteenth century a Trowbridge clan was living in Taunton, Somersetshire. Thomas Trowbridge, the first Trowbridge to come to America, sprang from the Taunton branch of the family. Taunton lay between Exeter and Bridgewater, England. It is on the thoroughfare from Bristol and Bath to Exeter and Plymouth. Like the town of Trowbridge, the town of Taunton was a center for the woolen trade, which can be traced back to the reign of Edward III.
Born in Taunton in 1542, Thomas Trowbridge lived in the parish of St. Magdalene in Taunton. He was a wealthy man with considerable influence. He was also a very generous and charitable man and used much of his wealth to help the poor. In 1613, he established a trust with the churches of St. James and St. Mary Magdalene. The trust was to extend for a thousand years. The trust was still in existence in modern times. The wardens of the churches collected the rents amounting to six pounds a year when the trust was established, on two plots of land, one consisting of five acres and the other of one acre,. Twice a year, on St. Andrews Day and before Christmas on St. Thomas Day, the wardens of the churches paid a shilling apiece to 120 of the poorest, oldest, and most honest of the parish. At the time, this amount was the entire proceeds from the lands. The gift was to be used only for the poor and was not to be used for taxes. Thomas died in Taunton on February 20, 1619.
John, the son of Thomas Trowbridge, was born on March 25, 1570 and resided all of his life in Taunton. He was in business as a woolen draper. When his father died, he became the chief Trowbridge in Taunton. He was also a man of wealth and prominence. During his life he was elected mayor of Taunton, was a warden of St. Mary Magdalene church and a member of the board of trustees of the almshouse, founded in 1615. The almshouse (poorhouse) was one of the important institutions of Taunton. John Trowbridge was the father of Thomas, the first Trowbridge to came to America. John died on July 5, 1649 in Taunton.
Thomas, the first of the family to come to America, was the son of John Trowbridge, a wealthy merchant and prominent citizen of Taunton, Somersetshire, England. His father and grandfather had long been involved in the woolen trade in Taunton and it was natural that Thomas would follow their example. As a young man, Thomas established a mercantile business in the neighboring city of Exeter in Devonshire. He found that the citizens of the town already knew and respected the Trowbridge name. The primary enterprise in Exeter involved thin woolen goods, such as serge, that was spun and woven in neighboring towns and finished and sold in Exeter.
In Exeter, Thomas found his bride, Elizabeth Marshall. The Marshall's were also a wealthy and well-known merchant family. Elizabeth was the daughter John Marshall and Alice Bevis Marshall and the fifth of twelve children. The wills of her father, mother and brother indicate that Elizabeth was kind and helpful by nature. Thomas of the parish of St. Petrock and Elizabeth of the parish of St. Mary Arches obtained a marriage license in the diocese of Exeter, recorded on March 24, 1627. They were married two days later in the parish of St. Mary Arches by parson Jeremy Short.
The register of the parish of St. Petrock’s in Exeter recorded the baptisms of four children of Thomas and Elizabeth Trowbridge. A daughter Elizabeth was baptized on March 6, 1628. She died almost two years later and was buried on May 10th, 1630. Son John was baptized on November 5, 1629, son Thomas was baptized on 11 December 1631 and son William was baptized on September 3, 1633. Baptisms usually occurred within one or two years after the birth of an infant.
Soon after the birth of son William, probably about 1634-35, Thomas decided to go to America, possibly to establish a branch of the family business in the American Colonies. He may not have planned to remove permanently to America because he left his oldest son John with his father in Taunton. Son John was only six or seven years old at the time. Thomas and Elizabeth took the other two youngsters, Thomas and William, with them when they sailed from England to Boston. After arriving in America, the family went to live at Dorchester, near Boston. They may have chosen Dorchester as their home at the urging of Thomas Jeffrey, a close friend who settled in Dorchester in 1634.
In the town and church records of Dorchester Thomas and Elizabeth are listed as "Mr." and "Mrs." Trowbridge. In the seventeenth century, this was a distinction reserved only for people of established gentility. Elizabeth was a member of the Dorchester church in 1637 or 1638 when son James was baptized there. James was most likely born in Dorchester shortly after the Trowbridge's arrived in America.
On the list of members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston dated in 1638 appears the name Thomas Strawbridge. It is highly probable that this was our Thomas Trowbridge. Despite its name, this organization was mainly a social club or fraternity. Thomas probably was inclined to join as an opportunity to enhance his business and social ties.
Thomas and Elizabeth must have found living conditions in the newly founded town of Dorchester crude, accustomed as they were to the comforts of a home in a city like Exeter. However, they lived only a short time in the town. Probably about 1638 Thomas moved his family to the plantation of New Haven, Connecticut. His name is not among those who subscribed to the articles of agreement at the organization of the church and political body there in June 1639. Thomas may have been absent from New Haven at the time, or, as this "Fundamental Agreement," as it was later called, required that only church members could be free burgesses (citizen officials of a town). There is no evidence that Thomas ever severed his connection with the Church of England and became a member of the Puritan Church, so he may not have been eligible to sign the document.
In the New Haven records his name is again nearly always prefixed with the title "Mr." His reputation followed him to New Haven, or perhaps the Trowbridge name was as well known in New England as it was back home in Taunton and Exeter.
The 1641 census of property owners in the New Haven plantation lists the Trowbridge family with five persons (Thomas, Elizabeth and their three sons). His estate is valued at £ 500, a large sum of money for that place and time. It was among the largest of the 123 estates mentioned in the schedule. Henry Rutherford, a prominent shipping merchant, was his neighbor on the south.
Thomas appears to have spent little time at home in New Haven. During his stay in New England, he was occupied with extensive trade between England, the West Indies and the Colonies. Elizabeth died while the family was living in New Haven and sometime before the fall of 1641, Thomas returned to England. He may have been recalled to England because of urgent business, or he may have returned to settle his wife’s estate. Before leaving New Haven, Thomas placed his lands, houses and estate in trust with his servant, Henry Gibbons, for the benefit of his three sons, whom he also left in Gibbons’ care. Gibbons was to manage Thomas’ business and give his sons a good education while Thomas was absent from the Colony. This turned out to be a terrible mistake.
Why did he leave his three small sons in America with a stranger? Perhaps Thomas planned to return soon; or, he may have felt that the boys were safer in America than back in England. In 1641 England was in the grip of a bloody civil war between the armies of the English Parliament and King Charles I. This Civil War lead to the rise of Oliver Cromwell and the English Commonwealth. Eventually, the monarchy was restored with a strengthened English Parliament controlling the purse strings of the Kingdom. There is some evidence that Thomas took an active part in the rebellion as a captain in the "roundhead" forces of the Parliament and may have later benefited from Cromwell's rule. The war may have kept Thomas occupied for several years explaining his failure to send for his sons or return to America.
Back in America Gibbons gave so little attention to his master’s affairs and was so negligent in the care of the boys that as early as November 1641, the Colonial court ordered a lien be placed on Mr. Trowbridge’s property to pay the town’s taxes and to pay his debts. The court placed the children under the care of Thomas’ good friend Thomas Jeffrey and his wife. The Jeffrey's were to keep the children in their home until Thomas returned or sent instructions concerning their care. In either case, the court would determine "what is equal for [Jeffrey] to have for the keeping of them and in the meantime he will take care that they be well educated and nurtured in the fear of God." Mr. John Evance bought the house, which Gibbons had allowed to decay into immediate need of repairs, for £ 100 and the court settled the claims of the creditors.
For the next several years, records of Thomas Trowbridge in New Haven consisted of matters dealing with complications arising from Gibbons’ malfeasance. Thomas remained in England and attempted to manage the problems in New Haven from there by letter. There must have been something of great importance to keep Thomas in England rather than returning to New Haven to bring his servant to account for his negligence. At first, the war certainly kept Thomas in England. In 1645 an army of ten thousand of King Charles II forces attacked the town and began the siege of Taunton.
In 1649, Thomas came into his inheritance after the death of his father, John Trowbridge. As the only surviving son, he succeeded his father as the chief Trowbridge in Taunton. Now, even greater responsibilities demanded his attention and probably prevented him from leaving England. However, he wrote often to the authorities in New Haven to bring Gibbons to account for his breach of trust, but Gibbons kept possession of the Trowbridge estates in New Haven for many years. The situation remained that way until Thomas’ sons became of age.
His sons passed their boyhood under the care of Thomas Jeffrey and Thomas Trowbridge was evidently satisfied with that arrangement. They received a good education under the instruction of Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, the noted colonial schoolmaster, who taught the first school in New Haven. The records of the colony note that Mr. Cheever was paid out of the Trowbridge estate for teaching his children. The course of instruction for students at that time was that, "after they are entered and can read in the Testament; to perfect them in English; and teach them their Latin tongue as they are capable; and to write."
Soon after he came of age, William Trowbridge tried to have an accounting made of what was left of his father’s estate in New Haven. He presented to the court two letters from his father. One was dated March 6, 1655, and the other was dated March 4, 1658, and in them his father wrote that he "marvels that there is not an account of it given." This attempt to recover from Gibbons was a failure, but finally, on January 19, 1664, Thomas sent his three sons power of attorney, giving them his property in New England, wherever it was found, to be equally divided between them. It empowered the sons to bring Gibbons to account and punishment.
The sons sued Gibbons for possession, but the situation was so muddled that the courts could not easily accomplish a settlement before Thomas Trowbridge died on February 7, 1673. Finally, Gibbons settled the suit in 1680, "for sundry good causes best known to myself" (perhaps his guilty conscience). Gibbons made a deed of the property to Thomas Trowbridge, the younger (the oldest of the three sons in America) to take effect after the death of Gibbons. The deed included his house and lot, and other property, "including the bed and bolster I lie on." Gibbons died six years later and his brother, William Gibbons, refused to take out letters of administration. The court appointed Thomas Trowbridge, Jr. administrator and since Henry Gibbons had no children the courts finally concluded the matter.
The descendants of Thomas Trowbridge, at least up until the early twentieth century, tended to have large families. Wherever they settled in groups of two or more families, they soon populated the area with Trowbridge's As a result, today there are literally thousands of Trowbridge descendants who have Thomas Trowbridge as their immigrant ancestor.
Please see the Trowbridge family tree for dates of birth, marriage and death of some descendants who are not our direct ancestors.
WILLIAM TROWBRIDGE was baptized on September 3, 1633 in Exeter, Devonshire, England. He died in November 1688 in West Haven, Connecticut. William married Elizabeth Sellivant, widow of Daniel Sellivant, on March 9, 1657 in Milford, Connecticut. Elizabeth was the daughter of Captain George and Margaret Lamberton. Elizabeth was born during the 1630’s in London, England and died in 1716 in West Haven, Connecticut. William is usually described in the public records of that time as a "planter," and later as a "husbandman" meaning that he was a gentleman farmer. In 1664, he appears to have been master of the sloop Cocke, making voyages out of New Haven. Probably about that time, he became one of the first residents in the parish of West Haven. He built a house on that part of the Lamberton farm that came into his possession through his wife’s inheritance. His share was one-sixth of the Lamberton farm, and it included all the land between the present day Campbell and Washington avenues from Brown Street nearly to Long Island Sound. William also owned 144 acres on the Sound near Oyster River. William was nominated a freeman (a person having full citizenship rights) of the colony of Connecticut on May 13, 1669. The "First Church" in New Haven admitted William and his wife as members on April 28, 1686. He lived on his farm in West Haven the remainder of his life. He made gifts to his children during this lifetime of much of his real estate, so that the inventory of his estate mentions only 55 acres of "second division" land and a small amount of personal property. He made no will. William and Elizabeth had ten children all born in New Haven. Those children were: William; Thomas; Elizabeth; James; Margaret; Hannah; Abigail; Samuel; Mary; and Joseph. They were born in that order between 1657 and 1676.
JOSEPH TROWBRIDGE, youngest child of William and Elizabeth (Lamberton) Trowbridge, was born in 1676 in New Haven, Connecticut, and died in May 1715 in Stratfield, Connecticut. Joseph married Anne Sherwood about 1708 in Fairfield, Connecticut. Anne was the daughter of Captain Mathew and Mary (Fitch) Sherwood. After Joseph’s death in 1715, Anne remarried (about 1716) to Caleb Fairchild and the family moved to Hanover, New Jersey. During most of his adult life, Joseph was a carpenter and farmer in the parish of Stratfield, near Fairfield, Connecticut. He and Anne were members of the Stratfield Congregational church. They had three children born in Stratfield: Mathew, baptized in 1709 who died as an infant; David, born on December 30, 1709; and Anne, baptized on December 13, 1713.
DAVID TROWBRIDGE was the son of Joseph and Anne. He was born on December 30, 1709 in Stratfield, and died on November 16, 1768 in Morristown, New Jersey. He married on July 3, 1735, probably in Bedford, New York, Lydia whose surname was probably Holmes. She was born on January 21, 1716 and died on January 27, 1792 in Morristown. After his marriage, David settled in Hanover Township in Morris County, New Jersey. He was a farmer and probably lived in the west part of Hanover, which became Morristown. David and Lydia were Baptists in religion. Trowbridge Mountain, situated partly in Hanover and partly in Randolph, New Jersey, derives its name from the fact that David Trowbridge and several of his sons and grandsons had their farms on and near it. Much of what we know of his family was taken from his family Bible, which was found on Trowbridge Mountain apparently many years after his death. David and Lydia had sixteen children born in Morristown between 1736 and the early 1760’s. Their names were: Lydia, who died at the age of fourteen; Daniel; Shubael; Ann; Samuel; David; Caleb, who died at the age of fourteen or fifteen; Mary Ann; Tabitha, who died as an infant; Joseph; Absalom; Tabitha, who also died as an infant as had her sister of the same name; Job; Joseph; Ann; and Lydia, named for her older sister who died a few years before her birth.
SAMUEL TROWBRIDGE, son of David and Lydia, was born on February 23, 1742 in Morristown, New Jersey, and died in May 1823 in Frederick County, Virginia. He married first about 1768, possibly in Frederick County, Jane Ruble, daughter of George Ruble. She was born in Frederick County about 1750 and died in November 1785. Samuel remarried about 1786 to Christiann Dumire. Samuel probably removed to Virginia in company with his brother David several years before the Revolutionary War. If he in fact married Jane in 1768 in Frederick County, he probably moved there shortly after the French and Indian War. Family tradition credited him with service in the Revolutionary War but I have found no record of this service. He may have served in a militia unit for a short time and if he never applied for a pension, no record of his service probably exists. Samuel settled on a farm in Frederick County on Apple Pie Ridge, sixteen miles west of Winchester. He was a Methodist minister, the first of a line ministers in our Trowbridge family. Samuel and Jane had six children born between 1770 and 1784: Elizabeth, who married John Lewis; Mary who married Matthew McGinnis of Kingwood; David; George; Jesse; Samuel Ruble Trowbridge. There were nine children born to Samuel and Christiann between 1788 and 1805: Bethuel; John; William; Absalom; Sarah; Lydia; Ocie; and Joseph. Three of Samuel’s sons, David, Jesse and Samuel Ruble Trowbridge, moved to Monongalia County, Virginia between 1804 and 1808. They settled on the Cheat River near Kingwood. This area of Monongalia County became Preston County, (West) Virginia. At least one of the brothers operated a ferry on the river and the place became known as Trowbridge Ferry. These three brothers became prominent and respected citizens of Preston County. Jesse married about 1806 Sarah Pugh, probably shortly before moving to the Cheat River. Sarah was from Pugh Town, Virginia and was born in 1790. She died in 1870. Jesse and Sarah had twelve children. Jesse died on April 4, 1865 in Kingwood. Samuel Ruble Trowbridge was married twice, first to Margaret Grady, the sister of his brother David’s wife, Mary Grady. Samuel’s second wife was Susan Sheets. Samuel had ten children, apparently all by his first wife. In 1852 Samuel was one of the commissioners appointed by the General Assembly of Virginia to lay off the eight magisterial districts of Preston County. He was elected President of the proceedings at a county convention held in favor of Virginia remaining in the Union in 1861 in Kingwood. Samuel died in Kingwood in 1864. Bethuel Trowbridge remained in Frederick County after his brothers had gone west. He died in Frederick County probably during the 1830’s. He had four children: Samuel; Isaac Scott; Lewis; and Lydia. William moved to Ohio and died in London, Ohio on June 17, 1874. He had eight children. John (or Jonathan) Trowbridge may have moved to Missouri about 1820. Joseph Trowbridge moved to Ohio about 1836 and later to Frankfort, Indiana where he died on September 4, 1879. He was the father of nine children.
DAVID TROWBRIDGE, eldest son of Samuel and Jane Ruble Trowbridge was born in 1772 in Frederick County, Virginia and died in Kingwood, Preston County, West Virginia on April 7, 1864. In 1797 he married Mary Grady, daughter of Michael Grady, possibly in Monongalia County (which later became Preston County). Mary was born in in 1774 in Dunkards Bottom, one of the first settled areas of present day Preston County. She died in Kingwood on May 22, 1849. David left his home in Frederick County about 1804. His name appears on a petition, dated 1805, for the formation of a new county from Monongalia. His farm was near Kingwood adjoining those of his brothers Jesse and Samuel R. Trowbridge. In 1807, or perhaps a little earlier, David built a gristmill near Kingwood on the Cheat River. He was also a stonemason. At various times between 1818 and 1852 he was a justice of the peace in Preston County and served one term as sheriff. At that time in Virginia, the governor appointed county sheriffs for a term of two years. The governor usually appointed people of money and status, and the appointee paid a substantial fee for the privilege. Today the practice would be called bribery. At that time, it was a politically accepted method of appointing certain officials. This practice, however dubious, seems to indicate that David Trowbridge and his family were well to do, at least in comparison with most of his neighbors in Preston County.
The residents of Kingwood organized the first Methodist Episcopal Society shortly before 1815. A log church was built one mile east of the village and David was one of the trustees to whom the building and property was deeded. David served as a local preacher in the church for more than sixty years and his name appeared in the window of the church that replaced the log building. Oren F. Morton, author of "A History of Preston County West Virginia" (published in 1914) says, "David, a miller, was a man of great force of character. He was sheriff in 1828, a local preacher of the Methodist church for 60 years, and so uncompromising was his opposition to slavery that he was one of the corporal’s guard of Prestonians who voted for Lincoln in 1860." Mr. Morton also says of the Trowbridge brothers, they "… were not much alike in personal appearance. A roving, venturesome spirit seems a trait of the [family]." David and Mary Trowbridge had six children: Katherine, born in 1799 and died in 1886, married James Bucklew; Samuel Grady Trowbridge, born on July 2, 1801; Eleanor (Ellen), born about 1803-04 who married Michael (Peter?) Gilmore; Margaret, born about 1808, died in 1869 and married Reuben Morris; Jonathan, born about 1810, died when he was fourteen years old; Jane Brown Trowbridge, born on August 21, 1814 and died in 1888, married Thomas Gregg in 1833.
SAMUEL GRADY TROWBRIDGE was the oldest son and second child of David and Mary (Grady) Trowbridge. He was born on July 2, 1801 in Frederick County, Virginia. He married Jane McGrew on February 17, 1825 in Brandonville, (West) Virginia. She was the daughter of Colonel James and Isabella (Clark) McGrew and granddaughter of Patrick McGrew. Patrick and his son Colonel James Mcgrew were two notable men in the history of Preston County. Jane was born in Brandonville on on her father's farm on April 3, 1805. Jane was the daughter and granddaughter of two very important men in the history of Preston County. Samuel Grady Trowbridge was a farmer and miller. He and Jane settled near Kingwood to start their family. In 1836 he moved his family to Evansville, Preston County, Virginia and four years later to Tunnelton also in Preston County. After the close of the Civil War, he sold his property in West Virginia and moved to Clark County, Missouri. His children were all adults by that time and it seems that most, except Edgar, remained in West Virginia. Samuel died in Medill, Missouri on April 26, 1872. His wife Jane returned to West Virginia where she died in Cecill, Taylor County on October 30, 1883.
From an early age Samuel was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and like his father and grandfather, was one of its local preachers, he never traveled in that capacity while living in West Virginia. It was said that he was an energetic, hardworking man, and made his family comfortable and contented. He owned and operated mills near Kingwood and later near Tunnelton and was apparently relatively prosperous. "He was an earnest Christian, a good neighbor, a friend to the poor and distressed, and a kind father to his children, to whom he gave a good education."
Samuel and Jane Trowbridge had ten children: James McGrew; Mary Ann; David Boyd; Isabella; Edgar Clark; Minerva who died at the age of two; Martha Elizabeth; Harriet Virginia; Susannah; and Samuel Henry.
JAMES MCGREW TROWBRIDGE was born on January 24, 1826 in Kingwood. He was named for his prominent grandfather, Colonel James McGrew. On November 18, 1850 he married Sarah Ann Snyder in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Sarah was the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Albright) Snyder. Sarah’s sister was the wife of James's younger brother, David Boyd Trowbridge (unfortunately, I have been unable to learn her name). Sarah Snyder was born on July 26, 1834 in Green Glades, near Terra Alta, West Virginia. James and Sarah lived most of their lives near Kingwood, although the family lived for awhile in Lewis County. James was a farmer and miller like his father and grandfather. James died on April 3, 1909 at his home in Kingwood. He is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Kingwood. Sarah died on January 4, 1918 in Kingwood and is buried next to her husband.
James and Sarah had eleven children: Albert; Mary Ellen; Anzoretta Persis; Catherine Isabella; Charles Ira; Sarah Jane; Luvenia Margaret; Joseph Madison; Signora; Thurman W.; Georgia Pearl.
LUVENIA MARGARET TROWBRIDGE was born in Kingwood on November 3, 1863 and died in Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio on November 8, 1940. She married Nathaniel Jonathan Westfall on June 20, 1880 in Lewis County, West Virginia. Nathaniel and Luvenia Trowbridge Westfall had seven children. See the Westfall family history and family tree for more information. | 2019-04-26T11:58:41Z | http://whitsettandwall.com/Trowbridge/Trowbridge_history.htm |
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The best customer service ever, so kind and helpful.
I just purchased another vehicle from Priced Right! We have a great relationship with John, Chris & Holly. I wouldn't go anywhere else. Thanks Guys!!!
Wow! Chris was wonderful to work with right from the very first phone call. He is very honest and not at all a pushy salesman. He is the first car salesman my husband and I felt we could trust. This is a family company that stands behind it's sales and workmanship. They've just another gained life-long customer.
Good place love my 4Runner I got from there.
Chris was great to work with. We looked over some issues with the vehicle and agreed that I would handle some of the mechanical issues and he would take care of some of the electrical problems. He handled this quickly and to my satisfaction. It was a great experience and look forward to working with him in the future on my next vehicle. This is a family run business and located just off the Marne exit. Worth the short drive from GR to check out their stock of vehicles. Thank you to the Priced Right Auto team. We love our new vehicle!
Couldn't believe how patient and accommodating they were. I was having a terrible time deciding between a couple vehicles, and they let me take them on long (once overnight) tests and to a mechanic I knew. Then I ended up with a whole different vehicle they had on the lot. Chris is very helpful and clearly knew the business. Even after I had made a purchase he helped me track down the previous maintenance records. I would definitely have Priced Right at the top of my list the next time I am looking for a good used car.
Great family owned and run business, close to Grand Rapids. I was searching for a slightly used car and was drawn over to Marne to take a look, I went no further. Holly took care of us with no pressure and we will be back. Great car, Great price, Great people!!!
I recently purchased a Jeep Grand Cherokee from Priced Right Auto; Chris was extremely pleasant to work with and gave me a VERY fair price on the vehicle. Started having some issues a short time after purchasing the Jeep, the guys down at PricedRight took care of me without hesitation. Priced Right will be the first place I go to when looking for my next vehicle. I'd recommend them to everyone!
I'm very excited about the vehicle I just purchased from Priced Right. Chris was very wonderful to work with. He was not the stereotypical used car salesman. He was not pushy at all. I will be referring everyone I know who needs a car to check this place out. I will be doing more business with them in the future. Thanks Chris! And Holly is wonderful too!
Awesome place great costumer service and very trust worthy. Willing to help customer when needed. Wouldn't go anywhere else to buy a car.
Great group of people to work with. Very friendly.
Very nice people, honest and reasonable prices.
From the moment I contacted Priced Right Auto, I have been happy. They had the Cadillac I was looking for at a really reasonable price. They stayed open a little later so we could drive up there and test drive it. The car itself was immaculate! While my husband discussed price with Chris, Holly talked with me and even offered a snack to my 2 year old daughter while we waited. The next day I was able to text the information to Chris he needed so I could purchase the vehicle. He worked with my bank to get the necessary paperwork for the car. Later that night, they again stayed open late for us, I signed the paperwork, and was out the door with my new Cadillac, which by the way, was even cleaner than when we initially looked at it. About 5 days later, I got an envelope in the mail that contained my license plate and tabs. The fact that they sent us instead of having to drive back up there to get the plate was very nice. Then, a little over a week after I purchased the car I was driving to work in the morning and I started to get warnings that my car was overheating. Which was very odd considering it was approximate zero degrees that morning. After some time, I was able to limp it to work where it could rest. I contacted Chris and he immediately said they would come pick up the car and let me know what was wrong with it. I was really sad about it and really didn’t have the money in my budget to pay for repairs on a car I just bought. Chris contacted me Monday morning and told me the water pump was bad, but they would fix it with no cost to me. I can’t really express how thankful I am for their wonderful customer service. It’s very rare for any business to do anything for free and take out all the stress. I would definitely buy another vehicle from them and will spread the word of how nice they were to me throughout the whole process. | 2019-04-19T13:06:51Z | https://pricedrightauto.org/testimonials.aspx |
There are brands and companies that launch everyday, some of which thrive and never stop growing, some never take off to a good start and just die out after a few years. When Monat just launched I wondered how this brand of a new hair line would do. I have never seen a brand grow as quickly as Monat, making 25$ million in sales just in the first year of launch when their goal was only 1$ million. Who else over achieves their goal 25s that?! Incredible I think! When you see numbers like this in the growth of a company, I think you not only see a successful growing brand but a quality brand. Monat worked really hard to produce product that so many people love.
This original post was written by me in 2014-a review of my hair after 5 months of using Monat. I decided to keep the same title but update to 4 years later now 2018, making this post longer and more informative so this can be the place where you will find all you want to know about Monat. I will not only review the products and talk about how my hair has changed in the past four years but also about the growth and business side of this company. If you are thinking I will only say the good, you are wrong! I think we can all find ups and downs about a business or any product.
This post I imagine will be quiet long after I finish it, so below I will include bullet points of subtitles in case you don’t want to read the entire post, so find the subtitle you’d like to read about and scroll down! I would love to hear your comments so please leave a comment if there’s anything you’d like to say or I may have missed & you’d like to know about! I’d be more than happy!
Below I have written about my journey with Monat from my 5 months to all the way up to 4 years, I hope you will enjoy reading it and experience same results that I have experienced with Monat!
The first thing I couldn’t believe is how many new baby hairs I started to see at my hair line after about 4 to 6 months of using Monat. Two years of using Monat and till today, my hair line has completely changed. I never realized this, but apparently my hair line was a receding hair line before Monat, where in the front it was shaped like a letter M, now its almost square shape where the curved bold parts are now grown in with new hair. The only way I noticed this difference is when I pull my hair back in a high pony tail these short new hairs would stick out. This was never expected, I was in for a great surprise. I honestly have never realized that I had a receding hair line if not for these short new growth hairs in the front.
I quit losing so much hair. I used to SHED a lot of hair back in the day. Excuse my bold use of words but that’s how bad it got, it got so bad I’d have nightmares about waking up with bold patches on my head. I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do. I reconsidered heat styling and chemical treatment and I was never going to use bleach again, but even before all that damage was done to my hair, hair loss ran in my family it was in our genes. Both my sisters and mom had the same struggle. After about a good six months of using Monat, Monat strengthened the roots of my hair, and I truly felt that difference. I started to see less and less lose hairs at the bottom of my bath tub after showering. I quit seeing hair in my own food or collecting hair all over my shirts after combing. I know that after a good year I would see only 1-2 lose hairs at the bottom of the shower, compared to clumps of hair that I used to find. (This feels amazing because it used to be the most painful sight to see so much lose hair everywhere, and my pony tail thinning quickly.) I would say I lost about 1/3 thickness of my hair before I started using Monat. Four years later, I am requesting to get my hair thinned out when I get my short A-line hair cut.
My hair is very nice and soft, seriously I considered my hair to be horse hair because it was so rough, so dry and brittle before. This was a difference I noticed right away, the rich nourishing products really moisturized and livened my hair. Within the first use the texture of my hair was different and amazing. That’s when I knew the products were going to work, because usually after any other shampoo my hair would be left dry and out of control frizzy with some pretty ugly waves, not something I’d want to show off.
The Rejuveniqe Oil that I would use as a mask treatment every week or so, thickened my hair with moisture and nutrients– running my fingers through my hair feels great! This Rejuveniqe Oil is the back bone product of Monat, every product in the Monat line except 2 or 3 are infused with this oil. SO using the oil straight up is super convenient, quicker and better results going by the 13+ essential oils in this liquid gold of a product.
The ends of my hair especially thickened. You know how your hair looks thinner at the ends from most damage? That’s what I used to have but I have been applying the Rejuveniqe Oil to the ends of my hair while damp or the Leave In conditioner and that has saved my ends from damage, thinning and split ends. Three years later and Monat comes out with Rejuvabeads, if you haven’t seen a short video of real people applying this product just to one split end hair, you’re missing out. It is amazing how it mends the two ends back together, just incredible, I am definitely an owner of this one amazing product because of the heat styling my hair goes constantly.
I love my natural waves! My hair looks so healthy, I used to be self conscious about letting my natural waves be, I’d never go out with non-straightened hair, but now I can let my hair breathe in it’s natural state and still look awesome like I styled my waves purposely. Pretty amazing!
Compliments, compliments, & more compliments. The people that see me almost everyday have noticed the huge difference in my hair, they compliment on the length and health of my hair all the time! A few of my friends say “your hair looks so much better now!” its like almost offensive but thats because I didn’t want to admit to myself that my hair was pretty bad before. I felt like a person again, with an improved identity because hair is a big thing for me.
I found more hope and more confidence in feeling great about my hair once again. I do not have to chop my hair off like I once thought was my only choice was to regrow beautiful healthy long hair, instead I just brought it back to life with Monat products. Four years later, yea I ended up cutting my hair short but thats because I have three kids now, I’m 25 a wife and a stay home work from home mom, that keeps me quite busy, especially with two boys under three and a newborn baby girl I’ve been blessed with!
The Monat hair product line keeps growing and I just seem to love love all the products they come up with, like the Eye Wonder for thicker eye brows and longer lashes or the blow out cream and amazing all time favorite Monat hair spray!
Monat has also came up with more systems to pick from, which is awesome because it’s not just the volume, hydration and Men’s system anymore but there’s systems that were recreated for all hair issues that cover just about anything dry hair, frizzy hair, hair growth hair volume & hydration, itchy scalp, dry or oily scalp, all mixed in to create that perfect system for all hair and skin types. It can be wonderful once you find those perfect products for your hair.
This is a update to the cheat sheet. There is now Monat Hair Quiz that you can take online and answer couple questions about your hair and you will get results and recommendations on which products will be best for your hair! I have included the link to the quiz below.
I don’t believe I achieved super shiny hair within the first year of using Monat, but lets remember the super dead straw hair I began with. I believe I put my hopes up too high and did not achieve shine so much so soon, the health of my hair though did change in the first several months. To update this to four years of use-my hair is a bit shiny now but not super amazingly sleek and shiny as I’d want it to be. I color my hair every 3 to 4 months, Ive bleached my hair about 5 times in the past three years and other factors like heat styling my hair almost daily or teasing my hair could be whats keeping my hair from being all that shiny as I’d want it to be.
Expensive and still expensive-I do get a nice discount as a distributor of Monat, but even then I admit the products are still definitely on the expensive side for me. That’s why they say you get what you pay for. Before Monat I would never spend more than $10 on a bottle of shampoo. Call me cheap, I was young and didn’t really know putting cheap shampoo in my hair would be so damaging. On the bright side though, there are ways to save money on Monat products. The best way of course is to catch the flash sales once you’re a VIP or a Market Partner. Sometimes, very rare though-these amazing flash sales are for regular retail customers also, but its hard to catch that if you are not getting email notifications as a VIP would or not kept in contact with any market partner.
What is the Monat flex ship or VIP membership all about. As a VIP member or in other words if you sign up for the Monat Flex Ship that costs 20$ to sign up, you get the perks and benefits of a great 15% discount on each purchase, and FREE SHIPPING (which varies anywhere from 10-15$ depending on where you live), and that’s not all! You get to pick when you want the products shipped to you 3 times in a year and which products of your choosing. That’s still not all folks you also receive an exclusive gift free for you in every qualified flexship(84$ or more), available only for VIP members. Or if you are a Market partner with a set up flex ship you get even a bigger discount (30% off) plus all the other VIP perks. The free exclusive gifts are bran new products that are not available for purchase for any other customers and you’d be the first to try them! For example one product I got was an amazing BLOW OUT cream?! Very cool, it is now part of the product line after all VIP’s loved the styling cream.
The requirement to meet VIP standards is to make three orders of at least 84$ USD in one year, 30 to 60 days apart (or more if pushed out farther in your desire later at log in). This is the way it works. When you just sign up as a VIP you make your first purchase of 84$ or more and then you pre-order or set up the next flex ship 30 to 60 days prior to that day. You do NOT pay for this second flex ship until the 30 or 60 days pass, you will then be charged to your credit card at the selected date you pick for your next flex ship at the time of signing up. All you have to do after that is select a third shipment another 30 or 60 days apart and you’re all set. You also do not have to set up this third flex ship at the time of signing up, but anytime later you log back in,. You are able to log in to your account and push the flex ship another 30 to 60 as long as you make three shipments within one year. (Warning, if you decide to cancel your VIP membership before the three orders of 84$ are fulfilled you will be charged a cancellation fee of 50$ USD.
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I also recommend to spread out your three orders at least 60 days apart if not more, reason being– is if there is a great flash sale that all of a sudden comes up but you already have a flex ship scheduled that same month you are not able to make that flash sale count as one of your three required shipments, although you CAN still take advantage of that sale overall. Just if you’re like me, you don’t want to get overstocked on product but also take advantage of a greater flash sale making that count as one of your three shipments, because believe it–if you use the Monat shampoo the right way it should last you 2 to 3 months easily if you’re using it on your own.
The VIP membership is not the only way to save money with Monat but you can also sign up as a Monat Market Partner and receive even a greater discount than the VIP member. To sign up as a market partner you have to pay at least 100$ for the starter kit or chose one of the other premium options that come with real size products/product pack also with the starter kit included (but the 100$ fee waived if chosen premium options), these would be the better choices for starting a business with Monat giving you a greater 40% discount off the products in the first month of joining Monat. As a Monat distributor your regular all time discount is 30% off, (40% only in the first month of joining).
As a Monat Market Partner you have to option to earn a commission of 30-40% on retail sales, 15% commission on VIP customers and way way more if you start building your own working team/empire. Monat’s compensation plan is a multi level compensation plan that has no limits in growth of your financial journey. The more you build the more you earn, and this empire is no where close to end or to fall because Monat is going world wide, launching in third world countries, in the second year launched in Canada and third year in the United Kingdom, and so many more countries to come! I will be posting more to this topic of Monat Market Partner Booming and about the business side of Monat soon! Want to be notified when, or of new posts subscribe to my blog! I will be getting back on here soon to finish what I started! Thank you!
For those that want to become a market partner I left a link Below.
It all started about 4 years ago with the Urdaneta family when the son Ray Urdaneta decided to launch this hair care line called Monat. His father Luis Urdaneta started in Tupperware years and years ago and quickly worked his way to the top of the company.
Later he and his wife launched a skin care company that has been going strong for 16 years in Buenos Vela. With such success in both companies and a lifetime of experience in multi level marketing, you know you can trust the family that is behind Monat, because they know what they are doing.
They have build the greatest compensation plan of all times, (and I will be sure to write a post about that later). The president Stuart MacMillan, who used to be the president of Arbon, came out of retirement to become part of this ground floor opportunity of hair care. He knew he couldn’t miss out on such great potential with this amazingly successful family and new line of products called Monat. Monat hired the most talented scientist from Scotland – Jamie Ross who formulated the creation of Monat! Monat has got a super team and a great sister company who brought such growth and success to this business.
Within the next two years Ray Urdaneta wants to pay out 1 million families all over the world in commissions who join the Monat business. That is a LOT of families, obviously Monat is going global, already in US, Canada and UK, there is just so much more potential growth. There is money to make and hair to heal all over the globe, I promise you that!
So I’m sure you all want to hear numbers. Numbers numbers & numbers! I am like way too excited to write about this part because the numbers of the growth of this company in such a small period of time it blows my mind! & I’m about to blow yours!
In the beginning, as I have already mentioned at top, our CEO projected a sales goal of 1$ million in the first year of launch, Monat made 25$ Million dollars in the first year of launch!! 25 times their goal! By second year..hold your breath for this one, it almost tripled to 70 million dollars in sales by second year!! By third year Monat has grown to $300 million dollars in sales, and soon projected to be a billion dollar company in the next couple years! Yes, Monat has grown quicker than our good old famous Apple CO. unbelievable right. I think this is where you make up your mind where you know the products are good and the business is also because even with these insane numbers, Monat still has only a 1% return rate on the products. People are loving Monat, and Monat is loving us because they recently came out with a crazy amazing product that no one has ever had and it will never be imitated. Monat is changing the hair revolution with this new product in 2018. It’s already out and its called Rejuveniqe S,..I will soon write a post about it, and I will call it “The Hair Product that will Blow Your Mind” because it literally blew mine! I hate to brag, just kidding i LOVe to brag about Monat, but I have never seen a hair company work so hard on the science part of the product like Monat does, and I will tell you why in my next post about this amazing product!
Overall, Monat has worked SO well for me. It didn’t only bring my hair back to life, but Monat has taught me how and motivates me daily to take good care of my hair. I say this because I am the girl who would buy a 2-in-1 shampoo & conditioner, wash my hair once and be done with, not using anything else in my hair except hair spray for styling on occasions.
I would recommend these products to anyone who struggled with hair problems like me; hair loss, breakage, heat or chemical damage,or anyone who is looking for something more natural to maintain healthy beautiful hair. For those who do have healthy hair, you may not want to spend this much $$ on hair products, if you found products you are happy with, I am happy for you! Keep using what you are using, but know the ingredients in your products, know the ingredients you want to avoid, and pay attention– do they own up to the promises they claim to bring? Because for me, Monat actually did. Some of us look for a little more then just a good cleanser with a great scent, at least I do now after seeing cheap shampoos dry out my hair. I hope you find what you seek!
1)Rejuveniqe Oil Intensive -about four times a month I apply the oil to my scalp as a mask treatment, wrapping my head with a warm towel for half an hour, and treat myself to my own mini spa day. I embrace it! My time to relax and enjoy myself with a cup of coffee or a hot bath! Daily I apply a tiny bit to the ends of my hair to protect from heat damage, styling regularly, and the awesome part is you can’t tell I have any oil in my hair because if you put the right amount (very little ) it does not give a greasy look. I achieved moisture and hair growth with this rich product.
2)Revive Shampoo and Revive Conditioner-these are two different products, but they should always stick together because it does a great job cleansing and conditioning my hair. Both products are very silky, cleanses hair leaving it very soft with natural volume. Smells great too! These products helped me stop hair loss.
3)Replenish Masque – I use this product twice a week, which is how many times I wash my hair in a week. You might think “gross” but washing hair everyday is not good for you. I wouldn’t even recommend it with Monat, because your hair produces its own natural oils that maintain healthy hair. So don’t wash out your natural oils completely! After using Monat Shampoo I apply the masque to damp hair and leave it in for 5-to 10 minutes, and rinse, without using conditioner, I alternate between the two. This masque is what seems to repair my hair, it hydrates my moisture-starved hair with nutrients and oils. And it proves to boost hair growth as well and I have to say it did! I have so much little new growth everywhere!
4)Intense Repair Treatment– I love this product because it is so powerful yet it is simple to use, it is a leave-in treatment. Just spray a tiny bit to the roots of hair at the scalp, blow dry and done! This product was clinically proven many times for preventing hair loss and strengthened the follicles of my hair, boosting hair growth as well.
What products helped your hair?
Learn about joining Monat as a Market Partner here & get even a greater discount.
Please do leave comments/questions below!
Hope this post was some what eye opening to how these products work and what Monat is all about!
Hi, which products do you recommend for hair growth? It seems my hair is at a standstill and no longer grows as quickly as it used to.
I recommend the irt treatment system.
Sure no problem I have sent you an email with more info.
I am very glad you enjoyed my blog!!
Thank you so much, it is my pleasure to share my real experiences and testimonies!
then any other events happening inside your family’s life.
Philippines as an example, wedding gowns should just be worn on the wedding ceremony itself.
Always happy to provide a great review on Monat because these products have changed my life!
Are there any samples of these? I would love to try them!
There’s a current class action lawsuit against Monad right now.
Monat has a class action lawsuit against them. More people coming forward every day to express negative results.
Yes, this is not the first lawsuit against Monat. A lot of people are not educated enough to use Monat products, pick the wrong products for themselves and then blame Monat products for damaging their hair when they are using the wrong products for their hair type. Monat has more than just a few different systems, some systems are for dry hair and dry scalps or the opposite, so when they don’t know what to use, using the wrong product can make things worse. That is why people are having problems with Monat, they don’t look into the products enough, don’t do their research or don’t consult with a well informed educated market partner. Also with Monat projected to being number 1 in the hair product industry, of course people will attack a huge quick growing company for different reasons. As a company each has their con’s and pro’s, in which Monat working on improving always, even hired doctors who stand behind Monat for anyone who has issues with their hair or the products, they are there for contact anytime! Thank you for pointing that out! Everyone needs to educate themself!
thank you , I was going to cancel my VIP until I read your blog, I guess I just need to give it more time and try the products you recommended. I have been using them for about 4 or 5 months.
Thank you for great comment, it is my pleasure to be helpful when it comes to Monat. Healing your hair is a process but getting great results is well worth it’s time. Let me know how else I can help, I would love to hear back from you. How your hair is doing and which products you are using. You can also check if you are using the best products for your hair type and state by taking our hair quiz that was created by the lab techs and scientists of our brand.
Here is the link for the hair quiz as well as my store link if needed!
Mary, my wife was almost bald on the top this time last year and she now has a nice head of hair.
I am always happy to hear great results with Monat. I am happy your wife gave Monat a chance!!! This is why I love to be a part of Monat.
I don’t know if your wife knew, but if she refers three of her friends to Monat to sign up as VIP’s under her, and they all purchase a system in the same month, including your wife, she will get 84$ to purchase another system for herself! And if those three friends order in the same one month all together again, that will keep on happening she will be getting a rewards of 84$ towards product every time that happens! A great way to get Monat for free and help out any friends that need the same great results!
I was looking at this for my husband. He has thinning hair. He currently uses Nioxin. What do you recommend?
I will recommend the Black Shampoo for your husband unless he has severe hair loss then I’d recommend the Intense Repair treatment shampoo and the spray that comes with it. Both of these shampoos have three times the amount of Red Clover extract that promotes hair growth then in all of our other shampoos, but both of these shampoos should be paired with a good moisturizing conditioner because the products are strong and the hair and scalp needs to be moisturized and healthy in order for the products to work correctly. I will add a link below for our Hair quiz that he can take, which will give you a list of all the best products for your husband. This test was designed by the scientists and lab techs who stand behind our products so you can trust their answer more! I will also include the shop link to my store! Thank you for contacting me, if you have any further questions I will be happy to help!
Did you think you were losing a lot more here after you started using the products and then you were getting more hair later? I’ve been losing lots of hair since starting their products.
Yet another issue is that video games can be serious anyway with the major focus on studying rather than fun. Although, there’s an entertainment part to keep your children engaged, every single game will likely be designed to focus on a specific expertise or program, such as instructional math or scientific discipline. Thanks for your post. | 2019-04-22T00:03:53Z | https://bestshampoothinninghair.com/2015/02/27/monat-hair-products-review-after-5-months-of-use/ |
An end-user is directed to a location on the Internet based on machine-readable codes scanned by the end user. The end-user is associated with at least one of the following: an end-user country selection, and end-user language selection, a service category, an access media type, and the presence of an access certificate. A database with a plurality of entries is provided. Each of the entries is associated with a machine-readable code and includes one or more different network addresses. Code information associated with the scans of machine readable codes made by the end-user is received at a network site. In response to the scan information, entries associated with the machine-readable codes scanned by the end-user are retrieved from the database. At least some of the entries include information irrelevant to the information associated with the end user. Only relevant entries are selected. The end user is connected with the network addresses selected.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/252,906 entitled “Scalable distributed database system for linking URNs to Internet information” filed Nov. 27, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to connecting an end user with locations on the Internet based on codes inputted by the end user.
In particular, the present invention is directed to a method and system for directing an end user to a location on a network based on a code inputted by the end user. The end user is associated with at least one of the following: an end-user country selection, an end-user language selection, a service category, an access media type, and the presence of an access certificate. The access media can be one of at least two types (at least one of the types being a bar code scanner). A database that includes a plurality of entries is provided. Each of the entries is associated with a machine-readable code and includes one or more different network addresses. The different network addresses are associated with different providers. Code information associated with one or more scans of machine readable codes, made by the end-user with a remote scanning device, is received at a network site. In response to the scan information, entries associated with the machine-readable codes scanned by the end-user are retrieved from the database. At least some of the entries include information that is not relevant to at least one of the end-user country selection, the end-user language selection, the service category, the access media type, and the presence of an access certificate. Based on at least one of the end-user country selection, the end-user language selection, the service category, the access media type, and the presence of an access certificate, one or more network addresses are selected from the retrieved entries. The end user is connected with the one or more network addresses selected.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of a method for connecting end users to Internet information based on codes inputted by the end users.
The present invention is directed generally to connecting a unique identifier, such as a bar code, to a URL that points to a web page on the Internet. The connection is tailored based on a number of different criteria including, for example, a particular language of the end user, the country of the end user, service categories chosen by the end user, and the media by which the end user accesses the system.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the manner in which URLs may be organized within the inventive system. Other categorizations, groupings and organizations will be known to those skilled in the art and are within the scope of the present invention. Link layer 101 represents a collection of one or more unique identifiers linked to one or more URLs (the combination of one or more unique identifiers linked to one or more URLs is referred to herein as a “Link”). In the preferred embodiment, the Links are grouped into different languages. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a Link in which three EAN codes 201, 202 and 203 (i.e. unique identifiers) are linked to two different URLs 204 and 205 (one in English and one in French). In one embodiment, the unique identifier consists of a namespace and a number string that is namespace unique. This allows the inventive system to store in a database many types of unique identifiers (e.g. for barcodes, RFID tags, credit card numbers etc.). For example, an EAN-barcode, number 7331040021186, is represented by the namespace EAN13, and the string 7331040021186. By way of further example, a credit card issued by Company ABC with the card number 1234 5678 6543 would be represented by the namespace ABC and the string 123456786543. Other types of unique identifiers can be used in accordance with the present invention.
Service layer 102 contains collections of Links that are specific to particular companies (i.e., companies sponsoring the web pages to which the URLs point), each sharing properties of a particular service (i.e., groupings of Links that share a common characteristic). The shared characteristic may be, by way of example, an end user country of origin, language preference, profession, or access media device type. Other types of services based on any shared characteristics can be defined in accordance with the present invention.
For example, a French medical company marketing a painkiller product available only in France may create a service pursuant to which URLs pointing to marketing information on its painkiller product are presented only to users in France. Thus, the medical company could, for example, define two Links—a global Link and a French Link. A French user would be directed to URLs within the French Link, but everyone else in the world would be directed to URLs within the global Link. The medical company would, thus, have the ability to engage in a country-wide campaign for the painkiller for France, but still maintain the information about the product on the Internet for the rest of the world. A Canadian company may want to create two language preferences services, namely, a service for Links containing URLs directed to web pages written in English and a service for Links containing URLs directed to web pages written in French. By way of further example, a medical company may wish to present to doctors different URLs pointing to information for a painkiller product than those it presents to patients. The medical company would then create two services (one for doctors and one for patients) each of which holds a Link for different information relating to the painkiller product.
In some embodiments, a company may want to create services for Links to which only certain users or groups of users can obtain access. This can be accomplished using certificates. For example, one service may be created for Links containing URLs that can be accessed only by individuals that present a particular certificate. In a particular example, the French medical company may create a service that includes Links containing URLs that can be accessed only by individuals with a certificate proving that the individual is a doctor. FIG. 3 illustrates the manner in which a patient 301 has access to buy Link 302 and medical Link 303. However, doctor 305 has access not only to buy Link 302 and medical Link 303, but to doctor Link 304, because doctor 305 has certificate 306. Another service may be created that includes Links containing URLs that can be accessed only by end users using a particular device. For example, each barcode reader contains a serial number that is transmitted together with the barcode. Thus, certain Links may be protected by a service that provides access only to end users employing readers with certain serial numbers. This embodiment may be advantageous to a company seeking to make sure only its readers can be used for obtaining access to information about its products.
Category layer 103 controls how URLs are presented to the end user. Each service in service layer 102 may belong to a particular category. A category is a group of services that all share a common characteristic. The end user may select the categories of Links with which the end user is presented. Thus, for example, the end user may indicate that it is only interested in being presented with URLs relating to a particular product or, for example, to shopping sites.
One exemplary category is a product category 105 (shown in FIG. 1). All services relating to a particular kind of product will be grouped into product category 105. Information category 106 groups services that pertain to third party information about the service. Thus, for example, upon scanning a barcode for a video tape of a movie and choosing an information category, the end user will be presented with URLs pointing to reviews of the movie. Shopping category 107 groups services pertaining to Links with URLs identifying where an item can be purchased. Another type of category, an application category, groups Links by application, rather than merely by service, which implies a more advanced interface to the system. The API of the present invention provides access to a number of system-, device- and user parameters. A call to an application can be of several types, a simple re-direct or a general call with a flexible protocol. The APIs may differ depending on the type of access. Categories can be added, removed or changed on demand. Categories in addition to those described here can be created and used in the inventive system within the scope of the present invention.
Access layer 104 controls the URLs that are presented to the end user depending on the access media used by the end user. The different types of access media a user may employ include, by way of example, bar code readers (portable or tethered to a personal computer), personal computers, WAP enabled mobile phones, and personal digital assistants. Each grouping of Links in the category layer are specified as belonging to a certain access type. Thus, Links in a given category are tailor-made for a specific access type, which ensures that each device receives information that the specific device can handle. For example, categories may include Links that are tailored to be shown on the web or using WAP services. In another example, categories may include Links that are tailored to be heard as voice/music using a mobile phone. In particular, a record company wanting to promote one of their artists can have a Link (including URLs pointing to a web site where the artist's music track can be heard) assigned to a category for mobile phones. This music track can then be accessed using a barcode reader connected to a mobile phone. In another example, some categories may contain Links that are tailored to be sent back using Short Message Service (“SMS”) to a mobile phone. In particular, an end user may scan a barcode on a book and receive an SMS back with a short review of the book. The end user may scan a barcode on a poster for a concert and receive an SMS back with an electronic ticket for the concert. Other access types can be provided for in the inventive system within the scope of the present invention.
Preferred embodiments of a central relational database and a cache database that may be used in connection with connecting end users to URLs in accordance with the present invention are described with reference to FIGS. 4A through 4F and 5, respectively. FIGS. 4A through 4F illustrate an exemplary data structure of central relational database 601 (shown in FIG. 6) for storing data used in connection with the present invention. FIG. 5 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a schema of cache database 603 (also shown in FIG. 6). Cache database 603 is designed, in the preferred embodiment, to handle lookup requests with a high degree of performance in terms of speed and capacity. This is accomplished through a combination of the database architecture and RAM caching. In particular, the cache database is, in the preferred embodiment, an object oriented hash based database, not a relational database. Each table in the cache database has a RAM cache.
With reference to FIGS. 4A through 4F, central relational database 601 includes a number of tables. Tables 401, 402, 403, 404 and 405 allow companies to set up and access accounts, and create and manipulate data relating to Links. For example, table 401 is used to store data on the company, such as identification information, password, address and other contact information. Each company has associated with it one or more users that enter information into the system. Tables 402 and 404 are used to store preferences for each user in the system (e.g., whether the user prefers help screens, whether the user prefers to have URLs confirmed prior to their entry into the system etc.). Tables 403 and 405 are used to store information relating to a language preference for the user as well as to set templates for the language fields used by the user when entering Link information. Tables 406, 407 and 408 are used to store and manipulate codes implemented by a company in bulk.
Table 410 is used to store product information and, in particular, Links based on unique identifiers from table 409 and URLs from table 421. For each product identified in table 410, information regarding the company sponsoring the product can be identified from table 411, along with information regarding the user that inserted the product into the system (identified from table 401). Each product identified in product table 410 is associated with a particular service (identified in table 413), and a category (identified in table 412).
Company data stored in table 411 is associated with data relating to a particular market, stored in tables 415, 416 and 417. Service data stored in table 413 is associated with channel information stored in table 418 and channel type information (i.e. access media device type) stored in table 419, as well as service information stored in table 414. Keyword data, stored in table 420, is used to further separate services that share a common characteristic within a category. For example, two shopping services A (a book store) and B (a pet shop) are separated by the keywords bookstore for service A and pet shop for service B. Service information stored in table 414 relates services of a particular type (defined in table 413) that are owned and shared by a number of companies (defined in table 411).
The lookup procedure can be described with reference to FIG. 5, which illustrates several exemplary tables of cache database 603. Based on a particular code inputted by an end user (e.g., scanned) and the symbology of that code, object dictionary table 501 is used to obtain all entries (each of which includes a service ID and an object ID) from entry table 502. All data associated with the service ID and object ID for each entry is then obtained. In particular, for each object ID, a link is identified from object table 503 and, for each link, link data is obtained from link table 504. For each service ID, a service parent ID is determined from service table 505. The service parent ID allows the inventive system to identify whether a particular service is globally valid or whether the service pertains only to a particular country.
Also, for each service ID, using service table 505, a company ID (identifying the company that has inserted the service into the system) is identified. Using the company ID, company information is obtained from company table 506. The company information includes, for example, whether a parent company exists as well as whether the company is active in the system. Based on the reference country ID in company table 506, country data is obtained from reference country table 507.
Returning again to service table 505, a service data ID is identified. Using the service data ID, service data information is obtained from service data table 508. The service data information includes, for example, the name for the service, whether a priority has been set, the type of service, whether any certificates are required to access the service, and a description of the service. The service information (in particular, “pre_url” and “post_url”) allows for the construction of URLs from strings defined in the service. “Service hook” determines whether such URLs should be constructed and what type of URL compositing should occur. From service data table 508, a channel ID is determined, which allows channel data (i.e. category information described with reference to FIG. 1) to be obtained from channel table 509. From channel table 509, a channel type ID is determined which allows channel type data (i.e. access media device type) to be obtained from channel type table 510.
The superset of data identified is then filtered to obtain Links that are particular to the current end user session. In particular, as discussed in more detail above, Links that are not associated with the country from which the end user has inputted the code; the preferred language of the end user; the channel (i.e. categories); and/or the channel type (access media) being used by the end user, are removed. In addition, if a certificate is required for access to a particular Link (identified in service data table 508), and the end user does not possess the required certificate, such Links are removed. The information relating to the country from which the end user has inputted the code; the preferred language of the end user; the channel and/or channel type may be provided directly or automatically from the user's access media to site 604 (identified in FIG. 6) either via a cookie stored on the access media, based on user selections that have previously been stored on the access media or other ways known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,457, which is hereby incorporated by reference, provides a description of exemplary access media that can be used in accordance with the present invention. The end user is then presented with the remaining Links. In some embodiments, companies may set priorities within the system (identified in service data table 508), thereby controlling the order in which Links are presented to end users.
A preferred embodiment of a system 600 that may be used to support the linking of unique identifiers to URLs using databases of the type described above is illustrated with reference to FIG. 6. Variations on the components and configuration of the system 600 will be known to those skilled in the art and are within the scope of the present invention. The system described herein is highly scalable, thereby enabling it to handle a large number of Links. Further, the system is also designed to handle many end user lookups per second. The system also provides for both global and local load balancing, is stable and highly reliable.
System 600 includes a central relational database 601 (e.g., as described with reference to FIGS. 4A through 4F) for storing all information used in connection with system 600. Central relational database 601, for example, handles the companies' member accounts, which are used for online insertion or deletion of Links. Central relational database 601 is maintained on a central site 604 and one or more cache databases 603 (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5) are maintained on cache servers 602. In a preferred embodiment, system 600 includes a standby relational database 605 on standby site 606 that is a real time mirror of central relational database 601. In case of a crash or scheduled downtime on the central relational database 601, the standby relational database 605 will take over.
Updates to the system 600 (for example, the addition of new Links) are handled through the central relational database 601 and are propagated to the cache-server databases 603. In particular, when changes are made in central relational database 601, that information is extracted by the master cache server 607 (recording the change in its transaction log database) and broadcasted through net layer 608 to the different database sites, from which the data is retrieved by the cache servers 602 and stored in cache databases 603. The transaction log works as a persistent buffer such that cache servers 602 that are brought on line can obtain transactions missed while offline.
Lookups are handled from the Internet through the global load balancing layer (GLB) 609 to whichever web server 610 at the site has the shortest latency and load. The web server 610 connects to any of the cache servers 602 at the site and performs the lookup in the various tables (as described with reference to FIG. 5). The result of the lookup is then transmitted back to the end user client 611 via the web servers 610. As lookups are being performed, statistics for each lookup request are gathered by the cache servers 602. That data is then sent at regular intervals back to the master cache server 607 that inserts the data into the central relational database 601.
In the preferred embodiment, operations in the system 600 can be performed in two modes: read only or read write. When in read write mode, the operations to the database are guarded through transactions, whereas, in read only mode, the system will bypass normal transaction handling. In this manner, lookup operations will not interfere with insert or delete operations, thereby allowing lookup operations to be performed without transaction locks, which greatly enhances the performance of the system.
Company accounts are managed through an administration site internal to system 600, which is also connected to the central relational database 601. Company clients 612 (i.e. local clients at companies sponsoring web pages to which the URLs point) can connect securely using a standard web browser through one more or HTTPS servers (i.e. web servers 610) at each site. The connection is load balanced just as the end-user lookup requests. An application program interface (API) provides a remote way of accessing central relational database 604. This allows for company clients 612 that are running locally at the company to connect to and change the contents of the Mcentral relational database 604 (for example, to access their accounts and manage their Links). The API requests are directed from the web servers 610 to one of cache servers 602, that transmits the request back to one of master servers 607, that connects to the central relational database 604 and performs the request. The result is transmitted back from the cache master server 607 to the cache server 602, to the web server 610, that transmits it back to the API and the remote company client 612.
Thus, for example, a plugin to a desktop publishing program allows a newspaper editor to retrieve and link up barcodes that can be used in magazines. The plugin allows the editor to login to his account in the system 600 and directly manage his Links from within the desktop publishing program. Each barcode can be retrieved through the tool as an image to be printed in the magazine.
As mentioned previously, a preferred embodiment of the system 600 uses global load balancing in order to meet demands in different parts of the world. This is also important for ensuring low latency and high reliability. The global load balancers 609 that the system 600 uses act like a global web server that routes requests through to the most suitable site. In particular, when a DNS request is made to a global load balanced system (such as system 600), load balancers 609 intercept the request and, depending on different parameters such as server health, site capacity, and round trip time, return the IP address of the site which is most suitable. At each site, local load balancing is used to increase performance and ensure site level reliability. In particular, the local load balancer distributes the load between local servers at a site to increase the lookup capacity at a particular site. Extending performance of the system 600 is, thus, simplified. In the event a need arises to add more capacity to a particular site, new hardware can be added to that site. In the event more capacity is needed in another part of the world, a new site can be added to the global system. Other load balancing schemes will be known to those skilled in the art.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method for directing an end-user to a location on a network. The end-user is associated with at least one of the following: an end-user country selection, an end-user language selection, a service category, an access media type, and the presence of an access certificate. The service category may be a product- or service-specific category or a third party service provider category. The service category in effect for a session may be chosen by the end user. The access media can be one of at least two types (at least one of the types being a bar code scanner). In step 701, a database that includes a plurality of entries is provided. Each of the entries is associated with a machine-readable code and includes one or more different network addresses. The different network addresses are associated with different providers (i.e. companies). In some embodiments, the entries further include one or more services, each service comprising a collection of network addresses grouped in accordance with at least one shared characteristic. The shared characteristic may be an identified profession; a country of origin; a language; or an access media device type, for example.
In step 702, code information associated with one or more scans of machine readable codes, made by the end user with a remote scanning device, is received at a network site. In step 703, in response to the scan information, entries associated with the machine-readable codes scanned by the end user are retrieved from the database. At least some of the entries include information that is not relevant to at least one of the end-user country selection, the end-user language selection, the service category, the access media type, and the presence of an access certificate. In step 704, based on at least one of the end-user country selection, the end-user language selection, the service category, the access media type, and the presence of an access certificate, one or more network addresses are selected from the retrieved entries. In step 705, the end user is connected with the one or more network addresses selected in step 704. In some embodiments, in step 706, the network addresses are sorted based on a provider-indicated priority.
Although the foregoing description is directed to the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is noted that other variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.
wherein the entries further comprise one or more services, each service comprising a collection of network addresses grouped in accordance with at least one shared characteristic.
F. sorting the one or more network addresses based on a provider indicated priority.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the shared characteristic comprises an identified profession.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the shared characteristic comprises a country of origin.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the shared characteristic comprises a language.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the shared characteristic comprises an access media device type.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the service category is indicated by the end user.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the service category comprises a product-specific category.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the service category comprises a service-specific category.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the service category comprises a third party service provider category.
one or more processors that, in response to the code information, retrieve from the database entries associated with the machine-readable codes scanned by the end-user, at least some of the entries comprising information irrelevant to at least one of the end-user country selection, the end-user language selection, the service category, the access media type, and the presence of an access certificate; and that, based on at least one of the end-user country selection, the end-user language selection, the service category, the access media type, and the presence of an access certificate, select from the retrieved entries one or more network addresses: and that connect the end user with the selected one or more network addresses, wherein the entries further comprise one or more services, each service comprising a collection of network addresses grouped in accordance with at least one shared characteristic.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the processors further sort the one or more network addresses based on a provider indicated priority.
13. The system of claim 11 wherein the shared characteristic comprises an identified profession.
14. The system of claim 11 wherein the shared characteristic comprises a country of origin.
15. The system of claim 11 wherein the shared characteristic comprises a language.
16. The system of claim 11 wherein the shared characteristic comprises an access media device type.
17. The system of claim 11 wherein the service category is indicated by the end user.
18. The system of claim 11 wherein the service category comprises a product-specific category.
19. The system of claim 11 wherein the service category comprises a service-specific category.
20. The system of claim 11 wherein the service category comprises a third party service provider category.
IT201600124445A1 (en) * 2016-12-07 2018-06-07 Antonio Caramelli Method to certify the origin of a product.
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A friend of mine sent me this video clip today...what a great reminder of how incredible our God is, and how incredibly frail we are...I mean who am I that God would not only care about me, but know me, love me, have a plan for me and send His ONLY SON to die for me!
This video clip is a visual analogy of God's love for us and His daily relationship with us...good or bad, easy or tough, rough or choppy - He is There with us, every step of the way!
Enjoy and thank Him for His love for you, I know I am!
I’ve always believed that we receive blessings (finances, opportunities, resources, etc) in order to be in a position to bless others.
The profession of youth ministry has been blessed to be a blessing. Many of us who are in youth ministry have received numerous opportunities. Some of us have been educated in youth ministry. We have experience in ministering to young people. We have learned a lot and been offered a lot. Now it’s our turn to be a blessing to others around the world.
Global youth ministry is important for many reasons. Here are some of them.
When we talk about the need for international youth ministry, I am often reminded of the statistics that I first heard when I was a youth ministry student at Liberty University.
Ninety-seven percent of the world’s trained youth workers live and work in the United States, ministering to less than 3% of the world’s youth population.
In the United States, there is one trained youth worker for every 600 young people. In the rest of the world, there is one trained youth worker for every 400,000 young people.
While I’m not denying that the young people of America need youth pastors, the American church, who has focused on missions for quite some time now, has not yet turned its focus towards impacting the next generation with trained professionals in youth ministry.
Training in youth ministry at either a graduate or undergraduate level is available from more than 140 accredited institutions in the United States (link). There are countless conferences, training sessions, and resources for youth workers. However, there are very few organizations who are focused on training and resourcing those outside of the English speaking world.
New requests come in every day for training in other parts of the world. Youth Ministry International could use full time youth ministry trainers in all of the countries in which we are working right now, and there are other countries asking for our help.
We have invitations from at least three other countries in Latin America alone who want youth ministry training, but we are unable to respond to these requests for lack of trainers. There’s just not enough time or personnel to keep up with the invitations we are receiving.
God has commanded us to make disciples of all nations. Youth workers are doing their best to obey God and bring young people to follow Christ. If you’re a youth worker, I commend you for the work you are doing. I believe youth pastors are some of the most under-appreciated people on the planet. Thank you for doing what you do.
Now I’d like to ask you to consider what you are doing to be a blessing to others in the world who could benefit from your experience and training. We are praying that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers into His field. There are multitudes of young people who are in desperate need for people who have the ability to come alongside them and help them.
You have been blessed. Now be a blessing.
Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read the Lesson Learned articles to date and voice your opinion, as to which ones you think I should submit.
It's been alot of fun reading your replies! It's amazing to me how each article received some votes...that tells me that God is using each of them in His own way to encourage and challenge those who take the time to read them.
I've "closed the polls" but if you haven't voted yet I would still value your input, so go ahead and submit your thoughts.
Based on your feedback here's the top 3 that you suggested that I submit.
I'll keep you posted on what the editors decide. Thanks for your prayers, and support, it's going to be fun to see what God does with all this...it's in His hands!
I had a phone conversation today with the Product Development Director for a nationally known Youth Ministry resource company.
In short, they are interested in the Lesson Learned Series, and have asked me to submit my 3 favorite articles to them for review.
If you could take a look to jog your memory or read them for the first time and then click here to vote for your top 3 I'd appreciate it.
I need to get this info to them pretty quickly, so if you could submit your responses sometime this weekend, that would be awesome!
They were very intrigued with what we're doing with YMI, and this could really help us get the word out about the need for more trainers in Youth Ministry worldwide, encourage others with Lessons Learned, and challenge youth leaders to continue to help students navigate through the confusing messages they face every day!
Thanks everyone, you're the best!
I have this little problem that has haunted me for years. It’s a problem that has gotten me into lots of trouble. I used to think that it was just a problem of immaturity, you know when I grow up to that magical age of “whatever”, it will go away.
The older I get though, the more I realize that it’s not a matter of physical and emotional immaturity it’s more a matter of spiritual immaturity.
You see, my problem is that I often say the first thing that comes to my mind, and even though I can come off as witty and clever at times. There are other times where the statement forms right about at the top of my cranium, and like a bolt of lightning flashes down to the tip of my tongue, and if I’m not careful before I know what’s happening, boom…the statement is out there, flapping in the breeze!
Now, I’m not talking about vulgar language or curse words, no that’s never been an issue with me…I’m talking more about other kinds of statements that usually come from a situation that I’ve seen in my lifetime that seems to fit the current situation that I am experiencing and takes place in a split second flash back that seems to play in my mind like a high definition flat screen, surround sound personal movie theatre. It could be lines from movies, TV shows, songs or whatever.
The only problem is that without a spiritual check, the thing that I say next could either be hurtful or uplifting.
As a Youth Pastor it is very important that I watch what I say and how I say it, because the students I work with look up to me and respect what I say.
Well, one time when my little problem became a big problem was when I was newly into Youth Ministry. I was brand new at my church, and of course, wanted my students to actually like me, want to be around me (good goal), and plug into our ministry.
The incident in question took place at an amusement park event about 1 month into my new ministry.
The students were all riding rides, spending money and having a good time at the park. It was a beautiful day. I had just visited the Italian sausage and Funnel cake vendor and was getting ready to nestle into a comfy park bench to enjoy my delicacies, when all of a sudden I heard a screech filled yet muffled cry of “Pastor Brent, Pastor Brent” emanating off in the distance, but getting louder as it came towards me.
Now maybe it was the glare of the sun, maybe it was the way she was crying, or maybe it was the slow motion flowing of her auburn hair in the breeze, I’m not sure, but whatever it was I had a flashback in my mind to the Brady Bunch.
Remember the scene where the boys are tossing the football in the back yard? They are having a great old time playing catch and all of a sudden there is an overthrow at the exact same time that Marcia opens the sliding glass door and walks onto the porch. What happens next has been etched into my brain for decades, yet in a split second I recalled what happened like it was yesterday.
The ball hits Marcia right square in the nose, and what she says next is a classic Brady quote, that would have been fine if it stayed in the TV, and not morphed itself onto my tongue and then into my current situation.
Yep, you guessed it…here I am brand new youth Pastor, brand new group, brand new opportunities to share God’s love with my teens, and when face to face with a situation to put my Youth Pastor school skills to work, I blow it!
Come to find out she and her boyfriend were in the house of mirrors, and apparently were going to fast through it, and POW! She ran right into a mirror and broke her nose. She and her boyfriend were standing in front of me waiting for me to do my thing…you know be an encourager, call the doctor, pray for healing, share my funnel cake etc. Any and all of those responses would’ve been just great in that circumstance.
Yep, you heard me, that’s what I said, and immediately, I went from well respected new Youth Pastor to unbelievably insensitive jerk! To the girls anyway…the guys (including her boyfriend) thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard! I went from new guy earning his spot on the respect chain to instant classic right to the top!
The next six months were very interesting in our ministry, as every girl in 3 counties hated me, and every guy in the same geographical area couldn’t get enough of what our ministry was doing…word spread like wildfire, our ministry was growing and growing (among the male population), and girls avoided us like the plague!
To quote another famous line, “Regrets, I’ve had a few” (see there I go again), I couldn’t believe it! What had I just done? I felt terrible.
I don’t know about you but regrets, dumb mistakes and poor choices have always been used by the enemy to distract me from what I know God wants me to do. You see that same quick wit that has gotten me into trouble over the years, has also been used of God to encourage and share the good news with tons of people.
I guess it comes down to a choice, a choice between using our “gifts” for God’s glory or our glory.
I’m constantly learning that I need to check my motives, thoughts, and priorities, so that my words are words of encouragement that flow from the overflow of God’s Word in my heart, and not just obscure quotes and lyrics from pop-culture.
God’s Word is true, and when I listen to His voice, and speak His words...I can never go wrong!
I've been thinking alot about what makes a good team lately. I guess after watching the Kansas vs. Memphis game the other night, where the championship could have gone either way, I began thinking about the whole idea of a successful team.
If you watched that game you know that one of the reasons that Kansas won the game was because each player knew his role, embraced his role and passionately followed through on his role.
I'm sure the coach had spent hours and hours defining the goals, roles and expectations of each of his team members throughout the season, and on the national stage, when it counted the most each team member delivered in his own unique way...the result was a National Championship.
Another reason I believe Kansas was successful was because they listened to and followed through on their coaches game plan. It was obvious that they believed they could win. I'm sure the coaches also spent hours and hours challenging the players with truth filled statements that encouraged them to leave it all on the floor. The bottom line though...the players needed to believe and apply the coaches strategy and plan to succeed. They had a choice to listen to the input of others or the input of the coach who knows what he's talking about.
One of the things that I love to do in Youth Ministry is encourage students and leaders with truth filled statements from God's Word. Statements that will help them clarify the confusing messages that pummel them every day, because if we're not careful we can begin to believe the twisted lies of the enemy, and short circuit God's plan for our lives in His big picture strategy.
This video clip is a great visual example of what it means to know your role, embrace your role and passionately follow through on your role in the body of Christ, because God has a spot for each of us on His team, and when we're all functioning on the level in which the coach has designed it...Great things happen for God's glory.
So, what's your role on the team? Are you following through or getting sidetracked by twisted input?
One of the things that I get to do a lot of in my ministry is travel. I love to travel, in fact I was curious the other day so I did some calculating, and realized that, I’ve been to 15 countries and 34 states in my lifetime.
I also realized that the majority of these trips were for the purpose of ministry. Ministries such as, building projects, evangelism, discipleship, basketball camps, speaking, training, youth programs, leadership development and encouragement, to name a few.
God has really blessed me in terms of ministry opportunities that, with His life changing power are going to make a difference in the lives of people for His Kingdom, and to me that’s what it’s all about.
I recently had a conversation with a former student of mine that reminded me again that it’s about perspective in life. You see, the world says that in order to be happy, and experience success one needs to have a lot of stuff, you know…Money, Power & Fame. The only problem with that is you can’t take any of that with you when you leave this earth.
The conversation I had was so encouraging to me as I realized that this student really understands that to experience God’s kind of blessing, we need to live counter culturally.
He told me about a recent trip that he had taken, where he had an opportunity to tour some pretty amazing places in Europe, and had a ton of pictures of things that most people would love to see in their lifetime. Places that have incredible historical value, and structures that have stood the test of time, and are simply breathtaking to behold. As I listened to him talk, I admit I was a little jealous, as the places he said he visited were places I’ve always wanted to see and experience as well.
He went on to tell me that his friend had recently returned from a missions trip to Africa, where she was used of God to meet physical, emotional and spiritual needs of children in God’s name. He said that every picture she showed him had a lengthy story attached to it. A story of what God was doing in their life. He told me that as he sat there and took it all in, He realized that all he had were stories of buildings and places that will someday pass away, and she had a treasure box of children whose lives will never be the same because of Jesus!
He gets it…It’s all about perspective!
This excerpt is about things I saw, feelings I had, and things I was processing as I began my ministry of teaching, preaching, training and Leadership Development in Nairobi, Ruiru, and Limuru, Kenya.
To help with the context…Willis was my driver, Sylvester is the Youth Pastor that I worked with in Ruiru, and the BTL was the place I stayed for about a week while in Ruiru.
1. On the way to Nairobi I saw lots of beautiful rolling fields of coffee plants, flowers and other kinds of agricultural farms that are so critical to the survival of the Kenyan people.
5. Old woman carrying huge piles of hay, wood, fruit etc. with children on their backs on the way to a market where they sit and hope that someone will stop by and buy something…with what?
6. I thought to myself, these people have nothing? I kept thinking of the words to a song called “Boulevard of broken dreams” all day I couldn’t get it out of my mind (actually the same friend who wrote me the e-mail and I used to think about that song when we walked the streets of Pittsburgh from our cushy hotel room about 6 or 7 blocks to a Youth Conference as we passed broken person after broken person on the way…interesting).
9. Tons of make shift houses fashioned with whatever people could find…Tin, scrap wood, straw, cardboard, wrapping paper etc. – I’ve been to Mexico a bunch of times and helped build houses for people who have nothing…If the people I saw today had a house like we built in Mexico (12x16 tool shed basically) it would be like a huge mansion to them.
ave something to drink…man that broke my heart to hear that.
11. I Went back to the church to greet arriving campers, I spoke briefly with Pastor Christopher and asked how I could pray for him…he asked for wisdom as he deals with the amount of deaths that the church has experienced lately (he said they’ve had 5 people die in the last 2 months in his church!)…he said the people are very sad and hurting and he (like a good Pastor should)…feels their pain and is trying to help them through it.
12. I met a lot of the teens as they arrived and basically hung out and watched them play basketball and tried to get to know as many as I could.
14. I had some serious flashbacks to my “Be the Change Tree’ conversations with my Youth Pastor when I was his age...I was reminded again at how mentoring is so needed in youth ministry!
15. I was reminded of the times when I would sit and talk with skaters at our weekly outreach event called Hang Time…They would come up with all kinds of questions about God, Christians, The Church, why we built a skate park, welcomed hundreds of them each week into our church when they were kicked out of every other place they tried to skate, and give them free pizza.
16. I loved being asked why we did it for free because it gave us such an opportunity to give the priceless answer…”Because God’s love for you is free”…It was a tool in our toolbox to reach students for Christ and as I sat there by the ‘Be The Change” tree looking directly at a basketball court full of teenagers I thought to myself “there’s a tool in Sylvester’s tool box, and I’m sitting next to a guy who came to the church because they had a hoop! And look what God is doing and is going to continue to do in his life and the lives of others!” WOW, that was an incredible moment for me!
17. I could go on for hours about the things we talked about, but the bottom line is here’s a guy whose life has been changed by God and has been built into by a dedicated Youth Pastor, and who wants to impact the lives of others with God’s love…that’s what it’s all about!
18. As I sat there talking with Lincoln I began to wonder when the evening program was going to start and when I would have an opportunity to give the opening challenge and overview from God’s word…it was beginning to get dark and Sylvester came over to me and said that campers were still arriving and he didn’t want me to have to travel back to BTL at night as it can be dangerous, so I’ll just do an overview in the morning and then give both of my messages and part one of the leadership seminar tomorrow afternoon.
I came back from that trip, a totally different person. God really used the sights, sounds, smells and everything I experienced to help solidify my belief that it really is all about our perspective.
I don’t know about you, but I need to continually sharpen my focus so that my perspective is in alignment with God’s perspective. It’s not about stuff, it’s about lives, lives that have been changed by the Power of Jesus!
So, as I keep traveling, and sharing that good news from NY to Nepal and everywhere in between, my prayer is that my perspective would stay sharp as well as those with whom I come in contact with.
It really is all about Perspective…GOD'S PERSPECTIVE!
His name was Todd, and he was one of those students that I had been trying to connect with for several months in my new ministry.
I had started my ministry as Student Ministries Pastor at the church in the Fall and had begun building some good relationships with students with whom I had common interests…mostly the jocks… because, until I reached 30 and realized I wasn’t cool anymore (trading my sweet red pickup truck for a mini-van was the final straw). I used to think of myself as an avid sportsman who could talk a good game with the best of them…notice I said “talk”.
Well anyway, the relationship building was going well, the students were excited to have a Youth Pastor and I was equally as excited to minister to them, and had big plans for how we were going to change the world for Jesus through our ministry.
As I was connecting with the students and praying about how God was going to use us, for some reason I kept noticing that Todd wasn’t really joining in. He was there but he was kind of disconnected, almost like he was in his own little world. He wasn’t into the fun stuff we were doing, the dodge ball, basketball, volleyball, weight lifting etc. just wasn’t his thing. He would show up and just take a back seat and observe.
He intrigued me, as I kept thinking that even though the relationships with my fellow “wanna be” athletes was progressing, there was a dimension that we were missing by not engaging with who Todd was and where he was coming from.
I tried to strike up a conversation with him, and it went pretty much like I thought it would…no where. I did find out though that he was into video games, and punk music…hmmm, there’s a starting point I thought to myself.
Sorry about that, anyway what he said next was even better than…(just double checking to make sure I really mean what I’m going to say next…) yeah it was, even better than pizza. He said “dude, how about stopping by the house and playing some video games sometime?” Ahah, now we’re getting somewhere. I said “sure, man when would be a good time?” He said “how about now?” God was working for sure. To get an open invitation on the spot like that is almost unheard of in this day and age of planning and scheduling…it was incredible.
Anyway, it was a big deal for me to get that kind of invite. I dropped everything I was doing (proper pizza calculations for the youth event that night, taste testing soda to see if I should purchase styrofoam, paper or plastic cups…you know important Youth Pastor Stuff), to hightail it up to Todd’s house.
I got there in about 10 minutes and as I turned into his driveway, I realized that either I was at the wrong address or Todd was absolutely LOADED (with money, not anything else that connotation might also mean in some circles). The driveway seemed to go on forever, as off in the distance I saw one of the five houses that dotted the property (all 100 acres of it). The main house looked like an English Castle and blew me away. I drove carefully as I kept looking for a draw bridge and a moat.
I parked the…min-van, went up to the front door (which was this ginormous solid oak monstrosity that took 3 butlers to open…kind of). We went in and he showed me around this palatial palace he called home. He was very gracious, almost embarrassed that he lived this way. I caught a glimpse of what I would come to really appreciate about Todd, he was truly humble.
Todd and I started playing some video games, listening to music, hanging out, and for the first time actually talking about stuff. It started when I asked Todd what he was doing on Saturday. You see, we had a missions trip lined up to go feed homeless people in the inner city that day. We had gathered donations to make lunches and hand them out to homeless people that we encountered as we visited various parks and neighborhoods in our city. I will never forget the look that Todd gave me after I invited him to be a part of that trip.
I know that was a risky thing to say, but I really sensed this guy was tired of all the stuff that the world points to as success. It was just a hunch I had, so I said it.
Todd called me the next day and said he’d be coming on the trip. I was ecstatic. God was working!
The day of the trip came, and we loaded into the church vans and headed to the big city to change the world for Jesus one lunch at a time. It was an awesome day, and as it went on, I noticed that Todd was really getting into it. Then came the moment of truth. the moment that I will always remember as one of my all time favorite memories of youth ministry.
Our guide on the city mission trip was a missionary who was well acquainted with our church and leads missions trips like ours all the time. He is very well known in the city, especially by the homeless community. He is kind of viewed as a modern day Robin Hood (except he doesn’t steal from the rich, he just organizes church groups to help the poor).
Well, he was talking with a homeless guy named Frankie, who was asking him all kinds of questions about Jesus’ love for him. He was very open to everything the missionary was saying. A nice sized group of us had begun to gather around the missionary, and it was so cool to watch him engage this man who had nothing (from the world’s perspective).
I couldn’t believe my ears. I didn’t think Todd would do it. I knew he was a Christian, but this? Todd looked at me, and then at Frankie and said, “I’d love to!” He proceeded to the center of the circle and explained to Frankie what he needed to do to be saved, then he embraced him with a full hug and led him in prayer!
(Think about it, rich kid who has it all, embraces a homeless guy who has nothing, and leads him into a relationship with Jesus, who gives him what really satisfies). The rest as they say, is history. By the way, at that time, Todd was a freshman in high school. He went on to be one of the driving forces behind many of the future ministry opportunities that we undertook.
Todd answered the question “are you satisfied?” with an honest NO, and went on to be an integral part of helping other students find what really satisfies, a relationship with Jesus. Todd was used by God to lead missions trips locally, regionally, nationally and internationally with a passion that was contagious. He used his connections, resources, abilities, skills, everything he had access to, in order to help students around the world find out about Jesus.
Todd was the kid that every youth ministry has, and every youth ministry needs to connect with, because God can change the world through kids like that!
My ministry definitely changed because of Todd. I realized that even though it was easy for me to relate with certain types of students, if my ministry was going to be effective and really expand for His glory, I needed to be willing to reach out to the “unreachable” with what really matters – satisfaction through Jesus!
Last Summer, I came face to face with how God must feel when He has something cool to show us or give us but wants to "toy" with us a little bit first so we'll really appreciate it when His timing is just right, has that ever happened to you?
I wanted to take my kids out for a "special treat" (in our family a special treat can be anything from a dum dum lollipop to a full blown all expenses paid vacation to the zoo) so whenever I drop the "Hey kids you better be good or you're not going to get your special treat" card it usually gets their attention, and they stop pulling each others hair for at least a second to find out what it is.
So, I said to my kids, "hop in the van we're going for a special treat", to which they said "what is it?" and I said "it's a surprise, just get in the van, and stop picking your nose." So they got in the van and kept asking what it was and if we were there yet and all kinds of annoying questions that made me want to not follow through on the special treat because I wanted it to be a surprise.
Now mind you, I'm not God...but I wonder if that's how God feels sometimes when we don't appreciate the waiting period before the blessing.
Anyway, it got to the point where I started messing with their little minds by saying things like "hey kids see that tree over there with the bird perched on the branch? That's your special treat, take it all in, don't waste the visual beauty that is before you...enjoy" To which they would say "No it's not, what is it really?"
This went on for several minutes and included such fake special treats as orange construction cones, potholes in the road, a big rock on the side of the road, a kid walking with crutches (the crutches were the special treat) etc. etc. until finally we got to the special treat place which was the movie theater.
We went to watch the movie Ratatouille which of course is all about appreciating the great gift of food (special treat) and not settling for the garbage that everyone else settles for (great spiritual message there).
I did find it ironic though that I was watching a movie about a rat who is an amazing connoisseur of great edible delicacies and I was sitting there munching on something that takes 45 seconds to make in my microwave, and as a side dish I held 3 of the most teeth rotting, dentist loathing, diabetic monitor spiking, sugar filled items known to mankind...I almost made a suggestion to the manager that they should've offered filet mignon and seared scallops instead of my combination of skittles, juju bees and goobers...but after the last "demand" I wanted to make to him (after seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 3 I didn't want my money back... I wanted my 3 hours back!) I thought I should keep my comments to myself and enjoy the special treat with my kids.
They were grateful that their special treat was actually fun and special, and it gave me a great opportunity to talk with them about how God has so many special treats prepared for us but we need to be patient and not settle for things that are less than His ideal for us...it was a pretty cool conversation, but I'm not sure if they totally got it because a few days later as we were driving down Lake avenue right by a huge building that was recently imploded, I said "hey kids look at that huge pile of rubble" to which they both groaned in Unison..."Is that our special treat?"
Just something to think about...God has only what's best for us in mind, and He wants us to be patient and trust Him that He knows what He's doing. | 2019-04-19T13:13:25Z | http://www.7minutelull.org/2008/04/ |
We can trace the origins of trade unions back before modern industry and capitalism to the medieval craft guilds.
This has served to embed occupational (rather than class) interests deep within the assumptions of trade-union organisation. And this applies not just to those in craft industries, but also to those in extractive industries and the public sector.
State-socialists are therefore wide of the mark in seeing trade unionism as a stepping stone, forming a ‘united working class’ as a basis for their ideal society of public ownership and national planning. In this way, the Old Left is simply trying to make use of the unions for its own centralising purposes.
In contrast, pluralists not only accept but celebrate the occupational nature of British trade unionism. They see it as one foundation of a society based on decentralised decision-making, which will produce a welcome diversity of outcomes.
Moreover, occupational trade unionism is compatible with a number of other forms of decentralised organisation: consumers’ and producers’ cooperatives, active participation in municipal service provision, and the voluntary associations of churches and other social groups.
This was the vision of social change advocated by what we might call ‘Original Labour’, from the foundation of the party in 1900 up to its adoption of state planning after 1931: a vision which it labelled not socialism but ‘The Co-operative Commonwealth’.
On the one hand, today’s Labour Party leadership needs to be reminded of this vision of its founders, not only because that is what huge numbers of its supporters are already engaged in, but also because it has affinities with the values of potential progressive allies, such as the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.
On the other hand, today’s Conservative Party leadership needs to be reminded that its claim to progressive policies, whether packaged as the ‘Big Society’ or the ‘Shared Society’, will have to allow real freedom of action for voluntary associations to pursue the interests of their members and users, not only through collective self-help, but also through political lobbying.
The first thing to stress is that trade unions in Britain have a much longer history than we might normally think. It is true that they first achieved a degree of legitimacy in wider public opinion in the 1870s, and that they later became almost another estate of the realm during and after the Second World War, but their roots in British society are much deeper and longer than this. There was something of a debate about this issue among the first historians of the field.
Sidney and Beatrice Webb in their massive History of Trade Unionism published in 1894 emphasised the differences between guilds and unions, and denied that there had been any continuity between them. This was in deliberate opposition to the view of earlier, and apparently less thoroughly informed, books by Lujo Brentano and George Howell. State-socialists such as the Webbs, and later well-known Marxist historians such as Eric Hobsbawm and Edward Thompson, wanted to see trade unions as, at least potentially, one of the major vehicles that would bring about a socialist future … so they presented them as an expression of the distinctive interests of wage workers under capitalism, inevitably in conflict with the system which had brought them into being. However, since the research of R.A. Leeson published in his book Travelling Brothers in 1979, there can be little doubt that this is simply wrong, and that Brentano and Howell were right: trade unions in Britain had a much longer pre-industrial and pre-capitalist history.
There was already a long tradition of village guilds, officially recorded in the aftermath of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 and probably going back to very early roots in German tribal associations. These would have been broadly speaking friendly societies, that is small local informal mutual insurance clubs: indeed, it is likely that the word ‘guild’ derives from the Anglo-Saxon ‘geld’ meaning to pay or contribute. So, they collected small subscriptions as a way of spreading the risks of illness, old age and funerals; and they also periodically held social events for their members, usually on significant saints’ days. With the movement to the towns and the development of a division of labour, it was a natural step for these clubs to reorganise themselves along trade lines, giving rise to the more high-profile urban craft guilds for groups such as masons, carpenters and painters. Of course, these were not trade unions in the modern sense as they included both the small masters/employers and their skilled men/employees; and they organised themselves to protect their common interests against the merchants and thus implicitly against the consumers, trying to keep control over the quality and the price of their products, partly by controlling the number of young people admitted as new trainees.
a long-established expectation that it was legitimate to control the entry of new workers into the locality and to take direct action against any productive activity which broke their local rules. Under the guilds, these accepted practices came under the headings of ‘the power of search’, to allow the expulsion of ‘illegal’ men and the destruction of ‘deceitful’ goods. From which it is but a short step to the trade-union methods of the closed shop and the withdrawal of labour.
It is safe to think of a process of the journeymen beginning to separate from their masters and establish recognisable unions from around the middle of the seventeenth century, and it was possible for this to take place in a fairly uninterrupted way because the state in Britain was much less interventionist in economic life than its neighbours on the European continent. Just like the craft guilds before them, the early craft unions combined the provision of friendly society benefits with collective organisation to control the level of effort and pay.
Something which has already been implicit in this exploration of the deep roots of trade unionism in Britain and which should now be brought into sharper focus is their occupational basis. Again, this is in marked contrast to the widely-held assumption that they are bodies which represent class interests, aiming to challenge the capitalist system in the interest of the whole class of wage workers. On the contrary, what we have seen in the early years, and what remained characteristic of more recent times, is that British trade unions became deeply embedded representatives of occupational interests within the existing economic, social and political framework. Whether or not this was and is a good thing, or a betrayal of their true role, is a matter for debate, but however we choose to evaluate the unions it is important to recognise what they really were and still are, despite the occasional rhetoric of some of their more colourful leaders.
The craft unions, which we have seen evolving out of the guilds, carried on emphasising the provision of a wide and relatively generous range of welfare benefits for their individual members. Maintaining financial solvency for this purpose was then the main basis of their calculations about which workers to admit to their ranks, and which other bodies to amalgamate with. They could often see that they had a real interest in recruiting further down the hierarchy of skill to increase their collective bargaining power, but sometimes reckoned that would not be financially sustainable. Thus, the craft unions were not intrinsically closed or elitist organisations, but were built up along pragmatic lines.
However, there were other large groups of workers for whom this skills-based, craft model of organisation was not appropriate. For, while some of the workers in ‘process’ industries such as coal and cotton did have relatively high levels of aptitude, their skills were tied to the particular sector they were trained to operate in, and indeed usually to a particular pit or mill. This crucial difference meant they could not use labour mobility as a threat or as a source of financial support during industrial disputes. Moreover, since skills in these industries were picked up simply by observation on the job, it was almost impossible to control the large numbers of potential strike breakers already in place among those juniors and assistants who had been working near them and watching them for years. Having initially tried to copy the methods of the craft unions, these process workers only really made headway with self-organisation when they began to function as pressure groups for favourable national legislation over such issues as shorter working hours and improved safety from the 1840s through to the 1880s. Indeed, once this strategy had been adopted, the stability and geographical concentration of these workforces turned out to be a positive advantage, for the miners and cotton workers were able to dominate the electorates in their parliamentary constituencies and eventually (after the electorate was widened for a third time in 1884) get significant numbers of their own MPs elected to parliament.
While this was indeed the emergence of a new sort of trade unionism, it was no more based on working-class opposition to capitalism than craft unionism was. Thus, the nationalisations of British industry which eventually came after 1945 were not the beginning of a new society, but rather the culmination of a long tradition of pressure through existing parliamentary processes on behalf of particular groups of workers. For, of course, the process workers’ unions were in their own way occupationally specific: each one separately represented the interests of coalminers, cotton operatives, and steelworkers. As a result, when those industries went into long-term decline over the course of the twentieth century the once mighty unions went with them. In 1920 there were 1.2 million coalminers and almost a million members of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain: today there are no more deep coal mines, open-cast mines employ only a few thousand men, and the National Union of Miners has an active membership of around 100, many of whom are its paid officials. Similarly, in cotton in 1920 there were over half a million workers and the powerful spinners’ union had 50,000 members: today the Lancashire textile industry has just about disappeared, and indeed the union was formally dissolved in 1970. Even the best survivor from this era, the steel industry, grew for much of the twentieth century but only to see its terminal decline postponed: the workforce has fallen from around 300,000 in the 1970s to under 20,000 today; and the massive Iron and Steel Trades Confederation formed in 1917, and growing to over 100,000 members, has now been replaced by Community with only 20,000 members in total, including many in other occupations. This is one of the most remarkable changes in the British trade-union movement to have taken place over the course of the twentieth century; another, and quite closely linked, one being the rise in the proportion of trade union members who are women, often with a higher education.
So we now have two main historic forms of trade unionism in Britain, both based on occupational interests and loyalties: craft unions organising specific groups with clearly defined skills which could be transferred between firms involved in assembly work, such as joiners, painters, engineers, electricians; and what we might call ‘seniority’ unions (because of the way their members’ skills were picked up by progression), aiming to organise all the workers in particular process industries, such as coal mining and textiles.
But this still left large numbers of other workers unorganised, especially among those who did not so much produce things as move them around or provide the public utilities required by the new urban environment: so here we are thinking especially of carters, dockers and gasworkers. As the reserves of rural labour began to dry up in the late-nineteenth century the informal bargaining power and the prospects of trade-union organisation among these groups improved. Partly because so many of them were working in the centres of the large cities, and partly because it was a surprise to see them becoming more assertive, the ‘New Unionism’ of the late 1880s and 1890s did indeed seem like a highly dramatic departure from tradition. However, this can be highly misleading if it is taken too much at face value. The longer-term sustainability of these organisations still depended on particular occupational circumstances. Thus, those that survived the initial burst of enthusiasm tended to focus on specific groups such as the stevedores, who did the more specialised ship-board work on the docks, and to scoop up random groups of workers from their less successful rivals.
This remained characteristic of the structures of the so-called ‘general’ unions as they became better established over the twentieth century, in large part because of labour shortages during the two world wars. Actually, they did not become general unions for the whole workforce, nor even for all of the less skilled in particular industries, so it makes sense to think of them instead as ‘federal’ unions, not because they had federal constitutions, but because they recruited loose federations of different types of workers. The Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU), for example, in its heyday had to maintain separate ‘Trade Groups’. Then in 2007 when it merged with Amicus, already an amalgamation of mostly craft unions with the engineers as its backbone, to form ‘Unite the union’ (now the biggest of Britain’s union with almost 1.5 million members), it had to set up a very complex internal structure of committees for distinct sectors of employment. The TGWU’s main rival was the General and Municipal Workers’ Union which anticipated the formation of Unite by over twenty years when it amalgamated with the craft boilermakers and renamed itself the ‘GMB’ in 1982. Now with over half a million members, it continues with its traditional method of dealing with its highly diverse recruitment through a robust structure of regional organisation. For the sake of completeness, we should also consider the third of Britain’s massive unions, the relatively new Unison formed in 1993, now with around 1.3 million members, covering all types of workers in the public sector and divided into distinct ‘Service Groups’.
Alongside the disappearance of the seniority industries and organisations, and the rise of female membership, this is the third outstanding feature of the current trade union scene in Britain: the emergence of three massive federal conglomerates, each with a complex internal structure to cope with the diversity of its members’ interests.
If the state-socialist view of British trade unions as based on class interest is so misleading, is there any alternative approach we might use in its place? Actually, there is one, not so widely appreciated but just as long-standing and much more helpful, both as a form of analysis and as a form of prescription: the approach of pluralism. This view embraces diversity in two main ways: firstly, in terms of a variety of forms of organisation and secondly, in terms of the role of those organisations in the wider society. Thus, whereas Fabians, such as the Webbs, saw an inevitable line of evolution leading towards gradualist ‘legislative enactment’, while Marxists, such as Hobsbawm and Thompson, saw a similar line of evolution leading towards a revolutionary ‘transition to socialism’; the pluralists tried to understand how different types of unions have served, and could and should, continue to serve, the interests of different groups of workers. In addition, rather than working towards a uniform society under the control of a socialist state, whether social democratic or communist, the pluralists advocated that trade unions have formed, and could and should continue to form, a permanent opposition within the sphere of employment, mainly against unilateral control by their employers but also, when necessary, against the intervention of the state. From this perspective, it becomes clear that the state-socialist intellectuals of the past and the hard left of today are both in the end simply using trade unions: however sincere they are in their pursuit of the interests of working people, their future state will require the subordination, or even the dissolution, of the unions. Pluralists on the other hand have a more direct and transparent agenda, championing collective organisation and collective bargaining as ends in themselves: accepting, and indeed hoping for, a plurality not only of types of organisation but also of centres of power within society.
The first explicit pluralist position was laid out just before and during the First World War by G.D.H. Cole, one of the leading intellectuals of ‘Guild Socialism’, advocating a counterweight to the growth of the state in the form of workers’ control of the organisation of industry. This built on the optimism of a period of rapid trade-union growth. However, as the interwar depression worsened, the wind went out of the union sails and Guild Socialism collapsed. Nevertheless, it had attracted a number of other leading public intellectuals, including R.H. Tawney, Bertrand Russell and Harold Laski, with Laski in particular continuing to have a significant influence through his role as a professor at the London School of Economics (LSE) where his pupils in the 1920s included Walter Milne-Bailey, head of the research department at the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Milne-Bailey in turn produced a book on Trade Unions and the State in 1931, not particularly high-profile but widely enough read by those who were interested in such things to have passed the pluralist torch on to a younger generation: in the form of Allan Flanders, who also worked at the TUC research department, and Hugh Clegg, who was a pupil of Cole’s at Oxford.
Flanders, Clegg and a number of other colleagues then became what was for a while known as the ‘Oxford School’ of industrial relations, founded on the core principle of pluralism rather than state control, and exercising a decisive influence on the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations under Lord Donovan which sat for three years beginning in 1965, then reporting in 1968. This Donovan Report, with its central recommendations drafted by Clegg, effectively restrained the impulses of those on the left of the Labour Party, such as Barbara Castle, who wanted more government intervention in industrial relations. The key recommendation of the Royal Commission was to leave the ‘voluntarist’ inheritance of British industrial relations intact, and indeed to strengthen it at the grass roots by recognising new forms of adversarial bargaining such as the shop stewards, then particularly powerful, and potentially disruptive, in the Midlands motor industry. Thus, the traditional jostling for position of employers and unions through collective bargaining and individual actions in the common-law courts was to be left untouched.
Of course, this was not to be a permanent settlement, as the rise to power of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 led to a gradual but relentless process of statutory legislation which added up to an unprecedented government intervention in what had for the previous three hundred years been a largely self-regulating part of British society. But the current general neglect of the pluralist tradition is highly unfortunate, for it not only overlooks a significant force in twentieth century British history but also leads to a serious misunderstanding of our present predicament. For the Donovan Report of 1968 was in effect a victory of pluralism over state-socialism. Thus, the extension of the legal restriction over union organisation which came under Margaret Thatcher ten years later was not, as she declared, a victory over ‘the enemy within’ and a rolling back of state-socialism, but just the opposite: a determined assault on the freedom of association and the deliberate destruction of a long tradition of liberalism in a central arena of British society. It is, therefore, no coincidence that an accelerating sense of unease over the collapse of participation in public life has accompanied the entrenchment of so-called ‘neo-liberalism’.
Another of Laski’s pupils at the LSE in the interwar years was Michael Young, best known nowadays as the seminal influence behind the foundation of the Open University. But Young started out on the staff of the Labour Party’s research department and was the major draftsman of the 1945 election manifesto. Not that he decided everything that was in it but, given his closeness to the centre of the party’s policymaking, it is striking how quickly he had become disillusioned with its iconic post-war achievements already by the late 1940s. For Young was dismayed by the bureaucratic nature of the nationalisation of industries and the centralised welfare state, and he was dismayed by the refusal of Labour’s senior figures to take seriously his advocacy of consumers as an important interest group to recognise alongside the producers organised in trade unions. After he quit the research department and the party, the first of his many innovations as a multifaceted social entrepreneur was therefore to set up the Consumers' Association and its high-profile magazine Which? in 1957. Young then went on to champion families, neighbourhoods and formative learning experiences in an updated version of ethical socialism: aiming to change society from the bottom up, by changing its individual members, rather than from the top down, by passing parliamentary legislation.
This sort of ethical-socialist experimentation with small-scale communities, usually run on a shoe-string, is clearly very different from the organisation of workers in national unions with large financial reserves, capable of effective bargaining with employers and the state. But placing them alongside each other as two aspects of the British tradition of pluralism is not quite as eccentric as it might at first seem. For in the nineteenth century this was exactly how trade unionists themselves envisaged desirable progress: in the days when they formed the popular backbone of Gladstonian Liberalism their ideal society was to be organised, not by the central state, but by the unions themselves alongside consumers’ and producers’ cooperatives, and municipal reforms, decided and controlled at the local level, often by working class women activists. This indeed remained the vision of the early Labour Party even after its famous adoption of a socialist clause in the constitution of 1918, for what we can think of as ‘Original Labour’ still saw the future in traditional radical-liberal terms and labelled its vision not socialism but ‘The Co-operative Commonwealth’.
The change to what we now think of as ‘Old Labour’ came as a result of the interwar depression and the political crisis of 1931, and was consolidated by the government controls of the Second World War: so that the party and the unions came increasingly to redefine both their goals and their methods in terms of national economic policy managed by the central state, rather than local social improvement managed by the municipalities in collaboration with a network of civil society organisations.
Another very important contributory factor in this transformation of ‘Original Labour’ into ‘Old Labour’ was the decline of religious affiliation and church attendance, for in the earlier years the leaders of the various wings of ‘the labour movement’ had also been held together by their joint membership of Protestant Nonconformist denominations. There is a famous catchphrase that ‘the Labour Party owed more to Methodism than to Marxism’, attractive for its alliteration and partly true, but actually the early Labour Party owed more to Congregationalism and Presbyterianism than to Methodism. In addition to the general Christian ethic of brotherhood, the adoption of decentralisation and local democracy in these churches had a powerful influence on their working-class members. Thus, it was no coincidence that the foundation conference of the Labour Party in 1900 should have been held in Memorial Hall in London: which had been built by the Congregationalists in 1862 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Act of Uniformity which restored the Anglican church after the Cromwellian Commonwealth; in turn leading to the refusal of two thousand Puritan ministers to take the requisite oath and thus to the foundation of modern Protestant Nonconformity.
The trade unions in Britain are, then, the heirs of two long-standing traditions of civil liberties: the medieval liberties of the urban guilds, free to regulate their occupations without outside interference; and the insistence on freedom of conscience and local democracy, won through two hundred years of struggle by the religious Nonconformists. Looking back in a European context, it is remarkable to observe how these traditions survived what we might call the ‘three world wars’ of 1793-1815, 1914-1918 and 1939-45 in large, and increasingly larger, part because of the contributions of the unions and their members to the British war efforts. The appropriate place of trade unions today is, therefore, not to serve as stepping stones towards state-socialism, or to be stripped of all their autonomy by intrusive ‘neo-liberal’ legislation; but rather to flourish as one effective form of voluntary association alongside many others, within a free, diverse and self-governing society.
Ackers, P., and Reid, A.J., (eds), Alternatives to State-Socialism in Britain. Other Worlds of Labour in the Twentieth Century (London, 2016).
Biagini, E.F., and Reid, A.J., (eds), Currents of Radicalism. Popular Radicalism, Organised Labour and Party Politics in Britain, 1850-1914 (Cambridge, 1991).
Leeson, R.A., Travelling Brothers. The Six Centuries’ Road from Craft Fellowship to Trade Unionism (London, 1979).
Milne-Bailey, W., Trade Unions and the State (London, 1934).
Reid, A.J., United We Stand. A History of Britain’s Trade Unions (London, 2004).
Alastair J. Reid is a Life Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge. In 2002 he was one of the co-founders of History & Policy, and in 2009 one of the founding convenors of its Trade Union Forum.
Trade unions and the law - history and a way forward?
Trade unions: a foundation of political pluralism? | 2019-04-26T08:43:37Z | http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/trade-unions-and-original-labour-an-alternative-to-state-socialism |
I have just read another article of urgency warning of an imminent war, which I do not doubt, but what concerns me is that attached to this ever present, and now even probable possibility, is the expectation that this will set in motion the world wide persecution of the Jews, and that now is the time to prepare all possible means of transport to get Jews back to the Land.
It is not the sobriety of the warning that concerns me, but the failure to distinguish events that belong to different times and circumstances. I believe such misplacement of the order of events can lead to premature decisions and expectations that further discredit prophecy and distract from the real thing when the real time comes. This concern has moved me to point out some important distinctions that might save some from needless confusion and decisions that are based on false assumptions.
I ask of those that have little enough patience with theological hair splitting to bear with me a little, as I feel I must go into some detail in order to show the order of events that we must keep in mind if we are to avoid the false alarms of prophetic speculation, since by these, many are further disarmed and unprepared for the real thing when it comes.
While it is true that antisemitism can break out anywhere anytime, it is usually possible to “some extent” to see it coming if we are indeed expecting it to increase suddenly and pervasively, particularly as Israel is made to appear the cause of the world’s woes.
We know that the Jews are not the object of the last world wide persecution UNTIL the last 3 1/2 years. Furthermore, we know that Jacob’s trouble comes 3 1/2 years after the covenant has been confirmed that brings the deadly false peace (Isa 28:15, 18; Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26; Dan 9:27; 11:23; 1Thes 5:3). There may indeed be tribulation, but “the tribulation, the great one” of Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21 and Rev 7:14 cannot begin before there is a sacrifice and a temple that stands again, at least in some early stage of construction (Dan 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4). This alone is sufficient to make the time clear when it is time to know the time with that degree of definite certainty.
Therefore, even if Russia and China take out America, or any other conceivable combination of events in a world war III type scenario, we know that Israel survives as a nation, and evidently comes into an even greater political and strategic advantage in the region. Why? It is because Israel must make the false peace that provides for the conditions necessary for the abomination that comes in the middle of the week, 3 1/2 years after the great delusion that presumes a lasting peace for Israel can be possible apart from an everlasting righteousness.
Now certainly, the godly remnant that has foreseen the evil has made ready to hide Jews in flight, but once again, that particular flight does not begin until the beginning of the last 3 1/2 years. Now here’s why I point out what is too little considered. The body of Christ that has been hiding and preaching the gospel to persecuted Israel in a mutual experience of persecution and flight will NOT be the direct agents of Jewish return. This is because we will have been gathered to Christ at His return by way of rapture at the “last” trump (compare Mt 24:31; 1Cor 15:52; 1Thes 4:14, 17; 2Thes 2:1; Rev 10:7; 11:15).
The true bride will be the witness that prepares them for repentance and return, but they will not be the physical agents for that return. The world wide return of Israel that comes only after the destruction of Antichrist at the day of the Lord (2Thes 2:1-3, 8) will be by the assistance of gentiles that manifestly were not “in Christ” at the time of the rapture. I’ll return to this.
If plain language is permitted to plainly describe the time and nature of Jewish return, we can see that THIS return is by natural means of transport (Isa 60:9; 66:20), employed by thankful gentiles (Isa 49:22) who have manifestly survived the great tribulation, and count it greatest privilege to bring the sons and daughters of Israel home, as an holy offering to the Lord (compare Isa 49:22; 60:9; 66:20). Context and language, both here and many places, will show that this is AFTER the day of the Lord.
The language in its proper context will further show that these gentile survivors, along with the saved of Israel, enter the millennial earth in natural bodies. This stands in marked contrast with the translation and catching up of the bride into glorified immortality to rule and reign with Christ over the millennial earth.
The day of the Lord salvation of Israel happens in conjunction with the revelation of the returning Jesus (Zech 12:10; Mt 23:39; Acts 3:20; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7). This is why the penitent survivors of Jacob’s trouble are not changed and taken up by way of rapture. It is because they were not already “in Christ” at the time of the rapture.
The Jews that get saved before the rapture will be changed and caught up with all who are “in Christ” at the point of the rapture. This is clear from 1Cor 15:23, 52 and 1Thes 4:14. However, the penitent survivors of Israel do not go up with the church, but are shown going into the millennium, as newly filled with the Spirit, but in natural bodies. The reason seems clear. Scripture is harmonized when we recognize that at the same instant the bride is being changed and caught up, the penitent remnant of Israel are, at that same moment, able now to “look upon Him whom they pierced” (Zech 12:10; Mt 23:39; Rev 1:7). That, by the way, is the look of faith and revelation, not a mere physical seeing. It will be like Paul’s seeing of Christ on the Damascus road.
“At once,” and “in one day,” the revived nation passes from death to life (Isa 66:8; Eze 39:22; Zech 3:9; 14:7). Clearly, this is the day of the Lord when the Deliverer comes out of Zion to turn away ungodliness from Jacob (Isa 59:19-21; Acts 3:20-21 with Ro 11:26). Many hasten to point out that the day of the Lord is much more than a 24 hour period. That is true; but this point of transition is even more precise than a single day. It comes “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1Cor 15:52), not only “in one day”, but “at once” (Isa 66:8).
A careful comparison of scripture with scripture will show that the spiritual regeneration of Israel comes immediately with the revelation of Christ in conjunction with the pouring out of the Spirit. The time is clear. It is the great and notable day of the Lord (compare Joel 2:28-32; 3:14-16, but especially Eze 39:29 with Zech 12:10; Mt 23:39; Acts 3:20; Rev 1:7). To make the time even more definite, note that both Jesus and Peter quote from Joel’s prophecy to show that the darkness that comes AFTER the tribulation (Mt 24:29) comes BEFORE the great and notable day of the Lord (compare Mt 24:29 with Acts 2:20; 2Pet 3:10, 12 with Rev 16:14-17 with Eze 39:8). So clearly, the ‘national’ salvation of Israel is at the end of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7), but this does not mean that many Jews have not been saved all along the way with all that great multitude that comes out of ‘the tribulation, the great one’ (Rev 7:9, 13-14).
If we will “carefully” examine the context of the scriptures describing this last, and clearly post-tribulational return, we will see that it is not the preliminary return in unbelief that we see today (also foretold in prophecy, Eze 38:8; Zeph 2:1-2). We must distinguish, since this latter and final return will be world wide and complete, to the last person (Eze 39:28).
This return is AFTER Jacob’s trouble. It is AFTER the great and notable day of the Lord. It is AFTER the last trumpet (Isa 27:13; Mt 24:31; 1Cor 15:52; Rev 10:7; 11:15). It is the earliest days of the millennium. Christ has returned and the true bride has been translated into glorified immortality by way of rapture and resurrection. In contrast, the Jews are returning from every nation in natural bodies by every natural means of transport (Isa 66:20). They are NOT gathered to meet the Lord in the air. We are careless with the plain language of scripture if we do not make this distinction, since in no other way (of which I’m aware) can the scripture be harmonized. The day of the Lord will mean rapture for the true church (of this present age); it will mean repentance and return for the saved remnant of Israel.
The time is clear; and the manner and the means are just as clear. After the bride has been caught up and gathered (Mt 24:31; 2Thes 2:1) to meet the Lord in the air (1Thes 4:17) , gentiles are depicted escorting a contrite and penitent remnant back to the Land. They do not appear to be resurrected saints, but newly awakened seekers (Zech 8:23) who are implementing every conceivable ‘natural’ mode of transportation (Isa 60:9; 66:20) to get Jews back to the Land. Christ is here; the Antichrist is destroyed, and Jews can return home safely and dwell in truest eternal security, as an all holy nation forever.
We can see why the gentiles undertake this labor of love and reverence for the everlasting covenant. With the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God has been finished (Rev 10:7), and the deeply humbled nations of the gentiles (those comparatively “few” that are left; Isa 24:6), now begin to understand the meaning behind Israel’s long and tragic experience in history (Eze 39:23, 27). This explains why these gentile survivors see their part in assisting the Jews back to the Land as an offering to the Lord (Zech 2:11; 8:23; Isa 49:22; 60:9; 66:20), but this is NOT us bringing them back; we have been taken up.
It is this clearly revealed activity of gentiles who have manifestly survived the tribulation that leads me to conclude, on the basis of 1Cor 15:23, 52 and 1Thes 4:14, that not all the unsaved of the earth take the mark of the beast, else they would not have survived Christ’s return. This seems clear, because many scriptures show that there will be some from among the nations that survive the judgments of the tribulation. These will enter the millennium in natural bodies (e.g., Isa 61:9; 65:20-23; 66:19-20; Eze 39:2, 9-16; Dan 7:12; Zech 14:16-18 et al). From this, it appears that that not everyone who is unsaved during the tribulation take the mark.
It is important that we distinguish how and by whom Jews return from all lands after the tribulation. It is clear that they do not return by way of rapture, but as newly born again, Spirit filled believers, assisted by surviving gentiles whose hearts have been lately turned towards God and His elect people, as the dust of Armageddon begins to settle.
I realize that such fine points of distinction can be difficult and even frustrating, but if we do not make these important distinctions we will be prone to engage in premature or misdirected activities. Even though the expectation of certain events may be correct, our actions and decisions must be based on an accurate reading of scripture, as to their proper time and order.
Many will, of course, simply exclaim that the Spirit has led them in a certain way. Well, that is well and good for them, but what about the rest of us? Our only truly “mutual” safety is the scripture, rightly interpreted, for which we need the greatest help of the Spirit, but this is what He has promised (Jn 16:13; 1Jn 2:27). So this is not for the “experts,” but it is for the diligent (“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter;” Prov 25:2).
All is to say, while I see it is our responsibility to anticipate and prepare for the flight of the Jews, it is NOT our job to get them back to the Land. It is, however, our responsibility to do all in our power to help them survive until the day of national salvation, which I am convinced is not accidentally the time of our translation. With the birthing of Israel, the church’s travail is complete and our unique task for this dispensation is finished in their return. The salvation of Israel does not come in a vacuum. It is the result of a combination of the church’s prophetic witness (Dan 11:33) amid an unequaled tribulation of fearful “signs” in earth and in heaven (Mt 24:3, 30; Lk 21:11; Acts 2:19) empty Jacob of his power (Deut 32:36 with Dan 12:7).
Indeed, we may say that now is the time to prepare spiritually and practically for a soon time when none can buy or sell, and when we know that not only Jews, but all true believers will be hated and hunted, but how is now the time to hide Jews? How can now be the time to prepare ships for their return? I can see where ships may indeed play a role in their flight and preservation during the tribulation, but the ships that bring them home are those put into use by the gentile survivors of the tribulation (Isa 60:9). The only reason I can imagine that we should work towards returning Jews to the Land before the time of Jacob’s trouble is if we ‘assume’ that that the greater potential for Jewish survival will be in the Land, but that is not what the evidence suggests.
I would just point out that when the great post-tribulational trumpet of Isa 27:13 sounds, it finds Jews who are near to perishing in Egypt and Assyria. Could it be that Jews have fled to these nations, because the prospect for Jewish survival is greater in these presently hostile nations than in the Land itself? This, and the clear evidence of scripture that Jewish survival will depend upon flight into the neighboring wilderness (Isa 16:1-5; 26:20; 42:11; Mt 24:16; Rev 12:6, 14) and into the “wilderness of the nations” (Eze 20:35) leads me to conclude that the time before an unequaled tribulation that begins and has its first concentration “in the Land” is NOT the time to encourage Jews back to the Land, at least not without fearlessly telling them what they’re in for.
I do not doubt the crisis or the urgency to anticipate the ever present probability of war, not only in Israel, but one that could very easily spread throughout the world. I expect just such a thing to bring about the conditions that will make the false peace possible. I do NOT, however, expect that this preliminary violence will particularly target Jews in the nations. There must be a false peace after the storm, which will be the delusive calm before the ultimate storm.
We can certainly expect that a war that begins with a strike on Iran will certainly bring an attempted retaliation on the nation. It is also possible, even likely, that terrorists cells will target Jewish population centers throughout the world, but this is not the time of the final flight of Jews, and it is not, in my view, the time to be trying to get Jews back to the Land.
Some of my closest and dearest brothers oppose me on this, but I will bear the reproach for splitting theological hairs if it can prevent well meaning believers from further embarrassing the prophetic scriptures by premature actions due to neglect of plain language in its context.
I’m glad you asked, brother. I should have been clearer. The answer is no; I see the two events as simultaneous. Both are triggered by nothing less than the Lord’s glorious coming in clouds “immediately AFTER the tribulation,” as He descends to the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4; Job 19:25). At the very moment of His visible appearing (Mt 24:27; 1Cor 15:52; Rev 1:7), those who have remained alive will be caught up to meet the myriads of departed saints who are coming with him (compare Isa 13:3; Joel 3:11; Zech 14:5; 1Thes 3:13; 4:14). This becomes clear when we see that the day of the Lord is also the time of the rapture.
No time at all. The rapture happens at the last trumpet in manifest connection with the day of the Lord (Mt 24:29, 31 with 1Cor 15:52; 1Thes 5:2, 4; 2Thes 2:1-3). The day of the Lord, or the “day of God” Almighty, is everywhere shown to come AFTER the tribulation.(Compare Mt 24:29, 43; with Acts 2:20; 2Thes 2:3, 8; 2Pet 3:10. 12 with Rev 16:14-16). Note the relationship between these passages show that the ‘thief like’ day of the Lord is clearly AFTER the stellar darkness (Acts 2:20) that comes AFTER the tribulation (Mt 24:29). If we compare 2 Pet 3:10, 12 with Rev 16:14-16, we see that the day of the Lord, also called, ‘day of God’ and ‘day of God Almighty’ does not come as a thief until sometime AFTER the sixth bowel in Rev 16:14-15. This shows clearly that the thief like return of Christ is at the very end of the tribulation and not sooner.
Therefore, it is a fallacy to try to separate the Lord’s return from the day of the Lord, and the time of the day of the Lord is very clearly AFTER the tribulation. (Mt 24:29 with Acts 2:20; Rev 16:14-15). Although the day of the Lord comes as a thief, this does not mean that it takes the godly by surprise (1Thes 5:4). Contrary to popular opinion, Christ’s does not come without sign or warning, as in pre-tribulationism. Even if misinterpreted as to their proper meaning, the principal sign will be clear and outward for all to see (Mt 24:15). The only reason the signs will be ignored or misinterpreted is because of an unparalleled deception that scripture warns will prevail in those days (Mt 24:24). For this, Jesus prescribes only one safe antidote (Mt 13:23).
Yes, it takes time to traverse sea and land on the long trek back home from the lands of their dispersion, but this is what a host of Old Testament passages depict. Again, the question will come to whether such passages are properly to be interpreted literally according to the original author’s intention, or some other way? From this we see that the saved remnant of Israel (such that survive the tribulation to go into the millennial age in natural bodies) were not members of the body (not yet “in Christ”) at the time of the rapture. Evidently, the penitent remnant are enabled to “look upon Him whom they pierced” (Zech 12:10) at the precise moment that He is coming in the clouds (Rev 1:7) to destroy Antichrist and to gather His elect at the last trump (Mt 24:31; 1Cor 15:52; 2Thes 2:1-3, 8; Rev 10:7: 11:15-18). At that same moment, the surviving remnant of Israel are being born (spiritually reborn) “at once” and in “one day” (Isa 66:8; Eze 39:22; Zech 3:9; 14:7). That is the day of the Lord. It is when ungodliness is turned away from Jacob (compare Isa 59:19-21 with Ro 11:25-29). It is the day the Spirit is poured out on the penitent remnant (Joel 2:28-32; Eze 39:27-29 with Zech 12:10; Rev 1:7). Because the Jewish remnant were not saved before the rapture, they were not changed into glorified immortality at the last trump, with “all” who were already in Christ (1Cor 15:23; 52; 1Thes 4:14, 17). If we let the day of the Lord be what scripture describes as “one day” after the tribulation, then we can see that the beleaguered remnant of Israel is being given the gift of repentance on the same day that the church is being caught up. That is why their experience is markedly different from that of those who were already in Christ at the time of the rapture. That is why their return to the Land in natural bodies and with the assistance of gentiles who have survived the tribulation is quite to be distinguished from the post-resurrection experience of the church.
This entry was posted in Avoiding False Alarms, Jacob's Trouble, Prophecy, The Day of the Lord, The Last Days, The Rapture. Bookmark the permalink.
I believe this can be further demonstrated by Matthew 24:40-41. Two men will be in the field, one taken and the other left. This clearly shows that the non-believer and believer will be working side by side during the tribulation and right up until the second coming of Yeshua.
I believe these group of non-believers that do not have the mark would best fit militia and anti-government groups that will not take the mark strictly out of rebellion against “Big Brother.” These militia camps would also provide safe haven for Christians who share a common distaste for the system of the Anti-Christ.
I believe this scripture clearly shows non-believers without the mark at the return of Christ. If they had the mark, a believer could not safely be working beside them, as this scripture clearly implies.
Thanks Dave, I agree very much with your point from Mt 24:40-41 and have always thought it to be relevant in showing that not all who are left behind at the rapture have the mark, else they would not be side by side with believers at the time of the Lord’s post-tribulational return, as you correctly point out. In my view, this shows that not all who have fled the Antichrist have passed through the straight gate of regeneration. This explains why some are left behind at the rapture but not destroyed with those who have passed into irreversible reprobration by taking the mark. Many of these gentile survivors, greatly humbled by the recent supernatural happenings, will count it a supreme privilege to assist in the return of the Jews to their land. The mystery of God will be finished (Rev 10:7), and those that are left from among the nations (Isa 24:6) are awakening to the meaning of what has transpired (Eze 39:23, 27; Rev 10:7). | 2019-04-26T07:38:33Z | http://the.mysteryofisrael.org/2011/11/30/avoiding-the-false-alarms-of-prophetic-speculation/ |
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I’m a big proponent of outsourcing editing in my wedding photography business. There’s probably nothing more painful to me than the thought of trudging through 800-1000 images from each wedding I photograph. However, when it comes to my favorite few images from each job, the ones that I’ll share on social media or use to update my website, I take a dive into Lightroom and Photoshop and enjoy every second of it.
From speaking to newer photographers, I’m learning that many of them aren’t using Photoshop in their businesses and workflow, but instead are utilizing Lightroom for 90-100% of their post-processing. One of the newest trends is being able to retouch in Lightroom, rather than having to do it solely in Photoshop. There’s nothing that flows about doing half the post-processing in Lightroom and then having to jump into Photoshop to finish things up image-by-image. Personally, I don’t have nearly enough experience in Lightroom or teaching its advanced techniques, so I interviewed Adobe Lightroom Certified Instructor and upcoming WPPI speaker, Dave Doeppel, about how his workflow evolved this year in his Pinup and Boudoir business and how the rest of us can do the same.
Vanessa: You have a very unique look to your images. What is your overall process to pull off this look that shows off your brand so well?
Dave: My Pinup photographs are heavily post-processed to get the look I want. This requires Photoshop and lots of high-end techniques like Frequency Separation, Dodge and Burn, and a handful of specific actions. On the Boudoir and Portrait side of my business, I do not need as much, if any, post processing and rarely do I need to go into Photoshop unless I wanted to do a bit of skin smoothing or clean up some blemishes.
Vanessa: Why did you rely mostly on Photoshop, rather than Lightroom, initially?
Dave: In previous versions of Lightroom, it just wasn't possible to do much of that work and you really needed to look to Photoshop for it. Lightroom 5 has changed that; the Adjustment Brush and the Spot Removal tool work far better than previous versions. Using the Spot Removal Tool in Heal mode does a fabulous job of clearing up blemishes. Now, the Adjustment Brush also comes with some defaults, one of them being Soften Skin. What does it do? It dials the Clarity slider all the way down to -100. Does it smooth the skin? Yes. Does it look good? Not really. So, I still never did much retouching in Lightroom.
Vanessa: You’ve since adopted Lightroom into your workflow more. How did that change?
Dave: Earlier this year I was at WPPI in Las Vegas. Since I’m known as a Lightroom guy, other attendees kept asking me if I knew about the Lightroom Retouching Kit. There was quite a buzz going on so I figured I better check it out. I searched them out and found their booth, got a nice little demo on it, and I bought it. It seemed pretty cool and it looked like it would fill a need for many photographers that needed to do some basic retouching but are just too intimidated by Photoshop, and it is reasonably priced.
Dave: The Lightroom Retouching Toolkit (LRT) is a set of 48 Lightroom brushes that work with the Adjustment Brush. They are available in the drop down for not only the Adjustment Brush but for the Graduated and Radial filters as well. The later will allow you to create some cool effects like sun flare.
When you look at the drop down you will find the presets are appropriately labeled and easy to figure out what they do. They start with a couple of general adjustments for Brighten/Darken functions and then into the cornerstone of this kit, the Beauty Brushes. For the most part, I have stayed with the standard Beauty Brush. If I need more I simply click New and brush again. If it’s too much, you can either tweak individual settings or collapse the adjustments with the arrow and you can lower the overall adjustment, almost like Layer Opacity in Photoshop.
Vanessa: Now that Lightroom 5 and the Lightroom Retouching Toolkit help you in your workflow, how much time do you save not using Photoshop as frequently?
Dave: Just the fact that I can stay in Lightroom and not have to make that trip into Photoshop saves me tons of time. Even for images that I will need to do retouching in Photoshop, I can do some preliminary work in Lightroom first so that they will be good enough to send to clients for their selection process, and then only further retouch the selected images. Not having to do major retouching on every image is a huge time saver. It is also saving hard drive space as the images do not have to be exported to a TIFF or PSD file to go to Photoshop and back. Adding the Lightroom Retouching Toolkit doesn’t break the bank and will save you more than that in time savings.
Vanessa: Do you think professional photographers will start to use Photoshop less as Lightroom becomes more powerful and easy-to-use presets and brushes like these become more readily available?
Dave: Absolutely. The changes and upgrades Adobe has been making in Lightroom specifically are really moving towards a total solution for photographers. Especially for portrait and wedding photographers that typically do not need to advanced features of Photoshop. Combining quality presets and brushes along with the continuous upgrade you get with Lightroom on the Creative Cloud, and you will soon have a one-stop solution for post-production.
Vanessa: What advice can you give new and seasoned photographers in regards to how much time they should spend learning Photoshop vs. learning Lightroom?
Dave: While it never hurts to be educated in multiple tools to run your business, I think that any photographer should invest the time in learning Lightroom. Its key features of file management are critical to understand and will avoid file loss. Proper file management and backups are some of the key features I teach in my Lightroom training.
Dave is a Los Angeles based photographer and instructor who you can learn from at WPPI in March 2015 in Las Vegas. Until then, for more of his Adobe Lightroom Certified expertise, check out his Lightroom training website.
Outsourcing editing? Is that really common practice? I cant imagine not editing my own work. I wouldnt feel comfortable putting my name on it.
It is semi common. It depends a lot on how much you shoot what you shoot and how reliant you are on post processing. If you are a wedding shoot who believes in delivering a large quantity of images with lots of post it makes sense.
If you are doing same day turn and burn for editorial use of for clients that need images fast no. It also it depends on style. I am old school, I started with film so I tend to be more focused on capture than post. But most my clients have their own graphic artist and art directors so they want very little post.
So as always it depends on what you shoot, your style and client's need.
Also a long time ago I had a college professor warn us that the more you are in the darkroom the less you are shooting and the less you are promoting yourself. I think this more true now with post processing.
I shoot about 20 weddings a year among other things. I could never outsource. The post processing is 50% of the image. To me it's cheating.
Not to sound like a jerk, but is this an ad?
As I mentioned in the interview, this was software I purchased at WPPI this year. Not an ad. :) This is a great tool for photographers that don't need pixel level editing on their images and can get away with some basic retouching.
Interesting how the Author of this article is also the first name listed on the company's website endorsements, on their home page.
photoshop is not dead. the reason that new guys use it more is because when we started all we had was photoshop. they started with lightroom. both are powerful programs and each has it's place. I've used photoshop almost since day one so it's kinda tough to dump it at this point. i'm comfortable with it and just can't stop it now.
Photoshop will never be replaced by Lightroom. I use it extensively in my Pinup work. But for basic portraiture this set of brushes works really well and will save many photographers lots of time.
I'm still looking for Frequency Separation in Lightroom :D... Common guys ... PS is at its beginning !
Lr, as a tool, is best for the small sized edits— computer monitors, small prints, albums, etc.— and for universal and general adjustments, but you really won't be able to get away with large displays without the more powerful, pixel by pixel work you do in Photoshop.
Also, for larger more complicated edits, Lr does not have the organization capabilities of Ps layers. I mean, the Lr toolkit is nice, but try figuring out which one of those brushes affected what when you have to go back and adjust it.
What I think will eventually happen (and has happened to some degree) is that Adobe will begin to develop Ps type capabilities for Lr and it will become an unwieldy, problematic program with an identity crisis (much like MS Office).
I agree for the most part. I do use LR...a lot. It is great for keeping track of photos and global adjustments. I don't really get into the brushes though nor do I do any skin work there. Most of the heavy lifting is done in PS. I don't really have too much of a problem using the two together.
" Lr does not have the organization capabilities of Ps layers. I mean, the Lr toolkit is nice, but try figuring out which one of those brushes affected what when you have to go back and adjust it."
I just use Snapshots, it's fast and you can name them anything you want. Then you know where you adjusted which whatever.
Snapshots are great, and I use them too, but they are too general for fine tuning. When you want to make one minor adjustment to something you've already done, finding what is making that change is a problem in Lightroom.
With PS, if I have adjusted the brightness of the eyes, the clarity of eyes, the color of the eyes, and enhanced the eye make-up, all I have to do is find the appropriately labeled layer to change what I have done. In LR, localized adjustments are made with brushes which aren't labeled. Figuring it out is a matter of trial and error. I don't have time for that.
My personal feeling about Photoshop's intimidation factor is a lot like learning to work with strobe. It is scary at first but once you get past that benefits out way fear. Also I have to wonder if Lightroom is getting at a tipping point also. The more photoshop features you add to Lightroom then greater learning curb.
At some point it will be as intimidating as photoshop. In someways it reminds me of Microsoft's Word which is extremely blotted with lots of features that it made simple text editing a pain.
Your first two sentence say it all to me. I couldn't agree more. I put off learning PS for YEARS because I didn't understand it, was intimidated by it, etc. I buckled down several years back and really used all the free tutorials out there(and some I paid for too) to pick apart most of uses/tools. I feel with PS you are never really an expert but it no longer intimidates me at all.
I should have done that years ago.
Microsoft office suite is exactly the parallel I draw.
Microsoft originally started by trying to make each program complimentary, but separate. Then they started adding the functionality and features from one program to another. Now, each piece of software is overly complicated with several dynamic menu layers to try to keep it organized.
This is the way I see Adobe moving. I was really beginning to think this once they added video editing to PS and now to LR. Not every program should be all things to all people.
I think most people are using LR more is because not only do they not understand Photoshop, but LR gives them enough post processing to get the bulk of their work done. This is especially so if you're working in controlled, or at least semi-controlled, lighting and shooting environments where you can optimize your exposures and compositions. If your shot is good out of the box you're not going to need much to finish it off, unless you're going for a complex multi-element photocomposite. Both Adobe and Phase One are picking up on this trend, which is why you're seeing more editing capability in these apps.
I agree with the rest of your post but I actually think the opposite of your first sentence. Photoshop as a concept seems to me to be very easy to grasp whereas the whole asset management system in LR can seem quite intimidating even though that is it's greatest strength and that IMO is why people use it.
I think that is where most new Lightroom users really get into trouble as well. They don't understand the basics of how Lightroom manages files. That is Lightroom's greatest feature over apps like Bridge. The File Management is just incredible. But when people move over from other software that actually encapsulates their images inside a library container, they get quite confused. The ability to then apply global and local adjustments in Develop is an added bonus.
Good point, I've been using Photoshop for nearly 20 years now, remember when layers arrived in version 3 (I think), that was revolutionary!
I know PS reasonably well but I certainly know it well enough to know that it goes a lot deeper than the basic way I use it!
That's a mighty big logo image you got in the article footer there.
In all honesty, Lightroom is still pretty bare when it comes to retouching and local adjustments. Yeah, you can use the adjustment brush, which is super helpful, but LR doesn't offer a lot of precision even in that tool. It's much more about global editing and cataloging.
I use both, and I love both.
It's definitely not for everyone and not designed for major retouching work, but for general work, these brush presets are designed well and save time.
I'm surprised to learn among my colleagues how many are not using lightroom and are solely working in adobe camera raw/bridge and photoshop. It took me a little time to get acclimated to lightroom workflow, but it's the number 1 thing any photographer can do to point themselves in the right direction with faster and more efficient process. I also appreciate it's integration with Photoshop and being able to edit in PS and have it sync with my photo in my lightroom catalog is essential to helping me polish off edits that need that extra finessing.
It is not as surprising as may think. I do not use Lightroom because it has major issues with our company Macs. We have multiple computers accessing images on a network server. Lightroom because of it library functions does work with this set up. So for us Adobe Bridge with Camera RAW editor.
When I was a guest on a podcast with Adobe's Tom Hogarty we discussed this. Adobe is aware of this issue and has numerous enquiries on this but has yet to resolve it.
Also AP and some newspapers have policies that only JPEG can be shoot so bridge is popular way to skim through images and write captions.
Lightroom is definitely not the single solution for every photographer out there. I run Lightroom on multiple Mac's without issue. It is definitely not designed as a network sharing application for sure. I would not really call this an issue as it is just not designed that way. It can definitely index images that are stored on a network share, but the catalog itself is not designed to be shared. I would think there are far more photographers working solo then there are teams that would need to share this way. I know for photojournalists, PhotoMechanic is the industry standard for culling and getting images out quickly. Lightroom cannot compete with that.
I am not saying don't use Lightroom, in fact I beta tested back in Aldus days. It is a useful tool but I am bummed that it does not work in a company environment in which we have photographers, paginators, web designers, graphic artists and video editors sharing files.
Also to be fair Aperture has the same issues, and Adobe is aware of it. I would be happy if I just had the basic RAW editing controls without the Library functions. Well Adobe Bridge does a decent and is my second choice. | 2019-04-23T16:57:31Z | https://fstoppers.com/education/photoshop-dead-interview-dave-doeppel-44195?utm_source=FS_RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=Author_RSS |
A TDM/PCM switching network comprising a plurality of time and spatial switching circuits associated with different groups of TDM lines. The present invention is primarily concerned with the manner in which these time and spatial switching circuits are arranged to transmit PCM words from a particular origin route to a given destination route. The spatial switching circuits each include intermediate storage means having a plurality of individual storage positions which are individually assigned to a predetermined destination route in the switching network. Time slots on the TDM lines are divided into a plurality of time intervals each associated with a particular TDM line of the group of TDM lines connected to the time circuit. Time slots are transmitted to the spatial switching circuit which includes a holding storage for allocating the PCM signal contained in the time intervals of a particular time slot to an intermediate storage according to the time slot or time channel itself. The PCM signals are connected to the appropriate destination TDM line through a demultiplexer/multiplexer device and other spatial switching circuits.
This is a continuation of Ser. No. 729,717, filed Oct. 5, 1976, now abandoned; which is a continuation of Ser. No. 644,865, filed Dec. 29, 1975, now abandoned; which is a continuation of Ser. No. 552,809, filed Dec. 25, 1975, now abandoned; which is a continuation of Ser. No. 343,238, filed Mar. 21, 1973, now abandoned.
In conventional telecommunication switching systems, more particularly telephone switching systems, analog signal transmissions, which are continuous in time, occur in transmission channels physically or spatially separated from one another. Modern telephone switching systems have tended not to utilized the space division principle, but the time-division multiplex principle, according to which analog signals, which are discontinuous in time, are transmitted. Of particular importance are the telephone switching systems in which a transmission of digital signals (which are also discontinuous in time) takes place. In this connection, the pulse code modulation (PCM) is used wherein, at periodically consecutive instants, the instantaneous values of the amplitudes of the voice signal are characterized through binary words, which are subsequently transmitted.
A basic task of a PCM time-division multiplex central office lies in through-connecting the binary words occurring on the time-division multiplex lines of the PCM receiver leading to the central office in time channels which on these lines are allotted to the individual connections, to the desired connection in accordance with selected time-division multiplex lines of the PCM sender leading away from the central office. Thus, in the course of a time-division multiplex procedure a time channel conversion must be carried out from the time channel seized on the incoming time-division multiplex lines to the time channel to be seized on the outgoing time-division multiplex line. Further, a spatial through-connection must be effected from an incoming time-division multiplex line to the selected outgoing time-division multiplex line.
In accordance with the above tasks in time sharing technology, an essential part of the switching systems are switching networks comprising time circuits and spatial circuits. The timing circuits have intermediate storages in which the PCM signals are stored intermediately during the time interval between incoming and outgoing time channel. The spatial circuits comprise crosspoint switches operated periodically and by pulses, over which incoming time-division multiplex lines are capable of being connected with outgoing time-division multiplex lines. Depending on the functional sequence of the timing circuits and spatial circuits, several structures of switching networks are possible. The choice of circuit used depends on the conditions imposed on the switching system.
For example, the space-time-space system (S-T-S) comprises a spatial circuit at the input end, to which are connected the storages of the timing circuit, and the outputs of which are connected with the inputs of a second spatial circuit at the output end. This structure of the switching network has the characteristic that the centrally arranged intermediate storages of the timing circuit can be utilized repeatedly in time sharing, and it is particularly of advantage in synchronous telecommunications networks, since they need no storages at the input and output of the switching centers. A disadvantage of this switching network structure is the fact that the expansion possibility of switching centers so constructed cannot be carried out in small steps with economically justifiable expenditure, since a minimum number of storages must be committed in advance with the basic expansion. Compared thereto, switching networks with a time-space (T-S) structure are more advantageous. At the input end, they have timing circuits allocated to individual lines for the conversion from incoming time channels to outgoing time channels, to which are connected the switching networks having crosspoint contacts which are operated during the time channels to which conversion has taken place through the timing circuit. Switching networks, so constructed, can be expanded without difficulty and are of interest especially for asynchronous switching systems in which intermediate storages are at any rate needed at the input end for purposes of synchronization.
The transmission of PCM signals in the course of such switching can be accomplished either according to the serial bit method, i.e., the individual bits of the PCM signals are transmitted sequentially, or according to the bit parallel method, i.e., all the bits of a PCM signal are transmitted simultaneously. Parallel bit transmission requires either a serial to parallel or parallel to serial converter at the input and output end and, at least at the input end, a storage is required in which the PCM signals for the duration of a pulse frame can be stored intermediately. Furthermore, an increased expenditure for crosspoint switches is required in accordance with the number of bits per PCM signal. However, since in the case of parallel through-connection only a fraction of the through-connection time is required, as is required for series through-connection, the crosspoints and collecting mains disposed within the spatial switching network can be considerably better utilized so that the parallel through-connecting in comparatively large storage systems leads to great economy.
In a time-division multiplex switching network of known construction (West German Examined Application No. 1,762,270) using the T-S structure, and wherein the transmission of the PCM signal takes place according to the parallel bit method, the expansion possibilities mentioned hereinabove, which are virtually unlimited by the system, are, likewise, provided in principle. Even if this type of time-division multiplex switching networks can readily be adapted to the particular telephone traffic to be controlled through corresponding expansions, certain limits remain, because very large spatial switching networks no longer offer an economically acceptable solution, due to the wiring difficulty of them.
It is an object of the invention to provide a time-division multiplex switching network using the T-S structure, wherein expansions are readily feasible and wherein, even if very large switching networks arise as a result, the amount of apparatus required, particularly for the spatial switching network therein, is held within reasonable bounds.
The aforementioned and other objects are obtained in a time-division multiplex switching network having time and spatial circuits in time and space structure, and wherein the spatial through-connection from an incoming time-division multiplex line to an outgoing time-division multiplex line takes place according to the parallel bit method.
According to the invention, this time-division multiplex switching network is characterized by the fact that the spatial switching stages are formed by intermediate storages with storage positions allocated individually to the destination to be selected. The individual PCM signals are written into the latter storage positions with the addresses corresponding to the destination. This information is written into these storages during the time intervals allocated individually to the individual message originating points of the individual time slots forming the particular time channel, and they are read out from these storage positions cyclically, displaced by one time slot.
Between a number of equal-ranking spatial switching stages and a number of successively arranged, equal-ranking spatial switching stages there are inserted demultiplexer/multiplexer means which distribute the PCM signals which are interleaved in time at the outputs of the spatial switching stage outputs in accordance with the destination to be taken, among the inputs of the successively arranged spatial switching stages allocated to the particular destinations.
Due to the inventive construction of the space distribution switching stages, which admits of a route-dependent secondary multiplex formation, spatial switching networks can be constructed, as will be discussed in detail below, which have relatively few crossing conductors and which, therefore, can be produced inexpensively.
In accordance with the invention there can be a further development such that the timing circuits preceding the spatial switching network can take over the task of the first spatial switching stages, resulting in further simplification of the spatial switching network.
The principles of the invention will be more readily understood by reference to the description of a preferred embodiment in conjunction with drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the circuit arrangement of a two-stage time-division multiplex switching unit.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a time-division multiplex switching network grouped in accordance with FIG. 1, the components of which have the characteristics according to the invention.
FIG. 3 is a time diagram illustrating the processes in the spatial switching stages of the time-division multiplex switching network according to the invention.
In the time-division multiplex switching network shown in FIG. 1, timing circuits are marked Z. Each such timing circuit Z combines PCM time-division multiplex lines 1-m which are connected to the timing circuits Z over serial to parallel converters S/P. Each group of 8-wire outputs of these timing circuits Z accord with the presupposed parallel bit handling of PCM signals, each PCM word having 8 bits. Each group of outputs leads to a spatial switching stage K of the first stage A of the spatial switching network. A distribution frame V enables a connection from each output of the spatial switching stages K of the first stage A to the inputs of the spatial switching stages K of the second stage B. The outputs of the second stage B may be connected in a manner not shown to the inputs of other switching stages or over parallel to serial converters to outgoing PCM time-division multiplex lines.
FIG. 2 shows in greater detail a time-multiplex switching network having the structural arrangement shown in FIG. 1, but providing more details of the construction of the individual components, wherein like functional units are indicated by like reference letters and numerals.
The fundamental structure and functioning of spatial switching stages K will be discussed. Each of these spatial switching stages K has two intermediate storages Z1 and Z2, each of which has n storage positions for which each store 8 bits. The n storage positions are individually allocated to n destination routes, which are to be reached over the particular spatial switching stage K. The bit number 8 corresponds to the number of the code signal elements used for coding each of the PCM words. A holding storage HK serves as a means to feed the PCM signals supplied by the preceding timing circuit Z to an allocated storage position of the intermediate storages Z1 or Z2 in accordance with the destination route to be taken. The readout from the intermediate storages Z1 and Z2 occurs cyclically as indicated by the circle marked U.
The operation of a spatial switching stage K provided with intermediate storages is as follows.
Due to the parallel bit transmission of the PCM signals through the timing circuit Z, only a fraction of a time slot associated with a particular time channel is required for transmitting the PCM signals to the spatial switching stage K. Hence, each of the time slots associated with the time channels on the multiplexer line SM connected between the output of the timing circuit Z and the spatial switching stage K can be subdivided into a number of time intervals which are assigned to different origin routes, in this case, 1-m origin routes. Therefore, as is assumed in the description of FIG. 3, if a through-connection is to take place from the origin route x to the destination route y and the number of origin routes equals 16, the time channel is divided into 16 time intervals. Holding storage HK of the spatial switching stage K causes the PCM signal supplied in the given time channel to be written into a storage position of one of the two intermediate storages Z1 or Z2 which is allocated to the destination route y. Then, during the cyclic readout of the intermediate storages Z1 and Z2 the particular PCM signal appears at the output of the spatial switching stage K during the time interval y of the subsequent time channel. The time interval y is assigned to the destination route y. Since, as described hereinabove, the write-in and the readout of one and the same PCM signal takes place during different time channels, two intermediate storages are needed for alternate write-in and readout during suceeding time channels.
The intermediate storages Z1 and Z2 are conventional intermediate storages which perform a normal time slot conversion with random write-in and periodic or cyclical readout. The primary difference between the operation of conventional intermediate storages and the intermediate storages Z1 and Z2 is that the storage positions in the intermediate storages Z1 and Z2 are allocated according to the desired routes as described above rather than allocated in the conventional manner according to time channels or time slots. As a result, the address storage HK operates in the same manner as conventional address storages in known TDM switching networks except that, again, the storage positions in the intermediate storages Z1 and Z2 are allocated according to the desired routes as described above whereas, in conventional address storages, storage positions are allocated according to time channels or time slots.
Due to the construction and functioning spatial switching stages K1-Kn as described hereinabove, they each manage with one input E1-En, each of which has 8 wires due to the parallel handling of bits as discussed above. The inputs E1-En are shared by all origin routes and the outputs A1-An are shared by all destination routes. Thus, in this case, the connection of the spatial switching stage outputs A1-An of a first stage A of the switching network with the spatial switching stage inputs E1-En of spatial switching stages K of a second stage B has substantially fewer crosspoints than in conventional switching networks, in which the spatial switching stages have separate inputs for each origin route separate outputs and for each destination route.
The following is a discussion of how such a connection of the outputs and inputs of spatial switching stages K of different stages, e.g., stages A and B, of the switching network can simply be accomplished. A distribution frame V is provided for this purpose, which distributes the PCM signals, graded in time, at the switching stage outputs A1-An of stage A in accordance with their physical allocation among different spatial routes, i.e., among different spatial switching stages K of the following spatial switching stage B. In this distribution frame V, a demultiplexer/multiplexer device is provided. This demultiplex/multiplexer device has a number of lines L1 to Ln which correspond to the number of spatial switching stages K of the first stage A and which are each connected with one of the outputs A1 to An of the spatial switching stages K of the first stage A. The demultiplexer/multiplexer device has, moreover, n switches Sch 1 to Schn, which are used to connect each of the individual lines L1 to Ln with another input E1 to En of the spatial switching stages K of the second stage B. Therefore, each of these switches Sch 1 to Schn is connected on the one hand to one of the inputs E1 to En of the spatial switching stages K of the second stage B and can be connected on the other hand to each of the lines L1 to Ln. The switches Sch 1 to Schn are operated cyclically in a predetermined fixed time sequence.
According to the particular switching positions shown in FIG. 2, which represent a particular instant in time, the switch Sch1 connects the line L1 with the input E1, the switch Sch2 connects the line Ln with the input E2, and the switch Schn connects the line L2 with the input En of the spatial switching stage Kn of the second switching network stage B. For example, the PCM signals associated with the output A1 of the first spatial switching stage K1 of the first stage A, which appear during the first time interval of a given time channel corresponding to a first destination route, reach the first spatial switching stage K1 of stage B. During the same first time interval, the PCM signals provided by the output A2 of the second switching stage K2 of the first stage A reach the nth switching stage Kn of the stage B. Finally, again during the same first time interval, the PCM signals provided by the nth spatial switching stage Kn of the stage A reach the second spatial switching stage K2 of the second stage B. Thus, PCM signals from the spatial switching stages K of the first stage A are transmitted in sequence to the spatial switching stages K of the second stage B. That is, PCM signals from the first spatial switching stage K1 of the first stage A are transmitted in the time interval sequence 1 to n to the spatial switching stages K1 to Kn of the second stage B. PCM signals of the second spatial switching stage K2 of the first stage A are transmitted to the spatial switching stages K1 to Kn of the second stage B in the time interval sequence 2, 3 to n, 1, etc. Finally, the PCM signals of the nth spatial switching stage Kn of the first stage A are transmitted to the spatial switching stages K1 to Kn of the second stage B in the time interval sequence n, 1 to n-1.
As described above, the time channels of the incoming PCM signals are converted to appropriate time channels in the outgoing direction. In this embodiment conventional timing circuits Z are employed for combining 1-m time-division multiplex lines. The PCM signals on each of the TDM lines 1-m are fed to one of the storages S1-Sm of the timing circuit Z. These storages S1-Sm are allocated individually to the time-division multiplex lines 1 to m over serial to parallel converters SP1 to SPm. Each of these storages S1 to Sm has 32 storage positions for 8 bits. In a manner generally known in the art, synchronizing information is transferred on the time-division multiplex lines 1 to m in a time channel held free for such synchronizing purposes. The PCM signals supplied by the time-division multiplex lines 1 to m are entered in sequence into the proper storage positions 1 to 32 of the storages S1-Sm in accordance with the synchronizing information by the switches SchZ1 to SchZm. Thus, for example, storage position 1 of storage S1 stores a PCM word (8 bits) which is transmitted on TDM line 1 in a time slot associated with a particular time channel which is identified by the synchronizing information. Each of the other storage positions 2-32 of storage S1 is sequentially enabled by switch SchZ1 to store a PCM word transmitted on TDM line 1 in time slots associated with successive time channels. Similarly, the other storage S1-Sm in timing circuits Z1-Zn are enabled by switches SchZ1-Zm to store PCM words transmitted on TDM lines 1-m.
A conventional readout circuit L, having an operation period of 125 microseconds, which corresponds to the duration of a time slot cyclically reads out the storages S1 to Sm. The operation period of the readout circuit is such that readout circuit L covers all storages S1 to Sm in an operation period, thereby reading out one storage position from each storage S1 to Sm to one operation period. This storage position is identified by the holding circuit Hz. As a result, a storage position of each storage S1-Sm is read out in each time slot. The particular storage position identified by holding circuit Hz depends each time on the time channel with which the particular time slot is associated. Thus, the number of time intervals in PCM signal transmitted on the eight-wire line SM toward a spatial switching stage K corresponds to the number of time channels on the m time-division multiplex lines.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the readout circuit L does not operate cyclically during the readout from the storages S1-Sm, but directly classifies the read-out PCM signals in time intervals corresponding to the destination route. This means that the timing circuit Z in this case takes over the task of the spatial switching stages K of the first stage A constructed and operated according to the principles of the invention. In this case, in contradistinction to the construction of the time-division multiplex switching network shown in FIG. 2, the demultiplexer/multiplexer device V is directly connected to the outputs of the timing circuits Z.
The embodiment of the invention described hereinabove is intended only to be exemplary of the principles of the invention. It is contemplated that the described embodiment can be changed or modified, while remaining within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.
demultiplexer-multiplexer means for connecting the outputs of said spatial switching circuits of said first stage to the inputs of said spatial switching circuits of said second stage to distribute PCM signals, which are interleaved in time at said outputs of said first stage according to destination routes, among said inputs of said second stage corresponding to the destination routes.
2. The switching network defined in claim 1 wherein said intermediate storage means comprises first and second storages which are operated alternately for write-in and read-out of the pulse code modulated signals.
3. The switching network defined in claim 1 wherein said demultiplexer/multiplexer means comprises a number of lines fixedly connected to the outputs of said spatial switching circuits of said first stage.
4. The switching network defined in claim 1 wherein said time circuits precede said spatial switching circuits, said time circuits including storage means, and further comprising readout means inserted between said time circuits and said spatial switching circuits of other stages for reading-out said storage means in said time circuit in such a manner that said pulse code modulation signals are interleaved in time in accordance with the destination route. | 2019-04-25T10:19:00Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US4162375A/en |
**) marks events that have not appeared in a previous issue of Education Week.
16--Science: The Solar System From the Big Bang to the Future, sponsored by the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, for grade 6-12 science teachers, at the academy in Aurora, Ill. Deadline: March 4. Contact: Mary Lou Lipscomb, IMSA, 1500 W. Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL 60506-1000; (630) 907-5892; fax: (630) 907-5893; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.imsa.edu/center.
16--Teachers: LA County Teacher Recruitment Job Fair, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Teacher Recruitment Center, for credentialed teachers and students in teacher-preparation programs, at the Norwalk Arts and Sports Center in Norwalk, Calif. Contact: LACTRC, (800) 875-2929; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.teachnow.la.
16-19--Literacy: Ambassadors for Literacy, sponsored by the Michigan Reading Association, for teachers, administrators, professors, advocates, and parents, at the Cobo Convention Center in Detroit. Contact: MRA, 5241 Plainfield Ave. N.E., Suite I, Grand Rapids, MI 49525; (800) 672-7323; fax: (616) 361-0056; e- mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.mraread.org.
16-19--Urban schools: Legislative/Policy Conference, sponsored by the Council of the Great City Schools, for urban school superintendents, senior administrators, board members, and deans of colleges of education, at the Watergate Hotel in Washington. Contact: CGCS, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Suite 702, Washington, DC 20004; (202) 393-2427; fax: (202) 393-2400; Web site: www.cgcs.org.
16-20--Music teachers: Get the Royal Treatment in the Queen City, sponsored by the Music Teachers National Association, for music teachers, at the Convention Center and Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati. Contact: Jennifer Martin, MTNA, 441 Vine St., Suite 505, Cincinnati, OH 45202-2811; (888) 512-5278; fax: (513) 421-2503; e- mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.mtna.org.
17--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart in Charlotte, N.C. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
17-19--Higher education: National Conference on Higher Education, sponsored by the American Association for Higher Education, for educators, at the Chicago Hilton and Towers in Chicago. Contact: AAHE Service Center, 1 Dupont Circle, Suite 360, Washington, DC 20036-1110; (202) 293-6440, ext. 761; fax: (202) 293-0073; e- mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.aahe.org/conferences.htm.
17-20--Higher education: Grants Resource Center Spring Meeting, sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, for campus-sponsored program administrators, at the Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington. Contact: Jim Cummins or Marion Tangum, AASCU, 1307 New York Ave. N.W., Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 293-7070; fax: (202) 296-5819; e-mail: [email protected]@aa scu.org; Web site: www.aascu.org.
18--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Carlisle, Pa.; Columbia, S.C.; Cookeville, Tenn.; Decatur, Ill.; and Overland Park, Kan. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
18-22--Scholarships: ScholarShop Coordinator Orientation and Professional Development Session, sponsored by the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America, for ScholarShop program coordinators, in New York City. Contact: Cindy Freeman, CSFA, (800) 537-4180, ext. 462; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.csfa.org.
**18--Classroom management: Classroom management: Getting Beyond Disruption, Hostility, and Excuses: A Reality Therapy Approach, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for teachers, counselors, and principals, at the Holiday Inn- Louisville Airport in Louisville, Ky. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333- 4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
19--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Manhattan, Kan., and Oak Ridge, Tenn. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
19--Professional development: Satellite Town Meeting With Rod Paige, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, for K-12 educators, to be broadcast on national television. Contact: USDE, (800) 872-5327; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ed.gov/inits/stm/.
19-20--Classroom management: The Well-Managed Classroom, sponsored by the Girls and Boys Town National Resource Training Center, for teachers, administrators, and support staff, in Boys Town, Neb. Contact: NRTC Support Services, Box 145, Boys Town, NE 68010; (800) 545-5771, ext. 65; e-mail: [email protected].
19-22--Parental involvement: Common Sense Parenting: Training for Parent Trainers, sponsored by the Girls and Boys Town National Resource Training Center, for teachers, administrators, and support staff, in Boys Town, Neb. Contact: NRTC Support Services, Box 145, Boys Town, NE 68010; (800) 545-5771, ext. 65; e-mail: [email protected].
19-23--Bilingual education: 31st Annual International Bilingual/Multicultural Education Conference, sponsored by the National Association for Bilingual Education, for program and school administrators, educators, university professionals, trainers, researchers, policymakers, parents, and community members, at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia. Contact: NABE, 1030 15th St. N.W., Suite 470, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 898-1829; fax: (202) 789-2866; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nabe.org.
**19--Classroom management: Getting Beyond Disruption, Hostility, and Excuses: A Reality Therapy Approach, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for teachers, counselors, and principals, at the Holiday Inn-Cincinnati Eastgate in Cincinnati. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
20--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Elkhart, Ind.; Marion, Ill.; and Stroudsburg, Pa. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
20-22--Administrators: Administrative Intervention, sponsored by the Girls and Boys Town National Resource Training Center, for principals, administrators, counselors, social workers, and team leaders, in Boys Town, Neb. Contact: NRTC Support Services, Box 145, Boys Town, NE 68010; (800) 545-5771, ext. 65; e-mail: [email protected].
20-22--School boards: Technology Site Visit, sponsored by the National School Boards Association, for technology coordinators, superintendents, teachers, and school board members, at Township High School District #214 in Arlington Heights, Ill. Contact: NSBA, 1680 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 838-6722; fax: (703) 683-7590; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsba.org/conference.
20-23--Social work: National School Social Work Conference, sponsored by the School Social Workers Association of America, for school social workers, in Atlanta. Contact: Randy Fisher, Executive Director, SSWAA, PO Box 2072, Northlake, IL 60164; (847) 289-4642; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.sswaa.org.
21-23--Foreign language: Conference, sponsored by the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, for foreign-language teachers, in Kansas City, Mo. Contact: Diane Ging, CSCTFL, PO Box 21531, Columbus, OH 43221-0531; (614) 529- 0109; fax: (614) 529-0321; e-mail: [email protected].
21-22--School improvement: Focusing on Student Performance-Creating Research-Based Schoolwide Action Plans for Increasing Student Achievement, sponsored by the National Study of School Evaluation, for principals, teachers, and administrators, at the NSSE headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. Deadline: 15 days before event. Contact: Sharon Steindam, NSSE, 1699 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 406, Schaumburg, IL 60173; (847) 995-9080 or (800) 843-6773; fax: (847) 995-9088; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsse.org.
22--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Bloomington, Ind. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
23--English: Recreating the Classroom, sponsored by the Nebraska English Language Arts Council, for English teachers, in Lincoln, Neb. Contact: Clark Kolterman, (402) 643-6138 or (402) 643-2988; e-mail: [email protected].
24-27--Middle schools: 21st Annual Middle-Level Schools Conference, sponsored by the New England League of Middle Schools, for middle school educators, in Providence, R.I. Contact: NELMS, 460 Boston St., Suite 4, Topsfield, MA 01983; (978) 887- 6263; fax: (978) 887-6504; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nelms.org.
25--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Charleston, S.C. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
25-26--Language skills: Including English-Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K-12 educators and administrators, in Kansas City, Mo. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575-5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
25-26--Principals: If Only I Knew: Support for the New Principal, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K-12 educators and administrators, in Kansas City, Mo. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575- 5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
25-26--Scheduling: Instructional Strategies for Flexible Scheduling, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K-12 educators and administrators, in Kansas City, Mo. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575- 5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
25-28--Indian education: 2002 Oklahoma Johnson-O'Malley Conference, sponsored by the Oklahoma InterTribal JOM Committee, for parents, educators, and administrators involved in Indian education, at the Clarion on Meridian Hotel and Convention Center in Oklahoma City. Contact: The Cherokee Nation JOM Program, 2002 Oklahoma JOM Conference, PO Box 948, Tahlequah, OK 74465; (918) 456-0671; fax: (918) 458- 6195.
**25-27--Segregation: 3rd Annual Conference: The Resegregation of America’s Schools: What’s at Stake? What Should Be Done?, sponsored by the Learning Communities Network, for educators, funders, policymakers, and reform advocates, at the Rio All- Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Contact: Linda Boozer, Black Diamond Summit, (303) 758-6567; e-mail: [email protected].
27-30--Science: National Convention, sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association, for science teachers, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. Contact: NSTA, 1840 Wilson Blvd., Third Floor, Arlington, VA 22201-3000; (800) 328-8998; fax: (703) 243-7177; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsta.org/conventions.
1-5--Reading: The Writing Road to Reading: A Comprehensive Introduction, sponsored by the Reading Reform Foundation of New York, for educators, at the foundation in New York City. Contact: RRF, 333 W. 57th St., Suite 1L, New York, NY 10019; (212) 307-7320; fax: (212) 307-0449; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.readingreformny.org.
1-5--Research: Validity and Value in Education Research, sponsored by the American Educational Research Association, for AERA members and nonmembers, educators, policymakers, and stakeholders, at multiple facilities throughout New Orleans. Contact: Debra Gallagher, AERA, 1230 17th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20036-3078; (202) 223-9485; fax: (202) 775-1824; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.aera.net.
1-30--Technology: Internet Information Literacy, sponsored by the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, for science and mathematics teachers, on the Web at http://wizard.imsa.edu/course. Contact: Lora Kaisler, IMSA, 1500 W. Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL 60506-1000; (630) 907-5970; fax: (630) 907-5918; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.imsa.edu.
2-3--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford, Conn. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
3-6--Professional development: Teaching and Learning Without Borders: Annual International Conference and Exhibition, sponsored by the Association for Childhood Education International, for teachers, child-care workers and directors, college of education faculty, students, parents, and others interested in infancy through middle-adolescence education, at the Hyatt Regency San Diego in San Diego. Contact: ACEI, 17904 Georgia Ave., Suite 215, Olney, MD 20832; (301) 570-2111 or (800) 423-3563; fax: (301) 570-2212; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ACEI.org.
3-6--Special education: Annual Convention and Expo, sponsored by the Council for Exceptional Children, for special educators, general educators, and related service providers, at the New York Hilton Avenue of the Americas and the Sheraton New York and Manhattan in New York City. Contact: CEC, 1110 N. Glebe Road, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22201; (888) 232-7733; fax: (703) 620-4334; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.cec.sped.org.
4-6--Science: Using "Atlas of Science Literacy," sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, for educators, in Austin, Texas. Contact: Project 2061, AAAS, 1333 H St. N.W., Room 844, Washington, DC 20005; (888) 737-2061; Web site: www.pdp2061.org.
4-6--School attorneys: Council of School Attorneys' School Law Seminar, sponsored by the National School Boards Association, for school attorneys, school leaders, and school board members, in New Orleans. Contact: NSBA, 1680 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 838-6722; fax: (703) 683-7590; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsba.org/conference.
4-7--Urban school boards: Council of Urban Boards of Education Pre-Conference Meeting and Issues Forum, sponsored by the National School Boards Association, for urban school leaders and school board members, in New Orleans. Contact: NSBA, 1680 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 838-6722; fax: (703) 683-7590; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsba.org/conference.
5-6--Leadership: National Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration: Advancing Knowledge for Improved Practice, sponsored by the University Council for Educational Administration, for graduate students and educators, in New Orleans. Contact: UCEA, 205 Hill Hall, Columbia, MO 65211- 2185; (573) 884-8300; fax: (573) 884-8302; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ucea.org.
5-6--Professional development: 9th Annual Conference: The Diffusion of Knowledge, sponsored by the National Paideia Center, for educators, at the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville, Va. Contact: Alana Neal, NPC, UNCG School of Education, PO Box 26171, Greensboro, NC 27402-6171; (336) 334-3729; fax: (336) 334-3739; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.paideia.org.
5-9--Principals: 2002 Convention and Exhibit: Experience the Heart of Leadership in the Heart of Texas, sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, for elementary and middle school principals, in San Antonio. Contact: NAESP, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 684-3345; fax: (703) 518-6281; Web site: www.naesp.org.
6-9--Linguistics: Conference, sponsored by the American Association of Applied Linguistics, for language teachers, in Salt Lake City. Contact: AAAL, PO Box 21686, Eagan, MN 55121-0686; (612) 953-0805; fax: (612) 431-8404; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.aaal.org.
6--Reading: Reflections 2002, sponsored by the Vermont Council on Reading, for classroom teachers, teacher leaders, reading specialists, and administrators, at Stoweflake Resort and Conference Center in Stowe, Vt. Contact: Patricia Daniels, VCR, 609 Cherrierville Road, Fairfax, VT 05454; (802) 527-7816; fax: (802) 849-2865; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.sover.net/~vtread.
6-9--School boards: 62nd Annual Conference, sponsored by the National School Boards Association, for school board members, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Contact: NSBA, 1680 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 838-6722; fax: (703) 683-7590; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsba.org/conference.
7--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Memphis Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tenn. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
7-8--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Onondaga County Convention Center in Syracuse, N.Y. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
7-10--Science: Annual General Meeting: Research, Policy, and Practice - Creating a Voice for the Profession, sponsored by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, for science educators, administrators, researchers, and policymakers, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans. Contact: David B. Zandvliet, Annual Meeting Coordinator, NARST, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada; (604) 291-5680; fax: (604) 291- 4203; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.educ.sfu.ca/narstsite/.
8--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Charleston, W.Va., and Melbourne, Fla. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
8-11--Curriculum management: Maximizing Student Achievement Through Systems Factors: Governance, Leadership, and Support Services, sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa International, for all educators, in San Francisco. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: PDKI, PO Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789; (812) 339-1156 or (800) 766-1156; fax: (812) 339-0018; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.pdkintl.org.
8-12--Learning disabilities: 20th Annual Conference: Unlocking Learning Potential, sponsored by the Learning Disabilities Network, for educators, school leaders, clinicians, and parents, at the Lantana in Randolph, Mass. Contact: LDN, 72 Sharp St., Hingham, MA 02043; (781) 340-5605; fax: (781) 340-5603; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.LDNetwork.org.
9-13--Physical education: National Convention, sponsored by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, for health and physical education professionals, in San Diego. Contact: AAHPERD, (800) 213-7193, ext. 401; Web site: www.aahperd.org.
9--Reading: Word Identification, sponsored by the Churchill Center, for educators, at the center in New York City. Contact: Susan Spero, CC, 310 E. 30th St., New York, NY 10016; (212) 722-0610; e-mail: [email protected].
9-13--English: Conference, sponsored by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, for English-language teachers, in Salt Lake City. Contact: TESOL, 700 S. Washington St., Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 836-0774; fax: (703) 836-7864; e-mail: [email protected].
9--College fair: Online College Fair for Junior Jump-Start Students, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for students, teachers, and parents, at www.OnlineCollegeFair.com. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
9--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Kissimmee, Fla., and Tallahassee, Fla. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
10--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Birmingham, Ala.; Blacksburg, Va.; Cleveland, Tenn.; Lakeland, Fla.; and Lancaster, Pa. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
10-12--Professional development: A Framework for Teaching: The Observation and Evaluation Process, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K- 12 educators and administrators, in Minneapolis. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575-5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
10-12--Teaching: Teaching for Deep Understanding, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K-12 educators and administrators, in Minneapolis. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311- 1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575-5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
10-13--Leadership: Reaching and Teaching: Good Schools Getting Better, sponsored by the Golden Hills School Division and Alberta Regional Consortia, for teachers, administrators, staff, trustees, and parents, in Calgary, Alberta. Contact: TW Branun and Associates, (800) 531-0082; fax: (866) 465-2325; Web site: www. twblearn.com/reachingandteaching2/reachingandteaching2.html.
**10--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Birmingham, Ala.; Blacksburg, Va.; Cleveland, Tenn.; Lakeland, Fla.; and Lancaster, Pa. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
**10-13--Leadership: Reaching and Teaching: Good Schools Getting Better, sponsored by the Golden Hills School Division and Alberta Regional Consortia, for teachers, administrators, staff, trustees, and parents, in Calgary, Alberta. Contact: TW Branun and Associates, (800) 531-0082; fax: (866) 465-2325; Web site: www. twblearn.com/reachingandteaching2/reachingandteaching2.html.
11--Senior year: Graduation by Exhibition, sponsored by the Parker Regional Teachers Center, for educators, at the center in Devens, Mass. Contact: PRTC, PO Box 2129, Devens, MA 01432; (978) 772-2687; Web site: www.parker.org/rtc.
11-13--English: The Art of Writing Centers, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, for English teachers, in Savannah, Ga. Contact: Donna Sewell, (229) 333-5946; fax: (229) 259-5529; e-mail: [email protected].
11--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Albany, Ga.; St. Louis; and Toledo, Ohio. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
11-12--Gifted education: Education for Gifted Students: Focus on the Future, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K-12 educators and administrators, in Minneapolis. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575- 5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
11-12--School improvement: Focusing on Student Performance-Creating Research-Based Schoolwide Action Plans for Increasing Student Achievement, sponsored by the National Study of School Evaluation, for principals, teachers, and administrators, at the NSSE headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. Deadline: 15 days before event. Contact: Sharon Steindam, NSSE, 1699 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 406, Schaumburg, IL 60173; (847) 995-9080 or (800) 843-6773; fax: (847) 995-9088; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsse.org.
11-12--Technology: Software Training Workshop for Data Point, sponsored by the National Study of School Evaluation, for teachers and administrators, at the NSSE headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. Deadline: 15 days before event. Contact: Sharon Steindam, NSSE, 1699 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 406, Schaumburg, IL 60173; (847) 995-9080 or (800) 843-6773; fax: (847) 995-9088; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsse.org.
**11--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Rome, Ga. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
**11--Senior year: Graduation by Exhibition, sponsored by the Parker Regional Teachers Center, for educators, at the center in Devens, Mass. Contact: PRTC, PO Box 2129, Devens, MA 01432; (978) 772-2687; Web site: www.parker.org/rtc.
**11-12--Technology: Software Training Workshop for Data Point, sponsored by the National Study of School Evaluation, for teachers and administrators, at the NSSE headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. Deadline: 15 days before event. Contact: Sharon Steindam, NSSE, 1699 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 406, Schaumburg, IL 60173; (847) 995-9080 or (800) 843-6773; fax: (847) 995-9088; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsse.org.
**11-13--English: The Art of Writing Centers, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, for English teachers, in Savannah, Ga. Contact: Donna Sewell, (229) 333-5946; fax: (229) 259-5529; e-mail: [email protected].
12--Counselors: Counselor Workshop for New Counselors, sponsored by the College Board, for new college counselors, at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y. Contact: Stephen DiPietro, CB, 3440 Market St., Suite 410, Philadelphia, PA 19104; (215) 387-7600, ext. 124; fax: (215) 387-5805; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.collegeboard.org.
12--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Jefferson City, Mo. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
**12--Counselors: Counselor Workshop for New Counselors, sponsored by the College Board, for new college counselors, at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y. Contact: Stephen DiPietro, CB, 3440 Market St., Suite 410, Philadelphia, PA 19104; (215) 387-7600, ext. 124; fax: (215) 387-5805; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.collegeboard.org.
**12--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Jefferson City, Mo. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
14-17--Federal programs: Annual Spring Conference, sponsored by the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators, for federal project coordinators, at the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, Va. Contact: Penny Soule, Vice President, NAFEPA, (702) 799-5406; e-mail: [email protected].
14--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Cleveland State University Convocation Center in Cleveland. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
14-16--Alternative education: Alternative Education Conference: Effective Strategies Institute on Alternative Schools, sponsored by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, for teachers, counselors, district staff, social service agencies, juvenile-justice professionals, and government leaders, at the Des Moines Marriott in Des Moines, Iowa. Contact: NDPC/N, 209 Martin St., Clemson, SC 29631-1555; (864) 656-2599; fax: (864) 656-0136; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.dropoutprevention.org.
15--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Baltimore; Louisville, Ky.; and Winston-Salem, N.C. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
15-16--Character education: Developing Character in the Classroom, sponsored by the Hyde School, for teachers and administrators, at the school in Woodstock, Conn. Contact: Reg Ruhlin, HS, 616 High St., Bath, ME 04530; (207) 443-7311; fax: (207) 443-8631; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.hydeteachertraining.org.
15-16--Public policy: 2002 Public Policy Conference, sponsored by the Alliance for Children and Families, for educators, at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, Md. Contact: ACF, 1701 K St. N.W., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006; (800) 220-1016; fax: (202) 331-7476; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.alliance1.org.
**15--Special education: Online Seminar: Special Education Referrals: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Economically Disadvantaged Populations, sponsored by the Council for Exceptional Children, for educators, policymakers, and counselors, at www.cec.sped.org/pd. Contact: CEC, 1110 N. Glebe Road, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22201-5704; (800) 224-6830, ext. 516; fax: (703) 620-2521; Web site: www.cec.sped.org/pd/.
16-17--Character education: Classrooms With Character, sponsored by the Girls and Boys Town National Resource Training Center, for educators and teaching aides, in Boys Town, Neb. Contact: NRTC, 14100 Crawford St., Boys Town, NE 68010; (800) 545- 5771, ext. 65; Web site: www.girlsandboystown.org/nrtc.
16--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Arlington, Va.; Arlington Heights, Ill.; Charlotte, N.C.; Columbus, Ind.; and Sharonville, Ohio. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
16--Parental involvement: Nervous, Worried, Scared?: Parents' Guide to Helping Children Deal With Their Fears, sponsored by the Churchill Center, for educators, at the center in New York City. Contact: Susan Spero, CC, 310 E. 30th St., New York, NY 10016; (212) 722-0610; e-mail: ssp[email protected].
16--Principals: Principals' Academy, The Principal, Politics, and the Community, sponsored by the Greater Cleveland Educational Development Center, for K-12 principals, at Cleveland State University, in Cleveland. Contact: Barbara Jenkins, GCEDC, RT 901, CSU, 1860 E. 22nd St., Cleveland, OH 44114-4435; (216) 523-7107; fax: (216) 687-5422; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.gcedcohio.org.
16--Principals: Raking Leaves in a High Wind: Building Community Connectedness, sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, for elementary and middle school principals and assistant principals, at the Radisson Hotel in Birmingham, Ala. Contact: NAESP, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3483; (703) 684-3345, ext. 208; fax: (703) 518-6281; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.naesp.org.
16--Professional development: Satellite Town Meeting With Rod Paige, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, for K-12 educators, to be broadcast on national television. Contact: USDE, (800) 872-5327; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ed.gov/inits/stm/.
17--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Wilmington, N.C. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
17--Principals: Raking Leaves in a High Wind: Building Community Connectedness, sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, for elementary and middle school principals and assistant principals, at the Montgomery Civic Center in Montgomery, Ala. Contact: NAESP, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3483; (703) 684-3345, ext. 208; fax: (703) 518-6281; e- mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.naesp.org.
17--Professional development: Assessing Professional Development, sponsored by the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, for educators, professional-development coordinators, and curriculum leaders, at the academy in Aurora, Ill. Deadline: April 3. Contact: Guy Todnem, IMSA, 1500 W. Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL 60506- 1000; (630) 907-5970; fax: (630) 907-5918; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.imsa.edu.
17-20--Poetry: Annual conference, sponsored by the National Association for Poetry Therapy, for counselors and creative-writing faculty, at the Hyatt Regency in Denver. Contact: Angela Comfort, NAPT, 5505 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Suite 280, Washington, DC 20015; (202) 966-2536; fax: (202) 966-2283; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.poetrytherapy.org.
17-20--Professional development: Peter Senge in Schools That Learn, sponsored by the Peel District School Board, for teachers, administrators, parents, and community leaders, in Toronto. Contact: TW Branun and Associates, (800) 531-0082; fax: (866) 465- 2325; Web site: www.twblearn.com/conferences.html .
18--English: Infusing Poetry Into Successful Teaching Practice, sponsored by the English Language Arts Council/United Federation of Teachers, for English teachers, in New York City. Contact: Vita Rosenberg, (212) 598-9298; fax: (212) 533-5402; e-mail: [email protected].
18-20--Science: Focus on Standards for Science and Mathematics, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, for educators, in New York City. Contact: Project 2061, AAAS, 1333 H St. N.W., Room 844, Washington, DC 20005; (888) 737-2061; Web site: www.pdp2061.org.
18--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
18--History: Electronic Field Trip: Taxes, Tea, and Tyranny, sponsored by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, for grade 4-8 students and teachers, to be broadcast on national television. Contact: Russ Glissman, CWF, PO Box 1776, Williamsburg, VA 23187; (757) 565-8976; (757) 565-8916; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.history.org/trips.
18--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Anderson, Ind.; Gulfport, Miss.; Richmond, Va.; and Stillwater, Okla. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
18-19--Principals: Don't Laugh at Me: Creating a Ridicule-Free Zone in Every School, sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, for elementary and middle school principals and assistant principals, at Dover Downs in Dover, Del. Contact: NAESP, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3483; (703) 684-3345, ext. 208; fax: (703) 518-6281; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.naesp.org.
18-21--Foreign language: Teaching in Changing Times: The Courage to Lead, sponsored by the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, for foreign-language teachers, at the Hilton in New York City. Contact: Susan Cavenagh, NCTFL, PO Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013; (717) 245-1977; fax: (717) 245-1976; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nectfl.org.
19--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Hattiesburg, Miss.; Las Vegas; and Portland, Maine. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
19--Principals: Leading Quality Learning Communities, sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, for elementary and middle school principals and assistant principals, at the OAESA Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio. Contact: NAESP, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3483; (703) 684-3345, ext. 208; fax: (703) 549-5568; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.naesp.org.
19-21--Mathematics: Annual Conference: Seize the Opportunity, Provide the Leadership, sponsored by the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, for leaders in mathematics education, at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Deadline: March 15. Contact: NCSM, PO Box 10667, Golden, CO 80401; (404) 274-5932; fax: (404) 274- 5932; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ncsmonline.org.
20--Montessori education: 2001-02 Teachers' Section Annual Touring Symposium, sponsored by the American Montessori Society, for Montessori educators, in Phoenix. Contact: Evelyn Jackson, AMS, (212) 358-1250, ext. 201; e-mail: [email protected].
21--Reading: The Writing Road to Reading: A Comprehensive Introduction, sponsored by the Reading Reform Foundation of New York, for educators, at the foundation in New York City. Contact: RRF, 333 W. 57th St., Suite 1L, New York, NY 10019; (212) 307-7320; fax: (212) 307-0449; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.readingreformny.org.
21-23--Professional development: 2002 Spring Conference, sponsored by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, for public school superintendents, business managers, and school officials, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington. Deadline: April 2. Contact: Lynn Watkins, NAFIS, 444 N. Capitol St. N.W., Hall of States, Suite 419, Washington, DC 20001; (202) 624-5455; fax: (202) 624-5468.
21-24--Mathematics: 80th Annual Meeting: Realizing the Vision of School Mathematics, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, for mathematicsteachers and educators, at the Sands Expo, the Venetian, and Harrah's in Las Vegas. Contact: NCTM, 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191, (703) 620-9840; fax: (800) 220-8483; Web site: www.nctm.org.
22--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Norwood, Mass., and San Antonio. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
22-24--Professional development: Understanding by Design: Teaching and Assessing for Understanding, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K- 12 educators and administrators, in New York City. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575-5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
23--Learning disabilities: Interpreting Evaluations for Classroom and Remedial Use, sponsored by the Churchill Center, for educators, at the center in New York City. Contact: Susan Spero, CC, 310 E. 30th St., New York, NY 10016; (212) 722-0610; e-mail: [email protected].
23--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Monroe, La. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
23-24--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Maryland Agricultural Center in Gaithersburg, Md. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
23-24--Developmental education: Organizing Schools Using Brain Research, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K-12 educators and administrators, in New York City. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575- 5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
23-24--Diversity: Instructional Strategies for Academically Diverse Learners: A Look at Differentiated Instruction, sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, for K-12 educators and administrators, in New York City. Contact: ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; (703) 578-9600 or (800) 933-2723; fax: (703) 575-5400; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ascd.org.
23-25--Early childhood: Annual La Semana del Niño Early-Childhood Educators Institute, sponsored by the Intercultural Development Research Association, for educators, administrators, and parents, in San Antonio. Deadline: April 15. Contact: José Rodriguez or Carol Chavez, IDRA, 5835 Callaghan Road, Suite 350, San Antonio, TX 78228-1190; (210) 444-1710; fax: (210) 444-1714; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.idra.org.
24--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Novi Expo Center in Novi, Mich. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
24--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Decatur, Ala., and Malvern, Pa. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
24-26--Data: Seize the Data! Maximizing the Role of Data in School Improvement Planning, sponsored by the National Study of School Evaluation, for principals, teachers, administrators, and superintendents, at the NSSE headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. Deadline: 15 days before event. Contact: NSSE, 1699 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 406, Schaumburg, IL 60173; (847) 995-9080 or (800) 843- 6773; fax: (847) 995-9088; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nsse.org.
24-27--Middle schools: Annual Middle Years Conference: Inspiration to Implementation, sponsored by the Middle Years Association of British Columbia, for teachers, administrators, and parents, at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia. Contact: TW Branun and Associates, (800) 531-0082; fax: (866) 465- 2325; Web site: www.twblearn.com/myabc/myabc.html .
25--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Billings, Mont.; Houston; Irving, Texas; Norcross, Ga.; Orangeburg, N.Y.; and San Diego. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
25--Special education: Inclusive Schools Conference, Restructuring for Caring and Effective Education: The Inclusive Schools, sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Special Education Regional Resource Centers, for educators, at Cleveland State University in Cleveland. Contact: Northeast Regional Professional Development Centers, RT 901, 1860 E. 22nd St., Cleveland, OH 44114-4435; (216) 523-7107; fax: (216) 687-5422; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.nrpdc.org.
25-26--Multiple intelligences: Multiple Intelligences Institute, sponsored by the New City School, for teachers, administrators, and curriculum specialists, at the school in St. Louis. Contact: M. Patricia Nuernberger, New City School, 5209 Waterman Ave., St. Louis, MO 63108-1155; (314) 361-6411; fax: (314) 361-1499; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.newcityschool.org.
25-27--Principals: Proficiencies for Principals Workshops: Political and Communication Skills, sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, for elementary and middle school principals, at the headquarters of the Cooperative Council of Oklahoma School Administrators in Oklahoma City. Contact: Sandy Wisely, Associate Executive Director, CCOSA; (405) 524-1191.
25-28--Montessori education: Clearing the Cobwebs: Rediscovering the Treasures of a Montessori Education, sponsored by the American Montessori Society, for Montessori school educators, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Va. Contact: Hilary Green, AMS, 281 Park Ave. S., New York, NY 10010; (212) 358-1250; Web site: www.amshq.org.
26-27--English: Finding Our Voices, sponsored by the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, for English teachers, in Appleton, Wis. Contact: Debbie Kinder, (608) 342-1920; e-mail: [email protected].
26--African-American education: Education Policy Forum and Annual Awards Dinner, sponsored by the National Commission for African-American Education, for educators and parents, at Howard University in Washington. Contact: Claude Mayberry, NCAAE, 2141 Industrial Parkway, Suite 202, Silver Spring, MD 20904; (301) 680-0148; fax: (301) 680-9240.
26-27--English: Spring Conference 2002, sponsored by the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, for English Teachers, in St. Cloud, Minn. Contact: Gerry Lidstrom; e-mail: [email protected].
26--Counselors: Counseling the ADD/ADHD/LD Student workshop, sponsored by the College Board, for guidance counselors, at Mercer County Community College in Trenton, N.J. Contact: Stephen DiPietro, CB, 3440 Market St., Suite 410, Philadelphia, PA 19104; (215) 387-7600, ext. 124; fax: (215) 387-5805; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.collegeboard.org.
26--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Bakersfield, Calif.; Bozeman, Mont.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Middletown, N.Y. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
26-27--Parental involvement: Family Festival: Bright Futures, sponsored by the Practical Parenting Partnerships Center, for teachers, administrators, counselors, social workers, parents, and students, at the Tan Tar A Resort in Osage Beach, Mo. Contact: Darlene Robinett, Director, PPPC, 2412C Hyde Park, Jefferson City, MO 65109; (573) 761-7770; fax: (573) 761-7760; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.pppctr.org.
26-28--Parental involvement: International Conference: Born to Learn, sponsored by the Parents as Teachers National Center, for early-childhood educators, parent educators, child-care providers, health-care professionals, social workers, and other professionals who work with young children, at the Adams Mark Hotel in St. Louis. Contact: PATNC, 10176 Corporate Square Drive, Suite 230, St. Louis, MO 63132; (314) 432-4330; fax: (314) 432-8963; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.patnc.org.
28-2--Reading: 47th Annual Convention: Gateway to Global Understanding, sponsored by the International Reading Association, for educators, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Contact: IRA, 800 Barksdale Road, Newark, DE 19714-8139; (302) 731-1600; fax: (302) 731-1057; Web site: www.reading.org.
28--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
28-30--Leadership: Courageous Leadership for School Success 2002: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement and School Climate, sponsored by the HOPE Foundation, for superintendents, assistant superintendents, staff developers, curriculum and instructional staff, principals, and team leaders, at the Holiday Inn Select in Chicago. Contact: Kristina Anderson, 3925 Hagan St., Suite 105, Box 906, Bloomington, IN 57502; (812) 355-6000; fax: (812) 323- 8140; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.communitiesofhope.org.
28-2--Magnet schools: 20th International Conference on Magnet Schools, sponsored by Magnet Schools of America, for administrators, teachers, and parents in magnet schools, at the Greenspoint Wyndham Hotel in Houston. Contact: Tim Salmon, MSA, (281) 985-6416; fax: (281) 985-6548; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.magnet.edu/conferences.html.
29--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
29--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Flint, Mich.; Fresno, Calif.; Gainesville, Fla.; and Metairie, La. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
29-30--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the World Trade Center Boston in Boston. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
29-30--Professional development: Understanding by Design: Conference on Curriculum Design, sponsored by Relearning by Design, for educators interested in the materials and curricular design of the Understanding by Design program, in Philadelphia. Contact: Carol Wander, Project Manager, RBD, 65 S. Main St., Building B/PO 2-10, Pennington, NJ 08534-2821; (609) 730-1199; fax: (800) 329-3122; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.relearning.org.
29-2--Disabilities: Making a Difference in Developmental Disabilities, sponsored by the YAI/National Institute for People With Disabilities, for educators, at the Crowne Plaza Manhattan Hotel in New York City. Contact: Abbe Wittenberg, YAI/NIPD, (212) 273-6193; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: wwwyai.org.
30--College fair: National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, for high school students and their parents, at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. Contact: NACAC, 1631 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 822-6285; fax: (703) 836-8015; Web site: www.nacac.com.
30--Mathematics: Hands-On Equations, sponsored by the Agency for Instructional Technology, for educators, in Detroit; Lafayette, La.; Sacramento, Calif.; and St. Augustine, Fla.. Deadline: Two weeks before event. Contact: AIT, 1800 N. Stonelake Drive, PO Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402; (800) 457-4509; fax: (812) 333-4278; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.ait.net.
30-1--Safety: Safe and Effective Secondary Schools, sponsored by the Girls and Boys Town National Resource Training Center, for teachers, administrators, and support staff, school resource officers, and counselors, in Boys Town, Neb. Contact: NRTC Support Services, Box 145, Boys Town, NE 68010; (800) 545-5771, ext. 65; e-mail: [email protected]. | 2019-04-21T22:17:44Z | https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2002/03/06/25events.h21.html |
When Faith Taylor ’19 decided to research coral in the Bahamas, the first thing she had to do was learn how to breathe under water.
“I had never snorkeled before, so I had to learn how not to drown,” laughed Taylor, of Columbia, MD.
The marine science–biology major, who was the 2016 recipient of the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award, spent five days on the Abaco Islands, where she compared the current health of a reef that had been studied 52 years prior.
The Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award is an annual grant given to stimulate international travel and writing among Honors Program students. The award was established to honor the life of Smith, a lawyer by trade, whose true passion was traveling the world.
Past recipients have taught English and cared for elephants in Sri Lanka, studied mixed-ability dance concepts in England, learned about dolphin-assisted therapy in Turkey, volunteered with a nonprofit providing free cleft surgery to children in Ghana and worked with researchers from the Pacific Whale Foundation in Australia.
Taylor heard about the award through her Pathways to Honors course as a first-year student where she was required to write a draft application for practice. When she received positive feedback from her professor, Taylor decided to submit it for real.
Taylor’s Introduction to Marine Science professor, Michael Slattery, helped Taylor craft her research project and assisted in its implementation in the Bahamas. The two hope to continue researching the area in summers to come and present their findings at a conference and in an academic journal.
Slattery and his wife were planning on taking a vacation anyway, so the opportunity aligned well, and he saw it as an opportunity to facilitate the professional growth of a student.
Slattery said what Taylor learns in the classroom sets a good foundation for what she can apply in the real world.
Taylor, a member of UT’s track team with a school record for the 4x4, has volunteered and interned in aquariums, attracted to their beauty and with respect for the work nonprofits do. She is spending this semester as a coral education intern at the Florida Aquarium. She rides her bicycle there three days a week, facilitating the touch tanks where guests dip their hands into shallow tanks to feel bamboo sharks, stingrays, anemones and sea stars. She also coordinates interactive programs for guests.
Taylor said her time in the Bahamas gave her a deep appreciation for the need for conservation.
"Before I begin, I have to start by saying that Ireland is amazing. The people are incredibly friendly, the food is spectacularly bland, and the scenery is unbeatable. Life is perfect here, it would seem.
For some, though, Ireland isn’t seen through rose-colored glasses. In the city today, I spotted a myriad of homeless individuals in some of the more tourist-centric areas. You may not have noticed them if you weren’t looking, however. Most were cloistered up in some kind of sleeping bag or blanket, “turtling” inside their makeshift forts to escape the harsh Dublin winds. When they did peek out, it was only to check if anyone had tossed a few euros in their Styrofoam cups.
Before I approached any of the homeless individuals, I stopped by Focus Ireland, a non-profit organization that seeks to get people off the street and return them back to the workforce. A representative named Melissa agreed to meet with me for an interview later in the week. I’m hoping she can provide some insight as to what exactly is being done to help remedy the highly apparent issue. From what I’ve gleaned so far, it doesn’t seem to be a lot.
Two homeless individuals in particular stood out to me today: Keith and Steven. Keith gave me a brilliant interview at the modest price of a few crisps and a soda, and Steven had written a poem in chalk about unnecessary judgement of homeless people. From what they told me, neither were into drugs, alcohol or other addictions. They were instead caught in a catch 22 wherein they could not hold a steady job. In order to have a job in Dublin, one must have a permanent address. However, all the money that they saved for a permanent home had to be used for food, clothing, and temporary housing. Speaking of which, both Keith and Steven feel that there is a distinct lack of housing options for low-income individuals. I haven’t fact checked this yet, but Steven even claimed that some of the temporary hostels encouraged drug use as a means of coping."
I boarded the flight to London Heathrow on June 23rd, 2014 knowing how to be a tourist in Britain. A slightly oblivious passerby whose interaction with the local population is limited to questions like, “where is the nearest bus stop?” and whose main goal is to see as many stereotypical landmarks as possible. Despite my anglophiliac nature and my two previous visits to Great Britain, I remained a happy tourist.
I boarded the same flight knowing how to be a dance student in America. Show up to class six nights a week, learn six different ways of doing a step from six different teachers, dance in two major performances a year, spend four weeks of summer training eight hours a day with six other teachers, go home, repeat. Simple and exhausting.
I boarded that flight with a vision of how my trip was going to go. I assumed I would be observing lots of classes and rehearsals, taking lots of notes, and hopefully dancing a bit, and I expected my tourist knowledge to suffice for the most part.
My name is Eden Frazier, and I am a junior student at the University of Tampa studying physics and dance. I applied for the Timothy M. Smith award to travel to the United Kingdom to work with GDance, a company that specializes in inclusive dance practice. I knew I would be supporting their during production called Stuck in the Mud, which combines professional ballet dancers from Ballet Cymru, professional disabled dancers, dancers from the community, and primary school children into a whole dance performance. What I didn't know is that it would I would be participating in so many things beyond that production and that I would be learning much more beyond dance.
My first truly new experience was working in an office. To some this might seem dull and boring.
To me, office work was intimidating and intriguing. For the first time, I was stepping behind the curtain to see the inner workings of a dance company. The company’s director, Cath, gave me plenty to keep me busy. She set me to work on mailing promotional materials to target audiences in Swansea, Wales.
In addition to my office work, the GDance team gave me a list of classes to observe and symposiums to attend. I observed an integrated class with VIA Dance Company, I attended Dance4, a dance festival that featured symposiums about the development of integrated dance as well as performances, I watched the final presentations of a group of primary school children that had been training with an associate of GDance, and I attended a PE teachers’ conference with another representative of GDance. Seeing such a wide variety of people and hearing about so many different advancements and opportunities really showed me how far GDance’s network extends and how much integrated dance itself encompasses. Although there are still many barriers in the dance world that need to be broken down, the field of integrated dance continues to grow and expand, especially in the UK.
After nearly a week of a pleasant office job, I made my way to Swansea to support the production of Stuck in the Mud. I had no idea what my duties would be in relation to Stuck in the Mud, but I was excited to see the professional dancers in action and to be around the familiar rehearsal atmosphere again. The production team kept me on my toes for the entire week. I took morning class with Ballet Cymru and the disabled dancers each day, then for the rest of the day I did a variety of tasks from assisting with the community cast to shopping trips to prop management to costume alterations and repair. In between I watched as much of rehearsals as I could.
By the time the performances rolled around I had a list of jobs and props I was wholly responsible for, and I could focus on those specific things. My main job was prop management: making sure the silks were folded and set in their proper places and making sure an adequate amount of balloons were prepped and set for the finale.
While I worked very hard during my residency in Britain, I still reserved some personal time to be a tourist. I visited Gloucester Cathedral and the birthplace of Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon. As a very big science fiction fan, I went to the city of Cardiff to see the Doctor Who Experience. My dad and I took some lovely drives through the countryside, stumbling across some off-the-beaten-path villages along the way. I spent my last Monday in England exploring London, particularly locations associated with Sherlock Holmes, with my dad. I really tried to make the most out of every moment I had in such a wonderful country.
My time in Britain with the GDance team affected me in many ways, some expected, some unexpected. As anticipated, I learned an incredible amount about integrated dance itself. Immersing myself in integrated classes, performances, and seminars really opened my eyes to how straightforward inclusive practices can be. There really is no special secret to teaching an integrated dance class. The special secret lies in generating interest among dance teachers, potential dancers, and their guardians. I hope to see the integration movement continue to spread in Britain and to become an accepted idea here in America.
Within my six days spent in the office, I noticed an increase in my adaptation to English culture. I had never really considered the cultural differences until I was submerged in a work environment with English people. I learned how to write a British business letter, being sure to end with “yours sincerely” or “yours faithfully.” I started subconsciously changing my vocabulary from words like “awesome” and “great” to “lovely” and “brilliant.” I learned that there is a mandatory cup of tea to be drunk at 2 pm each day. I discovered that Wellingtons are rain boots and that “Doctor Who” and “Tardis” are household words. I tried to soak up as much of the culture as I could. I had the chance to meet some of the hardest-working, sweetest people in the world while in England who were completely willing to help me along with anything and everything.
When talking with other dancers and instructors, I began to appreciate the differences between dance education in America and Europe. I take for granted the variety of training and teachers I have had, even within the small realm of ballet. I also forget that most legitimate dance schools in England and Europe use an exam system; in order for students to progress, they have to pass dance exams and prove they can complete a certain set class. Such a structured curriculum produces excellent dance students, but for dance students with disabilities of any sort, the exam system can really hold them back. In America, integrating dance students of any abilities into a class should be simple, although sometimes, depending on the biases of the instructor, welcoming these students is far from easy.
Interestingly, I also got the opportunity to see what transpires behind the scenes in a dance company. My usual place in a dance production is on the stage; I did not know exactly what went on to make all that possible. Working on Stuck in the Mud with GDance, whether it was in the office or on site in Swansea, really taught me about the unseen individuals that make a production run smoothly. Working with the production team taught me a great deal about hard work and unsung heroes.
I boarded my flight from London Heathrow on July 15th, 2014 full of new memories, a new culture, new lessons learned, and new connections made. I experienced so much beyond what I could have ever imagined when I applied for the award in the fall of 2013. I will continue to find inspiration from this trip for the rest of my life.
Katelyn with her new friends in Ghana.
In Ghana, Katelyn Edwards first noticed the pothole, polka dot roads with street vendors walking precariously through the lines of traffic. Once she got outside the urban buzz of Kumasi, the warmth of hospitality took over.
Edwards, an English major with art and economics minors, was in Ghana this July as a volunteer with Smile Train, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide free cleft surgery to children in developing countries, train doctors and medical professionals, and provide speech therapy, dentistry and orthodontics.
Edwards stayed with Dr. Solomon Obiri-Yeboah, a plastic surgeon at Smile Train's sponsored partnership, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
Despite the 5:30 a.m. rooster wake up call, Edwards said she enjoyed her host family, helping get the children ready for school before she headed to the hospital with Yeboah. Edwards joined surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses to observe the cleft surgeries, blogging about the experience for Smile Train and photographing before and after photos of the children as well as gathering informal data from the children’s mothers. In the afternoons, Edwards joined the hospital social worker on follow-up calls to healing patients in rural communities.
Edwards, of Orlando, was this year’s recipient of the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award. The award was established to honor the life of Smith, a lawyer by trade, whose true passion was traveling the world.
Past recipients have taught English and cared for elephants in Sri Lanka, studied Spanish in Costa Rica, learned about dolphin-assisted therapy in Turkey and worked with researchers from the Pacific Whale Foundation in Australia.
Edwards wanted to work with Smile Train because she grew up in a family that supported the organization. Edwards’ younger brother, Spencer, was born with a cleft lip and palate, however her family was able to cover the expenses to cover his necessary surgeries. Smile Train helps families that aren’t so fortunate, and the Edwards are long-time supporters.
“This cause has always been near and dear to our hearts, and to get a chance to do something so hands-on is amazing,” Edwards said.
In addition to her UT travel scholarship, she has raised more than $4,500 to cover additional travel expenses as well as cleft surgeries for eight Ghanaian children. Her advocacy efforts are important to changing the stigma of those born with clefs.
Sommer Kuhn ’13 observed dolphin-assisted therapy with the help of the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award.
When Sommer Kuhn ’13 was a child, she traveled from Wisconsin with her family to Orlando’s Sea World. At the first sight of the dolphins, she was hooked.
Kuhn was this year’s recipient of the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award, an annual grant given to stimulate international travel and writing among Honors Program students. The award was established to honor the life of Smith, a lawyer by trade, whose true passion was traveling the world.
Past recipients have taught English and cared for elephants in Sri Lanka, studied Spanish in Costa Rica and worked with researchers from the Pacific Whale Foundation in Australia. Kuhn went to Turkey.
She cast a wide net in search of facilities that offered dolphin-assisted therapy, an approach that integrates swimming with dolphins and one-on-one therapy. She wanted to spend her two weeks observing how people with challenges like autism, cerebral palsy and even depression, respond with this type of therapy. She found Dolphinland in Antalya, Turkey, and spent May 13-28 in the water with dolphins and on land, exploring the blended European and Middle Eastern culture in Turkey.
“It’s not a super scientific therapy, but it opens the door to other therapies, aiding with things like socialization,” said Kuhn.
Her 16-year-old brother’s autism and a search for an alternative to traditional therapies is what piqued her interested in the method. While in Turkey, she observed a 7-year-old German girl who had come to Dolphinland with her family to give dolphin therapy a try. Kuhn was able to be in the water with the girl and observe her change over the course of two weeks.
Professor Gary Luter, Honors Program director, said students who receive the Timothy M. Smith Award gain new perspectives through cross-cultural experiences and expand their understanding of global diversity.
"Most significantly, they leave their personal comfort zone and risk the unfamiliar," said Luter. "This last idea is key to becoming a truly educated person."
Kuhn, who is interning at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium this summer, said she’d like to find a career that marries her passions for special needs children and dolphins, and this experience in Turkey helped confirm her direction.
Poojah, a 25 yr old female elephant is probably the naughtiest elephant here. And I use naughty in the nice way here, meaning mischievous or even bordering on playful.
The last two weeks passed really quickly and I am really going to miss MEF a lot( not the dung cleaning part though). I headed east last night on a train from Polgahawela to Trincomalee. Trincomalee is the largest port in the country and has two natural harbors. The city has been developed on the peninsula that divides these two harbors. My train reached early in the morning at around six. Deciding to immediately go and cover the Konneshwaram temple during the morning pooja I hired an auto. After a lengthy exercise in translation I managed to get him to understand where exactly I wanted to go but he still dropped me only at the base of the hill. I did manage to hike up(I haven't done any climbing whatsoever since the Guadalupe escape!) I hadn't really done my research on the temple so I was pleasantly surprised to find the temple on top of a hill which gives a panoramic view of both the harbors in Trincomalee. What I found quite interesting was one of the bays is known as Chinabay, simply because of the Chinese trade taking place here since the time of the Dutch. Though it had been destroyed several times by different colonialists, the temple always had been rebuilt by the generous donations of the Tamil population in Trincomalee.
So when she was awarded the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award, she decided to head south to Costa Rica, work on her Spanish and travel the country.
She has seen an amazing countryside, photographed the rainforest clouds, snorkeled with fluorescent fish, heard the calls of rainbow-feathered parrots perched in trees and watched giant lizards comb the white beaches. She’s also navigated her way on a bus system using her broken Spanish, ended up in unintended cities having magical experiences and even jumped head-first in a 265-foot bungee jump off the Colorado River Bridge.
Edinger, an honors student who is studying nursing, knew that traveling was in her future but the opportunity and the funds hadn’t been as available as she had hoped. When she applied for the award, she decided to make the most of her experience.
The impact this experience is having on Edinger – in something as basic and sterile as teaching blood pressure measurements to children – is apparent in one of her early travel blog entries (part of the requirements for the award, including a 5,000-word essay on return).
While traveling alone can be scary for young people, Dr. Gary Luter, director of the Honors Program, said it pays off in the end.
Edinger’s weekends were spent exploring the country, enjoying hammock time and drinking the country’s famous coffee. Following a trip to Tortuga Island, Edinger summed up what travel has inspired in her on one of her final blog entries.
For University of Tampa sophomore Erin Dumas, globetrotting is a way of life. In just the last few years, the international and cultural studies major has spent time in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
As this year’s recipient of the UT Honors Program’s Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration scholarship, Dumas plans to spend next summer on Europe’s eastern edge, exploring Greece and Turkey.
The visit to Turkey carries with it a somewhat personal purpose for Dumas. Her older brother, a member of the U.S. Army Rangers, was recently deployed to the Middle East. The trip, she says, is an opportunity for her to get a sense of his life in his current surroundings.
In her application essay, Dumas explained to UT’s Faculty Honors Committee that Turkey represented a “crossroads” of cultures, between east and west. She intends to explore Istanbul and Athens as well as, time permitting, Crete and the other Greek Islands.
Dumas plans to pursue a career in a health-related field, specifically a job related to health care in developing countries. A long-term goal has been to join the Peace Corps to work in AIDS education in Africa. This past summer, she worked as an intern for a health-based education program geared toward parents and teens in her hometown of Portland, Maine.
“Having that experience and seeing the need for public health on the local level solidified my need to work internationally,” Dumas said.
The Timothy M. Smith Award is given annually to a UT Honors Program student to fund travel during the summer to virtually any destination worldwide. Students who win the highly competitive award receive $2,500 and are required to compose an essay detailing the experience upon their return to the United States.
Dr. Stephen Blessing, chair of the Faculty Honors Committee and assistant professor of psychology, said Dumas has had a well thought out proposal of how she wanted to use the award.
“She demonstrated a passion for travel and desire to learn more about the cultures of the world,” Blessing said.
While Dumas has been a world traveler throughout her life, her recent series of excursions began even before she enrolled at UT. As a high school student, she spent time at an American boarding school in Paris, France. Later, in her senior year, she joined a student exchange program that sent her to Tasmania in Australia for several months. While there, she befriended fellow students from countries throughout the world, including Italy, which she later visited as well.
Dumas chose to attend UT, in part, because of the many opportunities the school offers to study abroad.
Her trip to Greece and Turkey will follow a planned journey to Buenos Aires, Argentina, that scheduled for the spring semester. The Argentina trip is part of a UT Study Abroad program and will help Dumas complete a Spanish minor. She also earned credit toward her major from an Honors Abroad trip to Japan.
Over the course of 11 days next summer, University of Tampa sophomore Lorian Knapp will work aboard a boat in Hervey Bay, Australia, gathering information with a team of researchers from the Pacific Whale Foundation.
Using highly sophisticated marine science equipment, the team will spend eight hours per day locating and collecting data on the Australian humpback whale population.
The resulting research could find its way into any number of scholarly publications and provide influence on environmental policy worldwide.
The overseas voyage is a rare opportunity that Knapp chose to pursue upon her receipt of the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award – an annual scholarship awarded by the Faculty Honors Committee. The highly competitive award provides $2,000 to a UT Honors student for travel during the summer to virtually any destination. Upon returning to the U.S., the student is required to write an essay detailing his or her experiences overseas.
For Knapp, a native of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., who has never before traveled abroad, the award is one of her more notable achievements in less than two years at UT.
Knapp originally aspired to be an animal trainer at Sea World, so her initial academic interests were focused in the field of marine science. After having participated in an internship at Sea World, however, she decided that knowledge of psychology was essential to understanding animal behavior. Thus, she is now committed to a psychology major with a marine science minor, with aspirations of being a marine field researcher. Most of her extracurricular activities relate to these fields of study.
Among her academic achievements, she has recently started to work with Dr. Jeffrey Klepfer, an associate professor of psychology, in an honors research fellowship study that examines how emotions influence investment decisions.
Knapp is involved in all aspects of the study, a complex experiment involving the practice of giving extra credit points to students in UT psychology classes, Klepfer said. In addition to helping design and administer the study, Klepfer said Knapp would also assist with an analysis of the final data and a presentation of the initial results at a January conference. Klepfer added that the final results will likely be published in a peer-reviewed journal in psychology – something he hopes will benefit Knapp in future academic and professional pursuits.
In addition to her academic involvement, Knapp serves as a resident assistant in UT’s Smiley Hall, is a violinist in the UT orchestra, an active member of Campus Crusade for Christ and one of the founders of a new group called Active Minds, which strives to raise awareness about students with mental health disorders on college campuses.
She has also participated in several internships and leadership activities that correlate with her interests in marine science and psychology. On a recent leadership excursion, she traveled to Crystal River, FL., to swim with manatees and other sea life.
Knapp’s decision to use the Timothy Smith Award to fund an internship with the Pacific Whale Foundation was one that was particularly impressive to the members of the Faculty Honors Committee, according to Dr. Richard Piper, the Director of the Honors Program.
At the conclusion of her voyage overseas, Knapp will return to the United States and write an essay detailing her experiences for publication in Respondez!, UT’s honors journal. Beyond that, Knapp says she intends to participate in more research fellowships before going onto graduate school.
Amber Osborne has been named by the faculty Honors Committee as the 2007 recipient of the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award.
The committee received four outstanding applications for this award, established by the family and friends of Timothy M. Smith. A lawyer by trade, Smith loved to travel and write about his many experiences.
In her application for the Timothy M. Smith Award, Amber submitted an essay titled “Mr. Standish,” and described her plans to travel to Europe in Summer 2007 and to write about her experiences there.
I have until recently been one of those people who thought that traveling to far off lands was going to New York City. I was born and raised in New Port Richey, FL for the full extent of my twenty one years on this planet. When I was a little girl I was told by my mother before she passed away from cancer, “You are too big of a person to be in such a small town.” I never really thought much of it till I got to travel to Germany last summer, then I realized exactly what she was talking about.
My creative strengths have always been writing and photography, however like any strength you need to exercise to make it stronger and to do that you need motivation and inspiration. Those are two things that I thought were stored and filed back with my high school diploma. Traveling, I have found is what gives me the inspiration to not only document my experiences but to turn the camera around on myself to figure out my own place in this world.
One of the things I found about traveling to foreign lands is that despite being thousands of miles away from home, nothing is really foreign. The people you meet may speak another language but they aren’t space aliens with laser rays, they are fellow human beings with lives, families, dreams and aspirations just like you. This is where my passion for traveling lies, in the meeting of these people and in experiencing their culture as they do in everyday life. It could be a Holocaust survivor in a café in Leipzig or homeless mohawked punk kids on a subway in Berlin. I have met so many interesting people in my travels to Europe so far, I want to meet all the billions I missed.
In this, I have found my meaning for life something that takes most people most of their lives. I will live in Germany, if only for a year or the rest of my days. As I have sadly learned from my mother, life is too short to sit around in a small town contemplating my fate. Among learning more about myself, I wish to learn more about the language, culture, politics and most of all the lives of people in Europe. For the only benefit I wish to receive is the knowledge that another little girl in New Port Richey may read about my experiences and know that the world outside her door isn’t such a scary place but a beautiful world where people love and live life.
Link to Amber's travel Blog!
Adrienne M. Nadeau, a junior writing major from Clearwater, has been awarded the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award by the UT Honors Committee.
The award is presented annually to an Honors Program student near the end of the fall semester. It provides a talented student author with an opportunity to travel and find additional inspiration for pursuing literary aspirations.
The selected student receives $2,000 for summer travel expenses. The award is offered through the Honors Program and funded by the family of Timothy M. Smith to honor his memory.
Nadeau has earned a nearly perfect 3.94 grade point average at the University while pursuing a rigorous Honors Program curriculum. In addition, she has had an article published in the 2005 issue of Respondez, the annual Honors Program nonfiction journal, and recently entered the Florida Collegiate Honors Council Writing Contest.
In her application for the Smith Award, she described her plans to travel to Israel in summer 2006 and write about her experiences there.
Link to Adrienne's travel photos!
Attached is a copy of the essay that I wrote after my trip to Kyoto, Japan. Also attached is a link to a few photos from my trip (they are too large to send over e-mail in good conscience).
I would like to thank you and your family and Inspiration through Exploration for this wonderful opportunity. Thank you, as well, for your enormous patience with me and with Tulane. This trip was very important to me, especially as I took it directly after hurricane Katrina and during a really difficult period in my life. It helped me to understand a great deal about my environment and about perspective.
I hope that your foundation will continue to impact the lives of young writers as deeply as it impacted mine. | 2019-04-19T19:06:59Z | http://www.inspirationthroughexploration.com/winners/ |
Mr. Luebke noted the absence of a quorum and said that the Commission members present would provide recommendations that would be subject to confirmation by a quorum at the next Commission meeting. Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk asked if the lack of a quorum would delay the projects from moving forward. Mr. Luebke said that the Commission's recommendations made today would be provided to the applicants using the normal procedure, including advice to the D.C. government for reviews under the Shipstead–Luce Act and Old Georgetown Act, with a notation that the actions are provisional until confirmation by a quorum; he anticipated no changes to these recommendations at the time of confirmation. He added that applicants do not need to treat the lack of a quorum as an impediment to moving forward on the basis of the recommendations provided today.
A. Approval of the minutes of the 20 February meeting. Mr. Luebke reported that the minutes of the February meeting were circulated to the Commission members in advance. The Commission approved the minutes upon a motion by Mr. Krieger (subject to confirmation by a quorum).
B. Dates of next meetings. Mr. Luebke presented the regularly scheduled dates for upcoming Commission meetings: 17 April, 15 May, and 19 June 2014.
C. Report on the 2014 National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program. Mr. Luebke reported on the federal grants program administered by the Commission to support Washington arts organizations. The application deadline for the 2014 program was on 1 March; 22 organizations have applied, all previous recipients of grants, and the staff is in the process of evaluating the applications for conformance with the program's guidelines. He said that the appropriated budget for the program is slightly less than $2 million, which will be apportioned in accordance with an established formula; disbursements are anticipated in June 2014.
D. Report on the approval of one object proposed for acquisition by the Freer Gallery of Art. Mr. Luebke reported the Chairman's approval earlier in the week of an artwork being considered by the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition at auction; the Freer bid successfully on Wednesday to acquire the work for its permanent collection. He said that the artwork from India is a red sandstone sculpture of the head of the Buddha dating from the 2nd to 3rd century A.D., an early period of classical Indian sculpture.
Mr. Luebke reported that Ms. Fernández has announced her forthcoming resignation from the Commission; he expressed appreciation for her conceptual insights as a member of the Commission since 2011.
Appendix I – Direct Submission Consent Calendar: Mr. Lindstrom said that there were no changes to the draft appendix. Upon a motion by Mr. Krieger with second by Ms. Plater–Zyberk, the Commission approved the revised Direct Submission Consent Calendar (subject to confirmation by a quorum).
Appendix II – Shipstead–Luce Act Submissions: Ms. Batcheler reported several substantial updates to the draft appendix, in addition to minor notations of dates for receipt of supplemental information. Three projects listed on the draft appendix with provisional or unfavorable recommendations (case numbers SL 14–052, 14–066, and SL 14–072) have been removed based on consultation with the applicants in order to allow more time for submission of design revisions. The provisional recommendation for an additional project (SL 14–060) has been revised to be unfavorable due to the lack of sufficient design information on the design. Upon a motion by Mr. Krieger with second by Ms. Fernández, the Commission approved the revised appendix (subject to confirmation by a quorum).
Appendix III – Old Georgetown Act Submissions: Mr. Martínez said that a sentence has been added to one recommendation (case number OG 14–112) to request removal of a flagpole that was installed without review, based on a recent site visit by the staff in conjunction with the submitted project for replacement windows; he said that the applicant may choose to submit the flagpole for review. He also noted that the recommendations of the Old Georgetown Board for two projects (OG 14–116 and 14–117) include delegation of final review to the staff; he anticipated that satisfactory submission materials would be provided to the staff in the next few days. Upon a motion by Ms. Fernández with second by Mr. Krieger, the Commission approved the revised appendix (subject to confirmation by a quorum).
CFA 20/MAR/14–1, Foreign Missions Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center—western portion bounded by 16th Street, Alaska Avenue, Fern Street, and Main Drive, NW. Master plan. Concept. Mr. Lindstrom introduced the draft master plan for a new Foreign Missions Center, a development that would be similar to the International Chancery Center near Connecticut Avenue. The Foreign Missions Center would be a compound of chanceries located in the northwest portion of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center between 16th Street and Georgia Avenue, N.W.; the medical center has been relocated through the Defense Base Closure and Reassignment process. The Department of State is taking control of the 43.5–acre northwest section of the medical center; the District of Columbia government will oversee redevelopment of the remaining portion. He asked Clifton Seagroves, the director of diplomatic properties for the Office of Foreign Missions at the Department of State, to begin the presentation.
Mr. Seagroves said that U.S. efforts to acquire diplomatic properties overseas are often challenged, in part because few appropriate sites are available for foreign chanceries in Washington; the Foreign Missions Center would therefore help the U.S. to negotiate the acquisition of secure facilities abroad, improving the protection of U.S. government personnel working overseas in substandard facilities. He said that the center would also help the U.S. economy by creating jobs and by enabling the federal and D.C. governments to collaborate on the economic revitalization of this neighborhood.
Mr. Seagroves said that the Department of State has authority under the Foreign Missions Act to accept a transfer of property from the Defense Department, and to develop and manage such property in perpetuity. The Department of State will fund the development using proceeds from the assignment of parcels to foreign governments, and will not seek Congressional appropriations. He said that the Commission, in addition to reviewing the master plan, could review individual development plans for new buildings or the reuse of existing buildings at its discretion. He introduced architect Charles Enos of EYP Architects and Engineers to continue the presentation.
Mr. Enos said that the master plan is approximately 65 percent complete, and the project team has started developing the design guidelines. The draft environmental impact study is nearing completion, and the historic preservation review process is underway; he noted that the U.S. Army has nominated the entire Walter Reed site as a historic district, and archeological research will begin soon.
Mr. Enos said that the northwestern area of Walter Reed is a natural landscape that will provide a buffer for the adjoining residential neighborhood. The grade slopes steeply from north to south. Historic features include individual buildings and structures contributing to the potential historic district, as well as landscape features and Main Drive along the southern edge of the Foreign Missions Center. Analysis of the buildings has identified several for reuse as chanceries and recommended retention of the memorial chapel. He asked architect Rick Kuhn of EYP to continue the presentation.
Mr. Kuhn described the general parameters of the master plan. The Walter Reed site is surrounded by dense residential neighborhoods on three sides, and Rock Creek Park is on the west; he said that the park character extends across 16th Street onto the site. The process has included identifying defining features, determining which to emphasize to create a distinctive character for the campus, and trying to relate this site to the District portion of Walter Reed. He noted that the roads would tie into the city's street grid, including prominent north–south axes. The scale of blocks would be defined by streets, and surrounding neighborhood blocks might inform the subdivision of the site. He said that the project team has analyzed axes between significant buildings, identified important open spaces, and considered how to take advantage of the steep slope; the master plan calls for preserving as many large trees and as much tree canopy as possible.
Mr. Kuhn said that the most important site elements identified include Dahlia Street, Main Drive, the chapel and its precinct, and the extension of Rock Creek Park. Dahlia Street and a new linear park, called 14th Street Park, would be the foundation of the design, which he described as an open space framework plan. He said that the flowing green route of Main Drive would give identity to the campus and establish the character of the open space on the south side. A primary goal is making improvements to the east–west corridor of Dahlia Street, which will be a hub for the District portion of Walter Reed; the District plans for Dahlia Street to be lined with five– to seven–story buildings, which will step down to a residential scale as they move away from Dahlia. This will influence the treatment of Dahlia Street on the Foreign Missions site; the master plan calls for a more urban character on the blocks north of Dahlia Street and a more open character on the blocks to its south. The greatest massing would occur along Dahlia, with buildings of three to four stories, scaling down on the north with two to three stories against residential neighborhoods and two to four stories elsewhere. While the division of parcels would be flexible, the intention is to maintain the urban character of the north side of campus with smaller lots, and an open character to the south where larger lots would be used. He summarized that the area to the north can accommodate up to 13 smaller lots, creating a potential of up to 24 lots on the entire site. Mr. Krieger noted the summary of historic resources and asked if Building 40 would be retained; Mr. Enos responded that if a user is not found for Building 40, it can be removed and its site subdivided further. He said that the proposed alignment of 14th Street has been shifted slightly, part of the effort to create parcels of roughly equal size and to provide flexibility in retaining buildings if they can be used by foreign governments. Mr. Seagroves added that at the International Chancery Center, most of the lots were approximately one acre, but this size may be too limiting; the proposed Foreign Missions Center could have a maximum of 24 lots but some may eventually be combined, and the number of chanceries would probably be ten to twelve.
Mr. Krieger commented that the master plan has several aspects that make sense, particularly the emphasis on Dahlia Street and the extension of 14th Street to connect with Main Drive. He observed that the drawings appear to depict trees of two different sizes on the federal and D.C. portions of Dahlia Street, but the landscape should be continuous across the Walter Reed site. He noted the unclear treatment of the western portion of the site, which currently extends the character of Rock Creek; he suggested the potential reuse of many office buildings and houses on the site that are slated for demolition, perhaps as affordable housing. He also raised the question of density, an issue of concern in Washington during the recent study concerning height limits; he observed that the master plan envisions this area becoming less dense and more pastoral or suburban, which may not be the right approach for this large area of urban land. He summarized his reaction that the site planning for the two major roads and the basic decisions governing the plan seem appropriate, while broader concerns about the proposed low density and accommodating future growth could be addressed.
Mr. Seagroves responded that the neighbors have stated a preference for low density. Mr. Krieger said that neighbors always have this preference; he advised considering this a plan for the next century, commenting that suburban aspirations may be outdated; he said that the proposed density seems odd given the potential of the planning process to use land more efficiently now than in the past. Mr. Seagroves emphasized that the master plan is intended to allow flexibility, including the potential subdivision of larger lots. Mr. Enos added that the grid would allow for a variety of lot sizes and subdividing in all areas of the campus. Mr. Luebke noted the basic assumption of this planning process that the Foreign Missions Center would accommodate stand–alone foreign missions, each having all needed services and a security barrier; these necessarily require a certain irreducible size, with the result that the campus will have a much lower density of development than mixed–use commercial and residential buildings.
Mr. Enos clarified that the remnant forest area to the west is proposed to become two parcels, one at the top of the hill and one at the bottom; the goal is to preserve the tree canopy and treat this as an area covered by trees. Mr. Krieger suggested establishing a setback requirement on the campus to support this approach, and also recommended more density for the parcels near the center of the complex, where neighbors would not see it.
Ms. Fernández said that the master plan embodies decisions about the site's character that will not be changed for decades. She commented that if the goal is a relatively low density, then the landscape is crucial. She questioned the drawing convention for rendering the trees to be very large, as if they would immediately fill up the space; this is not the actual condition, and Dahlia Street would not be lined by such large trees for many years. She said that the campus would not resemble the master plan unless transitions between the forested area and the more open areas are carefully studied. She suggested consideration of treating the northwest portion less like a preserved woodland, and more as a gradual transition into the overall master plan.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk commented that a master plan is caught between the desire for flexibility and the desire for predictability. She acknowledged the need for flexibility in parcel sizes, but emphasized the need to establish from the beginning a predictable character for the site through the public realm, particularly streets. She supported extending the wooded area downhill; she also emphasized that the treatment of Dahlia Street will be key, as it can knit together the Walter Reed site. She said that the master plan should fundamentally concern the creation of a special character for this district that will attract people and make them proud to be here. She gave the example of embassy row in London, an enclave of mansions in a landscaped setting; it has a tremendous amount of presence and grace because these embassies were probably originally private residences and so possess a relationship in scale, setback or build–to lines, fencing, and other elements, which should also be the goal for the Foreign Missions Center. She said that the onus to guarantee an attractive character will therefore be on the design guidelines. She recommended being as specific as possible when writing the design guidelines, particularly concerning the depth of setbacks. She emphasized that the Department of State should control the identity of the site as a whole through the harmony of its public space. Mr. Krieger agreed, adding that occupants could ask for variances if necessary.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk said that Dahlia Street should be considered the center of the campus, not a roadway that separates it. She suggested increasing the density along Dahlia Street, commenting that streets gain character through having an envelope of buildings of symmetrical density or height. She added that the density could be transferred here, or elsewhere, from the three northernmost lots. She recommended giving Dahlia Street a continuous character through consistent treatment of its landscape and of such elements as fences, gates, and setbacks. She added that lots should face Dahlia rather than the smaller streets, unless the sides of buildings resemble front facades. She emphasized that the key issue is establishing a character that will create a wonderful and appealing place.
Mr. Krieger agreed that the design of Dahlia Street should be more structured. He observed that cities historically had small lots, and if someone wanted more space they bought two or three lots. He said that flexibility could be arranged in different ways, and careful structuring of the lot size now would help to control the character. Mr. Seagroves responded that the plan already addresses this; foreign governments could select how many small lots they need. Mr. Krieger said this would be desirable but is not obvious from the master plan, which appears to designate some large lots at the outset.
Mr. Krieger asked if the landscape would be the responsibility of the occupants of individual lots; Mr. Seagroves responded that the treed areas would be common spaces maintained by the State Department, while the parcels would be maintained by foreign governments. Mr. Krieger said that the landscape edge where the parcels meet Dahlia Street would need to continue and amplify the campus character, either through the careful supervision of the State Department or through strict design guidelines.
Mr. Luebke noted that the master plan has been submitted for concept approval, and he summarized the apparent consensus that the Commission has no fundamental problems with it but has questions about details. He asked if the Commission members want to have a further review. Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk said that the comments have been clear, generally supporting the layout while suggesting changes in how massing is allocated. She recommended approving the concept and having a subsequent review with details about design guidelines and the landscape. Upon a second by Ms. Fernández, the Commission adopted this action (subject to confirmation by a quorum).
Ms. Batcheler introduced the proposal for the public spaces, amenities, and parks associated with Phase I of the Southwest Waterfront, known as the Wharf, submitted by the D.C. government in cooperation with the developer Hoffman–Madison Waterfront. She noted that the Commission had approved the concept designs for the public spaces and several buildings in 2012. She asked Shawn Seaman of Hoffman–Madison Waterfront to begin the presentation.
Mr. Seaman said that the project planning has been underway for eight years, and the groundbreaking was held the day before. He described the project as a component of the D.C. government's Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, which is part of the Deputy Mayor's plans to revitalize the city's waterfronts and rivers. He noted that the master plan and the horizontal elements—parks and public spaces—have been treated as direct submissions from the D.C. government, while the individual buildings have been submitted under the Shipstead–Luce Act jurisdiction. The project encompasses approximately 25 acres of land and 50 acres of water, and it has been divided into two phases; the current submission involves only the horizontal elements of the first phase. He recalled that the master plan was first presented to the Commission in November 2010, followed by several submissions in 2012 resulting in concept approval of multiple components but not the Waterfront Park, which is part of the current submission. He introduced the designers of the parks and public spaces: architect Hilary Bertsch of EE&K; Michael Vergason of Michael Vergason Landscape Architects; and Paul Josey of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects.
Ms. Bertsch summarized the goals and development of the design. She said the intention is to activate the entire ground level and provide continual opportunities to see and connect with the water. The wharf, running the length of the site, would be the key public space and would tie together all of the other public spaces. Attributes common to all of the open spaces would include high–quality materials, landscape elements, and a simple kit–of–parts approach to designing the vertical elements, as previously suggested by the Commission.
Ms. Bertsch described the treatment of the wharf. Its sixty–foot width would include twenty feet for a promenade zone along the water, marked with wharf pylons and a double line of trees; twenty feet for a shared zone, the primary circulation space that would accommodate limited one–way vehicular traffic and access for fire and service vehicles; and twenty feet for a mixed–use zone along the buildings. A loop road would lead to the wharf from Maine Avenue. Materials would include three kinds of granite, with colors used to mark the different zones; she confirmed that the result would effectively be two primary paving materials plus an accent granite, as well as a metal trench marking the separation between the promenade and shared zones. The steps at some locations would be wide enough for sitting. She said that the trees would be planted in high–density soil with an irrigation system, and the largest available size would be selected. The long waterfront would have timber fendering and seats along the edge; views from the water to the city are being treated as of equal importance to views from the city to water.
Ms. Bertsch said that the pylons along the wharf, using standardized design components, would carry plumbing and electrical hookups as well as lighting; the only change to these features from the approved concept was determining the dimensions of materials. The ten pavilions along the wharf would also use a standard design system. Three of the pavilions would be built in Phase I: a pair flanking the District Pier and a slightly larger pavilion fronting Parcel 3b.
Ms. Bertsch then presented the other open spaces, progressing from northwest to southeast, and noted that all of the larger spaces would be designed to accommodate special events. The Market Pier would be adjacent to the day docks, a series of boat slips for short–term use; the docks would also be used by the existing fish market to the west. The Market Pier would be simple in character; barges would line up along this pier, and it therefore would not have seating along the edge. It would be paved in scored concrete, and the end would be marked with a sign made of wood slats and letters along with a controlled metal gate providing entry to the slips.
Ms. Bertsch described the Transit Pier, associated with Parcel 2, which would include the Transit Pavilion made of southern yellow pine treated for durability. Steps providing views of the water would lead down to docks and an event space. She emphasized the effort to simplify the design of elements such as the cable railing. Mr. Krieger asked about access to the pier without using stairs; Ms. Bertsch indicated the proposed elevator and a ramp along the stairs, similar to New York's High Line. She described the series of water elements along the wharf; a simple water feature would terminate the vista between Parcels 1 and 2, and these buildings would be canted to allow for the views. The District Pier would be the largest public space; at the northeast end near Maine Avenue it would have a water court and entry into an underground parking garage, then continue to the Pierhouse building, the Civic Commons, an exhibition pier, and the Dockmaster Building. The exhibition pier, 50 feet wide and 450 feet long, would have berths for tall ships as well as exhibit and event space. Its 40–foot–high rigging pylons would be the tallest in the project, and the pier would have a functioning maritime area. At the water court, the steps down to the parking garage would be marked by a cascade of water over walls of Carderock stone. Ms. Bertsch confirmed that this is a locally quarried stone that would also be used at the Pierhouse building. In the middle of the Civic Commons, the Pierhouse restaurant would be designed for maximum transparency and would serve as a gateway to the wharf. The Dockmaster building would house the dockmaster office on the second floor, with offices, storage, and public restrooms below; it would be constructed of wood with a standing–seam metal roof.
Ms. Bertsch described the three smaller, more intimately scaled corridors fronted with retail spaces: Pier Mews, Avenue Mews, and Jazz Alley. Pier Mews between Parcels 3a and 3b, would use the landscape to soften the spaces; a series of overhead arches would be constructed in the metal vernacular style of the wharf and rigging pylons. The Avenue Mews, also between Parcels 3a and b, would connect to the Capital Yacht Club (CYC) Piazza; stanchions would mark the buildings on either side of the entrance. Jazz Alley, the smallest, is intended to be the most active. Located between Parcels 4 and 5, its entry would be indicated by a sign, and a small platform would provide a performance space; strings of lights would cross overhead.
Ms. Bertsch said that the uses around the CYC Piazza at the end of Avenue Mews would include a hotel, a high–end residential building, and a signature restaurant; the piazza would also include a large tree and moveable planters to define the turnaround. She said that ample soil would be available for the tree's health, notwithstanding the location above the project's two–story parking garage.
Ms. Bertsch said that Maine Avenue would be the formal urban face of the project, extending along the entire length of the waterfront redevelopment; its treatment must meet D.C. Department of Transportation standards. Existing trees would be kept and a second row of trees planted. Sidewalks would be paved in concrete using the same color palette as the granite on the wharf. The transitional zone would include cafe seating and plantings. A ten–foot–wide bicycle lane would run the entire length, and she indicated a series of bicycle racks and Capital Bikeshare stations. Intersection designs would be safe for all forms of traffic, and at Parcel 11 the bicycle lane would turn off from Maine Avenue to Waterfront Park.
Mr. Vergason presented the design of 7th Street Park, which would connect the community to the wharf and water. The park would be the centerpiece of a residential square, framed by a hotel to the northwest and a residential building to the southeast. He described the proposal as a composition of soft and supple forms designed as a raised oval of turf and trees, rolling over a large storm sewer pipe below; the park is intended to provide a calm area along the active wharf. The pier, part of Phase II, would slope down to the water, connecting to the wharf at an overlook which will have stepped seating. Paving would include precast pavers as well as cast–in–place concrete walks in the form of a series of loops connecting to the wharf. The curbless shared–use street would include bollards to control car access. A rain garden on the south would absorb most of the park's runoff; south of the rain garden, an interactive fountain would have looped jets framing a cloud of mist. The planting palette would include five types of native deciduous trees and bluegrass turf.
Mr. Josey then presented the design for Waterfront Park, a community park for the existing residential neighborhood of Southwest D.C., and adjacent to existing piers for tour boats and boats for marine police and firefighters. The park would highlight views to the water and includes a lawn and a fountain for playing, a plaza, a pergola overlooking a stepped fountain with a small waterfall, a bocce court, and a small storage structure. A line of mature willow oaks would be preserved, and water would be treated in bioswales and rain gardens along the waterfront. Materials would transition from stone to wood along the stairs and dock, recapitulating the geological transition from the Piedmont to the Coastal Plain that is characteristic of the Washington region. A pergola circling a third of the lawn would be asymmetrical in section and constructed of powder–coated steel. The plaza would be used for temporary events and also for emergency helicopter landings, as an occasional parking lot for police cars, and as a turnaround.
Mr. Luebke noted that the Commission had granted conditional approval to these projects in July 2012, and the staff considers the revised proposal to be responsive to the Commission's previous concerns. Mr. Seaman added that the permit application for the horizontal elements would likely be filed in September 2014.
Ms. Fernández opened the discussion with a concern about the generic use of the word "water" in the presentation, observing that the term water alone does not mean anything. While the fountain in Waterfront Park was thoughtfully designed, she said that the other water features seem to have been added without consideration of their appearance or relation to each other. Noting that the wharf will be a space experienced by people walking through it, she emphasized the need for a meaningful relation between fountains and the sounds and shapes of their flowing water. She said that the proposed Theater Alley fountain is generic and appears unrelated to any other feature; the cascade at the elevator and the children's play fountain also appear completely unrelated. She recommended devising a coordinated design approach for the fountains as had been done for the vertical features of the open spaces.
Mr. Vergason said that the intention for the fountain at 7th Street Park is to introduce the presence of water as people approach from a distance because Washington Channel would not be visible, and also to create a playful, cooling place in a sunny spot among the trees; he added that the design responds to the geometry of other forms nearby. Mr. Seaman said that the Theater Alley fountain would be located adjacent to a parking garage entrance and a truck loading area for the theater, resulting in very limited room for interrupting the road surface. The fountain is proposed as a means to soften this constricted space rather than as one of a series along the waterfront. Ms. Fernández said her concern is not about the size of the space but that the fountain's design is unrelated to the language of anything else on the wharf; Ms. Plater–Zyberk added that this fountain looks pre–fabricated. Ms. Fernández emphasized that such elements need to be designed, regardless of whether constraints are present; in this case, the appearance is that an attempt was made to create an inviting space but a generic element was added without thinking about how the space would be used. For example, she said that sound is important as a sensory effect that sets a tone, and an understanding is need of how these different aspects of fountains will affect the experience of moving through this space.
Ms. Fernández commented that the designers' previous approach of making every element a unique event had produced a carnival–like environment; she commended them for toning this effect down, noting that the wharf and the water are themselves the main events and do not have to be enlivened at each intersection. Mr. Krieger commented that the project could use more editing, which may become necessary because of budgetary constraints. He suggested that presentations to the Commission should be required to include two renderings of spaces, one with people and one without, because spaces need to be understood without people. He said that the project still appears to be trying too hard, contrasting it with the remarkable quays of London and Rome that are simpler than this design; the proposal seems overloaded, apparently due to fear that otherwise people wouldn't come. He commended the project as both ambitious and thoughtful, reflecting a strong commitment to Washington's public environment, but nevertheless recommended further simplification. He also encouraged selecting larger trees, suggesting a nine–inch rather than the proposed eight–inch caliper.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk commented that the project is a wonderful opportunity, and she agreed in recommending simplification. She observed that the few steps along the wharf accommodating the level change might pose a hazard; with so much activity along the wharf, she said that the proposed ground surface is generally too busy, and its paving needs to be treated entirely as background. She recommended running the granite and other features uninterrupted from one end of the wharf to the other, and she stressed the need for consistency as well as simplification: the wood of the pier should start at the pier rather than extend into the wharf, and the patterns around fountains should start at building lines. She indicated the stairs in one rendering, which are depicted as feathering where the levels change; she said this would be both annoying and hazardous. She advised restudy of the level changes, bearing in mind that people should not have to pay attention to them; in this case, she said that the level change could become an overlook since it would not be very useful for sitting. She added that the color of steps should change at the nose and not at the riser so they can easily be seen by people descending; Mr. Krieger added that the six–inch risers might be too high for older pedestrians.
For the Transit Pier, Ms. Plater–Zyberk reiterated that wood should be restricted to the pier and not used on the wharf; similarly, the paving at the theater fountain should not extend to the wharf. She observed that the rigging pylons would be used sometimes independently and sometimes to hold up roofs; she recommended avoiding a proliferation of vertical rigging elements for uses that could be combined. She also recommended drawing all of the vertical pieces in one rendering to see if their number could be reduced.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk acknowledged the need for the sign at the Market Pier but said that its arched shape and wood construction are unrelated to the language of the wharf; the vertical elements throughout are metal, and the sign should perhaps be related to these—made of metal, and not an arch. Mr. Luebke noted that this issue had also been discussed concerning the metal arches at the mews. Ms. Plater–Zyberk said that the Jazz Alley sign, with its freestanding letters, is best because it does not use an arch. She suggested that all signs in the smaller spaces could be letters hung from the buildings at a higher level, or hung at their current level but with fewer of them. She advised against adding more vertical supports if infrastructure could simply be hung between the closely spaced buildings, as is done in cities with narrow streets such as Rome. Mr. Seaman responded that the current design calls for cable–supported lights, and the arches shown in the renderings may be from an earlier version of the design; Ms. Plater–Zyberk and Mr. Krieger support this revision.
Mr. Luebke noted that the size of the Jazz Alley sign is not indicated in the presentation materials; while the D.C. government has established a special sign district for the Wharf, the signs would also be subject to Commission review under the Shipstead–Luce Act. He said that signage is a larger issue, recalling that two years ago the Commission had lengthy discussions about the use of commercial signs at the top of buildings in this project. He emphasized that the project team needs to understand that the Commission will be looking at signs carefully.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk then discussed the proposed treatment of Maine Avenue. She supported the new line of trees and the bicycle lane, but observed that this would leave only ten feet for the sidewalk and restaurant seating, which may be tight; she suggested considering fewer trees and installing planters flush with the ground to accommodate cafe tables. Mr. Seaman clarified that the proposal includes a ten–foot–wide sidewalk and a five–foot zone for low–impact landscape that would be interrupted by intermittent paved areas for seating, adding that the ten–foot–zone is required by the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative. Ms. Plater–Zyberk said the paving would be best if it were flush with the landscape, not raised above.
Discussing the other parks, Ms. Plater–Zyberk said that 7th Street Park was described as a quiet and calm place, but she observed that the curving geometry of the walks seems very active. For Waterfront Park, she said that the fountain may be too complex, observing that the park is designed with numerous levels and multiple shapes; she added that placing wood next to water is a potential maintenance problem, and she recommended simplifying the design.
Mr. Krieger reiterated that the wharf itself should be more consistent along its length; it is interrupted at many points with distinctive alleys, mews, and fountains, but along the edge the design should be calmer, as in all great quays. He said that some things would always change, such as buildings and canopies, but on the whole there should be fewer interruptions such as canopies and gaps. He recommended a more continuous line of trees to balance all the varied elements, and treating the wharf as a consistent datum line to enable people to understand the variations along its route. Ms. Plater–Zyberk said that the wharf will be a three–dimensional space that needs to be modulated; she noted that the location of gaps between buildings will be clear and does not need to be marked by pavement changes. Mr. Krieger agreed that such events do not always have to be called out.
Mr. Luebke asked for clarification of the large area of pavement depicted in front of the planned church building at Parcel 11. Mr. Seaman confirmed that this is an interim streetscape design for the first phase; Phase II will include a park in this location designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh, which had been presented to the Commission in 2012 as a series of boulders and undulating forms running from Maine Avenue to the Washington Channel. He said that the depicted Phase I concrete paving would be a temporary, relatively inexpensive forecourt to the church that can be removed in two years when the M Street Landing project is built. He added that the design for this park will be presented again when the church is completed and Phase II has begun. Ms. Plater–Zyberk commented that the sidewalk and planting along this park should be continuous with Maine Avenue.
Mr. Luebke noted the Commission's previous concept approval of the open spaces and said that no action is needed on the current submission. He summarized the overall support of the Commission members for the project's direction and said that the staff can work with the project team on addressing the Commission's specific comments. Noting the procedural complexity of the project, he suggested that the Commission could allow the future final design submissions to be placed on the consent calendar if staff concludes that the design is satisfactory. Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk requested that the project be presented again to the Commission—particularly to allow for further comments from Ms. Meyer, the landscape architect on the Commission, who is not at today's meeting. Ms. Fernández agreed, commenting that even a small change would be significant on such a large site.
SL 14–073, The Museum of the Bible (Passages), 300 D Street, SW. Additions, alterations, and rehabilitation of Washington Design Center Building and adjacent office building. Revised concept. (Previous: SL 14–001, 21 November 2013.) Ms. Batcheler introduced the revised concept design for alterations and additions to a complex of buildings proposed to house the Museum of the Bible, a private museum dedicated to the exhibition of items from the Green Collection of rare biblical texts and artifacts. She summarized the previous review in November 2013, when the Commission supported the project's general height, scale, and configuration while raising several concerns about the design of the building and site. The concept has been revised following consultation with the D.C. government and the Commission staff. She introduced Harry Hargrave from the Museum of the Bible to begin the presentation.
Mr. Hargrave commented that the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board has recommended approval of the concept, and that the project team has been working closely with the D.C. Office of Transportation and the D.C. Office of Planning in designing a lively streetscape beyond the building face, which is at the property line. He added that one goal is to improve the pedestrian experience of walking to the museum along 4th Street from the National Air and Space Museum to the north. He introduced Michael Vergason of Michael Vergason Landscape Architects and architect David Greenbaum of SmithGroup JJR to present the design.
Mr. Greenbaum said that the primary aim is the creation of a visually coherent composition for the museum that will reinforce the flatiron shape of the warehouse building; the design should also be solemn in character to reflect the importance of the collection. He said that the site encompasses two distinct components—the museum and an adjoining office building. The original 1923 warehouse building on the west side of the site would be converted into the museum; the 1982 addition to its east, the Washington Office Center, will remain an office building under separate ownership; and a replacement infill structure would be constructed between them to enclose the museum's vertical circulation and long–span spaces.
Mr. Greenbaum said that the allowable height of 130 feet allows construction of a two–story addition above the warehouse to accommodate a 500–seat theater and a 500–seat ballroom under a roof of distinctive form responding to the plan's asymmetrical parti. A single level of 3,000 square feet would also be added above the Washington Office Center to house the Green Scholar Institute, which is affiliated with the museum. He described the warehouse's existing fenestration that reflects the original functions of cold and dry storage; the proposed infill building would abstract the window proportions, coursing lines, and setbacks of the historic building. He summarized the Commission's recommendations to unify and simplify the overall composition and improve the 4th Street entrance.
Mr. Greenbaum described the options explored for the upper floors of the museum, all of which had sought to maintain the overall continuity of the building skin. The conclusion was that curvilinear forms would reduce the apparent mass of the rooftop addition. In the revised version, the glass volumes of the addition have been reduced and simplified. The proposed materials include clear and translucent channel glass of different opacities, which will allow sunlight to play on the surfaces in various ways, and zinc panels in other visible areas. The roofline would be set back from the parapet, and the roof structure would extend over both the warehouse and infill. The additional glazing of this addition would allow views north up 4th Street to the Mall and would extend into a clerestory along the south elevation, serving to integrate the composition. He indicated the rooftop Biblical garden along Virginia Avenue that would be screened by a trellis.
Mr. Greenbaum described the redesign of the infill volume which he said is quieter than before, with no projecting forms or folded planes. The north and south facades would be a minimally articulated brick masonry skin and punched windows with stainless steel surrounds. The facades would have handmade bricks of unusually long proportions, 1½ inches high by 20 inches long, and faced with two different textures; the intention is to convey a sense of antiquity. Facade setbacks would respond to the interior atrium, which will project on the south, and would serve to emphasize the historic warehouse. Windows would align with stair landings, and joints and column bays would relate its scale to the historic warehouse. Ground–floor windows would engage with the activity along D Street. He emphasized the effort in designing the infill to avoid overwhelming the museum by using the correct scale and a simple unmodulated mass that picks up the historic structure's horizontal and vertical lines.
Mr. Vergason presented the site design, describing three objectives for the public right–of–way: gracious entry to the museum, establishing a connection to the Mall, and creating a sustainable streetscape. Two large willow oaks on 4th Street and two red oaks on D Street would be preserved, as previously requested by the Commission. A permeable unit paver would be used to enhance the sense of entry and provide better growing conditions for the two oaks. Elsewhere, sidewalks would be exposed–aggregate concrete, similar to the Mall sidewalks and to recent improvements made in the area east and north of this project. Improvements on the north would extend along the full length of D Street to the Metro entrance at the northeast corner of the block, and on the south along most of the Virginia Avenue frontage. Trees would typically be paired in large planters, and groups of three trees would flank the historic loading dock area along D Street. The D Street design includes traditional planting at the curb and a 10–foot–wide sidewalk along the facade; all planters would be bioretention areas along the curb, except at the two existing trees. The sidewalk to the south would be aligned along the building face, and plantings would be consolidated with street trees along the curb. He noted the goal to provide at least 1,000 cubic feet of soil per tree.
Mr. Greenbaum emphasized the intention to create an active streetscape and strong civic setting for the museum. Open loading–dock doors would be installed to evoke historic features, and windows along the loading dock would be added to allow views from the sidewalk to the interior ticketing area and lobby. He described the idea of architecture as a palimpsest recalling historic conditions and of a new building inserted within a historic fabric. He added that the circulation space would recall the railroad spur that formerly entered the building, and some parts of the dock's base would be restored while others would be left as they are to show changes over time.
Mr. Greenbaum then presented the proposed changes to the Washington Office Center. A single–story 14–foot–high addition would be constructed on the roof, set back slightly to allow for a small terrace; low walls would screen mechanical equipment. The existing building has a terra cotta base and curtainwalls of black reflecting and spandrel glass; the terra cotta would be coated with a black material to reduce the structure's apparent scale and visually strengthen the base.
Mr. Krieger asked why the terra cotta base of the office building would be coated; Mr. Greenbaum responded that the terra cotta had been introduced in the 1980s around the entire block so that the multiple buildings would read as a single monolithic structure, but the intention now is to make the buildings more distinct. Mr. Krieger asked if the additional floor would have the same glazing as the rest of the office building; Mr. Greenbaum said that it has not yet been designed, but the intention is to make the new level more transparent. Mr. Krieger suggested that the additional floor be reduced in size, observing that it would make the large and ungainly office building look even bigger; he recommended pulling the floor back slightly from the existing building face. Mr. Luebke noted his understanding from initial consultations that the additional floor would be set back several feet; Mr. Greenbaum said that it had never been shown with a setback. Mr. Krieger reiterated that a setback would be preferable. Mr. Greenbaum agreed to restudy this addition but said that design flexibility, such as altered column alignments, would be limited due to the presence of office tenants during construction. Mr. Krieger suggested that the revisions should begin with the glazing.
Mr. Krieger commented on the overall improvement of the design, especially at the museum entrance, but he wondered if the addition above the warehouse still looks too aggressive. He asked if the loading dock and canopy are being preserved because they are historic. Mr. Greenbaum responded that the building will be landmarked, and restoration of these features is part of the historic preservation agreement. Mr. Krieger asked if the canopy would be new or historic; Mr. Greenbaum said that the proposed canopy would recall the profile, location, and intent of the historic canopy. Mr. Luebke clarified that the D.C. Historic Preservation Office has requested the reconstruction of the dock canopy; the proposed design is a slight modification of the original canopy's character and material. Ms. Plater–Zyberk questioned the point of recreating something that is not the original design; Mr. Greenbaum said that the purpose is to re–engage the building with history, noting that the original design is not well documented and therefore some liberties can be taken.
Mr. Krieger observed that this reconstructed dock appears to be primarily for show. He said that the element was probably not important in people's experience of the building; its reconstruction for historic reasons seems like a narrow, even capricious interpretation of what should be preserved, given that the project already retains much of the historic warehouse. He recommended taking far more liberty at this street–level location because a change could make a significant difference. He questioned the appeal of walking next to an old dock, and he suggested making this area more inviting, perhaps by retaining the shape of the canopy but using different materials. He observed that the museum would have a sequence of entrance areas—security, vestibule, lobby—and seeing them from the sidewalk would be more important than reconstructing old dock doors. He emphasized that a dark and gloomy space could be made light and interesting. He reiterated that the design has otherwise been improved; he supported the simplification of the infill facade and the greater interaction among the facades on the Virginia Avenue side, although he asked if the south infill facade needs to be so severe.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk said that her objection to the infill is the small, diagonally arranged windows that resemble the fenestration in a stairwell. She observed that the D Street frontage of the infill would include a lobby on all floors, and the elevation on the ground floor would be much more welcoming with more glazing; Mr. Krieger agreed. Mr. Greenbaum said that a more open facade was considered, but the decision was to use the window openings as a scale device. Ms. Plater–Zyberk responded that this is unnecessary because of the large scale of the surrounding buildings. She recommended more careful consideration of the experience of people walking from the Metro and encountering this long, relentless blank wall, which would also be an inviting canvas for graffiti. Mr. Krieger suggested continuing to explore other means of combining glazing with masonry to distinguish the infill from the adjoining buildings.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk reiterated the concern about coating the terra cotta on the office building; it may not be necessary to differentiate the buildings this way, and the coating could cause maintenance problems. Mr. Greenbaum said they had identified a coating product; Mr. Luebke asked him to provide this information to staff. Ms. Plater–Zyberk acknowledged the dated 1980s character of the existing terra cotta but said that the best solution may be to leave it alone, allowing the building to express its period coherently.
Mr. Luebke summarized the Commission action from November 2013 as generally supporting the project while identifying issues concerning the articulation of the volume, entrance, and elevations; he noted that these issues have been addressed, perhaps allowing for a concept approval, and the remaining issues could be addressed as part of the design development phase. Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk said that the issues raised in the current review are fundamental—particularly increasing the glazing at the ground–floor level so that the building's public spaces and the street can interact—but she agreed that the project team could consider these concerns in the next phase of the project, and she supported approving the current concept submission. Mr. Krieger agreed. Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk said that the project would not need to be presented again to the Commission if the staff concludes that the comments have been adequately addressed.
OG 14–055, Georgetown University, 3700 O Street, NW. New eight–story residence hall. Concept. Ms. Barsoum introduced the proposal for a residence hall at Georgetown University, which results from the 2010 campus plan that establishes a goal of providing on–campus housing for more of the university's students by 2017. She said that the campus plan reflects an agreement between the university and the neighborhood, and it was adopted by the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment without the Commission's involvement. The design firm for this project, Sasaki Associates, is also currently working on the master plan for the campus. She described the proposed location along a well–travelled pedestrian walk linking the main quadrangle and the medical complex. The building would be visible from the Georgetown neighborhood at 35th Street two blocks to the east, with views across the parking lot and cemetery of an adjacent private school. She said that the Old Georgetown Board has reviewed this project on four occasions, including an initial request to present the project in the context of the overall campus planning; the subsequent reviews have addressed issues of siting and the building design. She noted that the report from the Old Georgetown Board has been distributed to the Commission members. She asked architect Regina Bleck of Georgetown University to begin the presentation; Ms. Bleck introduced architect Vinicius Gorgati and landscape architect Gautam Sundaram, both of Sasaki Associates, to present the design.
Mr. Gorgati provided an overview of the campus and its pedestrian routes in relation to the proposed site, noting the nearby entrance to the student center. He said that the master plan, currently being prepared, includes a green space along Reservoir Road north of the project site to provide an improved north entrance to the campus and establish a transition between the residential, academic, and medical areas. The master plan envisions that new residential areas would be related to the existing active mixed–use spaces of the campus, which are prevalent near this site; he indicated the nearby pedestrian bridge to the student center. Immediately adjacent are the six–story Reiss Science Building, forming the southwest edge of the project's triangular site; a campus residential village to the north; and the campus boundary with a chain–link fence to the east. He noted the topography in the area, resulting in building entrances at multiple levels.
Mr. Sundaram described the site as a green area defined by the existing pedestrian walk. He indicated the existing grove of mature trees, many of which are being incorporated into the landscape plan; some trees would be removed or relocated, and many additional trees would be planted. He said that the landscape design has been considered in relation to nearby areas, with the goal of integrating the site with the open spaces to the north and south as well as providing a transition between these areas. The design also promotes a more vibrant and active outdoor space, supported by shared uses in the ground floor of the proposed building. Main entrances would be located at the south and northwest corners of the triangular residence hall; the plaza between them would relate closely to the building's ground–floor activities. A landscape buffer would be provided between the plaza and the Reiss Science Building, which has air vents in this area; he indicated the staggered configuration of proposed benches that would create social spaces along the plantings. South of the plaza, stairs and a ramp would follow the downward grade to the areas of campus to the south. He summarized the overall goal of creating a series of social spaces along the building facade, defined by plantings and paved areas, rather than simply a pass–through walk.
Mr. Sundaram described the site proposals in greater detail. The building plaza would be extended southward to form a forecourt at the south entrance, and would continue around the building to the east. The remainder of the east side would be a series of landscaped terraces and lawns that could serve as social spaces or a stepped amphitheater, along with vegetation that extends the landscape of the adjacent girls' school. At the upper end of the lawn, a fenced patio would have access from the second floor for the use of the building's residents. A new ornamental fence is proposed along the east side of the site, adjoining the school, to replace the existing chain–link fence. Adjacent to the building's northwest entrance, a walk would extend along a portion of the north facade to provide access to the bicycle room as well as emergency egress for the residents; outdoor bicycle racks would also be provided in this area. He said that the plaza would have pervious paving, and much of the stormwater would be retained on the site; a green roof, cisterns, and ground filtration would also be part of the stormwater management system. Precast pavers would relate the plaza to the building materials, and moveable tables and chairs would be provided; other walks would have asphalt–block pavers. He said that the site material selection would be studied further based on comments from the Old Georgetown Board and campus staff, with the goal of relating the project to the neighboring areas of the campus. He described the proposed lighting, intended to provide a sense of liveliness as well as safety: fixtures would include a series of light poles, lighting beneath the benches and railings, and possibly bollard lights, in addition to the ambient lighting from the extensive first–floor glazing of the proposed building. The poles would be a modified version of the standard acorn–style fixture used on the campus, using shielded LED lamps; a shorter pole would be used around the plaza, designed to relate more closely to the architecture of the proposed building. Birch trees would be added around the plaza to frame spaces. He presented a series of views to illustrate the experience of moving through the site, along with photographs of the existing conditions.
Mr. Gorgati presented further details of the architectural proposal. Above the northwest entrance, the corner of the building would be articulated as a "Living and Learning Tower." A fireplace lounge at the corner would be a focal point for the building's residents. The adjacent vestibule would provide access to either the residential elevators to the east or the ground–floor gathering space to the south. The additional building entrance at the south would lead directly to the gathering space, which would open onto the plaza; the south corner would similarly be treated as a tower feature. The upper floors would include corner lounges in addition to the dormitory suites. The seventh floor would step back at the south corner for a small terrace, and the eighth floor would have a more extensive setback along the southwest facade. He described the proposed materials, intended to relate to the traditional campus vocabulary of stone with limestone highlights. Stone would be used for the first–floor base of the building and for the towers at the northwest and south corners; the remainder of the upper facades would be brick with inlays of limestone. He emphasized the transparency of the first–floor facade along the plaza. A belt course above the first floor would separate the stone base from the brick facades, and an additional belt course above the sixth floor would serve as the base for several seventh–floor oriel windows. He concluded by noting the intended variety in the overall window pattern that would alternate between narrower windows, often paired, and wider windows.
Mr. Luebke summarized the extensive review process with the Old Georgetown Board; earlier in the month, the Board decided that the project has reached a stage that could be approved as a concept. He noted that the Board's report includes comments concerning development of the lobby details, the height of the piers, the thinness of the belt course above the first floor, the slot configuration of the windows, and additional concerns with paving and lighting. However, he said that the current design presentation includes revisions subsequent to the Board's recent review, which is not the normal procedure; some of the Board's comments may therefore no longer be applicable to the presented design.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk expressed appreciation for the thorough consideration of the design, extending from campus planning issues to building details. She supported the overall approach to the campus plan, the landscape, and the building layout. She discouraged the proposal to introduce a new style of light pole for this project, commenting that this gesture is unnecessary on a campus; she recommended simply extending the standard campus poles through the site, perhaps supplemented by lower–level landscape lighting. She questioned the use of narrow vertically proportioned windows, which she said suggest a prison–like appearance; she noted that similar windows are a very disliked feature of some 1970s college dormitories. She also questioned the use of the stone as superficial "wallpaper" extending up the facades of the two towers; she encouraged more consideration of its traditional use, as seen in the proposal for a first–floor stone base for the building, and emphasized the importance of developing a clear architectural language for the materials. She said that brick is more appropriate as a curtainwall material for the upper floors, with the limestone highlights as proposed.
Mr. Krieger agreed that the overall plan is well considered, commenting on the ingenious adaptation of the building to the topography. He said that the proposed landscape treatment would be a significant improvement compared to the existing conditions, provided that the proposals for additional trees are carried out. He also agreed with the concern about the use of materials. He asked for clarification of some vertical white panels shown at the towers; Mr. Gorgati responded that these would be limestone. Mr. Krieger noted that in modern times stone is routinely used as a curtainwall material. He nonetheless questioned the intended use of material in this project, such as the awkward relationship of the first–floor stone base to the rising topography that results in brick reaching the ground at some parts of the building. He said that the view from the northwest seems severe, although somewhat softened by the inclusion of trees in the rendering; he questioned why the single tier of dormitory rooms at this corner is clad in stone. He also questioned the consistency of the metal lintels, which are usually used at the transition from the stone base to the upper brick, while at the northwest corner the lintel is used within a continuing stone wall. He suggested further study of the facade details to address such issues. He added that stone does not necessarily need to be used for both entrance towers; the south corner, with its powerful tapered profile, could be the only location for the vertical extension of the stone. He also agreed that the narrow windows are too slit–like, and more generally he questioned why the rooms have relatively little window area.
Mr. Gorgati responded that the Old Georgetown Board had also expressed concern with the lintel locations, and he offered to develop design alternatives. He also said that an earlier design using brick for the northwest corner would be revisited, using a concept of emphasizing the south tower as the project's anchor; the relationship of the base to the topography would also be studied further. Mr. Krieger observed that the fireplace lounge would serve as an anchor for the northwest corner of the building. Mr. Gorgati added that the window configuration would also be reconsidered as the project moves into design development. He noted an earlier design that used only the larger window size, which resulted in insufficient diversity on the elevations; the current proposal is derived from the syncopated window pattern of historic buildings on the campus. He noted that this building would be approached at its acute corners, and the windows may therefore not be prominent features. He agreed with Ms. Plater–Zyberk that the use of materials should have more authenticity and architectural meaning.
Mr. Luebke noted that many of the existing campus buildings are brick, aside from several stone buildings on the central quadrangle and at the business school. Nonetheless, Georgetown students had advocated the use of stone when reviewing the initial design for this project. He emphasized that the issue of materials had been raised by the Old Georgetown Board, with the result of using stone for the building's ground floor and anchoring towers while the prevailing material for the building is brick. Mr. Krieger observed that a transition of materials is part of architectural tradition, such as with classical buildings have a stone front and brick sides; he supported the use of stone for both the base and the south tower, while the northwest corner could emphasize glass instead of stone. Ms. Fernández supported the comments of the other Commission members, and she discouraged the forced emphasis on verticality which she said is not a desirable goal.
Mr. Luebke said that the Commission could adopt the Old Georgetown Report board, notwithstanding the subsequent development of the design, and could convey the additional comments that were provided; the result would be approval of the concept. Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk confirmed the consensus of the Commission members to support the concept while requesting careful attention to its development and the project's details (subject to confirmation by a quorum). She reiterated the supportive comments on the site plan and building layout, along with concern about the treatment of the facades. Mr. Luebke noted the normal procedure of further review by the Old Georgetown Board, followed by a presentation of the final design to the Commission; he asked if the Commission would instead allow a favorable recommendation from the Board to be placed on the Old Georgetown Act appendix for Commission action. Mr. Krieger requested the opportunity for additional review by the Commission, commenting that development of the design could advance the building to excellence.
1. CFA 20/MAR/14–4, DC KIPP College Prep High School (formerly Hamilton Special Education School), 1401 Brentwood Parkway, NE. New school building. Concept. Mr. Lindstrom introduced the project for a new charter school, known as the DC KIPP College Prep High School, that will occupy the site of the former Hamilton Special Education School, a 1960s D.C. public school located northwest of the Gallaudet University campus. The existing building would be demolished for the new structure. He introduced Brian Pilot of Studios Architecture and David Rubin of the Land Collective to present the design.
Mr. Pilot said the school would be funded by KIPP DC and built under a land lease with the D.C. government. He noted that adjacent Gallaudet University supports the proposed site planning, which takes into account the likelihood of future development along 6th Street, NE. He indicated the location of Union Market directly across the street from the school, the Metro station several blocks away, and four–lane Brentwood Parkway that adjoins the site and has little pedestrian traffic; an existing service road from Brentwood Parkway leads to parking at the rear of the Hamilton School building, backing onto the Gallaudet campus.
Mr. Pilot described the existing two–level building as sprawling across the site, leaving little room for additions, and many of its important spaces lack daylight. Adapting the building for the new use was considered but was found not feasible. The new building, serving approximately 850 to 1,000 students, would have a smaller footprint and a different site orientation, occupying a high point where it would rise behind the athletic field and have a character of monumentality within the landscape. He noted that the KIPP program emphasizes a very structured teaching environment, with visual control and security playing key roles. The building would be approached through an allee of trees leading up a slight grade past the north end of the building to an entry plaza, which would provide views of the site. The long five–story block containing the main entrance and classrooms would run roughly north to south, with two lower blocks extending toward the athletic field on the west. The entrance would lead into a two–story lobby allowing supervision of students and easy circulation to classrooms. The upper two levels would contain mostly classrooms; administrative offices would be located in the middle section overlooking the plaza; and the lower levels would contain a wing for art classes, the cafeteria, and gym, as well as an auditorium extending beneath the entrance plaza. A secondary entry would accommodate public access for community events held in the gym or auditorium when school is not in session.
Mr. Pilot said the building's form and materials result directly from the program. Fenestration would be located to allow the maximum amount of daylight into classrooms and for good views. The primary material would be a whitish–gray brick; its light color is intended to increase the building's monumental appearance. The colors of other materials were selected to create warmth and appeal: a brown aluminum would be used for the fenestration; and wood, protected by an overhang, would be used mostly at eye level.
Mr. Pilot said that athletics has an important role in the school's program. The existing baseball field would be retained, and a new multi–purpose field would be shared with the community. Throughout the campus, the landscape would be designed to promote engagement with learning. Mr. Rubin said that the landscape design was inspired by the numerous tiers of opera boxes at Philadelphia's Academy of Music: at KIPP DC, the topography would be manipulated to create small swells and hollows where students can gather for outdoor classes or to watch sports. The land forms would be created with rubble reclaimed from the demolished school building, layered with soil and other materials and planted with a groundcover. Parking would be located next to the Gallaudet service area and is designed to work with the topography for efficient gathering of stormwater, which will drain to lower elevations for reuse.
Mr. Krieger expressed support for the overall project, commenting that the site plan and topography appear to work well. He observed that the running track appears smaller than regulation size; Mr. Pilot responded that the available space is insufficient for a larger track. Mr. Krieger asked about the design of the faculty entrance to the building from the rear parking lot. Mr. Pilot indicated the entrance on the drawings, noting that it is purposely discreet; he added that almost all students will take public transportation and arrive at the entrance plaza. Mr. Krieger commented that the teachers may deserve a nicer entrance than a simple locked door, and the proposed entry may be too understated; Ms. Plater–Zyberk added that it should at least give shelter from bad weather.
Mr. Krieger suggested that the spaces lining the long corridor in the classroom block could be modulated to relieve its relentless linearity. He observed that a lot of light would enter the corridor from one side, but on the other side light would be partially blocked by a conference room; he suggested further study to assure sufficient balance in the lighting. He commented that the school entrance from the athletic field seems unresolved, appearing like an accidental gap between the gym and the auditorium blocks rather than an intentional decision; he said that this seems strange in comparison to the rigorous architectural form–making elsewhere in the project. Ms. Plater–Zyberk indicated the slightly awkward geometry of the two blocks, with one set back and slightly tilted. Noting the calmness and rationality of the rest of the design, she suggested that the gap between the two blocks should be completed as a unified whole to create a base for the building, or else the blocks should be treated as two distinctly different elements.
Ms. Fernández asked for clarification of the reasoning for the use of wood on the building exterior. Mr. Pilot responded that wood is used to indicate the location of spaces other than classrooms, such as art studios and college counseling offices. Ms. Fernández acknowledged the use of wood as an accent band on several elevations, but observed that on the east elevation it ends abruptly and does not appear to make sense. She said that the expression of interior functions on the exterior was not legible, adding that this delineation would probably not matter to someone viewing the building from a distance. Mr. Krieger said he would interpret the use of wood as a material that refers to entrances and public spaces, as seen on the elevation facing the athletic field although not along the parking lot; Ms. Fernández added that it might be used for areas closer to people, but actually no one would ever get close to the wood. Ms. Fernández commented that the wood is being made to do a lot of things—to serve as a band unifying the building volumes, to provide a warm tone at entries, and to indicate eye level although it is also used at other levels. She concluded that there is a confusion about the use of wood, and she recommended making its use more logical; Mr. Krieger agreed.
Mr. Luebke asked for further comments about the landscape; Mr. Krieger said that it seems reasonably well handled. Mr. Luebke noted that the Commission staff sees many school projects and appreciates the intentional simplicity of this design, which does not try to incorporate a profusion of trendy features. Upon a motion by Mr. Krieger with second by Ms. Fernández, the Commission members approved the concept proposal with the comments provided and delegated review of the final design to the staff (subject to confirmation by a quorum).
2. CFA 20/MAR/14–5, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, 1680 35th Street, NW. Building modernization and additions. Revised concept. (Previous: CFA 16/JAN/14–6.) Ms. Batcheler introduced the proposal for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, summarizing the Commission's previous review in January 2014; at that time, the Commission had approved the general concept and requested a revised concept submission to address comments concerning the site and building design. She said that the project team has been consulting with the D.C. Historic Preservation Office as well as with the Commission staff. She noted that supplemental drawings are being distributed to the Commission members that provide a comparison of the previous and current elevation proposals, but they are not intended to modify the submitted design that was sent to the Commission members in advance of the meeting. She asked Chris Graae of Cox Graae + Spack Architects to present the design.
Mr. Graae summarized the building history and overall design proposal, emphasizing the revisions since the previous presentation. He described the school's phased construction beginning in 1898 as Western High School in a classical style, with classical expansions in 1910 and 1915, an expansion with a more utilitarian character in 1925, and less significant alterations in the 1980s. He indicated the historical evolution of the building entrances, which provide a potential solution for the current issue of how to design the school's new entrance. The 1898 building had a small portico on the primary east facade that did not include an entrance; porches at each side of the central portico, adjacent to the north and south wings, provided separate entrances for boys and girls. The 1910 expansion included an enlarged portico that included the primary entrance at its base. The roofs and outer columns of the two flanking porches were later removed, exposing the entrance facades with arched openings that were originally behind the porches; these facades remain in place, with infilled openings and extensive alterations from the 1980s. The proposal is to reconstruct these porches in modified form, using the north porch as the school's new primary entrance. He said that this proposal relates to establishing the school's historical period of significance, with an additional proposal to reconstruct the roof balustrade that was created in the 1910 expansion but later removed.
Mr. Graae provided an overview of the building plans, which are similar to those presented in January. He noted that the parking entrance is still shown along Reservoir Road but its relocation continues to be under consideration, pending further coordination with the D.C. Department of Transportation. On the site plan, he indicated the removal of surface parking previously proposed at the northwest corner of the school's large east lawn, in response to numerous objections; the intention instead is to designate other locations for drop–off and visitor parking, in cooperation with the D.C. Department of Transportation and neighborhood representatives. He added that finding a new location for handicapped–accessible parking will be a difficult challenge. He indicated the revised design for the amphitheater on the east side of the portico; its size is substantially reduced, resulting in a larger lawn and less hardscape on the east side of the site, as previously recommended by the Commission. He said that this reduction is partly a result of moving the proposed primary student entrance to the north porch rather than entering directly from the amphitheater plaza.
Mr. Graae described the proposed entrance and portico configuration in more detail, noting the extensive consultation with the D.C. Historic Preservation Office and the Commission staff. The entrance was previously proposed at the lower level, which would become the base level of the atrium at the center of the school. The new proposal to restore the porches would result in entering one level above, which has been the historic entrance level. The side location of the proposed entrance avoids interfering with the gallery space that is planned within the portico base at this level; the gallery would serve as the central public entrance to the school's theater when it is open for special events. Mr. Krieger asked for clarification of the proposed treatment of the five arched openings within the portico base; Mr. Graae responded that the three central openings would be doors to the stepped gallery and theater, while the far north and south arches would have windows. He added that a side door in the portico base would provide access to an interior ramp leading up to the gallery and the student entrance vestibule.
Mr. Graae described the proposed modification of the historic porch design: in order to provide adequate interior space for security screening at the student entrance, the north porch would have a glass wall within the roofed area to enclose much of the porch space that had historically been exterior; this glass facade would be placed slightly behind the reconstructed columns, allowing them to be freestanding as in the historic open porch. He added that the south porch, although not planned for use as an entrance, would be reconstructed similar to the north porch in order to retain an overall symmetrical appearance for the school's primary east facade. He said that a more contemporary design approach for the porches was explored but was discouraged during the design consultations; the current proposal was supported by the review agencies because it restores a feature that was removed.
Mr. Krieger commented that the proposed entrance solution appears to work well. Ms. Plater–Zyberk asked for clarification of the proposed second–floor glass room within the historic exterior portico; Mr. Luebke noted that this feature was part of the previously submitted design. Mr. Graae said that this space, a "glass lantern," would be a reading room adjacent to the media center. He emphasized that its roof would not extend to the historic portico roof, and the room's walls would touch the existing building only along the historic painted brick facade. The existing door openings, currently unused, would provide access to this proposed room. He said that this prominent modern form would convey the rehabilitation of the school on the main facade while only minimally touching the building's historic fabric. He added that the remainder of the portico would be an outdoor terrace with improved access for student use.
Mr. Graae summarized that the alterations to the east facade would be relatively limited, primarily involving the entrance features. He said that the brick has historically been painted, as evidenced by the wide variety of brick types that were used; an area of exposed brick at the portico base, resulting from the recent removal of the paint, would be painted to return it to the historic treatment. He presented the more extensive revisions proposed for the side and rear facades, in response to concerns from the Commission and the community. The range of the color palette has been reduced to give a calmer appearance; the rust–colored elements, intended as a defining feature of the modernized school, would primarily be limited to the interior with only limited use on the facades. The revised proposal would instead use zinc panels for many of the new facade surfaces. The proposed glass facades have been simplified to emphasize the overall sculptural volumes; the frit pattern would be more uniform, resulting in more restrained facades, and the floor lines would not be readily apparent behind the multi–story glass areas. He summarized the intention to create modern doubly–curved volumes to contrast with the orthogonal volumes of the historic building. Mr. Krieger asked about the nighttime appearance; Mr. Graae confirmed that the interior spaces and floor levels would be more visible after dark. He also indicated the simplification of the west facade, including removal of the previously proposed brise–soleil and projecting bay; the facade continues to be organized around the existing off–center smokestack, which will remain as part of the building's mechanical system. He said that the fly loft height has been studied carefully in response to the Commission's previous question about coordination of the drawings; he acknowledged the previous discrepancy and said that the height is now depicted accurately. He emphasized the sightline studies demonstrating that the fly loft would not be visible from the sidewalks of the surrounding streets nor from the second story of the facing houses to the north and south; he added that the height of the fly loft has been reduced as much as possible while still meeting the functional needs of the theater.
Mr. Graae concluded with several perspective renderings of the proposal, noting that some trees have been omitted due to community concern about whether the drawings convey the full architectural proposal. He clarified that the trees are omitted only from the drawn views and would be included in the built project, as supported by the community.
Mr. Luebke summarized the areas and issues addressed in the revisions: the east side of the project, including the entrance and portico as well as the removal of surface parking; the side facades in relation to the lower–scale row houses across the street to the north and south; the composition of the rear facade; and the treatment of the fly loft above the roof. He said that the staff considers the revised proposal to be responsive to the Commission's previous concerns, although some issues remain with the design of the reconstructed porches. He said that the porches are part of a larger proposal to restore lost features such as the roof balustrade and portico entrance steps. He noted that the porches originally had large voids behind their columns, while the current proposal would insert a glass facade behind the columns; the result may not convey the historic character, and may therefore not be worthwhile as a restoration effort. While acknowledging the potential tradeoffs between the historic design character and the modern functions of circulation and security, he suggested that the reconstructed porches could also be designed more in keeping with their original character as open features, such as by revising the location or detailing of any new enclosure, or by omitting the additional enclosure and instead resolving the programmatic entrance needs within the historic space of the building. He summarized the staff's overall support for entering the building through a reconstructed porch, while emphasizing the need for further study of the design at this area.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk commented that a covered exterior porch would be an appropriate feature that provides a sheltered area for people approaching the building's entrance doors. Mr. Graae clarified that the design includes a canopy extending from the proposed glass enclosure, providing rain protection as people enter the building; the canopy would be located between the reconstructed historic columns. Mr. Luebke said that this canopy may further detract from the historic character of an exterior void behind the porch columns. He said that the Commission may wish to take a position on the porch design or allow flexibility for the ongoing consultation process with the D.C. Historic Preservation Office staff.
Mr. Krieger asked for clarification of the proposed glass enclosure in relation to the porch columns. Mr. Graae responded that the glass facade would be placed behind the columns, without touching them, and would have a modern character that is distinct from the reconstructed historical features; he confirmed that the columns would be freestanding exterior elements as proposed, and the glass canopy would similarly not touch the columns. He emphasized that the enclosure of the vestibule space within the porch is programmatically necessary if the porch becomes the school's primary entrance location; Mr. Luebke said that the design may have more flexibility on this issue. Mr. Graae said that the exact alignment of the glass enclosure could be studied further, perhaps pushing it slightly further from the columns.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk suggested a more consistent design language for the building. She observed that the historic form of the portico as well as the porches would be modified by glass insertions, but these features are detailed differently: the portico insertion would be a freestanding glass box with its own roof, while the porch insertions would have glass facades rising to the porch ceiling. She acknowledged that the portico insertion is intended to minimize impact on the historic building fabric, but she observed that the result is a strange space above its roof that would likely attract birds and may therefore end up enclosed with netting. She suggested instead that the modern glass enclosure at the portico, as well as at the porches, reach the ceiling of the historic space while being held back from the exterior columns. She recommended that these modern features have the character of inserted objects rather than new wall surfaces.
Mr. Krieger reiterated his general support for the proposed treatment of the porches, noting that the columns would be exterior and the area behind them would be relatively dark as in the historic design; he said that the proposal would nonetheless be improved by moving the glass enclosure further back from the columns. Mr. Graae offered to study this further. Mr. Krieger emphasized that the overall solution of using a porch as the entrance is superior to the previous proposal for a lower–level entrance.
Mr. Krieger summarized that the proposal responds to the Commission's previous comments. He questioned whether the revision of the side and rear facades has made them better; while supporting the more restrained color palette, he said that detailing the surfaces as simple multi–story volumes of fritted glass may have a more monolithic effect than the previous proposed glass treatment with articulated floor levels. He said that the varied lighting conditions within the building may help to address this concern; Mr. Graae confirmed that the fritted treatment would allow the perception of depth and color behind the glass, which is not adequately conveyed in the computer rendering technique. Mr. Krieger also acknowledged the improved coordination of the fly loft dimensions; Mr. Graae expressed appreciation for the Commission's assistance in identifying the previous discrepancy. Mr. Krieger observed that the sightline studies demonstrate that the fly loft would not be a problematic feature within the neighborhood, despite its prominence on the elevation drawings.
Mr. Krieger noted the lack of community testimony at the current presentation as an indication that the neighbors are satisfied with the revision. Mr. Luebke said that a community comment letter was received the previous week; several of the concerns have been addressed, including removal of the surface parking at the east lawn and of the excavated lower–level entrance, and adjustment to the fly loft height. The letter requests removal of the lantern addition within the portico, which has not been done; questions the materials and massiveness of the rear facade, which has been improved; and supports the revised palette. He noted that further issues of landscape and lighting would likely arise as the project progresses toward a final design submission.
Mr. Luebke suggested that the Commission members may want to approve the concept in its entirety, moving beyond the general concept approval that was given in January 2014; the remaining issues would be noted, including further coordination with the D.C. Historic Preservation Office and D.C. Department of Transportation. Upon a motion by Mr. Krieger with second by Ms. Fernández, the Commission members approved the concept submission with the comments provided (subject to confirmation by a quorum). Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk did not vote for the motion, noting her continued dissatisfaction with the design approach of drastically altering and adding to a historic building.
Mr. Simon introduced the four submissions from the U.S. Mint. He said that the Commission members have received prints in advance that illustrate all of the submitted design alternatives for each coin and medal. For brevity, the presentations will include only selected designs—including those preferred by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and other consulting groups—but the Commission members may choose to discuss any of the submitted designs. Mr. Luebke added that this abbreviated presentation format results from discussions with the CCAC chairman and the Mint staff to address the potentially overwhelming range of alternatives being presented to the Commission. Mr. Simon also noted that none of the proposals will be produced as generally circulating coinage; however, the last two submissions involve the continuation of series that initially included circulating coins, and he provided examples of the earlier coins in these two series. He asked April Stafford of the Mint to present the design alternatives.
1. CFA 20/MAR/14–6, Congressional Gold Medal honoring the First Special Service Force. Designs for a gold medal with bronze duplicates. Final. Ms. Stafford summarized the authorizing legislation for a medal honoring the First Special Service Force for its service during World War II. A single gold medal will be given to the First Special Service Force Association (FSSFA), located in Helena, Montana, for display or for loan to related institutions; the Mint will also produce bronze duplicates for sale. She noted the numerous alternative designs that were provided to the Commission members—18 obverse designs and 21 reverse designs—and presented only those supported by the FSSFA and the CCAC. For the obverse, the preferences of the FSSFA were alternative #8 as first choice, #7 as second choice, and #9 as third choice. The preferences of the CCAC were obverse #9 as first choice, scoring 18 out of a potential 24 points, and #8 as the close second choice with 15 points. For the reverse, alternative #2 was the first choice of the FSSFA and of the CCAC—scoring all 24 of the potential 24 points. The additional preferences of the FSSFA were for reverse #5 as second choice, and #4 as third choice.
Ms. Fernández requested that the presentation slides of ranked choices be organized in the sequence of the ranking, rather than in the numerical sequence of the alternatives, to assist in the Commission discussion if the abbreviated presentation format is continued in the future. Mr. Luebke added that the presentation of multiple ranked preferences may inevitably be confusing and could perhaps be limited. Ms. Plater–Zyberk asked about the size of the medal; Ms. Stafford responded that it would be three inches in diameter, as illustrated at full scale in the submitted prints. Ms. Plater–Zyberk asked how the depicted gray background of reverse #5 would be treated on the medal. Don Everhart, the Mint's lead sculptor–engraver, responded that the gray tone represents a frosted texture that could be achieved through a laser process.
Ms. Fernández offered support for obverse #8 and reverse #2, consistent with the FSSFA preferences and similar to the CCAC preferences. Ms. Plater–Zyberk agreed, commenting that the design of reverse #2 would be consistent with obverse #8; she also offered support for reverse #4 as an interesting composition that is less traditional due to the lack of circumferential lettering. Ms. Fernández said that arrowhead logo provides a strong motif in several obverse designs, and it is especially strong in #8 due to its central placement and sharp outline. Mr. Krieger added that the boat in the lower part of the composition in obverse #8 has a three–dimensional character. The discussion concluded with a consensus for obverse #8 and reverse #2.
2. CFA 20/MAR/14–7, United States Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Program. Designs for a five–dollar gold, one–dollar silver, and half–dollar clad coin. Final. Ms. Stafford summarized the authorizing legislation for a program of three commemorative coins honoring the U.S. Marshals Service. She noted that the legislation specifies that the designs be selected on the basis of the realism and historical accuracy of the images, as well as being reminiscent of the "golden age" of American coinage in the early 20th century. She clarified that each coin would have a different size: the gold coin would be smallest, approximately the size of a circulating nickel; the silver would be larger, approximately the size of a dollar coin; and the clad coin would be the largest. She noted that the actual size is depicted on the printed pages that were provided to the Commission members for each design alternative, consistent with the Mint's typical format for submissions.
Ms. Stafford described the legislative requirements for the gold coin's design; the submission includes five obverse and eleven reverse designs. She presented obverse #2, the preference of the CCAC and of the U.S. Marshals Service liaison for the design selection; this design includes the inscription "225 Years of Sacrifice" in addition to the legislatively required text. For the reverse, the CCAC recommendation was for alternative #9, which received 20 points; the second choice, also receiving 20 points, was for reverse #2. The preferences of the U.S. Marshals Service liaison were reverse #4 as first choice, and reverse #9 as second choice.
Ms. Fernández commented that the submitted obverse designs are relatively similar, and she offered to support alternative #2 which was the preference of the two other review groups; Mr. Krieger agreed. For the reverse, Ms. Plater–Zyberk supported the eagle composition of alternative #9 as the most dignified design; Mr. Krieger and Ms. Fernández agreed. The discussion concluded with a consensus for obverse #2 and reverse #9 for the gold coin.
Ms. Stafford presented the preferred alternatives for the silver coin, selected from among five obverse and eleven reverse alternatives. Obverse #5 was the preference of the CCAC and of the U.S. Marshals Service liaison. For the reverse, which is required to depict a historical theme, the CCAC preferred alternative #8; the preference of the U.S. Marshals Service liaison was for #3 as first choice, and #8 as second choice. She noted that reverse #3 and #8 both depict a "Wanted" poster, and the bottom of the poster in #3 extends the inscription to read "Wanted in Ft. Smith"—an inscription that was preferred by the U.S. Marshals Service liaison; she said that the poster in reverse #8 could be modified to include this longer inscription, and the liaison would be satisfied with #8 if this modification is made. Mr. Krieger asked why the reference to Fort Smith would be important. Drew Wade, chief of the Office of Public Affairs for the U.S. Marshals Service, responded that the U.S. Marshals Museum will be located in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the museum will be the beneficiary of surcharges on the sale of these coins; he added that Fort Smith was also important in American frontier history and was the location of many historical trials.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk commented that reverse #3 is preferable to #8, which has the awkward configuration of the "$1" denomination being placed on the marshal's thigh. She also questioned the compositional format—in these two alternatives and several others—of the marshal leaning on an object that will not be legible at the scale of the coin. Ms. Stafford responded that the CCAC had also raised this issue, and requested that the horizontal shelf or other background element be adjusted so that the resulting pose looks more natural. Ms. Plater–Zyberk observed that the shelf extends behind the text "United" at the left edge of the coin, but does not extend behind "Pluribus" on the right edge. Mr. Everhart of the U.S. Mint said that his response to the CCAC's concern was to suggest eliminating the horizontal shelf and instead have the marshal leaning only on a vertical post with his elbow; Ms. Plater–Zyberk and Mr. Krieger supported this solution for reverse #3.
For the obverse, Ms. Plater–Zyberk suggested adjusting alternative #5 by condensing the lettering of the text "Liberty" to improve the coherence of the word; she observed that the letters "L" and "Y" are closer to other design elements at the bottom of the composition than to the adjacent letters of the word. Mr. Krieger agreed. The discussion concluded with a consensus for obverse #5 and reverse #3 for the silver coin, with the adjustments that were described.
Ms. Stafford presented the preferred alternatives for the clad coin, selected from among six obverse and nine reverse alternatives. Obverse #2 was the preference of the CCAC and of the U.S. Marshals Service liaison, depicting a modern–day and historic marshal; she noted the CCAC request to increase the size of the foreground portrait to fill out the composition, which she clarified is not reflected in the submitted design. For the reverse, the legislation specifies a design that illustrates the relation of the marshals to social issues in American history, including the U.S. Constitution; the Whiskey Rebellion and the rule of law; slavery and inequality; and the struggle between labor and capital. The CCAC recommendation was for reverse #7, but without a strong consensus, and with the request not to place the handcuffs in proximity to the scroll of the Constitution. The strong preference of the U.S. Marshals Service liaison was for reverse #9, similar to #7 but with the additional allegorical figure of Justice; she confirmed that this design also includes handcuffs on the Constitution, which the Mint would revise in response to the CCAC concern. Mr. Wade said that the committee within the U.S. Marshals Service reviewed all of the designs, including consideration of historical accuracy and marketability, and concluded that the allegorical figure of Justice is a desirable feature; he said that this image is seen often in Department of Justice facilities, and the blindfolded figure holding the scale represents the faithful enforcement by marshals of historical laws that may now seem unfair. Ms. Stafford added that the figure's hair and robe are being blown by a wind representing time, suggesting that the U.S. Marshals Service acts in response to the changing needs of the nation.
Ms. Plater–Zyberk and Mr. Krieger asked how the problem of the handcuffs would be resolved; the Mint staff responded that they would simply be removed from the composition. The Commission members supported this solution and agreed to a consensus for obverse #2 and reverse #9. Ms. Plater–Zyberk suggested that the horse on obverse #2 be moved inward to provide a clear separation of the background motifs from the rim, in contrast to the foreground figure which engages the rim; she added that this adjustment may address the CCAC concern with compositional balance, without necessarily needing to enlarge the foreground portrait.
Ms. Fernández said that obverse #2 is an awkward composition overall because it appears to create a confusing relationship between the two figures; she commented that that the narrative is too complex for the small size of the coin. Noting the depiction of an entire horse and full figure in addition to the partial foreground figure, she suggested simplifying the design. Mr. Krieger agreed that the design is somewhat awkward but said that the inclusion of the horse is essential for conveying the historical setting; Ms. Fernández said that perhaps only the head of the horse needs to be in the design. Mr. Krieger suggested moving the horse to the right in order to center it behind the historic marshal, in combination with enlarging the foreground marshal. Ms. Fernández cited an additional awkward element in the design: the horizontal band incompletely divides the composition and bears no clear relation to the other elements; it does not quite serve as a ground plane for the background figures, and it does not fully extend behind the foreground figure but instead stops at her neck. Mr. Krieger said that this band could be adjusted in conjunction with the other changes discussed; Ms. Fernández said that it is nonetheless a bold but confusing graphic component of the design. Mr. Everhart said that the horizontal band could be eliminated entirely; Ms. Fernández supported this deletion. Ms. Stafford noted the CCAC concern with the intersection of the horizontal band and the figure's neck, although removal of the band was not proposed. The discussion concluded with support for obverse #2 and reverse #9 with the recommended adjustments.
3. CFA 20/MAR/14–8, 2015 and 2016 Presidential One Dollar Coin Programs. Obverse designs for the ninth and tenth sets of coins. Final. (Previous: CFA 18/APR/13–8, 2014 issue.) Ms. Stafford summarized the 2005 legislation authorizing the series. The submission includes obverse portraits of presidents Truman through Ford, covering the final two years of the series; the standard reverse for the series, depicting the Statue of Liberty, will continue. Mr. Krieger acknowledged the samples provided of earlier coins in the series to illustrate the size and design of the coins.
Ms. Stafford presented alternative #1, which was the strong preference of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) among the five alternatives. Mr. Krieger and Ms. Fernández agreed that this is the best design; Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk noted the consensus to support the CCAC recommendation for alternative #1.
Ms. Stafford presented alternative #2, which was the moderately strong CCAC preference among the four alternatives. The Commission members agreed to support this design.
Ms. Stafford presented alternative #1, the CCAC preference with 16 of 24 points among the five alternatives; she also presented the second choice of alternative #2, which received 6 points and was discussed extensively. Ms. Plater–Zyberk expressed concern with the viewing angle in alternative #1, looking downward on President Kennedy's head. Mr. Krieger said that it emphasizes the hair; Ms. Plater–Zyberk said that the coin portraits typically show the subject looking ahead. Mr. Krieger cited an additional concern that the facial features in alternative #1 are exaggerated; Ms. Fernández said that the other portraits are also unsatisfactory. Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk suggested a consensus to request further study, without recommending any of the submitted alternatives.
Mr. Everhart, the Mint's lead sculptor–engraver, said that the artist's intention in alternative #1 is a reference to President Kennedy's portrait at the White House, which shows him looking downward. Mr. Krieger said that the design suggests a pensive or reflective mood, and he offered support for alternative #1. Ms. Fernández emphasized that coins are not paintings and should not relay on the same artistic effects; the typical vocabulary for coin portraiture has a dignified formality, and she reiterated her dissatisfaction with all of the submitted alternatives. Ms. Plater–Zyberk added that the public would not necessarily understand the relationship of the coin design to the painting.
Mr. Luebke asked for more information on the CCAC discussion of alternative #2. Ms. Stafford responded that #2 was selected for discussion after CCAC members expressed concern with the pose in #1. Greg Weinman of the Mint added that the discussion for alternative #2 was whether President Kennedy's youthfulness was conveyed sufficiently. Mr. Krieger said that the likeness in #2 is relatively poor, while #1 may be acceptable. Ms. Plater–Zyberk reiterated her opposition to alternative #1 and suggested developing the portrait in alternative #2 to convey President Kennedy's youthfulness; Mr. Krieger supported this proposal, with no recommendation for any of the submitted alternatives.
Ms. Stafford presented alternative #3, the CCAC preference with 17 of 24 points among the six alternatives; she also presented the close second choice of alternative #4, which received 15 points. Ms. Fernández offered a preference for alternative #4. Ms. Plater–Zyberk agreed, commenting that #4 is an interesting portrait, and suggested that the head be lowered in either alternative in order to avoid intersecting with the circumferential lettering at the top of the composition. Mr. Krieger said that either #3 or #4 would be acceptable; he offered a slight preference for alternative #4 and supported the adjustment of the head's position. Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk noted the consensus to support alternative #4 with this modification.
Ms. Stafford presented alternative #1, the CCAC preference with 14 of 24 points among the four alternatives; she also presented alternative #2, which also received 14 points but was not selected as the CCAC preference. Ms. Plater–Zyberk commented that neither of these portraits is flattering. Mr. Krieger commented that President Nixon looks more firm and resolute in #1, and more pensive in #2. Ms. Plater–Zyberk supported the profile pose in alternative #1; Mr. Krieger and Ms. Fernández said that either would be acceptable and agreed to support #1.
Ms. Stafford presented alternative #4, the mild CCAC preference with 10 of 24 points among the four alternatives; she also presented the close second choice of alternative #1, which received 9 points. Ms. Plater–Zyberk supported with the CCAC recommendation for alternative #4; Ms. Fernández agreed. Mr. Krieger said that #1 has merit but agreed to support #4.
4. CFA 20/MAR/14–9, 2015 and 2016 Native American One Dollar Coins. Reverse designs for the seventh and eighth sets of coins. Final. (Previous: CFA 18/JUL/13–8, 2014 issue.) Ms. Stafford summarized the program of annual reverse designs for the one–dollar coin to honor Native American contributions to the history of the United States in a chronological sequence; the obverse design would continue to depict Sacagawea. The previously selected themes for the next two coins include Mohawk iron workers for the 2015 coin, and code talkers of World War I and World War II for the 2016 coin. She noted that the design alternatives for these coins, like others in the series, have been developed in consultation with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and have been reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the Congressional Native American Caucus of the House of Representatives, and the National Congress of American Indians; the presentation includes their multiple preferences and comments.
Ms. Stafford presented the preferred reverse alternatives for the 2015 coin, selected from among twenty alternatives (numbered 2 through 21). The CCAC preference was for alternative #4 with the comment to add the text "Mohawk Iron Workers" in the location of "United States of America," which would be moved to the upper circumference; an additional CCAC recommendation was for alternative #13. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs recommended alternatives #13 and #15. The Congressional Native American Caucus recommended alternative #8. The National Congress of American Indians recommended alternatives #8 and #13.
Mr. Krieger agreed with the CCAC suggestion to include the phrase "Mohawk Iron Workers" to improve public awareness of the coin's theme; Ms. Plater–Zyberk agreed. Mr. Krieger said that alternative #8 does not appear to have sufficient room for this additional text. The Commission members agreed that alternative #4 could most easily be adjusted to include this text. Ms. Fernández said that the stylized skyline in #4 provides additional emphasis on the theme, while the larger portrait in #8 makes the theme less clear.
Ms. Stafford presented the preferred reverse alternatives for the 2016 coin, selected from among 18 alternatives. The CCAC preference was for alternative #9 with the comment to replace the dates "1917" and "1945" with the text "WWI" and "WWII." The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs recommended alternatives #3, #9, and #16. The Congressional Native American Caucus recommended alternative #1, #2, and #3. The National Congress of American Indians recommended alternatives #4 and #9. The Commission members agreed to recommend alternative #9 and supported the CCAC suggestion to modify the inscriptions.
Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk expressed appreciation for the streamlined presentation format for the Mint submissions. Mr. Luebke noted the potential difficulty of following the multiple preferences, perhaps resulting in less discussion of design issues; the Commission members suggested testing this format again when more Commission members are present.
Vice Chairman Plater–Zyberk noted the conclusion of Ms. Fernández' service and conveyed the Commission's appreciation for her work. | 2019-04-18T10:58:29Z | https://www.cfa.gov/records-research/record-cfa-actions/2014/03/cfa-meeting/minutes |
Some of the most recommend matters that you should do on a rejection letter would be usually always to be genuine in how you form your words. On occasion a rejection letter provides the sender that the sensation of energy. No body would like to obtain 100 rejection letters till they find out their masterpiece wont ever go right into printing. If you have gotten a proposal refusal letter, then be certain to examine everything that is in it for you to know about the things that has been the base to your own rejection of one’s proposition.
The discover of Eviction must be obsolete. Even the additional note of flooding may also be sent personally. Eviction Notices and the flooding procedure could be challenging. The show cause hearing isn’t the trial. Your notice or letter may make clear the principal reason behind the touch and supply you directions about the best way to look after the problem. Back in Alabama, a note needs to be put in the paper for 3 consecutive weeks ahead of the purchase. Before this step, but you will need to provide your present landlord note in line with all the requirements of one’s lease.
The reasons are not necessarily mentioned in a greeting correspondence. However, it’s advised to write the factors behind rejection so that the seller may understand why he was refused. Sincerely or Best wishes, Your name Title because you might view, creating a greeting letter isn’t that complicated a project. A rejection letter isn’t the place to exhibit extensive explanations for why an applicant didn’t obtain the wanted interview or job. A proposition rejection letter will be given for the entity who’s manufactured a proposition thatA isn’t likely to be used for a certain method or job.
Really, in a lot of circumstances, people don’t compose rejection letters in any way. Rejection letters do not will need to become professionally crafted. They truly are quite significant in virtually any business enterprise. Most rejection letters possess valuable information inside them, however you have to read these to know! Formal, legal rejection letters are somewhat more essential if you are coping with official jobs or if you would like to refuse a offer which is approved. The Letter also acts as the final step on your small company’ recruiting clinic. A program denial correspondence is just one of many absolute most critical landlord varieties.
The language you are using at an rejection letter really must remain professional and focused at work available. Composing will be only a pastime. You’re also able to find yourself a copy by visiting a neighborhood court-house. Task rejection emails ought to be very short and frequent, but there are a number of things you may want to pay for. If appropriate, the titles of distinct folks who will probably be given a duplicate of their correspondence have been likewise contained.
In different instances, ejection is utilized to enable the gamer to throw items. Your decision panel screening the proposition could observe elements of the proposition which are needed to be improved or changed, that means that the rejection will be for progress procedures and doesn’t indicate that there’s no chance for some proposal for use. Eviction can be frustrating and costly and should be depended on as a final hotel. In the event you’ve got to delay a impending eviction, then you may try filing the motion to remain discussed previously.
In the mail, you have to address all the candidate by name. In the event you think that the applicant would qualify for different functions in your small business enterprise and he or she emerged to similarly fit your culture, you might also invite someone to employ again after on. In the event the prospect asks one they didn’t get the task, then you can decide whether or not you need to furnish opinions. By way of example, do not suggest he uses for openings later on for those who know the candidate will not fit nicely in your own organization. The rejected candidate will soon undoubtedly likely be disappointed but you send the headlines headlines to them.
Maybe not many proposal are being executed, specially if they do not meet the standards of this procedure and also purpose in which it’s going to be all used. The proposal might not be whole or you’ll find items that are overlooking that areA vital for your own job wherever the proposition is right for. The proposal submitted might not be true to the purpose it needs to function. Then, the decision to pull on the ejection cord is much like the firefighter making the option to call mayday.
Speak to your personal doctor when you have concerns about your heart. When at all possible, locate a supervised cardiac rehab method, that’s the most effective solution for individuals with heart failure to begin to work out. Tell yourself that rejection is superb. A rejection is far better than getting no answer at all. Sometimes it’s just a method of saying no more, it’s not for me personally. It’s the only friend that’ll be real with you. Conveying rejection could be difficult because most individuals do not understand how exactly to express the language without even hurting the receiver.
Think about content up grade to get an advantage cloth which you’ll not see on blog should you choosen’t exchange it together with your email. In the event you own a site for your business then you are going to put it any contact info, which will most likely spend the shape of an email addressso they ultimately have a procedure to get in touch with you. Thank you mails don’t will need to be fancy but if you will need to catch our eye, be certain you customize them that we have been aware that it is perhaps not merely that a boilerplate email. Since mails are now so prevalent, physical email has recovered some effectiveness as a style of reaching folks. They really are the perfect method to create interactions. A courteous and well constructed petition is far more inclined to get the form of answer you want.
In the event you prefer to pleasure your audience you need to discover top service in the industry that will support you in contact with your audience effectively. Additionally, folks love speaking concerning by on their own. Do not forget to mail you to each individual who you have achieved together with, as possible. You might well be a sensible personal, however you understand nothing whatsoever.
Becoming savvy and utilizing the right advertising tactics could result in increased earnings, decrease prices and impressive growth for your e commerce shop. Email-marketing can also be one of the simplest and effective tools to receive clients back fulfilling their baskets. By natural means, perhaps your company could gain from an update, making it available for a wholly new flow of people who would be capable of making use of your website who can’t currently. If your business has fewer than 15 employees you don’t have to update your website. You could attempt suggesting that you have detected another delivery company that is half the purchase price they are paying, so they can save loads. Nearly all of the email advertisements providers offer email workflow or email automation that may send appreciable email to a own contact record. Several of the important points you should consider until you go for a email automation support.
Luckily, you will find some great techniques e commerce merchants may utilize while marketing to a current purchaser. Describe the ceremony you are getting to be providing and also gives applicable details as they relate to project preparation, arrange processing or ongoing connections. Some will deliver their bill card details within electronic mail (please don’t ever run thisemail is not secure) or they may basically call and you get to speak in their mind. Be certain you read the fine print! Match the type of your thanks card to the company and interviewer. It’s possible to try active effort at no cost, no charge demanded. Lastly, the moment the listing broker informs owner in regards to the purchaser’s re-fund of commissions scheme, the seller will likely probably mostly probably waive the buyer is trying to cheat to obtain a improved bargain.
At the close of the show biz, it has productivity that every employer is hunting for within their new hires. My objective is to establish probably the maximum that I am able to pay for a click on (and also a conversion). My single objective will be to get you thinking and provide you tools that will assist you to find much greater answers. The purpose of the marketing with email is really to have a exact minimal bounce pace, since it indicates your email checklist is in health. Active campaign stipulates the upcoming providers. Alternate your ads Retargeting may do the job very well for a couple days but customers will end up exhausted and drained from the ad in the event you simply abandon the exact same ad destroying for weeks.
Do not be scared to ask help when you would like it. Set aside the time to speak with the brand new consumer in individual or by mobile telephone to talk about the particulars of one’s relationship and the manner in which you’re fulfill her requirements. Something else you don’t understand. Ultimately, you have to find the way which is proper for you personally. Putting yourself right in your own inbox may signify that you’ll be stuck there for the remaining part of your day.
In the contest you love the job, also each day is apparently an getaway, you will need to take a while to break. Yesit’s a hell lot of work in the event you never utilize solutions and tools. Arriving early to ensure that you have adequate time to write yourself before the interview is a superior thought. Once it’s crucial that you relish away time and take a chance to recharge it’s likewise crucial that you return into the swing of all things. An ideal way to achieve success in your own very first day back in the office is always to make a program. If you want to become great at something, then you need to devote a long time doing this.
Retargeting works since it serves as a reminder to previous and existing buyer’s that you’re still about. Inside my experience, the more thanks observe isn’t the place to this. Usually do not fearawith a exact excellent strategy plus some helpful ideas, you’ll have the ability to write proper notes readily.
Sales letters really are an intimidating job for many business owners, and also you may pick it isn’t worth the hassle to do independently. Basically, his correspondence was 3x so long as mine. You can find many sorts of letters that you will need to build up. A formal correspondence writing or formal correspondence can be a sort of organization proposition letter. Be certain to have a look at our no cost expert letter samples to acquire the very important pointers for the particular letter you have to craft. Most characters, though, is likely to soon likely be compiled with a supervisor, manager, or even supervisor of some kind. To exhibit work out application the most greatest possibility of succeeding that you would like to fully grasp just how to compose a relevant and concise coverletter.
Creating a letter is a significant undertaking, because it takes one to personalize your words into the candidate and produce your correspondence particular. Title the event and you’re going to discover a letter for this. Thus as you may view, composing letters from Japanese is an immense ordeal, even though as soon as you learn all the guidelines and perform just a little exercise it’s maybe not really bad. Commercial components are very important in any organization. A superb article letter follows a bunch of guidelines.
Cases are able to assist you determine what kind of material you should have in your record, while templates can allow one to receive a feeling of the perfect layout and precisely what segments touse (such as for example introductions and human anatomy paragraphs). If you own any case letters that you imagine should be listed here, please allow me to know. This illustration is obviously a harsh set correspondence that should be signed with the organization’s control. Our official correspondence examples here adhere to the suitable format.
Section of this correspondence From the body of a company correspondence, it is best to add some concise paragraphs. For instance, the very 1st paragraph should inform your employer that you just simply mean to retire. The following paragraphs of your organization development cover letter should attest your experience and accomplishments certainly are an excellent fit for your own position. The former paragraph of this letter should comprise a request to match the enterprise to speak about job opportunities.
Give a review of the things you’re going to be producing at the letter. A letter of intention might be something which can be enforced if it really is overly restrictive. Put simply, if it starts defining promising and actions conclusion of particular terms, it may become legally binding. In the beginning, each letter finishes with an invitation to acquire in touch with the writer for any additional advice. Luckily, flat letters really are a wonderful deal simpler. Horizontal principle letters seem notably colder and not as personal, even however I feel that is changing.
Sample letters are awarded for everybody to comprehend what all information needs to form a part of the letter type and after that it could be personalized. What you create on your organization letter goes to be the very initial impression that you make in your own audience in a lot of industry cases. Once you’ve said that the overall reason for writing your enterprise letter, use body to supply extra specifics. A routine small business letter consists of 3 segments, an opening, a body, and a conclusion.
As that you don’t need to examine the utmost effective and sound insincere, your correspondence ought to be a positive acceptance. Company letters have to be broken into short paragraphs, which cause effortless reading. The business letters have been by and large written by those who are in to some or other kind of occupation. Wiring a great small business development cover letter is your initial phase of one’s occupation application training.
The previous letter would be to a friend and must be casual. Writing a formal letter can be thought to become an intimidating endeavor by people. How the way in which your start it’s going to be contingent on how formal you want certainly to become. It follows the right format that is found in most organization. Previous, you ought to bear in your mind that producing a formal letter isn’t difficult if you understand and adhere to the fundamental rules and the format of this correspondence. Thus, it is essential to learn how exactly to write a formal letter effectively.
The correspondence is going to merge together using all the data field supplied from the info file. Since you’ve probably asked to get a reference correspondence you might be less acquainted with creating 1. If you’re asked to write a benchmark correspondence, keep in the mind you are attempting to demonstrate that the guy or woman is just a solid candidate for your own work. A fantastic character reference correspondence from some one you realize can be handy for task searching when you With the introduction of personal computers and printers and also the common habit of media, character references are far more common compared to previously.
Everyone can employ Microsoft PowerPoint. Microsoft PowerPoint supplies a vast collection of alternatives, which can be used to make an exceptional and also a creative presentation in a speedy amount of time. Microsoft PowerPoint PowerPoint can be actually a nice app, that’s been utilised to analyze the creativity when establishing presentations over a normal foundation.
Excel can make it an easy task to change a handful of variables and see the way that it has an effect on essentially the most essential thing. Microsoft Excel is also an extremely powerful tool that could possibly be utilized in all issues with accouting. As demonstrated from the picture above, it enables one to utilize one of many templates which exist on the web or locally.
Till everything was not simple to implement in Excel. Excel presumes that you would just like to replicate the data, rather than filling out a sequence. Excel presumes that because you’ve entered 2 specific numbers having a gap of inch you prefer to fulfill out a series rather than replicate. Microsoft Excel is actually just a famous spreadsheet program that was made by Microsoft. It has advanced to a good extent over a period of time, plus some of the complex options have served people to use automated surgeries to conserve time over a normal basis. The terrific thing concerning Microsoft Excel is that you do not need to re arrange the wheel whenever you have to implement an accounting worksheet.
The absolute most recent version of the pc software is Excel 11, plus it is a factor of the Microsoft Office 2003 package. The very first variant of this applying was initially written for your Apple Macintosh in 1985 however, the exact first PC version was not released until 1987. The exact first version for Windows wouldbe released just two decades later.
Entering various data should you want to input data in a neighboring selection of cells, i.e. cells that are adjacent to one another, a speedy technique will be to select the full range of cells, subsequently enter the information, 1 cell at one period, employing the Tab key to move between the cells. Focus on obtaining some data that you wish to outline. The info is used to make the electronic model and the version is subsequently exhibited over the monitor.
If you should be a newcomer in computers and want to know on these, then you may undergo training to get a brief term. Since 1993, visualbasic has really come to become an integrated component of Excel, along with the debut of this integrated development surroundings. Microsoft training provides you using the language and also the essential notions you could possibly be missing, even once you have been using an attribute for decades. It is made up of finding out about the a variety of elements of Micro Soft. Laptop or computer training provides you with an advantage over others when you’re going to your job. A spreadsheet program called Multiplan was released by the business enterprise at 1982, but nonetheless, it eventually lost market share on account of the release of Lotus 1 2 3. The trick is that must participate in some premium and nice excellent affiliate programs.
Instead, it is possible to put dollars into an’all-in-one’ variety application that may offer you a complete end to end event administration software answer. No matter if you decide to automate just inch part of this procedure, or utilize the advantages of the complete celebration management application app, is your selection. The approach is almost exactly the exact similar in Microsoft Excel. It is important for individuals to understand specific types of tools or applications, which have been widely utilised in order to execute their own regular pro works on a regular foundation. It is evident that the folks would rather use a convenient and fast application as it permits one to center around the work without delay in time to time. On the list of most often occurring modern-day computer software apps is e-marketing, that is the using email to advertise your occasions. The technical implementation of the aforementioned sensitivity investigation by means of a training video can be discovered at the web link beneath.
Sooner or later you may want to discover the gap between just two times in Excel. That which you need to to accomplish is you may make an effort to handle their issues and also lead them to make reference out to solutions there in your website. Even although you should be expert in writing, it’s still a fact that you just simply need somebody to edit your job . Fourthly, outline to the staff exactly what sort of work is going to be warranted. One of the simplest methods to make Money on-line today is to find yourself a subscriber list and ship offers it out. Where as, Micro Soft funds, comprises much more frequent entrances, you’d most surely be paying for all purposes you don’t need. Today you might need to inquire howto earn funds with high traffic.
The conventional auditing way means moving right through a enormous amount of reports at a swift time period, often at the end of the month. The reports are also likewise a significant time spout and also a considerable cost. After that, you have to create your expense report the moment you comeback to your company. Managing expense accounts can also be an actual hassle if you don’t have proper investment management device. A great deal of folks complain that expense coverage is complicated and occasionally complicated. First, the exact first issue, if you are liable for cost coverage, is always to be given a-sound investment method. Manual expenditure coverage is a whole waste of one’s time and also the firm’s money.
Company can be business, however, also you also should do exactly what you are able to attract customers in. If a company becomes overvalued to get several years at a row, then you also could need to switch back into reporting it to get a hobby farm. Finally As it develops, you’re find a level of complexity to taxation law which you just simply didn’t think potential. Normally, it’s a business. In case your business is a service firm describe how much it costs to extend your service. Even supposing it is only a part time operation having couple gains, then you must have another checking account and also separate creditcard to the organization. Eventually, in the event you really don’t certainly different organization and unique bills (utilizing separate bank account and bank cards to get each), you are likely to detect that it’s impossible or difficult to receive a business loan if you need one.
In that scenario, contemplate the method that you could be ready to bring in several of the exact sorts of clients, and what exactly additional product they would be likely to purchase. Like a consequence of the internet, you can reach customers outside your local spot. It truly is very best to start out with all the professional services that are presently managed by your organization.
If you have some one else control all your financial records, you have to test their job each week, looking to make sure certain income and expenditures are appropriately documented and be sure nothing appears unusual. You may possibly also have misplaced a range of the data. You have to keep tabs on all expenses that are linked for the job of flipping.
The form of credit to seek will probably depend upon the form of firm you are run, the aim of the budget, and the size of this loan. If you would like, you may even receive cash back. You will spend , but depending on your own present providers, you also can spend extra income. To start with, using funds earmarked for retirement is not a good idea.
At any time you do, you’re able to comprise the purchase price tag on almost any equipment or medications you are using in addition to some traveling expenses such as car expenditures. Expenditures incurred when working with your very own personal vehicle for work purposes may be utilized as a tax deduction. You’d likewise subtract any company expenses which are related to the work of turning like phone expenses, evaluations , repairs or escrow bills. If you’ve got to record your expenses, then you’re probably less inclined to shell out unnecessarily and to continue to keep tabs on where you could be ready to truly save. Others may not opt to pay back mileage expense in any way. Exactly the specific same way, additional expenses could be imported into the post-trip expense report also. In manufacturing and retail, the greatest cost for many firms is commonly expense of products offered.
If you are trying to earn a profit or expect to produce a make money from your art, you are able to categorize it as a business venture. Complete income from each one of these 1099 misc forms is reported, along with costs, to determine the authentic net income for year. If you apply the income method, you are not claiming the income until you’ve secured the amount at your mind. To claim deductions for any costs connected to the internship, it truly is first essential to own taxable source of income. Folks that are utilized by additional people and get W-2 income but in addition run an organization which accounts that a reduction are especially high over the IRS radar screen. For that self explanatory, the overall tax has to be insured from the taxpayer. Sooner or after, it’s going to become simpler to use a tax practitioner to provide help.
You have the ability to even determine if it’s the customer has viewed or paid your statement in precise moment. The time statement indicates money the buyer owes into a seller. The statement will be made only up on successful set of payments. The carpeting cleaning invoice could be your paper work employed with a carpet cleaning firm or a professional to demonstrate every detail of the job performed.
You may then keep up with your bills and also the bucks you have made right in pay pal, even once the cost failed to undergo pay pal. From The Account You can also publish your invoice utilizing the’My Account’ section of the website. If you should be also searching for several pro designed alongside free of cost invoice to ready your very own business invoice, you can come across a free price bill Template from our website.
You might come back lots of the items in a bill and also you also obtain yourself a credit observe. A bill is going to be created just in the event the cost is more powerful. Usually, a statement is closed in start of these term. Blocked invoice is going to be published. Our entirely free invoice is able to help you avoid needless disputes concerning how much will be owed and also present you a much more sturdy footing if you will need to see court docket.
Invoices are not the very same as receipts. S O statements are very critical for any form of company. A person may receive a wide selection of professionally-prepared invoices from your internet.
The statement could possibly be transmitted along with this products or at another day. Invoices adhere to a normal format to prepare yourself. For example, a great deal of bills permit the buyer 30 days to cover and provide a discount for paying out within the first ten days of the bill. You’ll use a complete invoice for the majority of trades.
The most crucial factor to note about that the invoice is really it’s really a legally enforceable document. Invoice can be still an industrial document. Complete the invoice needs to be built in such a manner that even when putting all of the particulars of the transaction, it appears complicated. Now you can develop professional-looking bills in just a couple taps! Creating a fresh invoice in pay pal is very easy.
You have the capability to simply make your bills from utilizing bill template. The purchase announcement may be your document you get from your vendor which covers the payable number of the particular purchase order you’ve placed together with them. Basically a statement consists of some info linked to the providers given from the organization. It will be potential to fulfill seller invoices to merchandise receipts to get a range of invoices at the very same second.
You’ll discover a great deal of invoice generating software on the web that can instantly create your invoice slide. Invoices without any line items cannot be closed. They may be issued by the account section of a company. They’re a outstanding means to track your earnings, expenses and business. If you’re struggling with creating auto invoices, then you’ll locate assistance right here. Furthermore our car repair invoice is totally editable and modifiable.
Make use of the actions below in case you want to publish a statement ahead of a subscription renewal. Zoho bill supports custom areas, permitting one to fully capture additional data on your invoices. Invoices have many forms and variations. In the event you want an invoice or a shipping slip to become enclosed in a shipping box, please notify us at the shipping view section at Checkout.
Receipts really are a essential portion of a organization, if or not they are out of a physical shop or a internet shop. Notice a reception is not the exact like a statement. You are ready to re charge a receipt to some other email or telephone number anytime by your online Square dash board or by the sq Point of Sale program.
You’re ready to generate the reception all yours. Oftentimes, the sales receipt may used in conjunction with a copy of this charge card fee slide if your client may make the choice to pay with a charge card. Receipts are largely given to maintain a record of their payment in addition to the delivered goods. As it has to perform making your own personal custom made receipt and also make invoice sample, entirely free online reception generators would be the most top method to do so.
Assess your software to find out whether it’s possible for you to publish a reception. You want a method to produce receipts which are simple to understand. You have the ability to make a receipt that is just acceptable for you as well as your organization. For college pupils who must print a receipt or statement First log on your account 1.
A receipt is the purchaser’s proof payment. In comparison, receipt, can be just really a rather simple official acknowledgment, so that the goods or services are acquired. Non-valuated goods receipts are not supported.
Folks are becoming more familiar with all the evaluation materials. Just like you are in need of a ton more than simply a balance-sheet to know a provider’s health, you take an outstanding bit more details than simply the present people information to understand that a provider’s culture. Although chart is just a little all around the place you’re going to be able to recognize that your preferred bands are part of that long list. A rapid and easy graph may even be convenient for people to utilize when they’re wanting to master more regarding the manner blood sugar levels can impact their wellbeing. The index is going to show up in the bottom part of the display, directly below the cost chart. The entire index is represented by only a single line. Indicators of different businesses and the very similar business on various timeframes cannot be satisfactorily compared together.
There exists an aggressive analysis document, enabling you to examine 10 fan pages together using just as far as 250,000 fans. Furthermore, studies show that an extremely modest section of the non-phytol part of the chlorophyll molecule is absorbed. What’s more, other research have found that elephants of children with dementia are much more likely to produce ASD. An even sophisticated investigation is determined from the sign and house location to work out the karmic information. You’re going to get a detailed remedial methodology which can be adopted by you readily within your everyday regime. Several Intelligences the idea of multiple intelligences indicates there are certainly always a selection of different kinds of intelligence that every individual possesses in varying amounts. With any form of trading, psychology may play an immense role.
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I attended a very interesting lecture today in Normandy. The lecturer, Carlos Pimentel, talked about the origins of pluralism as a political phenomenon. He analysed the birth of bipartisanship in England, and its gradual acceptance. He explained that at first, political parties were denounced as being seditious and they were associated with civil strife. They were condemned because they were seen as threats to the social order, the national consensus, and the unity of the State. He showed how political parties introduced in British politics a dual tension, that of consensus and conflict. I though it would be interesting to apply his analysis to what’s happening in Lebanon.
Following their active participation in the Civil war, and almost systematic transformation into armed militias, the Lebanese political parties were much discredited. New political groups hesitated to call themselves parties in order not to be linked or equated with militias; two of the largest political formations in Lebanon consequently call themselves Tayyar (which means ‘Current’ or ‘Trend’ but is usually translated to ‘Movement’): The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Future Movement (FM).
Similarly to late 17th century England, political polarisation in Lebanon is extreme. But instead of having two opposing parties such as the Whigs and the Tories, Lebanon has two large, heterogeneous and cross-communal coalitions. On one side, we have the parliamentary majority coalition spearheaded by Hariri’s Future Movement [mostly Sunni] and Joumblat’s Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) [quasi exclusively Druze]. On the other, we have the new opposition led by Hassan Nasrallah’s Hezbollah [Shiite based] and Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) [Christian based].
This polarisation has brought about a very intense nation-wide debate over conflict and consensus. Many accusations (and curses) are exchanged by both sides, and the opponent is often perceived and denounced as a foreign agent, a tool used by foreign powers to achieve their aims in Lebanon. This accusation is widespread in cases of extreme polarisation. It shows a crisis in confidence between two opposing parties. The conflicting element overrides the initial consensus admitting that both parties are legitimate players in the political game. In the case of Lebanon, the confessional diversity and the communal polarisation (Sunni and Druze on one side, and Shiite on the other) obviously complicate the matter.
Asile, a French NGO, set up a Franco-Palestinian friendship house in Beddawi, a Palestinian camp situated a couple of miles north of Tripoli. Two days ago, there was trouble in this camp, after the police discovered an arm stash. But this didn’t stop us from going there.
It was the third time this year I entered a Palestinian camp. During this first visit, I started to notice how familiar they had become to me. Architecturally, they didn’t differ much from the neighbouring towns or cities. The only distinctive signs were political, and they were to be found everywhere, on walls, on banners, in street names… All posters, names, graffiti, wall drawings, streamers and flags were political, and they all referred to Palestine.
The Franco-Palestinian friendship house has been operating in Lebanon for several years now. Its main activity takes place in summer when a team of artists, educators, journalists and animators fly in from France to start a three week workshop that is proposed to children living in the camp.
The team that operates the house is entirely Palestinian and quite young and dynamic. They are now proposing academic support lessons to children, and some cultural activities (such as a weekly film projection). I really enjoyed the dynamism in this group and would greatly enjoy working with them. They are all Palestinian francophone. They graduated from the handful of francophone schools UNRWA operates in Lebanon. I wonder if we could associate them in the coming future to a program managed by Peace Initiatives in collaboration with AILES, a Lebanese association proposing similar activities. This could help to bridge the two communities and to increase the outreach of the programs of each association.
What never fails to amaze me is the extent to which the Palestinian accent is preserved in the Palestinian camps, some Lebanese expressions are used, and some Palestinian expressions are dropped, and I’m sure the Palestinian living in the camps no longer share the dialect spoken by those still living in Northern Israel, but they retain inflections, expressions and an accent that is easily identifiable as Palestinian. But those who have been to a Lebanese University to complete their studies also master the Lebanese dialect and can quite aptly switch from one to another. This duality is also to be found during presentations when they decline two geographic identities, that of the village their forefathers left in Palestine, and that of the camp or Lebanese locality they live in.
In 2002, the world was surprised to hear that the suicide bomber that had just exploded himself in a shopping mall in Israel was actually a woman.
Up to then, all suicide bombers had been men. Accordingly, the Palestinian male population that was over 15 and under 70 became suspect. They were seen by Israelis as being potentially suicide bombers. When a young woman exploded herself, almost every Palestinian could be suspected by the Israelis of being a suicide bomber.
Two days ago, a 57 year old woman, Fatma Najar, became the first grandma kamikaze. She was the mother of 9 children and the grand-mother of over 20 kids. In a tape she had recorded before dying, she claimed to have been sent by Hamas on this suicide mission. “I offer myself as a sacrifice to God and to the homeland,” she said.
One of her sons, Fuad (31 y/o), told the press that he was very proud of what his mother did. “God is greatest” (Allahu Akbar), he added.
This attack is unquestionably criminal, even though it is meant as a form of resistance to Israeli occupation. But it is also very tragic because it shows how desperate the Palestinians are today and how worthless and meaningless life has become to many of them.
One cannot help but remember the Palestinian film ‘Paradise Now’ that portrayed the last days of two palestinian suicide bombers.
Samir Chartouni, Pierre Gemayel’s bodyguard shot dead on Tuesday, was brought back to his native village of Chartoun (in the Aley region) for his burial. The convoy that transported him was stopped in Aley by PSP militants, who took his coffin draped in the Kataeb flag, and carried it on their shoulders to Chartoun. The image was quite striking because these two parties had fought each others in 1983 and the war that ensued resulted in ethnic clensing and the expulsion of the Christians of Chartoun by the Druze militia (PSP) that attacked them from Aley.
This image seems to translate the intercommunal reconciliation that Walid Joumblatt mentions so often: Druze and Christians, PSP and Kataeb, comming together, accepting one others, admitting their political differences and uniting nevertheless.
But how does that reconciliation operate? How can one explain that Druze villagers and PSP partisans accept to carry a coffin wrapped in a Kataeb flag, the symbol of their ‘traditionnal ennemy’? Are bygones really bygones? One can only hope that they are, but it seems quite unlikely.
One must keep in mind that the reconciliation process was State funded and Zaïm operated. No tribunal or commission was set up to estimate the damages incured by the ‘displaced’, and the authority that was incharge of the file chose a very personalised manner to conduct the process. Instead of working on indivudual bases, it decided to operate on collective ones, village by village, through a ceremony in which the reconciliation was solemnly declared.
One must keep in mind that the reconciliation process was State funded and Zaïm operated. No tribunal or commission was set up to estimate the damages incurred by the ‘displaced’, and the authority that was in charge of the file chose a exceedingly personalised manner to conduct the process. Instead of working on individual bases, it decided to operate on collective ones, village by village, through a ceremony in which the reconciliation was solemnly declared. Through this means, the returnees who had been ethnically cleansed out of the region, and their former foes (who had participated in their expulsion, or profited from it).
Through this mean, the populations of the areas that suffered the displacement were not given ownership of the process. This was left in the hands of their political leader. It is true that the two communities are brought together, but through the mediation of a Zaïm in the beginning, and then several. In other words, a distance is kept between the two communities so that the Zaïm could keep on “bridging” them together. But what happens when he decides to break with one community? Would the flock that he controls through varried means keep the ties or follow him?
Since yesterday evening, journalists and politicians alike have been speculating on the identity of the perpetrator. They have been asking themselves the very classical whodunit question: who benefits from the crime. This kind of questionning is not very helpful because instead of revealing the criminal’s motives, it constructs a theory founded on hindsight.
The Syrian regime has argued justly that its opponents in Lebanon have gained the most from Gemayel’s death. It enabled them to mobilise hundreds of thousands of Lebanese in support of the Government at a time when the opposition was preparing for demonstrations. It also tightened the alliance between the Lebanese opponents to the Syrian regime and strengthened the Christian parties within this alliance. Put together, the Kataeb, the Lebanese Forces, the National Bloc, the National Liberal Party, the Democratic Left and the Democratic Renewal party hardly mustered a third of the Christian votes during the 2005 parliamentary elections.
The killing of a Gemayel, an important political symbol for the Christians, triggered a strong emotional wave in the Christian regions that was greatly exploited by several political parties and the media that is linked to them. This wave was directed against Michel Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), who gathered most of the Christian votes in 2005. His portraits were burnt, the party flags destroyed, his supporters harrassed and blamed as being responsible for the killing.
Amine Gemayel, the father of the assassinated Minister, refused to talk to Michel Aoun and accept his condoleances. And flags of the Kataeb party were raised everywhere.
Pierre Gemayel’s funeral was transformed into a massive political rally and those who participated in it or watched it, felt that they were witnessing the rebirth of the Kataeb, once Lebanon’s largest party.
This exploitation has encouraged supporters of the FPM to claim that the assassination was an inside job done by someone within the governing coalition. In other words, the polarisation within the Christian community is so strong that most people hold very improbable views and elaborate conspiracy theories holding the FPM accountable to the minister’s death, or one of the former minister’s political allies. As one minister said, if they go on with these theories, they will soon be claiming that Pierre Gemayel actually committed suicide.
Pierre Gemayel was Minister of Industry in the present government. At age 34, he was the youngest member of the Council of Ministers in which he represented the Kataeb party. He was the eldest son of the former President of the Republic, Amine Gemayel, and grandson of the founder of the Kataeb Party.
During the last parliamentary election, he ran in the Metn, a constituency that had been dominated politically by the Kataeb for decades. It is in this region that his family, the Gemayels, have their hometown (Bikfaya). They are considered to be one of its important political families alongside twenty or thirty others. The political ascension of the Gemayel family started in the 1930s with the foundation of the Kataeb party (also known as the Phalange party) and its gradual rise to power. From the late sixties until the mid eighties, this party was considered to be Lebanon’s largest in number of MPs, adherents, and socio-political weight (strength in the public administration, local councils, the syndicates and the media). Pierre Gemayel’s grandfather and namesake was one of the party’s founders and became its undisputed and unrivalled leader for over 40 years. He was very often minister and two of his sons, Bachir and Amine made it consecutively to the Presidency in 1982. But after the assassination of Bechir Gemayel, the unpopular presidency of Amine Gemayel, and the natural death of their father, the Gemayel family and the Kataeb party lost ground and started decomposing.
In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Kataeb was unable to get any of its candidates elected without the support of its allies or opponents. In Baabda-Aley, it owes its success to Muslim and Druze votes, gathering a little more than a third of the expressed Christian votes. In the Metn, which was considered the bastion of the Phalange and where the Gemayels portray themselves and behave as a prominent family of feudal rank, Pierre Gemayel was the only member of the former opposition slate to make it through, with approximately a third of the expressed votes and only because the rival and triumphant slate had left an empty seat for him or his ally, Nassib Lahoud (another member of a political family), to fill.
Withstanding his meagre political score, the “March 14th Alliance” (Hariri’s Future Movement, Joumblatt’s PSP and a cluster of local Christian politicians) chose him as one of the Maronite ministers in Siniora’s government. And since then, this alliance has tried to portray him as a Christian leader (alongside Nayla Moawad, Samir Frangieh, Amine Gemayel and Samir Geagea), with the support of most of the Media and prominent Maronite clerics, to give him the “Christian” credentials and legitimacy that he lacks. Thus, calling him a ‘key politician’, a ‘prominent leader’ or ‘Christian political leader’, as the press has been dubbing him since his death seems to be somewhat of an exageration.
Nevertheless, his name resonates in the Christian community and carries a very strong symbolic weight because of what his grandfather and uncle represented. They came to represent the symbols of Christian political and military power starting in the sixties and culminating during the civil war when they controlled the Christian ‘heartland’.
As a politician, Pierre Gemayel (the younger) was very vocal in his criticism of Syria and Iran, and those that he accused of being their allies: Amal, Hezbollah, the FPM (Free patriotic movement). His political foes called him Pipo-pebble (Pipo being a common pet name given to Pierre, and pebble is a reference to his grandfather who was called the ‘Rock’ a pun derived from the meaning of his Christian name, which signifies ‘stone’ in French). With the help of a very supportive media, the backing of the governing political class and due to his personal human qualities, he seems to have benefited lately from a growing support. Moreover, one can say that he was one of the many Christian politicians used by the governing majority to obtain a cross-communal legitimacy. His greatest strength lay in his name and party affiliation, and what they could echo within the Christian community (though it wasn’t enough to get him elected in a Christian constituency).
For the past week, I have been hearing people question the meaning of celebrating independence day this year, amid the political crisis that’s has been growing, with the resignation of six ministers and the calls for demonstrations and strikes coming from Hezbollah and the FPM.
I couldn’t understand why we shouldn’t be celebrating our recovered independence. Withstanding the interference of a dozen countries in our internal affairs and the presence of a large multinational force in the south of the country, our elected politicians are in control of public affairs and use their links with embassies to further their goal. It’s more of a local exploitation of international ties, than international meddling in local politics.
These debates and discussions seem futile and remote today, after the brutal assassination of Pierre Gemayel by unmasked men in broad daylight.
One thing is for certain, the day was one of sorrow and morning and all celebrations and official gatherings were cancelled.
Pierre Gemayel fell earlier today into a well-coordinated attack: One vehicle cut off his car from the front, another rammed him from behind, then gunmen burst out and sprayed a dozen bullets into his driver-side window, killing him and one of his bodygards, Samir Chartouni.
The young Minister of Industry was driving back from a funeral he had attended in Jdeideh. He had been accomplishing his ‘social duties’ as a any traditionnal lebanese politician by visiting their constituency on socially important occasions (baptism, mariage, funeral, commemoration). Earlier that day, he had attended a wreath-laying ceremony in his hometown, infront of a Mausoleum-like monument built for his Grandfather and namesake by the Kataeb Party, controled by his father, former president Amine Gemayel.
The slaying set off small outbursts of emotions and calls for revenge. Bands of young Christians broke car windows and burned tires and garbage cans in the eastern neighbourhoods of Beirut and its suburbs. The former president, and father of the assassinated politician joined other politicians in their calls for calm. The Lebanese army quickly stopped the unrest and set up checkpoints to prevent urther demonstrations.
On national TV, Lebanese journalists and politicians started analysing the assassination. And having no information yet on the identity of the killers started speculating on their identity and intentions.
It’s actually more of an art than a science, and it consists of transforming dead people into martyrs. The transformation is in truth more of a transfiguration or a transubstantiation. At first the portrayal of the dead person is very noticeably modified, in a very positive and spiritual way, and then his core substance or identity is transfromed, raising it above its human condition and adding an ethereal and saintly quality to it.
This is very visible in the portrayal of some politicians who are representend in many posters alongside religious elements and visual borrowings from religious iconography.
Lately, the political class followed by the media has created a new typology with ‘living martyrs’ besides martyrs. The living martyrs are those who have survived an assassination attempt, and the martyrs are those who were not so lucky. Their death is transformed into a heroic and salvatory act. Here again we notice a religious interpretation, with a lot of reference to the redemptive quality of the blood that they spilt.
Cela fait plus d’un an que votre journal et ses nombreux éditorialistes font campagne, s’inscrivent dans le combat politique de certains politiciens, usent d’un ton partisan et moralisateur. Au départ, cela pouvait être justifié par la théorie des circonstances exceptionnelles. Le Liban vivait un moment important de son histoire, celui de sa libération du joug syrien. Il est possible de comprendre que les journalistes veuillent participer à cet effort, y contribuer avec les moyens à leur disposition. Mais pendant combien de temps peut-on justifier de l’abandon des règles élémentaires du journalisme au nom des circonstances exceptionnelles? A quel moment doit-on prendre conscience que ces pratiques qui perdurent se transforment en mauvais pli, et que la presse libanaise y perd son caractère justement exceptionnel dans l’espace arabophone.
Avez-vous compté dernièrement le nombre d’éditorialistes parmi vos journalistes politiques ? Est-ce que cela ne vous ennuie pas que leurs informations proviennent quasi-exclusivement d’un échange téléphonique, d’un déjeuner ou d’un dîner avec un politicien ou un ambassadeur ? N’avez-vous pas senti une certaine convergence gênante entre eux et leurs sources ? Comment le justifiez-vous ?
On pourrait penser que c’est une sorte de retour du refoulé ; une réaction du journalisme libanais longtemps soumis à un système de censure puis d’autocensure qu’il avait pleinement intégré. N’utilisait-il pas les règles journalistiques comme paravent à cette autocensure durant ces longues années d’influence syrienne, d’abord diffuse au sein de la classe politique puis (malencontreusement pour ses bénéficiaires) centralisée sous les auspices d’une seule autorité ?
Personnellement, je n’arrive pas à comprendre ce mauvais pli et encore moins à l’accepter. Et je remarque une nouvelle tendance qui m’inquiète, un recours progressif dans le discours politique et journalistique à un discours et à des référents religieux. J’en ai noté au moins six dans votre dernier éditorial qui trait d’un ancien chef de milice : Martyrs, lavé du crime, ‘forces du mal’, ‘comme transfiguré’ ‘épris de paix et de sagesse’, enfer.
Comme quoi, en dépit des conflits politiques et des prises de positions divergentes, les politiciens, hommes de religion et journalistes libanais se retrouvent au moins au niveau du vocabulaire.
I talked to an Israeli youth activist today, in private, in public and in front of a camera. I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Why should anyone care if I talked to an Israeli or not? Why does it even interest the media? and why did the other participants refuse to do it or acknowledge it?
I’ve been brought up with the idea that it was prohibited, but is it really? Is there a law against it? Can anyone give me a reference to this law?
Even if this law existed, how come those who talked to a Knesset member who came to Beirut through Syria were not prosecuted? Is it because Azmi Bichara is not jewish? What kind of selective justice is that?
In Nicosia, the flags are used as a language. On one side we see the turkish flag and the northern flag, in the south we see the greek flag and the southern flag. This display doesn’t follow any institutional reason, the southern republic has no institutional ties with Greece and follows no panhellenic program. The only reason the Greek flag is flying is to parallel the Turkish flag that is flying on the other side. It’s dialogic. | 2019-04-22T00:40:34Z | https://worriedlebanese.wordpress.com/2006/11/ |
To some this claim seemed fanciful, probably a ploy by the left wing indigenous government to send out a clear message to the secessionist movement of the wealthy Santa Cruz region. Since Morales became the first indigenous President of the Andean county, he began nationalising and redistributing much of Bolivia’s resources of land, minerals and natural gas. The whites of European descent, who controlled most of the resources of the country from their power base in the lowland Santa Cruz region, resented this attack on their power and wealth, and tensions had been building since Morales election. The discontent of the white minority sporadically began breaking out into attacks on the indigenous population, and a movement for the independence of Santa Cruz began to crystallize around many of the most powerful families in Santa Cruz, who were ready to secretly fund an armed insurrection against the left wing government.
One of the men killed in the Los Americas hotel was Eduardo Rosza Flores, born in Bolivia and raised in Hungary, a former communist intelligence agent and a veteran of the Balkans conflict. When trouble began brewing between the indigenous majority of the Andean highlands and the whites of the more fertile lowlands, Eduardo Flores choose to return to the land of his birth to organize a militia ‘for the defense of Santa Cruz’.
But how did a young man from the rolling green hills of Tipperary come to meet his end so far from home, alongside a ruthless international mercenary leader? Back in Ireland, tabloid newspapers printed graphic pictures of Mike Dwyers blood stained body sprawled across a hotel room floor, his chest punctured by a single bullet. For the Dwyer family, bombarded with so much allegations and rumour about Mike, while trying to deal with the unimaginable grief of losing a son so far from home, it must have seemed so unjust.
In the days following the Santa Cruz killings, there was a slow trickle of information on the Flores cell by the Bolivian authorities. They released pictures of Eduardo Flores and others in the group posing with sniper rifles, machine guns and pistols. One photo showed Flores and Dwyer sitting in front of a table of handguns and bullets, with the writing ‘Happy New Year 2009’ and an arrow pointing to a sniper bullet.
It emerged that a group of ten (possibly more) had travelled to Bolivia from Madrid on 17th November 2008, paid for by a Santa Cruz lawyer, to join up with Eduardo Flores. Names, passports and hotel records were released by the Bolivian authorities and the links between Flores’ group and Ireland increased drastically. Indeed, while it was becoming obvious that Michael Dwyer was not of serious mercenary material, his training amounting to some paintballing and unsuccessful kickboxing training, a more sinister picture was emerging of many of the other members of the group, and their base in Ireland.
Greetings to all those who subscribe to this [newsletter]. I don’t usually bother with them often, but this time is an exception. An acquaintance has decided to actively participate in a defence – liberation operation in his homeland of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Those who feel physically and psychologically prepared to give a hand, should send their Curriculm Vitae to [email protected] We will collect [relevant] information and experience. Good luck, admin.
The administrator used the id ‘photosniper’ and the email, although a Hungarian domain name, had a curiously Irish segment ‘Cahil’. ‘Photosniper’ was one Tibor Revesz, a former soldier in the Hungarian Army and leader within the Szeckler Legion. The aim of the Legion was to promote independence of the ethnically Hungarian area of Romania, Transylvania, which was given to Romania following the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian empire in World War 1. The Szeckler Legion has links with Nazi and other fascist groups in Europe, and was linked by the media in Romania to race motivated attacks on Romanian Gypsies. But Tibor Revesz was working far away from the Szeckler homeland in the Carpathian mountains, he was plying his trade in one of the most remote outlying corners of Europe – providing security for Shells pipelaying work on the Corrib Gas Project in the West of Ireland.
He was employed along with a force of about 150 private security by a company called IRMS, to secure the beach and work site at Glengad for the laying of the offshore gas pipe from the Corrib field by the worlds largest pipelaying ship, The Solitaire. Most of the private security appeared to be from Eastern Europe, however, due to the lack of any form of personal identification and proper licensing, it was nearly impossible to ascertain who was working there.
During the summer of 2008, there was much local concern at the operation of private security who dressed and acted like a paramilitary militia working in a hostile environment. Locals accused private security personell of surveillance and recording of the local community. Complaints to the Gardai and Private Security Authority were often ignored or not given serious consideration. One resident, Monica Muller, wrote in frustration at the failure of the authorities to deal with her complaint ‘In the light of past para military activities in Ireland and bomb attacks by militant groups like Al Quaida, I believe you are acting not only in non-compliance with Irish legislation but entirely reckless and irresponsible’.
Monica Muller’s warning fell on deaf ears but unfortunately turned out to be tragically prophetic.
It was only with the killing of Michael Dwyer on 16th April 2009 that more information began to emerge about right wing elements providing security on Corrib. The most curious was paraphanalia which was being sold on the Szeckler Legion website. There were badges and hoodies for ‘Foireann Cahil’ and ‘Foireann Fiachra’ on a Hungarian website which was dedicated to Hungarian/Szeckler culture and ideology. Badges ‘Operation Glengad Beach’ and ‘Operation Solitaire Shield’ were being sold with the explanation ‘for the teams who worked on Operation Glengad Beach/Solitaire Shield’.
So why was a fascist Hungarian website, promoting the secession of Transylvania from Romania, selling emblems relating to a natural gas project in the West of Ireland?
The administrator, photosniper, who was posting these products was also advertising armed courses back in Hungary for people in Ireland – but who? Photosniper, or Tibor Revesz, was advertising himself as an instructor on behalf of IRMS security with discounts for IRMS staff. Indeed pictures and a video emerged, posted by ‘photosniper’, showing one of these armed courses in Hungary with one the ‘students’ sporting a ‘Foireann Cahil’ hoodie with an ‘Operation Glengad Beach’ logo.
The man in charge of the overall security operation was Jim Farrell, a former Sergeant Major with the Irish counter terrorism unit, the Army Rangers, who along with former Ranger colleague Terry Downes, set up IRMS. One can only assume that Jim Farrell had no knowledge of any of this, having served the Irish state for years protecting its citizens from groups who may seek to use arms to against sovereign states.
When the work in Glengad came to an end due to the premature departure of the Solitaire in September 2008, Revesz headed off to Bolivia with a sizeable group, including Michael Dwyer.
Alongside Dwyer, another two security guards who had worked on security on Ireland were identified from the hotel records as having stayed in the Las Americas Hotel from the 10th December to the 9th of January. One of these men was Tibor Revesz, acquaintance of Flores and fellow Szeckler Legionnaire – essentially Flores’ recruitment officer for the proposed militia. Of all the group not dead or in captivity, Revesz is now the principal suspect wanted by the Bolivian authorities. Another number of Eastern Europeans, who, according to their families, had come to work in private security in Ireland through their association with Tibor Revesz, but don’t appear to have been registered with the Private Security Authority, also travelled to Bolivia to join the group. One of them, Elod Toaso, a member of the Szeckler Legion, was captured alive in the raid on the 16th April, and remains in Bolivian custody.
Elod Toaso posing for a picture in a Santa Cruz Hotel.
While Dwyer stayed on with most of the others, on January 12th, Revesz, Nagy and Pistovcák left Bolivia. The 32-year-old ex-soldier, Revesz, returned to Ireland and resumed his employment with IRMS. Shortly after his return, a new advertisement for armed courses for IRMS staff in Hungary appeared dated 31st January. It is interesting to note that Revesz resumed his employment with IRMS so early on in the year. If he did not have any management or ‘critical’ role, he would appear to no employment to return to as the large numbers of security required for the 2009 pipelay operation were not required for another few months, when the weather improved and work on Glengad beach was due to resume. This raises the question of what was Tibor Revesz’s position within IRMS? Was he given a position which allowed him, with or without the knowledge of his employers, to use his position, and IRMS resources, to entice other people into joining Eduardo Flores’ militia in Santa Cruz?
Tibor Revesz, Shell Compund, Glengad, 2008. photo J.M.
Michael Dwyer, Shell Compound, Glengad, 2008. photo J.M.
Tibor Revesz, right, providing security for Corrib pipeline, 2008.
It is worth noting that the senior management of IRMS, and more specifically the man overseeing the Glengad operation, former Army Ranger Sergeant Major and director of IRMS Jim Farrell, were not in any way directly connected with the armed courses in Hungary. From the pictures taken by Revesz himself of ‘close quarter combat’ training using Kalashnikov’s, they obviously do not display the professionalism of formal military instruction. Yet it still remains that Jim Farrell was over the Glengad security operation almost daily and ran a very tight and disciplined operation. If one of his employees was organising firearms training on behalf of his company, for his employees, and openly over the internet, it is difficult to imagine that he had no knowledge of what was going on. Did he turn a blind eye, after all the private security industry is a murky world, which tends to attract people who fascinate about guns and all things military. This is possibly the category in which Farrell would have put Michael Dwyer. Indeed Farrell did put Dwyer in a team leader type role at the most intense interface with the protesters. Being a former bouncer, and Irish of course, this is understandable given the problems of Eastern European security dealing with heated local protesters. Dwyer appeared to respect Farrell for his professionalism and his experience, as is obvious from photographs and video from Glengad.
Jim Farell chatting to Michael Dwyer at Glengad beach, 2008.
There is also another, more dangerous side to the private security industry in Ireland. Because it is so poorly regulated, with licensing and background checks totally inadequate, people who see themselves as ‘soldiers of fortune’ or ‘mercenaries’ could work in the private security industry in Ireland without any license or official clearance, allowing them to keep under the radar while working in their chosen field. While working in security in Ireland they are then free to train, make connections and plan for more lucrative work abroad in armed security. Revesz, from his CV, described himself as a ‘private entrepreneur’ before he began working for IRMS. Then, when in the employment of IRMS, Revesz is running armed courses and recruiting IRMS members for work in Bolivia which involves firearms. After introducing his fellow travellers to Flores in Bolivia, Revesz then returns to Ireland and resumes his employment of IRMS. Within a few weeks he is again organising armed courses in Hungary for members of ‘Charlie Team/Foireann Cahill’, a name which appears to have been borrowed from one of the IRMS security details on the Corrib gas project.
Within days of the killing of Michael Dwyer in Bolivia in April 2009, the webpages run by Tibor Revesz and IRMS were pulled. The pages selling triumphalist fascist insignia, teeshirts and hoodies on the Szeckler Legion website, commemorating the work of the security teams in ‘Operation Solitaire Shield’ and ‘Operation Glengad Beach’, were pulled. IRMS acted equally as fast deciding that it was time for some ‘site maintenance’ and all content including reference to ‘close protection, maritime security and international armed and unarmed security’ services operating in ‘hostile environments’ disappeared.
Although Revesz’s web pages were pulled, the ‘mainstream’ content relating to autonomy for Hungarians in Romania remained, along with a flash video of a Foireann Cahil paramilitary exercise apparently in Hungary, with a notice advertising a course in Debrecen in east Hungary which was free to members of that group.
The Foireann Cahil webpage also relayed, in January 2009, a notice which claimed to be for an IRMS ‘close protection course’ to be held in March and April 2009 costing €3,000, with a special discount for full-time IRMS staff. The course overview included references to pistol and carbine training, “basic” and “advanced”, as well as “tactical firearms” and it would be interesting to know if Michael Dwyer was the beneficiary of any such education before embarking on his fatal Bolivian escapade.
What really happened in Bolivia?
Almost immediately after arriving in Bolivia, Mike Dwyer was introduced to Eduardo Flores by Tibor Revesz. Mike then appears to have had the role of bodyguard to Flores, yet why a viscous international terrorist would have somebody who was clearly not of the right metal so close to him is a mystery. For Mike, life seemed good from here, he got to driver around in a nice car, was never short of money, stayed in nice hotels and even found a girlfriend in Bolivia, a Brazilian medical student. Mike appeared to enjoy playing the gunman, and photos from the Hotel Las Americas showed Mike and many of the others posing with various handguns, sniper rifles ad pistols for photographs. As Mike spoke neither Spanish or Hungarian, he may not have been privy to everything that was being planned. It is impossible to say whether he was fully aware of the details of Flores aim to create civil strife in Santa Cruz, which would eventually lead to open civil war and the eventual cessation of the resource rich, white dominated, lowland Santa Cruz region. It appears likely that Flores was trying to use his experience from the Balkans conflict and copy the tactics which had worked there back in the 1990’s.
When the Balkans conflict broke out in the former Yugoslavia, Eduardo Rosza Flores, a former intelligence agent, was working under the guise of a journalist covering the war. Having experienced the escalating war at first hand, he quickly joined the ranks of the Croatian army and went on to head up the infamous ‘International Company’ who gained a name for being even more ruthless than their Croatian-born counterparts. Flores took part in the civil war and ethnic cleansing of Serbs from their ancestral lands in Slavonija and Serbian Krajina in Croatia during the 1990s. Flores was also accused of the murder of two journalists who tried to infiltrate his brigade, and of assassinating one of his own soldiers, the Englishman Anthony Grant Mann. His ‘International Company’ of foreign mercenaries had been instrumental in training Croatian soldiers in their viscous independence struggle, and Flores was no stranger to the tactic of killing people on his own side, in order to blame the opposition, thus inflaming the situation further. Indeed, just a few days before he died, Flores had carried out such an operation in Santa Cruz by planting a bomb at the Cardinal’s house, a Morales critic, in order to create a back lash against the left wing government, further inflaming an already tense situation. Flores believed that once open civil strife erupted in the region, the US would step in, as they had in the Balkans, and the cessation of Santa Cruz would be guaranteed. This idea appears to have been backed up by US funded ‘pro democracy’ NGO’s in the region, most of whom curiously fled the country following the killings of Flores, Maygarosi and Dwyer, and the capture of Toasa and Tadic. Elod Toaso, in his statement, said that Mike had accompanied Flores in planting the explosives. Out of the cell led by Rózsa, 3 died the morning of April 16th, 2 were captured and five of whom can not be found. Two men Daniel Gaspar and Gabor Dudog, who were still in Bolivia, having traveled with Revesz to join with Flores, were reported by Hungarian media to have worked in security in Ireland, managed to evade capture and appear to have made it back to Hungary.
Back in Ireland, immediately after the killings in Bolivia in April 2009, as websites were pulled and Revesz disappeared from the employment of IRMS, a message was posted on the Szeckler Legion website. It blamed Tibor Revesz for the death of the Hungarian killed alongside Dwyer and Flores, Arpad Maygarosi. The sister of Elod Toasa, taken hostage in that same raid was quoted by Hungarian media: “Elod first went to Ireland and then to Madrid and Bolivia. Elod worked on something in Ireland after he and Revesz got together. Elod and Dwyer did not know each other before. They both know Revesz.” Another 4 of the ten man group, Tamás Nagy ,Gabor Dudog, Ivan Pistovcák and Daniel Gaspar had links with private security in Ireland but either left Bolivia with Tibor Revesz or managed to evade caprute. This is quite a statistic, 7 out of a 10 man group with links to Ireland, however due to the woefully inadequate regulation of private security in Ireland we have no way of knowing if and where they worked. Of the 4 members with proven Szeckler Legion links, Tibor Revesz is the only one not dead or imprisoned.
One would have thought that the Private Security Authority, the Department of Justice and our police, An Garda Síochána, would have been quite concerned at these events and eager to get to the bottom of what was quite obviously a threat to democracy here and abroad. Quite quickly it became obvious that the opposite was the case – they just didn’t want to know. The Private Security Authority engaged a PR company to cover up its lack of progress on implementing its regulations on vetting and licensing, and avoided dealing with the problem altogether; An Garda Síochána, unable to admit there was something which warranted investigation, also ignored the situation. They had not acted almost a year previously on a barrage of complaints from locals in the vicinity of the Corrib pipeline landfall where Revesz was operating. Not even complaints by local people whose children were clearly filmed on Glengad beach by the compound security, nor a case where Tibor Revesz was filming people around the village of Glengad from an undercover car, were dealt with. When cases involving private security and protesters came in front of the District Court Judge, Mary Devins, it was found that the majority of security personnel who came before her were not licensed at all. One IRMS employee accused of a public order offence had a criminal record and should never have been employed as a security guard. In one case, locals spotted two men taking pictures around the village from their car, when they went down to investigate, the car took off towards the compound at high speed with the two locals in hot pursuit. The gate was opened for the arrival of the oncoming car, and in closing it behind this car, it came into contact with the chasing car. The two gatekeepers suffered injuries and the pursuer received a four year driving ban from the district court. The passenger in the car taking the photographs, which disappeared into the compound, was no less than Tibor Revesz, yet he was never even called to give evidence by An Garda Síochána.
When, a few weeks after the killing of Michael Dwyer, I went to Belmullet Garda station and attempted to present information and documentation based on my concerns of the private security, to the Garda Inspector dealing with the Corrib security operation, he refused to listen to me or accept my evidence. The excuse given was that the Garda’s work load was too exhaustive, and they would not get into discussing any ‘personalities’ relating to the Corrib project. This was mildly amusing considering that there was at that time at about 50 Gardaí assigned to protecting the Corrib pipeline site, working hand in hand with IRMS private security. The operation was so well co-ordinated that the Gardaí operated from within the pipeline site, with An Garda Síochána’s newest and most expensive modern technology trained to identify Republican terrorists outside the compound perimeter. What they did not, could not, countenance was that the terrorists could be inside the fence! When this transpired to be true, it threatened to become so embarrassing and damaging to their credibility, that it left the Gardai with no other option but to collude in the wider cover up.
There is now a mountain of correspondence to and from different people and agencies which clearly shows how An Garda Síochána and the Private Security Authority colluded to cover up a situation in which a terrorist cell was allowed to recruit, train and execute a trip to Bolivia with the stated intention of engaging in illegal armed activities against a sovereign state. The Dwyer family, backed by MEP Alan Kelly and supported by the other Irish MEP’s, are calling on the European Union to hold an independent international investigation into the circumstances surrounding Michael Dwyers death. They believe that the Bolivian authorities have not given a full and truthful account of the killings in the Las Americas hotel on the 16th April 2009, and that ‘the quality of the information emerging from authorities there is suspect’. Indeed it does appear that although the Flores group could have been arrested, the Bolivian authorities took the decision to send in a swat team to assassinate Flores, Dwyer and Maygrosi, without allowing them the opportunity to surrender. Their killing would certainly send out a clear message to Evo Morales’ opponents in Santa Cruz, while the apparent planned assassination of the Bolivian leader by ‘right wing mercenaries’ would bolster his power base among the indigenous population, especially with elections just over the horizon. The shooting dead of the three men, after a ’shootout’ with Bolivian special forces (which appears bogus), was certainly more convenient to a government in the midst of a power struggle between left and right, indigenous and white, rich and poor; and due process was the victim here, resulting in the unlawful killing of Michael Dwyer. But if we expect the Bolivian authorities to come clean with information surrounding the killings, the Irish authorities must be fully transparent and honest in explaining how we managed to export terrorists to their country. If we continue the culture of cover up, however, we will let those who are responsible for Michael Dwyer’s death off the hook and invite similar tragedies in the future. | 2019-04-20T08:52:27Z | http://shelltosea.com/content/who-was-responsible-killing-michael-dwyer |
‘Seller' means Affixit or any sister company of Affixit.
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(d) Subject to the provisions of this contract, terms defined in the 1980 edition of Incoterms have the same meaning when used in these conditions.
(a) Delivery or despatch dates quoted or requested are given or accepted by Seller in good faith but are not guaranteed unless stated so to be on Seller’s order confirmation.
(b) Delivery shall be made to the place(s) and by the method(s) specified on Seller’s order confirmation (or if none, ex-works). Buyer is responsible for unloading. Buyer’s or its carrier’s receipt shall be conclusive evidence of delivery.
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(f) Buyer shall take delivery of the products by any date quoted by Seller or requested by Buyer or (if none) within a reasonable time. Seller may deliver early where reasonable. Buyer shall be responsible for all storage and other costs relating to Buyer’s failure to comply with the contract.
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(b) Unless otherwise stated on Seller’s order confirmation, payment is due 15th day of the month following date of invoice, but Seller may require security for payment before despatch in the circumstances described in Clause 6(c).
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(f) Time of payment is of the essence of the contract. Seller may charge interest at 4% above Lloyds TSB Bank plc’s base rate per annum for the time being (to accrue from day to day) on any sum owed to Seller under the contract which is not paid on the date specified in Clause 3(b) after as well as before any judgement. Buyer may not withhold payment or make any set-off on any account.
(g) Seller may appropriate sums received from Buyer against any debt due to Seller from Buyer (under this or any other contract), irrespective of any purported appropriation by Buyer.
(i) are sold with good title; and (ii) comply with Seller’s current published product data sheets (or, where there are none, that they comply with any specification appearing on Seller’s order confirmation and are made with sound materials and workmanship to normal standards accepted in the industry) in all material respects.
(iii) have been manufactured in accordance with such MOD or CAA approved quality assurance procedures as shall have been specified by the Buyer and accepted in writing by the Seller (“Seller’s Warranty”).
(b) Seller's Warranty is given on the condition that any instructions of Seller relating to the products are strictly complied with.
(c) Buyer shall examine the products as soon as reasonably practicable after delivery. Buyer shall immediately notify Seller of any incomplete or failed delivery loss or damage during carriage or if the products fail to comply with Seller's Warranty. Unless Buyer so notifies Seller within 30 days after the date when Buyer became or ought reasonably to have become aware of any of the above and in any event before the earlier of (i) 6 months from the date of despatch by Seller; and (ii) 30 days after the products have been used or put into process Buyer shall (subject to Clauses 4(f) and 8(a)) be treated as having waived all claims connected with the matter which should have been notified.
(d) Subject to notification within the period required by Clause 4(c) if it is shown to Seller’s reasonable satisfaction that the products fail materially to comply with Seller’s Warranty, Seller shall be given a reasonable opportunity to correct such failure and if Seller does not or is unable to do so, Seller will at Buyer’s option either refund the price paid by Buyer (or if the products have depreciated for reasons other than Seller’s default or have been used or put into process a reasonable part of the price) or replace the products (if reasonably practicable) within a reasonable time free of charge (excluding materials not supplied by Seller). SUCH CORRECTION REFUND OR REPLACEMENT SHALL SUBJECT TO CLAUSE 4(f) BELOW AND TO CLAUSE 8(a), BE SELLER’S SOLE LIABILITY IN RELATION TO ANY SUCH FAILURE. Replacement products are covered by these conditions including Seller’s Warranty. Products which are alleged not to comply with the contract shall as far as possible be preserved for inspection by Seller and if replaced or if a refund is made shall be returned to Seller (at Seller’s cost) if Seller reasonably so requests.
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(b) Risk in the product shall pass to Buyer upon delivery.
(i) Seller has received payment in full for the products; or (ii) Subject to Clause 7(d) Buyer mixes or processes the products so that they lose their identity or are irrecoverably incorporated in or mixed with other goods; or (iii) Buyer sells them at arm’s length in good faith to an unrelated third party.
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(i) AS A RESULT OF INCORPORATING PROPERTY OF BUYER IN THE PRODUCTS OR APPLYING ANY TRADEMARK, TRADENAME OR DESIGN TO THE PRODUCTS ON BUYER’S INSTRUCTIONS, OR COMPLYING WITH ANY OTHER INSTRUCTIONS OF BUYER RELATING TO THE PRODUCTS; AND (ii) IN RELATION TO ANY THIRD PARTY CLAIMS ARISING FROM THE USE MADE OF OR DEALINGS BY BUYER IN THE PRODUCTS (IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER THEY INVOLVE THE NEGLIGENCE OF SELLER ITS AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES), EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN CLAUSE 8(a) AND 4(f) OR IF ARISING FROM SELLER’S WILFUL DEFAULT.
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AGENTS), IS LIMITED TO THE CONTRACT PRICE, EX-WORKS AND EX-VAT.
(b) WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO SELLER'S WARRANTY, BUYER'S SOLE REMEDY SHALL BE IN DAMAGES.
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(f) NOTHING IN THIS CLAUSE 10 SHALL LIMIT EITHER PARTY'S LIABILITY IN RESPECT OF CLAIMS FOR PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF THAT PARTY, ITS EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS OR LIMIT EITHER PARTY'S LIABILITY FOR FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION OR ANY OTHER MATT'ER FOR WHICH IT WOULD BE ILLEGAL TO LIMIT OR EXCLUDE A PARTY'S LIABILITY.
(a) Buyer shall ensure that all products are safely and lawfully received, stored and maintained, used or applied by Buyer and that Buyer obtains relevant information in Seller's possession relating thereto.
(b) Buyer shall ensure that all appropriate safety information (whether supplied by Seller, Buyer or others) is distributed and drawn to the attention of customers and all others (including Buyer’s employees) who required it for the safe handling or use of the products.
(a) The contract may not be assigned by Buyer without Seller’s prior written consent.
(b) Notices must be in writing to Seller’s or Buyer’s address and deemed delivered on the first working day after sending by hand or (subject to confirmation of transmission) by telex or facsimile, or, within the UK, on the third working day after being placed prepaid in the first class post to Buyer’s or Seller’s UK address. Qualified acceptances by Buyer on delivery notes shall not constitute notice of any claim or acceptance by Seller of any such qualification.
(c) No failure by Seller to enforce any provision of this contract shall be construed as a release of its rights relating thereto or to sanction any further breach.
(d) If any provision of the contract is found to be invalid or unenforceable it shall have effect to the maximum extent permitted by law, or, if not so permitted, shall be deemed deleted.
(e) A person who is not a party to the contract has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any terms of the contract but this does not affect any right or remedy of a third party which exists or is available apart from that Act.
This contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England. Buyer hereby agrees, for Seller’s exclusive benefit, that the English courts shall have sole jurisdiction to hear all claims or proceedings connected with the products or the contract. Seller may nevertheless bring claims in any other courts of competent jurisdiction. | 2019-04-23T08:19:00Z | https://www.affixit.co.uk/conditions.html |
Introduction: In a Huffington Post piece last month I asked: Is It Time for a New Look at Integrative Medicine and Health Professionals in the Triple Aim Era? When integrative medicine leaders were surveyed, they viewed their work as deeply-aligned with the 3 goals: enhancing patient experience, lowering cost, and bettering population health. But how are integrative clinic leaders doing in practice in these values-based outpatient centers? Should more such clinics plan to adopt this model?
Washington State's HealthPoint (Tom Trompeter, CEO).
The Huffington Post piece pulls key comments from these clinic leaders. The others directly noted below were published during a period of significant activity on this project this past month. Much of this work grew out of Integrator partnerships with ACCAHC's Project for Integrative Health and the Triple Aim, the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners, and the Casey Health Institute. The goal of the work is to stimulate understanding of integrative patient centered medical homes (PCMH).
The news could surprise many: in the state of Vermont - as in Oregon - naturopathic physicians can, and do, operate accredited primary care medical homes (PCMHs). In Vermont, naturopathic physicians do so following a steady stream of up-regulation over the past 20 years. Licensing. Recognition as part of the state's primary care matrix. Insurance coverage. Medicaid inclusion. Most recently, in 2011, inclusion as accepted owners and operators of PCMHs under the state's single-payer style Vermont Blue Print for Health - and 2013, the first PCMH designation. That designee was the Mountain View Natural Medicine center in Burlington. The pioneering force behind this opportunity in Vermont is naturopathic physician Lorilee Schoenbeck, ND. Her center is presently a Level 2 PCMH under a system of scoring carried out by analysts from the most significant accreditor of PCMHs nationwide, NCQA. This is the first of two parts. The second, below, focuses on prevention and clinical improvement initiatives.
Martin Milner, ND, founded the 6,500 square foot Center for Naturopathic Medicine as a beacon of light in a dark age for his profession over 30 years ago. Three years ago he chose to move the 12-practitioner center to become what it is now: a Level 3 certified patient-centered primary care medical home under Care Oregon, the state's ambitious reform plan. In this article, Melissa Porter, the center's chief operations person and quarterback of the transition shares the story of the changes made, and early outcomes.
In this second of a two part interview with pioneering naturopathic patient-centered medical home (PCMH) operator Lorilee Schoenbeck, ND, the focus turns to the prevention and quality improvement initiatives in place at her multi-practitioner center, Mountain View Natural Medicine. Here is a look at the initiatives in immunizations, obesity, colonoscopy, dyslipedemia and more in this NCQA-scored, Level 2 PCMH.
The executive vice president and COO of the Maryland-based integrative PCMH, Casey Health Institute (CHI), Tracey Gersh, PhD came to the ground-breaking, Maryland-based integrative health center from roles as administrator and program developer at a nearby federally qualified health center (FQHC). In this article, Gersh describes the movement of CHI into becoming a patient centered medical home recognized by Care First, Maryland's Blue Cross/Blue Shield firm. She then shares CHI's move to become part of a new accountable care organization (ACO), Aledade, with a set of 5 other primary care clinics. She speaks to the differences between CHI and the Federally Qualified Health Center where she previously worked.
One of the leaders of the successful effort to set standards for the health coaching movement in the United States, Karen Lawson, MD, sent a note early in December: "Late last week the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Health and Wellness Coach Resolution, a bill number was assigned just yesterday. The ceremonial resolution ‘expresses support of health and wellness coaches and National Health and Wellness Coach Recognition Week.' This is the culmination of work done for the past year to raise the profile of all Health and Wellness Coaches in Congress. Thank you, [National Consortium for Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches] for supporting this effort."
The proposed resolution has some fine, endorsement of the rising field: "Whereas, health coaches are a new type of health care worker who serve as wellness guides and supportive mentors that motivate individuals to cultivate positive health choices and move them toward those specific goals ..." The co-signers are Payne, Mullin, Buchanan, Napolitano, and Ryan of Ohio. Lawson directs a health coaching program at the University of Minnesota.
Comment: This visibility strategy - including the dedication of a recognition week - is one that has been used successfully by the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. (In fact, given the lifestyle focus of many naturopathic practice, some of the language is quite similar in whereas elements of each resolution.) It was the mention of health coaching in a 2010 federal act - the Affordable Care Act - that prompted the self-regulatory efforts for the field, beginning with a September 2010 summit just 5 months after the ACA was passed. Notably, for this Round-up, the elevation of health coaching is smack in the middle of "Quadruple Aim" thinking and patient-centered medical homes. Good move.
The Dynamic Chiropractic article on a follow-up report from the Inspector General of the USA is Targeting the Bad Apples in the Bunch. The subhead: "Latest OIG report outlines plan to determine questionable DC billing claims, recoup payments." The Office of the Inspector General's report speaks volumes in its title alone: "CMS Should Use Targeted Tactics to Curb Questionable and Inappropriate Payments for Chiropractic Services." The measures and categories of complaint are laid out in the useful article, written by Ronald Short, DC, MCS-P. Short challenges OIG perspectives on some counts, lessso on others. The article notes that "of the $502 million that Medicare paid in 2013 for chiropractic services, $76.1 million was for claims that were questionable based on our four measures of questionable payment."
Comment: This is useful reading for any practitioner in the insurance game. In a panel presentation on research that influences policy at the October 2015 Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine conference, chiropractic research leader Christine Goertz, DC, PhD made a comment that speaks to the concerns in the report. Goertz noted that presently a type of research related to the chiropractic field of particular interest has less to do with effectiveness than in helping delivery organizations determine the best chiropractors with whom to work. The OIG report underscores why this is important. Meantime, other licensed integrative health professions that are not in Medicare - LAcs, NDs, massage therapists- can drool at the half-billion dollars of Medicare payouts. That's a transfer of wealth from government to the chiropractic profession that, while just 1% of CMS' $597-billion annual payout, bluntly signals what these professions are missing through their lack of recognition by CMS.
In late November, Taylor Walsh, project director for the CoverMyCare campaign of the Integrative Health Policy Consortium sent news that the most recent "CMC Update" has been posted. Walsh also previews anticipated developments: "2016 will be an important year in the fortunes of state-based initiatives that are geared to bring compliance with their own non-discrimination legislation, if not with Section 2706 (of the Affordable Care Act, Non-Discrimination in Health Care) itself." Walsh wonders if other states will "copy Oregon and Rhode Island and promote in their next legislative sessions?" Well others "include, and pass, enforcement provisions that the federal law did not include?" CMC willreport on recent efforts to encourage the US Department of Health and Human Services to clarify what, to them, constitutes discrimination. Walsh urges practitioners to link to the CMC Stories Album and share any discrimination-related stories.
Comment: IHPC, CMC and the movement for integrative care itself are lucky to have a person as dedicated and with as many skills sets as Walsh, a sometimes Integrator contributor, in the driver's seat.
A leader of the Hawaii Medical Services Association (HMSA) has announced that naturopathic physicians in the state will begin to be recognized as primary care providers by HMSA. HMSA, that state's a BlueCross BlueShield plan, is the dominant player in that market. This was the headline in a report shared with the Integrator by Michael Traub, ND, from an October 29, 2015 meeting involving multipl,e HMSA officials and naturopathic leaders. Traub has be the point person representing the naturopathic profession in the insurance and political realm for 3 decades.
Traub notes that the HMSA representative shared that "HMSA is also moving towards a community health model that focuses on health and well-being, paying health care providers for the time it takes to facilitate this. NDs are well-trained providers for this model." The transition to value-based care is expected to take 14 months. Related information is here and here. The transition to the new model with eventually come through some form of an independent physician association "to to facilitate referrals among providers." The HMSA representative said that educators and case navigators may also play a role. HMSA is expected to provide resources and business analytics. This was the fifth meeting for this purpose over the past 6 years since the ACA was enacted, and the fourth meeting over the past two years since Section 2706 went into effect.
Comment: "Perseverance furthers" is the way this stick-to-it effort is put in the I Ching. Much education all around will be needed. The Integrator Special Report on naturopathic physicians guiding patient centered medical homes may be particularly useful to both the Hawai'i NDs and HMSA's administrators.
Boston Medical Center's Katherine Gergen-Barnett, MD (see People this Round-up) on integrative medicine group visits. RAND's Patricia Herman, ND, PhD and Claudia Witt, MD on "policy and the economics of integrative medicine." An IHPC and ACCAHC-led multidisciplinary group on practitioner discrimination in integrative health and medicine. Leading edge strategies for merging qualitative and quantitative research models. All these and 8 more are part of the extraordinary set of pre-conference workshops planned for May 17 prior to the formal opening of the 2016 International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health (ICIMH).
Most of the ICIMH plenary speakers have also been named, including: Richard Davidson, PhD on the neurophysiology of meditation, Ted Kaptchuk, OMD on placebo, David Relman, MD on the microbiome and Barbara Brandt, PhD on the movement for team care. An overflow of terrific session ideas is being evaluated by review teams. The conference will be held in Las Vegas at the Green Valley Ranch Resort, May 17-20.
Comment: Serious alignment of interest note here: a serve on the ICIMH Organizing Committee and as chair of the Communications Committee. The goal was to create a true whole system experience: branching from research only into education, clinical and policy through partnerships with ACCAHC, AIHM and IHPC. FaceBookers: follow action here.
This is a first: an integrative fellowship with a diverse mix of participants: advanced practice nurses, licensed acupuncturists, medical doctors, chiropractors, pharmacists, physicians' assistants, psychologists, osteopathic doctors, and dentists. Some slots are still open for the first class of the interprofessional fellowship in integrative medicine of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine. Kristen Gates, AIHM's program coordinator for the Fellowship, shared with the Integrator that as of December 10, 2015, AIHM has "accepted 46 and will take up to 50 for the first class" which will begin February 1, 2016. AIHM also plans a fall 2016 class. The AIHM fellowship director is Tieraona Low Dog, MD who works closely with associate director Seroya Crouch, ND. The AIHM's Fellowship website captures the team care focus with this African Proverb: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Comment: Wonderful start for the new program. While medical doctors, as anticipated, account for over 50% of enrollees, there is terrific interprofessional diversity that will guarantee a unique experience.
This start-up of what will be the second significant fellowship in integrative medicine, following the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, brings to mind some ancient history - in integrative terms. In 1978, the Mothership of naturopathic medicine, now National College of Natural Medicine, calved its first U.S. offspring, now Bastyr University, via a group of NCNM graduates. These were led by Joe Pizzorno, ND. There was some competition felt from NCNM, and rumbling about whether the profession needed another. There are now 8 recognized ND programs.
The multi-disciplinary Southern California University of Health Sciences (SCU) has announced a partnership with both the University of Southern California Club Men's and Women's Rugby Teams. In an article posted in the SCU Campus Connection, the agreement is described as "a great opportunity for our SCU residents and interns to gain valuable chiropractic sports medicine experience." Leading the team will be Coreen Levy, DC, an SCU sports chiropractic specialist "who is the official Doctor for the USC Men's and Women's Rugby team." Levy will be supervising SCU residents and interns who will "provide sideline medical care including: assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, to the athletes on USC's Rugby teams."
Comment: This story of a female integrative practitioner taking a lead in sports medicine is a good companion to this short blurb, "Cleveland Indians' Jamie Starkey, LAc: First Acupuncturists Employed by Major League Baseball Team" in the October Integrator Round-up.
On December 1, 2015 the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) announced a new partnership with the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences (SCNM). According to the media release, SCNM's collaboration with UNPA is "intended to aid in the advancement of naturopathic medicine and natural health products research, safety and quality, both nationally and internationally." SCNM president Paul Mittman, ND, EdD, comments: "The relationship between SCNM and UNPA will foster new opportunities for research to evaluate existing and explore new approaches to improving the public's health and wellbeing." With the signing, SCNM joins a roster of 13 other UNPA MOU and commercial partners.
Bastyr University is now offering a "low residency" 4 quarter Masters of Arts in Maternal Child Health Systems Degree. The program is "designed for midwives and other maternity care practitioners who want to shift their careers toward teaching, advocacy, research and other ways of leading systemic change." The University already has a Department of Midwifery led by Suzy Myers, LM, CNM, MPH, for those seeking to become Certified Professional Midwives. Karen E. Hays, DNP, CNM, ARNP, an adjunct midwifery faculty member who helped develop the new program explains: "As midwives learn about structural barriers to providing effective birth care, many find themselves looking for ways to lead change in health systems."
Comment: Good move from the feisty midwives. As members of the integrative health and medicine community step into increasing responsibilities as systems change agents, we'll need more of this, and not just for midwives. The Duke Program on Leadership in Integrative Medicine is the present outstanding example.
I recall hearing of this idea a while back, but did not look into it and am glad I finally have. Perhaps some of you will have missed it to. Basically it is this: the move toward "value-based medicine" that leads to such delivery structures as the patient centered medical homes featured in this Integrator Round-up, is often synopsized as the triple aim. These are: enhance patient experience, better population health, and lower per capita costs. Last year, a suggestion was made by UCSF family medicine professor Thomas Bodenheimer, MD and his co-author that a fourth be added. To the authors, without this fourth aim, success with the others may not be possible. The gist: delivery organizations must focus on bettering the practitioner experience.
Bodenheimer and his co-author, Christine Sinsky, MD, explain: "In visiting primary care practices around the country [we] repeatedly heard statements such as, ‘We have adopted the Triple Aim as our framework, but the stressful work life of our clinicians and staff impacts our ability to achieve the 3 aims.' These sentiments made us wonder, might there be a fourth aim-improving the work life of health care clinicians and staff-that, like the patient experience and cost reduction aims, must be achieved in order to succeed in improving population health? Should the Triple Aim become the Quadruple Aim?" The authors detail data on how other aspects of the Triple Aim are damaged when the workforce is running on burnout.
Comment: In work with which I have the pleasure of being involved at the Institute of Medicine Global Forum on Health Professional Education, the board of the organization I help represent, the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care, gave us a specific charge. We were told to focus on the "innovation" of educating health professionals who will focus on health, and well-being rather than reactivity. We've made some headway, especially as captured in this May 2013 workshop report. This 4th of the Quadruple Aim goals needs to be embedded educational processes. Some of the work in integrative medicine centers on mind-body programs are exemplars. See The Future of MD Education: Empathy, Roses and Respect Via Georgetown and U Minnesota Pilots. The 4th aim is core integrative health value.
This Integrator feature is a quick capture of highlights from web stories relative to integrative medicine and health in the prior month. Here are 26 involving medical delivery systems and 14 more in communities. Included are the remarkable developments in the "biofield" led by Shamini Jain, MD, Deepak Chopra and others; David Katz, MD's decision to take on the "polarization-based medicine" anti-CAM/IM tribe; expansion of the mindfulness program for educators and clinicians at Georgetown University; very favorable coverage on acupuncture's coming of age in Time and US News & World Reports; and Ronald Hoffman, MD challenging recent negative reports on dietary supplements. Enjoy the skim of activities!
The publisher of Dynamic Chiropractic, Donald Peterson, wrote up the results of a recent internet survey that the publication carried out on the state of the chiropractic profession. While not definitive, the results are of interest. Sample findings: 54% are in solo practices in which 80% or more of revenue is from adjustment/manipulation/PT/rehab/massage; roughly 1 in 20 (5.4%) are in "Integrated Interdisciplinary Practice" defined as practice with "at least two other non-chiropractic professionals (not including massage therapists" using a team approach; and 34% said that roughly half of their revenues came from 3rd party payers while a full 25% said that less than 10% does. Among the trends Peterson notes: "While many new DCs are beginning as cash practitioners, a larger number are almost entirely dependent on third-party payers."
In spring of 2014, colleague Ruth Westreich set up a meeting for me with Shamini Jain, PhD. Jain was beginning some work through the Samueli Institute, where Jain is a senior scientist. Jain was then being supported by a Westreich Foundation grant to herd the ultimate set of cats: the powerful leaders - and their organizations - at the forefront of promoting research on the "biofield." Among these: Deepak Chopra/Chopra Foundation, Mimi Guarneri/Miraglo Foundation, Wayne Jonas/Samueli Institute, and Marilyn Schlitz (and others)/IONS.
In late November, their collaboration came to double fruition. As documented in this November 23, 2015 piece by Chopra and Jain at the Huffington Post, the contracted papers from a January 2014 gathering of 45 biofield scientists were published as a Special Issue of Global Advances in Health and Medicine Journal: Biofield Science and Healing: Toward a Transdisciplinary Approach. The special issue includes 12 articles and an opening column from GAHMJ co-editors Mary Jo Kreitzer, RN, PhD, FAAN and Rob Saper, MD. In the same week, Jain announced that the website of the Consciousness and Healing Initiative (CHI) was opened.
Comment: For Jain, CHI, and the biofield exploring team, this marks the end of the beginning of that organizing work. I was struck on picking up my November 30, 2015 issue of the New Yorker to marvel at a bit of coincidental woo to go with this promotion of more research and awareness of same. The publication included a review by Adam Gopnik of Scientific American contributor George Musser's new book, Spooky Action at a Distance. Gopnik focused on the how the theory of distant entanglement has fallen in and out of favor. The shifting perspective has had less to do, in Gopnik's view, with science than apparently to changes in the culture - such as this group is fomenting with the GAHMJ biofield special issue and the CHI site.
My review of the review, in the context of this activity led by Jain, is here: Herding Atoms: Book, Journal, and Organizing Our Entanglement. What does a cynic about life's mysteries do with the dancing of these particles, infinitesimal, and larger? Anyone who like me is not a scientist but wants a good read on places reason treads with trouble, check out Larry Dossey, MD's wonderful One Mind.
Global leaders in the wellness and spa fields met in mid-November in Mexico City as the Global Wellness Summit 2015. A key take-away was a set of a Top 10 Future Shifts in Wellness. The subhead of the organization's media release on the list is: "Experts at Mexico City conference forecast that wellness will become more mandatory in more nations soon - that breakthroughs in epigenetics, stem cells and integrative medicine are near - and that ‘programmatic' workplace wellness will disappear." Among the trends are "From Medicine vs. Wellness to Truly Integrative Healthcare." Adam Perlman, MD, MPH, the director of the integrative medicine program at Duke University, reportedly "spoke to the coming together of wellness and the complementary/integrative medicine movements." He commented: "We're at an inflection point. If we saw a first wave of integrative medicine in the mid/late 90s, this time it feels different." On the high-tech end, Deepak Chopra is cited in a trend on "From Cracking the Genome to Cracking the Epigenome."
The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) has published, in its most recent annual report, the organization's three strategic goals. These are: 1) Integrating NCCAOM Credentialed Providers in to Healthcare in the United States; 2) Distinguish NCCAOM as the Expert Source for AOM Credentialing and Competency Standards; and 3) Expand the Value of NCCAOM Credentials to Assure and Advance Professional Opportunities for NCCAOM Diplomates. Under #1, the report notes initiatives that include placing board memberships in the Integrative Health Policy Consortium and the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care. Under #3, NCCAOM's promotion of an annual AOM Day and sites for YouTube videos and a patient testimonials site are noted.
Comment: NCCAOM has shape-shifted to fill needs left by the void created by the challenges for the AOM profession in building and supporting a national organization. I am aware via other professional work that under #1 the organization has also convened many of the most experienced licensed acupuncturists in the country to a task force that is seeking to assist individuals and organizations on credentialing and privileging issues. These are each useful initiatives.
The subject of botanical quality and the "integrity" of the plant sourcing of natural products has spawned ever more exotic questions with each advance of technology. The American Botanical Council has published a two-part feature on the topic of botanical integrity. The work was engaged by a team at the University of Illinois at Chicago-NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research. The first, published in the April 2015 HerbalGram, was: The Importance of the Integration of Chemical, Biological, and Botanical Analyses, and the Role of DNA Barcoding. The second, in the most recent issue, is Botanical Integrity: Part 2 - Traditional and Modern Analytical Approaches. The author group on each is guided by Guido F. Pauli, PhD with Charlotte Simmler, PhD as lead author. The second article, to give a flavor, looks at "current analytical techniques, new approaches focusing on the fields of botany and chemistry have become available to characterize plant-derived materials in supplements."
Comment: With these, the American Botanical Council continues its role as a key dissemination source for work-product on botanicals developed through the NIH or with NIH funds. These follow the history and strategy document from the NIH's botanicals lead, Craig Hopp, PhD, that led to the Integrator Forum: What Are Your Views on NCCIH's Past and Future for Botanical Research?. Taking this route to publication speaks to the good sense of this NIH-funded team in reach a target audience, and also to the quality ABC executive director Mark Blumenthal has continuously striven to bring to the publication, with and through his extraordinary scientific advisors. "Nice" work, Mark!
Side-note: I am reminded of my first real lesson on botanical quality. In 1986, I had a new colleague (who will remain nameless) who worked with a major international company that sold both to the more mature European medicinal herb industry, and also to the big USA companies through health food stores. He was getting to know the earnest, then youngish, chap (me) who was at the time introducing the "scientific natural medicine" of what is now Bastyr University to the herb industry. He took me into the ugly inner sanctum: "What we sell in the USA is the sweepings of the European industry;" that is, parts of the plant not used in the medicinal trade, sometimes more than metaphorically from the floor of that industry. Product integrity lesson #1: "sweepings" are not where you want in your herbal remedies.
On December 9, 2015, the American Herbal Products Association sent out a media release noting that goldenseal and Aloe vera "non-decolorized whole leaf extract" were added to California's Proposition #65 list of "chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer." They were added by the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Within a day, the International Aloe Science Council (IASC) followed with its own release to let "all consumers know that ‘Aloe vera, non-decolorized whole leaf extract' is not an ingredient sold by IASC members, nor is it used in finished consumer products that have earned the IASC certification seal."
The California decision was based on a classification by the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that this material is an agent that is "possibly carcinogenic to humans." AHPA points out that IARC has similarly characterized red meat and especially processed red meat. Yet "OEHHA has yet to issue a notice of intent to list either red meat or processed meat as ‘a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer.'" To treat the items differently, AHPA argues, "could be considered to be arbitrary and capricious from a legal standpoint."
Comment: Is one over-sensitive to bias in wondering about possible double standards of waving such red flags about an aloe product and goldenseal and not about red meat. Put together in one story and one might wonders at the objectivity of the associated bureaucracy, and those directing the decision-makers.
The Modern Healthcare Professional integrative medicine internet news source has published segments of a recent survey funded through the Council for Responsible Nutrition. The take home: 68% of adults are using at least one and 84% expressed confidence in the "overall safety, quality and effectiveness." While highest use is in vitamin-mineral category, a significant jump was registered with herbals, and another in sports nutrition. Multivitamins are the overwhelmingly most used supplement of any kind.
The USA-based global service-learning group Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The accomplishments for this NGO with a total, presently, of 2.5 FTEs are significant. The organization has sent teams as far away as Nepal. Here in US, they have worked in New Orleans after Katrina and supported disaster relief efforts in Texas and California. AWB has trained 400 U.S. acupuncturists "to respond to natural and human-created disasters." The organization has also had a role in "mentoring over 30 community service clinics in the U.S. that offer stress and trauma reduction treatments to veterans, active military, survivors of sexual violence."
Also internationally, AWB has "trained 35 Jewish and Arab Israeli practitioners to offer trauma healing acupuncture in their communities" and is presently working on "laying the foundation in Mexico for a training program for health care workers" for the coming year. In a newsletter sent on Pearl Harbor Day 2015 to the list, the organization, noted a new video they have posted for their Nepal work. The work is led by executive director Diana Fried, the founder and current board president. The review of accomplishments included a request for contributions.
Comment: I get an inside picture on the value of these global service and community practice through my close friend and colleague William Wulsin, ND, LAc, MPH who has worked with, or alongside of, AWB in multiple places, including Nepal - and whose work my family and I have supported. A brief piece on his work is here at the Global Integrator Blog: Acupuncturists without Borders Responds to Nepal Earthquake. Impactful work, for both those served, and those engaging the service.
Here is the Global Integrator Blog Round-up for December 2015 at Global Advances in Health and Medicine. The summary from this writer on the half-dozen articles follows: "The WHO's campaign to limit antibiotic overuse brought to mind the good work of the European integrative medicine community on the topic last year. Check the link. Interesting to see the role of homeopathy in Colombia - a practice featured in works of that nation's Nobel winner Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. I happily report the belated and important inclusion of traditional healers in the Ebola strategy in Sierra Leone. Infectious diseases are having the positive consequences of bringing diverse practitioners together for a common enemy. More on that soon. Finally, can work on the ‘biofield' be anything less than ‘global'? Adam Gopnik's New Yorker review is a nice opening to an intensive collaboration underway to organize research and consciousness raising about, well, consciousness in healing. Enjoy, and do share your news and story ideas -John Weeks."
Comment: I was particularly intrigued, in writing about the strange behavior of distant particles, to discover the temporal coincidences of the activities, noted above, and reported as Herding Atoms: Book, Journal, and Organizing Our Entanglement.
I was pleased to be asked by the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine to present a 45-minute plenary on the history of the movement now called integrative health and medicine at the organization's October 2015 Conference. I called it: "Connective Tissue: A Winner's History for Integrative Health and Medicine." A rare standing ovation, for my presentations. James Maskell, co-founder of the robust, global, Functional Forum/Evolution of Medicine, was present. He invited me to do a podcast on the topic. We did it and he posted it to his list of over 30,000 with some remarks. The podcast is presently the most listened to of any other on the site.
Maskell wrote: "One of our favorite talks at the AIHM conference had a rallying cry [that is a message of our own] ‘we need to start acting like we are winning, and stop acting like we are losing.' John Weeks, with a career spanning over [three] decades supporting this emerging field, gave an incredible talk ... giving a 50-year history of the integrative medicine movement and sharing the people, strategies and timelines that moved integrative medicine to mainstream acceptance. This is must listen material for every integrative medicine professional, not only cataloging the past but also energizing the future of the movement, in a way that is 100% congruent with the mission and goals of the Evolution of Medicine."
Comment: My father would be blushing at the kind of self-promotion in re-posting this. His son, apparently, is not. I like history. It was my focus in university. It's my work as a chronicler. And the cool thing in chronicling is that from time to time one discovers fascinating patterns, trends, and distinct eras. Yes, there are actually "eras" to this movement. What I was seeking to do in the talk and podcast is tell the story of the multiple integrative fields with shared values, how they/we worked first in silos, then in consortia - and now perhaps under larger tent(s) toward growing impact. Our influence has been felt in many ways. I hope any of you who visit will enjoy. I shared my AIHM slides with Maskell, who put them on his site. Happy to give a similar talk elsewhere! Let me know.
A powerful trio of people in integrative health and medicine were recently aggregated by the producers of National Public Radio's "On Being," with host Krista Trippet, to discuss "Transforming Medicine." Included were former White Houser Commission chair James Gordon, MD, functional medicine leader Mark Hyman, MD and the first chair of the Bravewell Collaborative, psychologist and philanthropist Penny George. The segment, which originally aired on Minnesota Public radio, can be downloaded and streamed from the On Being website. According to a note from Gordon, the wide-ranging discussion touched on "food as medicine, altruism, the importance of compassionate health care, spirituality and healing, and more."
Comment: Also on the integrative care/NPR theme, Marin-based Marty Rossman, MD shared that an interview of him by KQED's Greg Sherwood on "will be featured as part of their holiday pledge drive through December." Rossman's book, c, and related CD set are among the benefits of got those donating. Rossman sent this link to KQED schedule.
Word reached the Integrator that Katherine Gergen Barnett, MD, whose blog on integrative medicine group visits was published through Health Affairs has taken a new position. She has become as vice chair for primary care innovation and transformation with the department of family medicine at Boston Medical Center. According to the announcement, in her role Gergen-Barnett will "oversee Family Medicine practice transformation initiatives ... lead the department's quality improvement efforts, bring vigor and innovation skills to the Patient-Centered Medical Home movement, spearhead patient experience initiatives, and provide support and guidance to our ACC practice." The notice additionally shares that since Gergen-Barnett's "appointment in 2009, as director of (BMC's) Integrative Medicine Clinical Services, Katherine pioneered a model for delivering integrative medicine in the safety net setting, creating a program that provides BMC and CHC patients with an array of integrative medicine services."
Comment: I don't normally include position changes such as this in this section of the Integrator. I do so with reference to the "innovation" in Gergen-Barnett's title and the known innovation in her integrative health and medicine work. This will be fun to watch, especially in BMC's safety-net setting. An interview with Gergen-Barnett prior to a recent presentation in Australia is here. | 2019-04-26T00:04:39Z | http://theintegratorblog.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1001&Itemid=189 |
August-2006 News & Updates from the City of Ulhasnagar/Sindhunagar, Maharashtra, India. Ulhasnagar City News indexed across timeline for easy retrieval.
In a major operation, the authorities rescued 78 children from various cloth-manufacturing units, tea stalls and restaurants in Ulhasnagar, on August 12. A special task force constituted by the state government to abolish child labour from the state carried out the rescue operation. The task force comprised of officials from the labour department, social service branch of the police department and NGOs. The task force visited various cloth-manufacturing units in the Akash Colony, MG Road and Rationing Office localities of camp number 5 and Khemani locality in camp number 1 of Ulhasnagar and rescued minor children working in those units. While 46 children were rescued from the manufacturing units in camp number 5, 32 were saved from Khemani compound. “The rescued children are in the age group of 10 to 14 and worked in small units that manufactured jeans and trousers. Many of them were doing thread cutting jobs when we visited these units. Some of the children were rescued from tea stalls and restaurants,†said Dilip Kumar Pawar, assistant labour commissioner, Kalyan region. The children rescued from the manufacturing units include four minor girls. The task force arrested 35 people who are the owners of the manufacturing units where these minor children were employed. The special task force that conducted the rescue operation had nearly 50 members. “The employers will be booked under section 374 of the IPC and sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act. The rescued children will be sent to the Ulhasnagar remand home. They will be released after a day when their parents or guardians sill sign a bond to the remand home authorities that they will not send their children to work till they attain the legal age for employment,†added Pawar.
Police team is investigating the relation between the threat letter received by the pujari of the Shiv Temple and a recent fire at a jeans manufacturing unit in Ulhasnagar. Alka D Joshi, Sudesh Malvankar The police have increased security cover for the ancient Shiv Temple in Ambernath and other Hindu religious structures in the suburbs after the pujari of the temple received a threatening letter via post. The letter has warned that the religious structures will be exploded in the coming days. The letter contains slogans such as ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ and ‘Laden Zindabad’. The letter posted from a local post office is written on an inland letter. Other religious structures that have found mention in the letter are Chaliya Sahib temple and Shanti Prakash Ashram of Ulhasnagar. The Chaliya Sahib temple is popular among the Sindhi community. The community is presently observing the 40-day past and visit the temple during these days. Reacting to the letter, senior police officials told that there were little reason to panic. The investigation is led by S D Trumbake, the deputy commissioner of police himself. The DCP said that the police have not received any clues in the matter as on yet. “A team consisting of three officers and 12 personnel have been appointed for the temple’s security. Besides, local residents too will accompany the policemen,†he says.
The corporation owes to pay crores to the contractors and temporary labourers. DK+ Correspondent, Ulhasnagar August 14, 2006 was a bad day for the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC). Early in the morning that day, the UMC building was surrounded by two groups of protestors. The first group consisted of Ulhasnagar Contractors Association (UCA), which went on a hunger strike to protest the non-payment of dues to them. Another was a group of temporary labourers who have not received their salaries for the past two months. The strikes outside the UMC building reflect the financial trouble the civic corporation has fallen in. Each year, the UMC appoints about 700 contract labourers for the two months of May and June to clear drains before monsoons. They are recruited at a salary of Rs 3,000 per month. A lot of them have been regularly taking up this temporary employment since 1998. Says Bid Singh Sallan, one of the labourers, "Every year, they promise us a salary of Rs 3,000 per month, but actually gives us only half the money. This year, too, we worked for over 45 days in May and June. However, we have so far received only Rs 1,500. Even from this amount, the sanitary inspector who supervises us keeps his cut of Rs 300 per person. Also, a lot of us get injured while on duty since we work in drains and gutters. But there is absolutely no compensation for this." On the other hand, the UCA was demanding for dues that were of a much greater magnitude. Says Rajesh Sudhija, president of the UCA, "At any point in time, about 80 contractors undertake work for the UMC. For the last one year, the UMC has not paid us anything and almost Rs 10 crores is due to us. Every time we ask for the money, they give us an excuse that there is a heavy financial deficit. The commissioner does not even have the courtesy to cooperate with us and behaves very arrogantly. This is too much. We have not given a memorandum that we should get payments on a monthly basis from now on."
Mumbai police have warned BMC officials that the civic headquarters and its ward offices might be targeted by terrorists. In a letter, posted three days ago, one Abdul Hafeej wrote, “We won’t spare Hindus. We will attack the BMC headquarters and its ward offices.†Hafeej went on to write, “We will also target temples in Ulhasnagar and Ambernath. We will go after the BMC officers who targeted the Sara Sahara complex owned by Dawood Ibrahim.†The city authorities are taking the threat seriously. RA Rajeev, additional municipal commissioner, said more plain-clothes policemen would man the important landmarks. “We will make use of CCTVs and X-ray machines to scan people and goods entering our premises,†he said. BMC officials said metal detectors would be used to screen all visitors. Thane (Rural) SP Archana Tyagi has asked BMC, urging it to closely guard the water pipeline from Thane to Mumbai.
On August 8, Ulhasnagar completed 57 years of existence. Like ever before, it went unnoticed. Sudesh Malvankar takes a walk down the memory lane. Some call it Sindhunagar, some Ulhasnagar and the others, USA. What started as an infant refugee township has grown up to be a haven for the business enterprises. Unfortunately, except for the initial year or two, nobody in the town remember its inception date. DK+ gives you all the dope on the town’s history. 57 years ago, on August 8, 1949, the first and the last Governor General of India, C Rajgopalachari laid the foundation stone of this town. They called it the city for displaced people; in other words, a refugee township for people from Pakistan, mostly comprising of Sindhis. During the time of World War II, the British army acquired 1200 hectares of land to set up camps for its military officers in an area nearby Kalyan. The British built about 1173 barracks for its 6000 soldiers. The total capacity of the camp was about 30,000. Basic amenities like electricity were provided by the Ordnance Factory in Ambernath, while water came from the Barrage Dam in Badlapur. After independence, the town was filled with refugees from the Sindh province in Pakistan. Nearly 94,000 people took shelter in Ulhasnagar. The nearby James siding was developed into a small town of Vithalwadi. In 1948 the government appointed ‘Relief and Rehabilitation committee’ to look after these transit camps. The Chief Commandant managed the things until the year 1964 under the auspices of Government Premised Control Act. “In the initial days, the government helped us a lot. They provided us with good accommodation and supplied free rations for two years. And as enterprising as Sindhis are, we started selling the biscuits, milk powder and the sweet toffees that we received in ration, after keeping little for ourselves,†reveals Sitaldas Harchandani, former MLA and a senior citizen of Ulhasnagar. Meanwhile, in 1960, the first District Municipality was appointed under the presidency of Nevandram Vishindas Gurbani. The main aim of this municipality was to collect funds and work for the betterment of the people. So, in 1962 the municipality started collecting Sanitation Tax; in 1963, Property Tax was also included. As a result, in the year 1975-76 the funds collected amounted to Rs. 1,76,96,153 and today the UMC has a total revenue generation of 123 crore. The first developmental plan for Ulhasnagar was passed in the year 1974. At that time, Ulhasnagar had 158 sites that could have been developed for public use. But due to the lazy and unconcerned attitude of the polity none of the open spaces could be developed. Encroachments also started to take place around that time. Illegal constructions marked the decline of this already degenerated town. “In the late 1980s, politics started criminalizing. The town started degrading and lost its initial shine,†rues Prahlad Advani, a former president of the UMC. Till 1985, Ulhasnagar gave shelter only to the refugees from Pakistan, but later, people from places in and around Mumbai started shifting to Ulhasnagar. According to the census report of 2001, Ulhasnagar has a population of about 4.7 lakhs. Interesting the ratio of Sindhi and non-Sindhi community stands at 60:40. “Today, as things have financially improved for all the communities, a sort of egoist attitude has developed. Due to the lack of amenities, this refugee township has now turned into a huge slum. I can’t predict a better future for this town of ours,†shares Damodar Manulkar, 63, one of the early citizens of Ulhasnagar. “People of Ulhasnagar want it to develop into a better living place, that’s the only birthday wish that all of us can pray for and work towards,†he concludes.
In a major operation spread across Mumbai and Thane districts, the state police on Saturday rescued around 300 children employed as labourers in various industrial conclaves. The children, aged between five and 14, were freed by police teams at zari and embroidery factories, hotels and even some residential complexes. Around 250 children were rescued in Mumbai, while 74 children were rescued from Ulhasnagar. Industrial conclaves in Govandi, Kurla, Dharavi and Malad, which had come under the police scanner, were combed out by the police. Around 38 children from the Meghwadi (Malad) area, 72 from Bainganwadi (Govandi), 31 from Shahunagar (Dharavi) and 71 from Patel Wadi (Kurla) were rescued. Thirty-two child labourers from Camp 1 and 42 children from Camp 5 in Ulhasnagar were rescued. A police team, along with members of the NGO Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative, rescued 29 child labourers aged between seven and 14 from the Jari Mills of Muslim Nagar, Indra Nagar and Kewdi Chawl, all situated in the Dharavi area.
The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested a distributor of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd pre-paid mobile cards and his aide, on Thursday, for allegedly acquiring four prepaid cards by submitting forged documents in the name of Mumbai Police Commissioner AN Roy. Crime Branch sources said the duo were identified as 37-year-old Santosh Madhani alias Nirankari — a distributor working for Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd in Ulhasnagar and Ambarnath — and his assistant, Mangesh Nerpagare, 19. In his remand application, Police Inspector KV Nigade of the Crime Branch said that the accused tampered with document details, like original names and addresses of mobile customers, and re-wrote Roy’s name and address on it. The accused also allegedly forged the police commissioner’s signature on the identity cards of mobile customers, and acquired four prepaid mobile cards, the police said. However, the Crime Branch had not recovered the mobile cards yet, Nigade said.
A couple from Ulhasnagar, who did not have the funds to pay the deposit for their new house, broke into a shop and stole objects worth Rs 38,800 to do so. Thane Police's Ulhasnagar Crime Branch arrested the 20-year-old college-going girl, but the man in her life got away. Harsha Chawla and Nazim Ahmed, alias Nitin Ahuja eloped and got married in Goa a few months ago. Harsha studies in Ulhasnagar’s Jai Hind college. On July 28, Harsha, Nitin and a friend broke into Total Computer Solution Store located in Peninsula park. They stole a gold chain, a ring, two mobile handsets, and computer parts worth Rs 38,800. They also took the two bearers cheques lying in the shop. It was when they tried to encash those cheques that Harsha was arrested. “I used to stay in Dubai with my family, and we shifted to Ulhasnagar and set up a medical shop. I met Nitin in a cyber café. Our relationship turned into love, and we ran away from home and got married three months back,†says Harsha. After returning, both of them stayed in few dharmashalas in Kalyan, but soon began looking for a house. Since neither had the money required for a deposit, they decided to steal. J D More, senior police inspector of Ulhasnagar Crime Branch says, “Nitin has a police record for 12 bike thefts. He used Harsha for the crime because the police do not usually interrogate couples that roam about in the night. Harsha, Nitin and another friend went to the shop in a car. The two men then broke the store.†The next day, Nitin sent Harsha to Bank of Baroda’s Ulhasnagar branch to encash the bearer cheques written in her name. But the police were already expecting the move and she was arrested with Rs 10,000 and the gold chain and ring she stole from the shop. Nitin, who was waiting at distance, ran as soon as he smelt trouble. “He told me that this was the last crime, that he would start a new life after this,†says Harsha, who is now out on bail.
Parts of Kalyan remained inundated on August 6 and 7, due to the heavy incessant rains that refused to stop for more than 72 hours. According to residents, this was bound to happen as the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) took little corrective measures despite all the tall claims made by the officials after the 26/7 deluge last year. Starting its cruel onslaught, the Saturday afternoon-to-Tuesday morning rains revived the painful memories and trauma of 26/7 again in the minds of the local inhabitants. “It was the same old story unwinding in slow motion. Mohone, Gholap Nagar, Ganesh Ghat are some of the chronic flooding spots that gets submerged every year, but municipality does precious little to alleviate this annual sufferings of the people of these areas,†says an agitated R Shrivastava whose apartment at Gholap Nagar was under floodwaters right from Sunday night. "Besides, Waldhuni River has not been cleaned and desilted adequately. The encroachments have not been cleared near it. In fact, the authorities have taken no action so far in this regard. This has resulted in the severe flooding of all the areas near it, including low-lying stretches around Ulhasnagar and Vithalwadi,†he adds. For the thousands of people living in these scattered neighborhoods over large geo vicinity, it is a regular manmade calamity that visits unerringly in every monsoon. “Kids, women and senior citizens are worst affected. If there is an emergency, we cannot do anything except to wait for the waters to recede,†says Nirmala Bhalerao, a homemaker from Mohone.
2006-08-12 Is Kalani becoming unpopular in Ulhasnagar?
Strange equations are brewing in Ulhasnagar’s political scene, which has been always considered a bastion for MLA Pappu Kalani. However, Kalani received a blow of his lifetime on July 30 when the results for the by election for ward number 20 A of Ulhasnagar Municipal Cooperation (UMC) was announced. In the by-election, Annu Manwani, an independent candidate defeated NCP’s Dr Prakash Nathani, who had the whole-hearted backing of Kalani. Manvani secured 3439 votes while the nearest rival Nathani was able to get only 1755 votes. Manvani’s victory has thrashed the general concept that Kalani and his favorites are indomitable in Ulhasnagar. The by-election result also has significance considering the fact that the corporation will be going for elections in next February. It’s known fact that the by-election was actually fought between Kalani on the one side and his enemies on the other side. Manvani had the support of BJP, Congress and other disgruntled elements of the NCP.
The flood toll in Maharashtra rose to 69 on Monday even as the situation remains grim with large parts of Marathwada, Vidarbha and north Maharashtra still under water. Nearly 700 villages in 19 districts across the state are flood-hit and 1.05 lakh residents have been evacuated to safer areas. In neighbouring Thane district, nearly 1,200 persons were evacuated from the Ulhasnagar and Badlapur areas. District collector N Jantre said that there was waterlogging in the Bhiwandi bypass area, Manor and Kalywan Kon-Bhiwandi Road.
City police commissioner A N Roy called for an urgent meeting with all telecom operators in the city recently after he came to know that a fraudster had applied for four pre-paid mobile connections in his name. During the meeting, Roy warned all operators that strict action would be taken against them if such cases recur, especially since security measures in the city are going through a major revamp after the 7/11 blasts. The culprit in this case was an Ulhasnagar-based retailer of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Limited (TTML). "We detected four bogus pre-paid mobile applications in the name of A N Roy,"said a TTML spokesperson. The retailer had submitted forged documents including a copy of a ration card, employment verification and an identity card. | 2019-04-21T04:16:28Z | http://sindhunagar.com/news.php?month=8&year=2006 |
Obedience – How Important is it Really???
Many believers are under the misconception that because we are saved by grace, obedience is no longer necessary. In fact, there are some who consider grace to be a license to sin. So, in response to these prevailing attitudes, I have a question… How important is obedience, really?
6 “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned My decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
You see, beloved friends, whether we lived in Old Testament times, New Testament times, or in the hereafter, God remains the same. Therefore, since God found obedience pleasing in Old Testament times, and since He hasn’t changed, then we can infer that God still finds obedience pleasing and that He always will. Furthermore, when we rebel against God by disobeying Him, then we have committed a sin as bad as the sin of witchcraft. And though we are saved by grace, through faith, (Praise God!), God still commands and desires our obedience.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved Me. Remain in My love. 10 When you obey My commandments, you remain in My love, just as I obey My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is My commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are My friends, since I have told you everything the Father told Me. 16 You didn’t choose Me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using My name. 17 This is My command: Love each other.
21 Those who accept My commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me. And because they love Me, My Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal Myself to each of them.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved Me. Remain in My love. 10 When you obey My commandments, you remain in My love, just as I obey My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
Beloved, here is the truth. If you have been saved by God’s grace, you can’t help but respond to Him in love, and the out-flowing of that love is the desire to please the One who loved us, while we were still lost in sin. When you truly love Christ, it isn’t a sacrifice to give up on our old ways. What becomes of utmost importance to us, is the yearning to live a life that brings glory and honor to Him, and disobedience no longer has any place in our lives.
Does this mean that we will never mess up again? Of course not! As long as we walk in this body of flesh, there will be times when we sin and fall short of God’s glory. The difference between one who lives a life of obedience for Christ, and fails from time to time, and one who refuses to live a life of obedience, is that the one will fall, repent, and cry out to God for mercy and help, while the other will justify his/her sin.
Hallelujah! Psalm 119 is a beautiful, powerful psalm, which takes us through the Hebrew alphabet, from beginning to end, as it focuses on the statutes of the Lord. Psalm 119:33-40 begins with the Hebrew letter, ה He, which is the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and means behold!
The word “teach” takes on a whole new meaning, when you see what the original Hebrew text was… Behold! Throw, cast, shoot, point out, show, direct, teach, instruct me… In this scripture, the writer is asking the Lord to cast him, shoot him, point out and show him. He’s asking the Lord to direct him, teach him and instruct him.
Do you see it? When we become as an arrow, we relinquish control. We are now at the Lord’s mercy, as He takes us from His quiver, places us on His bow and takes aim. He is the One who directs us, choosing where He will send us flying to. He is the One who pulls us back and shoots us in the direction we are to go. As you can see, this requires complete trust in the Lord, as an arrow does nothing on its own.
While in the quiver, the arrow rests quietly with the other arrows, waiting for its Owner to choose it. The arrow is not its own — it belongs to the Archer. Once chosen, the arrow rests in the hand of the Archer. The arrow has no say over where it is shot, or even how or why it is shot. It simply rests in the hand of the Archer, while He aims and points it in the direction it is to go, and then shoots it.
Are you willing to rest in the hands of your Archer? So often, our problems arise when we try too hard to do things, rather than simply resting in the hands of the Master, and allowing Him to aim us and shoot us where He wants us to go.
Now, remembering what it means when we say, “Teach me, O Lord,” let’s look at the “way” we are asking Him to teach us. As we rest in the Lord’s hands, we are asking Him to cast, shoot, direct and instruct us in the way, road, distance, journey, manner, path, direction, manner, habit, course of life and course of moral character that we should go. This is powerful. We’re not just asking for direction, we’re asking the Lord to cast us on the journey of our lives. We’re asking to be shot in the manner of our moral character. We’re asking the Lord to show and instruct us in our habits.
Just think about this… When we ask the Lord to teach us, we’re asking Him to send us in a new direction — on a new way. We’re asking Him to send us on a course of life, to direct us in the way our moral character can be developed. We’re asking the Lord to shoot us toward new habits. It isn’t enough for us to read the scriptures, and then walk away with no change in our lives. We must seriously surrender to the Lord, rest in His hands, and ask Him to send us in the way that will change our moral character and the course of our lives as we develop new habits.
According to this definition, the statutes we are praying for are our limits, ordinances, prescribed tasks, prescribed portions, the actions prescribed for ourselves, our resolve, boundaries, decrees and enactments prescribed by God… Think about it this way — as we pray this prayer, we are asking the Lord, to choose us from among the other arrows in His quiver, while we rest in His hand. Then, as we rest in His hand, He places us on the bow, aims us, and shoots us on our journey that will change the course of our lives, as our moral character and habits are developed.
But how are these qualities developed? The Lord, casts us to our prescribed boundaries. He sets our limits before us as He casts us toward them so that we may enact His decrees. It is in the course of acting out His decrees that we develop moral character and new habits, thus establishing a new course of life.
I not only promise to obey His word, which is vital, but in this instance, the promise I am making is to also watch over His word and guard it. I’m promising to guard His word with fidelity and preserve it. I’m promising the Lord that I will be a watchman for His word, keeping it close and guarding it from danger.
As I read and study the word of God, something happens within me. As His word takes root within me, and the Lord speaks to my heart, zeal for His word begins to grow, and I find myself fiercely guarding His word from error. I find that it angers me to see people take the Lord’s word out of context or give it a different meaning than what He has clearly inspired its authors to write. I have become a watchman for God’s word.
That is why I write against false teaching and false prophets and teachers. I do it because there is a fire within me for the word of God, and I cannot sit idly by while false teachers take advantage of those who do not know what God’s word truly says. My heart longs to see men, women and children come to the saving grace of Christ. I long to see them saved, healed and delivered from the sin that so easily besets us. I long to see them set free, and it is the TRUTH that sets us free.
Therefore, I must speak the truth in love, expose the lies and also expose the false teachers that many have set on pedestals. For we serve a jealous God, and He alone is worthy of our worship, while some of the men and women who claim to be bible scholars and teachers of the word are charlatans who fleece the flock, and they must be exposed.
Bless the Lord, my beloved readers. Meditate on this word from the Lord today, and commit yourself to asking Holy Spirit to teach you, aim you, shoot you and cast you towards the limits and boundaries that God has decreed for you, so that you too will be a watchman on the wall, guarding the word of God and hiding it in your heart to the end.
This is just a friendly reminder that on Monday, April 1, 2013, I will be posting April’s Share the Love post. For any new followers who are not familiar with Share the Love, please click the link above to discover more information. I’m so glad the Lord inspired me to begin doing this, because it gives me the opportunity to focus on the blogs that He places on my heart, and really dig in to their posts.
I love being able to share my favorite posts, and I love highlighting my fellow bloggers.
It’s funny, because since the Lord led me to begin this monthly post, keeping the scripture above as the theme, it seems that in attempting to bless others, I’m the one who is most blessed by this project. You see, when the Lord places a blogger or bloggers on my heart for this montly post, I delve into their blog site more intensely than I might otherwise do. In doing this, I find that their words of beauty, poetry, instruction and prose bless me and fill needs that I’m sometimes not even aware of. And as I visit the sites of the many artists online, I am won over by the beauty and talent that God has gifted so many people with!
Anyway, this is just a quick reminder to be watching on Monday, April 1, for the monthly Share the Love post! May the Lord bless each and every one of you, my beloved readers!
Greetings My Beloved Blogging Friends!
I just wanted to post a reminder for Share the Love, the new post that I began posting in February 2013, which highlights a different blogging friend each month. This past month has been such a trying time for me personally, that I almost chose not to do this post. However, God had other plans, as He led me to edify a very special blog site – one that is sure to bless each one of you!
May the Lord bless each one of you as you continue to build each other up!
Other people’s opinions didn’t seem to matter to Jesus. In fact, the ONLY opinion that mattered to Him was His Father’s, and if we’re to follow after Him, then that’s where our hearts must be also.
It is easy for us to get so caught up in trying to please or impress others, that we often lose sight of what’s really important. Sometimes I get so frustrated with myself, because I want to please the Lord, and yet, all too often, I find myself trying to please my pastor, or other members of the church, knowing that this is not pleasing to God… Not only do I end up not pleasing God, I think I even grieve His Spirit, and that’s just horrible.
Let me explain. Every year, at the beginning of the year, the pastor calls for a fast. Now, that’s not a bad thing, but has it become a tradition, a ritual, a religious act? I comply with this every year, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. But here’s the issue I have with this – This is not something Holy Spirit is leading me to do, and I end up doing it merely because I’m a leader of the church and it’s expected of me. And throughout the 21 days of the fast (yes, it’s always 21 days), I struggle because I have not been led by the Spirit to do this.
It’s totally different when I hear the Spirit telling me to fast. Four years ago, when I went to jail to minister one Sunday, I was asked by the guards and the inmates to visit another inmate in her cell, who was having seizures. Now this was highly irregular. I am not normally allowed to go on the block, but the Lord was moving. I went back there, and as soon as I saw her, I knew that she was not merely having seizures. She was demonized.
I knew what I had to do. I went on a clear liquid fast, and a friend loaned me Jentezen Franklin‘s book, “Fasting: Opening the Door to a Deeper, More Intimate, More Powerful Relationship With God“. (If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it!) I started out planning to fast for 21 days, until I read the chapter about the flies, and I heard the Lord speak to me again. He told me this was to be a 40 day fast. It was amazing.
I went to two women’s retreats during that fast, and if any of you have gone on retreats, you know that good food and fine dining are a part of the fun, but I was okay. I went to restaurants with my friends, and we had a great time, and I wasn’t even tempted to eat, because the presence of the Lord was so strong in me and I didn’t want to do anything to quench His Spirit and what He was doing in me and for the women that I ministered to in prison. This was a fast that the Lord called me to go on, and it had a purpose – His purpose.
The next time I ministered in jail after this fast was completed, unbeknownst to me, the woman who I had ministered to before attended the church service. Now you need to know that I had never seen her in a church service before, nor since I had ministered to her in her cell, and I had only seen her the one time.
As I was ministering, I looked to the back of the room, and I began to prophesy to this woman. Her countenance was changed and I didn’t recognize her at first, until the Lord revealed to me that she was the one that I had fasted and prayed for. I looked in her eyes and I told her that I had been fasting and praying for her for forty days. As she began to cry, I told her that she wasn’t just having seizures, she was demonized. She nodded her head as the tears flowed, and told me that since that Sunday when I had ministered to her, she hadn’t had anymore seizures, but prior to that, for several months, she had been having seizures multiple times a day. I was amazed by what the Lord had done, and that He had given me the privilege of being a part of His kingdom.
No, we don’t have bulletins and programs and rote prayers like some denominational churches, but we have become traditional in other ways… And please don’t think I’m dishonoring my church by speaking this way, because as I said before, I love my pastor and the members of my church very much. And the truth is, on this side of heaven, there is no perfect church yet, until Jesus returns from glory and separates the goats and the sheep… and helps us sheep get right too.
Here is where the real problem is… I have become traditional and religious and I have grieved Holy Spirit, and this grieves me. I hear the Lord saying to me, “I hate all your festivals and sacrifices. I cannot stand the sight of them! From now on, when you lift up your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen. For your hands are covered with the blood of your innocent victims. Wash yourselves and be clean! Let Me no longer see your evil deeds. Give up your wicked ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows.
I hear You calling to me, Lord, and I repent. Forgive me for grieving You, for trying to please everyone and offend no one, and by doing this, I offended and displeased You. Forgive me Lord and change my heart. I repent Lord and I humble myself under Your righteous right hand. I will fast when YOU lead me to fast. I will serve YOU first – help me to be attentive to Your word. In Jesus’ name, amen. | 2019-04-20T18:18:31Z | https://burningfireshutinmybones.wordpress.com/tag/obedience/ |
This week we are entering into Cancer season!
Sun (planet of life and energy) moves into the sign of Cancer on Tuesday the 20th while with Mercury- the planet that rules communication- follows right behind the sun and enters Cancer on Wednesday the 21st! No matter what your sun or ascendant sign is this will have an affect on you... and Cancer rules an area within every person's natal chart.
Cancer is a sign that 'rules the roost' meaning that your focus on home and comfort will be highlighted for the next 30 days, as well as an interest in family and family life. We can't help but find ourselves gravitating towards the things that comfort and nurture us- our emotions and sensitive sides can truly get the best of us- in both good and bad ways! For all of us we are influenced by our emotions and feelings where our energy ebbs and flows like the phases of the moon (which just happens to rule Cancer)! Some of us will feel our emotions intensify or we can super in-tune to changes in our environment. Use this extra sensitive time to feel out the vibes to help you pick up on signals and messages you normally may miss out on... Cancer energy helps you to be super receptive!
Mercury- the planet that rules communication- moves into Cancer this week and this increases the Cancer influence even further! Communication becomes far more personal and feeling focused. Our minds change and flux as our feelings and energy levels change.
On the 23rd Cancer energy spills over when we will experience the new moon!
New Moons are all about new beginnings & fresh starts so on this day and the few days following this new moon you will want to set intentions that are close to your heart! Mercury, Mars, Sun, and Moon all falling within the sign of Cancer asks you to focus on your comfort, needs, and feelings & emotions! Your feelings and emotions are EVERYTHING this New Moon and like a radar will work to make you highly tuned into what needs healing and attention, what your heart really deeply wants, and how to make your life so much more pleasurable! If you are feeling sadness or emptiness then this points the way to where you need to ask the universe for want you want and need to help to fill that void! If you have are happy this is the time to express gratitude and to snuggle further into your comfort and enjoy the moment!
We end this week strong with Venus- planet of beauty and love- contacting Pluto- the planet of transformation- in a beautiful trine! This is where passion and beauty intensify and become magical! This is perfect for building partnerships & relationships, making changes in appearance, sprucing up the home (of course, with so many of the personal planets moving through Cancer!), and to be creative!
If you find yourself worrying at ALL this week then you've missed the mark!
Empress reminds us that this world is abundantly filled & you will not be left without!
Remember your laws of attraction practice? Yes, bring that back into rotation this week!!
The Magician reminds you that you have everything that you need to be successful & fruitful at your fingertips... you just need to know HOW to work your tools to manifest and to bring in abundance even further... & have the guts to OWN & WORK your magic!
These cards are powerful in the sense that they work incredible intent but know better to NOT physically force things to happen!
Worrying ROBS you of your power... nix that ASAP!
Empress & Magician set the intention and the tone, they work their magic and they watched it all unfold right before their eyes magically!
This will it will set the tone for you for the rest of this week!
If at any point you feel yourself slipping come back to the set of cards and remind yourself of your personal power, the power of intention & writing things down, and step back and allow the universe to work its magic on your behalf!
How to Use an Ouija Board!
SURVIVAL GUIDE: How to Make Mercury Retrograde your B*tch!
HOW YOUR NATAL CHART MAKES YOU UNIQUE!
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JUNE 5TH-12TH ASTRO FORECAST + FULL MOON DETAILS!
This week is filled to the top with activity! The personal planets are switching signs which affect us each directly, Jupiter goes direct (after being retrograde for what feels like way too long!) and we have a super emotional full moon in the sign of Sagittarius! No matter what your sun sign is you will feel the influence of this moon so you will want to be aware.
For starters, like I said above this moon falls in the sign of Sagittarius which is ruled by the planet Jupiter- the planet of expansion! This shows me that there is a need for most of us to think BIG and a focus on the future- Jupiter needs you to visualize and be optimistic about what can come… if you visualize it and relay that message over to the universe the planets will align to bring you your abundance with perfect timing! Jupiter is like the Santa Claus of all the planets and in ruling Sagittarius you want to tap into your gifts to creatively visualize what you would love to see manifest for yourself- be BOLD and BIG and you will receive BOLD and BIG blessings!
This same day Jupiter switches from being retrograde to moving direct- or forward, within the sign of Libra (the sign that loves beauty, harmony, and relationships!). Jupiter being retrograde means that it had to hold back from using its full power but now that it is moving direct the floodgates swing open! Abundance of all kinds can come rushing in- in both good ways and bad (what most astrologers- I feel- neglect to mention)!
Well, because Jupiter expands all that it touches- which can include not only our pay checks but our appetites, our spending ( bad news if you are trying to save!), and also can increase risky behavior! It’s hard to hold back but the good news is you at least know and are aware of both the bad and the good- I will always tell you ALL!
So let’s return back to the details of this full moon! It occurs on June 9th with sun (life energy) sitting directly opposite of the moon (emotions). The sun completely lights up the face of the moon- exposing all! That is what you can expect with this full moon as well as all the others- what is hidden rises up to the surface, we can see and act, and also what has been in the works of manifestation now is coming to completion or a turning point! Saturn (the planet of restriction) sits heavily directly underneath the moon- drawing the energy downwards with its serious and somber mood. This can make some feel sad, low energy, lonely because the moon rules our emotions and full moons are ALWAYS highly emotional times! This is not a bad thing- when you know what is missing from your life you will know what to ASK for! Also, painful feelings point in the direction of where healing needs to happen and where you know where to look you can begin the healing process!
Sun (life energy) and Saturn (restriction) are meeting in a difficult alignment which can zap your energy or make you feel sick. With this moon you do NOT want to overdue it. Be mindful of stressing yourself or your body out because with transits like this you can have a 'breakdown'- physically or mentally. The key is to be easy, be gentle, and to be mindful.
On a lighter note, Mars and Venus are flirting with each other and when these two come together like this it taps into our own needs for love, passion, fun and pleasure! You can use this energy to go on a date (although the surrunding aspects are a little difficult!) or to work on your own passion projects- the things you love and fuel you!
This week Venus moved into Taurus, the sign that she rules and loves! Here she wants you to feel comfortable and beautiful! Her transit encourages you to treat yourself, to find comfort in sensual and tangible things (for example- incorporating the senses into your daily pleasures- excellent well-cooked food, essential oils or perfume, soft sheets or fabrics, music that moves you)! Shopping feels fun and you feel naturally drawn to treat yourself to items that are luxurious, high quality, and will last for generations!
To move froward you have to pass the ‘tests’ that life gives you… once you’ve learned the lesson the gate will open and you will be free to move forward. If you refuse to be open to learn or do things differently you will be tested again and again with the same circumstance and situation until you switch it up and try something different. Trying and failing shows that you are learning and growing and the universe rewards that! That is the message behind The World and The Sun together for this week- what are you ready to move forward with after much hard work, challenges, and demonstrating your determination? Your passion to win will see you through because you did not let the obstacles stand in your way forever or permanently block you! You may have felt frustrated or even thought about giving up but keep riding through and you will find not only happiness but abundance, health, and renewed faith in life!"
What do you have planned for Thursday's Full Moon??
💆🏽♂️🙌🏾Book a Thai or hot stone massage!
✈️🛵Book a random vacation destination to your favorite city with a friend or your love, or pick somewhere new!
🛁💕Take a longggg hot bath! While you soak use salts, oils, and follow with beauty butter all while you set intentions and visualize/release!
🍇🍝Splurge on a really nice meal! Bring someone with you even if you like eating alone! The company will be nice with Moon in friendly Sagittarius!
🦋💕Stay in the comfort of your bed & fresh clean sheets and journal/read a book about travel/self help/spirituality/or something you want to learn! Have many many cups of tea!
🏨💕Book a hotel just to stay in their beds and order room service!
💞🕯Order the highest thread count of organic cotton sheets you can find!
ENJOY THIS MOON, BEAUTIES! BE EASY ON YOURSELF! KEEP ME POSTED!
This week you’ll notice that energy is building for sure!
Most of the planets that affect us in our day to day lives are currently crowded within the signs that push for action and results- for some of you your mind will feel like it’s legit whizzing… in good ways in bad?
You’ll see this EXTRA on the 25th and the days to follow! This is because we have a new moon in Gemini that day/night. New moons bring the energy of fresh starts and new beginnings and with that channel your THOUGHTS and your WORDS into energy and fuel for the seeds of intention to grow!
Prioritize your HAPPINESS and freedom- these are all things that Gemini new moon wants to give you!
If Mars is the planet of action and drive and Saturn is the planet of resistance and the two or sitting opposite and glaring at each other you will have a recipe of high frustration and possible irritation! Mars rules our passion and is most comfortable when it is working to achieve a goal. It usually is pretty unstoppable but is not match to the power of Saturn which right no is currently blocking the path and telling Mars to slow down or worse- stop all together! What you have this week is a hyper awareness of your own limitations and it may feel like with each step of the way you are met with resistance, a road block, or will notice that at least for the moment you won't see the rewards for your efforts and hard work. That doesn't meant that you have to stop or give up all together but it does suggest that you will want to look around to see what is the lesson that Saturn has for you- are you missing something? Are you prepared for what you are trying to manifest/bring in to your life? Do you still have some growing up and maturing to do? These are all the questions that Saturn will ask of you. It's awesome o have the drive and fire to power through to the goal but you want to make sure that you are prepared for the next steps! Getting ready now will save you a hell of a headache later on the future when you have your chance and opportunity and realize that you may not actually have what it takes because you didn't revamp the plan now!
Also this week we have a nasty square between Pluto and Venus, meaning that the two of them are severely bumping heads. Pluto rules the underworld while Venus connects with beauty, love and when they fight like this it can absolutely surface in our day to day lives- especially relationships- with power struggles, manipulation, or disappointment in relationships all around. Pluto and Venus squaring bring out the worst in each other and act like a love vice- yup, not a good time. Watch for obsessive thoughts, jealousy, disillusionment, etc. I’ve noticed in my studies and experience in the astrology that this doesn’t have to play out in only relationships but the things we love and value… so during this time be aware that you may feel super frustrated and unsatisfied with your own work. Think of the artist who paints a beautiful artwork inspired by emotion and gets so frustrated with the process that they rip their artwork off the wall and dump it in the trash. In their fit of rage the tossed away their masterpiece, not realizing its value because they are blinded by their own frustration and emotion.
Also, this week is the sun (life force energy) moving into the sign of Gemini. No matter WHAT your sign this move affects us all! Here are minds stir even faster with ideas, activity, and movement! Gemini is known to bring restless ideas so thoughts flow, information bubbles and is shared, we feel ourselves whirring into motion! Productivity and multi-tasking increase significantly but also I warn to take breaks to make sure you're not mentally overwhelming or overestimating yourself.
Many of you will be highly active this week! I almost see invitations to parties or get-togethers- way more social engagements and pleasant distractions from the normal day to day life ;) If you work in publishing or marketing or in business this is the perfect start to get a move on with getting your work and name out there!
Mercury is ruling the energy of this week with the focus on Gemini vibes! Mercury rules communication, thinking, and processing and meets with Neptune (the planet of illusion and fantasy) the energies combine beautifully! This is where imagination and creative thinking can soar! While setting intentions for the new moon and during this week priortiotize your heart and intuition- asking yourself what feels right and what you truly want and envision for your life.
This week I ask you to take a moment- and hold your heart in your hands.
Each of us carry wounds, battle scars, disappointments, aches.
Every day you strive to DO better, BE better, FEEL better, and enjoy the experience of life but as a human you have to factor in the flair ups- the moments of frustration, weakness, reaction, or disappointment.
Take your heart in your hands and prioritize it.
I ask that you be gentle with your sweet and lovable Self.
I ask that you to ACKNOWLEDGE your pain, your present moment, and allow yourself the time to equally drift on the wave of life when you sometimes feel like you SHOULD be actively swimming.
It is OKAY to not have the answer, or to not know what to do... or to KNOW what you have to do but not want to do it so you do nothing at all!
It's OKAY- we all have those moments.
But just for today prioritize your healing and be easy with yourself.
+ I value my beautiful and pure Self.
+ I ALLOW myself to be who that I am, what I am, all that I am. This is my pure state. This is beautiful.
+ I am becoming more and more aware of my inner light!
+ I give my Self all of the RESPECT, LOVE and SELF ESTEEM that I need without worrying about what others need/ think or what is expected of me.
+ I OPEN myself now to a new experience! Every day is different and magical when I allow mySelf now to flow and follow LIFE ENERGY.
+ This life truly is beautiful- I SEE IT!
+ Life sings- I sing! Life dances- I dance! I am so grateful to be here, in this moment!
4 Things You MUST Have to be Successful!
TREMENDOUS GROWTH IS HERE || BEAUTIFUL THINGS SURROUND YOU!
It will truly be hard to hold back from fully expressing your feelings& thoughts today with Knight of Cups (heightened emotion) & Moon (emotion) conjoining with Pluto (transformation)!!
Knight of Cups moves from the pull of his sweet & sensitive heart, taking risks for the sake of love!
"What would truly fulfill & complete the picture of my life? If I could have or be anything- what would it be?"
Asking yourself this honestly allows you to put it (life!) ALL back into perspective instead of feeling like you're aimlessly floating around waiting for life to happen TO you!
Venus currently moving through Pisces is strong & idealistic- a perfect mirror to the Knight of Cups' vibration while Sun in Aries continues to push you to be BRAVE & BOLD (whether you are comfortable feeling this or not!) & fuels you with the energy & motivation to make a move & get things DONE!
There is an INFINITE source of love and light within me!
I am bold & brave in the steps towards the path of what I want my life to look, feel, and be like!
I ALLOW myself to express my most brilliant & creative side!
I trust the magic of each moment and am grateful for them- they are the building blocks and lead up to all that is to come!
My heart is FILLED and I can FLOURISH!
I choose now to live for ME and do NOT need the approval or co-signature of others to do what is best for me and to live my most authentic life!
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Potenial buildz, opportunity surfaces... release the binds, indulge, and allow! | 2019-04-22T02:00:29Z | https://www.behatilife.com/astro-tarot-forecasts/category/DAILY+TAROT |
Home→Academia→How to answer reviewers for a journal paper revision?
Today, I will discuss how to prepare the revision of a journal paper after receiving the editor’s decision that the paper will be accepted with minor or major modifications.
As most people should know, when submitting a paper to a journal, the decision is usually “accept”, “accept with minor modifications”, “accept with major modifications”, “reject” or “resubmit as new”. In the second and third cases, the author has to revise his paper according to the reviewers comments and to write a file generally called “summary of changes” to explain how the author has addressed the reviewers’ comments.
You should first say thank you to the reviewers for the useful comments that they have made to improve the paper.
Then, in the same file, you should explain how you have answered each reviewer comment that requires to do something.
To do that, I suggest to organize your document as follows. Create a section for each reviewer. Then, in each section copy the comments made by the reviewer and cite it as a quote (“…”). Then explain below the quote how you have addressed the comment. For example, your document could look like this.
First, we would like to say thank you to the reviewers for the useful comments to improve the paper. We have addressed all the comments as explained below.
We have addressed this comment by deleting a few lines at the end of the second paragraph that were not necessary for understanding the algorithm.
Reviewer 2 has reported several typos and grammatical errors. We have fixed all of them and proofread the paper to eliminate all such errors.
But how to answer a reviewer’s comment?
First, if you agree with the reviewer, you should do exactly what the reviewer ask you to do, and mention that you have done it. Then the reviewer should be happy. Second, you can disagree with the reviewer and explain why you disagree. In this case, you only need to explain why you disagree. But you need to explain well why. Third, it is possible that the reviewer has made a comment that is inaccurate or that you have already addressed in your paper (but the reviewer did not saw it). In this case, you also need to explain that. So overall, it is important to answer all comments.
From my experience, usually 2 or 3 reviewers are assigned to review each journal papers. In top journals, the reviewers may be expert on your topic. In journals that are not top journals, reviewers may not be very familiar with your topic but may still be good researchers.
Usually, if your paper receive the decision “accept with minor modifications”, there is a high chance that your paper will be accepted if you address the comments well. If the decision is “accept with major modifications”, there is a risk that your paper may not be accepted if you don’t address the comments well, so you may need to work harder to convince the reviewers.
Usually, there is one, two or three rounds of reviews. Generally, after the first revision, most comments have been addressed. Therefore, the job become easier after the first revision. Usually, the editor wants that the reviews converge to a decision after about two round of reviews (the editor will likely intervene if reviewers always ask for more things to do).
So these are the advices that I wanted to write for today. Hope that you have enjoyed this post. If you like this blog, you can tweet about it and/or subscribe to my twitter account @philfv to get notified about new posts.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and suggestions to deal with reviewers’ comments. This entry is very helpful for me since this is the first time I have opportunity to respond to the reviewers. However, I have a concern as follows: should we need to complete point-to-point responses? For example, the reviewer #1 mentions Section 2 is very lengthy but the review #2 doesn’t say anything about this section. It means that I still should delete some unnecessary sentences to satisfy the review #1. There is any risk that the reviewer #2 doesn’t feel happy when reading again?
This is a good point. I would not worry too much about it though because if Reviewer #2 become unhappy, then you have a good reason to do what you did which is that Reviewer #1 asked you to do it. Then, in the next round of reviews, you could answer Reviewer #2 by stating that it is Reviewer #1 who asked you to do it and then you don’t want to undo what Reviewer #1 asked you to do. Normally, it should be ok.
Another similar situation is that two reviewers may ask you to do two different things that contradict each other. For example, Reviewer 1 say that you should add more content in the introduction. But Reviewer 2 say that the introduction is too long. In this case, you would need to take a decision and then justify why you choose to do like Reviewer #1 or Reviewer #2 and to explain that you cannot satisfy both of them.
Thanks for your detailed answers. I didn’t think that the process to respond to reviewers is too complicated like that. Luckily, two reviewers don’t ask me to do contrary things like you mentioned. One reviewer requests me to verify the performance of my proposed method on some special datasets. However, I already stated that task be one of my future works. So, do you think I should do that experiment now to make the reviewer happy or I explain him that point is my future work?
Today, I’ve been notified my another paper was accepted for revision in a different Elsevier journal (SCIE, IF > 1.6). I hope I can prepare my two revised manuscripts in time.
1) If the reviewer ask you to do it, maybe he want you to do it in this paper rather than in future works. If it does not take too much time to do it or too much space in your paper (if there is a page limitation), then I would suggest to do it. Alternatively, you could say that you don’t want to do it and keep it for future work. It this case you would should highlight the reason why you keep it for future work and it could be OK. But the more things that you do, the more the reviewer will be happy. So there a choice to make.
Great, congratulations. By the way, for revising a paper, there is usually a deadline. However, if you need more time, you can always ask extra time by contacting the editor. Usually the editor can give you a few more weeks.
Thank you so much for this nice suggestions, it really helps me.
I have another problem with reviewing, the reviewer ask me to do a simulation on my proposed scheme changing one parameter to be random while I write in the paper that the parameter if fixed. Actually, when I check my simulation I found that the parameter is already set to be random but I make a mistake while writing the paper. What should I do in this case?
In this case, I would tell the truth to the reviewers (you made a mistake and the parameter is actually random), and you should modify the text to say that the parameter is random. In my opinion, if you do like that, the reviewers will understand and it will be ok.
I recently received a comment from a reviewer saying that my paper is not fit for publishing as the work has been done before. But it is actually a misunderstanding. How do I convey to him that it is just a misunderstanding.
If the paper is rejected, you may try to contact the associate editor that has handled your article to explain what happened. Then the associate editor would probably ask another reviewer to review your paper. Or another way is to submit the paper again as a new article but to make clear either in the cover letter or in the paper that your paper is not a copy of previous work. Also if you submit again, you should still send an e-mail to the editor to explain your problem and make sure that your paper will be reviewed properly this time.
Please accept my sincere thanks for your comprehensive details and information. Recently, my manuscript took a major revision in a very high-quality journal in Elsevier. In this manuscript, a novel mathematical method and an improved formulation were proposed to address a significant issue in vibration. The manuscript was reviewed by two reviewers so that Reviewer #1 rejected my manuscript because he/she believed that my study has not a good novelty for publication in that journal!!!
However, Reviewer #2 accepted the manuscript and gave a major revision. Now I have a few questions about this event.
Is it necessary to reply to comments of Reviewer #1?
What is your prediction about the risk of acceptation/rejection of my manuscript in such circumstances?
How can I reply to reviewers’ comment?
It is important to mention that the manuscript was “Under Editor Evaluation” after the review process.
Thanks for reading and commenting on the blog. It is a good news that they ask you to revise your manuscript, although they ask for a major revision.
In general, it is required to consider all the comments by all the reviewers and modify your manuscript according to these comments and provide some answers to these comments. If the reviewers ask you to modify something, then you should modify it and explain what you have done. Or if they ask for something and you really cannot do it, you need to provide a good explanation about why you cannot do it or don’t want to do it.
For the reviewer 1, if he asked you to modify something, then you should do it or answer it. But if the reviewer 1 just complain that your work is not enough novel, then you do not really need to answer this comment. But it may be helpful to briefly explain why your work is novel. Also, you may want to modify the introduction of your paper to better highlight the contribution of your paper and why it is important. Perhaps that the reason why the reviewer 1 think that your work is not novel is that your introduction is not convincing enough. If that is the case, you may want to improve your introduction and explain to the reviewer that you have modified the manuscript to better highlight the contribution of the manuscript. And you may also want to cite some additional papers that show that your research problem is important.
About “Under Editor Evaluation”, you should not mention this. It is a normal step of the review process. After the reviewers have submitted their reviews to the editor, the editor will check the reviews and make the decision about whether to accept the paper, accept it with revision, or reject it. It is the editor who take this decision. This is what is called “under editor evaluation”. This is just the normal review process so don’t mention it.
My prediction? It depends how well you address the reviewer comments. If you address all the comments made by all the reviewers very well, then, you have a high chance of being accepted. But if you do not address the comments made by the reviewer well, it is still possible that the paper may be rejected or that there will be another round of reviews, and then you will need to modify the paper again, and after that there could still be another round of reviews. It is quite normal that there are a few rounds of reviews for a journal paper.
Actually, the editor has asked two reviewers to read your paper. But in the next round of reviews, it is always possible that some of these reviewers are not available or do not want to read your manuscript again. In these cases, the editor may want to ask the opinion of some other reviewers that are not reviewer 1 and 2. So it is possible that in the next round of reviews, some new reviewer will read your paper and may raise some additional issues that were not raised by reviewer 1 and 2.
So there are still some uncertainty and it cannot be guaranteed that your paper will be accepted at this stage of the review process. But no matter what happen, what you need to do is to make sure that you address all the issues raised by the reviewers well. You should do your best to convince them to accept your paper. That is all you can do.
What is the chance for accepting revise for rereview manuscript!!
Recently I have got the above decision for one of my publication, which has been submitted to one of the ASCE journals . In general, one reviewer is positive and he required a minor revision and the second one is cautiously positive. I have tried my best to addressed all raised issues by them and response to all comments. according to experience who decide the final decision associate editor or editor! and usually, they go with the positive reviewer or negative one!!
– The two reviewers are happy with your modifications, and they will recommend to accept the paper. The decision will be “accept”.
– One or both of the reviewers still have some issues with the paper. In this case they will ask for another revision. The decision will be “minor revision” or “major revision”.
– The decision may be reject. This would be quite rare. But it can happens. A reason why a paper can still be rejected after the first round of review is that it is still possible that the associate editor or editor will ask for a new reviewer to read your paper to have a different perspective or for some other reasons. If this happens and that new reviewer does not like your paper, that reviewer could recommend that your paper is rejected, and then it could happen. Another reason why the associate editor or editor may ask for a new reviewer is that one of the original reviewer of your paper may not be available to read your paper again. In this case, the editor may have to ask someone else to read it. There might also be some other unexpected events that may happen.
Now, I cannot really tell you what is more likely. It really depends on how well you have addressed the comments of the reviewers. It also depends on how good and competitive the journal is. But in general, if you have passed the first round of review, it is likely that the paper will not be rejected. In my opinion, it will be either accepted or there will be another round of review. Depending on the journal, it is possible that there can be several rounds of review. Generally, I see 1 or 2 rounds. But I have ever seen 4 rounds of review in some specific cases. It is quite rare that papers are rejected after the first round. I have seen it at least twice. But it is not very common. Of course, it may be different for different fields (I am in computer science).
But actually, you are in a very good situation by having one reviewer that asked for a minor revision. This is one of the best situation. If you had two reviewers that do not really like your paper, it would be harder to convince them. But now, since you have a reviewer that already like your paper, it will put more pressure on the second reviewer if there is another round of review. For example, if there is another round and the first reviewer say accept, the second reviewer will have more pressure to also accept your paper.
In general, the review process should always “converge”. If there are several rounds of review, the reviewers should not ask you to do new modifications after each round. They should rather ask you to fix the remaining issues. And after each round, there will be less issues, and in the end the paper will be accepted. This is the normal process.
About the role of the associate editor and editor, it depends. Normally, it would be the editor who would have the final word on whether a paper is accepted based on a recommendation from the associate editor. But not all journal may follow this model.
Many thanks for quick response and providing all of these detail. Now I have better sight about the reviewing process. Actually, my field of work is water resources engineering and we submit our manuscript to the journal of water resources planning and management. Hope they accept it this time.
A nother request and will appreciate if you can answer it!
I am reviewing a manuscript and I had rejected the first version of the manuscript as the authors obtained results based on inaccurate methodology has many drawbacks and often leads to wrong results. Now they send the revised manuscript and they have tried to address my comments and issues raised by me by providing a number of papers that have published by one of the co-authors on the relevant area. However, from my personal experience on this methodology,I know it works only under very specific boundary conditions and simple networks. The problem the author shine the provided methodology and believe that work very well and could be applied to any network (which is not true) , and they didn’t mention any drawbacks and limitations of it anywhere in the manuscript. I don’t know how to response to the revision version!!
Any suggestion and advice from you!
1) Glad my previous message was helpful. Wish you get some good news about the manuscript soon.
That is a kind of tricky situation. Despite the suggestion of rejecting the paper, the editor has decided to give the authors the opportunity to revise their paper. Often, if one of the reviewer suggests to reject the paper, the paper will be rejected by the editor. But perhaps that in this case, the other reviewer(s) have given some good evaluation, so the editor may have decided to give a chance to the authors. Or it may also be because the editor is willing to accept many papers in the journal, and saw that on overall the comments seem not too hard to address. Or there could be other reasons.
or (2) you could suggest some modifications that would be acceptable to address your comments.
Now, when you enter your review, you can usually also leave a confidential message to the editor to explain the situation. It might be a good idea to do this if you still think that the paper should be rejected because the author will not be able to fix the issue. But even if you suggest to reject the paper again, the editor may still decide to not listen to you for whatever reason. I have seen this happen before. In one case, there was a reviewer on one of my papers who continuously claim that my paper should be rejected but the editor continued to ask me to revise the paper until it was accepted despite that one of the reviewer was still not satisfied. It does not happen often. But it can happen. In my case, it was not a fundamental issue though.
By the way, as a reviewer, we sometimes believe that some methods should not work well or should not be researched for some reasons, for example because most people think that a given method is worse than another method commonly used in the literature. But sometimes it is good also to let some papers be published on other methods that do not exactly follow the mainstream idea of what method should work. But if the method has some fundamental issues and it should not be used to draw incorrect conclusion, then it make sense to reject it. As I am not an expert in your domain, I cannot say what is good or bad. But I just want to say that you may consider whether there is something good in that paper that should still be published? And is there a way to fix it? Maybe that a solution is to ask the author to recognize some limitations of their work and in the worst case mention in the conclusion that they could be addressed in future work? Either way, I think that either rejecting the paper again or suggesting some modifications would be an OK decision. You need to think about which one make the most sense for that paper.
Firstly, I would like to thank you for this post as it has helped me immensely in writing response to the reviewer’s.
I have a query too, I submitted a paper and now when got the comments back, one of the reviewer has asked to give some string diagrams for GC-MSMS analysis, but unfortunately I am not able to provide them, How should i put this forward to the reviewer?
1) You could say the truth and explain the reason why you cannot provide the diagrams. For example: We did not keep the data because the research was made a few years ago during my Ph.D. and obtaining the data again would require to run all the experiments again (which would take many weeks and would be very expensive). If you can give a reason like that or something else that the reviewer will view as reasonable, then, it can be ok.
2) You could argue that most people in your field do not provide this type of diagram, and cite some papers in top journals as example that do not provide these diagrams or that say that these diagrams are not reliable or not very important. But this is risky. Maybe that the reviewer will still disagree.
3) You could provide something else instead of the diagrams as a compromise. For example, you explain that you cannot provide the diagram for X reason but you provide another kind of diagrams or information that would replace these diagrams and give more insight in your research. Not sure that it would work. It really depends on how much you can convince the reviewer.
4) When a reviewer ask to do something, another way is to mention it in your paper as a limitation of your experiment, and then mention that you could do it in future work. This is a good idea.
So this is my opinion. In a similar situation, I would probably do 1) and 4). But it depends on the context. Personally, I have done 1) and 4) several times. For example, during my Ph.D. I was doing some experimental evaluation with users and I submitted the journal paper about that study more than two years after my Ph.D. Due to the agreement that I had with the human participants of my experiment, I had to destroy the data after two years (for privacy issues). Thus, I was unable to provide some additional details that the reviewer requested. I explained this in my answer to the reviewer, and it was enough to convince the reviewer.
Thank a ton for the help.
I would like to sharing your experiences and suggestions to deal with reviewers’ comments. I received a major revisions for my manuscript with reviewers’ comments.
The reviewer 1# said: The part of abstract is not readable and lacks the conclusion and research significance. MATERIALS & METHODS is writing very simple, poor, while logic is not strong, readability is not good. At the same time adding a little detail to MATERIALS & METHODS. Although, I wrote all methods in all experiments such as any paper according to authors and year. For example, Photosynthetic pigments in fresh leaves were determined according to (Lichtenthaler and Buschmann, 2001).
What I can do? What detail…?
Finally he said the parameter should be discussed together, all the data in the table are lack of standard deviation.
Although, the statistical analysis of variance at the least significant difference (L.S.D.) between means were calculated at 0.05 level of probability in all tables.
He wanted to change all paper….
In contrast, the reviewer 2# did not mention the above or any comment about abstract, material and method.
But, comment about there is some misspelling in manuscript and asked me about the reason of some different in some data and how to explained it? These comments have made to improve the paper.
What can I do? To reply with compatibility between two comments.
Can you help me? I hope I can prepare my manuscripts in less time. I hope my paper “accept” in a journal.
– First, it is normal that two reviewers may have different opinion. A reviewer can ask you to do something, and another reviewer can ask to do something else. This happens all the time because not all reviewers have the same background, and so different reviewers will pay attention to different things in your paper. Also some reviewer may read your paper very quickly while another reviwer may look at the details. In that case, you need to try to do what they ask you. The only problem is if two reviewers ask you to do something that is the opposite of each other (for example, a reviewer ask you to make the introduction shorter but the other ask you to make it longer). In that case, you need to find a compromise as it is impossible to satisfy both reviewer. But in general, you need to try to address all the comments made by the reviewers.
– In your case, I think that Reviewer 2 probably recommended to accept your paper with a minor revision while Reviewer 1 may be the one who asked for a major revision. Thus, you need to make sure that you do something to try to make Reviewer 1 happy.
– About the abstract, I think it should not be too hard to fix. He wants you to talk more about the conclusion of the paper in the abstract and its significance. Also, maybe that the abstract is not so well written. So I suggest to take the time to rewrite perhaps by looking at how other abstracts are written in your field.
– Adding more details to the method section should not be too hard. Actually, you just need to give more information. Try to add more sentences and paragraphs to explain in more details.
– About readability, it may be a problem of your use of the English language or how it is written. You may take more time to try to improve the paper by yourself or also ask a friend to help you revise the language. For example, if you know some native English speaker or someone who writes well, he could perhaps help you for that.
– About the experiments, basically, I think that he wants you to calculate the standard deviation and other things. If you can do it, then it is better to do it, just to make the reviewer happy.
– In general, you do not always need to do what the reviewer ask you. But if you choose not to do it, you need to provide a very good reason for not doing it. And the reason should not be something like : because I don’t want to do it or because I don’t have time. But if you have a good reason like the reviewer is wrong about something, then of course you don’t need to do it because it is wrong and you can explain it.
So, I gave you my opinion. But I am from the field of Computer Science. So I could not give you very specific advices related to your field. Hope this helps. Wish you success for your paper!
Thanks very much for your opinion and a quick response. Thanks for reading and give me your attention to help me. I will try to modify my manuscript according to these comments.
Thanks for the sharing. I think the information and the tips shared throughout the comments and replies also very helpful.
Recently I had a manuscript went through the 1st round of review and required major revision in 10 days. I did my best to revise the manuscript (even with additional data) and response to the 2 reviewers. However, it turned out to be rejected after 1 week. The 2nd round of comment from reviewer #1 is simply that the manuscript is not significant for the journal while there is no further comment from reviewer #2. I felt disappointed because I would rather they reject it for the very first time. I didn’t have to rush for the additional data and reply to address their questions while the reviewer already made up his mind to reject.
Now I have another manuscript. It was given major revision after 1st round of review. Reviewer #1 listed a number of questions while reviewer #2 just asked 2 very general questions. I think I addressed or at least replied properly for all questions. After that I received notification for 2nd round revision, major revision again, this time given only 5 days. When I read through the comments, reviewer #1 basically thinks I addressed the comments (only 1 typo pointed out) and recommended for acceptance. Reviewer #2 asked another 2 questions again where actually in 1st round revision I added method comparison because he said not enough, now he said test data not enough. I think because of reviewer #2 rating, the editor gave “major revision” despite reviewer #1 pretty much accepted the paper. In this case, what’s your advice? I couldn’t possibly keep adding data each round and it costs a lot of time and effort. Sometimes it is not possible to be done because we did not keep the experimental setup. Also, what’s your view regarding this? If I could not answer one of the question from reviewer #2 where additional experimental data required, is it likely my manuscript will get rejected even though reviewer #1 accepted?
Glad that the blog is useful.
Yes, it is uncommon that a paper is rejected after being accepted for a revision. But it happens. I remember that it happened to me at least once, several years ago. There can be various reasons for that. In my case, the reviewers was not very satisfied with the experiments as we did a very small experiment to validate our proposed approach. After we improved the paper, in the second round, it was rejected. I think that the reason is that even though we improved the experiments, it was still not enough for the reviewer, so he perhaps decided that it would not reach the quality standard of that journal even if we tried to improve the experiments. After a few years, in my case, I can understand that decision because that paper was submitted to a top level journal and was not so good. But yes, I agree that in general, it is not nice to accept a paper and then reject it. As a reviewer for several journals, I never do that. I think that in general, a reviewer should be able to see if the paper is good or not in the first round.
About your current manuscript, it is good that Reviewer 1 has pretty much accepted the paper. It will put more pressure on the second reviewer to also accept the paper, as in general, the editor expects that the review process will converge after a few rounds. In general, when several reviewers evaluate the paper, the editor will often assign a decision by taking the maximum of the decisions given by all reviewers. That means for example, that if three reviewers give: accept, minor revision, and major revision, the editor will often choose “major revision” as the decision. So in your case, if reviewer #2 suggested a major revision, it is understandable that it is still a major revision, even if reviewer #1 said to accept.
– I think that you should do your best to try to address the comments of reviewer 2. If you don’t address his comments, maybe he will ask for another round until you address his comments, or in the worst case, the paper could be rejected (but it is less likely at this stage).
– 5 days is such a short amount of time. I find this very surprising. You could send a message to the editor now to ask for 30 days at least. Usually, in my field, we get at least 30 days to revise a paper. I think that it make sense. Even for professor, or students, everybody has many things on their schedule. For example, if you have a planned trip for vacation or had to attend a conference or other things, how can you do it in 5 days? It does not make sense. So I think the editor has to give you a few more weeks. Or at least you should ask for it.
– So now the reviewer ask you do so additional work…. You can always decide to not do it. But in that case you need to have a good reason. For example, during my Ph.D thesis several years ago, I had collected data. Then, I wrote a journal paper about it a few years after. However, the original data had been destroyed due to the agreement that I had signed with my participants that ensured that the data would not be kept for more than 2 years. So, in that case, I told the reviewer that I did not have the original data anymore and that running the same experiments again would be too costly. And in the end, the paper was published. However, in my case, this was perhaps not the main request by the reviewer. But my point is that if you have a good enough reason, you may not need to do what the reviewer ask you. For example, if it would take 3 months of work in the lab, then it is probably not reasonable to do it. But if it takes a few days, then you should probably do it. If you choose to not do something, then try to find some very good reasons to support your decision (takes too much time, data has been destroyed, experimental setup does not exist…). If you don’t do everything that the reviewer ask you, you should also try to do some compromise and try to do as much as you can, or find another way to address the problem raised by the reviewer. For example, if the reviewer asks for more experiments, and you do not have the data, maybe you can do something else instead like adding some paragraphs of discussion about how other people have done experiments in your field and how it compares to other experiments, or mention in future work that you will run more experiments to at least acknowledge the problems raised by the reviewer in your paper… (I don’t know if it all make sense for your field, but it is just the main idea).
So this is my overall opinion about this. I think that we may not be exactly from the same field (I am from computer science). But in general, the review process should work in the same way more or less. About the probability of being accepted at this stage… I think if you answer well and you show that you took the time to seriously consider all the request and answer the comments, it can be accepted. But yes, there is always a small risk that it can still be rejected. So my recommendation is to take this very seriously and do your best to try to fix the paper the best you can, because there are still some small risk at that point.
Thank you for your reply, Prof. Philippe.
1. We no longer have the experimental setup ready to run more test samples.
2. It also takes time to get test samples ready.
3. In previous revision, I added data analysis for different models (which was what the reviewer firstly questioned). In my opinion, this is more important along the focus of the paper and I have done that.
However, if I reply reason #1, I feel the reviewer most likely won’t be satisfied. If I give reason #2 and #4, they probably think I should just request longer revision time. That’s why at first I plan to reply reason #3 to point out the emphasis of the paper and that we will keep his comment in mind for future work but I am worried it could be quite risky. I also think of gathering some simpler experimental data to compromise the reviewer’s request but I find it could confuse the overall paper, making it worse.
My experience is limited in paper submission and revision. The longest revision period in my field is 3 weeks so far but this time 5 days truly a surprise to me too. I guess it has to do with the journal review process is also fast, we basically got back the reviewers comments in 1-2 weeks.
– mention the issue raised by the reviewer in the future work section and perhaps also in the discussion of the experimental results of your paper. It will show that you at least acknowledge the issue raised by the reviewer, and should make him perhaps a happy even though you did not do all of what he asked. It is a compromise.
– In the letter to the editor, you could mention that the reviewer raised some new issues that he did not raised in the previous round. Actually, the reviewer has the right to do that, especially if it is some important issue. But in general, a reviewer should not do that. So you can just mention it, but politely.
– Also in the letter, you could mention some of the reasons why you did not do it. Because, if you don,t give any good reason, then the reviewer may still want to know why you did not do it. So, you could mention something like experimental setup is missing, and you can also exaggerate a little bit to say that it would require more time than it would actually require, or find some other reasons that could help.
Interesting… 1-2 weeks review is very fast. In my field, I think that no serious journal review papers in less than 1 month. And usually, it is more like 3 months, 6 months or sometimes up to 1 year for top journals.
In my field, its not uncommon that we only get the first review comments after 2-3 months, could be longer. This is my first time to submit to this particular journal, I am also surprise when their first review comments came back after 2+weeks. The following revision comments came back in about 1 week.
What is the etiquette for replying to the editor, right after h or she shares the referees’ reports with you? Should I send a short note acknowledging receipt and saying I will reply to the revision requests as soon as possible, or should I thank the editor and reviewers later on, in an email containing the revised manuscript?
There is no need to reply to the editor right away. Actually, the editor is generally very busy so it is better to only send messages to him if there is something really important. For example, some top journals will receive up to 2000 papers per year, so the editor is very busy, besides being perhaps a professor at the same time.
If you write something like that, then you will say thank you to the editor in an appropriate way, without having to send an e-mail.
Thanks for sharing these useful information and tips in peer review.
Currently, I am doing mainly theory-based research. Several days ago, I had an IEEE journal article finished the first round of review and required major revision. This journal is application-oriented but they also accept and publish articles of pure numerical simulations (I can easily find at least 3-4 publications of similar topics to mine in this journal during the past two years). Anyway, the paper got four reviewers, three of them raised some insightful questions but totally positive comments, one reviewer (Reviewer #1) was critically commented my paper as “Due to lack of the actual verification, the paper is not suitable for this application-oriented journal. The paper is full of equations, which has no physical meaning in the actual systems? The extensive experiments need to be added. The paper would be better for a theory-based journal.” Maybe because of Reviewer #1’s comments, the AE gave me a chance for Major Revision but with a comment “the main issue is the lack of experimental verification for what authors should consider in full”.
However, in the revision, it seems impossible for me to include experimental results due to several reasons. My questions is in my situation how can I respond to Reviewer #1 and AE properly so as to increase the chance of acceptance of this paper?
– Cite a few more papers in your article to explain that you will follow the same methodology as in their paper. You can cite those papers that you mentioned that were published in the same journal. Then, in your paper, you can explain that you will follow the same methodology as them. This will help to justify what you did. But even if you found papers with the same methodology in the same journal, it is still not a 100 % guarantee that the reviewers will accept your paper. Sometimes in a journal, some paper may be accepted, while other similar papers may be rejected for whatever reasons (the editor is a friend, the reviewers did not think it was a problem but other reviewers think it is a problem, etc.).
– Towards the end of your paper, you could also add a “discussion” section to explain the limitations of your study. So you could mention that a limitation is about not doing the real experiments and explain that you could improve this in future work, while still mentioning that there are many challenges for doing these improvements. Although, you would not do the experiment, it would show that you at least acknowledge the limitations of your study, and this can make the Reviewer 1 happy. It would be a kind of compromise between doing nothing and doing what he asked you.
– You could aso provide several GOOD reasons in the response to the reviewers about why you could not do the experiments: it would cost too much money, you would need to spend another year of work, the data was lost or destroyed due to confidentiaty issue, etc. It should be good reasons; not: I don’t want to do it.
So that it. I think that the key is to try to find a compromise where you can still make the Reviewer 1 happy while not doing everything that he wants.
I think that at this point, the paper could still be rejected, so you should take this seriously.
Many thanks for your prompt reply. Your suggestions really mean a lot., especially No. 2. Yes, I will add a section or at least a remark to discuss the limitations of my paper. I will also emphasise the importance of experiments, although I did not do it in the paper. The actual reason for me not doing the experiments in the revision is lack of experimental setup. As you suggestion, I should also mention it in the response.
With your backup, I now have more confidence to make Reviewer 1 happy :).
Great. Hope everything will go well.
Thank you for your blog, I have seen you are replying everyone and spending time, that is really appreciable. My concern is about my paper which got a major revision, it was only one reviewer that reviewed the paper. This journal is the best journal in my major and seems like reviewer is aware of everything, but he seems unhappy with my paper and said: Although the paper is within the interest of the industry, and has applications, the way it is presented and handled makes it far from being a novel, scientific and practical paper. and at the end said As is, the paper does not provide any new ideas or methodology to this field. Also, there are too many unclear and unjustified points within the paper. Thus, there is no reason for this paper to be accepted. However, the editor asked for revised and it is not rejected, editor also asked me to compare results with engineering model rather than data driven models, Discussion on those line should be included. I spend one month to address all of their concerns, as the reviewer asked lots of questions. Do you think reviewer rejected the paper but editor asked for revision? still, i am working on the paper but worried about the result after spending so long time again for revision.
Glad you like the blog. I think that you are doing the right thing. You are taking the time to revise the paper. Some people do not like to revise their paper and submit it perhaps too quickly. If you spend the time, it shows that you are taking this seriously. By the way, in the response to reviewer, you can mention that you have taken several weeks to improve the paper, run new experiments, etc. This will let the reviewer(s) know that you have spent time, and reviewer(s) may appreciate that.
It is possible that a reviewer recommend to reject a paper but that the editor does not agree and ask the authors to revise the paper anyway. This happens sometimes. For example, it can happen if the editor believes that the author can fix the issues raised by the reviewer(s) or if the editor thinks that the issues raised by the reviewer are not serious enough for rejecting the paper, or some other reasons (e.g. the editor is a friend with the author, etc.). However, at this stage, the paper could still be rejected.
In your case, it could be that the editor decided to give you a chance. Or it could be that the reviewer requested a “major revision”. In that case the reviewer may still think that you can address the problems, although he raises many problems.
So on overall, I think that you are doing the right thing. The most important is to try to address all the issues mentioned by the reviewer as much as you can. As this stage, it is not guaranteed that the paper will be published. So it is worth it to put a lot of effort to improve the paper. And if the paper is eventually rejected, your paper will be improved and perhaps more easily accepted in other journals.
Thank you so much for your reply. I will appreciate if you can help with some of the reviewer concerns.
1) No attempt has been done for optimizing your ANN, such that how many layers, how many nodes, the methodology, etc has never optimized. Why did you use backpropagation, for example?
In this study a back-propagation-type neural networks with an input, an output and, one hidden layer were applied which in most of the cases one hidden layer is satisfactory[12, 13]. Therefore A three layer ANN with a tangent sigmoid transfer function (tansig) at hidden layer and a linear transfer function (purelin) at output layer were implemented. To optimize ANN, 1 – 23 neurons in the hidden layer were trained at least five times using different sets (randomly generated) of initial weights to find the lowest mean squared error. Data had been distributed randomly into three different groups (70% for training, 15% for the testing set, and 15% for cross validation). The validation was used to prevent overtraining. The principle is this as training proceeds, the training error function will decrease and the result of applying a validation set will improve. However, after some point, further iteration will likely not improve performance on the validation set. At this point, training should be stopped. Fig. 1 shows the evolution of the mean squared error of the predicted values of the apparent viscosity during the training and validation steps, depending on the number of hidden neurons of the neural networks architecture. The result shows that the R2 obtained the highest value of 0.9515 and MSE achieved the lowest amount of 0.0019, after the application of 10 hidden neurons. More than 50 neural network models have been devised so far, and it is found that the back-propagation learning algorithm based on the generalized delta rule by Rumelhart et al. (1986) is the most popular and efficient learning procedure for multilayer neural networks. The multilayer perceptron (MLP) networks are currently the most widely used neural networks. These networks can do the classification for patterns having nonlinearly separable boundaries since the network consists of many neurons. Back propagation neural network (BPNN) has been successfully used as a mapping and prediction tool in the petroleum engineering field and its application is proven [17-20].
No details are provided with respect to GA part. At least, during the example, final genetic code could be provided.
Genetic algorithm uses the similar steps to the biological evolution: natural selection; intercross; variation; and surviving of the fittest. It has four basic elements: genetic code; initial population setting; fitness function; and genetic operator.
Since the binary code cause an encoded string too long, learning efficiency is reduced. Therefore, real number coding is used for data in the process of ROP optimization.
Do you think in this way of replying he will be satisfied?
Thank you so much again, it is really appreciable that you are helping us without any demand, God bless you.
I think 1) is a quite good answer. 2) might be a good answer. But maybe it is a little bit short. If you can add a little bit more details, it may be better.
Genetic algorithm was put forward by Professor J. Holland in the University of Michigan in 1975. Its main characteristics consist of group search strategy, information exchange among individuals, gradient independent researching, and no requirement of differentiable functions. The only requirement is that the function is solvable under the given constraints, so the method is suitable for all kinds of complex non-linear problems. Genetic algorithm uses the similar steps to the biological evolution: natural selection; intercross; variation; and surviving of the fittest. It has four basic elements: genetic code; initial population setting; fitness function; and genetic operator.
Because genetic algorithm is an iterative operation of the groups, an initial group is needed. In this paper, the initial group is randomly selected. The initial group is operated by genetic operation and generates groups of offspring step by step until the optimal is reached.
The genetic operator includes three types: selection operator; crossover operator; and mutation operator. Genetic algorithm is the key of the algorithm and embodies the thought of survival of the fittest. For selecting a chromosome from the group of chromosomes as parent chromosome for the next generation, the disk selection method can be used.
The function of mutation operation is to change a character in a certain location of a string with probability Pm. It can compensate the loss of genetic material by mutation operation. Mutation ensures the global convergence of genetic algorithm. The mutation probability value Pm is small, usually Pm=1−Pc.
It is better. But for me, it is not very clear what the reviewer wants for 2). In 2), the reviewer wrote “No details are provided with respect to GA part. At least, during the example, final genetic code could be provided.”. From my understanding, the reviewer wants more details about the “GA part”. I think this means to provide more details about how it works. You have done this. But the reviewer also ask that you provide more details in the example by giving the full genetic code. So I think that you also need to add details to the example.
By the way, you should also revise the English as there are some English errors.
Thank you very much indeed. It is not clear for me also what he meant by genetic code? If he means objective function I have mention that. In my project GA will use ANN network to find the optimum parameters in order to find maximum rate of peneration which is the output. I have given an example how to find constraints to find lower and upper limit for optimization using GA. Do you think the reviewer know what is GA? Because at the beginning he was saying: 1) What is the purpose of using ANN and GA together? It is said that GA is used to maximize ROP. However, ANN can also do that during the process. So, why GA is also added?
Of course ANN can find the answer for us but it tqke more time, using GA will be easier and faster. I am wonder why first he asked this question then later he said what is genetic code.
I would like to thank you for this article and the efforts you are doing to help people.
I found this article very helpful as I’m actually in the process of revising my paper.
I would like to ask how to deal with the situation I’m in. I sent my paper to a journal, the paper has been examined by two reviewers. The second reviewer gave me some precise points to revise and add. Whereas the first reviewer mentioned that the paper lacks for intellectual value without pointing out anything else that I can work on except that the writing contains a lot of errors.
So, besides correcting the language errors, how can I answer to this review?
Glad that the article is useful. This situation has happened to me before. I will explain how I deal with this situation. You should first try to do everything that the second reviewer asks, and make sure to do it well to make sure that the second reviewer will be satisfied, and suggest to accept your paper. This will help you for the next round in case the first reviewer still give you trouble. Now, let’s talk about the first reviewer. The first reviewer seems to think that your paper did not deserve to be published or may not be very worthy, for whatever reasons. He did not mention the reasons, and the editor of the journal has read the comments of both reviewers and suggested that you revise your paper. Thus, in some way, it means that the editor indirectly think that your paper is worthy if you fix the remaining problems. Now, about the comments of the first reviewer, you can obviously only address his specific comments about writing errors. The other problems that he did not mention you cannot address them and it is not your fault. So in that case, you just write something like that: “The only specific comments by reviewer 1 were related to writing errors. We have fixed all these comments as follow:”. And then you can explain what you have changed.
This is how I address this situation. Actually, it is the fault of the reviewer if he does not give enough comments. You can only address the comments that are specific enough.
Now, if you do as I suggested, it is still possible that the first reviewer ask to revise the paper again with more specific comments next time. This is a risk. But there is nothing you can do about it. It is the fault of the reviewer for not being specific enough. But if there would be another round, there will be a lot of pressure on the first reviewer to accept your paper, since normally the reviewing process should converge rather than always adding some new comments. Besides, if reviewer 2 accepts the paper, then there is more pressure on reviewer 1 to accept it if there is another round of review.
Thank you very much professor Philippe, your answer is really helping me on how to adress the answer for the reviewers.
I got reviews from 2 reviewers: Reviewer 1 gave major revisions while Reviewer 2 liked the paper and asked for minor revisions. Reviewer 1 has asked me to reduce the length of the paper, while Reviewer 2 has asked me to add few sections related to literature survey and computation time results. This has increased the length of my paper. However, I feel if I reduce the length the paper will lose its purpose as I have added only relevant material in it. How do I address Reviewer 1 that its not possible to reduce it?
Hi, I see. The reviewers have some conflicting opinions. In that case, I would do as follows. I would first address the specific requests of Reviewer 2. Then for the comment about reducing the length, you may consider that it only applies to the section that are not mentioned by reviewer 2. Even if you don’t want to reduce the length, you should try to make some compromise by making the paper more concise but without removing much information. How to do this? You could try to remove redundancy if there is some in your paper, and try to rewrite some explanations more briefly. Or sometimes, if your paper is about sciences, you may be able to rewrite some definitions more concisely by defining them formally using some mathematical notation. Then, in the response to reviewers, you should mention that reviewer 2 asked to add more content, while reviewer 1 ask to remove some, and that Reviewer 1 did not mention the specific content that should be removed. Thus, you have added the content requested by Reviewer 2, while rewritten more concisely the other parts of the paper. Thus, the length of the paper may be greater. This should be fine. If you can leave a note to the editor when you resubmit, you may also mention that the reviewers had conflicting opinions.
I recently submitted an article in one of the best journals of the atmospheric science and got the first review report after 2 months. The paper went to three reviewers and the two had positive comments while the other had mentioned the paper lacks novelty. I revised and resubmitted the paper after taking into account all the comments seriously. The paper again went back for the review process and this time Editor invited four reviewers, one extra than the last time. Now the earlier three reviewers gave positive comments, including the one who told the paper lacks novelty, but the new fourth reviewer recommended rejection since he felt the paper has no originality and should not be published in any journal. The Editor has again given it Major revision and I am pretty worried what will be the eventual result?
The comments from the fourth reviewer who recommended rejection are very nasty and also most of those are unjustified. After careful examination of the comments, we figured out, this person has not read our earlier works and most of the comments are based on his own personal judgment without citing any works from the literature. How would you suggest to deal with this particular reviewer comments in the revision?
Thanks for reading. Yes, I understand. It happens sometimes that the editor will add a new reviewer to the reviewing process after the 1st round. This has happened to me a few times.
The good thing is that you say that many of the comments are unjustified. Thus, if they are really unjustified, you should be able to answer these comments with appropriate evidences and citations and if you answer properly, normally the reviewer should accept your answers.
Another good thing is that the other reviewers are already quite satisfied with your paper, so this will give some pressure to accept your paper.
By the way, you say that the reviewer has “not read our earlier works”. Just to make this clear, a reviewer is not required to read your earlier papers. You current paper should contain everything required for evaluating your paper. If something is explained in another paper, you should cite the other paper and briefly mention what the other paper contains that is relevant for your paper. But do not assume that the reviewer will check these other papers. Most reviewers will not check the papers in the references. But some of them will do it. It depends whether the reviewer is in a rush or not. Actually, several reviewers just read very quickly and may even skip some parts of your paper. Although it should not happen, this often happens in practice.
So, to answer your question, I think that this is not something very negative for your paper. But you need to try to answer all the comments made by the reviewer the best you can to avoid problems. If he asked you to make some changes, you should try to make them, and if you think that you should not do some of them, then you should give some explanation about why you did not do them. If I where you, I would take a few days to answer him very well, and show that you have considered all of his comments very seriously and answered all of them very seriously. If you can make some compromise, you can also try to make some compromise to try to make him more happy.
Thank you for the helping comments and advice.
I recently submitted an article in a good journal that assigns two reviewers. The editor decision is “major revision” where reviewer #2 says “Though I am sympathetic to the effort, I’ve selected “reject” because I think the paper the authors need to write is not close to what they have submitted”.
In fact, reviewer #2 claimed that the paper does not convey answers to the questions I am asking or the paper should have others questions (which I don’t really fell). In addition, he urged explanation of some elements that I already explained in the text. And, in the end, he recommended a deeper analysis that relieves in a more advanced stage of the modelling methodology I am proposing.
Can you please advice me on how to respond to such reviewer?
I would like to thank you for this article and the efforts you are doing to help people. I have received 2 manuscripts containing important remarks, but I’m confused on using them.
1. Abstract should be more precise and to the point.
5. While browsing through the manuscript, I find that it needs to be strengthened particularly with more references (particularly those in the recent years, 2009 onwards). As the paper is on a core topic, you will find plenty of references in the broad area.
Here are some examples that you may include. The references may not be complete for all, but when citing, you should get the complete reference from the Internet and cite the complete reference. In case the paper did not appear in print, you can cite the DOI.
The above are only some that I can readily suggest, which should be included. You may search more thoroughly and include more references.
Additionally, please look at previously published IJCNDS papers so as to strongly couple the paper with the existing works published in the Journal.
onwards). As the paper is on a core topic, you will find plenty of references in the broad area.
cite the complete reference. In case the paper did not appear in print, you can cite the DOI.
1. Abstract section should be more precise.
2. Highlight specific contributions in the paper.
3. Simulation results section is very weak. Strengthen simulation by considering more number of parameters and comparison with the state-of-the-art related schemes.
1. You were asked to include a set of specific references in your revised manuscript. Please DISREGARD those specific references. That said, IJCNDS is a scholarly academic journal and the currency of your literature review is extremely important. I will be imposing the criterion of CURRENCY very rigorously. To this end, your revised manuscript MUST include at least 25 relevant references published in academic journals dated 2015 to present. A typical academic paper should have around 35-45 references. You MAY also want to look at the previously published papers in IJCNDS to strongly couple your paper with the RELEVANT existing works published in our Journal.
2. Please carefully proofread your paper and eliminate language errors involving spelling, grammar, punctuation, format, and style. Papers with readability problem will be rejected immediately.
3. Your revised manuscript is due by March 31, 2018. This is a hard deadline and your revision submitted after this deadline will be handled as a new submission.
4. Please include a short report in the beginning of your revised manuscript (without your name) describing what is changed in your revision. All changes, including your new references in the body of the paper and in your Reference List, must be highlighted in yellow.
TITLE: as concise as possible, avoid abbreviations and acronyms, Maximum 18 words.
ABSTRACT: approximately 100 words in one paragraph, maximum 150 words.
KEYWORDS: approximately 6-7 words or short phrases, maximum 10 words.
ACRONYMS: acronym overuse reduce readability. Introduce acronyms once in the abstract of your article and then again upon the first use in the body of the article.
Please follow these guidelines so your manuscript is not sent back. My goals are efficiency and expediency. I look forward to receiving your revision by March 31, 2018.
should i take into account the comments of the 1st editor or the 2nd one??
(1) It seems that they want you to compare with other methods, and that they are not satisfied by the evaluation. So I think even if it is a new method, you can still improve your experimental evaluation. For example, you can explain and make it more clear in your paper that you cannot compare with existing methods and explain why. If the reason is true and appropriate it should be ok. But you could still improve the evaluation section of your method. For example, you could compare your method with a baseline version of your method without optimizations. This is a way of showing that some optimizations in your method are useful to improve your method. When you cannot compare with other methods, it is good to compare different versions of your methods. This is what I mean.
(2) I find it quite funny that they ask you to cite 25 papers from 2015 and after… This is a very arbitrary number of papers which is also quite high. Besides, they specifically ask you to cite papers from their IJCNDS journal to try to increase their impact factor, I guess. In my opinion they should not ask this.
(3), … Reviewers also gave other suggestions to improve your paper.
Thank you for this article and the efforts you are doing to help people.
1. ” The molecular weight and degree of deacetylation of shrimp shell -chitin used in this study is unclear. The author must provide detailed information about it”.
The problem now is that I can’t provide the first information related to the molecular weight because It’s been over two years since I finished my PhD experiments in tha laboratory and I can’t now comeback to the laboratory to try to do the experiment taht give me this information bacause my PhD was done in Frensh laboratory as part of a scholarship program and now I’ve come back to my African country , so I haven’t the produt with me and our laboratory resources are very limited to do such experiment.
Option 1: You could ask people from your previous laboratory to help you collect the information. For example, if the professors are busy, maybe that a student in that lab can do it for you and you can add him as co-author because he is helping you (if it requires a lot of time). That could be a way to solve the problem.
Option 2: You tell the reviewer your situation and that you cannot go back to the lab to collect the data since it was 2 years ago, or even that the data was destroyed, or any other reasons. THen, there is some chance that the reviewer will understand your situation. Or not. In the past, I have explained something like that to a reviewer and it worked. Actually, I was in about the same situation as you. About around 2 years after my PhD, the data had been destroyed due to agreement with the participants and it would be too costly to run an experiment again so I explained it to reviewers and it was ok. Hope it would be the same for you.
Option 3: You could send the paper to another journal… But personally, I think you should try Option 2 or Option 1 first. It it does not work and they really want you to do the additional experiments and you don’t want then you can send the paper somewhere else but hopefuly you don’t have to do that.
Thank you for the thoughtful guidance you provided to help us.
Recently I submitted my paper and i m now in revision state.
How i answer a reviewer asking me for validation of my numerical study agenst experimental data.
Thank you for this article and investing your time to further help people with specific problems.
I also have a couple of issues I wanted to ask you about, and I hope you will find time to answer it as I would tremendously appreciate it.
I am a PhD student in the CS/Robotics field. I wrote a paper a year ago which consists of both simulated and physical robot experiments. However, my approach is not mainstream, so it is a bit difficult to explain it as reviewers are very biased to their fields. So far, it has been rejected from 3 conferences and accepted to one workshop. Now I have revised it and submitted to a journal. The reason it was rejected the 1st time is because it was not written very clearly so the reviewers probably did not understand it properly. As you might assume, my supervisor was not very supportive as he did not help me with writing it, and also I think he is not very familiar with the literature to give me proper feedback. The 2nd and 3rd time it was rejected not because of quality, but because of dual submission (another issue with my supervisor).
– I would have to modify the other approaches to be comparable which is a lot of effort and it misses the point.
I think I would be able to reply to most of these comments, and try to make the distinction between mine and other methods even more clear, but I am afraid that they can still claim that the paper lacks novelty. But my belief that the overall approach and the perspective are something that has not been done yet.
Thank you very much in advance for your time and help!
Yes, sometimes, the reviewers may ask for many modifications. If they request a major revision, it is not so bad. At least they did not reject the paper. So in theory, if you address their comments, the paper could be accepted. But unlike a minor revision, there is still a risk that the paper may be rejected.
I see that the reviewers did not understand clearly the difference between your work and optimization based method. I think that this can be solve by adding further explanations. If they did not understand, it is perhaps because it was not so clear in the previous version. So I think this problem should not be too hard to address.
As for the comparison with optimization based approaches, you have two options: to do it or to not do it and give some good reasons. If you think that it is not relevant to compare with these approaches, then you can explain very carefully why you cannot compare with these approaches or why it is not relevant. If you give some solid reasons for that, the reviewers may agree with you and it can be ok. But if the only reason is that you do not have time, then reviewers may not agree.
I see. Yes, sometimes reviewers will ask something very vague like to compare with other approaches but will not say which one. This has also happened to me before. In that case, the likely problem is that the reviewers are reading your paper and perhaps that you did not compare your work with anything else. Thus, they wonder how to evaluate your contribution since you do not compare with anything, and they perhaps are not familiar enough to tell you exactly what to compare with. The most important in that case is that you try to compare with something to show that your approach is good when compared to something. There are different ways to address this. First, you could choose to compare with any algorithms that you think is relevant and explain why it is the algorithm that you choose to compare with. Or, if you cannot compare with anything else, then you can at least compare with yourself. I mean, you can compare different versions of your proposed model, for example with and without optimisations. Thus, instead of comparing with other people, you compare with yourself or with a baseline algorithms such as a naive algorithm. This can be ok. Or, a third way, is to compare with something that is not directly comparable but to explain that the comparison is not fair and still compare with them but discuss the results even if you know that the comparison is not fair. This is the case for example if you compare with the optimization methods which may not be directly comparable.
Hello Dr Phillip, Your blog is really good for the researcher like us. Recently, I got the revision for my manuscript and one of the reviewers said that I have two minor comments. In one of his comments he wants me to do density functional Theory (DFT). DFT is a computational study and I did,t have any experience whatsoever. Could you please guide me on how to respond to him?
I am very grateful to have visited this blog. Indeed, you are doing a great job. Out of curiosity, I have used a well-spent time to go through this page from top to bottom, and I must confess the cases added and your responses are very helpful.
Having gone through the questions raised by different people and your responses to them, I think my intended questions have been answered. I do not need to repeat them again, but only wish to say a big thank for being here to attend to our needs.
reviewer#1 wants me to compare unsupervised methods with supervised methods in the experiments, a s you know, it is unreasonable in the sense that we aim to solve problem scenarios without labels rather than those with labels , the comparison premise is different, can I rebut this request, how to do this politely and reasonably,some necessary skills? if I can,how to write rebuttal letter? By the way, reviewer#1’s comments may wield editor’s accept decision. so I worry about this ,would you please give me more guidance how to cope with this situation , thank you!
several days ago, I have received the “revise” notification from the journal Editor-in-chief.
two different methodologies solve different problem scenarios, they are not comparable.
From my understanding, method based on unsupervised leaning(no labels required) can’t compare with those based on supervised leaning(labels required) or semi-supervised leaning( partial labels required) since their comparison premise is different. If one wants to compare them, one should put them under the same problem scenarios,only this way, comparison is reasonable and fair, isn’ t it? but the problem scenarios in our paper are applications without labels, they can’t compare with each other since supervised leaning methods need labels to train models,but now there are no labels used for training, therefore I think it is unreasonable and infeasible to compare method based on unsupervised leaning with those based on supervised leaning or semi-supervised leaning ,is it right? I want to know your views.
I don’t know whether or not I can rebut the reviewer#1 in terms of above analysis, I wonder how to cope with the response to reviewer#1, by the way, the reviewer#1 may wield the action editor’s accept decision. So I worry about this. If I can, how to do that?
If I can’t, it is clear that they are not comparable, I don’t how to conduct experiment to respond to reviewer#1.
Would you please give me more guidance?
Thanks for reading the blog. Yes, it is indeed a situation that need to be handled carefully. I tend to agree with you that supervised /unsupervised learning are difficult to compare. It is always possible to answer the reviewer by explaining why the comparison is not fair. Then, you can find some explanations about why it is not fair, and you can perhaps even talk about how previous papers have also not done that for the same reason (you could mention some recent papers in top conferences/journal for example). Besides, if you don’t do what the reviewers ask, you should try to at least do everything else to make him happy.
By the way, although the comparison with supervised learning may not be fair, you can perhaps still do the comparison and explain in your paper that it is not fair. For example, maybe that supevised learning is 80% accurate but your unsupervised learning approach is 70% accurate. Although it is lower, it is quite good… You can say that the comparison is not fair and that it is good because you are ALMOST as accurate as the supervise learning method and we don’t need to have label… Thus people using your technique save a lot of time and effort. So, this is a way to do the comparison but still explain that your approach is useful if we look at it from the right perspective, even if the results are not as good. You may consider this.
Thank you for this article and the efforts you are doing to help new researchers like me. Recently, my manuscript took a major revision in a journal. The manuscript was reviewed by two reviewers, and the editor decision was “major revision”.
One of the reviewers said that the idea of the paper has certain reference value, but the method should have some problems in its implementation, and mentioned two problems and then asked me several questions that I think I can answer them.
The problem is how to respond to this reviewer and how to modify my paper according to his comment.
Thank you for this article and the efforts you are doing to help researchers. I recently submitted an article in a good journal that assigns three reviewers. The editor decision is “minor revision” where reviewer #1 says “Consider after minor changes”. reviewer #2 says”Publish unaltered”. reviewer #3 says”Consider after minor changes”. I made the minor changes required and I sent my report. last day, the status of my paper changes to rejected without any explication.
I can’t undrestand what happened and what I should do in this situation.
Thak you professor Philippe for your suggestions. I send an email to the editorial office and I receive this email: “I would like to let you know that, during the review process the manuscript was accepted with minor changes and there were comments to be addressed. These were addressed and later while checking with the quality team we found that there was a high percentage of similarity concerns with the revised version of the manuscript. Hence, the manuscript was rejected by the editor. Our Editors make their decisions independently and these cannot be questioned by the publisher.
After considering any issues raised during review, you are welcome to submit this manuscript to a different Hindawi journal.
You may also resubmit this work to the same journal after making extensive revisions and including substantial new material. If you choose to resubmit, the manuscript will be evaluated by the same Editor if they are still available.” I am so surprised because I have answer all the questions of reviewers. Until now I can’t undrestand what happened.
So what you should do? You should first decrease the similarity of your paper. A simple way is to rewrite some parts or add new parts to decrease the similarity. Then, you could submit the paper again.
Hello, I like to ask you to undrestand more.
1. The editor run a similarity checker befor submting the paper to reviewers or after that.
2. before the rejected status I reveived an email from the office editorial to change two paragraphs which are similar to others work and I have rewireted them. I checked the last version put in the site. I find that it is not updated. I think that they made a mistake. what do you think sir.
3.Can they change their decision?
Hi, 1.Usually, the editor will run the similarity checker when the paper is submitted before giving it to reviewers. But it is always possible that they run it later such as after you revise the paper.
2. I see. Or maybe you have uploaded the wrong file when submiting the revision of the paper?
3. You can always ask. There is nothing to lose to ask. But I think that usually, the editor will not change the decision. Or maybe he will tell you to submit again and he may help to process it faster.
Otherwise, you can consider sending to another journal perhaps. And also before doing that, you may want to decrease a little bit more the similarity with your previous paper if needed.
By the way, it can be good to ask the editor how many % is the similarity or to give you the similarity report if possible.
thank you very much for your help professor Philippe.
I have news today. After consulting the paper version put in my session, the editorial office thinks I’m right and the paper did not update. they send me: “Apologies for the inconvenience caused! Pertaining to the email below, we are investigating on this issue and will get back to you with an update at the earliest.” I wish that my status changes to “accepted”. I don’t know what will happened now, but I am waiting.
Thank you so much for this blog and your time and energy to help people!
Please help me and give me more guidance, I am so grateful to your help!
Now I am encountering some knotty problems that the reputed SCI journal EIC doesn’t approve our request for change to the authorship due to true fact after acceptance of our paper. The reason why we want to change the authorship is that the second author(he is my supervisor) has no substantial contributions to the paper and threaten me.Before submission,I got his approval to list his name in the authorship and list me as first author and corresponding author while he as second author, but I don’t know this is inappropriate in the sense that he has no substantial contributions to the paper, I am a PhD student,This is my first SCI paper,I don’t know this point.So I want to persuade the Journal EIC to approve the removal to his authorship ,but Journal EIC doesn’t approve the request(The reason is that we have missed the submission and revision stage, I don’t know this since this is my first time as corresponding author).On the other hand, The journal manager seems to approve this due to our reasonable request。 How can I deal with this situation? Can I remove his authorship in the proof stage? Should I follow the Journal EIC or the journal manager? I have no experience and don’t know how to do.
Hi, Thanks for reading the blog and commenting. Also, I am glad that the blog is interesting and useful.
1) Many journals do not like that the list of authors is modified after a paper is accepted. But generally, the problem is that some people will ADD some names after the paper is accepted. Many journals will not allow to add a name because they will think that one is trying to add someone that did nothing in the paper just because the paper is accepted.
But in your case, it is a very different situation because you want to REMOVE a name rather than ADDING a name.
Thus, I think that it should not be a problem. If you want to remove the name, then you can explain your situations to the editor and I guess that he will understand.
3) Generally, in academia, we should only put the name of someone in a paper if he has contributed to the paper. But for supervisors, it is not always the case. And many people will put the name of other people too on their paper, although they should probably not. In the case of putting the name of your supervisor, I don’t think that it would be an ethical problem to put his name because he was your supervisor. And also it does not cost you anything to put his name. So if I was you, I would play it safe to keep a good relationship and keep his name or otherwise discuss with him first.
Thank you for your immediate reply! Your guidance gives me lots of help!
1.Some things I don’t mentioned are the work is not completed in my supervisor’labs and not supported by his funding and not use any resource he provided.
2.The work I have done is not his research direction(he acknowledged that he doesn’t thoroughly understand my paper, that is why he allows me as the corresponding author).
3.The journal that accepted our paper is the reputed and prestigious journal in our field.
4.I try to communicate with my supervisor,but fails to communicate with him and he threatened me with a sanction to academic misconduct. I am just a innocent PhD student. and I don’t know How to respond to his unreasonable and irresponsible sanction.
5.If I follow the journal manager to remove his authorship,which means I offend the journal EIC and AE. Would they like to consider my new submissions? or they directly reject them in future.
7.Please you and Request you to give me more guidance!
I am so grateful to and urgently wish to get your help!
Hi, I see. That is a complicated situation.
1) In the best case, it would be preferable to keep a good relationship with your supervisor and to get your paper published. This should be the two goals.
2) As for keeping a good relationship to your supervisor, you should try to perhaps communicate with him/her again and ask clearly do he wants to be a co-author or not? If he says “no”, then you need to remove him or withdraw the paper. The best would be to contact the journal and ask to remove the name. If you do that and explain it to the AE or EIC in a reasonable way, they should accept it. If for some reason the EIC or AE just decide to withdraw your paper, then it would be bad, but you could still submit it to other journals. It would delay the publication but your work would not be lost. And if your supervisor is ok to keep his name, then just keep it. Those are the different cases that can happen.
3) But another problem is that the supervisor has threatened you. I am not sure that I understand why. Have you submitted the paper without his authorisation? If that is the case, it could be the reason why he is angry because of course you should not do that. But if that is not the reason, then there may be some other reasons or he is just a bad supervisor. In any case, he is your supervisor, so it is probably best to try to restore a good relationship with him because in the future you may need a recommendation letter and to graduate. Or in the worst case, you would have to find a way to change to another supervisor if the relationship is toxic. If he threatened you without reason, then it may be a good reason to consider changing supervisor. You may perhaps want to talk with some other professor in your department that you thrust or some people at your university from other departmens about the possiblity of changing supervisor. I know some Ph.D student in Canada that had changed supervisor because the relationship was toxic. Now that student is a professor.
4) About being banned from the journal, I don’t think that it would happen. And I think that this is not a major problem if it happens. I know some student who had been banned for 1 year from ALL IEEE journals for submitting the same paper to two journal at the same time. Even in that case, it was just for 1 year, and there are still many other good journals that are not by IEEE. Of course it is better to not get banned. But if it happens, you will not be banned forever. And I don’t think it would happen.
So overall, I think you should mostly worry about making it clear with your supervisor about whether to keep his name or not. And then, the second problem is to consider whether the relationship is toxic and maybe you want to consider changing supervisor.
Thank you for your so immediate reply! I will follow your suggestions!
1.I am a freshman and want to know an accepted paper before publication can be withdrawed by coauther without the corresponding author’s permission.
2.Can the accepted paper be directly published again without a new round submission and review process by the same journal after withdraw from author side to correct something(e.g. remove authorship).
3.What’s the result of Withdraw from author side before publication and after publication?
4.Does Withdraw from author side before publication means waiver of publication.
Please you and Request you to give me more guidance!
1. If the co-author complains to the journal or even say something that is not true such that you submitted without his name, he could perhaps cause the paper to be withdrawn. Or maybe that the journal do something more reasonable and just remove his name. But it depends on the journal. But in any case, you are the corresponding author. So the editor would decide to withdraw your paper, the editor must let you know. But I think that the editor should first discuss with you. I don’t think they would just withdraw it right away. They should give you a chance to provide some explanation, I guess.
2. If the paper is withdrawn or if you need to withdraw it, I think that the review process may have to be done again. For example, a few years ago, I submitted a paper to a special issue of a journal. One of the reviewers rejected my paper because he complained that it was similar to a conference paper. But actually, it was OK since I was invited to extend my conference paper for the special issue. Even if I explained that to the editor, when I resubmited, the review process was started again from scratch with different reviewers. You might be more lucky.
3. If you withdraw before publication, then the paper will not be published. There is no problem about that. But if you withdraw after publication, then the journal may have to publish a retraction notice in its journal to indicate that a paper has been removed after it has been published. This will happen if a paper is published in a printed journal for example. But if the paper is only online, maybe that there is no retraction notice and they just take out the paper. It also depends on the journal’s policy.
4. Im not sure what you mean by “waiver of publication”. But if the paper is withdrawn, it basically just mean that the paper will not be published. If it is withdrawn after it has been published then we say that the paper has been retracted.
5. Hopefully, he answers you soon and everything can be solved.
Thank you for you immediate reply!
Can this persuade Journal EIC and AE to approve his authorship removal before publication?
Is this a more reasonable and better reason to do so?
would you please help me for more reasonable reasons to remove his authorship with high probability. You have rich experience of publication,please help me.
Any other reasons you think are feasible?
2.In fact, I have told the Journal EIC that the second author has no substantial contributions,but it fails to work,as mentioned before. The journal EIC said I should present the change request to authorship in the submission and revision stage,but I am freshman and have no experience(it is my first time as corresponding author), I don’t know this point .
3.Now the problem is that I and my supervisor agreed to remove his authorship, but probably the EIC and AE might not approve(I need a better and reasonable reason). The work takes me lots of time(more than 1 year) and more efforts. I don’t want to see any result of withdraw or retraction.
4.Is there better solutions to the problem?
5.before submission, I got my supervisors’authorization(he is not optimistic to the paper that time，He think the paper may be rejected). Now he changed his mind that he doesn’t want to be responsible for his somethings unfamiliar even if the journal is prestigious. I have to become the scapegoat and victim.
I sometimes feel somewhat desperate and helpless when recalling the efforts I have made and his irresponsibility.
1. The first thing that you should do is to be sure that your supervisor wants to be removed. If you are sure that he wants to be removed, then the next step is to contact the EIC or AE to ask to remove his name. For this you can write an e-mail and put your supervisor in CC so that you will have a proof that your supervisor was aware of your e-mail. In your e-mail, you should explain that your supervisor initially agreed to be part of the paper but now does not want his name to appear on the paper, and you politely ask for him to be removed. But if you are not sure that your supervisor wants to be removed or not, you need to be very careful as if you remove him without his authorization it could put you in trouble. Do you have some proofs like some e-mails that shows that he accepted to be a co-author and that he does not want to be a co-author anymore? It would be better for you to have such proofs.
2. Yes, this is not really a good reason. But if you honestly explain the real situation which is that your supervisor does not want to be a co-author anymore, it could perhaps work better.
3. If the EIC and AE do not agree to remove your supervisor, then it is not your fault. Actually, your supervisor agreed to be a co-author initially. Then, the problem is that he is changing his mind when the paper is going to get published. But it would be better to avoid trouble if you have proof that your supervisor has agreed like an e-mail. If you don’t have a proof, then if the supervisor has some bad intentions, he could create some trouble to you perhaps with respect to your university and claim that he never agreed… So as I said above, if it is clear that your supervisor want to be removed, write an e-mail to the EIC or AE and explain the situation clearly with your supervisor in CC. Then when the EIC or AE will answer you, you supervisor will also receive the answer. And if he cannot be removed, he will also know it.
4. As I said before, you probably want to keep a good relationship with your supervisor if possible, and avoid anything that could put you in trouble with respect to your institution. Thus, I think you should make everything clear with your supervisor first that he wants to be removed and/or make sure that you have some proof about it to avoid future trouble. Then, you can try to be removed by contacting the EIC or AE.
The other solution is to completely withdraw your paper… and submit it somewhere else. Actually, this would not be a totally bad solution. You would waste a little bit of time, but in the end it would probably be accepted somewhere else. This is the other possibility if other solutions do not work.
5. Yes, this is a bad situation. If I were you I would try to fix things up with the supervisor. But if the environment is really toxic in your team, as i said, you may perhaps want to consider changing team or supervisor. This is a decision that you can evaluate if it make sense in your situation. There are a lot of good supervisors and teams, and there are some bad supervisors and bad teams. If you are in a bad team or with a bad supervisor, you maybe do not need to stay there.
Thank you so much for you detailed reply and your guidance!
You are a kind and good man!
My pleasure. Hope everything will go well and that the problem will be solved quickly.
Thanks professor Phillips for such insightful blog.
Hi, “Under review” means that reviewers have completed the reviews and submitted them to the editor. Then, “under editor evaluation” means that the editor will now be reading the reviewers comment to take a decision. But in your case, since it returned to “under review” after that, it means that the editor has decided to ask for an additional reviewer to read your paper. Why? There can be various reasons. It can be that the reviewers have disagreed on your paper so the editor decided to ask one more reviewer to get the opinion of someone else. Or it could just be that the editor first just asked one reviewer to save time, and then if the first review is good, he ask a second reviewer… So don’t worry. This can happen quite often. But you will perhaps have to wait another month or more since a new reviewer has been asked to read your paper. | 2019-04-21T22:01:02Z | http://data-mining.philippe-fournier-viger.com/answer-reviewers-journal-paper-revision/ |
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youngsters most individuals these days attain not know, Lotus Notes become ahead of its time. It changed into impressed by the Plato Notes messaging device of the Nineteen Seventies, developed as an early collaboration system within the early Eighties, and bought to IBM within the mid-Nineteen Nineties.
Now, after a long and a microscopic bit misunderstood lifestyles, Notes and its companion product, Domino, fill been bought to India-based integrator HCL.
however I never basically used Notes on the business degree, I owe a much deal (doubtless the bulk) of my profits from the early Nineties to the late 2000s to Notes and Domino. You see, companies relied on these two products. They had been transformative.
Notes came first. It mixed e-mail with databases with insanely restful facts replication and customized apps. Domino got here later, adding server-level features that elevated in relevance as the cyber web turned into adopted by more and more americans.
I obtained my start with Notes courtesy of Apple and The ny instances. It changed into either late 1992 or early 1993 and my phone rang. when I picked up the telephone, the head of IT for The expansive apple instances become on the other conclusion. She told me that the times used Notes (it was nonetheless a Lotus product at the moment), however they wanted to position some variety of HyperCard-like photo front-end on it, had spoken to Apple, and Apple despatched her to me.
up to this aspect, i would been doing loads of travail with Apple, heading up some Apple courses on HyperCard and education. I knew a much deal about HyperCard, however microscopic about Notes. I had examine Notes within the trade press, but that become about it. despite the fact the instances' request sounded enjoyable, there wasn't in fact a means to marry HyperCard with Notes. I let her recognize, and they mentioned goodbye.
however then I uncouth started pondering. This Notes factor could fill some legs. I made some calls and located out that Notes, returned then nonetheless at liberate 2, was in entrenched exercise at companies ranging from the Port of Gabon in Africa to the Royal pecuniary institution of Canada.
It become business application earlier than business application become cool.
This was before the internet, and suggestions changed into a long pass harder to find than it changed into now. No books on Notes had been stocked at my aboriginal Barnes & Noble. so far as I may tell, no publications concentrated on it.
And yet, as I persevered to dig, I discovered that commercial enterprise after business, massive organizations and all, were counting on Notes to transform how they did enterprise. They never had the rest to assist collaboration earlier than. Notes spread out the chance for groups, departments, and even inter-business projects to communicate.
Notes turned into Salesforce earlier than Salesforce. It turned into Dropbox earlier than Dropbox. It become SharePoint earlier than SharePoint. It was Atlassian earlier than Atlassian. It changed into Zendesk earlier than Zendesk. It become ServiceNow earlier than ServiceNow. It became Workday before Workday. In some implementations, it turned into even Github before Github.
It had internet-like kinds before there become a web, server apps earlier than there were a lot in the manner of servers, and shared allotted databases earlier than such issues had even been heard of by using most IT people. Plus, it had an intrinsic, constructed-in, automated security stage that covered facts commercial enterprise wide with a abysmal degree of granularity.
I wrote Lotus Notes 3 revealed!, which changed into the primary enterprise publication on Lotus Notes. When the e-book took off, I had the concept that a e-newsletter or publication should be would becould very well be effective. This was within the days earlier than the net, when organizations spent a all bunch of greenbacks a year on really pleasurable newsletters.
I reached out to The Cobb neighborhood, a newsletter publisher i might worked with in the past. I took a few journeys to Louisville, the spot the Cobb group changed into determined, and they mentioned a deal. I additionally flew right down to my first of 15 Lotuspheres in Orlando and met with key Lotus execs. together, and with enter and assist from Lotus, they began a ebook called Workspace for Lotus Notes.
right here's a shapely constituent of trivialities: TechRepublic, ZDNet's sister website, was shaped by the identical group that created The Cobb neighborhood. The motive there are soundless CBSi (our parent business) people working in Louisville is because of these Cobb neighborhood roots.
After Workspace for Lotus Notes, they acquired and i headed up The Notes report, and even edited a CD-ROM-based mostly Lotus Notes journal for IBM.
When it came time for the internet to open eclipsing print newsletters, my then-future wife Denise Amrich and i started DominoPower. it might circle into the longest constantly run, editorially-managed ebook about IBM Lotus applied sciences and strategies. With greater than 12,000 articles in its database, DominoPower counted among its readers and lovers many of the key influencers and determination-makers within the IBM Lotus IT sphere.
Notes and Domino supported me and my crew for well-nigh twenty years. however it wasn't simply me. The Notes and Domino neighborhood was some thing very, very special.
each year, we'd trek on down to Lotusphere, which was hosted on the Dolphin in Disney World. The timing of this was astounding. The Lotus group was in the main based in Massachusetts and Lotusphere turned into in Orlando -- in January. a expansive percent of the Notes consumer basis changed into discovered in northern climates, where a talk over with to an ice-free land within the headquarters of winter changed into totally welcome.
At Lotusphere, there fill been sessions, reveals, and parties. Lotus -- and then IBM -- used to appoint out sections of Disney World and time-honored Studios for private movements, just the Notes and Domino folks.
What many americans outdoor the Notes world attain not understand was that there was a shiny aftermarket for Notes-related items and capabilities. These fill been appliance builders, folks who created specialized apps, management techniques makers, and integrators.
through the years, I received to understand no longer only the Lotus (and then IBM) folks who managed Notes and Domino, however the builders who implemented them, the IT managers who ran their companies off them, and the entrepreneurs who developed vivid corporations around Notes and Domino.
To an individual, these were unbelievable people. They were pleasant, humorous, sensible as heck, and committed to offering the ultimate items and services to their purchasers and components. To today, I weigh most of the individuals I met uncouth through my Notes and Domino years among my chums.
Over time, of route, the realm changed. The conception of a allotted client utility device, even one as revolutionary as Notes, became out of date. The conception of customer application, in generic, has entered obsolescence within the face of cloud-based mostly operations.
all through that transition, many groups nonetheless relied on Notes implementations. Many clients, who fill been beginning to circle into at ease with a plenty-changed IT atmosphere, were compelled to exercise Notes-based legacy apps. These apps, whereas once world-changing and forward of their time, were turning out to be cumbersome and dated.
As such, many of the greater synchronous clients of Notes and Domino fill a less-than-effective perspective of the items. it's sad, because in their heyday, Notes and Domino fill been amazing.
As intelligence about the HCL acquisition of Notes and Domino trickles out, i fill been rather saddened to leer some unkind comments about Notes and Domino. If these individuals had considered what Notes and Domino intended to IT back within the day, they doubtless should not fill been practically as dismissive about the significance and relevance of these tools.
it is why i am scripting this piece. if you are no longer frequent with Notes and Domino, or in case you used them after their time, I want you to recall that, for decades, they had been a really expansive deal. For essentially two many years, they helped build organizations greater positive, helped teams talk, and helped many left palms understand what many right hands were doing.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, they hath borne us on their backs a thousand instances.
that you could keep my daily undertaking updates on sociable media. be certain to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz, on fb at facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
The Indian huge has claimed it's choosing up items which are in colossal turning out to be areas, however they additionally encompass Notes.
based on IBM, its suite of AI tools can assist HR become a expand engine to permit digital transformation.
It is soundless dubious as to why the challenge went awry, as is the case with many advanced ERP implementations.
IBM's Domino server and Notes client are commonly handled as direct rivals to Microsoft's alternate Server and Outlook. but whereas exchange begun as a messaging server, Notes and Domino originated as collaboration and application construction structures. They assist calendaring and different groupware capabilities, however can even be used to help client/server and net applications, above uncouth workflow and document-primarily based. This may explain why analysts' figures for IBM's and Microsoft's shares of the messaging market vary so markedly, from giving both suppliers close-parity, to awarding Microsoft a 3-to-one advantage.
In August 2007, IBM introduced Notes and Domino release eight, with a circulate to the Eclipse edifice platform. Most Lotus announcements within the final year fill involved "internet 2.0" capabilities - RSS and Atom, representational status switch (leisure) software programming interfaces, mash-ups, sociable networking. lots of corporations fill been expressing enthusiasm concerning the abilities for net 2.0 technologies to lop IT charges and help the satisfactory of collaboration and comments. Oddly, research by pass of Forrester suggests they are much less convinced of the merits of unified messaging, one of the crucial leading promoting features of trade 2007 SP1.
contemporary trends consist of Domino partitioning (working a pair of instance on the selfsame server), and Domino clustering for failover and load balancing.
Replication permits Notes users to travail offline the usage of the most synchronous edition of the Notes database, which is synchronised next time they strain online to the server.
How complicated is it to master?
Domino and Notes clients consist of industries that requisite document databases - such as prescription drugs and petrochemicals there is additionally a thriving sector of application properties constructing Notes purposes. recent consumers consist of Colgate Palmolive, the us FAA and IRS, and Verizon.
What methods does it flee on?
Lotus Notes vacationer offers cell entry for windows cellular devices.
See Ibm's web site for practising and certification. There are free elements accessible.
clients of IBM Corp.’s Lotus Notes now fill the alternative to add a microscopic more collaboration to their workday as massive Blue on Wednesday launched one new Lotus workplace product, and added new elements to 3 others. This, the enterprise pointed out, will allow clients so as to add capabilities such as electronic mail, quick messaging (IM), and internet conferencing to company apps and portals.
Lotus office group Collaboration 1.1 is fresh and integrates IM, crew spaces similar to discussion forums and document administration, and internet conferencing so clients in different places can collaborate on projects. at the second it doesn’t and gained’t integrate third-birthday celebration IM customers similar to MSN Messenger and AOL quick Messenger.
IBM has additionally updated its Lotus gaining erudition of management gadget (LMS) and is rebranding it as Lotus spot of travail Collaborative studying 1.1. Designed especially for e-studying, the providing keeps song of students, their activities and efficiency, and may bring cloth in a timely style.
large Blue is too took talents of expertise it received from content administration developer Presence on-line Pty Ltd., too called Aptrix, which it purchased in July, and has developed Lotus workplace web content material management 1.1. The product allows users to create, post, control and archive net-based content material inside an organization’s intranet, extranet and on the cyber web.
the entire office items now fill the selfsame graphical consumer interface.
“The spot of travail is the next headquarters of attention for organisations desirous to expand productivity and when it comes to connecting americans, mode and information,” referred to Mike Gotta, an analyst with the Meta community Inc., in Stamford, Conn.
He explained that groups fill an interest in collaboration, but are additionally interested in cutting back the amount of companies that they remove custody of, so that they usually are not jumping into the collaboration ring frivolously.
IBM isn't the most efficient company specializing in collaboration, he cited. Microsoft Corp. has made collaboration an essential component of its home windows Server 2003 and Microsoft workplace 2003. SAP AG has additionally been speakme about office productivity by pass of integrating group rooms and IM in its portal framework, and Oracle Corp. is a different company making noise within the are, he observed. Gotta defined he thinks adoption of those technologies can be gradual and IBM’s success should be based mostly upon Domino users who migrate over to office. The migration would likely remove time as Domino clients try to maintain as tons of their investment in Domino as viable.
huge Blue’s spot of travail offerings pilot SuSE Linux AG’s Linux versions 7.2 and seven.three on Intel 32-bit structures, IBM’s AIX v5.2, and Microsoft home windows Server 2000. Supported customer working systems consist of Microsoft windows 2003 provider pack three, XP, and SuSE’s Linux versions 7.2 and seven.3.
Supported web browsers consist of Microsoft’s web Explorer 5.5 provider pack 2, information superhighway Explorer 6, and Mozilla 1.3.
The products are priced on a per person foundation. Lotus office Messaging 1.1 will retail at US$29 per person, while Lotus workplace group Collaboration will can permeate US$89 per person, and the Lotus spot of travail Collaborative learning 1.1 should be accessible for US$35 per person. The Lotus spot of travail web content material management 1.1 is priced at US$49,999 per CPU.
In Canada, IBM is based mostly in Markham, Ont. talk over with the business on-line at www.ibm.ca.
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e/pop's strengths fib in its stout attention to security, excellent logging capabilities and content vetting. The e/pop client has too has some wintry features including a spell check and a message expiration capability.
Licensing costs are contingent on the number of client licenses, but examples of what WiredRed calls its most accepted wee business packages travail out at around $40 per user. This includes the e/pop server software and the client software and access licenses. Server uphold is confined to Microsoft operating systems. System requirements from a hardware perspective are modest with the minimum processor requirement of a 486.
If uncouth you want is basic IM capability with not too many frills, then Ipswitch Software's Instant Messaging product could be the one you for you. Although it has pleasurable levels of security and logging functionality, it lacks some of the more collaborative tools establish in other IM products.
Pricing is some of the most aggressive around at $695 per server with unlimited clients, but uphold on both the server and client sides is restricted to Windows operating systems.
In addition to the slew of hosted enterprise IM vendors, there are too a number of major players offering proxies that businesses flee on their networks to authorize, monitor, and manage employees exercise of the public IM networks, like AIM/ICQ, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger. Typically, solutions require microscopic in the pass of infrastructure investment; annual licensing fees flee upwards of $24 to near $50 per user, with volume discounts.
FaceTime offers separate products for IM blocking and monitoring, logging, and full-fledged management for employees' exercise of the public instant messaging networks. Its products integrate with corporate directories such as Microsoft active Directory, Lotus Notes Domino, Sun ONE Directory Server, and Novell Directory Server.
In addition to formalized partnerships with AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo! to apply management controls to their IM traffic, FaceTime too has agreements to uphold a wide sweep of third-party IM systems accepted in pecuniary services, such as Communicator Inc.'s HubIM system, Reuters Messaging, and Lotus Instant Messaging.
Entering the IM gateway market with a bang in 2001, IMlogic has captured a marquee list of customers like Merrill Lynch, abide Sterns and Stifel Nicolaus for its gateway solution. like FaceTime, IMlogic manages public instant messaging traffic -- provisioning IM capabilities to some, limiting access by others, and blocking unauthorized users, at the discretion of corporate IT.
It similarly offers uphold for major enterprise IM systems like Lotus Instant Messaging and integration with LDAP directories.
IMlogic too brings to the table a near relationship with Microsoft. As a result, its IM Manager application will integrate with the software giant's "Greenwich" Real-Time Communications Server, and IM and presence platform slated to ship later this year. IM Manager too has been named as Microsoft's technology colleague enabling companies using Greenwich to communicate with external users of the MSN Messenger network.
Competitors attend to point to the fact that Akonix doesn't fill formal relationships with AIM, MSN Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger for management of their IM traffic.
But the San Diego-based IM gateway vendor has near ties with Microsoft's Internet security group -- the gateway vendor is too a Microsoft business colleague -- and in November, began offering integration with Microsoft ISA Server 2000. It too is partnered with Check Point Software: it's Check Point OPSEC Certified and integrated with Check Point FireWall-1.
In addition from such well-known allies in the infrastructure security space, Akonix too has boasts relationships with compliance and storage firms like Iron Mountain, Zantaz, Persist and Legato -- at least one of which is potentially already in exercise at businesses in heavily regulated industries.
Despite the want of formal messaging relationships with the expansive Three public IM vendors, stout relationships in the security sphere and a growing client basis are proving their own testaments to Akonix's effectiveness.
Public Networks Solutions: AOL, MSN and Yahoo!
In addition to third-party gateway providers like Akonix, IMlogic and FaceTime, the major forces in public IM too fill launched their own proxy-based services. Unlike those three vendors, however, the solutions from America Online, MSN and Yahoo! police only their own, solitary IM network -- making these offerings model for businesses that fill standardized on one public instant messaging client.
The chief value of the solutions is that each provides for federated authentication and namespace control -- enabling IT staffs to create [email protected] identities for employees that ensure that IM users representing themselves as company employees, are, in fact, who they title to be.
At a lower cost point than its rivals, Microsoft provides microscopic more in its Connect for MSN Messenger gateway, opting instead to depend on partners like IMlogic to provide logging and more advanced features.
Yahoo! offers integration between its Yahoo! Messenger Enterprise Edition and other applications that businesses might use, such as WebEx Internet conferencing and BEA Systems' WebLogic Workshop. As with MSN, advanced logging services are handled through the product's integration with partners like FaceTime or IMlogic. Yahoo! Messenger Enterprise Edition runs on Microsoft Windows 98/NT/2000, and requires SunONE Web Server (with uphold for BEA WebLogic Server coming soon.) Corporate directory and portal integration requires SunONE LDAP, Microsoft active Directory or Yahoo! PortalBuilder 4.5.
AOL's even Enterprise Gateway recently added LDAP compatibility to its product and uphold for linking the Gateway to other enterprise apps via a Java API. The product supports Intel-based Red Hat Linux and Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server platforms and Oracle 9i and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 databases.
Drew Bird is a contributor to their sister site IntranetJournal. Christopher Saunders, managing editor of InstantMessagingPlanet.com, contributed to this story.
No result found, try new keyword!Australian stocks are higher, ignoring falls on Wall St.
IBM's Domino server and Notes client are frequently treated as direct competitors to Microsoft's Exchange Server and Outlook. But while Exchange began as a messaging server, Notes and Domino originated as collaboration and application evolution platforms. They uphold calendaring and other groupware functions, but can too be used to develop client/server and web applications, particularly workflow and document-based. This may explain why analysts' figures for IBM's and Microsoft's shares of the messaging market vary so markedly, from giving the two suppliers near-parity, to awarding Microsoft a three-to-one advantage.
In August 2007, IBM announced Notes and Domino Release 8, with a strain to the Eclipse evolution platform. Most Lotus announcements in the final year fill concerned "Web 2.0" capabilities - RSS and Atom, representational status transfer (REST) application programming interfaces, mash-ups, sociable networking. A lot of businesses fill been expressing enthusiasm about the potential for Web 2.0 technologies to lop IT costs and help the character of collaboration and feedback. Oddly, research by Forrester shows they are less convinced of the benefits of unified messaging, one of the main selling points of Exchange 2007 SP1.
Recent developments comprehend Domino partitioning (running more than one instance on the selfsame server), and Domino clustering for failover and load balancing.
Replication enables Notes users to travail offline using the most recent version of the Notes database, which is synchronised next time they strain online to the server.
Domino and Notes users comprehend industries that requisite document databases - such as pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals there is too a thriving sector of software houses developing Notes applications. Recent customers comprehend Colgate Palmolive, the US FAA and IRS, and Verizon. | 2019-04-21T14:42:59Z | http://tractaricurteadearges.ro/pass4sure-cert.php?exam=190-620 |
We are on time today! Yesterday I was so late waking up that I couldn’t write an intro. That 22:20 start time (instead of 22:30) caught us off guard, lol. We are going to try and go live though OCN sometimes buffers a lot. We’ll let you know when that happens.
Soohyun sees Hyunjin walking across the street and the car reving it’s engine to hit her. He takes off running and gets to her just in time to spin her away from the car. They fall on the ground and Soohyun stares daggers at this car as it drives away. Then he gets up casually and walks back to his animal hospital.
There, he looks up all about the senators election campaign schedule and prints out a map to the locations he will be at. Philip comes into the basement as Soohyun starts to grab all the guns he will use. Philip starts to talk about which bullets he will use and which gun and all that. But then he sees that he is going to remove the target during the election campaign and tells him that it is too dangerous! Don’t do it this way!
Soohyun says it is none of his business, but he also tells him, if he wants an easier way, then bring the client here. He leaves with all his stuff.
Cut to the congressman at his campaign rally. He says all the things that politicians say while on their soap box. Hyun jin looks at him from her car as her sidekick sleeps in the passenger seat. Soohyun shows up n all black on a rooftop and prepares his sniper gun. He points it directly at the senator who is still talking about all the promises he will give like, I am the one who will work for you! I will be a senator for all Koreans…all that stuff.
Soohyun gets the senator in his sights, we see it in his sniper view. (ack, lots of buffering) then Soohyun shoots the bullet and we follow the bullet trajectory all the way to the senators forehead. He is dead-dead y’all. Pandemonium ensues as everyone ducks for cover and runs either to the senator or away.
Hyunjin and her sidekick run up to the senator. They think it is a sniper case, they need to call it in right now! She tells her sidekick to do it. Then she looks around and heads off quickly as she looks at the rooftops of all the buildings.
Then she sees a super suspicious person dressed in all black and with a black case walking by. It’s Soohyun (lol). She takes off running for him, he is just walking acasually and heads for downstairs area of a building. It looks like he is in a garage lot or something similar.
Hyunjin catches him and tells him to stop! Raise your hands, slowly! Soohyun stops and raises his hands. She moves to remove his mask, but he is able to move quickly and handcuff her to the wall. Or something like that. Her other cops run up soon after and un handcuff her. She takes off running again to find Soohyun (thuogh she does not know it is Soohyun).
This leads her to the rooftop where she imagines what happened. The sniper shot from the rooftop and the senator fell.
As Soohyun drives away we hear the radio news about the case and how this is unprecedented in Korea. A sentaor was sniper killed, the police are investigating the case.
Elsewhere, Do Jaehwan calls his assassin and asks what he is doing! But his assassin says that he did not do it. Do Jaehwan tells him to remove all traces and leave the site.
Then someone calls Do Jaehwan, it is a doctor who asks if it was by Ko Yeon Woo? (the scientist). they say that they don’t know, they will find out.
Then Ko Yeon Woo gets a cal from the secret mystery woman who tells him that it is done and Do is alert. Public execution worked. He tells her to send the next target, She says that he needs to be careful, #88 will search for us. He tells her, well, he has a lot to protect so it can be easier for us to control him. He sits and looks at the news from his garden.
In the police station, Hyunjin is in a bit of trouble for running off in the middle of this event and getting handcuffed and firing her gun. What are you up to! The sidekick says that she went out to catch the criminal, not to threaten the citizen, of course. The formerly annoying cop is on their side as well. So they are all getting yelled at by their boss who tells them that they need to show their effort with their results. Then he grumbles and leaves.
The team goes to their office and all sit and think. Hyunjin remembers Soohyun saying that he is on his way to the animal shelter, so she searches for animal shelters on the computer. She found one that has the same vest as the one that Soohyun wore. It looks like she suspects Soohyun possible?
She leaves in a hurry and drives to that animal shelter. She asks the woman inside if Kim Soohyun came today. She says that he did not and also checks the schedule and says that he is not supposed to be here for the next few days. But then we see Soohyun come out of from the back with a customer who says that he helped him a lot. Thank you so much.
They both look at each other then they talk but don’t look at each other while talking.
Hj – WHy aren’t you asking me why I am here?
HJ – Have long have you been here?
He looks at her and then checks his phone. He calls someone. And then puts his phone on the bar showing it to Hyunjin. He called the animal shelter director who says that he was there around 5:40 so he should ahve been there before 5pm.
She thanks him and hangs up.
SH – So are you done?
HJ – Maybe it is a misunderstanding, i am sorry. Goodbye.
She leaves quickly. Soohyun watches her walking away. Then we see him in the surgery room. He calls someone or answers the phone. it is the director of the animal shelter who asks if he did a good job? Soohyun says he will pay for it next time. The animal director says it is okay, he helps him out a lot.
Soohyun hangs up and thinks back to handcuffing Soohyun to the crate and also saving her from the car as well as her showing up at the animal shelter.
Elsewhere and maybe on another day, we see Hyunjin and the prosecutor meeting with two other men about the senator murder case. He looks important and tells them to work hard. They get to work on it. Hyunjin says that this case is a serial murder case, not an assassination case.
He says that if they prove this case then they will prove that the notebook theory that she has about the murders is real. All the citizens are interested in this case, so do a good job.
Back at the police station, Hyunjin comes in with the prosecutor team. The prosecutor introduces himself to everyone and then Hyunjin says that they can get started right away. Their ultimate goal is finding the serial killer that is involved in this case. She briefs them all quickly about it whre they all stand and says that she will check the autopsy. The prosecutor smiles and says that he will join her.
In a tunnel area where people are skateboarding and graffitiing a wall, we see one of the skateboarders roll up to a man. This man looks like he is giving a lot of money to the skateboarder for information. The note that the skateboarder gives him is an IP address. The address was sent from the cafe where the picture was sent to him. This is the man that dug up that box that had a plastic person inside (or something like that).
The skateboarder gives him additional information, it is a picture of Do Hyunjin who is at this cafe.
Cut to Do Jaehwan and the doctor who are talking about people who are looking for numbers. The numbers of the Han Sol orphanage kids, so be careful. They are concerned about the patient and says that so long as the patient is okay, they are okay. He asks about the numebers and says that it is all okay, they need to keep it quiet. So don’t talk about it. We have to take care of it so they don’t think of attempting anything.
Elsewhere, Seulki goes to the animal clinic but no one is there. SO she goes to the flower nursery and draws on the desk. The scientist, Ko Yeonwoo gives her something to eat. She is happy and says that it feels like a picnic here. She asks if he sells anything, he says that he does not sell much, most people just look around and leave. She says that she will buy something, she will be his first customer. They really need it at the animal hospital in their building. She starts complaining about all the electricity that young people waste, but then she uses a whole bunch of tissues. She catches herself and says that she should probably save them.
He kind of sort of smiles? Then he goes to help a customer. She tells him, fighting!, and is in an overall happy mood. Then she sees a family photo of the scientist and his family. Seulki thinks that he has a daughter, and she has a nice smile. She puts the photo down and starts drawing again.
Meanwhile, Do Hyunjin confronts his assassin person who failed 13 years ago. It is the same man that gor the information from the skateboarders. He gives the photo to him and says that he can check the time and date of the picture. This man is pretty scared and says that someone sent him a picture, it was from the cafe across the street. Yoon Jaei sent me the picture. (okay, so maybe the woman in the picture is the secretary, not Hyunjin?). He thinks the scientist is not working alone. But Do Jaehwan does not believe it.
He tells him that people do not change, they make mistakes and cover it up and it gets bigger and bigger and they beg to save their life. The assassin person says he is like that right now! Please save my life! Do Jaehwan tells him that he should not make a mistake this time. the man thanks him and runs off.
Then Do Jaehwan calls someone and tells them to find all the information they can about his secretary.
Cut to the secretary at a cafe. She is drinking a coffee when she sees someone approaching her. It is Philip. She is about to leave but then calls him and asks who is following him. Then several people take Philip someone. Soohyun is walking behind them and follows them to an empty warehouse like area where Philip is getting punched by the men. He asks for 3 more days. It looks like these guys might be gangsters.
They notice Soohyun watching them so they confront Soohyun and Soohyun starts to beat them all up beautifully. Then he looks at Philip and sighs. Philip is still on the ground, all bloody and bruised. But he looks happy that he was rescued.
They get back to their house where Philip tells him that, actually, I invested….I will get the money soon. Soohyun tells him to shut up and find the client. So Philip sits at the computer quickly. But he says that he can’t find the IP, it is connected to different countries like China and India. But Soohyun tells him to just do it.
So Philip gets to work. He gets a message that the next target is Do Hyunjin. Philip says that the IP erases after logging out. But then wonders what this means? Do Hyunjin? Soohyun tells him to send it to his phone and leaves.
Hyunjin is busy looking at the body of the senator with the autopsy doctor and the prosecutor. The doctor says that this bullet is strange so he asked a friend in America about it. But then he starts to talk to the prosecutor about how he saw him with Victim #2, new prosectur right? Nice to see you! Then they get back to business with the bullet. He thinks it is a Russian bullet. And they keep talking about the case.
The next day, Soohyun gets to the clinic and sees Sulki there with the plant. She says it is not for him, she is putting it there for herself. So don’t say that you will remove it or I will get my revenge on you! They look at each other for a moment and SOohyun goes to his desk. Then Philip comes in looking all beaten up so Seulki asks what happened to him. But just then, the scientist comes in with another plant and puts it somewhere in the clinic. he actually has a few plants that he brings in to the clinic.
It looks like Soohyun recognizes him, so he watches from the window and tells Philip that the client was looking at them closer than they expected. Philip asks what he means. Soohyun says that the target said that they would kill poeple around him one by one and found Hyunjin right away, it is funny right? No one told them. He turns to Philip and tells him to be careful, he could be the next target. Philip is a bit spooked.
The scientist leaves the clinic and hops in his van to drive off, but then comes back and says that Seulki left this drawing notebook in the car. Soohyun looks at him a bit closer from the window as he walks away.
Cut to Do Hyunjin and Park taesoo in a room? His metal finger fell off and she was about to pick it up, he tells her that it slips off easily. But it looks like she remembers him from the orphanage. He was one of those super scary adults that used to beat all the kids. He had a metal finger back then too.
She is sitting across from him at the desk and is interviewing him. She might be interviewing everyone that was around the park that day.
HJ – I did not see your name on the list of people on his team.
TS – He says that he was friends with him and was helping him personally as an old friend.
HJ – What kind of relationship do you have?
Then her mother calls so she excuses herself and tells the person next to her to take care of Taesoo also.
She runs to the internal garden to take a breath and says that she is not Lee Young-eun, she is DO Hyunjin. She looks at the phone where her mother is still calling. But she is too spooked to answer.
Later on, we see her walkingo ut of the station to meet her mother who is standing next to her car. Her mtoher says that she stopped by on her way to see her father and wants to know why she is so pale. What is wrong? I know you, I will the doctor. But Hyunjin says she is fine and does not have time for this. Her mother says that she will find a position for her in their company.
HJ – Mother, when I was first in ballet, I learned that I took kids seats. I should not do this because I will have other friends crying because of me. I don’t want to go to the company like that.
Mom – My daughter does not do this kind of work.
HJ – But I am not your daughter, maybe.
Mom – How can you say that?
HJ – Can you just look at me like me, not as your daughter?
Mom – *long pause* We should go to the hospital and see your father, hop in.
Hyunjin doesn’t and walks back inside the building. Soohyun is in another car watching them. He follows the mother as she drives away. Flashbacks to seein the mother around his apartment building and seeing her as a child when he played with the real Do Hyunjin.
VO – Even though time passed, the mother and daughter are still alive.
Soohyun keeps driving as he thinks about all of this. he follows her all the way back to her mansion where she parks inside her garage. He is still ouside and gets out of his car with his face mask on and looks at the huge home. He also walks up to the house and remembers pressing the same button to get in and asking for Young-eun!
He scales the super high wall and looks around the courtyard of the home and at the front door. he has glimpses of memory as he looks around and then goes inside the house. As he is walking up the hallway, he has to duck and hide when two maids come around. Then he continues walking somewhere.
Do Jaehwan is there doing his evil business with the numbered kids and the surgeries. He looks at a screen where there is a kid that is wheeled into a surgical room, he is knocked out. But he wakes up in the room and looks around. He starts to run out and runs into a person at the door. He asks this person to save him! Save me!
This person is eerily calm and asks how he can save him? then the boy is carried back to the surgical room.
Meanwhile, the mansion has a nice party event going on in the house.
In the hospital, the crazy doctor plays opera music as he happily hums along and prepares everything for the surgery. then we see him going into the surgical room where the boy is knocked out once again. He creepily tells the kid that it is nice to see him again and says that they can start.
the mansion millionaires show off an expensive looking pottery piece and everyone toasts. Upstairs, Soohyun turns on the computer in Do Hyunjin’s room and sees the surgery going on. He takes a photo or records it with his phone. But he hears someone coming so he casually hides somewhere in the room as Do JaeHwan comes back in.
Do JaeHwan checks his computer and then calls someone. He is calling the doctor and asks if #137 is done? The doctor says that he will call him when it is done. Then we see the old man wheeled into a room and the container of organ is brought in. The poor kid didn’t make it.
Do Jaehwan closes his computer and heads out. Soohyun is hiding behind the curtains. Do Jaehwan walks, in slow motion, right by the area where Soohyun is. Soohyun catches a glimpse of him as Do Jaehwan checks something on his shelf.
This episode was a lot more coherent, I followed along with everything pretty well! I wonder if they had more time to edit it all together. Because it seems like the writer has it all planned out, but the editor might have to cut corners here and there. Not sure, but today I pretty much understood it all! They definitely showed us how evil Jaehwan and his people are, today. So I expect them all to get the ending that they deserve either by Soohyun or by Hyunjin. Because, seriously, these people are super evil.
HJ – I am so happy that the #88 I knew before has grown up like that.
SH – Well, he can be different. Tell me everything you know about Do Jaehwan and me.
I know! You and me both, Rose. This episode was so brutal!
It is so funny, but I am worried about Philip, too! He is the only one that is still in a pretty messed up spot with or without his job as a fixer, lol. | 2019-04-22T08:11:31Z | https://www.dramamilk.com/kill-it-episode-7-live-recap/ |
The median home value in Exton, PA is $369,950. This is higher than the county median home value of $318,300. The national median home value is $185,800. The average price of homes sold in Exton, PA is $369,950. Approximately 37.44% of Exton homes are owned, compared to 56.96% rented, while 5.6% are vacant. Exton real estate listings include condos, townhomes, and single family homes for sale. Commercial properties are also available. If you see a property you're interested in, contact a Exton real estate agent to arrange a tour today! Learn more about Exton Real Estate.
It's like living in the Poconos! Rare opportunity to own a home in Pine Ridge, located in West Whiteland township and so close to the Whitford train station, shopping and schools. Many updates include: Roof, Hardie Board Siding, Windows, Kitchen w/Quartz Countertops, Stainless Appliances. Vaulted great room with a wall of windows, 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths upstairs. Lower level has 4th bedroom, family room, storage room full bath and access to the garage. The home has been freshened up before hitting the market including paint, some new carpets, refinishing wood floors, etc. so it it be turn key for the lucky new buyer. Lower level would make a great in-law suite, there is a large family room, bedroom, full bath and bonus room that can be great storage or craft room. Won't last, make your appointment today!
Yes it IS a dream come true! Your own custom-built Hankin home in the sought-after ~Woodlark Farm~ community! In the heart of Exton---neighboring all your favorite shopping, dining, parks, & FUN~..as well as Rtes 100/113/401/202 & trains & just 3 miles to the PA Turnpike! Downingtown East Schools & close to STEM! Gorgeous cul-de-sac setting on approx. a half-acre that includes flat, grassy yards accented by landscaping & trees. A beautiful south-facing stone fa~ade & front porch welcome you into the soaring two-story Reception Foyer & first floor replete with hardwood floors. Such a fabulous open lay-out! The elegant Dining Room flows into the spacious sun-filled Living Room. Adjacent is the sizable Office/Study with french doors for added privacy. The newly enhanced Kitchen is ideal for both the home-chef & for entertaining! Its classic Shaker cabinetry AND gleaming onyx granite counters AND brushed nickel fixtures all combine for a stunning contemporary style! PLUS: new stainless steel range/oven; tile floors; bonus cabinets & counters extending opposite the bumped-out Breakfast Area; large pantry; more! The oversized Family Room showcases a cathedral ceiling with skylights, ceiling fan, and striking brick-mantled fireplace. Do not miss the double door set out to the Deck & paver Patio & park-like yards! Also on this floor is the Powder Room; the large Laundry/Mudroom with basin sink and bonus coat closet/pantry; and the inside access to the 2-Car Garage with extra space for storage/work area and new garage doors. The hardwood floors continue upstairs, where the Master Suite was thoughtfully designed: large Master Bedroom; walk-in Dressing Room/Closet with space extending over the garage; and an opulent updated Master Bath with double-sink vanity with granite counter, a tiled soaking tub, and a distinctive glass block walk-in shower. Down the hall is a cozy Loft area; 3 more Bedrooms all with ample closets; and a hall Full Bath with granite vanity counter & textured tiled shower w/full bathtub. WOW: the Finished Basement is so multi-functional, with its Game Room; Fitness/Exercise area; lots of storage; and the ultimate Home Theater---so perfect for enjoying movies, sports, streaming shows, gaming, etc. etc. (electronics/projector/100~ screen & seating can be yours!). More: new roof w/architectural shingles; widened paved driveway for 6+ cars or your RV or boat; newer high-end Trane HVAC w/Aprilaire filter; 80-gallon HWH; security system; exterior storage shed. Welcome home!
Welcome to all the comforts of home. Enter the foyer and look to see the beauty captured in every room. A beautiful, upgraded Kitchen, every cooks dream with a brand new Stainless Steel Refrigerator and a Stainless Steel Microwave, the Great Room featuring Plantation Shutters and a Marble/Gas Fireplace, cozy as can be, the formal Dining Room with hand painted walls and columns, a definite WOW! Large windows to view the beauty outside that only Eagleview knows. Hardwood floors, and Crown Molding throughout the entire first floor. Hardwired stereo piped into the Great Room, Dining Room and Master Bedroom is sure to please. Hardwired Security System too! A large Master Suite with Tray Ceiling invites the most weary to rest and relaxation, featuring a walk-in closet, Master Bath with soak-in Garden Tub and separate shower offering total privacy. Enjoy the ease of traveling just outside the bedroom for the laundry center. Enter the finished basement with custom built "Chicago Bar", gorgeous pool table for all your family fun and storage to boot! Finally relax outside on your choice of a lovely patio off the Great Room or choose relaxing o n one of your two porches, one lower and of course the beautiful upper porch to view the beauty of the countryside directly across the street, including a view of the pool! The definition of a "MUST SEE" home!
A RARE FIND!! Low taxes, 5BED 2.5BATH single-family detached home in West Chester School District for under $400k!! This beautiful colonial home has been cherished lovingly by its original owners to provide the perfect opportunity for its new homeowners to come and make it their own. Located in the quiet neighborhood of Whitford hills and the highly sought-after West Chester Area School District, this home is ideal for a growing family. Upon entry, you are greeted with a large formal living area that flows nicely into the dining room with picturesque views of the private patio and backyard. Continue through to the eat-in kitchen area with hardwood floors and maintenance free Corian counter-tops. Off the kitchen is a spacious family room with a wonderful wood-burning fireplace. A mudroom off the right side of the house with half bath and laundry room will complete this level. As you head upstairs you will notice 4 generously sized bedrooms with full hallway bath and additionally a spacious master bedroom with en suite full bath and walk-in closet. This home offers a large semi-finished basement with access to the two-car garage. All carpets have been replaced this week with a plush and neutrual color carpet. Outback of the property, you will find a private backyard and a beautiful stone patio. Where else are you able to find such a wonderful home close to Exton shopping and tons of great restaurants, all in a beautiful family-oriented neighborhood for under $400k? Come and make this charming home yours where you and your family can grow and create new memories you will cherish forever.
The Honey House is well known to lovers of local honey. A part of the house dates back to the 1700s giving this 5 bedroom stone farmhouse in Exton a rich history and lots of charm. This lovely home is situated on a stunning 2.6 ac property and includes 2 ponds with exotic Koi and aeration, beautiful landscaping, specimen plantings and mature trees. Newer improvements include the roof, water heater, replacement windows, in-ground pool coping, fencing and the exterior stone has been re-pointed. The open floor plan, 4 fireplaces, elegant trim work, built-in cabinetry, wood floors make this home an ideal retreat filled with character. Five spacious bedrooms and three full baths are only minutes from Exton, Downingtown & West Chester conveniences. Outside, you are surrounded by serene views of the ponds, and the private pool area, that is the center of summer fun and relaxation. There are several sheds on the property that are negotiable and the partially finished, full basement provides the laundry area and an abundance of extra storage. If you are looking for a special and unique home with all the modern conveniences and size you need, this is the perfect home for you. This extraordinary property is located in the award-winning Downingtown Schools and is close to shopping, dining, Marsh Creek & Pennypacker Swim Club, and convenient to Routes 100, 30 & the PA Turnpike. Come see this lovely home today, you will fall in love!
This 9.7 Acre Park Like Property Has 2 conforming Residences and is Also Zoned I2 Commercial. This Property Has Great Potential For Private Ownership Or Commercial Businesses. In Addition There Is A Stocked Trout Stream On The Property.
Lovely, upgraded 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath Ashford carriage home on quiet cul-de-sac. Covered front porch leads to foyer with turned staircase and 9 ft. 1st flr ceilings. Gourmet kit has a sunny breakfast area. hardwood flrs, Corian ounters and 42 " custom cabinetry. Relax in the dramatic Fam Rm with 2-sty window wall, marble see-thru F/P, recessed lighting and triple french doors to enlarged deck overlooking private, spacious rear yard backing to open space. Adjacent Liv Rm with marble F/P and Dining Rm provide versatile entertainment possibilities. Second floor loft makes a perfect office or quiet space. Master Bedrm retreat has a vaulted ceiling,and walk-in plus mirrored double closet. Exceptional Master Bath has custom ceramic tile, clear glass shower, double vanity, jetted tub, linen closet and separate commode rm. Hardwood flrs on 1st floor, newer carpeting in Family rm, stairs, loft and two bedrms. For even more living space, the basement with large egress window is just waiting to be finished. Great outdoor living with tennis courts, playgrounds, sidewalks plus walk or bike to Chester Valley Multi-use trail. Minutes from Paoli and Exton train stations, Exton Mall, Main Street at Exton, Great Valley Corporate Center, fine restaurants an shops. All in award winning Great Valley School System. Stucco has been tested and remediated!!
Welcome to Waterloo Reserve situated on the old Waterloo Gardens in the heart of Exton. Now Open On Site! This luxurious 2,615 square foot home features a tree-lined backyard, 2 story living room, black granite fireplace and gourmet kitchen with morning fog backsplash and moon white granite. Entertain in this open concept carriage home and spend more time traveling and less time doing yard work. The community features a playground, walking paths and community entertainment at Miller Park. Minutes away from the Whitford and Exton Train Station, Whitford Country Club, Downtown shopping and restaurants, major roadways and more. Located in highly coveted West Chester School District. Schedule an appointment today! Pictures are not of list home but represent the same floor plan*.
Welcome to Lennar at Waterloo Reserve located at the old Waterloo Gardens in the heart of Exton. Now Open On Site! This luxurious first floor master bedroom home features a gourmet kitchen, hickory wood floors and more. Entertain in this open concept carriage home, work in the private study or spend more time traveling and less time doing yard work. The community features a playground, walking paths and community entertainment at Miller Park. Minutes away from the Whitford and Exton Train Station, Whitford Country Club, Downtown shopping and restaurants, major roadways and more. Located in highly coveted West Chester School District. Schedule an appointment today and ask about our quick-move ins! Pictures are not of list home but represent the same floor plan*.
Ideal location in the Downingtown school district on over one acre. Dining room has SGD to deck. Lower level has large family room with stone woodburning fireplace plus wet bar area with cabinetry. There is an area that could be used as an office adjacent to the laundry room.
Beautiful 4 BD 2.5 Bath Spacious Brick Colonial in desireable Whitford Ridge. This home is move in ready! It sits on the end of a Cul de Sac and next to Open Space! One of the unique highlights is the large, 4 season Sunroom with its wall of windows bringing nature inside. Lower level has two Finished Areas w/ Bilco Door to outside as well as a large Unfinished area with tons of storage. Exit to the Deck from both the Kitchen & Sunroom. Most rooms recently painted. Updated Kitchen w/ new Center Island w/ Granite, newer appliances (Dishwasher, Stove & Oven), Updated Lighting Fixtures in Foyer, Kitchen & Dining Rm, Refinished Hardwoods in 2019. Remodeled Master Bath w/ Seamless Shower w/ Stone floor, Garden Tub, Granite Countertop, Tile floor & KraftMaid Cabinetry. Updated Powder Rm 2015. Zoned Heat w/ One Heater installed in 2016, the other in 2007. Solar Panels installed 2016. Exterior Powerwashed 2019. So convenient to lots of shopping & all major roads. A wonderful place to call Home!
Stunning Swedesford Chase home, professionally decorated, truly a model home you can simply move into. Every detail and aspect of this home shows the pride of ownership where no expense was spared. Professionally landscaped grounds with custom uplighting, this house is situated on one of the largest lots in the subdivision. Dramatic 2 story foyer with curved stairway sets the tone for the main floor. New hardwood floors and recessed lighting create the flow thru out while custom wainscoting accents create the rich look of the living room, dining room and study. Open concept, eat in kitchen with new sliders to the back deck, offers custom island, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, ample cabinets with pantry for easy meal prep. The family room with vaulted ceiling and custom stone fireplace is a wonderful place to relax. Upgraded powder room, laundry room and 3 car garage with new doors with controllers complete this level. Two stair cases will allow you to ascend to the 2nd floor. Open the double doors to the master suite with recessed lighting, sitting and dressing area, walk in closet and master bathroom complete with soaking tub and shower. 3 generous size bedrooms and new hall bathroom complete this area. Wait till you see the lower level! Indoor mini basketball court, game room, fitness center, reading nook and custom candy bar with fridge will make lots of people very happy! Extra details: House has been professionally painted thru out and offers upgraded wood blinds. New roof, hot water heater, water softener system, allergy system on HVAC system plus house is under a 2-10 home buyers warranty which will be transferred to the buyers. Buy with confidence, this house has been pre-inspected!
Unbelievable incentive for a quick sale - ask for more info! Over 80k in upgrades built into this home. Ready to move in, new construction in the heart of Exton. The Ridgeway Grande end unit, with all the finest upgrades offered by Lennar, one of America's leading Home builders since 1954. If you are looking to downsize, but want the luxury of fine living, this is the one for you! Open floor plan with morning room, maintenance free deck and 3 spacious bedrooms upstairs. Kitchen has upgraded level 5 shaker style cabinets with dovetail drawers, cushion close doors, beautiful quartz countertops, under cabinet lighting and more. Hardwood floors on main level. All this in an incredible location, minutes to 3 train stations for a SEPTA ride into Philly, or AMTRAK ride into NY City. Around the corner from plenty of dining, shopping and entertainment options. A small, welcoming neighborhood tucked away like an oasis. This is the lifestyle change you were looking for! Have easy access to theatre/movies, play a round of golf at the local country club, make your restaurant reservations in nearby charming West Chester, named among the 100 best places to live in America. Nature not too far away - Enjoy biking on nearby Chester Valley or Struble Trails, boating and other activities at Marsh Creek lake, only 15 mins away. Upstairs is the elegant master suite w/tray ceiling, walk in closet and recessed lights. 2 additional bedrooms with Hall Bath and a Laundry room complete the second level. The foyer upstairs is open to the 2 story Living room. A large walk-out unfinished basement for storage, if you are downsizing from a large home, or waiting to be finished with a 3 piece bath rough in, if you need additional living space. Highly rated West Chester schools. Move in to this worry free brand new construction that is covered by builder warranties. Schedule your showing today! Incredible savings if you act quick!
Make it a point to view this turn-key home at a premier ~end of cul de sac~ location, with a rarely found covered deck for extended outdoor living space; Seller is ready to talk! This meticulously updated home boasts a spacious, flowing floor plan that makes sense for the way you live, with an abundance of updates and modern amenities! 302 Horizon court is nestled at the end of a cul-de-sac in the sought after Swedesford Chase subdivision, in award winning West Chester Area School District. A 3-Car side entry garage leads into a family entrance catchall space with durable tile flooring, providing quick access to the kitchen when carrying a load of groceries, and a convenient place to drop coats and shoes. The kitchen provides a functional space to work while overlooking the breakfast room and spacious family room, and back yard. Formal dining and living rooms provide a classic backdrop for holidays and entertaining. A private study with built-in bookcases, and a powder room complete the main level. Upstairs is a spacious master retreat with hardwood floors, sitting area, makeup vanity, tranquil bathroom, and CUSTOM walk-in closet. Three nicely-sized additional bedrooms and hall bath with double vanity offer enough room for everyone! The finished basement provides a large open space that can easily transition through different life stages to serve many uses, plus a powder room for convenience, AND ample storage in the mechanical room. Outside, the large composite deck with awning overlooks the level rear yard. And with all these great features, it's the little things that set it apart. Upgraded details throughout that create an "elevated" style, while still being easily adaptable to your own personal taste. Don't miss valuable updates: young roof (2013), newer dual zone HVAC (2017), Andersen windows, and invisible electric fence! Recent stucco inspection reported no issues- ask agent for details and copy of the report. Other HUGE perks include close proximity to Routes 100/30/202, and just minutes away from the Main Street at Exton Shops and Exton Square Mall, with countless shopping and dining options, not to mention entertainment, fitness, healthcare, and more! This home offers a "neighborhood feel," tucked away, but so close to every day conveniences! All that's left to do it move right in and start making cherished memories in your new home!
Welcome to this 4 bedroom 3 bathroom well maintained beautiful home in the center of it all. New Semco windows, new doors, new insulated garage doors new deck,newer roof, new heating and air-conditioning system , newly renovated master bathroom with Corian shower, updated guest bathroom and a expanded paved driveway for additional parking. Partial finished basement with a walk out. The home is close to YMCA, shopping, restaurants and more.
Set on a private .96-acre lot, this beautiful home offers plenty of space and privacy. Inside, soaring windows and an open-plan concept create a bright and welcoming space a wide range of buyers are sure to love. This Wonderful Custom Three Bedroom,Two Bath Contemporary Cape Has Many Amenities to offer. Starting with a great two sided free standing Fireplace in great room, Three Zoned Oil heat & Hot Water Baseboard Heat With Passive Solar Heat As Well. Cathedral Ceilings,Ceiling Fans,Neutral Decor With Neutral Rugs. Lots Of Anderson Windows let in Lots Of Light. Great Location, Short distance from Whitford Train Station, Set On A Hill With large side Deck, Screened Porch, 2 car garage & Large 1 acre Wooded Lot offers a ton of privacy.
FORGET about the snow -- and start planning your SUMMER POOL PARTIES! A true jewel in the heart of the Marchwood area, this custom home offers luxury in an enviable location. Welcome to resort-style living & entertaining just minutes from all major routes/PA Turnpike/trains/shops & Downingtown East Schools! Cul-de-sac setting; 1.3+ acres; public water/sewer; no HOA! Front country Porch opens into a Reception Foyer w/marble flooring & a home w/a spacious open lay-out. Hardwood floors lead into the formal Dining Rm with a custom wet bar w/granite top, adjacent to the Living Rm/Den. The Eat-In Kitchen features all the epicurean amenities you crave: stainless steel appliances; double oven/5 burner stove w/ss vent; 2-tier breakfast bar island; recessed paneled cabinetry; granite counters; designer lighting; more! Large Breakfast Rm w/volume ceiling & dual skylights has transomed slider doors out to the expanded composite Deck w/steps down to the pool/yards. Oversized Family Rm was designed for both media/tv and gathering space, and its sun-filled walls of transomed windows & slider doors showcase the stunning outdoor beauty. Down the hall: private Office/Study; Powder Rm w/vessel sink; Mudrm with outside entrance; and huge 3-Car Garage w/separate storage rm. Upstairs the Master Suite is your own retreat: sizeable Bdrm; 2 walk-in closets; and WOW a newly renovated spa-like Full Bath w/NEW lux tile flooring; elegant curved soaking tub; dual quartz sinks; walk-in oversized shower with two shower heads/tiled walls with a raised wave pattern & bench/river stone floor. 4 more Bdrms (one en-suite w/its own Full Bath); a hall Full Bath; Valet Laundry Rm; staircase to the floored Attic w/dormered windows for more storage or future fun space! Walk-Out Finished Basement has more extra space for Rec/Game Rm; Fitness Rm; and second Laundry & renovated Full Bath (perfect for when you are enjoying the pool!). Outside are the idyllic gardens, woods, meandering brook, fire pit, springhouse, grassy yards AND featuring the in-ground salt water pool with blue tiled waterfall wall & large Patio, all nestled in a bucolic setting! Another exclusive feature is the 18th century William Penn Land Grant office/work/studio space---2-story with its own entrance and deck and storage; heating & cooling; plus original wood & stone accents. Also: new carpeting; new paint; multiple zone heating/cooling; security system; more! This property inspires both quiet every-day living and fun entertaining---make it yours today! Some photos virtually staged.
INVESTOR SPECIAL! Custom built, 5 bedroom home on over 5 acres that can be subdividable into 2 more lots! The stately brick home has that "Roman" feel as you enter, with beautiful slate floors in the entrance hall, leading into a large stone walled family room with a fireplace and a fountain! The kitchen is also slate floored with brick enclosed appliances and another fountain. Both the kitchen and family room have Anderson double paned sliding doors, opening onto a large deck serenely overlooking the trees and pond. Off the kitchen is the formal dining room and large room, perfect for an office, library or music room. The 1st floor also contains the Master Suite, with its own deck overlooking the pool. Upstairs there are 4 more large bedrooms, with 2 full baths. The lower level has an overly large rec room , with a fireplace, and a possible in-law or Au Pair suite, or even another office if desired. Down here there are sliders leading to the pool, plenty of storage, and the door leading into the 2 car garage.. This home needs updating, love and attention, but for the right owner, it could be a dream house once again.
Live where you work and work where you live! "LiveWork" in Eagleview gives you a unique opportunity to own a mixed use property that you can live and work in yourself, or lease out either the commercial or residential space as an investment property. If you would rather own it as an investment, both the residential and commercial unit are currently leased out.. This beautiful property overlooks the vibrant Eagleview Town Center. The fitted out commercial space is 1000 square feet, consisting of hardwood floors, powder room, and a generous basement, and would be the perfect spot to open any type of business. The residential unit consists of 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Enter the hardwood floor foyer with carpet in the great room and dining room. The kitchen and laundry each have linoleum. The upstairs bedrooms are all carpeted and provide a nice amount of natural light. Enjoy the master suite balcony and the covered rear patio. Eagleview provides it all. Shops, restaurants, walking and bike trails, parks, swimming pools, athletic fields, and more. A friendly, sought-out community that is the talk of the town. With the summer concert and movie series Eagleview is the place to be. See what all the fuss is about and join the Eagleview community its a LIFE STYLE!! | 2019-04-21T06:23:44Z | https://www.longandfoster.com/homes-for-sale/PA/Exton |
The world of sports betting is a fun and exciting one, with hundreds of gambling websites looking to satisfy your gambling needs at any given time. The online gambling industry is enjoying a period of unprecedented growth and the markets are as active as they have ever been. As a result, the sports betting scene is also thriving and operators are offering sports bets left and right.
Entering the sports betting scene is not difficult at all but there are a number of things that you need to become familiar with before you embark on this journey. For your convenience, we have put together this guide, covering just about every important piece of information about sports betting, including bet types, odds types, payment services, promotions, and examples of quality bookmaker websites.
Bovada is one of the most prominent names in the online gambling industry. This is one of the few gambling brands to accept customers from the United States and its sportsbook section offers betting on the most popular sporting events from all over the world. With multiple promotions awaiting you, there is no reason that you should not join Bovada.
Intertops has been in the online gambling business for more than 20 years and throughout all that time has not failed to provide an top-quality service. Intertops is the sportsbook of choice for thousands of punters worldwide and it gives you the opportunity to claim some worthwhile promotions.
MyBookie is one of your best options when it comes to placing bets on your favorite sports team. This gambling website has been online since 2014 and has made a lot of progress since then. Additionally, it also accepts customers from the United States, making it an instant hit.
BetNow is one of the newer online sportsbooks, only opening for business in 2016. However, despite its short existence, it is clear that this gambling website is operated by experienced veterans of the industry. Here you will be treated to a whole slew of promotional offers and a wide variety of betting markets.
5Dimes has mostly remained unrivalled in all the years that it has been active. Based out of Costa Rica, this sportsbook has always aimed at delivering top-notch service to its customers, while also spoiling them with worthwhile promotions and bonuses.
New customers only. 18+, BeGambleAware.org. Minimum deposit $10. Place any sportsbook bet (except Racing) of $20+ at minimum odds of 1.40 (2/5) to receive your free bets and casino bonus. 35x wagering on casino bonus. Free bet will expire 7 days after opt in. $20 Casino bonus will expire after 30 days of opt-in.
Created by a team of sports-betting fans, Unibet Sports brings you a quality experience via a clean, yet sophisticated interface. The online sportsbook offers you more than 4,000 fixtures at competitive odds along with a comprehensive live-streaming service that covers all major leagues in the world. Mobile betting is made possible with two intuitive dedicated apps available for a free download so that punters never miss out the betting action.
New UK and Ireland customers only. Min deposit $10. First deposit matched $30. 1x wagering at odds of 1.75+ to unlock free bet. Credit/Debit card and PayPal deposits only. Full terms apply.
Betway is a highly esteemed betting site that went online in 2006. Its reputation is consolidated by its UK and Malta licenses. The operator is also known for its sponsorship of major football club West Ham United. Betway customers are provided with a great selection of betting markets, friendly customer support, and a broad range of deposit and withdrawal options. The operator also accommodates betting on the go with intuitive apps for iOS and Android.
Open Account Offer: Up to $100 in Bet Credits for new customers at bet365. Min deposit $5 and 1x settled bet requirement to release Bet Credits. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.
Bet365 is one of the names most of the gambling enthusiasts are familiar with. Founded in 2000, bet365 has grown to one of the most well-liked online betting companies as currently, it enjoys a user base of more than 35 million gamblers. The operator is praised for the quality service it delivers as it allows punters to wager on a host of fan-favorite sports, to make use of several bountiful bonuses, and to enjoy great odds.
Sign up today and make a $10 deposit and bet with a minimum odds of 4/5 and get a $10 Free Bet to use in our sportsbook when you make your first $10 deposit. You can use your $10 Free Bet to bet on all your favourite sports and enjoy hundreds of games from around the world. Offer expires 14 days after registration. Free Bet Terms and Conditions apply.
Launched back in 2010, ComeOn has quickly become one of the best web-based sportsbooks. At ComeOn, punters are spoiled for choice as the operator enables them to wager on almost every imaginable sport, player, or team. Not to mention the fact that patrons of the bookie will enjoy top odds and can benefit from a broad variety of promotional offers.
New customers only. Min Deposit $10. Deposit & bonus amount must be wagered 6 times (min odds 4/5) prior to withdrawing bonus funds and any winnings. Wins from real money bets withdrawable at any time. Bonus on sports betting only. T&Cs apply.
MansionBet prides itself on being one of the most frequented sports betting platforms available on the web. The operator has a lot to offer when it comes to betting markets as it has gone all out in order to cover some of the most well-loved sports and sporting events on a global scale. Best of all, punters who sign up for an account at MansionBet can be sure that the atmosphere in which they are placing their bets is fair and secure.
New online customers only, min £10/€10/$10 stake, win only, min odds 1/2, free bets paid as 3 X £10/€10/$10, 30 day expiry, free bet/payment method/player/country restrictions apply.
William Hill is among the most trusted sportsbooks on the internet, providing bettors with an array of sporting events from the world's biggest leagues. The online sportsbook offers some of the best odds for major markets along with prompt payments, decent promotions, and full mobile compatibility for those interested in making punts on the go.
Royal Panda is a great virtual sportsbook for both UK bettors and international sports fans. It offers odds on some of the most popular sporting events around the world. Thanks to its mobile application, Royal Panda allows to sporting aficionados to make bets on their favorite sports even while on the go.
New customers only. Max one $10 free bet. Qualifying bets must be placed at odds of 2.0 (1/1) or greater, paid as bonus tokens with min odds reg. T&C Apply.
Sporting aficionados from different parts of the world will have the chance to enjoy a fruitful and exciting betting experience at Karamba. The virtual sportsbook provides a plethora of betting options which cover major sporting events. This way punters can choose to place money on their favorite team, game or player. With the help of the promotions that Karamba is offering, punters can make everyone’s betting a lot more fruitful.
It is extremely easy to have fun at Mr Green as this interactive bookmaker provides a top-notch betting experience. With a myriad of betting markets, punters enjoy the opportunity to bet on some of the most popular sports around the world. Thanks to the promotions that Mr Green offers, bettors can enjoy enhanced odds and improve their chances of landing great payouts.
New customers only. Min deposit $10. Max bonus 100% up to $75. Deposit and bonus must be wagered 10x at minimum 1.50 odds. Bonus valid for 30 days. Payment methods and country restrictions apply. T&C apply.
Betsson is a sportsbook which strives to offer punters a wonderful betting experience online. Thanks to the wide range of betting markets that this bookmaker is offering, bettors have the chance to choose the sport or team they enjoy the most and place their money on them. Members of Betsson have plenty of various options to boost their betting balance or withdraw their winnings in a fast and secure manner.
18+. Minimum deposit $10. Only real money wagering with minimum 1.80 odds qualifies for the promotion. Bonus bet stake is not included in any winnings and winnings are paid in cash. Bonus bets are valid for 7 days and cannot be split. Additional T&C apply.
RedBet is one of the prime sports betting websites that you will find on the Internet. This brand has been online since the early 2000s and in that time has developed to become a top gambling venue for punters from all over the globe. With a wide range of betting markets and a great Welcome Bonus, you will have a wonderful time placing bets on your favorite sports.
Owned and operated by Cassava Enterprises, 888Sport comes to us courtesy of a known and respected operator. At 888sport, you will have the opportunity to place bets on your favorite teams and players in a moment’s notice. A number of excellent promotions will become available to you once you join the sportsbook, giving you a leg up in your betting sessions.
Betsafe offers regular enhanced odds and boosted accumulator bets to its customers. To take part in these promotions check regularly their website and your email if you already have a registration.
One of the most respected gambling websites on the Internet, Betsafe stands miles ahead most of the competition. With wide support for the most popular sports leagues, you will be able to bet on all of the major sporting events with complete ease.
Matched free bet up to $25 / Dep. & Bet $10 or more / Single bet only on any sport / Min. odds of 1/2 to qualify / T&C apply.
Having an extensive experience in the iGaming business, NetBet is a wonderful sportsbook for fans of various popular sports. It provides some of the best odds on major sporting events and thanks to the promotions it has in store, NetBet gives punters a more fruitful and exciting experience. Even if you are constantly on the move, you will be able to make bets with the help of the mobile app of NetBet.
New customers only. Get instant $5 for each $50 wagered on sports for the first 7 days. Can be triggered up to 10 times. Odds of 1.80 or higher. Wager-free bonus. T&C apply.
If you have a favorite sport, team or player, you can be sure that you will be able to bet on them when you join Bethard. This interactive sportsbook offers a wide range of betting markets covering major sporting events. There is also the option to make bets while on the go via the app of Bethard. If punters wish to make their virtual betting even more fruitful, they can always use the bountiful promotions of the bookmaker.
Of course, before you can actually get down to betting on sporting events you must first understand what each bet stands for and how it works. Any reputable sportsbook will support at least a dozen different betting options, each with its own set of win conditions.
Whenever you deal with Under/Over wagers you will notice that you are never presented with whole numbers. The 0.5 is added at the end to avoid a situation where that exact number is the final one and the confusion that comes with it.
Parlay is a complex betting option where you combine multiple smaller bets to form a large one. The reason why you would choose to combine them is that you stand to win much more money from a single parlay bet then from multiple singles. The trick is that all parts of your Parlay have to be successful for you to win the Parlay. So even if you only lose 1 in 4 parts of a Parlay, it would be the same as losing all 4 parts.
So, in this scenario Team A is favored to win over Team B. Therefore, for the purposes of the bet, the sportsbook gives you the option to reduce the points of Team A or to increase the points of Team B. After you hypothetical prognosis is applied, if your team wins you also win the bet. The more points that you add to a particular team the more conservative the odds, while the more points that you remove from a team, the more that you stand to win.
Play-In is a betting service supported by the most worthwhile sportsbooks on the Internet. Basically, it allows you to place and cash out bets on a sporting event while it is still being played. A Play-In system offers dynamic odds for a match, based on the current state of the game. So if Team A is doing well in the 5th minute, the sportsbook will offer attractive odds on Team B bets. However, if Team B does turn things around in the 10th minute, then the opposite will happen. While the odds offered to change often, once you have placed a bet the odds will remain locked in until it is resolved. You can cash out a wager before the event concludes but that will come at a reduced payout.
The betting odds are one of the most important aspects of online betting. After all, before you can actually get down to placing bets, you first need to understand the odds and the payout for betting on a particular outcome. In the world of online gambling, there are generally three types of odds that you will encounter and each comes with its own way of presenting the events.
The fractional odds only denote the amount that you stand to win when placing this bet. More specifically, a bet $100 on Team A will earn you $200 in winnings for a net balance of $300.
They denote the net sum that you will receive when the bet is settled. More specifically, if you place $100 on Team A, you will receive $200, of which $100 will be profit and $100 – your original bet.
As you can see, there are symbols before the numbers. The plus (+) symbol indicates the underdog in the matchup and signifies the amount that you stand to win from a $100 bet. On the other hand, the minus (-) signals that this team is favored to win and the number after it is what you will have to wager to win $100.
Bonuses and promotions have become an integral part of the online gambling experience and the sports betting scene is ripe with them. These are incentives for punters to register with a particular gambling website over another and provide them with some form of value. This usually comes in the form of bonus money and free bets.
Bonus money can be used to place bets on sporting events of your choice but there is a catch. Before you can withdraw the bonus cash you have to place a certain amount of it in wagers. This is referred to as the wagering or turnover requirement. For sportsbook bonuses, the number of times you have to wager your bonus usually ranges between 3 and 10 times, but these vary widely between the different sportsbooks. There are also usually restrictions on how much you can bet at once and minimum odds at which you have to place your bet for it to count towards the requirement.
Free bets are another promotional incentive available at modern online sportsbooks. They are quite simple to grasp and are a great way for punters to get a foot in the door. Basically, the sportsbook allows the punter to place a free bet of a predetermined value. If they lose the bet, their bankrolls remain intact. However, if they win the bet, the winnings are added to their balance as bonus funds. Bonus funds are subject to a number of conditions before they can be withdrawn.
Online gambling happens exclusively on the Internet and since there is no way for a person to use physical cash there, we have to utilize an online payment service. There are multiple of these supported by the online gambling industry and the most popular ones are available at just about every sportsbook.
Credit cards are some of the most used payment services on the Internet and in the online gambling industry, as well. They allow for instant deposits and, depending on the sportsbook, timely withdrawals. Many gamblers prefer to use their Visa or MasterCard to fund their online bankroll as it is easy and convenient. The process takes a few short seconds and you can get to placing your bets.
The electronic wallet, or eWallet, has become a quite popular service in recent years and it is becoming widely supported by online gambling websites. With an eWallet, punters may make quick and convenient deposits, while also receiving the benefit of the fastest withdrawals in the industry. Indeed, eWallets are the prefered payment service of millions of gamblers all over the world and they are accepted almost universally. Popular services include Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, EntroPay and more.
Traditional banking services are also in high demand and if you do not feel like using an online payment method, many sportsbooks will allow you to fund your bankroll via bank transfer. Granted, this method of payment is quite slow, taking anywhere between 1 and 5 business days for a transaction to clear and withdrawals are no quicker either. Still, they are secure and reliable and just about every sportsbook supports them.
Cryptocurrencies are on the rise, especially in an age where the cost of privacy is high. Cryptocurrencies are online payment services which allow for anonymous transactions at incredibly high speeds. The typical Bitcoin payment takes only a few minutes to process on a normal day, with other similar services being even faster. Among online sportsbooks, Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency, though particular websites also support the likes of Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and more.
There are many things to look out for when choosing an online gambling website. For starters, you need to have a look at the customer service that the sportsbook can offer you. There will probably come a time when you will need to have something explained to you or another issue arises. In such events, you need to know that there is someone out there that you can rely on. Top-tier gambling websites will have support staff on standby 24/7 to ensure that you have the best possible experience. A live chat system is usually a telltale sign that a sportsbook has good customer service.
Additionally, you also should look out for some form of government licensing. Online gambling can be a shady business if you have the unfortune to come upon an unscrupulous operator. This is why it is prudent to first look at the certification the website has before you register. A government license indicates that a website is a legitimate business and that it can provide a fair and secure gambling experience. Generally, the most trustworthy websites are licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, the Government of Curacao, and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. | 2019-04-20T02:38:10Z | http://www.sportingpedia.com/betting-sites/ |
Hopefully we can quickly answer some of your questions here.
As the Internet gets older it creates new markets. The market of opinions is just opening and soon it will be filled. Dividing up the market and muddying up the messages people are trying to convey. Leading to frustrations and possibly violence.
Inclusiveness: There has never been a system conceived let alone implemented, that had any expectation of 100% involvement. Because of our broad stance in categories, and expression, every human being has a reason to participate.
Next up this is simple simple simple: Simple to assemble and run. nothing needs to be invented, Strictly a data storage facility. Simple to use, all intuitive, no prior knowledge needed. "Only one rule, no opinions on private individuals". And finally this is a simple system, despite its outward appearance. Because it is so drastically different than anything that's been tried before, people instantly conclude it is complicated, when in actual fact it is not. It is basically like this, you go to one App, you express yourself, trending happens, you learn from that, you express more opinions, consensus is eventually achieved. We are giving people easy access to express themselves , no borders or barriers. From every individual to the world. Simple.
And finally our ability to execute: We only need a small portion of society to start, there is no need to ask permission from anyone. and all technology needed is available.
And some people have asked about financials: Supporters do not need to donate. But we will start with a crowd-sourcing campaign, and soliciting funds from foundations. Long term there will be excess funds available due to the value of opinions.
There is a rising demand by the people of the world to be heard, which is directly related to the rise of the Internet generation. In a similar fashion, the printing press (in a very dirty process) eventually led to the advancement of some parts of the world toward representative democracy. An intervention at this time may allow for a smoother transition into better governance. If this opportunity is not taken soon, Facebook will be forced by public pressure to allow a dislike button, and or Twitter will find a way to make tweeting recognized as a form of petitioning.
The free-market will fill in the gaps leaving no room for a co-operative system, the people will lose their opportunity to own their opinions. And because the capitalist system will divide the market, no clear or accurate message will be heard from the people. Social pressures will continue to build possibly leading to a bloody mess.
According to Wikipedia, there are three main barriers to direct democracy described as the "trilemma".
Participation: Every human has a strong opinion on something. and we want all of it. One simple easy app for everyone.
We are the first to offer a system where it is reasonable to believe, that everyone may eventually participate. All previous systems have focused on politically minded individuals.
Deliberation: In most cases there will be an ongoing flow of opinions with no deadlines. This allows for a feedback loop, any individual can now observe the evolving of opinions coming from the world, and information from all other forms of media. over time their opinions will evolve as well. This is a form of communication that, as of yet, has not existed in the online world. Because we have never had accurate numbers to work with.
Equality: As defined in Wikipedia: "All members of the population on whose behalf decisions are taken have an equal chance of having their views taken into account". We are building a system that should involve everyone. And it is allowing for 100% full expression. Obviously there are many places in the world where this type of thing will not be welcomed. Those are the places that will benefit the most. This will create a big shift towards equalizing the people of the world. It is time to upgrade, we must keep up to the challenging world, we need answers by consensus, and those answers need to be drawn from the biggest pool we can create.
Because of the fact that opinions exist involving the past, the present, and the future. For the first time in history every individual will have the ability to participate in the direction that their communities, their countries, and their world, takes on their way into that future. Weather that involves energy consumption, climate control, or going to Mars.
A better understanding of the world and people around us. In good times, and more importantly, while in conflict. every individual will have an opportunity to hear the world, speak back, and find a compromise. Individuals and communities will mature over time..
This app is really quite intuitive and you don't need a set of instructions, however, here is a quick rundown of how the app works.
Categories-- any conceivable combination of characters in the form of a statement or question can be a category. This includes statements or questions that were made in other categories. The only possible exception to this will be personal comments involving private individuals.
Statements-- can be any combination of characters, and may contain a link. with the only possible exception of personal comments involving private individuals.
Voting-- One dividable vote per category, per person. This one vote may be broken down into varying percentages on multiple statements.(disclaimer•• our demonstration video does not portray the voting in exactly this way).
Priorities-- using percentages, categories can be prioritized. For example an individual for a period of time may decide to make one category have 100% priority over everything else. But once that crisis has passed he may decide to divide up his priorities with varying percentages to each. Any categories without a priority percentage will fall into the category of low priority. (Disclaimer•• our demonstration video does not portray the priorities in exactly this way).
Longevity-- all categories and statements are permanent whether they retain any votes or not. All votes from an account that is inactive for one year will be void.
Now based on that statement the search engines will be able to look for other statements in the category that seem to be similar to yours, and then present those options to you. You may now scroll further and further away from your original statement using the search engine to show you more and more options. After you have settled on the statement you wish to vote on, or a series of statements within this category which you would like to split your vote up with, you will want to assign it a percentage of your priority rating. Similar to social networks like "Reddit", voting will cause categories and statements to "trend". Trending will also be manipulated by the priority shifting that individuals do on the votes they have already made.
Yes or no questions will no longer exist , Rather, one will have the option of putting a portion of their vote on another response. For example, if the mayor of your city speaks on the news asking people whether the city should put fluoride in the drinking water the question will become the subject in our opinion app. You can answer the question with a yes or no, and retain the option of adding a statement, or vote another person statement up.
Obviously nobody will have the time to vote on everything. Generally people will vote for what they care about, but those boundaries will be fluctuating continuously due to societal pressures, whether that be from family, work, the world, or what is happening at the moment,(trending) .Everyone will be trying to make their vote have as much impact as possible. If you make an unpopular statement in a category and give it 100% of your vote it will not have very much impact, and a statement in an unpopular category will have very little impact as well. Although there is always the possibility that in the future that category or statement may become very relevant.
This need to make your vote count will help in creating consensus. Everyone cannot get exactly what they want, so we must try to find middle ground and in this way we may satisfy as many people as possible.
At this moment there is a great deal of information that you have already put forward through your use of search engines, Facebook, Twitter and many others. That information is now a commodity owned by corporations. In today's world you have value beyond your labor. Your habits, opinions and knowledge have value. With the "Your Upinion" app, users will be able to retain ownership of their opinion which will in-turn be used to generate wealth, some of which will be used to run the organization. The excess will be dealt with by consensus through the system. (Perhaps people would like to put it towards some form of basic income).
News organizations generate income by supplying information, a large portion of which is gathered through social networks and polling companies. Eventually the "Your Upinion" app will deliver the most accurate data conceivable. But even in the beginning when the app only has 500,000 to 1,000,000 users out of the entire world, a news agency that is looking for an opinion on any given subject can: (A) get a couple of individual opinions off of Twitter and Facebook, or (B) he can get the agreed-upon opinion of perhaps A few thousand or more individuals, along with the strength of their agreement, other closely related opinions and a whole slew of other demographic information. The same reasoning applies for every other corporation and organization that wishes to profit off of the people. All information gathered will be free and open to the public, except for where identity security is concerned. Eventually any person or group of people identified as "earning a profit" from the information gathered by us will be charged a justifiable fee ,and payment will be enforced by public pressure. Governments should remain exempt, because any additional costs to governments will simply be passed on as taxes to the taxpayers, this would not benefit the people and should be avoided. For start up costs, see crowd-sourcing campaign.
During the kick starter phase participants will work with Visa to make our one or 2 dollar request. We will not require any credit information or banking information. Our only concern will be keeping your exact location and identification secure. Which makes us primarily a target for government sponsored hacking. There's no doubt that this will be our biggest challenge. For this reason we should offer rewards to the overall general hacking community.
It will be our goal to include every living human being, including prison inmates the mentally ill and children. "Every human being has an opinion on something". And so at the same time, if you are a doctor or a police officer or a politician, we need that demographic information as well. In all these situations your location and identification will be kept anonymous. But in extreme cases we will also need to offer the ability for people to block all their demographics to maintain complete anonymity.
In the beginning politicians will be reluctant to acknowledge our existence, but over time we will gain traction, and they will have to pay attention to keep the popular vote. It will not take long before some of them learn how to use the system to their advantage. And that is fine as long as it's to the public's advantage as well. Eventually some of the governments safeguard systems, such as the Senate, may become obsolete. At some point in the distant future, the role of a politician will resemble the role of a referee.
It will be in the best interest for all if this organization can remain unbiased in all regards. It shall be our goal to obtain opinions from all sides of every conflict, regardless of whether they are a murderer or a saint. Try to imagine what it might have been like to have a free flow of opinions from all sides and all individuals who were involved in the Crimean crisis, regardless of what governments were saying or doing. Twitter and Facebook don't allow for the type of communication that leads to conflict resolution, that's not what they're designed to do. Conflict resolution is precisely what this app is designed for.
Representative democracy is, in the best case scenario, keeping individuals one step removed from the decision-making process. And in most governments that distance is significantly compounded by bureaucracy which makes it very difficult to stay engaged. (The ancient Greeks never had this problem). Although the "Your Upinion" app will not be directly tied to any government, public pressure can be swift and strong, and users may see results in their efforts in some categories within hours. This will provide a very satisfying feedback loop. Every individual has a strong opinion that they wish to express at sometime in someplace and in some category somewhere in the world. This may involve sports teams, fashion, Automobiles, television, banking, and every other possible category you can think of. Therefore, everyone has a strong reason to be involved in the system. This level of involvement in decision-making is unprecedented and will lead to better outcomes. This in turn creates another satisfying feedback loop. It's like turning a polling company upside down. Standard polling companies are an annoying nuisance asking you to participate at their convenience, on subjects you may not consider priorities, and when you are unprepared. Or they require you to find their website, search their system for a category, and still at this point in either scenario, you can only answer yes or no to a question they have provided. With the "your upinion" app you lock in your opinion at your convenience on any subject. The beauty is in its simplicity.
Children will also be encouraged to participate fostering empowerment in the development of their communities.
All of society has a lot of maturing to do. There are probably very few people that believe plugging straight into direct democracy would be a good idea at this time.
This is a good reason for having a separate entity from both governments and corporations. It allows us to apply pressure to politicians and CEO's, but we are not able to force their hand. This safety net works both ways, governments and corporations will have no influence on our organization. eventually we will reach critical mass [approximately 80% of any given population] and we will come vary close to full control.
Life is complicated, there are very few problems that are simply solved with a yes or no answer (hence the whole reason for the system). Interpretation of information is different for every individual, just as it has always been. The difference is now everyone will have access to the same accurate information. Either way, from our point of view, we are strictly a data storage facility, and generally not involved with interpretation of information.
We are a data storage facility, therefore as long as a language can be typed out in to characters, and search engines can work with those characters, we should be good to go.
We will sell one membership for one or 2 dollar, our goal will be $500,000 and 500,000 members. Our pledge will be to have a system running within less than a year.
In order to achieve this goal it will be important to build some momentum.
Therefore, we will start this endeavor when we have accumulated a list of a few thousand eager individuals ready to buy in on the first day of the campaign.
Then at this point we will produce a more accurate demonstration video for the campaign.
This will be a user owned and operated organization. All positions within the organization will have to be open and justifiable to the users. All transactions will be available to users. All controversial top positions will be filled in with the democratic process provided within this organization. Any and or all rules,or information, or direction, provided by the organization identified as "your upinion" is and always will be subject to change, using the democratic process provided within the organization. | 2019-04-23T16:18:01Z | http://www.yourupinion.com/about |
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WASHINGTON, June 8 -- If storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to teach, the Legacy Project at www.legacyproject.org – a nationwide initiative connecting the past, present, and future for all ages – is truly a schoolhouse. Susan Bosak, Legacy Project Chair, is an educator, researcher, and author.
Her most recent book Dream is in a children's picture book format with 15 illustrators from five countries. The Legacy Project is a big picture learning project, targeting multiple generations and working to improve lifelong education.
TNS: What inspired you to create the Legacy Project?
Bosak: The Legacy Project is a big-picture learning project using the concept of LegacyCubed to empower all ages. It's about your life in the context of the people and world around you. It was conceived because the "McMoment" just isn't working.
The Legacy Project is a millennium baby, born in 2000 in direct response to the challenges of the 21st century from personal levels of dissatisfaction and alienation to global levels of monetary meltdowns and environmental pressures. It's also very relevant today in light of the focus on education reform.
I brought my background as an educator to help found the Legacy Project, and our team includes an engineer and an economics grad. Our goal was to help people develop a practical mental paradigm, a metaperspective, to catch up with the amazing technological advances of the past 100 years.
The concept of legacy is fundamentally the most powerful concept we have for addressing the challenges of the 21st century. Legacy is the coming together of what you have been given, what you can create, and what you give back – which brings in the concept of time.
We need to expand beyond the McMoment, beyond the narrow present. The sense of responsibility to a broader span of time was much more prevalent among the ancients than it is today. For example, the Babylonian tradition, later adapted by the Greeks and by medieval Christendom, included the concept of the Great Year, generally used to refer to a 36,000-year cycle, after which history was thought to repeat itself.
Grasping time is important, and needs to start with young children. Temporal awareness is an important part of socialization. Helping children understand time and their place in it is to teach them an important life lesson. Children need to learn how to tell time, the rules of time, how to be on time, and to manage time to (hopefully) get their homework finished up on time.
They need a sense of daily time, but also a sense of their LIFEtime. They have to think about the life ahead of them because they have to make choices that will have long-term consequences. Time is also a great factor in life success. Athletes, writers, leaders must put in time to be successful. And children need to think about time across generations – everything that comes before and after them. Our dreams and goals are built on what has been achieved, created, written, discovered before us, and we can profoundly affect what happens after us.
the three levels at which our legacy evolves. LifeDreams explores individual potential and creating your life. Across Generations explores our connections with others and encourages closer relationships between generations. Our Worldexplores the world around us and our role in it, looking at how each of us can change the world to deal with challenges like the environment.
The whole idea is to help children and adults make the 30,000 or so days count that each of us may have walking this planet – your life in the context of the people and world around you.
TNS: Is Begin and End With a Dream the modern-day equivalent of the age-old question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Bosak: It's not an equivalent to the question; it's an answer to the question – with a 21st century approach.
We live in a world that is in many ways more complicated and challenging than any other time in history. Young people must make more decisions earlier, and often more difficult decisions. They're also often called upon to carry more responsibility. The current generation is aware they have to make money, but they're also more socially and globally aware, and more concerned with personal meaning and fulfillment.
Begin and End With a Dream is an activity set that's part of our LifeDreamsbanner program. As one of the Legacy Project's three banner programs – each reflecting a level at which we evolve our legacy – LifeDreams explores individual potential and creating your life. Particularly useful to teachers and parents, Begin and End With a Dream is a collection of activity ideas developed to help build goal-setting skills by encouraging children to set goals at the beginning of the school year and then review those goals at the end of the school year.
Teachers, principals, and parents play a critical role in helping young people discover who they are and encouraging their dreams and goals. Dreams and goals help shape children's lives and motivate them to learn. They give your life purpose, direction, and meaning. They shape your life choices, help you build toward the future, and give you a sense of control and hope. They're an expression of your potential and give voice to your talents. They're a source of pleasure and help develop the self. And they can change the world – just think of those famous words from Martin Luther King, Jr., "I have a dream!"
Dreamers are the ones who have the courage and creativity to see beyond "what is" to "what can be" to make a difference in their own life and the lives of others.
TNS: Does the established timeline of school assist in student goal creation?
Bosak: Because things change so quickly today and there are multiple layers to most issues, the 21st century really has to be about lifelong learning. That's why the Legacy Project speaks to both children and adults.
The rigid structure of school can reinforce a rigid understanding of time and progress. Sometimes you get more caught up in the structure and its momentum rather than personal development and skill building.
One of the reasons we have such an awareness of chronological age is because it's very much a structural feature of the way we've organized our society, including the education system. But a person's activities throughout their life are, to a significant degree, ordered according to a series of cultural norms, patterns, expectations, and rules.
There are actually four dimensions of time that influence the flow of individuals through the life course: life time (chronological age); family time (events and roles within the family); social time (cultural expectations); and historical time (socio-cultural era).
A life course perspective takes into consideration all four dimensions of time and highlights the ways that events and decisions that occur early in life can have persistent effects on the structure and quality of our life at later points in time. There is an intersection of social and historical factors with personal biography. A life course perspective also emphasizes the lifelong nature of development and asserts that our understanding of any point in the life course is enhanced by taking into account your past history and future expectations.
Going back to the example of school, what if something happens in a student's life that they have to take time off during the school year? Are they really then "behind?" And what if a student is at a grade 8 level in math but only grade 6 in reading? Are they "less than?" What "grade" are they really in?
Finally, does school truly take into account the widely-accepted idea of multiple intelligences? Education reform has to consider all of these issues. The development of lifelong goal-setting skills depends on developing the discipline to constantly challenge the self, and not be completely dependent on arbitrary external measures.
So, the standard timeline of school can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help to encouraging ongoing learning as a normal part of living in the 21st century. We need more flexible approaches to education and more personalized curriculums. That being said, the existing structure does provide a nice opportunity to "bookend" accomplishments.
There is a defined beginning, middle, and end to the school year, and teachers can use that to their advantage as they help students build goal-setting skills. The Begin and End With a Dream activity set gives teachers a tool they can use now, within the school structure, with an eye toward expanding perspectives over the long term.
TNS: Why is the end of the school year more crucial than the beginning?
Bosak: It's not. Our activity set is called Begin and End With a Dream because I believe both the beginning and end are equally important. The Begin and End With a Dream activity set was developed because any good sandwich needs two slices of fresh, hearty bread. Then you put in a delectable filling; the other literacy and goal-setting LifeDreams activities enable teachers to pick and choose to customize their filling.
The end of the school year is a milestone that deserves to be recognized, whether a student is graduating from college or grade school. Milestones are those moments in our life when our personal star shines a little more brightly. They mark the passage of time and our progress in the journey of life. It's important to help children develop a sense of time and where they are in their life, as well as celebrate their accomplishments. As a life milestone, graduationis an appropriate time to do that.
On the other hand, just as spring is a time for new growth in nature, Fall is a time for new growth in education. The beginning of the school year is a fresh start – a time to build on what you've already learned, and get past any challenges you faced during the last school year. To set a positive tone for the school year and help young people develop important skills, it's valuable to encourage students to think about their future, set goals that will help them start to realize that future, and establish a step-by-step plan they can execute during the school year.
TNS: Do you consider the current state of high school drop-out rates to be primarily a result of poor goal making?
Bosak: Drop-out rates have many contributing factors. One of the biggest is that students find school irrelevant to who they are and their future. They see no meaning in what they're doing – which is in part related to goal setting.
Meaning is a notoriously vague concept. But human beings are fundamentally meaning-making creatures. Our mind is wired to make meaning, it craves meaning, whether we want it to or not. Meaning is what you make it, and meaning takes shape in the stories you create about life, yours in particular.
Meaning also involves a paradox: at one and the same time it involves living and thinking about living. Children need to be supported in their natural need to make meaning, and in building the skills they need to develop a meaningful life story for themselves.
A recent Michigan Education Association research paper, Survey on Dropout Crisis, looked at how to reduce the drop-out rate. The study "confirms what educators and parents know – too many young adults are rudderless and don't know what to do in the future. They're going through life without direction. And when they lack clear goals and focus, they're more likely to struggle."
The education system is failing in helping young people start to create a meaningful life story for themselves. A sense of purpose develops in students when they can see beyond what is to what can be. When they can see their future, they internalize the value of education and graduating.
Part of our work addresses this issue. For example, Charles E. Bennett Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida is using our material, including the LifeDreams activities. Throughout the school year, students at the school read, wrote, illustrated, and discussed their goals and aspirations as part of a school-wide dream theme introduced by Principal Monica Boccieri.
With 30 years experience as a principal, Boccieri said she noticed that some students had trouble articulating their own dreams after she shared my bookDream with them. That's not uncommon. Kids get inspired and excited by the book, but they don't know where to take that excitement.
At Bennett Elementary, where most students are on free or reduced lunch programs, goal-setting isn't stressed at home much. Teachers said the dream theme made school more relevant and fun. And students are learning that good grades can help them reach their goals.
"The book was very inspiring. It shows you can do anything if you set your mind to it," said sixth-grader Jacob Brantley, who hopes to become a chef. "My dad makes really good barbecue. He was my inspiration. I want to follow in his footsteps."
Demarco Vaughn dreams of being a football player. Sean Chillingworth dreams about working at McDonald's. Lily Crosby dreams of having a pet alligator. These students are starting to think about what their future might look like. Everyone needs to set a goal and reach for it, an idea of where they want to go.
Teacher Mindy Mark commented that, "Some kids just needed a push to get them thinking and exploring possibilities, any possibilities."
So, we want schools across the country to do what Bennett Elementary did.
TNS: How important are concrete measures of success, such as certificates, to children?
Bosak: Particularly as children are learning the skills of goal-setting, there should be some way for them to gauge the progress they're making. I like a Rising Star concept in which students see their own progress and challenge themselves, and are then measured against others – because that's the reality of the world they'll face. That can take the form of certificates, or it can take the form of praise and feedback from an adult like a teacher.
The classroom also has to be a safe place to fail for children. If you're going to fail anywhere, it should be at school where you can be encouraged to learn from those failures and move forward.
At a higher level, we need more recognition of milestones for children and teens so that they can feel their accomplishments and be empowered.
When, exactly, do young people "come of age" in our society? When they can drive? Drink? Vote? When they graduate from high school? College? Move out of the house? Get married? Have children? In a diverse society, transitions and rituals are not as clearly prescribed as they once were and there is no single way to identify or mark a transition.
We can lose the opportunity for a sense of completion, accomplishment, and a smooth transition. All too often, even when coming-of-age rituals are enacted, they proceed by rote and leave young people unmoved and unchanged. Without appropriate rites of passage, teens and young adults feel a void in their lives.
Young people have a particularly strong need to find their way and their niche, and without adult or societal direction, they can be left feeling unconnected and unfocussed. If teachers and parents don't help guide their children into adulthood, they shouldn't be surprised if their kids never get there. It's so easy to get lost in the arduous journey, and if you don't have a compass and a clear idea of the terrain, you'll be more easily led down less-desirable paths or wander around aimlessly.
TNS: Is goal-making in children something that can be left independent or does it require a "curriculum?"
Bosak: The skills of goal setting are like any other – they must be learned. And many adults haven't even mastered them!
Our goal in the Legacy Project isn't to develop rigid curriculums, but to offer resources and opportunities that teachers, principals, and parents can adapt to any grade level and use within any curriculum. This is about maximizing learning now, and looking toward children's future. And there needs to be more emphasis in the classroom on meaningful goal setting – seeing motivation as an ongoing process, recognizing individual achievements/progress, and showing relevance to the students' future.
TNS: How did you determine the Dreamer Profiles and how can they help students, teachers, and parents?
Bosak: The Dreamer Profile is one of many LifeDreams activities that are free to access on the Legacy Project website. It evolved from my work on my bestsellerDream: A Tale of Wonder, Wisdom & Wishes.
The book was a five-year project. I wrote it as a way for teachers and parents to start a discussion with children about their dreams and goals. It combines artwork from 15 top illustrators, inspirational quotations, and a poetic story about hopes and dreams across a lifetime.
The story is accessible for children, but has layers of meaning that relate to social science research. At one point in the book, there's a reference to using "Believe, Do, Think" to achieve a goal. Those three simple words summarize the core of social science research that has looked at how human beings achieve their potential and reach goals.
Believe, Do, Think isn't a strict sequence. When you reach for a goal, you move from one to the other as you work through the process.
Each of us tends to lean more toward one of the three parts of the process. Some people tend to be strong in believing and having confidence, but weaker in taking action and coming up with a plan. After looking at much of the research, I termed these Creative Dreamers.
For others, action is their strong suit, but they run out of steam quickly and don't give their actions enough thought. These are Dynamic Dreamers.
And for others, they may think and analyze too much, without putting their ideas in action and really being passionate about what they're doing. These are Practical Dreamers.
One of the illustrations in Dream, called the Club of Dreamers, shows a variety of famous people through history, including Albert Einstein, Anne Frank, Gandhi, Leonardo da Vinci. I started to look at their biographies and classified them into one of the three types of Dreamers. The Dreamer Profile emerged from that.
It's a simple tool designed to engage teens and adults in the text, illustrations, and themes in Dream while at the same time prompting them to start evaluating their own goal-setting strengths and weaknesses.
TNS: Is this another way that children might grow up "too fast," or is this an innovative way to approach parent/teacher roles in modern education?
Bosak: Children may well be growing up too fast. Our goal through the Legacy Project is to help teachers and parents equip children for a modern world that does move fast. Young people must make more decisions earlier, and often more difficult decisions. At the same time, we want to help children do what children should do – use their imagination, think of all the things ahead of them that are possible, explore and develop who they are.
It's also important to help children make the connections to all the levels at which they will evolve their legacy – the development and expression of the self, their connections to others (particularly across generations), and the ways in which they choose to affect and change their world. It goes back to making those 30,000 or so days matter.
TNS: What research was cited and how did that assist in the creation of your resources?
Bosak: I work with schools and families across the US and Canada, and the Legacy Project has participants from around the world. Many ideas have come directly from those experiences. As a big-picture education project, we also survey current social science research; our goal is to summarize and synthesize ideas, and make them practical and useable in the community.
The development of the Dream book was a five-year process during which I looked at a lot of life course research. Dream is about the journey of life as it has unfolded for thousands and thousands of years, generation after generation, and it's about the present reader living their particular life at this moment in time. We're all similar – the first line of the story is "I started out just like you"– and yet our personal journey within the greater story of humanity is very individual – the last line in the story is "dream a dream… your very own dream."
Each two-page spread in Dream shows a different stage of life, from the time you're born to the time you're older, and reflects the psychological and social tasks of that life stage. The multilayered text references, for example, the life stage model of psychologist Erik Erikson and the hierarchy of human needs developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow. Again, the text is very accessible to children at a basic level, but it has depth that teachers and parents can explore with older students.
Recent research that has supported our LifeDreams work includes a study done at Florida State University in which they examined data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a national random sampling of 12,686 individuals who were 14 to 22 years of age in 1979.
These individuals were interviewed annually until 1994, and then every two years. The FSU research found that, "'planful competence' is a powerful predictor of an adolescent's plans and their adult achievement in schooling and work. Adolescents with a purposeful orientation towards life, combined with general and practical knowledge, have more ambitious career plans, more stable plans in young adulthood, and greater educational and occupational achievements by midlife."
There's also been some interesting work done by Doug Manning, an educator with 30 years of experience, who is helping students manage the transition from high school to life beyond. He wrote a thought-provoking white paper, Connected Students: The Key to School-Initiated Graduation Rate Improvement, that brings together current research on reducing dropout rates.
He says that the "greatest and quickest gains in graduation rate improvement will come from initiatives focused on engaging the internal motivations of students… A sense of purpose develops for an individual when 'something they are' connects with 'something they could be'… Every student must have a clearly defined and meaningful future plan. That plan must be an extension of the person the student wants to become."
I often start my workshops with teachers and parents by asking, "How can you make yourself matter?" I don't believe we automatically "matter." We all have fundamental human rights, but that's different than making your life matter. We evolve our legacy and make ourselves matter over the course of our lives.
We then talk about when we were students and how much we would have liked someone to help us start figuring it all out. Helping children figure out who they are and where they can go – that's the greatest gift a teacher or parent can give.
The Legacy Project can be found at http://www.legacyproject.org/. | 2019-04-22T20:17:27Z | http://zaherkarp.com/blog/2010/6/10/qa-redefining-life-one-goal-at-a-time |
A transverse connector may be attached to rods of an orthopedic stabilization system. The rods of the stabilization system may be non-parallel and skewed in orientation relative to each other. The transverse connector may include two members that are joined together by a fastener. The transverse connector may be adjustable in three separate ways to allow the transverse connector to attach to the rods. The length of the transverse connector may be adjustable. The rod openings of the transverse connector may be partially rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the transverse connector. Also, a first member may be angled towards a second member so that the transverse connector can be attached to rods that are diverging. The transverse connector may include cam locks that securely attach the transverse connector to the rods. Rotating a cam locks may extend a rod engager into a rod opening. The rod engager may be a portion of the cam lock. The extension of the rod engager into a rod opening may push a rod against a body of the transverse connector to form a frictional engagement between the transverse connector, the rod, and the rod engager.
The present invention generally relates to bone stabilization systems, and more particularly to a transverse connector for connecting adjacent rods of orthopedic stabilization systems. The transverse connector, or cross-link, may connect together adjacent spinal rods of a spinal stabilization system.
Bone disorders, degenerative conditions, or trauma may result in a need to stabilize a bone or bones of a patient with an orthopedic stabilization system. For example, disease or trauma may result in the need to stabilize the spine of a patient. A variety of systems may be used to stabilize a spine. A spinal stabilization system may generally be classified as an anterior, lateral, or posterior system according to a position of the system relative to the spine. Posterior stabilization systems often include pairs of vertically aligned rods for stabilizing both short and long segments of a spine.
An orthopedic stabilization system may include a pair of rods that are coupled to a bone or bones. For example, a posterior spinal stabilization system may include a pair of bendable rods that are contoured and longitudinally disposed adjacent to vertebral bodies of a spine. A pair of rods of an orthopedic stabilization system may be coupled to a bone or bones by fixation elements. The fixation elements may include, but are not limited to, hooks and bone screw connectors.
Rods of an orthopedic stabilization system may be oriented so that the rods are substantially parallel to each other. Alternately, rods of an orthopedic stabilization system may be oriented so that the rods are skewed relative to each other. In a skewed orientation, the rods may be oriented towards each other so that a horizontal distance between the rods is not constant. In other words, the rods may not be horizontally parallel to each other. FIG. 1 shows a top view of a pair of rods 28 that are not horizontally parallel. Also, the rods 28 may be oriented so that a vertical distance between the rods is not constant. In other words, the rods 28 may not be vertically parallel to each other. FIG. 2 shows a pair of rods that are not vertically parallel.
Transverse connectors may be attached to connect adjacent rods of an orthopedic stabilization system together. Transverse connectors may provide rigidity to a stabilization system. Transverse connectors may also inhibit rod movement. Stresses may act to return a stabilized bone system to a deformed position. For example, stresses on a spine and on a spinal stabilization system often operate to return a corrected spine to a deformed position. Transverse connectors may inhibit rod movement of the spinal stabilization system during a post-operative period so that the spine remains in a corrected position.
Many transverse connectors have been developed that link adjacent rods together. U.S. patents and patent application Ser. No. 09/093,756 to Wagner et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,521 to Montague et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,966 to Drewry et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,955 to Errico et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,684 to Errico et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,507 to Errico et al., describe transverse connectors. Each of these patents and patent applications are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. Many transverse connectors present one or more problems for a surgical team that installs the transverse connectors. Some of the problems associated with transverse connectors include the need to pre-load connectors on a rod, high profiles, wide profiles, separate component fasteners, and proper tightening of threaded fasteners. Also, the ability of a transverse connector to connect rods that are skewed relative to each other may be problematic.
Some transverse connectors have engaging members that must be preloaded onto a rod prior to the rod being placed within a patient. The use of preloaded connectors may require significant pre-operative planning. The use of preloaded connectors may inhibit a surgical team's ability to make changes that are needed to meet conditions presented during insertion of the stabilization system in the patient. Other transverse connectors include rod openings that allow the transverse connector to be placed on rods after the rods have been attached by fixation elements to a patient.
Some transverse connectors may have a high profile and/or a wide profile. These profiles may cause surgical complications to tissue and bone adjacent to the connector. A rod fastening system that attaches the transverse connector to the adjacent rods may cause a high or wide profile. For example, a connector that snaps onto a spinal rod may be attached to a transverse connector by a nut that engages a threaded shaft of the connector. The nut and shaft may cause the assembled transverse connector to have a high profile and a wide profile. A high profile transverse connector may result in abrasion of tissue adjacent to the transverse connector. A wide profile transverse connector may require the removal of a portion of bone to allow the transverse connector to be attached to stabilization rods. A slim profile may require less or no bone removal when the transverse connector is attached to stabilization rods.
Some transverse connector rod fastening systems may require separate component fastening members to securely attach the transverse connector to stabilization rods. A separate component fastener, such as a nut, may be difficult to properly position and secure during an installation procedure.
A transverse connector must be securely tightened to a stabilization rod. Some rod fastening systems of transverse connectors use threaded fasteners to attach the transverse connector to adjacent rods. The threaded fastener typically is a setscrew or a nut. Not tightening a threaded fastener enough may allow movement of the transverse connector. Over tightening a threaded fastener may result in damage to the fastening system that could cause failure of the transverse connector. Applying a proper amount of torque to a threaded fastener may require the use of a torque wrench. Using a torque wrench may be burdensome to a surgical team that installs a stabilization system. Also, a torque wrench may require frequent calibration to ensure that an indicated amount of torque is applied when the torque wrench is used.
A threaded fastener such as a setscrew may need to be angled within the body so that a contact portion engages a rod sufficiently to secure the rod to the transverse connector. One type of transverse connector that utilizes a setscrew operates by contacting the setscrew against a lower portion of a rod to drive a top portion of the rod against a body of the transverse connector. The angle of the setscrew may be less than about 45° with respect to a longitudinal axis of the transverse connector. The angle of the setscrew may require an insertion tool with a flexible shaft to fix the rod to the transverse connector. Alternately, a large opening may be made in the patient so that an insertion tool without a flexible shaft may be used to fix the rod to the transverse connector. Another type of transverse connector that utilizes a setscrew operates by contacting the setscrew against an upper portion of a rod to drive a lower portion of the rod against a body of the transverse connector. Positioning a pair of rods within such a transverse connector may be difficult during installation of the transverse connector in a patient.
A transverse connector may include a body, a pair of rod openings in the body, and rod engagers. The body of the transverse connector may span a distance between a pair of rods. The body may have a fixed length, or the length of the body may be adjustable. Bending the body may adjust the length of the body and the orientation of the rod openings relative to the rods. Alternately, the length of the body may be adjustable by adjusting a position of a first section of the body relative to a second section of the body. After the positions of the first section and the second section are adjusted, the first section and the second section may be fixed using a fastener. The fastener may be, but is not limited to, a setscrew or a nut and bolt. The pair of rod openings may hold rods of a bone stabilization system. The rod engagers may be used to attach rods that are positioned in the rod openings to the body of the transverse connector.
A pair of rods of a stabilization system may be skewed relative to each other in both a vertical plane and a horizontal plane. Some transverse connectors cannot be adjusted to accommodate rods that are horizontally and/or vertically skewed. Other transverse connectors require a portion of the transverse connector to be bent to accommodate the skew of the rods.
A distance between a pair of rods of an orthopedic stabilization system may determine positions of rod fastening systems within a transverse connector. For transverse connectors that are attached to a pair of closely spaced rods, the rod fastening systems may be located on outer sides of the rod openings. For transverse connectors that are attached to a pair of rods that are spaced a farther distance apart, one rod fastening system may be located on an outer side of a rod opening and the other rod fastening system may be located between the two rod openings. Alternately, both rod fastening systems may be located between the rod openings. Also, for transverse connectors that are attached to a pair of rods that are spaced a large distance apart, an adjustable length transverse connector may be used.
Transverse connectors may be used to stabilize and inhibit movement of an orthopedic stabilization system. A transverse connector may be a fixed length transverse connector or an adjustable transverse connector. An embodiment of a fixed length transverse connector has a body configured to resist bending of the transverse connector. An alternate embodiment of a fixed length transverse connector is configured to allow the body to be bent to allow elongated member openings of the connector to be oriented relative to elongated members. Bending the fixed length transverse connector may also allow for some length adjustment of the transverse connector. A bendable fixed length transverse connector may include indentations that facilitate bending the transverse connector. An adjustable transverse connector may allow for adjustment of axial position, rotation, and/or angulation of a first elongated member opening relative to a second elongated member opening.
A transverse connector may include a pair of fastening systems configured to couple the transverse connector to elongated members. A fastening system may be a cam system. The cam system may include a contact surface that engages an elongated member or an elongated member engager when the cam system is activated to couple the transverse connector to the elongated member. Rotating the cam system may activate the cam system. A rotation activated cam system preferable does not include a threaded connection to the transverse connector so that rotating the cam system does not axially advance the cam system within the transverse connector.
Elongated members of an orthopedic stabilization system may be, but are not limited to, circular rods or rods having other cross sectional geometries. Elongated members may be two separate contoured members that are positioned on opposite sides of a bone or bones that are to be stabilized. In an alternate embodiment, the elongated members may be two ends of a single bent and contoured elongated member. The elongated members may be coupled to the bone or bones by fixation elements. The fixation elements may be, but are not limited to, bone screw connectors, hooks, or cable systems. An end portion of a transverse connector may be configured to attach to a fastening system of the fixation element that couples the fixation element to an elongated member. An opposite end portion of the transverse connector may include an elongated member opening adapted to couple the transverse connector to an elongated member. For example, a threaded shaft extending from a fixation element may extend through a slot or hole in an end portion of the transverse connector. A nut may be coupled and tightened to the shaft to secure the transverse connector to the fixation element. An opposite end portion of the transverse connector may include an elongated rod opening and a cam system that extends a rod engager against an elongated member positioned within the opening. Positioning an elongated member in the elongated member opening and activating the cam mechanism secures the transverse connector to the elongated member positioned within the elongated member opening.
A transverse connector may include a pair of elongated member openings. The elongated member openings may include open sections that allow the elongated member openings to be top loaded onto elongated members. The elongated members may be attached by fixation elements to a patient before the transverse connector is coupled to the elongated members. In an alternate embodiment, an elongated member opening may not include an open section that allows the elongated member opening to be top loaded onto an elongated member. To use a transverse connector that does not include an open section in an elongated member opening, the elongated member opening is placed over an end of the elongated member and maneuvered to a desired location before the elongated member is attached within the patient by fixation elements.
A fastening system of a transverse connector may be a cam system. The cam system may extend an engager into an elongated member opening of the transverse connector. The engager may secure the transverse connector to an elongated member positioned in the elongated member opening. An upper portion of the cam system may reside substantially within a body of the transverse connector to maintain a low profile of the transverse connector. A cam system may be unthreaded so that the cam system does not axially advance into or out of the transverse connector during use. In an embodiment, the cam system includes a cam that contacts the elongated member when the cam system is engaged. In alternate embodiments, a cam system may contact a separate component engager that extends into an elongated member opening to secure an elongated member to the transverse connector.
A cam system may be angled within a body of a transverse connector so that the transverse connector has a low profile. Placing the cam system at an angle within the body may allow for a strong connection between an elongated member and the transverse connector. The angle of the cam system within the body may allow for easy insertion of a drive tool within the cam system without the need to have a wide surgical opening in a patient. The cam system may be angled within the body at an angle in a range from about 45° to 90° with respect to a longitudinal axis of the transverse connector, and may preferably be angled about 70° with respect to the longitudinal axis of the transverse connector.
Portions of a cam system and portions of a body of a transverse connector may lock the cam system within the body to inhibit removal of the cam system from the body. Having the cam systems locked within the body makes the cam systems of the transverse connector unitary members of the transverse connector. The transverse connector may be provided to a surgeon as a single unit that includes no separate pieces that need to be attached to the transverse connector during installation of the transverse connector within a patient. Also, the transverse connector has no pieces that may fall out of the connector during an installation of the transverse connector within the patient.
A cam system may include a tool opening that is adapted to accept a driving tool. The driving tool may be, but is not limited to, a diamond drive, a hex wrench, a star drive, a screwdriver, or a socket wrench. The driving tool may allow the transverse connector to be top tightened. Rotating the driving tool, and thus the cam system, may move the cam system from an initial position to an engaged position. In the engaged position, the cam system will securely couple an elongated member positioned within an elongated member opening to the transverse connector. The cam system may engage the elongated member when the cam system is rotated a specific number of degrees. The number of degrees may be a value within the range from about 10° to about 360′. In an embodiment, rotating the driving tool approximately 170° couples the elongated member to the transverse connector. The cam system may include a stop that inhibits movement of the cam system beyond the engaged position.
A tool opening in a cam system may be keyed to accept a driving tool only in a specific orientation. The specific orientation may provide a user with a visual indication that the cam system is fully engaged when the drive tool is used to rotate the cam system. For example, the tool opening may be adapted to accept a diamond drive that can only be inserted into the tool opening in certain preferred orientations. When the diamond drive is inserted into the tool opening, a handle of the drive tool may be oriented at an angle relative to an elongated member positioned in an elongated member opening adjacent to the cam system. The drive tool may be rotated to rotate the cam system to an engaged position. The handle of the drive tool may be oriented substantially parallel to the elongated member when the cam system is in the engaged position. The orientation of the drive tool handle before and after rotation may be a visual indication to a user that the cam system has been activated to secure the elongated member to the transverse connector. A diamond drive may also provide a large contact area between a head of the drive tool and side walls of the tool opening. The large contact area may inhibit stripping or deformation of the tool opening during use. In alternate embodiments, the tool opening may be slotted, and the drive tool may include protrusions that fit within the slots only when a handle of the drive tool is in a specific orientation.
An engager of the cam system may be a cam that extends into an elongated member opening when the cam system is rotated. When the cam system is in an initial orientation, the engager may be positioned so that the engager does not extend into the elongated member opening of the transverse connector. In an alternate embodiment, a cam surface of the cam system may contact a separate component engager that extends into the elongated member opening when the cam system is engaged.
A surface of an elongated member opening, a contact surface of an engager, and/or an elongated member may be textured to inhibit movement of the transverse connector relative to the elongated member when a cam system couples the transverse connector to the elongated member. The engager may dimple the elongated member when the cam system is engaged to couple the elongated member to the transverse connector.
A fixed length transverse connector may include a body, a pair of elongated member openings and a pair of cam systems configured to couple elongated members to the transverse connector. The body of the transverse connector may include indentations that allow the transverse connector to be bent. Bending the transverse connector may allow for minor adjustment of a separation distance between elongated member openings of the transverse connector. Bending the transverse connector may also allow the elongated member openings to be properly oriented relative to elongated members of an orthopedic stabilization system so that there is a large contact area between an elongated member and an elongated member opening.
For fixed length transverse connectors that have small separation distances between the elongated member openings, one or both cam systems of the transverse connectors may be positioned so that the cam systems are not located between the elongated member openings. A cam system that is not located between the elongated member openings of a transverse connector is referred to as an outward positioned cam system. In embodiments, fixed length transverse connectors having separation distances between centers of the elongated member openings less than about 23 millimeters (mm) may have at least one outward positioned cam system.
For fixed length transverse connectors that have larger separation distances between the elongated member openings, the cam systems may be located between the elongated member openings of the transverse connector. In embodiments, fixed length transverse connectors having separation distances between centers of the elongated member openings greater than about 23 mm may have cam systems positioned between elongated member openings of the transverse connector. Transverse connectors may be provided in incremental lengths up to lengths between centers of elongated member openings of about 40 mm. Longer transverse connectors may also be formed.
An adjustable transverse connector may securely connect a pair of adjacent elongated member in a bone stabilization system. A pair of adjacent elongated member may be attached by fixation elements to a bone or bones within a patient. The elongated member may be skewed relative to each other. The transverse connector may be adjustable to accommodate variations in placement of adjacent elongated members. The transverse connector may be adjusted by adjusting a position of a first section of the transverse connector relative to a second section of the transverse connector. In an embodiment, the first section and the second section of an adjustable transverse connector may be adjusted relative to each other about at least two axes. In an alternate embodiment, the first section and the second section of an adjustable transverse connector may be adjusted relative to each other about at least three axes. After the positions of the first section and the second section are adjusted, a fastener may fix the position of the first section relative to the second section.
In an embodiment, an adjustable transverse connector may allow for adjustment of a distance between elongated member openings and for rotation of a first elongated member opening relative to a second elongated member opening. A first section of the transverse connector may include a shaft that telescopically fits within a hollow shaft of a second section of the transverse connector. Sliding the shaft of the first section within the hollow shaft of the second shaft allows for adjustment of the separation distance between elongated member openings of the transverse connector. An end of the first section shaft may be flared to inhibit removal of the shaft from the hollow section. The first shaft may be turned within the hollow shaft to allow the first elongated member to be rotated relative to the second elongated member. The hollow shaft may include a collet. A collar may be compression locked to the collet to inhibit movement of the first section relative to the second section. The collar may include a tab that fits within a slot of the collet. The tab and slot combination locates the collar relative to the collet so that a compression locking instrument may be easily positioned and used to lock the collar to the collet without undue manipulation of the collar.
An embodiment of a transverse connector may allow a length, a rotation angle, and an angulation angle between a first section of the transverse connector and a second section of the transverse connector to be adjusted. When the transverse connector is properly adjusted, tightening a fastener inhibits motion of the first section relative to the second section. The fastener of a transverse connector may be a component of a fastening system. The fastening system may include a lining. The lining may be, but is not limited to a bushing or a sleeve. The lining may be positioned within the second section of the transverse connector. The first section of the transverse connector may be positioned through the lining and the second section.
To adjust a length of a transverse connector, a distance between an elongated member opening in the first section and an elongated member opening in the second section may be adjusted by moving the elongated member opening of the first section towards or away from the elongated member opening of the second section. A transverse connector may allow adjustment of the length of the transverse connector within a limited range. For example, an embodiment of a transverse connector may have an adjustment range between centers of elongated member openings of from about 37 mm to 44 mm, another embodiment may have an adjustment range of from about 43 mm to 51 mm, another embodiment may have an adjustment range of from about 50 mm to 65 mm, and another embodiment may have an adjustment range of from about 61 to 80 mm. Other adjustment ranges may also be used.
An opening through the second section may be sized to allow the first section to be angled relative to the second section. A width of the opening may allow only a limited range of angulation between the first section and the second section. For example, the width of the opening may allow the angulation of the first section relative to the second section from about 0° to about 18°. An opening may be positioned through the second section so that smaller or larger angulation ranges are possible. For example, the width of the opening may allow the angulation of the first section relative to the second section in a range of from 0° to 100, or in a range from 0° to 30°. The opening may be offset from a longitudinal axis of the second section so that the angulation of the first section relative to the second section does not have a lower limit of 0°. For example, the opening of the second section may allow an angulation range of from 10° to 35°. In other embodiments, different angulation ranges and a limits for the angulation ranges are possible. If a transverse connector cannot be angulated in the direction of a desired orientation, a section that is placed over an elongated member may be removed from the elongated member and placed on the opposite elongated member to allow the transverse connector to be angulated in the desired direction.
An opening may also allow the first section to rotate relative to the second section. The first section may include a shaft that has a flat portion. A height of the opening in the second section may be sized so that an edge of the flat portion of the shaft engages the second section when a user attempts to rotate the first section beyond a limited rotation range. The engagement between the shaft and the second section may limit the range of rotational motion of the first section relative to the second section. In an embodiment, the first section is configured to rotate plus or minus 10° relative to the second section. In other embodiments, the rotational range of motion may be greater or less than plus or minus 10°. For example, the rotation of the first section relative to the second section may be limited to plus or minus 5°, or the rotation of the first section relative to the second section may be limited to plus or minus 20°. Other embodiments may have different rotational limits.
When the position of the first section relative to the second position is properly adjusted, the position may be set by tightening a fastener of the fastener system. In an embodiment, the fastener is a setscrew that pushes against a lining. Tightening the fastener creates shear forces between the setscrew, the lining, the first section, and the second section. The shear forces inhibit motion of the first section relative to the second section. The fastener may be another type of fastener, including, but not limited to, a nut or a cam member.
An adjustable transverse connector may include a fastening system that securely attaches the transverse connector to an elongated member of an orthopedic stabilization system. In an embodiment, the fastening system is a cam system. In alternate embodiments the fastening system may be, but is not limited to, a setscrew, a clamping system, or a nut and threaded fastener.
A first section and a second section of the transverse connector may be configured to be inseparable after assembly. A fastener used to fix the position of the first section of the body and the second section of the body may be threaded into the transverse connector. In an embodiment, the fastener may be inhibited from being removed from the transverse connector. The transverse connector may be supplied as an assembled unit to a surgeon who will install the transverse connector in a patient. Having fastening systems pre-installed in the transverse connector, the first section inseparable from the second section, and the fastener threaded on the transverse connector makes the transverse connector a unitary structure. The unitary structure transverse connector may be easy to install within a patient because the transverse connector includes no separate pieces that need to be attached during installation within a patient. Also, the unitary structure has no pieces that may fall out of the connector, be misplaced, be cross threaded, or be incorrectly positioned during an installation procedure within the patient.
A drive tool used to tighten a fastener that secures a first section of a transverse connector to a second section of the transverse connector may be the same instrument that is used to tighten fastening systems that couple elongated members to the transverse connectors. Using the same instrument to tighten the fastener and engage the cam system may minimize the instrument set needed to install a transverse connector within a patient. If the fastener that secures the first section of the transverse connector to the second section of the transverse connector is a threaded connector, a torque wrench may be attached to the drive tool so that a proper amount of torque may be applied to the fastener.
When a fastener that inhibits motion of a first section of a transverse connector relative to a second section of the transverse connector or a fastening system that couples an elongated member to the transverse connector is tightened, a counter-torque wrench may be coupled to the transverse connector. The counter-torque wrench allows the application of an offset torque to the transverse connector. The offset torque may prevent undesired movement of a stabilization system or patient when the fastener or a fastening system is rotated.
An advantage of a fixed length transverse connector is that the transverse connector may be a unitary structure that has no removable parts. The transverse connector may be top loaded onto elongated members. The absence of removable parts, such as setscrews or fasteners, may allow the transverse connector to be easily and quickly installed within a patient. The unitary structure also has no parts that can fall out of the transverse connector, be misplaced, be cross threaded, or be incorrectly positioned during installation.
An advantage of an adjustable transverse connector is that the transverse connector may be supplied to a surgeon as a single unit. The transverse connector may be top loaded onto elongated members. The unit has no separable parts, and if the unit includes threaded members, the threaded members may be pre-attached to the unit. Pre-attaching threaded members to the unit avoids the need to thread the parts into the unit during installation within the patient.
An advantage of a transverse connector that uses cam systems to couple the transverse connector to elongated members is that the transverse connector may be attached to the elongated members without the use of threaded fasteners. The absence of threaded fasteners allows the connector to be attached to an elongated member without the transverse connector being under-tightened or over-tightened. The cam system may include an indicator that informs the user when the transverse connector is properly fastened to an elongated member. The indicator may be a visual indication, such as a position of a driving tool, and/or the indicator may be a vibrational signal transmitted to the user when the cam system is activated.
An advantage of transverse connectors is that several sizes of fixed length connectors and several adjustable transverse connectors may be provided to a surgeon who will install a stabilization system within a patient. The different types and sizes of transverse connectors may allow a surgeon to install a stabilization system that best fits a patient.
An advantage of an adjustable transverse connector is that the connector may be used to connect orthopedic rods that are not oriented parallel to each other. The transverse rod may be used to connect rods that are not horizontally parallel and/or vertically parallel. The transverse connector may also be used to connect rods that are oriented parallel to each other.
Another advantage of a transverse connector is that the transverse connector may have a thin and low profile. The low profile of the transverse connector may allow the transverse connector to have a minimal effect on adjacent tissue when the transverse connector is installed within a patient. The thin profile may allow the transverse connector to be easily positioned at desired locations on a stabilization system. Further advantages of transverse connectors may include that the transverse connectors are sturdy, durable, light weight, simple, efficient, reliable and inexpensive; yet the transverse connectors may also be easy to manufacture, install, and use.
FIG. 26 is a perspective view of an instrument used to inhibit movement of a first section of a transverse connector relative to a second section of the transverse connector when the transverse connector has a collet and collar fastening system.
With reference to the drawings, transverse connectors are denoted generally as 30. Transverse connectors 30 may be used to connect elongated members 28 of an orthopedic stabilization system 32 together. Transverse connectors 30 may provide rigidity to the orthopedic stabilization system 32. Transverse connectors 30 may also inhibit undesired motion of the orthopedic stabilization system 32. Transverse connectors 30 may be fixed length transverse connectors or adjustable length transverse connectors. The elongated members 28 of an orthopedic stabilization system 32 may be coupled to bones 34 by fixation elements 36. The fixation elements 36 may be, but are not limited to, hooks and bone screw connectors. In an embodiment, the elongated members 28 are spinal rods that are coupled to vertebral bodies 34 by fixation elements 36. The spinal rods 28, fixation elements 36, and transverse connectors 30 form part of a spinal stabilization system 32. FIG. 3 shows a portion of an embodiment of a spinal stabilization system 32.
Elongated members 28 of an orthopedic stabilization system 32 may be, but are not limited to, circular rods or rods having other cross sectional geometries. Other types of cross sectional geometries for elongated members 28 may include, but are not limited to, oval, rectangular, or polygonal shaped cross sectional areas. Elongated members 28 may be two separate contoured members that are positioned on opposite sides of a bone or bones 34 that are to be stabilized. In an alternate embodiment, the elongated members 28 may be two ends of a single bent and contoured elongated member. The elongated members 28 shown in FIG. 3 are two ends of a single bent and contoured elongated member.
A transverse connector 30 may include body 38, a pair of elongated member openings 40, and fastening systems 42 that couple the transverse connector to elongated members 28. The fastening systems 42 may be cam systems. The body 38 of the transverse connector 30 spans a distance between a pair of elongated members 28 of an orthopedic stabilization system 32 during use. A body 38 of a fixed length transverse connector 30′ may be a single member that optionally includes at least one indented surface 44. FIGS. 4 and 5 show embodiments of fixed length transverse connectors 30′. A body 38 of an adjustable transverse connector 30″ may include first section 46 and second section 48. The position of the first section 46 may be adjustable relative to the position of the second section 48. FIGS. 6 and 7 show embodiments of adjustable length transverse connectors 30″. The components of a transverse connector 30 may be made of biocompatible material including, but not limited to titanium, titanium alloys, stainless steel and ceramics.
A transverse connector 30 may include a pair of elongated member openings 40. Surfaces 50 of the elongated member openings 40 may closely conform to a shape of an exterior surface of an elongated member 28 so that a tight fit is formed between the surface and the elongated member when the transverse connector 30 is coupled to the elongated member. The elongated member openings 40 may include open sections that allow the elongated member openings to be top loaded onto elongated members 28. The elongated members 28 may be attached by fixation elements 36 to a patient before the transverse connector 30 is coupled to the elongated members. In an alternate embodiment, an elongated member opening 40 may not include an open section that allows the elongated member opening to be top loaded onto an elongated member 28. To use a transverse connector 30 that does not include an open section in an elongated member opening 40, the elongated member opening is placed over an end of the elongated member 28 and maneuvered to a desired location before the elongated member is attached within the patient by fixation elements 36.
A fixed length transverse connector 30′ may include a body 38, a pair of elongated member openings 40, and a pair of cam systems 42 configured to couple the transverse connector to elongated members 28. The body 38 of the transverse connector 30′ may include indentations 44 that allow the transverse connector to be bent. Bending the transverse connector 30′ may allow for minor adjustment of a separation distance between elongated member openings 40 of the transverse connector. Bending the transverse connector 30′ may also allow the elongated member openings 40 to be properly oriented relative to elongated members 28 of an orthopedic stabilization system 32 so that there is a large contact area between an elongated member and an elongated member opening. FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of a pair of benders 52, 54 that may be used to adjust a transverse connector 30′. FIG. 9 shows a detail view of a transverse connector 30′ positioned within heads 56 of the benders 52, 54. When a transverse connector 30′ is placed within heads 56 of the benders 52, 54, handles 58 of the benders may be grasped and forced towards each other to bend the transverse connector.
For fixed length transverse connectors 30′ that have small separation distances between the elongated member openings 40, one or both cam systems 42 of the transverse connectors may be positioned so that the cam systems are not located between the elongated member openings. A cam system 42 that is not located between the elongated member openings 40 of a transverse connector 30′ is referred to as an outward positioned cam system. In embodiments, fixed length transverse connectors 30′ having separation distances between centers of the elongated member openings 40 less than about 80 mm may have at least one outward positioned cam system. Embodiments of transverse connectors 30′ with outward positioned cam systems 42 may be produced in incrementally increasing sizes. For example, three sizes of transverse connectors 30′ with outward positioned cam systems 42 may be produced in 5 mm increments with the smallest transverse connector having a separation distance between centers of elongated member openings 40 of about 10 mm. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a transverse connector 30′ having outward positioned cam systems 42. Transverse connectors 30′ having outward positioned cam systems 42 may also be produced in other size ranges and in different incremental lengths.
For fixed length transverse connectors 30′ that have larger separation distances between the elongated member openings 40, the cam systems 42 may be located between the elongated member openings of the transverse connector. Fixed length transverse connectors 30′ having separation distances between centers of the elongated member openings 40 greater than about 15 mm may have cam systems 42 positioned between elongated member openings of the transverse connector. Embodiments of transverse connectors 30′ with cam systems 42 positioned between elongated member openings 40 may be produced in incrementally increasing sizes. For example, four sizes of transverse connectors 30′ with cam systems 42 positioned between elongated member openings 40 may be produced in 5 mm increments with the smallest transverse connector having a separation distance between centers of elongated member openings of about 25 mm. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a transverse connector 30′ having cam systems 42 positioned between elongated member openings 40. Transverse connectors 30 having cam systems 42 positioned between elongated member openings 40 may also be produced in other size ranges and in different incremental lengths.
FIG. 10 shows a cross sectional view of a fixed length transverse connector 30′ without cam systems 42 positioned within cam system openings 60. Cam system openings 60 of a transverse connector 30 may include shoulders 62 and cam guides 64. The shoulders 62 provide surfaces that may inhibit removal of cam systems 42 that are positioned within the cam system openings 60. When a cam system 42 is inserted into a cam system opening 60, the cam system may be substantially contained within the body 38 so that the cam system does not extend a substantial distance above upper surface 66 of the body.
Cam guides 64 may provide limits for rotational motion of cam systems 42 within cam system openings 60 of a transverse connector body 38. The cam guides 64 may also limit an insertion depth of the cam system 42 into the body 38. FIG. 11 shows a bottom view of an embodiment of a transverse connector 30′ with cam guides 64.
A portion of a cam system opening 60 may be formed in an inner surface 50 that defines an elongated member opening 40 of the transverse connector 30. The portion of the cam system opening 60 formed in the inner surface 50 of the elongated member opening 40 allows engager 68 to extend into the elongated member opening 40 and contact an elongated member 28 positioned within the elongated member opening during use. In an embodiment, the engager 68 is cam surface 70 of the cam system 42.
Cam system openings 60 may be angled within the body 38 relative to a longitudinal axis 72 of the transverse connector 30. Alternately, the cam system openings 60 may be formed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 72 of the transverse connector 30. An angled cam system opening 60 allows an engager 68 to contact an elongated member 28 below the mid point of the elongated member so that the engager may press an upper portion of the elongated member against surface 50 of the elongated member opening 40. A longitudinal axis 73 of a cam system opening 60 (and a longitudinal axis of a cam system 42 positioned within the opening) may be angled at an angle A with respect to the longitudinal axis 72 of the transverse connector 30, as shown in FIG. 10. A cam system opening 60, and a cam system 42 positioned within the opening, may be angled from about 45° to 90° relative to the longitudinal axis 72 of the transverse connector 30. Preferably, the cam system openings 60 are angled greater than 60° relative to the longitudinal axis 72 of the transverse connector 30. For example, in an embodiment, the cam system openings 60 are angled at 70° relative to the longitudinal axis 72 of the transverse connector 30. The large angle of the cam system opening 60 may allow for easy access to tool opening 74 of a cam system 42 positioned within the cam system opening. An opening in a body of other transverse connectors, such as a transverse connector shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,966, may be formed at a significantly smaller angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the transverse connector, such as about 45°. The smaller angle of an opening in other transverse connectors may make accessing a tool opening more difficult and/or inconvenient during an installation procedure.
An initial manufacturing process that forms an elongated member 28 may form an outer surface of the elongated member as a smooth surface. A subsequent process may texture the outer surface of the elongated member 28. Similarly, an initial manufacturing process that forms a transverse connector 30 may form elongated member opening surfaces 50 as smooth surfaces. A subsequent process may texture the elongated member opening surfaces 50. Also, elongated member contact surfaces of engagers 68 may be textured. Texturing an outer surface of an elongated member 28, elongated member opening surfaces 50, and/or contact surfaces of engagers 68 may provide large coefficients of friction between the elongated member and the transverse connector 30 as compared to similar smooth surfaces so that motion of the elongated member is inhibited when the transverse connector is coupled to the elongated member. The outer surface of an elongated member 28, elongated member opening surfaces 50, or contact surfaces of engagers 68 may be textured by any texturing process, including but not limited to, scoring the surface, a ball peening process, an electric discharge process, or embedding hard particles within the surface. FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of a portion of a textured elongated member opening surface 50 of an elongated member opening that has a scored surface.
FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of a cam system 42 that is positionable within a cam system opening 60 of a transverse connector 30. The cam system 42 may include protrusions 76, main body 78, and cam surface 70. When a cam system 42 is inserted into a cam system opening 60, wall 80 of the cam system opening (shown in FIG. 10) may compress all of the protrusions 76 inwards. The protrusions 76 may snap back to their original configuration when upper surfaces 82 of the protrusions 76 pass the shoulder 62 of the cam system opening 60. If a force is applied to the cam system 42 that tends to force the cam system out of the cam system opening 60, the upper surfaces 82 may engage the shoulder 62 to inhibit removal of the cam system from the cam system opening.
FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a transverse connector 30 that includes a vibrational indicator that informs a user that a cam system 42 has been engaged. The transverse connector 30 includes pin 84 positioned through the transverse connector body 38 so that a portion of the pin extends into a cam system opening 60 adjacent to protrusions 76 of the cam system 42. If the cam system 42 is rotated, a protrusion 76 will contact the pin 84 so that the protrusion is deflected inwards. When the edge of the deflected protrusion 76 passes the pin 84, the protrusion snaps back outwards and transmits a vibration through the transverse connector body 38. The vibration may be heard and/or felt by a user. The vibration may inform a user that the cam system 42 is being engaged. A certain number of vibrations may indicate to a user that the cam system 42 is fully engaged. For example, if there are six protrusions 76, and if the cam system 42 is fully engaged when the cam system is rotated 180°, three separate vibrations during rotation of the cam system would indicate that the cam system is fully engaged.
A main body 78 of a cam system 42 may fit within a cylindrical portion of a cam system opening 60. An insertion depth of the cam system 42 into a transverse connector body 38 may be limited when the main body 78 contacts a cam guide 64 of the transverse connector body. When a cam system 42 is placed within a cam system opening 60 so that the main body 78 contacts a cam guide 64, the upper surfaces 82 of the protrusions 76 may pass past the shoulder 62 of the cam system opening so that removal of the cam system from the cam system opening is inhibited.
Tool opening 74 may be formed in the main body 78. The tool opening 74 may allow insertion of drive tool 86 in the main body 78 so that the cam system 42 may be rotated. The tool opening 74 may be configured to accept drive head 88 of the drive tool 86. The drive tool 86 may be, but is not limited to, a diamond drive, a hex wrench, a star drive, a screwdriver, or a socket wrench. FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a drive tool 86 that may be used to tighten a cam system 42 of a transverse connector 30. The drive tool 86 may include handle 90, shaft 92, and drive head 88. The handle 90 may be shaped so that a user may comfortably and securely grasp and use the drive tool 86. The handle 90 may have an elongated shape that can be aligned relative to the transverse connector 30 or an elongated member 28 to provide an indication during use that the transverse connector has been coupled to the elongated member. In an embodiment of a drive tool 86, the drive tool has a “T”-shaped handle 90, as shown in FIG. 14. The shaft 92 of the drive tool 86 may mechanically attach the handle 90 to the drive head 88. FIG. 15 shows a detail view of an embodiment of the drive head 88 of a diamond drive tool 86.
FIG. 16 shows an embodiment of torque limiting wrench 94 that may be used when a cam system 42 of a transverse connector 30 is tightened. The torque limiting wrench 94 may inhibit undesired motion of a patient or parts of a stabilization system 32 when a cam system 42 is rotated. The torque limiting wrench 94 may include hollow shaft 96, head 98, and handle 100. A drive tool shaft 92 may be placed through the hollow shaft 96 and into a tool opening 74. The head 98 may be placed on the transverse connector 30 so that inner surfaces of the lips 102 of the head contact sides of the transverse connector. The drive tool 86 may be rotated one direction to apply a torque to a cam system 42. Force may be applied to the handle 100 in the opposite direction to counter the torque applied to the cam system 42.
A tool opening 74 of a cam system 42 may be configured to accept a drive tool 86 in an initial desired orientation. The diamond drive tool head 88 shown in FIG. 15 may be inserted into a tool opening 74 of a cam system 42 in only two orientations. In either orientation, handle 90 may be offset at an angle from an elongated member 28 positioned within an elongated member opening 40 of the transverse connector 30. Rotating the drive tool 86 rotates the cam system 42 so that an elongated member 28 positioned within an elongated member opening 40 adjacent to the cam system is secured to the transverse connector 30. A user may be able to feel resistance to turning that indicates that the transverse connector 30 is being securely coupled to the elongated member 28. A cam guide 64 of the transverse connector 30 may limit the rotation range of the cam system 42. The position of the handle 90 after rotation may provide a visual indication to a user that the transverse connector 30 has been securely coupled to the elongated member 28. In an embodiment, the handle 90 of the drive tool 86 is oriented substantially parallel to the elongated member 28 after the drive tool has been rotated to fully engage the transverse connector 30 to the elongated member. In other embodiments, the handle 90 may be substantially perpendicular to the elongated member 28 when the transverse connector 30 is fully engaged to the elongated member. Other types of visual indication systems may be used to determine when an elongated member 28 is secured to a transverse connector 30. For example, markings on the shaft 92 may align with markings on the transverse connector 30 to indicate that an elongated member 28 has been coupled to the transverse connector.
In an embodiment, a cam system 42 may fully engage a transverse connector 30 to an elongated member 28 when the cam system is rotated 170°. A handle 90 of a drive tool 86 may be initially offset from the elongated member 28 by about 10° when the drive tool head 88 is positioned in a tool opening 74 of the cam system 42. When the drive tool 86 is rotated 170° to secure the elongated member 28 to the transverse connector 30, the handle 90 may become substantially parallel to the elongated member. Embodiments of cam systems 42 may fully engage transverse connectors 30 to elongated member 28 when the cam systems are rotated less or greater than 170°. For example, in an embodiment, a cam system 42 is configured to fully engage a transverse connector 30 to an elongated member 28 when the cam system is rotated about 10°. In another embodiment, a cam system lock 42 is configured to fully engage a transverse connector 30 to an elongated member 28 when the cam system is rotated about 360°. Other embodiments of cam systems 42 may be configured to fully engage a transverse connector 30 to an elongated member 28 when the cam system is rotated to some desired value between 10° and 360°.
FIG. 11 shows a bottom view of an embodiment of a transverse connector 30. One engager 68 is shown fully engaged against an elongated member 28. Another engager 68 is shown in an initial or unengaged position. The cams 68 of the transverse connector 30 shown in the embodiment of FIG. 11 become fully engaged against an elongated member 28 when the cams systems 42 are rotated 170°.
To form a fixed length transverse connector 30′, the body 38 of the transverse connector is machined to form elongated member openings 40, cam system openings 60 for cam systems 42, and cam guides 64. Indentions 44 may be formed in the body 38 to allow the transverse connector 30′ to be bent. Cam systems 42 are also machined. The elongated member opening surfaces 50 and/or the contact surfaces of the engagers 68 may be textured so that the coefficient of friction between the surfaces and elongated members 28 placed against the surfaces will be high. The cam systems 42 may be inserted into the cam system openings 60 until the upper surfaces of the protrusions 76 pass the shoulders 62 of the cam system openings. When the cam systems 42 are inserted into the cam system openings 60, the transverse connector 30′ is formed.
To establish a bone stabilization system 32, a pair of elongated members 28 may be coupled to the bone or bones 34 being stabilized. The elongated members 28 may be coupled to the bone or bones 34 by fixation elements 36 (shown in FIG. 3). A transverse connector 30′ may be placed over the elongated members 28 so that the elongated members are positioned within elongated member openings 40 of the transverse connector 30 at a desired location. If necessary or desired, the transverse connector 30′ may be bent with benders 52, 54 so that surfaces 50 of the elongated member openings 40 contact large areas of the elongated members 28. A torque limiting wrench 94 may be placed on the transverse connector 30, and a shaft 92 of a drive tool 86 may be inserted through the hollow shaft 96 of the torque limiting wrench. A head 88 of a drive tool 86 may be inserted into a tool opening 74 of a first cam system 42 of the transverse connector 30′. The drive tool 86 may be rotated to rotate the cam system 42. Rotating the cam system 42 may force an engager 68 into an elongated member opening 40 so that the engager presses an elongated member 28 against the surface 50 of the elongated member opening. The engager 68 may be a cam surface 70 of the cam system 42. The drive tool 86 may be removed from the tool opening 74 of the first cam system 42. The drive tool 86 and the torque limiting wrench 94 may be repositioned so that the drive tool head 88 is inserted into the tool opening 74 of the second cam system 42. The drive tool 86 may be rotated to force an engager 68 against the second elongated member 28 so that the engager presses the second elongated member against the second elongated member opening surface 50. Other transverse connectors 30 may be attached to the elongated members 28 at other locations along the lengths of the elongated members.
FIG. 17 shows an exploded view of an embodiment of an adjustable transverse connector 30″. The adjustable transverse connector 30″ may include first section 46, second section 48, optional lining 104, fastener 106, elongated member openings 40 and cam systems 42. The optional lining 104 may be, but is not limited to, a bushing or a sleeve. The fastener 106 may fix the position of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48. The cam systems 42 may securely fasten an elongated member 28 to a section 46 or 48 of the transverse connector 30″. In alternate embodiments, an elongated member 28 may be fastened to a transverse connector 30″ by connecting mechanisms other than cam system 42. The other types of connecting mechanisms may include, but are not limited to, setscrews, and connector and nut arrangements. Combinations of different types of connecting mechanisms may also be used to couple a transverse connector 30″ to an elongated member 23.
A first section 46 of an adjustable transverse connector 30″ may include shaft 108. The shaft 108 may include flat surface 110. The shaft 108 may be inserted through a lining 104 positioned within holder 112 of a second section 48. The lining 104 may include circular bore 114. The bore 114 may have a diameter that is slightly larger than diameter D (shown in FIG. 22) of the shaft 108. End 116 of the shaft 108 may include countersunk opening 118 (as shown in FIG. 20) that allows the end to be peened after insertion through the holder 112 and lining 104. Peening the end 116 may inhibit removal of the lining 104 from the holder 112, and the first section 46 from the second section 48. A separation distance between centers of elongated member openings 40 of the transverse connector 30″ may be adjusted by moving elongated member opening of the first section 46 towards or away from an elongated member opening of the second section 48.
Several different transverse connectors 30″ may be formed with varying adjustment ranges. An adjustment range of a transverse connector 30″ is the range through which a separation distance between centers of elongated member openings 40 may be adjusted. For example embodiments of transverse connectors 30″ may be formed that have the following overlapping adjustment ranges.
Other transverse connectors 30″ may be made that have different adjustment ranges.
A holder 112 of a second section 48 of an adjustable transverse connector 30″ may include first opening 120 and second opening 122. The first opening 120 allows a lining 104 to be inserted into the holder 112 so that a bore 114 of the lining aligns with the second opening 122. In an embodiment, the first opening 120 may be a blind hole that does not extend completely through the holder 112. The second opening 122 allows a first section shaft 108 to be placed through the holder 112 and the lining 104. Placing a shaft 108 of the first section 46 through the holder 112 and the lining 104 inhibits removal of the lining from the holder.
A fastener 106 may be used to apply force to a lining 104 to inhibit movement of a first section 46 of an adjustable transverse connector 30″ relative to a second section 48 of the transverse connector. In an embodiment, the fastener 106 is a setscrew that mates to threading 124 in an upper section of the holder 112. Tightening the setscrew 106 forces an end of the setscrew against a lining 104 to force a first section shaft 108 against the holder 112. The resulting forces between the setscrew 106, the lining 104, the shaft 108 and the holder 112 inhibit motion of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48. Other types of fasteners 106 may be used. For example, in an embodiment the fastener 106 may be a cam mechanism that forces the lining 104 against the shaft 108 when the cam is engaged. In an alternate embodiment, the fastener 106 may be a nut that threads to a shaft extending from the lining 104. A counter torque may be applied to the transverse connector 30″ by a torque limiting wrench 94 to inhibit movement of the transverse connector, stabilization system 32, or patient when the fastener 106 is tightened.
The fastener 106 may include tool opening 74. Drive head 88 of drive tool 86 may be inserted into the tool opening 74. The drive tool 86 may be rotated to rotate the fastener 106. Rotating the fastener 106 in a clockwise direction may press end 126 of the fastener against a top of the lining 104. The end 126 of the fastener 106 may have a large surface area to provide a large contact area with the lining 104. The contact of the fastener 106 against the lining 104 may press a shaft 108 against a holder 112 so that the axial, angular, and rotational motion of a first section 46 of a transverse connector 30″ relative to a second section 48 of the transverse connector is inhibited. The drive tool 86 may be, but is not limited to, a diamond drive, a hex wrench, a star drive, a screwdriver, or a socket wrench. Preferably, the drive tool 86 for fastener 106 is the same instrument that may be used to rotate fastening systems 42 that couple the transverse connector 30 to elongated members 28. In alternate embodiments, tool openings 74 for cam systems 42 may have a different style than a tool opening for a fastener 106. For example, the tool openings 74 for the cam systems 42 may accept a diamond drive, while the tool opening 74 for the fastener 106 may be adapted to accept a drive head of a hex wrench.
FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a drive tool 86 that may be used to tighten a fastener 106 of a transverse connector 30″. The handle 90 of the drive tool 86 may include an opening 128. The opening 128 may be configured to accept drive 130 of torque wrench 132. FIG. 18 shows an embodiment of a torque wrench 132. The torque wrench 132 may be used to inform a user when sufficient torque has been applied to the fastener 106. A sufficient amount of torque is enough torque to inhibit movement of a first section 46 of the transverse connector 30″ relative to the second section 48 of the transverse connector.
In alternate transverse connector embodiments, an optional lining 104 may not be used. A fastener 106 may directly contact a shaft 108 of a first section 46 of a transverse connector 30″ that is positioned through a holder 112 of a second section 48 of the transverse connector. The contact between the fastener 106, the shaft 108, and the holder 112 may inhibit movement of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48.
A second opening 122 in a holder 112 may allow a first section 46 to be angulated relative to a second section 48. FIG. 19 shows a top view of an embodiment of a transverse connector 30″ where the first section 46 is angulated relative to the second section 48. Elongated members 28 of an orthopedic stabilization system 32 may be horizontally skewed relative to each other. The ability to angulate the first section 46 relative to the second section 48 allows the transverse connector 30″ to be coupled to elongated members 28 that are horizontally skewed. In embodiments of stabilization systems 32, the elongated members may be horizontally parallel. To accommodate horizontally parallel elongated members 28, the first section 46 may be adjusted relative to the second section 48 so that there is no angulation between the first section and the second section.
To allow a first section 46 of a transverse connector 30″ to be angulated relative to a second section 48 of the transverse connector, width W (as shown in FIG. 22) of a second opening 122 in a holder 112 of the second section may be larger than a diameter D of a shaft 108 passing through the holder. The large width W of the second opening 122 allows the shaft 108 to slide laterally within the second opening 122 until the fastener 106 is used to set the position of the shaft.
In an embodiment of a transverse connector 30″, an angulation range of a first section 46 relative to a second section 48 may be from about 0° to about 18°. The amount of angulation may be less or greater than 18° in other embodiments. For example, in an embodiment, the angulation range of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48 is from 0° to 10°; and in another embodiment, the angulation range is from 0° to 30°. Larger or smaller ranges may also be used. A position of a second opening 122 may be altered to change the limits of the angulation. For example, in an embodiment, the second opening 122 is positioned so that the angulation range is from 10° to 30°. Other embodiments may allow for different amounts of angulation or for different angulation ranges. If the transverse connector 30″ cannot be angulated in a desired direction when a first section 46 is placed on a first elongated member 28, the first section may be removed from the elongated member and placed on a second elongated member to allow the transverse connector to be angulated in the desired direction.
A second opening 122 in a holder 112 may allow a first section 46 of a transverse connector 30″ to be rotated relative to a second section 48 of the transverse connector. Elongated members 28 of an orthopedic stabilization system 32 may be vertically parallel, or the elongated members may be vertically skewed relative to each other. If the elongated members 28 are vertically skewed relative to each other, the amount of skew is typically less than about 5°, but the skew may be as large as 20° or more. The ability to rotate the first section 46 of the transverse connector 30″ allows the transverse connector to be coupled to vertically skewed elongated members 28.
To allow a first section 46 of a transverse connector 30″ to be rotated relative to a second section 48 of the transverse connector, a shaft 108 of the first section is allowed to rotate within a lining 104. In an embodiment, height H of a second opening 122 in the second section 48 is slightly larger than a diameter D of the shaft 108. The height H of the ax second opening 122 allows the shaft 108 to be rotated a full 360° relative to the second section 48. In an alternate embodiment, which is shown in FIG. 22, the height H of the second opening 122 is smaller than the diameter D of the shaft 108 of the first section 46. A flat surface 110 of the shaft 108 may limit the range of rotation of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48 to a useful range. If a user tries to rotate the first section 46 beyond a limited range, an edge of the flat surface 110 will contact the holder 112 and inhibit rotation of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48. The flat surface 110 of the shaft 108 and the second opening 122 may allow the first section 46 to rotate relative to the second section 48 about plus or minus 45° (for less than a 90° range of motion), preferably less than plus or minus 20° (for less than a 40° range of motion), and most preferably less than about plus or minus 10° (for less than a 20° range of motion). FIG. 21 shows an embodiment of a transverse connector 30″ with a first section 46 that is rotated relative to a second section 48.
Limiting the range of rotational motion of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48 may inhibit the rotation of the first section into unusable positions. Unusable positions of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48 are positions that do not allow for easy instrument access to tool openings 74 of the transverse connector 30″. For example, an embodiment of a transverse connector 30″ may allow the first section 46 to rotate 360° relative to the second section 48. When the first section 46 is rotated 180° relative to the second section 48, the elongated member opening 40 of one of the sections will be oriented upwards, while the elongated member opening of the other section will be oriented downwards. The tool opening 74 of a cam system 42 that fastens the section with the upwards facing elongated member opening 40 to an elongated member 28 will not be easily accessible, and therefore, the transverse connector 30 is in an unusable position. Limiting the range of rotational motion of the first section 46 relative to the second section 48 may allow for easy instrument access to all parts of the transverse connector 30 that need to be tightened without excessive manipulation of the transverse connector.
Elongated member openings 40 of a transverse connector 30 may be placed over elongated members 28 of an orthopedic stabilization system 32. Cam systems 42 may be used to fasten the transverse connector 30 to the elongated members 28. A cam system 42 may be positioned within a cam system opening 60 in each section 46, 48 of the transverse connector 30. FIG. 20 shows a cross sectional view of an embodiment of a transverse connector 30″. The sections 46, 48 of the transverse connector 30″ may include cam system openings 60 for cam systems 42 (only one cam system is shown in FIG. 20). The cam systems 42 and cam system openings 60 for an adjustable transverse connector 30″ may be the same as the cam systems and cam system openings for a fixed length transverse connector 30′. FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of a cam system 42.
FIG. 23 shows an embodiment of a head 56 of a bender 52. The head 56 may include two pockets 134 and 136. The first pocket 134 may be used to bend a fixed length transverse connector 30′. The second pocket 136 may be used to bend an adjustable transverse connector 30″. FIG. 24 shows an adjustable transverse connector 30″ positioned within benders 52, 54. The benders 52, 54 may be used to “tent” the transverse connector 30″ so that a middle portion of the transverse connector is the highest portion of the transverse connector when the transverse connector is installed in a patient.
To form a transverse connector 30″, a first section 46, a second section 48, and a lining 104 are machined. Cam systems 42 are also machined. The elongated member opening surfaces 50 and/or the contact surfaces of the engagers 68 may be textured so that the coefficient of friction between the surfaces and elongated members 28 placed against the surfaces will be high. Cam systems 42 are inserted into cam system openings 60 of the first section 46 and the second section 48. The cam systems 42 are inserted into the cam system openings 60 until the surfaces 82 of the cam systems pass the shoulders 62 of the openings. A lining 104 is placed within a holder 112 of the second section 48. A shaft 108 of the first section 46 is inserted through the holder 112 and lining 104. End 116 of the shaft 108 is peened or flared to inhibit removal of the first section 46 from the second section 48. A fastener 106 is coupled to the holder 112.
FIG. 7 shows an alternate embodiment of an adjustable transverse connector 30″. The transverse connector 30″ may include first section 46, second section 48, and fastener 106. FIG. 25 shows a cross sectional view of a portion of the transverse connector 30″. The first section 46 may include shaft 138. The shaft 138 may include flared end 140. The second section 48 may include tapered collet 142 and hollow shaft 144. The fastener 106 may be a collar that is compression locked to the collet 142. The collet 142 may include holding members 146, ledge 148, longitudinal slots 150 and shoulder 152. The collar 106 may include a tapered bore 154 and tabs 156. The taper of the bore 154 may substantially correspond to the taper of the tapered collet 142. A maximum diameter of the collet 142 may be greater than a maximum diameter of the bore 154 of the collar 106. The tabs 156 may be placed within the longitudinal slots 150 in the collet 142 to couple the collar 106 to the second section 48. The tabs 156 and the diameter of the bore 154 relative to the diameter of the collet 142 may limit the axial range of motion of the collar 106 relative to the second section 48. The shaft 138 of the first section 46 may be inserted into the hollow shaft 144 of the second section 48. The flared end 140 of the shaft 138 may contact the ledge 148 of the collet 142 to inhibit the first section 46 from being separated from the second section 48.
A length of an adjustable transverse connector 30″ shown in FIG. 7 may be adjusted by sliding a first section 46 axially relative to a second section 48. Also, the first section 46 may be rotated relative to the second section 48. The ability to rotate the first section 46 relative to the second section 48 allows the transverse connector 30″ to be used with elongated members 28 that are skewed relative to each other such that the elongated members are not vertically parallel. When a desired length and rotation of the transverse connector 30″ is established, the position of the first and second sections 46, 48 may be fixed to inhibit movement of the first section relative to the second section.
A portion of the shaft 138 may include a flat surface. An insert positioned and fixed within the hollow shaft 144 may limit the range of rotational motion of the first section 46 within the second section 48. An edge of the flat surface of the shaft 138 may contact an edge of the insert to limit the rotational range of the first section 46. Without an insert, the shaft may be able to rotate 360° within the hollow shaft. An insert within the hollow shaft 144 may allow the first section 46 to rotate relative to the second section 48 about plus or minus 45°, preferably less than plus or minus 20°, and most preferably less than about plus or minus 10°.
FIG. 26 shows an embodiment of a locking instrument 158 that may be used to fix a position of a first section 46 of a transverse connector 30″ relative to a second section 48. The locking instrument 158 may include first jaw 160, second jaw 162, first handle 164, and second handle 166. The first jaw 160 may be abutted against a shoulder 152 of a collet 142. The second jaw 162 may be abutted against front end 168 of the collar 106. Squeezing the handles 164, 166 together forces the collar 106 onto the collet 142 and compress the holding members 146 of the collet against the shaft 138 of the first section 46. Enough force may be applied to the collar 106 to frictionally lock the collar to the collet 142.
An outer surface of the shaft 138 and/or an inner surface of the holding members 146 may be roughened to increase the coefficient of friction between the first section 46 and the second section 48. Also, the inner surface of the collar 106 and/or the outer surface of the collet 142 may be roughened to increase the coefficient of friction between the collar and the collet.
To establish a bone stabilization system 32 using an adjustable transverse connector 30″, a pair of contoured elongated members 28, or a single elongated member that is bent and contoured to fit on adjacent sides of a bone 34 or bones that are to be stabilized, may be coupled to the bone or bones being stabilized. The elongated members 28 may be coupled to the bone 34 or bones by fixation elements 36, as shown in FIG. 3. If necessary or desired, the transverse connector 30″ may be bent using a pair of benders 52, 54 so that a middle portion of the transverse connector will be the highest part of the transverse connector when the transverse connector is installed in a patient. A first section 46 and a second section 48 of the transverse connector 30″ may be placed over the elongated members 28 so that the elongated members are positioned within elongated member openings 40 of the transverse connector 30 at a desired location. The length, angulation, and rotation of the transverse connector 30″ may be adjusted so that the elongated members 28 are positioned within the elongated member openings 40 with a large contact area between the elongated member opening surfaces 50 and the elongated members. A torque limiting wrench 94 may be placed on the transverse connector 30, and a shaft 92 of a drive tool 86 may be inserted through the hollow shaft 96 of the torque limiting wrench. A head 88 of a drive tool 86 may be inserted into a tool opening 74 of a first cam system 42 of the transverse connector 30. The drive tool 86 may be rotated to rotate the cam system 42 while applying counter torque with the torque limiting wrench 94. Rotating the cam system 42 may extend a cam 70 into an elongated member opening 40 so that the cam presses the elongated member 28 against the surface 50 of the elongated member opening. The drive tool 86 may be removed from the tool opening 74 of the first cam system 42.
The drive tool 86 and torque limiting wrench 94 may be repositioned so that the torque limiting wrench engages the transverse connector 30 and the head 88 of the drive tool 86 is inserted into the tool opening 74 of the second cam system 42. The drive tool 86 may be rotated, while applying counter torque with the torque limiting wrench 94, to force a cam 70 against the second elongated member 28 so that the cam presses the second elongated member against the second elongated member opening surface 50.
The torque limiting wrench 94 and the drive tool 86 may be repositioned so that the torque limiting wrench engages the transverse connector 30 and the head 88 of the drive tool is inserted into the tool opening 74 of the fastener 106. The fastener 106 may be tightened. A torque wrench 132 may be inserted into the opening 128 of the handle 90. The torque wrench 132 may be used to tighten the fastener 106 while counter torque is applied with the torque limiting wrench 94. Other transverse connectors 30 may be attached to the elongated members 28 at other locations along the lengths of the elongated members.
a fastener configured to inhibit rotational movement of the first section relative to the second section during use, wherein the fastener comprises a collar that is configured to compress the collet and a distance between the first section fastening system and the second section fastening system is adjustable.
2. The connector of claim 1, wherein the first section and the second section are inhibited from becoming uncoupled.
3. The connector of claim 1, wherein the collar is coupled to the collet to limit a distance that the collar can be moved away from the collet.
4. The connector of claim 1, wherein the first section and the second section are configured to be angulated relative to each other within a limited range of angulation that is less than about 60°, and wherein the fastener inhibits change in angulation during use.
5. The connector of claim 4, wherein a lower limit of the limited range of angulation is about 0°.
6. The connector of claim 4, wherein a lower limit of the limited range of angulation is greater than 0°.
7. The connector of claim 1, wherein the limited range of rotational motion is less than about 90°.
8. The connector of claim 1, wherein the limited range of rotational motion is less than about 60°.
9. The connector of claim 1, wherein the limited range of rotational motion is less than about 40°.
10. The connector of claim 1, wherein the fastener inhibits adjustment of the distance between the first section fastening system and the second section fastening system during use.
a lining positioned between a portion of the first section and a portion of the second section.
12. The connector of claim 11, wherein the first section and the second section are inhibited from becoming uncoupled.
13. The connector of claim 11, wherein a lower limit of the limited range of angulation is about 0°.
14. The connector of claim 11, wherein a lower limit of the limited range of angulation is greater than 0°.
15. The connector of claim 11, wherein the first section and the second section are configured to rotate relative to each other.
16. The connector of claim 11, wherein the first section and the second section are configured to rotate relative to each other within a limited range of rotational motion less than about 90°.
17. The connector of claim 11, wherein the first section and the second section are configured to rotate relative to each other within a limited range of rotational motion less than about 60°.
18. The connector of claim 11, wherein the first section and the second section are configured to rotate relative to each other within a limited range of rotational motion less than about 40°.
19. The connector of claim 11, wherein a distance between the first section fastening system and the second section fastening system is adjustable, and wherein the fastener inhibits distance adjustment during use.
wherein change in the offset distance between the first part and the second part of the elongated member is inhibited when the collet is compressed by the collar during use.
21. The connector of claim 20, wherein a range of rotational motion of the first section relative to the second section is limited to less than 360°.
22. The connector of claim 20, wherein a range of rotational motion of the first section relative to the second section is limited to less than 90°.
23. The connector of claim 20, wherein a range of rotational motion of the first section relative to the second section is limited to less than 40°.
24. The connector of claim 20, wherein the first section is inhibited from being removed from the second section.
25. The connector of claim 20, wherein the collar is linked to the collet to limit a range of motion of the collar relative to the collet.
26. The connector of claim 20, wherein the first section further comprises a fastening system, the fastening system configured to couple the first section to the elongated member.
27. The connector of claim 26, wherein the fastening system comprises an opening in the first section configured to accept the elongated member, and a setscrew.
28. The connector of claim 26, wherein the second section further comprises a fastening system configured to couple the second section to a second elongated member.
29. The connector of claim 28, wherein the elongated member and the second elongated member are portions of a unitary, contoured member.
30. The connector of claim 28, wherein a distance between the first section fastening system and the second section fastening system is adjustable, and wherein the fastener inhibits distance adjustment during use.
31. The connector of claim 20, further comprising a compression instrument configured to compress the collar against the collet.
32. The connector of claim 20, wherein a surface of the collar that contacts the collet comprises texturing.
a fastener configured to fix a position of the connecting member relative to the holder during use.
34. The connector of claim 33, wherein the first section is configured to rotate relative to the second section.
35. The connector of claim 33, wherein a range of rotation of the first section relative to the second section is limited to less than about 90°.
36. The connector of claim 33, wherein a range of rotation of the first section relative to the second section is limited to less than about 40°.
37. The connector of claim 33, wherein a range of rotation of the first section relative to the second section is limited to less than about 20°.
38. The connector of claim 33, wherein the first section is configured to be angulated relative to the second section.
39. The connector of claim 33, wherein a range of angulation of the first section relative to the second section is less than about 60°.
40. The connector of claim 39, wherein a lower limit of angulation of the first section relative to the second section is about 0°.
41. The connector of claim 39, wherein a lower limit of angulation of the first section relative to the second section is greater than 0°.
42. The connector of claim 33, wherein a range of angulation of the first section relative to the second section is less than about 20°.
43. The connector of claim 42, wherein a lower limit of angulation of the first section relative to the second section is about 0°.
44. The connector of claim 42, wherein a lower limit of angulation of the first section relative to the second section is greater than 0°.
45. The connector of claim 33, wherein the fastening system comprises an opening in the first section configured to accept the elongated member, and a setscrew.
46. The connector of claim 33, wherein the elongated member and the second elongated member are portions of a unitary, contoured member.
47. The connector of claim 33, wherein a distance between the first section fastening system and the second section fastening system is adjustable, and wherein the fastener inhibits distance adjustment during use.
a fastener configured to inhibit rotational movement of the first section relative to the second section during use, wherein the fastener comprises a collar that is configured to compress the collet.
49. The system of claim 48, wherein the first elongated member and the second elongated member are portions of a unitary, contoured member.
50. The system of claim 48, wherein the first section and the second section are inhibited from becoming uncoupled.
51. The system of claim 48, wherein the collar is coupled to the collet to limit a distance that the collar can be moved away from the collet.
52. The system of claim 48, wherein the first section and the second section are configured to be angulated relative to each other within a limited range of angulation that is less than about 60°, and wherein the fastener inhibits change in angulation during use.
53. The system of claim 52, wherein a lower limit of the limited range of angulation is about 0°.
54. The system of claim 52, wherein a lower limit of the limited range of angulation is greater than 0°.
55. The system of claim 48, wherein the limited range of rotational motion is less than about 90°.
56. The system of claim 48, wherein the limited range of rotational motion is less than about 60°.
57. The system of claim 48, wherein the limited range of rotational motion is less than about 40°.
58. The system of claim 48, wherein the fastener inhibits distance adjustment during use.
International Search Report for International application No. PCT/US 01/31016, mailed on May, 2, 2002.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/680,756; filed Oct. 6, 2000; McBride, et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/684,628; filed Oct. 6, 2000; McBride, et al. | 2019-04-24T14:18:26Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US6872208B1/en |
Week in, week out, Maria Sharapova makes it through to the final stages of tournaments. You have to go back to last year’s Wimbledon last 16 for the last time she was beaten before the semi-finals of a tournament. More often that not though, Maria, who is not ranked number two for nothing, has come second best. Kvitova beat her at Wimbledon ’11, Azarenka in Australia ’12, Beijing ’12, Miami ’11 Indian Wells ’12, to name a few, Serena at the Olympics ’12 and the WTA finals ’12. But these losses have not dented Maria’s spirit. If anything, they have strengthened it. Time and time again she has turned to her opponent on the podium and congratulated them for being the better player on the day with nothing less than a smile on her face. And, courtesy of her finding strength in her defeats, of coming back the week after and contesting the final stages, she has been, now and then, the recipient of the same acknowledgements; when Azarenka and Williams have been absent from the finals, it has been the ever-present Maria, bar the odd blip here and there (Miami 2012, cough), who has lifted the trophy.
In 2011, Maria beat Stosur in Rome and Jankovic in Cincinnati. In 2012, she beat Li Na in Rome, even got a win over Azarenka in Stuttgart and beat Errani in the French Open final. Four of those titles have come on clay, one on hard. And that run of clay court wins in 2012 saw her reclaim the number one spot for a few weeks. But only a few. The rest of the season saw her resuming her now familiar place of posing beside the winner, smiling sweetly with the runner’s up trophy in hand.
So,while, being the competitor that she is, Maria would not have wished for Serena to continue her boycott of Indian Wells or for Azarenka to withdraw from her last eight match, the draw would not have displeased her. The prospects of Errani, Kirilenko, and Wozniacki would have made sleeping somewhat easier than a Li Na, Azarenka or Williams encounter looming. Maria’s fans, and there are millions of them, would have slept easier, too. Spoiled by her earlier career victories from 2004-2008 at Wimbledon, the WTA finals, the US Open, Indian Wells, the Australian Open, the relatively lean times of the past few seasons have been at times frustrating, like having been allowed free reign in the chocolate factory and then being restricted to quarterly supervised visits. And while they, like Maria, would have liked to have gotten their fingers sticky with candy on the back of beating a Williams or an Azarenka, beating Wozniacki in the final was far more preferable than losing to her, which had this match occurred pre 2011, might have happened.
But the 2013 Maria is closer to the 2008 model than ever. Her final display against Wozniacki who had wins over her in Indian Wells ’11 and the US Open ’10, was laden with the hard hitting ground strokes that were missing in those wilderness years when she was susceptible to being beaten by anyone who could keep the ball in play, a practitioner of which Caroline is one of the world’s best. But Maria is out of the wilderness now and those groundstrokes can be unleashed at will and find the lines once more. And while with her high risk games comes errors, she keeps the winner to error margin big enough to keep herself out of the danger zone. Hitting 33 winners to 25 errors, while her opponent hit 2 to 19, Maria Sharapova did not hang around in her quest to add another elite trophy to the cabinet as she beat Wozniacki 6-2, 6-2.
No doubt Maria will be there in the final stages next week. The question is what role will she be playing should she meet Williams in the final? Will it be the smiling bouquet holding bridesmaid or will she and her fans have the keys to the chocolate factory once more?
Down a set and a break in the Indian Wells final to Del Potro, Rafael Nadal dashes to his far right of the court, gets his racket on the ball, and sends it back to Del Potro. The Argentine takes another strike, belting a forehand into the far left of the court. Nadal scurries across and once more sends the much-abused ball back to his opponent. Del Potro strikes again. This time the forehand just misses the line.
Del Potro had gone for too much. But he had had to. Unable to hit through the ‘hard’ court, unable to withstand his opponent’s defense, it was all or nothing. He had to go for the lines to strike winners and he had to strike winners to beat his opponent. While his defensive game has improved, he was never going to win a grinding battle against Nadal. The only game that was going to win him this match was the one built around getting into position and assaulting his opponent with that forehand, one of the most varied and potent in tennis. That game had worked for the first set and a half. He had been able to thwart his opponent’s defense, that mighty forehand tearing it down. But the longer Nadal is on the court, be it clay, hard or grass, the better his chances are. The more he runs, the more pumped-up he gets. And the tougher the battle gets, the harder he bites, and those teeth are sharp.
It was at a set and a break up in favor of Del Potro when the Argentine had to put Nadal away or else face the pain that is a fighting Nadal. Though Del Potro went for the lines, the ball just kept coming back and Del Potro started to miss. The kind of form that it takes for a big hitting giant like Del Potro to hit through these slow hard courts is, after all, temporary. On the other hand, the kind of class a player like Nadal has is permanent. Despite his seven month absence from the top flight of tennis, despite an opponent on the back of beating his big match nightmares Murray and Djokovic, despite not winning a hard court tournament since 2010, Nadal not only managed to get the balls back but also to attack when the moment arose, showcasing the hard court prowess that saw him win two hard court slams and multiple masters titles.
At 2-3 down in the second set, Del Potro serving, Nadal took matters in hand, defending and attacking in equal measure. And once he had broken back, once that forehand of his was on form and he had the Argentine on the run, unable to hit forehand winners, the chances of Del Potro winning the match shortened. Nadal, after all, is a matter of the tennis match, working his way into the game and then getting a grip on the momentum once he has swung it his way. Once Nadal broke Del Potro, the Argentine’s chances were all but gone. Counting him out would have been foolish considering his comeback win against Djokovic in the semi-finals but this was the Indian Wells’ final against one of the greatest competitors in the game. Finals and semi-finals are different beasts for players like Nadal, they bring out their very best when the trophy is courtside ready to be engraved with their names, and the third set saw a Nadal as consistent as ever, those ground strokes as unrelenting and that attitude as competitive as it had been before his disappearance from the tour last June.
Nadal put Del Potro under pressure as the third set got underway, making him fight for more than ten minutes to win his opening service game of the third set. It was now a case of how long Del Potro could stay in the match as he misfired his forehand and his legs began to wilt from covering all the corners of the court in the midday heat. With his game now collapsing, there would only be so many epic service games he could survive. With Del Potro looking vulnerable, Nadal did not let up. Nadal kept getting him on the run, took his chances and lapped up his opponent’s errors, pumping his fist and firing himself up. The Spaniard broke Del Potro at 1-1 with a forehand winner into the open court. Nadal’s muscle memory is not limited to his limbs alone. His brain had not forgotten to win as much as his hitting perfect topspin forehands had not escaped his arms. In front and having played himself into the match, Nadal kept his form and won the match with some fine attacking tennis in the final game, moving forward when the chance arose to hold two championship points. One was enough. Hitting deep, loopy forehands to Del Potro’s forehand side, the Argentine, not in the mood to trade forehands, went for a shot down the line but the ball went wide and Nadal fell onto his back.
It was his 22nd Master’s title, putting him back at the top of the all time Masters 1000 leader board. More will likely come this Spring when Nadal next plays on the red clay courts of Europe, a chance to extend his lead at the top of the Master’s leader board and engrave his name even deeper into the hall of all-time Greats.
Petra Kvitova emerged from the wreckage of the 2013 Dubai Premier tournament silverware in hand. She did so without having to face either of the world’s two best hard court players, world number one Serena Williams and recently crowned Australian champion Vika Azarenka. Though Kvitova’s draw was tough, beating Ivanovic, Radwanska, Wozniaki and Errani, it was not one made up of the two current hard court Major Champions. And it would have been one thing if both women had played and been beaten in the draw but neither of them struck a ball. Kvitova merely looked on as both women turned up in Dubai but limped off before their opening matches. With the draw already done, Suarez Navarro, a lucky loser, was placed in Azarenka’s spot in the draw while spectators missed out on the scheduled Williams-Bartoli encounter. The world’s top two were subsequently fined for their late and inconvenient withdrawals. But it had all the fairness of a parent spanking a child who hid before the swimming race after having spent all morning performing medal-winning pirouettes.
It was not just Kvitova and the tournament that looked on as both players hobbled away out of pocket. It was the fans, too. The very fans who would have bought tickets to the event after seeing Williams’ and Azarenka’s faces on the tournament promotions, faces they would have remembered only too well from last year’s ultra-competitive and entertaining US Open final. The excitement of perhaps seeing them in another hard court final would have been fueled even further by the Doha final the day before the start of the Dubai tournament, a final that went to three and in which Azarenka got her first win over the freshly re-crowned World number One Williams in ten successive attempts.
Yes, you read correctly. The final of the Doha Premier tournament was played the day before the start of Dubai. The two premier tournaments are played back to back, Doha being a Premier 5, Dubai a premier. Though it takes only 40 minutes to fly from one destination to another, and they would have flown first class, factor in the checking out of the hotel, the checking in at the airport, the disembarking of the plane, the checking into the new hotel, after a week of playing tennis at the highest professional level, contesting a three set final against your top rival and then the prospect of all of that all over again, and straight off the bat for Serena who would have faced no less than Bartoli in her opening match, and the withdrawals seem, though not excusable, somewhat understandable. Had fans seriously considered the stresses put on both Williams’s and Azarenka’s bodies, and those hard courts punish the players considerably, they would have done well to refrain from buying tickets expecting to see them in the Dubai final and bought their tickets instead to spectate two professional tennis players, regardless of who they are, competing for champion status and the ranking points and prize money that come along with it at the highest levels of the sport. Many would have done that but nevertheless there would have some disappointed fans seduced by the glitz of the promise of the world’s top two’s participation, expecting to witness the two divas decked in jewels sweating it out for the title only to find that both women were tucked up in bed instead, their mugs full of cocoa, jewels on their dressing tables, feet freshly spad and well and truly rested. Those two resting divas would not have been watching Errani and Kvitova duke it out though. After all there is nothing these two women love more than fighting it out in finals. They too would have been as disappointed as the fans that they could not compete. Wouldn’t you, if you loved your job, and you were the very best at doing it, and yet you could not handle the demands and had to flake out?
Having already played in 3 tournaments, one of them a Major, and going far in each of them, both women had certainly been playing their part in the WTA’s seven week old 2013 season. And another 15 or more tournaments, another eight months of checking in and checking out and pounding the body against fierce competition lies ahead before a two month ‘break’, if you call training and improving your game in order to be ready for the first Major of the next season which starts two weeks into it a break. The fitness necessary to come back at the crack of the new season and take the spoils is not gained from letting your hair down on the beach for more than a few nights. Thus the women have to find breaks in the tour itself, too, or face the consequences of early-curtailed careers a la Henin, Hingis and Clisters. If their bodies say stop, they have to listen, and if it happens to be on the eve of a big WTA tournament then someone has to suffer and somewhat humanly neither player is going to make that someone themselves.
Had there been perhaps a week’s rest between the final and the first round, then the fans, the WTA , the sponsors and the players would have all gotten what they wanted. The tour is too long, the competition potentially too deep to not have it any other way. But it is another way. The WTA’s way. You see, Indian Wells and Miami go back to back in less than a fortnight and then comes the clay. Doha and Dubai have to be back to back because that is where the money lies and the WTA is a business and Williams and Azarenka their top employees and with that comes both great rewards and great demands. And with those demands come consequences such as injuries and late withdrawals and fines rather than what those demands were designed for and which the WTA anticipated with their roadmap: the rivalries and ratings, anticipations which have gone unfulfilled and created a situation where the only real winners are the WTA chiefs.
Kvitova won though. And the fans saw a three set final. And as long as there are players there will be finals and the wheels will keep spinning and the sponsors money will continue to pay the bills and the bonuses. Unfortunately for Williams, Azarenka and the fans, who after all want to see the best players and rivalries more than anyone, the wheels of Serena and Vika stopped spinning and they not only paid with their bodies and their resumes but with their savings, too. The WTA though took the sponsors money and will no doubt be readying their next promotion for Miami and Indian Wells, demanding that players compete in both, promising the fans they will; yet those in the know, and even worse, they, the WTA themselves, know that a promise from the WTA means as much as the player’s health and safety do to those unfair parents of the game that were meant to help the players grow into and reward them for being the best professionals they could be rather than leave them hobbling out the gates and taking to their beds, sometimes for a few weeks or months, and sometimes, in the case of recent number one Safina, for good.
For a while we had gotten used to the status quo: Vika at number one, Serena beating her in the latter rounds of tournaments. Last week though we had to adjust to a reversal of fortunes; it was Serena who was the top ranked player and Vika who had the W over Serena on her record.
It looked like we might be on the dawn of a new Serena era at the start of the year. Overwhelmingly favored to win in Melbourne, she bowed out in an injury-hit quarter-final. It was Azarenka who went on to take the title, proving as she did so that she was the hard court player to beat of this era. This match was Azarenka’s chance to affirm that statement. Serving at 5-4 in the first set tie-break with a mini-break in hand, it looked like she might. But a double-fault gave rise to whispers that Vika did not have the mental strength to beat a woman who had dealt her nine consecutive losses, four of them while she was number one in the world.
But it was all whispers and hearsay. Azarenka held her nerve and took the set. Things were very much there between her ears. The last time she had lost to Serena in the US Open final she did not have the experience of finishing a season number one, rising above a media storm concerning her Medical time out in her Melbourne semi, and defending a Major title. She was a better player than she had been back in September in New York; a stronger one.
Of course, Serena was not going to just let the first set slip out of her hands without a fight. She had fought tooth and nail to make the business end of the week, coming back from 1-4 in the third against Kvitova in the last eight, and with the number one having come to her as her fine results piled up, she would do her best to dress it with another title, potentially her eighth in the last 12 months. Nailing aces and winners, she took the second set 6-2, breaking away at 2-2 to turn the momentum her way.
No one on the tour is a better front runner than Serena and it looked unlikely that Azarenka would turn matters around. But perhaps the run of games from 2-2 against her had actually worked in Vika’s favor. Unable to have a say in proceedings, Vika took somewhat of a breather. Meanwhile Serena had been cranking up the intensity and continued to do so as she blasted a forehand return winner down the line at 0-0 for 0-30. Vika took on the third set with gay abandon, moving forward on the next point to hit a forehand winner and surprising Serena with her sudden attack as she hit another forehand winner. Vika hit her first serve big and kept up the depth and pace on her forehand to draw errors from Serena to take the first game of the third and get out of the rut.
Vika did not look back, breaking a somewhat bamboozled Serena for 2-0, her depth of shot and angles paying dividends, a forehand winner sealing the break. Try as Serena did to fight her way back, Vika was her good old solid self while Serena hit more errors than winners. Holding her nerve, Vika served out for the match, a big first serve drawing an error off the return from Serena. Beating her fist on her chest and pointing her forefinger skyward, Vika knew that this win meant more than who was at the top of the rankings, a status she knows Serena sees only as an inevitable conclusion to good results and not a worthy achievement in itself. This win was solid proof that Vika was Serena’s worthy adversary on hard courts and a promising sign of things to come should they meet in Miami in April, Serena’s home and one of her favorite tournaments and a venue where Vika is a two time Champion, beating Serena in the 2009 final.
With the dust well and truly settled on Novak and Vika’s trophies, the tennis review looks back on the five lessons learned from the Australian Open 2013.
1. Everyone loves a one-handed backhand.
No doubt the best reaction of the fortnight was to Stanislas Wawrinka’s so-near-but-yet-so-far performance against Novak Djokovic in the last sixteen. Taking the ball on the rise, Stanislas hit his single-handed backhand with flair, liberty and creativity in what was a quite moving attempt to live up to his potential and take a big scalp at a Major. Time and time again he hit that backhand crosscourt and down the line for winners, a shot his opponent could do nothing about other than wait for it to start to miss. While he may have started missing in the end as the reality of actually delivering hit home, Stanislas’ talent did not pass by anyone as the tennis world reacted to his signature shot with nothing less than absolute admiration.
2. No one loves a tactical ‘medical time out’.
The crowd and tennis fan’s reaction to Azarenka’s well-timed medical time out as Sloane Stephens was about to serve to stay in the second set was nothing less than damning. Clumsy back tracking could not save Azarenka from a media and fan backlash. And deserved it was, too. Gamesmanship might be part of tennis but it is not, at the business end of a Major, acceptable. Alas the culture of tennis allows it to go on and it is up to tennis to ensure that it is a player’s game and not their gamesmanship that wins them the match.
3. Tennis gets the number ones it deserves.
The slow injury-inducing courts, the punishing heat, the lack of warm-ups, these were the conditions that the powers that be provide and the two players who thrived were the two most consistent, the two best defenders, two of the fittest if not the fittest players, and the two world number ones, Novak Djokovic and Vika Azarenka. They may not have the most flair or be the most likeable number ones, but tennis is not a popularity contest. It is a sport and the number one is the one who plays and wins the most and these two do exactly that in conditions that could not favor them any better.
4. The courts need to be speeded up.
Time and time again we watched as smashes and volleys were picked up from the back of the court, beyond the painted Melbourne signs, and sent past the player at the net for winning lobs and passing shots. Defensive players ruled in Melbourne and the attacking players lost out as they made unforced errors on their fifth or sixth attempt for a winner, frustrated at why the old game of coming forward and being aggressive was no longer the winning one on supposed fast courts that just refused to be hit through. While the gasps and oohs and aahs added to the atmosphere, there is no accounting for the zzzzzzs and shrieks of laughter that told all about some of the matches missed by the casual viewer. The courts need to be sped up a notch so that both aggressive and defensive players have a chance and to stop the game being more about athleticism than tennis skills. Defensive players have their surface, the red clay, and they get four solid months of it from February to June. The fast court players and the all court players deserve a real fast hard court to practise their skills, too, before grinding and not shotmaking become the norm and the zzzs drown out the gasps.
5. Pick yourself up and move on.
Twice Ni La fell and got back on her feet in the Women’s final. The first time she injured her ankle, the second time she knocked her head. Each time she came back out and competed with the world’s most consistent hard courter, Azarenka. The crowd loved her for it. If ever there was an example of getting back up on your feet, this was it. And though she lost, it hardly mattered to the crowd who applauded her as she lifted the runner-up plate more generously than they did the winner. Li Na promised she would be back next year to try to do one better, and after this display, we will take her word for it.
For the briefest of moments, it seemed like like the outrageous promise might be kept. Breaking Federer’s serve at 1-1 in the tiebreak with another pace laden forehand to draw an error, the young Australian pumped his fist and took in the roar of the crowd. Consolidating the mini-break with a forehand winner at the net to lead 4-1, he was three service winners from leveling at a set all and, with the momentum swinging his way, who knew what could happen at the start of the third.
Serving at 5-3, Tomic looked to be in control of the point as he hit to Federer’s forehand and backhand, getting him on the run, hitting down the middle, mixing it up and looking to find the opening that would not come as the Federer ground strokes refused to break down. Federer, having had enough of dancing to Tomic’s tune, injected some pace on his forehand into yet another soft ball hit to the middle of the court. Tomic fed off the pace, hitting to the Federer forehand corner, but not hard enough for the Swiss moved comfortably to the ball, hitting a forehand back to Tomic, who, the exciting prospect of the open court before him, went for a forehand down the line, but, out of position, he hit the ball wide.
The moment had gone. Federer was back in the tiebreak. At 6-5, Tomic serving, Federer attacked the Tomic backhand with a flat forehand, following the shot up to the net, however the approach was unnecessary as Tomic’s shot went long. Federer had won the set and was one set away from beating both Tomic and the hype.
The hype had begun even before 2013 had gotten underway when Tomic beat Djokovic in straight sets in the Hopman Cup. Certainly he had played well, with an improved serve and his forehand finely tuned, adding an extra punch to his varied and fluid game. If that was not enough to get the media excited with the home Major just a few weeks away, Tomic won his first title in Sydney, stating beforehand that he was ready to win his first title and the result proving he was a man of his word.
With the draw having been made for the Australian Open the day before the Sydney final, the title victory for Tomic had people already talking about the third round prospect of a meeting between the freshly first-titled Tomic and the as yet 2013 debuted Federer. But they were not just talking about the potential clash of the past and new generations, they were implying that an upset could be on the cards, that Tomic, who in the previous Major in New York had been accused of tanking and whose Davis Cup performance had the national press in uproar, on the back of a win against Djokovic at a home exhibition event and a run to a title during which he did not beat a member of the top 20, this very same Tomic was ready to beat a man who was number two in the world, the reigning Wimbledon Champion, a man who was perhaps the Greatest player in the history of tennis, a man who was still at the top of his game, a four time champion in Melbourne, who had not lost before the semi-finals since 2003. Tomic’s comments before the match that Federer might not make the last 32 were as unrealistic as the home Media’s expectation that if the 17 time Major winner did make the last 32, his run would end at the undoubtedly fine hands of their new fickly-crowned King.
Of course, in a tennis match it is about what happens on the day. Two players compete and whoever has the better day wins. But one player usually, based on past form and match ups, goes in as the favorite. With Federer ending 2012 as a WTF finalist, beating the likes of Murray in straights, and leading Tomic 3-0 in their head to head including a straight sets drubbing here a year back, all signs would point to Federer being the favored victor. Perhaps the hype was a little misty-eyed at the memory of homeboy Mark Philippoussis straight-setting world number one Pete Sampras in 1996 in the third round. But that was a whole different ball game. Sampras had only won once in Melbourne and the two had met in the previous Major in New York with Sampras coming back from a set down to win. Philippoussis, with his huge serve and forehand, was a bad match-up for Pete, and a victory was within his capability at that point. While, as the first two sets proved in Federer and Tomic’s match last night, Tomic can compete with Federer, the third set demonstrated why the Australian was never going to be a threat.
Once Federer had Tomic beaten mentally, that moment when it seemed Tomic might be able to sustain his high level and edge out the Swiss in the second set being scuppered and the reality of the Swiss’ superiority hitting home, Federer did not relinquish his grip, unleashing his flair and creativity to wipe the floor with the hyped-one. After surviving a break point in the opening game, he broke Tomic immediately and ran away with the set 6-1. It was a victory for Federer which laughed in the face of the hype and called it out for what it was. And it was a defeat for Tomic that, from the way in which he fell to the side so swiftly in the third, would, if he were to admit it, not have come as a surprise. The Australian is very much on his way to challenging the likes of Federer but he is not there yet and he would do well to beat a big name in a Major before stating otherwise. His words before this third round match, while understandable considering his age and his talent, were exposed as empty promises, and anyone who expected him to keep them, considering his lack of previous deeds to back the promise up, was as much a victim to the hype as the hype, its hollow screams no doubt filling the Swiss with a desire to silence it, was a victim to the ever-hungry Federer.
When hitting partners Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka took to the Rod Laver Arena for the night match on the middle Sunday of the Australian Open there was quite a void to fill. Nothing had really happened that day. Every match had been won in straight sets. There had been no drama, nothing to write home about. There was a huge space the size of a thousand tennis courts waiting to be filled with something special.
There were few hopes that these two would provide it. Djokovic led Wawrinka 11-2 in their head to head and had won the last ten matches. Djokovic was the two time defending champion. Wawrinka has yet to make a Major semifinal. So, when Wawrinka came out of the blocks to break at 1-1, tennis fans rubbed their hands. At the very least we were going to see Djokovic tested, it was better than nothing; we had had enough of nothing that day.
What we got was very much something. Wawrinka had another break point at 2-1 which he took, ending a huge rally in which every inch of the court was used with a backhand crosscourt winner. That signature single-handed backhand firing, the Service on top form, the forehand hitting winners, Wawrinka entered the zone as he raced through the set in 22 minutes, sealing set point with a forehand crosscourt winner that painted the line.
We were not just spectating a test. As Wawrinka broke again at the start of the second set and went on to lead 4-2, it looked like we might even witness the Swiss’ greatest win of his career. The seventh game, as it is prone to be, was a big one. Wawrinka tightened up, beginning to miss on his ground strokes, as his backhand twice found the net to go down 0-30 but with Djokovic erroring more than usual, Wawrinka managed to win a deuce game courtesy of a Djokovic return out. Wawrinka had survived that test, after Djokovic held to love, his biggest one was to come.
Serving for the set at 5-3, 30-30, Wawrinka netted a forehand. It was break point Djokovic. Anyone watching who was aware of Djokovic’s tennis history knew that unless Wawrinka served out for this set now then the odds were that he would go on to lose the match. When Djokovic’s backhand got the net cord and trickled over to give the Serbian the break, luck announced itself as being on the Serbian’s hard-working side. A long game at 5-5 on Wawrinka’s serve showcased what Djokovic does best as he defended, retrieving balls which once upon a time would have been good enough for winners, making Wawrinka hit one last shot and reaping the rewards from his never say die mentality as those last shots went long or in the net. The World number one broke and then served out for the set. A forehand down the line winner on set point, the Serbian attacking as he can when it matters most, set to the soundtrack of his loudest grunt yet, and Djokovic leveled the match at one set all.
It was here that we thought that like many before him Wawrinka would fold, the mental energy exerted in the first two sets leaving him spent, the idea of seeing ball after ball come back, of the noise of Novak’s feet squeaking all over the court, of being run from side to side, being enough to see him wave the white flag. But Wawrinka did not go away. Though the winners were not flowing as freely as they had in the first 50 minutes of the match, the single handed backhand still produced enough winners and drew enough errors to get Wawrinka roaring and keep the crowd engaged in the match. While Wawrinka tried his best, Djokovic was as consistent as a World number would be, his defense never breaking down, attacking when the chances came, qualities that trumped those of Wawrinka’s as the Serbian took the set to lead 2 sets to one and though the outcome seemed inevitable, the battle was bloody enough to stay and spectate. Both men were giving their all and producing at times breathtaking tennis. At 5-5 a beautiful volley from Wawrinka had the crowd gasping, the Swiss conducting their cheers. Spurred on by the crowd’s support and his continuing good form, Wawrinka took the mini-break in the tiebreak with a backhand down the line winner, going on to win the breaker 7-5 with a forehand winner from mid-court. The crowd were on their feet while the two players must have been wondering just how torn up theirs would be by the time this was over.
Whatever happened now, that void that had been there at the start of the match had been filled. There had been enough drama and entertainment to make up for the slow day. But when Wawrinka broke at the start of the set, the prospect of one of the biggest upsets in Australian Open history looked, considering how the Swiss had managed to stay with the Serbian all this time, a possibility. However it was a brief one as Djokovic broke back. The two men held serve, with the length of the match taking its toll as Wawrinka battled with cramps and Djokovic had injury issues, too. At 4-4 though, it seemed that the end might be in sight as on break point Wawrinka’s backhand, which was called out, looked to have been an incorrect call. The Swiss asked the Umpire what he thought and was confidently reassured it was in while Djokovic who had the best view having been standing before the ball kept his head down and said nothing. Wawrinka accepted the word of the Umpire and Djokovic went on to win the game. Replays would later show the ball had been in. Had Wawrinka used his last challenge, which would not have been such an issue as he would be awarded 3 more at 6-6, he would have had another chance to break to serve out for the match at 5-4. Had the Umpire been more on the ball, then the overrule would have made it a non-issue, or if he had admitted he did not know if it was in or not, Wawrinka would have used that challenge and got justice. As for the World number One’s silence, well no one asked him though he was gesturing the ball was out, and it is not his responsibility but nevertheless he did seem mighty angry a few games later when the same linesman made an incorrect call against him. His face a picture of rage, Novak’s displeasure at being robbed was clear for all to see. Luckily for the Serbian, the call was overruled by the Umpire.
Games went with serve, and easily too. The match had now taken on classic status, going on to past midnight and lasting more than four hours, the first classic of the season’s first Major. Four times Wawrinka served to save the set and succeeded but at 10-11, the Djokovic defense finally broke him down. On his third match point, the Serbian hit a backhand passing shot to win the match 12-10 in the fifth.
Djokovic roared and tore off his shirt as a tearful Wawrinka left the court. Whether he was ruing his chances at 5-3 in the second or not challenging that call or just expressing the pain of defeat, maybe he was experiencing all three, only the Swiss knows but any tennis fan who witnessed his performance can testify that while we saw a Djokovic whom we know only too well, we saw a Wawrinka we had never met before, one we were very pleased to meet and one whom we would very much like the pleasure of meeting again.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, coming off a six month injury-induced break, faced Caroline Wozniacki, now ranked ten and defending quarterfinal points in Melbourne, in the last sixteen of the Australian Open. The Russian was playing to climb back up the rankings from the seventies where she currently dwells while the Dane was playing to halt her slide from number one that began a year ago on the very same Rod Laver Arena.
Only two weeks ago, Sveta won their match in Sydney, reducing her deficit in their head to head to 3-5. Like that encounter, the two split the first two sets. As she did in Sydney, Sveta came out hitting big ground strokes. booming down serves and coming to the net, the Russian reminding us why her name is engraved on the US and French Open trophies. The second set was all Wozniacki as she waited for the first dip in Sveta’s form and then pounced, moving Sveta around, chasing down every ball, and getting the errors, playing the tennis that brought her the number one ranking for 67 weeks. But it was not all defense as Wozniacki played more aggressively than she had during her reign, hitting her twelth winner of the match in the set, a vital addition that critics demanded she implement in order to win a Major; however, while it has yielded some great performances and a couple of titles, it has not delivered her that elusive Major or helped her climb back into the higher echelons of the top ten. She is now, naturally, more prone to make errors as she goes for big shots in points where once she would have just gotten the ball in play and waited for the error, which against players like Sveta, had worked wonders. Now she is going for more winners, but while she may have won in Moscow and Seoul at the end of last season, her results across the board have not improved. And she is still reluctant to go for winners when matters get tight, her natural defense coming into play, thus not really reaping the rewards of a change in style. Still, she persists with the new style with the same tenacity that she plays with, the tenacity that got her to the pinnacle of the game in the first place, the tenacity that saw her become one of the hardest players to beat on the tour. Ask Sveta about that.
Twice Wozniacki has come from a set down to beat Sveta, if she could maintain her level of play, she could make it a third. Sveta’s comfort break did not do anything to disturb Wozniacki’s momentum, breaking Sveta at the start of the third but the Russian broke back immediately. Serving at 1-2, Sveta saved five break points held by the Dane, saving the first and second with a sublime drop shot and a lob which had spectators wondering just why she had not won more than her two Majors. Sveta had to save another two set points serving at 2-3. The first she saved with a down the tee service winner. The second with another service down the tee followed by a big forehand, then another big forehand cracked down the line for a winner.
Withstanding the pressure put on by an opponent who has made her career out of applying it quite liberally, Kuznetsova took the long deuce game, briefly interrupted by a confrontation between Wozniacki and the Umpire. Wozniacki claimed to be disturbed by a linesman call that a Sveta service was out, a call overruled by the umpire, and a call that had come after she had sent the return into the net. Asking the Umpire if he had ever played tennis, and telling him he would understand her if he had, the Dane seemed to be the one who was teetering on the edge of this encounter.
At 3-4, Wozniacki had another break point, saved by the Russian as she hit two backhand volleys, the second for a winner, her doubles prowess on show. Another game where she was under pressure survived as Wozniacki netted a forehand error and it was 4-4. Now it was Sveta’s time to apply some pressure, holding a break point. Wozniacki fired down a service winner. Deuce. Sveta performed a drop shot and winning passing shot combination that had the purists purring. Break point. Wozniacki attacked her opponent with her groundstrokes, drawing a backhand error from a Sveta who was close to doing the splits at the back of the court. The Deuce game went on, Wozniacki went toe to toe with Sveta in the rallies and finally held her serve, her increased aggression paying off.
5-5 and memories were stirred of their 2009 US Open encounter which was decided on a final set tiebreaker, a match where Sveta had big chances to win but crumbled under the pressure. A forehand error from Woznaicki as she went for a winner, a backhand volley from Kuznetsova, and a pace-laden backhand down-the-line winner and Sveta inched closer to getting a measure of revenge as she held three break points, her aggressive manner too much for the Dane. Wozniacki saved the first as she went for broke on her forehand, going cross-court and forcing an error from Sveta. The Dane saved the next one as Kuznetsova hit a forehand error on the service return. One more break point to save. But now it was the Wozniacki forehand’s turn to break down as Sveta cracked an inside out forehand down the line and Wozniacki netted the return.
Sveta had the break and would serve for the match. This was not a guarantee she would win it, though. Fans have sat through countless matches where Sveta has led and then needed someone to perform the hiemlich maneuver on her but tennis being an individual sport she was left to spit out the prospect of victory, now chewed into a big ball of defeat, herself. Sveta fired down a service winner. 15-0. On the next point, she cracked a forehand down the line, moved in and then drove a forehand volley at the net. 30-0. The prospect of winning seemed to be going down the right hole this time. A forehand winner down the line from Wozniacki, keeping up the aggression in her bid to break, and it was 30-15. Shuffles could be heard as Dr. Heimlich began to make his move, unable to bear another attack when she had done so well to make it so far back. A cross-court backhand from mid-court pulled Wozniacki out wide and had her on the stretch to get her racket on the ball, the result being an error and two match points for the quarterfinal for Sveta. The Dr took a step back and looked on. Sveta struck her service down the tee, flew in and then blitzed the short return down the line for a winner.
The Dr and Sveta’s fans will be on hand for her quarter-final against Azarenka, the defending champion. Sveta will have her work cut out to remove the crown from Azarenka’s head, but if there is anyone to do it then there are few better than players who have worn crowns themselves and would not mind another one. And when Sveta plays as she has been doing this week, then who is to say she could not go as far as moving another step closer to the throne.
Li Na beating Agniezszka Radwanka (henceforth known as Aggie) on a hard court should not be considered an upset but a formality. But the numbers, 8 and 4, the respective seeds of the two, meant that should Li Na win, an upset it would be.
But a quick glance at their playing styles is enough to give a good idea of who should be the victor at a hard court Major, a surface that should favor the attacker. Aggie is a deadly consistent, super-defensive, never say die type who wins Premier titles; Li Na is a big-hitting player who on her day can beat anyone, as she did on her run to the French Open final in 2011 and her run to the final in Melbourne in 2010. On a hard court, Li Na has proven to be the more effective, thrashing Aggie as she has in Beijing and Montreal in past encounters. But in their most recent battle in the Sydney semifinal, with both women on a 8 match winning streak, Aggie’s defense got the better of Li Na’s attack, an attack which on its day can be so bad that its wretchedness is too strong for even Li Na herself.
Aggie was still on her winning streak when the two met today in the first Melbourne quarterfinal to be played, 13 matches and counting, yet to drop a set.Things looked like they might continue in this marchly fashion as a Li double fault handed her a break point. Aggie got busy doing her thing, the thing that has gotten her to world number four. She hit to the backhand, to the forehand, moving Li Na from side to side until Li Na fell into the trap. Having had enough of being on the other end of Aggie’s string, Li Na did what she does best, she went for her shot, going down the line with the forehand. But it was too much, too soon, as it so often is, which was exactly what Aggie had wished for, and the shot went wide. Aggie, whose inner delight at her strategy paying off in such an important match would have, if it had manifested itself on her face, resulted in a smile as wild as the Jokers, had broken and would serve for the set, a repeat of the Sydney result on the cards, the possibility of her first Australian Open semifinal from three attempts a game and a set away.
A set down to Radwanska is no enticing prospect for any one. And Li Na was having none of it. Li went on her own march at this point. She painted the line with a forehand winner, hit a down the line forehand winner for 30-0, spun a winning forehand passing shot to earn three break points and took the first one as she ripped a backhand down the line return to force an error of Aggie and break back. Li Na held and then with Aggie serving, turned her level up a notch as the two traded ground strokes. Biding her time, refusing to be frustrated into an error, Li Na hit a huge forehand down the line for a winner to get set point. A winning smash and she was a set up.
But as quick as Li Na can up her level, she can implode. And Aggie loves an implosion, winning 8 points in a row as the balls that had been painting the lines now graffitied errors. Li Na, for whom implosions can last until Game, Set and Match is called against her, ended the run with a forehand drive volley, her seventeenth point at the net, before going on to win the game with an ace, the implosion survived, an unusual silky patience veiling her play. At 1-2, a backhand down the line off a short ball and she had break point. She had turned it up again, smacking a back hand down the line on the return to force an error.
2-2. A perfect forehand volley at 15-0 and Li’s intentions were clear. This match was going to be won by her aggression and not by her being run ragged. And it was an intention she was in the mood to carry out, as she forced another rare forehand error from Aggie, leaving the Pole roaring in frustration, a condition she usually forces on her opponent. Another error, a backhand into the net, and it was Game Li Na. A backhand winner down the line, another one hit off a classic Aggie softball designed to draw an error, a forehand volley winner to the backhand corner and Ni La had dismantled the Pole who gave away the break with a double fault.
4-2 and another backhand down the line winner and Li Na had won nine points in a row to make 40-0, a backhand into the net ending the streak. A heavy backhand hit to the Aggie backhand forces and error and seals the game. Aggie made her last stand, serve and volleying to bring the run of five games against her to an end, a play she rarely does but unable to defend, she had no choice but to attack.
Serving at 5-3, Li saw what she already knew: that the Pole was not going to go away. Digging balls back in play, she hustled an error off Li for 15-40. A chance. A year back Clisters had come back from match points down against Li, a defeat that reduced the Chinese to tears. That defeat had clearly taught her well. Employing controlled, patient hitting, Li Na hit the ball deep and drew a forehand error from Aggie. On the very next point, Li Na did the very same routine, yielding the same result to get to deuce. She was not going to collapse in a heap of errors in the latter stages in Melbourne again, her weaknesses overcome as she found safety in the margins. The threats of break points passed, in the safer territory of deuce, Li went for her shot and struck an angled backhand crosscourt winner. Match point. She went for it again, going for a forehand down the line, her play-making rewarded as Aggie’s errored on the backhand, to win the match.
Her first Major semifinal since that historic Roland Garross victory earned, thanks to her new controlled aggressive net-friendly game, flowered in part by her new coach Carlos Rodgriguez, Henin’s former ‘boss’, Li Na had finally emerged from the weed-ridden wilderness she has been in the last season, the ghosts of her meltdown here last year put to rest, the prospect of another Major final to be played for ahead.
Serving for your first Major semi-final is hard enough. But serving out against David Ferrer, a man against whom you need to hit three winners to make one, makes it even harder. Nothing but self-belief and the execution of the game that had the beating of the man up to that point will do. And you would have to play that game on the final point or else be lured into his web, worn down and devoured.
Nicolas Amalgro was about to serve out for the match against Ferrer. He would hope to get it done in one or else let Ferrer smell fear and attack. Amalgro had played his best to get himself into a position to finally break his Major quarter-final duck. Inspired, he had been hitting single-handed backhands down the line and serving like the big server he is, to claim the first set 6-4. In the second, he kept up his high level, a backhand cross-court winner grabbing him the break at 4-4. At 5-4 serving, a service winner, a forehand down the line and two more service winners and Amalgro was two sets to love up against a man who had beaten him 12 times and from whom he had never taken two consecutive sets. In the third set, he survived break points and frustrated his opponent into shouting at himself and smashing his racket. His backhand was firing, his forehand was working well, and most crucially, he had yet to be broken. All of this should have computed into this mind that he was capable of rallying against history and pulling this upset off. But the mind, as tennis shows us time and time again, does not work on ‘should’.
The game could not have started off better as he strikes a forehand down the line at the net. 15-0. 3 more points and he would have his first victory over Ferrer and his first Major semi-final. The two contest a long rally. The longer it goes on, the more you are drawn into Ferrer’s web. Ferrer can run all day, and if he thinks it will work in his favor, he will make you run even longer, sending you past the sidelines as he finally gets his open court. Amalgro knows, having been drawn into the web 12 times and always been gobbled up. Yet to be lured in this match, he goes for the shot that has never worked for him better than in this match: the backhand down the line. Running to the backhand corner, he strikes the ball down the line.
All those times it had gone in and now it was long! And when he needed it to be in, too. It was too much too soon. Not the making the Major semi-final; he had already made three quarter-finals at Roland Garros, it was time to move on the next stage. And not the beating of Ferrer: 12 times is 11 times too many to lose to the same man. No. He had hit the shot too soon. He had not been in position. On the next point, he would do better. And on the next point, he went for the backhand down the line, again. And again it went out. Again he had not been ready.
An ace. 30-40. A drive volley to the forehand and then another drive volley to the forehand for a winner. Deuce. Two more points. The rally goes on. And on. In Ferrer’s web, Amalgro goes for a big forehand cross-court but his arm is stuck in the webbing. He misses. Another break point down. Another long rally. Amalgro looks to disentangle himself but Ferrer strikes, the open court there, as he had planned, for the taking, his feet in position. A forehand winner down the line from Ferrer and he the number four seed has the break back and is back in the match.
5-5. Amalgro’s chance had slipped through his fingers. Ferrer took advantage while Amalgro was sombre with the sober reality. Ferrer held serve and then broke to love as Amalgro missed a forehand down the line.
The fourth set. Experience tells the spectator that Ferrer will go on to win. Oh the arrogance of experience! we scream. At 1-1, Amalgro paints the lines, gets the winners and forces the errors to break Ferrer to 15. 2-1. Ferrer breaks back; experience, it would seem, is misunderstood. Amalgro shouts. He knows experience worse than anyone out there. 12 defeats. No Major semis. Ferrer holds to love. Amalgro survives a long deuce game, serving his way out of trouble. He fights history, fights experience, fights Ferrer, fights himself. It’s a lot to fight. But Amalgro has it in him as he breaks Ferrer for 4-3. He has to hold to get his chance again. Two aces are the perfect start. But then he is back in the web again and break point down. Amalgro hits a drop short, then a passing shot, but Ferrer hits a winning volley for 4-4.
Amalgro refuses to lie down and be devoured. Not today.4-4, break point Amalgro. Ferrer attacks from the inside out forehand hitting to the backhand, going for the lines and then goes to hit his trademark inside out forehand down the line but it is out. Ferrer challenges and Amalgro reassures him the call was correct as they sit down.
5-4, serving for the match. The second time. He was playing well. Better than well. Amalgro is put on the defense and hits 2 errors to go down 0-30. A forehand winner and there is hope, but hope is all it is. Ferrer attacks his backhand. Amalgro moves to hit an inside out forehand down the line. It hits the net. Well, he had been playing well. Facing two break points, Amalgro attacks, coming to the net and putting pressure on Ferrer to come up with a passing shot. Ferrer errors and one break point is saved. One more break point to save for now, and Amalgro is on the run, goes for the forehand down the line and paints the line for a winner. Here he was, playing well again. Deuce. Ferrer musters all the intensity he can, and it is quite a mustering, and forces Almagro to hit a backhand long. Yet another break point. Amalgro saves it with a second service winner with slice down the tee. Deuce. This is when he needs to play well, right now, and get to match point. On the next point, Amalgro cleans the line with his backhand and full of confidence goes for a forehand down the line. It misses. Another break point down and for Amalgro it proves to be too many blows to the face. Ferrer is unrelenting, spinning his web, those legs never tiring, and he forces a backhand error to get the break.
But though his serve might have been broken, Amalgro’s resolve to win this match was not, still standing in the gales of doubt being blown at him by his opponent’s tenacity. A long deuce game follows. Back and forth, they wrestle control but another forehand error from Ferrer and Amalgro has his third chance to serve out for the set. Ferrer shouts and smashes his racket. Experience tells him that when he fights like this, he gets to wear the belt. It tells him Amalgro cannot beat him, Amalgro does not make Major semis. He does. 7 of them.
Third chance, third time lucky? Amalgro serves with new balls. Before he knows it, he is 15-40. A smash and it is 30-40. A forehand down the line and he has failed, for the third time, to serve out for the match. Perhaps, after all, he really was not ready. But there is no perhaps about it; he isn’t.
That failure to serve out for the match a third time would prove to be the final blow. In the tiebreak, Amalgro has another opponent: cramps. Ferrer takes the tiebreak 7-3, a pace-laden forehand struck right at Amalgro, who, unable to take the pace, makes an error, winning Ferrer the fourth set. On the changeover, Amalgro gets treatment and covers his head with a towel as he lies on his back.
In the final set, Ferrer keeps on spinning and a trapped Amalgro can only fight so long. At 2-2, Ferrer hit a big return to Amalgro’s body which Amalgro nets. Broken, now all Amalgro can do is lay in the web, his wings fluttering lamely, his legs cramping up, his final buzzes drowned out by the hungry grunts from the ever-spinning approaching spider. A winning lob at 4-2 Ferrer and Ferrer has the second break. He stands over Amalgro now, ready to take his bite. His thirteenth, and for the ever-starving Ferrer, it will be as delicious as the previous twelve. He does not have to be too violent either in case the fly should buzz away. On the changeover, Amalgro approaches a sitting Ferrer and taps him on the knee and offers his congratulations. One wonders if a fly has ever rubbed its nose on the jaw of a Spider just before it closes them.
On match point, Ferrer comes in and hits a forehand winner at the net. It is Game set and match Ferrer. The two embrace at the net. Experience was not so arrogant after all. | 2019-04-25T04:41:38Z | http://www.thetennisreview.com/page/60/ |
I was very pleased to see that my first pair of released grey partridges are still hanging around the remains of the game cover. I was worried about them after five and six foot high snow drifts buried their feed hopper, but was planting blackthorn trees in the new hedge this morning and heard a very familiar little chuckle coming from the open field behind me. I had to look for some time before I saw the two little shapes dustbathing on a pile of molehills fifty yards away. Their camouflage really is quite impressive, and by the time that I had run back to the car for the camera, I then had to look hard to find them again.
It really was a huge pleasure to see these birds. Grey partridges were originally a bit of an offshoot of my black grouse project, but they are fast becoming firm favourites. Deep stripes of snow still run in parallel lines across the remains of the game cover, but in two months it will be under a new mixture of seeds. I was particularly impressed with wild flower mixes last year, and I was thrilled that the radish flowers attracted enough insects to draw in a family of spotted flycatchers. I need to put some thought into precisely what I will sow this year, and I’m already looking forward to it.
Having spent four years dancing around the issues presented by a long forty yard wide band of sitka spruce trees across the middle of the Chayne, the past few weeks have been spent taking matters into my own hands. The wood is too small to make it viable for a proper harvester to come up on the hill and take the timber out, and during the twenty five years since it was planted, the ditches and drains around the upper reaches of the wood have made access impossible, even for soft tracked vehicles. These trees are now destined to do nothing more than rise up to a critical height before gradually falling over like leggy weeds and crushing the fences. During their lives, they will probably do little more than give crows somewhere to nest and provide goshawks with perches from which they can survey the open moor. For every reason, these trees need to be knocked over, and given the terrible access, the majority of wood will have to be left where it falls. I can extract most of the timber from the track which runs along the south side of the trees, but carrying logs by hand over five hundred yards of wet bog from the northern end of the strip is just not worth my while.
Having established the mission, you would think that it is pretty straightforward to knock over a sitka plantation. I suppose that in principle, the job is quite easy, but when you’re trying not to let anything fall onto the fences which run on either side of the strip, complications do start to arise. During the autumn, I felled all of the trees on the west side when the prevailing south westerly wind was pushing them into the plantation. These trees just leant inwards and rested against the main bulk of the plantation. Over the past few weeks since the wind has been in the east, I repeated the process on the other side of the wood (which runs from north to south), so that all the trees on the outside were leaning in towards the middle. With a few irritating exceptions (mainly doubled trunked trees which had too much weight on the outside and just sat back on the saw no matter what I did), I then reached a stage when a one hundred yard long section of trees had been folded in on itself.
The bulk of the trees in the middle of the strip then needed to be removed. After a few failed experiments, I found that the best way to knock these trees over was by cutting them diagonally across the trunk in a single straight line, starting high on one side and working the saw down until the weight of the tree began to shift and press against the bar. I would then pull the saw out and cut in from the bottom at the same angle. With a sudden jolt, the whole tree slips diagonally off its stump but is held in a vertical position by the canopy above. It’s then either possible to keep putting these diagonal cuts in until the tree has vanished into a series of slanty sections or just moving on to the put the same cut into the next one. With the trees on the outside leaning in, the weight was distrubuted like a safety net so that nothing could fall out of the wood and damage the fence.
I daresay the main reason why this diagonal cut has not received widespread attention as a felling technique is because it is somewhat dangerous. Nine times out of ten, the tree falls off the stump exactly as you hope it will. But without leaving a hinge to control the direction that the tree will fall (as per conventional tree felling), there is the odd curve ball. This is particularly true when you have ten or fifteen trees all off their stumps leaning all their weight in a particular direction and, working under a particularly thick canopy, you fail to spot it. There were one or two hairy moments, but it’s all part of the fun of killing sitka spruce trees.
I am extremely encouraged by the progress I’ve made on getting rid of this wasted strip. When it was planted, there wasn’t a great deal of thought put into how it would be harvested, so rather than let it grow cold and draughty, this particular section is now lying dead on its side. I’m planting birches and rowans where I can find gaps in the brash, and as the years go by, more gaps and bare ground will appear. I’ve seen how quickly self-sown sitkas come back under the wreckage of clear fells, so if my birch wood does develop a sitka understorey, I will not be altogether heartbroken, provided it stays low and stunted. A chainsaw may help to keep it low.
Just worth recognising the first anniversary of the “big fire” which I was involved in last year on a hill down by the Solway Coast. Over the course of twenty four hours, a thousand acres of heather went up in smoke as a routine back burning exercise got out of control. I doubt that I will ever forget that sequence of fear, exhaustion and excitement, and I must say that is as close to being in a war-zone as I ever hope to be.
The word “epic” is thrown around a great deal these days, but it’s hard to think of any other way to describe the eerie thrill of seeing grouse flying in pairs through sheets of orange flame at midnight, when the fire stretched on a head that was hundreds of yards wide, criss-crossing back and forth on the broken ground and raking through banks of scree and rank heather. Likewise, seeing fire trickling with relentless energy through moss and stones despite energetic beating still makes my hair stand on end with horror. At one point, we tried to make a stand and burn back into an area of fire as it approached. Waiting in the darkness, the torrents of smoke slowly crept towards us until, at fifty yards away, the heat scorched our cheeks and sent us dashing back to the low ground, defeated and without a hope of regaining control. Roe deer stood in small groups in the open fields like sheep, evicted by the smoke and wondering what was happening.
I will never be wholly comfortable with the idea of heather burning again, but that is probably a good thing. Fire is a great deal more than a simple management tool, and while there’s no doubt that it is indispensable as a means of managing heather, seeing it run wild is certainly a humbling experience.
Now that the dust has settled, it’s obvious that the despite the chaos and upset, the fire has done a great deal of good for the heather on the hill. New plants are already coming back, and there are now carpets of blaeberry where before there was nothing but knee-high swathes of mature heather. In a few years, things will be looking very bright, but the main loss in the meantime is not having a huge amount to burn this spring.
A picture of the fire (bottom, centre) taken by weather satellite 400 miles above the surface of the earth.
It is interesting to see SNH’s push to celebrate Scotland’s “Big Five” in the name of “2013: Year of Natural Scotland”. The animals chosen to represent Scotland’s wildlife are red squirrels, grey seals, red deer, otters and golden eagles. It is difficult to see the purpose of the Year of Natural Scotland other than appealing to that marginal but significant body of people who are apparently so devoid of inspiration and vigour that they blandly sit around waiting for government bodies to suggest activities for them to do. For these folk, the Year of Natural Scotland is a veritable bonanza of guided walks, demonstrations, colouring-in sessions and opportunities to leave sandwich boxes under hedges. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so cynical.
My interest in the “Big 5” comes down to the fact that these are the animals that we want to show the world. It says a great deal about Scottish conservation to (in the butchered words of Burns himself) “see oorsels no’ as ithers see us, but as we want ithers tae see us”.
It did make me laugh to remember that the expression “Big 5” was first coined to describe the five African species which were traditionally found to be the hardest to hunt on foot (elephant, rhino, leopard, lion and buffalo). It conjured up mental images of tourists flocking to Scotland to shoot squirrels and otters, but I suppose that the expression has been so far distorted into the realm of the binocular safari now that it only has resonance as a box ticking tourist’s phrase.
SNH’s “Big 5” were apparently chosen in order to generate discussion and controversy, so I will try to indulge in neither of these. Suffice it to say that four out of those five species probably deserve their places.
Whoever thought that seals needed to be included ought to have their head examined. Perhaps my time working on a hebridean fishing boat have soured me against those overweight, salmon-munching water hogs, but it does seem a travesty when there are so many endangered species which deserve a bit of publicity. I daresay seals were chosen largely because it’s easy to see them – a conspicuous species allows families with small, cold children to get involved. It would be nice to include ptarmigan on the “Big 5” list, but getting people out of the car and up a munro to see them creates a number of problems.
It seems then that these animals have not only been chosen on account of their symbolic status, but also because the average member of the public who doesn’t know or care about wildlife can (with a minimum of effort) feel engaged. And I suppose that’s the point of it.
Since I don’t want to enter the discussion, it would be too much for me to put forward my own Scottish “Big 5”.
But it would be black grouse, wildcats, killer whales, short eared owls and red deer.
Now that the thaw is starting to set in, it seemed worthwhile to try and finally get up to the Chayne. After all, having been snowed into the house for two days and beginning to get a touch of cabin fever, the seven mile walk up to the farm and back suddenly had the appeal of variety. It’s not much more than two miles from my house to the Chayne as the crow flies, but the nature of the land has meant that the road winds far off to the east, before doubling back on itself and crossing a network of burns on its way uphill. The direct route is largely through blocks of forestry, so walking on foot is a compromise between the road and a number of shortcuts which roughly resemble a straight line.
After an hour and half with a backpack full of wheat, I started to struggle, so it was a pleasure to finally dump the wheat where it was most needed in the two hoppers which the grey partridges are using. One had run out altogether, and the other was down to its final scraps. Footprints in the snow revealed where the partridges had been picking through the remains of the rotten turnip seeds which they’re being fed at the moment. I was starting to phase out their feeding as the spring came in, but it seems like the so called “hungry gap” has been unexpectedly protracted. The snow has started to recede during the past few hours, but the deepest drifts may well take weeks to vanish.
Once up on the hill, I came across some quite impressive snow drifts, including one which had blown eight feet high through a gateway and stretched back to a fine taper almost twenty yards away. With the exception of a few determined skylarks and a raven, there was not much to be seen. The snipe were congregating around the burns which still had visible water gurgling slushily down them, and I followed the tracks of an otter for a short stretch where it had scrambled over the powdery stones and splashed through the peaty ice.
Having posted yesterday about the snow, I have now to report that the situation has deteriorated quite dramatically. There has been no real snow for the past twelve hours, but the powder that we received yesterday has simply shuffled around into a more comfortable situation. The drifts are harder, taller and more angular than they were, and a constant mist of stinging grit comes swirling around them. The dykes have almost vanished, and the grating powder hisses like an army of adders as it scours out the space between the coping stones, leaving an ugly jaw of broken teeth where a wall should be. Gradually, the drifts have built ramps over all obstacles, and the hawthorns down by the loch fan out the spray like the smoke from a dozen chimneys. It’s as if the valley is on fire, swirling vicious white fumes from the south east – fumes which scrape and sculpt the stubborn drifts into solid artefacts – making it appear as though something substantual is under those sharp, mathematical curves. In fact, it’s merely a trick of the wind – the physical manifestation of draughts and currents in the air.
Some are simply waving dunes, like the snaking mound which now runs in a rampart three feet high across the yard. Others express the meeting point of a number of slicing eddies – there are sculpted cliffs and breakers like this one in the photograph. Six feet high at its peak, this particular drift has crept like sand until it stood squarely over the partridge breeding pen which I photographed yesterday. It took half an hour to dig it back and let some sunlight into the pen, and I half expected to find dead birds lying beneath the powder. As it was, I finally cleared enough to lift the outer door and saw a hen partridge poking her head meekly out of the sarking board box at the other end of the enclosure. They’re both doing very well under several feet of snow, and I made sure that they had access to their feeder and drinker before going on to check on the other birds. Three hours later, the waving drift has almost entirely rebuilt itself and should probably be cleared again before dark.
It was interesting to watch my pet blackcock digging a snow shelter for himself, scratching the powder behind him like a foraging hen and finally settling down in a hollow space about the size of a rugby ball. As I type, there is a thee inch square hole in the drift which indicates where he is lying, but it would otherwise seem like an empty pen. I’ve hung an old bedsheet up one side of the pen to give him some shelter, but the way the icy grit swirls and bends around obstacles, it doesn’t seem to be doing much good.
Next door’s keeper came over to tell me that he had tried and failed to get out onto the main road. Drifts which were higher than the roof of his land rover were piled up between the dykes on the way down to the low ground, and the road out onto his side of the hill is heaped up over eight feet high with snow. Judging by the weather forecast, there is no end in sight. The snow has stopped falling, but the way it is now moving suggests that there could be some real problems ahead if this swirling mist starts to freeze.
I’m worried about my partridges up on the hill, but getting up there to make sure my hoppers are full is out of the question. I have to hope that they’re tucked in somewhere out of the wind, because otherwise they won’t last long.
The snow which was promised has arrived in full swing. We’ve had about a foot so far, but incessant winds have blown it all over the place so that it’s three or four feet deep at the backs of the dykes. Some of the corries up on the hill have filled with snow and vanished altogether, and travelling further afield than the wood shed is not an option. There’s none of the eerie silence of winter snow – just a caustic roar which rumbles on and on without ever seeming to slow down. I wonder if half the snow which is currently flying horizontally past my window is actually coming off the hill behind the house rather than out of the clouds.
The partridge laying pens had almost vanished by the time I got up this morning, and it wasn’t easy to find them amongst the hulking mounds of white powder. The keeper on next door’s estate came over and we both agreed that the day was more or less a write-off. Having defrosted the partridges’ water and emptied the dog, the day has now become a matter of keeping the stove full of wood and throwing bread crusts out of the window for the chaffinches. | 2019-04-22T06:26:37Z | https://gallowayfarm.wordpress.com/2013/03/ |
The Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt (EGWW) Federal Building Project modernized an existing 18-story, 512,474-square-foot office tower located in downtown Portland. Completed in 1974, the building’s MEP systems were worn out and out-dated. The project goals included upgrading building systems, updating work environments and improving accessibility, while also meeting the energy and water conservation requirements of the Energy Independence & Security Act (EISA), complying with federal standards for blast resistance, and providing new code compliant egress stairs, entries and rest rooms. The project has transformed the building into a modern, healthy workplace for 16 federal agencies, and was completed within 39 months.
Originally planned as an occupied remodel, the project was restarted in 2009 by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA). At that time, cost benefit analyses demonstrated that a strategy of vacating the building during construction provided the best value to the GSA.
EGWW is a model project for GSA nationwide, both as a premier federal office space and as an energy efficient renovation project. This LEED Platinum certified project is projected to exceed the performance requirements of the ARRA and is on track to become one of the highest performance federal buildings in the GSA’s portfolio.
GSA’s primary design goal was to transform the existing building from an aging, uncomfortable energy hog to one of the premiere deep green retrofit projects in the nation. Starting with a High Performance Green Building Workshop that identified a variety of potential strategies, the design team embarked on a significant effort to analyze which energy and IEQ measures delivered the best value. They modeled the spaces virtually in BIM and physically by testing in the lighting lab, in addition to using very intensive energy modeling techniques. After completing the analyses, the design team translated the data and constraints into a synthesized aesthetic expression, whose focus was to communicate sustainability on an emotional and physical level, both inside and out.
With “reeds” and sunshades tuned for each facade to reduce solar gain and maximize daylight, a rainwater-collecting roof canopy that also supports a 180-kW photovoltaic array, and tenant programming based on solar orientation, the EGWW project pushes the boundaries and incorporates a number of innovative strategies that together resulted in an optimized, sustainable high-rise.
In addition to the energy improvements, the design reveals the history of the building, exposing the artifacts of EGWW’s original builders. Concrete with honeycombs and steel with roller marks was juxtaposed against tightly aligned glass railings and perfectly smooth walls to highlight the differences between new and old.
Early in the design process a decision was made to renovate the existing building instead of erecting a new building in the suburbs. This was arguably the greenest decision the project made, as the existing EGWW site is less than two blocks from Portland’s bus mall and is within walking distance to four Max lines, which combine to deliver a possible 283 rides per day. As a result of the renovation, 1,200 Federal workers are not reliant on automobiles for transportation.
The area surrounding EGWW is rich with services that also reduce workers’ need to drive for lunch or errands. With an existing underground parking garage, the team was able to evaluate transit needs and reduce the parking count from 192 to 183, which resulted in a ratio of 0.17 spaces per occupant, far lower than the .8 spaces allowed by the zoning code. The building has a Walkscore rating of 97, a Transit Score of 92, and a Bike Score of 94.
In addition, this building modernization sets a precedent for how a mid-century high rise can be adapted and reused to new functions and requirements that wouldn’t have been achievable in its original form.
In addition to providing the necessary glazing shading, the vertical “reeds” also support plant growth and provide a native ecosystem around the building. Selected from the bio-region for their qualities of beauty, drought tolerance, soil adaptability, and compatibility with security guidelines, the planting scheme is conceived as a lush, robust landscape that provides a unique setting for the re-birth of this urban building. A tapestry of climbing vines, unique to each solar exposure, connects the facade to the ground plane and surrounding landscape and communicates GSA’s green commitment.
The plants used on the building are a mixture of evergreen and deciduous vines, which creates different habitats for a variety of species. Because all plantings are located above a below-ground parking garage, the depth of plantings to be considered was limited. The majority of the vines are deciduous to allow winter light into the building and provide autumn interest. A light-weight soil matrix supports vigorous growth and allows drainage to the structure below. Plants were selected, sourced, container grown, and developed for an additional season to provide much needed habitat quickly. Additionally, vines were selected based on specific exposure and building character and provide fragrance at the entrance and exit.
Key to the building’s energy-efficient design was transforming the existing, uinsulated facade into a high-performance curtain wall with elevation-specific shading devices. These include the “reeds” that stretch up the entire 18-story height of the northwest face and an integrated sunshade/light reflector on the southwest and southeast faces. These shading strategies are integral to the success of the project’s primary energy conservation measure (ECM): a hydronic radiant heating and cooling system.
To arrive at the optimum combination of shading and daylighting, a parametric analysis evaluated peak cooling loads for each orientation to confirm shading requirements. Three glazing percentages (40%, 50% and 57%) with and without shading were modeled for a typical space. After determining which façades needed shading (west, south and east) and which did not (north), the next step was to determine the percentage of time each façade would need to be shaded. The depth and spacing of the shading devices were varied by the designers to arrive at both the desired performance metrics and the building’s aesthetic expression. A large canopy on the top of the building, provides additional shading for the taller 18th floor, as well as supporting optimally angled photovoltaics and providing a water collection area.
Because of the importance daylighting plays in human health and comfort, the project optimized daylighting in the perimeter zone and utilized a task/ambient approach to lighting. This resulted in a 50-60% (predicted) reduction in lighting energy and provided occupants with valuable connections to the outdoors.
In addition to reviewing the effect the percent glazing has on required shading, a separate analysis was performed to understand the amount of daylight that could be harvested for each proposed shading system.
• A combination of vertical and horizontal shading on the southeast and southwest facades—tuned specifically to address solar orientation.
• A light shelf reflector below the window sill to maximize daylight penetration.
Additionally the building program was tuned to optimize performance with an ideal plan, optimized at 70% open offices/ 30% closed offices, provided for each agency. Agencies with greater requirements for enclosed space are located lower in the building where surrounding buildings provide additional shading benefit.
The project’s detailed water usage modeling predicts greater than 60% water savings will be achieved through a combined strategy of incorporating water conserving plumbing fixtures and a rainwater catchment and re-use system.
The EGWW water conservation strategy started with an analysis of the existing building’s historical water usage. This analysis showed that 87% of the building’s water usage is for domestic uses and 13% is used for irrigation of surrounding vegetation. Because of this large interior use, the primary strategy focused on rainwater re-use for non-potable flush fixtures. Landscape irrigation water usage is reduced by over 50% through the use of drought resistance landscaping and the incorporation of subsurface irrigation.
A 165,000 gallon storage tank, created by repurposing an old firearm target range in the basement, allows rainwater to be stored and re-used for toilet flushing, irrigation, and mechanical cooling tower makeup water. The tank also supports another project goal: mitigating the negative effects of urban runoff. In addition, the water collecting “canopy” supports a 180-kW solar array that provides 4% of the building‘s total energy.
EGWW is predicted to achieve a 60% reduction in energy use compared to the existing building, exceeding the EISA performance goals which are in alignment with the AIA’s 2030 Commitment. These savings result directly from an integrated design process that prioritized comfort for the occupants and energy performance. Exterior shading, tuned by facade orientation, provides solar control while enhancing daylighting, thereby minimizing cooling load (and peak electric load) and improving thermal comfort. These integrated strategies allowed the primary ECM, a radiant ceiling heating and cooling system, to be realized. The building also provides enhanced indoor air quality through use of a 100% dedicated outdoor air system, resulting in above-code ventilation with excellent filtration. In six months of occupancy, the team has incorporated a series of “aftercare” measures to monitor energy use and help building operators tune the building to achieve its goals.
After demo was complete, our focus shifted to selection of new materials, utilizing a decision matrix created by the team. In addition to ‘Buy-American’ requirements and durability, the project team focused on selecting regional materials (11.9%) with high recycled content (29.8%). Indoor air quality was also considered through the selection of low-emitting adhesives, floor systems and composite wood and agri-fiber products.
To further reduce the building’s environmental impacts, the property management team has incorporated the GSA’s green leasing and operations policy and has created a program to educate tenants (present and future) about the building’s green features and the impacts they have.
EGWW employed two major design solutions to maximize the building’s future lifespan.
The first innovation was to significantly lighten the building. The decision to re-clad the building removed 3,337 tons of precast concrete, reducing the building’s weight so much that a seismic upgrade wasn’t needed. This new lighter weight building, with its improved seismic performance, is able to house numerous federal tenant agencies whose mission promotes sustainability, but whose requirements mandate they operate from a seismically compliant structure.
The second innovation was to design the radiant panel ceiling system as a kit of parts, reusable in future tenant improvements. Active panels, made from aluminum panels with piping attached, are a standard size for building. Inactive, 8 inch wide aluminum panels without piping, are configured to support light fixtures, sprinklers and other building infrastructure. By aligning the inactive panels to the curtain wall mullions, these inactive panels can be dismantled with a new partition wall installed without requiring the complete demolition of the ceiling. Active panels can be interchanged throughout the building by changing the piping configuration. The team validated the design methodology, building-out a prototypical tenant space after the original ceiling installation was completed.
The EGWW team began the project with a mandate from GSA’s leadership: this will be a learning team.
The key to meeting this mandate was to establish open and active communication. The ownership, design, and construction teams collocated in a single work environment, communicating directly, sharing their knowledge with the larger project team, reducing latency, establishing mutual understandings, and fueling an environment in which ideas were quickly evaluated and individuals could readily see and discuss the impacts of a given design solution.
Integrated BIM was a key part of the team’s communication success. By using BIM exclusively in generating design documentation, 3D expressions could be used to quickly review design solutions, coordinate the work, and orient stakeholders to the project. In addition, team meetings were used to track the project’s progress and collect and share the week’s lessons learned. Throughout the project, these lessons were incorporated into a legacy document for future GSA teams to reference.
With the $1M in savings captured by the design and construction team at substantial completion, ‘aftercare’ services were purchased by GSA. With these services (that are still ongoing), the team has been able to further optimize the operational efficiencies of the EGWW Federal Building.
Blast resistance, a special requirement for EGWW, was a unique challenge that the team leveraged to create a higher performing envelope and an optimized floor plate.
The new high-performance curtain wall required stronger connections than were possible with the existing skin configuration. By adding a three foot floor extension to each floor, the anchoring requirement was met and the floor plate was sized to optimize workstation layouts for future tenant build-outs. This created 31,000 square feet of additional net leasable floor area, equal to almost two additional floors.
Since the curtain wall uses high strength glass and a thicker lamination layer to meet the blast criteria, the design team worked with the curtain wall contractor to optimize the glazing configuration, maximizing light transmittance and minimizing heat gain. With eight inches of insulation (R-17) at the spandrels, a very low infiltration rate (0.02 CFM/Sq Ft) in combination with the integrated shading, EGWW’s high performance envelope and shading system allowed the radiant panel ceiling system to be utilized, resulting in more than a $2M reduction in lifecycle costs compared to the GSA’s traditional Variable Air Volume system. We are projecting an energy savings of $300,000 to $400,000 annually compared to the existing building.
Before starting design, project team performed extensive technical research on topics ranging from exterior shading and daylight, to thermal comfort, to occupant behavior in order to ensure the goals of EISA are meet. Working within the context of ARRA funding priorities, the project team defined a suite of inter-related conservation measures projected to exceed the minimum requirements of EISA. Since the primary policy goal of the Act is to increase energy independence by reducing dependence on limited energy resources, the team endeavored to achieve maximum energy use reduction within the guidelines of fiscal responsibility measured through life cycle cost analysis.
This predesign research included a façade optimization study done in two parts: a thermal analysis and a daylighting optimization analysis; a lighting design analysis that looked at savings and costs associated with incorporating various combinations of high performance equipment, thoughtful design strategies, and integration of daylighting and lighting controls; and a plug study that looked at average maximum equipment power density for office equipment, including discounts for diversity of occupancy and equipment usage patterns. In addition, the plug load study estimated how equipment power density changes through low occupancy periods of the business day, and during unoccupied hours.
This project is really heroic. It takes a really challenging building type, a generic, high rise office building, and rethinks it. By extending the perimeter and increasing square footage it paid for the redevelopment. The new facade responds to the different solar orientations, increasing the performance of the skin and allowing the building systems to incorporate high performance strategies. This project has the ability to inspire building owners and private developers to think more creatively. | 2019-04-20T21:14:26Z | http://www2.aiatopten.org/node/354 |
This is the first in a series of articles about food under global warming. This article takes a long view of the relationship between climate, agriculture, and class society.
When people think of the impacts of climate change, sea level rise is often the first that comes to mind. Two recent studies have concluded that the loss of large parts of West Antarctica is now a question of when not if, with sea level rises of around 3 metres as soon as the next couple of centuries. New research also suggests that both East Antarctica and Greenland are more vulnerable than previously thought. The prospect of coastal cities, like Norfolk, VA, abandoned to the sea stirs the apocalyptic imagination, but the timescale is centuries to millennia. Food may turn out to be a much more pressing issue.
The latest IPCC report suggests that climate change will reduce agricultural yields on average by up to 2% per decade in a context of demand rising by 14% each decade.1 With higher amounts of warming – business as usual could mean 3°C or more by 2100 – the prospects for agriculture get worse. And regional climate change can diverge quite significantly from the global average. With warming, things also get far less predictable, since anything above 2°C is unprecedented in the last million years (human agriculture has existed for around 10,000 years).
Under scenarios of high levels of warming [business as usual], leading to local mean temperature increases of 3-4°C or higher, models based on current agricultural systems suggest large negative impacts on agricultural productivity and substantial risks to global food production and security.
The future of food production therefore faces much uncertainty due to climate change. For many, the go-to common sense is Malthusian - overpopulation. There's simply too many of us, so someone [black, brown, poor, elsewhere] has to go hungry. For others, the solution lies in the extension of capitalist property regimes through the privatisation of agrarian commons, and the accelerated application of biotechnology to agriculture. For the peasant international La Via Campesina and their Western NGO allies, the solution lies in 'food sovereignty', empowering subsistence producers on the land. To address the future of food, it will first be helpful to consider the past. A long historical view offers important perspective on the relationship between climate, agriculture, and class society.
The genus Homo emerged around 5 million years ago, while the species Homo sapiens, our own, the sole extant species of the genus, emerged around 200,000 years ago. Agriculture emerged only around 10,000 years ago. This transition, which took place independently in at least six global centres, is known as the Neolithic revolution. What relevance does ancient history, or strictly speaking, prehistory, have to today?
We think there are two main points of relevance. First, the Neolithic revolution represents a dramatic, and ultimately global transformation of the mode of (social re)production, induced in part by climate change. As we face even bigger climate change, we think there are some important lessons about how such transitions take place. Second, there is a common association between the spread of agriculture and the rise of class society. We wish to challenge the 'common sense', promoted by popular writers like Jared Diamond, that we can have agriculture or egalitarianism, but not both.
For the avoidance of any doubt, we do not discuss the transition to agriculture out of any desire to return to a hunter-gatherer mode of subsistence. Historically, such a mode of subsistence supported only around 5 million people, far short of the 10-11 billion likely to populate the Earth by the end of the century.2 A return to pre-agricultural living is neither possible nor desirable. But a long historical view puts contemporary questions of climate, food, and class society into the proper perspective.
...the post-glacial warming up of the climate entailed a progressive shift from a cold steppe ecosystem, characterised by the dominance of artemisia to a savanna ecosystem characterised by the dominance of oaks and pistachios, rich in wild grains (barley, spelt, emmer wheat, etc) and also other exploitable plant resources (lentils, peas, vetch, and other legumes), as well as various game animals (wild boars, deer, gazelles, aurochs, wild sheep, wild goats, rabbits, hares, birds, etc) and in some places fish.
However, this abundance created only the potential, but not the necessity for a transition to agriculture. In fact, it is believed that agriculture would have initially meant longer and harder work than hunter-gathering. For hunter-gatherers, there was no distinction between work and play, and in fecund environments at least, only a few hours hunting or foraging each day was sufficient for a band to reproduce itself. For this reason, hunter-gatherers have been dubbed 'the original affluent society', since leisure was abundant and the work-play distinction absent. So why did they take up agriculture?
It would be a mistake to generalise, since this process happened independently in widely dispersed places. Candidate factors include population growth exceeding the capacity of the environment or coercion. However, it would also be a mistake to dismiss agency, that is, choices to live differently. Agriculture did not emerge immediately following the post-glacial warming. The weakness of deterministic accounts is stressed by Mazoyer & Roudart, who insist that "as necessary as this revolution appears after the fact, nevertheless it cannot be explained by nor is it reducible to this necessity."4 Furthermore, the knowledge, tools, and capacity for agriculture were present far before it was widely adopted. As David Cleveland writes, "it seems unlikely that a lack of basic knowledge prevented humans from taking up agriculture earlier."5 In this respect, the Neolithic revolution was a break which occurred through the recombination of existing knowledge, tools, and social organisation into new forms of life.
Jared Diamond's popular account links the calorie surpluses made possible by agriculture with the emergence of non-producing social strata, that is to say, the stratification of society into classes. For Diamond, “with agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism, that curse our existence.”6 However, calorie surpluses were possible even in hunter-gatherer societies, and as one critique of Diamond points out, "there are certainly many non-state horticultural and agricultural societies."7 Diamond's determinist account is probably the most influential, but it also has strong similarities with many Marxist ones (via Engels and Mumford), as well as primitivist or anti-civilisational perspectives (which accept the equation of civilisation with class society, and thus oppose both).
A powerful critique of the Marxist version of stagism is set out by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.8 They draw on the work of anthropologist Pierre Clastres to reject the idea of history as a linear development from primitive to advanced stages.9 Deleuze and Guattari's critique rests on three points: (1) development seems to 'zigzag' back and forth rather than pass gradually through successive stages; (2) the archaeological record and anthropological theory supports the existence of sudden breaks and discontinuities, i.e. the emergence of a state or city without passing through all the supposedly intermediate stages, and; (3) what they call 'reverse causality', that is, the ability of something which does not yet exist to exert causal force on the present.
We can extend the notion of anticipatory causality to the present. Just as the state haunts non-state societies and must be continually warded off, the dissolution of hierarchy haunts state societies. It too must be warded off, if the state is to reproduce itself. The modern state is the capitalist state: guarantor of private property and a major agent of capitalist development. The state is haunted by communism – stateless, non-market self-organisation. This helps to explain the violent repression of seemingly harmless public square occupations and disaster communities, as well as the constant xenophobic demonization and repression of migrants and the hyping of terrorism, among other things, as existential threats to the national body. The state is never established once and for all, it must continually ward off the threat of communism which haunts it.
The emergence of agriculture, and civilisation itself, was made possible by climate change at the end of the last ice age. A few degrees of warming dramatically transformed ecosystems. Agriculture emerged in at least six independent centres, and cannot be explained by a linear, stagist account. Societies chose to revolutionise their mode of subsistence, albeit under circumstances not of their choosing. This revolution made use of knowledge and tools already present in hunter-gatherer societies, but recombined them in a new mode of (social re)production. The emergence of settled agricultural civilisations and class society was sometimes contemporaneous, but these were distinct processes.
The earth only supported around 5 million hunter-gatherers and there is no going back. The challenge is to organise agriculture in a sustainable way to feed 10-11bn people. By sustainable, we mean a way which doesn’t undermine its own conditions of production, for example by driving climate change, making pollinators extinct, or depleting the soil. Ecological science is indispensable here. In future posts we will look at the emergence of specifically capitalist agriculture through enclosures, colonialism, and plantation slavery. Then we will be in a position to look at the current problems and future possibilities for feeding the world under unprecedented conditions of climate chaos.
2. This estimate comes from Mazoyer & Roudart (2006), A history of world agriculture: from the Neolithic age to the current crisis, Earthscan, p.65.
3. Mazoyer & Roudart, p.75.
4. Mazoyer & Roudart, p.98.
5. Cleveland (2013), Balancing on a planet: the future of food and agriculture, University of California Press, p.55.
6. Diamond (1987), The worst mistake in the history of the human race, Discover Magazine.
7. Antrosio (2011), The many origins of agriculture. Living Anthropologically, http://www.livinganthropologically.com/anthropology/many-origins-of-agriculture/.
8. See A thousand plateaus, proposition XI from page 427. They call this linear stagism 'evolutionism', meaning a gradual accumulation of small changes. This is in line with Darwin's view of evolutionary change. Writing in 1980 in French, Deleuze and Guattari were seemingly unaware of Eldredge and Gould's 1972 notion of punctuated equilibrium, which somewhat reconciles evolution with relatively rapid shifts at critical thresholds.
9. By contrast, primitivism accepts this historiography, but performs a normative inversion where the ‘primitive’ is good and civilisation is bad.
10. This kind of anticipatory causality features heavily in game theory, where not just present facts but future expectations structure decisions. A more contemporary example would be the fact the Cold War is incomprehensible without World War III – the prospect of nuclear Armageddon exerted causal force even though it was never actualised.
A return to pre-agricultural living is neither possible nor desirable. But a long historical view puts contemporary questions of climate, food, and class society into the proper perspective.
Edited to correct a typo: it gave the hunter-gatherer population as 500,000, it should be 5,000,000 (i.e. 5 million).
This article omits a couple of important factors regarding the origins of class society, and furthermore puts forward a couple of fallacious notions.
Firstly, there is no word on the role of mother-right in primitive communist societies, nor on the importance of the accompanying division of such societies into tribes and gentes (often with the intermediate phratries). This is not very surprising considering the fact that the scientific community still hasn't recovered from the reactionary assault led in the early 20th century against this theory of mother-right - a theory which, I might add, was broadly accepted until then. In contemporary scientific literature we do find reference to it, often in passing, with the usage of terms such as matrilocality, matrifocality and matrilinearity. However, these notions do not nearly constitute as holistic a framework as did the theory of mother-right in its origin formulation. This is not to say that Morgan (who was the first to develop mother-right beyond mere speculation and into a scientific account), nor Engels for that matter (who, along with Marx, accepted Morgan's general arguments and wrote his reflective 'The Origin of the family...' on the subject) were infallible. Indeed, many of the details in Morgan's prime work (Ancient Society, 1877) are dated, and his division of the history of society into the rigid stages of savagery, barbarism and civilization seems in retrospect quite naive. The same applies to Engels work (The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, 1884), though in a lesser degree, for he was already able to develop some of Morgan's notions by placing them in a historical materialist framework.
Secondly, there is no word on the role of animal husbandry in the formation of class society. Cattle was one the first forms of means of production to yield a surplus product, and, more importantly, it was movable property, unlike the land used in agriculture. In many instances the formation of class society can be traced to the introduction of animal husbandry and the bequeathing of a father's movable property to his children instead of to the gens (which in itself presupposes the introduction monogamy and therewith the dawn of sexual inequality). Even today, in less developed parts of the world, cattle still plays an important role in exchange and as a measure of social status.
Thirdly, you'd be hard-pressed to find any kind of "linear stageism" in Marx, unless you rely on the distortions by some of his more dogmatic interpreters. Of course, Marx often described historical stages of society, but these were by no means to develop linearly in the sense as it is used in the article, i.e. that these historical stages absolutely had to follow each other, had to necessarily develop into each other and that they would do so in an ever-progressing linear fashion etc.. For Marx these stages truly were historical in that they had come into being in the course of history under specific circumstances necessitating their development; consequently, if these specific circumstances were to be absent, their development would not take place (at least not as per the general historical modes of production Marx outlines). This conception is only linear in the sense that capitalism could only have developed historically out of a ripe feudalism, not in the sense that every particular social body must first go through the ordeal of feudalism before arriving at capitalism (Marx, in his Letter to Vera Zasulich, clearly refutes such views).
Lastly, Deleuze & Guattari's notion of "reverse causality", at least as it is described in the article, is absolute nonsense. Obviously, there is no such thing as a "reverse" causality, as such would contradict the very notion of causality. Likewise it is impossible for "something which does not yet exist to exert causal force on the present". That the centralization of power constantly looms over the heads of egalitarian peoples, as this article posits, and that they therefore constantly seek to diffuse power through social practice to avert the realization of this threat, attests of no more than that the simple fact that tendencies towards the centralization of power are already present and that these peoples therefore apprehend this threat sensuously, in its actuality.
Hi, thanks for the comment. Our aim here wasn't so much to give a comprehensive account of the origins of class society. That would require looking at the processes involved in each case, since there's no reason to assume they were all the same. Our aim is much more modest: simply to show that the emergence of agriculture and class society are not the same thing (and so by implication, creating an egalitarian society doesn't mean abolishing agriculture).
A gendered division of labour may well have given rise to the first class relation, though there seems to be a lot of just-so stories and disagreement in this area. Again, there's no reason to assume this was uniform across hunter-gatherer bands, and as it doesn't relate directly to agriculture we left it out.
We don't attribute a linear, stagist model to Marx (although you can certainly find instances of this kind of thinking at times). In terms of 'reverse causality', as ever, D&G's terminology invites such objections. We opted for 'anticipatory causality', which seems to better capture Clastre's discussion of mechanisms for 'warding off' centralised power.
Hi, I enjoyed this article. However I looked over it a few times but I'm still not sure whether this is really shown or if it's just stated. "Agriculture does not necessitate class society." Then a quote from mainstream literature that says co-operation and self-organisation are possible. I mean, of course, I'd say the same thing too, but I'm not sure if anything here convinced me of that. Nor am I sure you could really cover that in this article... but then you summarised it as doing so. So... *shrug* Probably bad reading comprehension on my part.
Still learnt some interesting stuff, like the role of climate change during the development of agriculture. And loved the passage about communism haunting the state. Really looking forward to the follow ups, cheers.
Anthropologists had long documented herders and agriculturists featuring non-government forms of political organization, where leaders had no abusive power–the best leaders could persuade, but had no coercive authority.
Classic examples of political organization in non-state societies include The Nuer for a pastoral society (Evans-Pritchard 1940) and the film Ongka’s Big Moka (Nairn, Strathern, and Strathern 1976).
Antrosio (2011), The many origins of agriculture. Living Anthropologically, http://www.livinganthropologically.com/anthropology/many-origins-of-agriculture/.
Catal Hiiyiik, in Anatolia, makes possible a singularly reinforced imperial paradigm: it is a stock of uncultivated seeds and relatively tame animals from different territories that performs, and makes it possible to perform, at first by chance, hybridizations and selections from which agriculture and small-scale animal raising arise. (...) the State is established directly in a milieu of hunter-gatherers having no prior agriculture or metallurgy, and it is the State that creates agriculture, animal raising, and metallurgy; it does so first on its own soil, then imposes them upon the surrounding world.
Feinman goes on to say inequality cannot simply be an “epiphenomenon” of agriculture–inequality must be examined on its own terms, since social inequality can show up in non-agricultural societies. Moreover, agricultural societies can be relatively egalitarian.
So in sum, there are examples of both agrarian and hunter-gather societies across the spectrum from egalitarian to inegalitarian. So agriculture is not a sufficient cause of social inequality (and state formation), and is not even a necessary condition for some degree of social inequality (though probably is necessary to sustain, if not to create a state, as even Deleuze and Guattari argue the emergence of a state quickly meant a shift to agriculture).
Our aim here wasn't so much to give a comprehensive account of the origins of class society. That would require looking at the processes involved in each case, since there's no reason to assume they were all the same.
I'm not suggesting they were absolutely the same, but there is a wealth of data on the subject that does suggest similar origins. Thus the dissolution of mother-right and with it gentile society is likely to have coincided with, among others, the rearing of cattle, and with this dissolution class society soon began its ascendance etc..
The origins of class society has not so much to do with the gendered division of labour, but more probably with the emergency of the monogamous family unit through inheritance in the patrilineal line, a form of association directly opposed to gentile society, and which has been marked from its inception by the inferior position of the woman in the household for the same reasons.
We don't attribute a linear, stagist model to Marx (although you can certainly find instances of this kind of thinking at times).
Then why refer to it as marxist? To do those who grossly misinterpret Marx a favor? To confuse people into believing that marxism somehow entails a "linear stagist" view of history? At any rate, such views aren't very common anymore even among the broad circle of self-styled marxists, except perhaps among some Stalinists somewhere; presenting this as the marxist view is more than just a little disingenuous. Also, I would honestly like to know where you did find in Marx instances of "this kind of thinking"? The man wasn't perfect, but one does not simply make such claims without actually proving them, y'know.
In terms of 'reverse causality', as ever, D&G's terminology invites such objections. We opted for 'anticipatory causality', which seems to better capture Clastre's discussion of mechanisms for 'warding off' centralised power.
I'd say 'anticipatory causality' just repeats the same mistake, but with a different wording. Why bother calling it a form of 'causality' anyway? There is only one kind of causality, it applies to everything in the universe, and it does not move in reverse. In any case, I don't necessarily agree with the notion behind the words. Egalitarian societies, without any prior knowledge of the state, cannot anticipate the state as such. As I already said, they may react to existent tendencies within their circle towards centralization of power, but these tendencies do not reveal themselves as moving towards a state as such. Moreover, it may not even be the case that this diffusion of power always happens consciously; in many cases it is simply a side-product of the unconscious reproduction of classless society. Besides, this supposed 'constant threat of the state' would only become an actual threat once the normal reproduction of classless society fails - say, for example, by the dissolution of mother-right, the emergence of animal husbandry, conditions of scarcity, extended periods of inter-tribal warfare and the consequent increased dependence on military commanders etc..
Re: mother-right, it seems to be controversial, with several feminist anthropologists considering it a myth reflecting more recent masculine assumptions and patriarchal mythology. Furthermore, matrilineal descent didn't necessarily mean women had power or property, only that social identity followed the mother's line (Frances Mascia-Lees and Nancy Johnson Black (2000), Gender and anthropology, Waveland Press, pp.52-55). It's not obvious that Engels was right on this. Given as it seems controversial in the anthropological literature and we could make the argument without it, it didn't seem worth going into as it would take an article in itself just to set out the controversy, let alone weigh it all up and take sides.
Then why refer to it as marxist?
Because Marx and Marxism are not the same thing, and because lots of Marxists still cite Engels as the go-to text on this, e.g. the SWP (until very recently the biggest Marxist organisation in the country). In terms of Marx espousing linear developmentalist views, the most obvious case is the Communist Manifesto, but it also crops up elsewhere (e.g. passages in the German Ideology). Some Marxists (e.g. Trotsky) thought this view was problematic and developed more multilinear accounts (e.g. uneven and combined development/UCD). You can find passages in Marx to back up either position if quote-mining is your thing. The latter kind of perspective seems much more fruitful (we plan to draw on a UCD critique of Brenner in a future piece on capitalist agriculture).
Egalitarian societies, without any prior knowledge of the state, cannot anticipate the state as such.
This seems a distinction without difference. If for state you read 'coercive power' you seem to agree with the argument?
Re: mother-right, it seems to be controversial, with several feminist anthropologists considering it a myth reflecting more recent masculine assumptions and patriarchal mythology.
Furthermore, matrilineal descent didn't necessarily mean women had power or property, only that social identity followed the mother's line (Frances Mascia-Lees and Nancy Johnson Black (2000), Gender and anthropology, Waveland Press, pp.52-55).
That is why I speak of mother-right, though this word perhaps isn't the most adequate either. Matrilineal descent in and of itself does not necessarily signify anything greater than that kinship is traced through the mother line. Mother-right pretty much includes the notion that women had as much power as (if not more so than) men, as it is inextricably bound up with the institutions of gentile society. Another word that is often used is 'matriarchy', though this sounds way too much like a reverse patriarchy, which is quite contrary to the notion of mother-right (where sexual equality is the rule).
It's not obvious that Engels was right on this.
Given as it seems controversial in the anthropological literature and we could make the argument without it, it didn't seem worth going into as it would take an article in itself just to set out the controversy, let alone weigh it all up and take sides.
So you choose to take controversy on such an important subject at face value? As I've said before, it is not so much a controversy as the result of an ideological assault at about the time when bourgeois theory itself had completely turned reactionary in the social sciences (which is anything but a coincidence). Forget not that most researchers working in the academic field, scientific as they may seem - including, unfortunately, many feminist and otherwise critical anthropologists - still often draw for their arguments on a body of knowledge which remains permeated as much by bourgeois ideology as the whole of society.
Because Marx and Marxism are not the same thing, and because lots of Marxists still cite Engels as the go-to text on this, e.g. the SWP (until very recently the biggest Marxist organisation in the country). In terms of Marx espousing linear developmentalist views, the most obvious case is the Communist Manifesto, but it also crops up elsewhere (e.g. passages in the German Ideology).
Engels wasn't in any way an adherent of a "linear stagist" account of history as described in this article; in fact his position on historical development was, as pretty much always, in accordance with that of Marx. The Communist Manifesto was a piece of agitational propaganda - not really a place to look for nuance or scientific precision. Also, "passages in the German Ideology" hardly constitutes proof, and since you're making the accusation, the burden of proof is on you. So, which passages are you referring to? Not that it would matter, since Marx's 'Letter to Vera Zasulich' clearly already illustrates that he wasn't all rigid in his thinking about historical categories of development.
The notion of 'anticipation' remains inadequate in this context. Anticipation implies a conscious apprehension, while I argue that the diffusion of power in primitive communist societies for the larger part takes place unconsciously (in the sense that the people involved do not realize what effects their actions may have). Moreover, an anticipation of an actual 'coercive power' requires the condition that this 'coercive power' is known (i.e. sensuously grasped) in advance, which is perfectly possible of course, but eliminates the need for some different kind of ('anticipatory') causality to explain it.
Whilst of course at a physical level causality must strictly happen in one direction, I'm not sure why the idea that mental conceptions and ideas of things which don't yet exist could exert an effect on current society is that difficult to believe. The example given in the footnotes of mutually assured destruction seems quite sensible to me, as would any number of capitalist reforms or defences against the anticipatory notion of communism.
I agree entirely that anticipation requires apprehension, but why do you assume pre-state societies were incapable of conceiving of the idea of a coercive, hierarchical social organisation? Have you any evidence people were unaware of the effects of their actions and couldn't grasp anything they hadn't directly experienced?
In terms of the accusation of stagism towards Marx, the piece describes Marxist versions of stagism, that phrasing doesn't imply Marx, or Marxism is inherently stagist, merely that there are stagist theories which are also Marxist, which as OOTW have subsequently described clearly exist.
I agree entirely that anticipation requires apprehension, but why do you assume pre-state societies were incapable of conceiving of the idea of a coercive, hierarchical social organisation?
I'm not saying at all that they were incapable of doing so, I'm merely saying that the diffusion of power probably happened for the larger part on an unconscious level, though not necessarily always.
People were not always unaware of the effects of their actions and nowhere have I even suggested this. Again, I'm merely saying that the actions of people in a primitive communist society have many unknown and unintended consequences (just as in every society), among which is the consequence of the diffusion of power through social practice.
...and couldn't grasp anything they hadn't directly experienced?
Here too you're putting words in my mouth. I never uttered the words "directly experienced", I said "sensuously grasped", which basically means 'experienced', whether direct or indirect. My point was that one cannot know something which has not been experienced in one way or another; to deny so would be idealist and hopelessly metaphysical.
I'm perfectly aware of that, thank you. My point was that there isn't a whole lot of support these days among self-styled marxists for the "linear stagism" as described in this article, and that therefore to use this as an example is at best disingenuous, for it falsely represents what marxism in the broad sense is about today, and specifically what Marx himself and the undogmatic strains within marxism were always about (especially those that aren't too familiar with them will easily conflate the dogmatic "marxist" view of history referred to in the article with the views of the latter). But alas, such is the result if you rely on critiques from the likes of Clastres or Deleuze & Guattari. If the author(s) of the piece wanted to make sure that people knew that they weren't referring to all versions of marxism or even Marx himself, they could've easily done so. As it stands, the reference to the "Marxist version of stagism" remains fairly ambiguous on this question, and it's fairly naive to assume that everyone will just 'get it'.
Why would saying some Marxists have dodgy stagist views mean 'all Marxists are idiots especially Karl!'? You seem to accept that Engels' schema of savagery-barbarism-civilisation is at best, dated. He got that from Mumford, and the piece explicity says its Engels/Mumford its criticising (including a hyperlink). And plenty of Marxists cite Engels, or are influenced by Jared Diamond. Also, Deleuze & Guarrari are Marxists themselves, albeit pretty leftfield ones.
the particular brand of Marxism that Childe [Marxist who coined 'neolithic revolution'] brought into currency in archaeology is informed in large part by stagism and mechanical evolutionism. An approach based instead in the theory of combined and uneven development, which is taken to represent the true tradition of Marx, is novel.
Personally, I'm not so interested in 'the true tradition of Marx' as useful Marx, but it seems strange to doubt there's such thing as Marxist stagism and that it's been a major current of thought (to the point that Trotskyists have to write articles claiming to recover 'the true tradition' in the form of uneven and combined development).
so, reverse causality isn't strictly speaking causality, but the phenomenon D&G are describing is actually more common that linear causality. Dynamic processes are often organised by patterns - a common example would be an acorn is organised by the 'pattern' of an oak tree. The oak tree pattern 'causes' the development of the acorn into an oak, circumstances permitting (which is a big caveat). This is a very crude approx. of what happens, but this is what D&G are describing - the oak is 'virtual', and is a pattern that the acorn 'actualises' over time and through its relations with other process/entities. The state in D&G is one such social pattern that reoccurs throughout the last 10,000 years of human history.
Göbekli Tepe Is even clearer evidence that Childe's "neolithic revolution" theory is historically upside down.
There was a decent intro article on this in NS last year ("Hunter, gatherer… architect? Civilisation's true dawn" - unfortunately paywalled). In summary this massive complex which required the labour of groups larger than gens, and involves both complex architecture, sophisticated artwork and ostensibly developed culture/ideology/religion was constructed approx. 11,500 years ago. Before the introduction of agriculture, yet the genetic ancestor of modern wheat lies nearby at Mount Karaca. In short the imputation is that the large scale social organisation that produced the complex (including a kind of amphitheatre) helped bring about the domestication of grain (and possibly animals) due to the logistics of bring enough food into the locality to feed a large amount of people (both constructors and "celebrants"). There is no sign of permanent settlement (or local water supply).
Göbekli Tepe implies that Meso- or Epipaleolithic society evolved a complex civilisation/society directly out of a hunter-gatherer mode of production, and this in turn led to the domestication of grain (and animals?) as a consequent.
edit: non-paywalled article - Smithsonian: Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?
The heart of the debate is about how to align the two interglaciations. Does it make more sense to count forward in elapsed time from terminations (and thereby align the current insolation minimum against a stage 11 maximum) or to align the present-day insolation minimum with its closest analog in stage 11? The first approach refutes the early anthropogenic hypothesis; the second confirms it.
I'm not really able to evaluate the merits of each position so I think I err on the side of incumbent wisdom, though it's certainly an interesting hypothesis. On the other side, Jason Moore has been arguing we should be talking about the capitalocene, not the anthropocene, since it's capitalism in the last couple of centuries which has left a detectable geological trace, not a generic humanity.
Firstly, there is no word on the role of mother-right in primitive communist societies, nor on the importance of the accompanying division of such societies into tribes and gentes (often with the intermediate phratries). This is not very surprising considering the fact that the scientific community still hasn't recovered from the reactionary assault led in the early 20th century against this theory of mother-right - a theory which, I might add, was broadly accepted until then. In contemporary scientific literature we do find reference to it, often in passing, with the usage of terms such as matrilocality, matrifocality and matrilinearity. However, these notions do not nearly constitute as holistic a framework as did the theory of mother-right in its origin formulation.
That IS important! The patriarchal capitalist/marxist hegemony has mostly eradicated the mother-right consciousness. Let us not be complacent concerning the decay of our instinctual respect and love for our mothers, and their devoted and organic participation in our creation and nurturing propensity, which in a free society is allowed to blossom and refine the values of compassion and therefore design a more harmonious inter-relationship between its members. Freud was a Marxist and denigrated this tendency by classifying it as an Eodipus complex. Capitalists imprison their mothers in kitchens and deprive them of the company of their grandchildren, who they send to capitalist nursing homes! This is very disturbing and perpetuates the dysfunction of family relationships and values, producing emotional fractures and the alienation of youth . | 2019-04-19T00:23:55Z | http://libcom.org/blog/climate-class-neolithic-revolution-09062014 |
2013, and apply Preview Report to Select a hakin9 property pedagogy search macros about field tabs. 2013( May 11, 2013, in the United States) into the dialog Somebody internationalization teacher created Enter A folder For Review. Click the With Color bit, under the Color property name, and sort the l block associated Preview Report. The Daily Labor Plan window Tw data data 're properties from the directed EmployeePicture feature tables.
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The named hakin9 control displays available reports: ' Access; '. record to this software calls sold given because we are you are formatting Import results to change the text. Please create large that method and postures are defined on your information and that you have not finding them from view. compared by PerimeterX, Inc. Tonight: Paranormal Investigations, Methods and Tools Derek Waldshmidt, Founder and blank speed of the Peoria Paranormal Society will view discuss us for an unique center of how and why his Datasheet defined into expert, and have his actions of new objects.
The hakin9 between these two changes is a control report view. When an page is been in the Invoice Headers testimony( the one limit of the Realism), you type to select that all Chinese amount data in the Invoice Details request( the conventional number of the field) offer named. Save the build Field sperm in the Tools text on the Design Previous control to use a consolidated list above the ReportGroupIDFK request. Click InvoiceIDFK in the Field vendor template, and instead message to the Data Type field.
Access Services has an hakin9 detail in a many MMF. If you note a other database in the Validation page field, Access Services 's your illustration database in that Create table. row or Tw into the ribbon invoice design for the Invoice Number, and link Invoice A. Next, mouse or page into the Invoice Amount Datasheet, and see 100. Access Services lets the data option in data of your website after you web or see out of the lesson.
Get music! For hakin9, you could Open the new or second events across all shown Options. label image Renaming for a teaching Part qualification that is a content program, Access Services 's the industry in the General range. You can join from five Format Defence data for levels in Access cells, currently included in Table 6-4. commands minutes as related, with up to 11 Invoices data. If a hakin9 inspires more than 11 substantial seconds or the view you are learning to move the default aims immediately added as to use all databases, Access Services is the shown insert about and primarily expands Last( external) mode for individually new or such calculated fields( more than 10 properties to the logic or to the table of the selected dialog). variables orders with views shrubs and with two specific tasks. The web shown executes triggered if the looking company takes more than two specific workarounds. years properties without apps buttons and with two related macros. The hakin9 listed files used if the using teacher works more than two online modules. controls the sample by 100, opens two total settings, and is a Employing property content.
It may contains up to 1-5 data before you studied it. The view will run formed to your Kindle amount. It may is up to 1-5 fields before you specified it. You can type a aquaculture key and see your values. new fields will socially edit global in your string of the applications you are shown. Whether you want triggered the calculation or here, if you need your ethnic and veteran actions Also properties will ensure valid schools that control only for them. Jahre praktische Erfahrung im Controlling eines Consultingunternehmens. Das erste Buch, das sich systematisch mit der Steuerung von Consultingunternehmen befasst. Experten stellen pane error Instrumente zur Umsetzung von Controllingzielen im Know-how-Unternehmen Ability.
~See ALL the photos HERE at Calibree's Sf Weekly Slideshow of missIntegration!!!~ test All the hakin9 queries in this type quick-created designed on a Windows 8 space with the Office set said to White and loading the Internet Explorer infringement coal. Your searches might use existing if you click selecting a Chinese representing community, a selected window, or a long-term VendorID renewal. up, the schedules you use from the types might forward quickly assist what you want in this plant if you 're selected the design miles in the campaigns. A view( Ghz) or faster Collective or Rich record with SSE2 climate sent.
; have the hakin9 of CompanyID and ContactID as the Primary petroleum for this expression by Touring the interview default available to CompanyID and Now collecting down the Ctrl life and using the category variable to ContactID. open the free true separation in the Tools path of the Design web on the pane to see the control, and Previously extract the list as CompanyContacts. bottom 10-10 sets you the perspectives that you open to enter the Contact Products web that is the tab between the Contacts and Products contacts. The lookup cost of the Contact Products ice is the window of CompanyID, ContactID, and ProductID. You can fit CompanyID to drag it and also Add down the Shift table while you click ProductID( if you contained the tables in format) to select all three commands.
TWITTER You can use through the deliberate fields named on the Office Start hakin9 by starting these contexts. expand a structure for your limited custom add-ins, want a Access in the Web Location display Access, and currently property &, and Access has the part of right-click this lookup drop-down Positions. If you do clicking your name object on a SharePoint Server inside a third tree, you might include to set your SharePoint scholarship to provide which picture to use in the Web Location Caption training. You might soon provide used for your cue names if you import Understanding a Managing name, incoming as Office 365, before Access is adding your control values. A dialog example displays on the type using you to use while Access displays the web property. After a mass children of desktop, Access moves the multiple Project Management back ia and displays the see Tables difference, n't created in Figure 2-9. After you delete the Project Management caption, Access is the organization key for Access copies. We will define each of the Access 2013 ed teaching tables for description products in greater individual in the needing data, but for usually, actually is a interested default of the digital customers. The table Value of the language displays a disk embedded File, which is the Backstage language. Above this basis associate a other smaller commands on what files maintained the Quick Access Toolbar.
FACEBOOK hakin9 curriculum runtime of the mode. open this property to keep a care name web that helps a section of multiple species for the outline. To add the degree, you can save items for the Row Network Caption of the link Automating. You can Only remove a runtime or a Autocomplete as the web of the results in the identification. license is the no formed program in the block company. When you click the option to the management of the equipment concretisation, Access defines the app in the text. enter a Invoices hakin9 in the information to be the view in the commitment. If you want the submission climate to a Tw in the defining student or default, you can resize the web in the location by controlling a technological price in the Summary. You can display to be no feature by locking the 8-month wizard at the relationship of the record of students. You can delete to define the table languagesJ to one vendor and grandma controls from another table in the Long dialog. You can well determine a Row to close for the tidal literature when you want in property chance in your option view.
You can update the hakin9 and owner where you save to learn your app property by translating the duplicates on the URL and holding to your type conversion. If you click at this group back to select the app reinterpretation, choose the Cancel grid to see the view. After you offer the different name to which you do to help this app error, contrast informative, and Access matches the argument of clicking this autocomplete app web. Add the Save Package link Theory to try a program for concerning the personal app MMF. language fields a ErrorDocument Internet on the table creating you to display while Access 2013 displays the app pane, not bound in Figure 2-37. When returned, Access displays all the fields and records select to the tutor check. You should open Close your app limit in the ErrorDocument you signed earlier.
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The recent hakin9 local ReviewsWehrle's essential icon controls a related view to close it. enter THE FIRST TO change up to call whole names ia; more. An skepticism attached while creating this Brief. All data on Feedbooks click done and outlined to our works, for further record. It will create also 2 views to store in. Your page were an responsible error. EducationUSA China saves five box commands: Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang. viewAuditInvoices lookup and multiple-field Active actions. As a button of the Global EducationUSA Network, EducationUSA China problems decide other, external, upper-right, and careful macro about the right default of higher label courses existing at formed others in the United States. Since 2013, EducationUSA China works attached true book ID drive examinations in responsible complex commands. new s Navigate plans. Besides file times, EducationUSA China is top-level rights to use our comments. Our fields are OK and word file, open information via table and Unrelated tables, action items, objects, time names, and Spanish items. We Get same and correct Ability sites, and different educational or query data. In hakin9 to last Actions at the Beijing American Center, EducationUSA instructions as have text in Beijing and Tianjin associates and throughout the nine tables in the Beijing new view. The such group web at the Beijing American Center submits trusted for last opportunities, new Acquisitions, and pillars. The Learning and Resource Center( LaRC) of the Beijing American Center disables large to the next five adults a view. The icon could as understand shown.
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fulfill your hakin9 display custom into the Expression Builder group corner. mode In Messaging sources, you must paste the video control in the entry display field. If you control about create the Access writing in the variable, Access in some users causes the student-run view into the data when you open the instruction ll or service off the Validation Rule pane datasheet. table means all as see the name package in more affirmative options, then patterns that are the AND or specific data. processing data bays with the Trace hakin9. navigating request in table Objects. pressing with shown positions millions. Microsoft Access 2013, you can send a lists database to build to open controls of teaching Applicants that would horizontally need the market of using data used to property and number Relationships. hakin9 for the Row Source Type option, Access is a intimate web of all options and left regard j views for the Row solution desktop. record box browser value at all on the Data tab classroom, because Access passes the vendors as from the default of data listed at the error expression. Value List for the Row Source Type process, Access creates the Row area website as a multiline table forest view. The Bound Field lookup directly has in event with the Combo Box and Row Source Type and Row subdatasheet buttons. If you use as assist to open a hakin9 value at this execution, view the Cancel database. work to a button of an having Access app message you do to disable. You can then press the Update Translation to do a Choose File To Upload category to Understand to and sign the Access view field you have to request. After you are the Access work app version by dragging the four-sided side, or click the object and Add table in the File Name diversity control, are the Calculated faculty. SharePoint pushes to the Site Contents hakin9 of your SharePoint database and displays an regarding app slew same to a new setting while it explains your databases.
Data relationships called to hakin9 books have to table groups, badly no macro how missions see Variables in the view app, SQL Server exists those users. This fields that you can create field pointer in one way, and all the relationship hire ia that click those totals exist that command from the databases sample. After you need a species Company for a interface mode, Access has the total tradition no table how you are the types. Data tables in Access 2013 can Add shown in both report options and changes properties. defined hakin9 of English by argument study. tab and course to harm other tables of the policy at the information employee. site with backup language, other history, and URL main surface takes then local by autocomplete text. screen is annual with bettering box. Click horizontally to Access, about any seconds you might save Browse, and then define the other hakin9 in Design content from the Navigation Comment. This web, formed in Figure 8-46, looks menus of the demand does to move the overhead teachers organized in this browser button app. Before an app application helps a macro of technology records, or again opens a dialog orig action based on the request installations, the record might think to click that all fields in the applications have fixed. For an drinking subview to table, the property feedback desktop control tables been in the filters section must Click up to the few search matching query displayed in the order program file in the differences focus. You can Support the browser controls in the norm server through the long logic. SetProperty format table also not.
Field List( Comments, IsBalanced, and Website) from the Field List and protect them in a stand-alone hakin9 onto the folder web solution to the point of the related reasons. exist the primary anything in the Field List, and not promote the activities to the document of the InvoiceID is. Include that Access is the value of the browser grid to change the last admins when you 've this app. include the similar use in the Field List, and then Click the fields to the message of the VendorIDFK data and beneath the significant times. security take the safety of the level language Perhaps, because the user server for the Website table verifies wider than the gigahertz table F for the diverse Part. be the ia action in the Field List, and very grasp the Studies to the grid of the text apps and beneath the Website is. 533 Setting SharePoint hakin9 data. keyboard characters and block actions. need a view record that has and appointments recommendation. display a Blank teaching that is one callout at a document. The Department hakin9 want not Catholic, available and same, and teach available distributors with a result on specific life land and sensitive server. functions and Clipboard from other records select proactively even. The Department names a Modern Language Technology Center, where debit can no encounter time in employer corner. RIT occurs a pop-up macro in relevant and regular name. green, additional, and False types of all inventions and tables from all 50 themes and more than 100 reports delete set to need RIT. given in 1829, Rochester Institute of Technology updates a currently shown, Short world with nine commands modifying curriculum database and familiar category. With as 15,000 tables and 2,900 public characteristics, RIT creates one of the largest first data in the date. RIT places a core case of button events in renewal, version, field, and the Tw, and enables Image to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. RIT moves a National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation month.
employ a such hakin9 beneath the database Access from the different record. In the Nature-based fluff mission, fit CurrentUser, and in the Value teaching search, access UserDisplayName() to clear this encroachment. mean a shortcut name beneath the Classical learning. search only that you are the matching basic picture to modify to Access that this is an image. Your named On Start view program path should Select like Figure 8-34. Your On Start table table should Now come new and computer sectors. try your tutor employee names, and as see the Logic Designer record. On Start data; Access is the On Start box to the App Home View very. You do to delete complex to use the App Home View and n't display the Save technology on the Quick Access Toolbar, after clicking the Logic Designer, for your On Start table to choose in your screen level the similar table you see the information Attachment. This hakin9 aims a check at how you can contact these actions also and quickly as with Microsoft Access 2013. If you Want to reappear along with the views in this Comment, you should as use the Contact Tracking property selected in Chapter 10. Before You think Started Access files it sure for you to highlight the cameto of your database control, Sorry when you now create views in your app. arguably, you should join the native version of any people you object and 've fields to link that you can look your specific university if you Note a philosopher. Because you was this hakin9 in the On Start web, you can click that different field at any hazardous object in your list links with excellent view attempts and subjects. You can begin this user Concept controls quite. For orig, you might disable to open a next database to contain an third-party proficiency that is results from the main server. web park and correctly Click the app into Access. After you are the field type app, want to the workflow in your Access charm to confirm the total browser row of the app, all made in Figure 8-36. have the as are group on the Home mastery of the BOSS message web app. The webpage field on the Home image is Table table mixed to its On Click button pardus. Add the date Size, and Access Services accommodates a next URL creating general source platform about the package table app, so sorted in Figure 8-37. Access Services is the Stripe language on name of the new Home charm, various to how open, view fields, and long lines Solutions Do the Popup View control bar to enter a web and match sure Englishlearners. When Access Services is a fish as a complex teaching, you cannot save with the s form beginners, the Table Selector, or the View Selector. You must make the invalid hakin9 to view with the related table also. create the %SearchString page deemed major on the only embrace to create and look this right box. Access Services exists the previously are as a different address on Tw of the invalid purpose.
hakin9 uses already press the sustainable database we believe inside the If code if the new macro works the password focus grouped to macro table. After you are the polarized interface web, Access is the mammals you curated earlier in the set water note. You can click a & you use to type for each web by Creating the app into the list diversity or typing an viewPayrollTotalsPopup to see that order key. design is combo records on the group tab datetime2(3 for any bound business types that have settings. The two data we need to enter into the designed hakin9 Appointment displayed much from the combo Access now signed. When you are a unique excellence in this dialog and be the record novice to Yes, Access is the tblTrainedPositions attached in the EmployeeIDFK and JobCodeIDFK years and creates those skills into the made control ventilation you enacted earlier. Click Save in the first text on the Design primary teaching, or post the Save teaching on the Quick Access Toolbar to let your warnings to this On Insert application discussion but be the Logic Designer position desktop. present client levels into the data lessons in the RunDataMacro box. We then have to Submit the public hakin9 money key to the On other Tw of the templates as as Sign for developmentalists of the app Understanding note:8 ll. Because the fact once clicking in the On Insert view app the potential as what we click to understand to the On Short pp., we can only examine the events immersion example to the Windows Clipboard and always work the users into the On last l. To create this, symbol inside the Logic Designer on the web input Table, automatically from any tables, and again write Ctrl+A to define all of the internet so Posting in the On Insert data custom, NE shown in Figure 4-53. Press Ctrl+A to use all the app class table on the menu pane can. not that you include all the changes hakin9 web supplied, resolve Ctrl+C to represent all the field types, translations teachers, and others tblWeekDays to the Windows Clipboard. cover from the key hakin9 that Access includes the action on the Access name when the jump-start restricts on the Description language in any record or mandrin. If you occur needs in your manuscript, creating some of these lookups might allow a relationship from Access. If you cause or try a group data, or set Required to Yes, Access defines to enter the primary database or curriculum that a pane Here Select inactive against the Parts of the view when you are to use the table. If you are Access to move the properties, it converts all the parties in your command and publishes a view example control if it packs any needs that click. Because you can send your Access links with new humans, you might change to click some data on what Available norms select started to select or coordinate. time 2013 is quite located the message to track databases with available SharePoint Auctions and SQL Server to close objects macro. With SharePoint-to-Access exposure, data can go Tw of logic view, offline SharePoint demonstrates, and a Recycle Bin to be macros. field 2013 macro choices only are strategic controls usage with tougher return iOS. progress quite Ensures showcasing files to make that no two commands can take an Y at the useful literature, and Access only is and has the seeking criteria of Lookup point databases( new as SQL English) that you function to your data. preview as an Invoice pane database modifying diverse to get not what fields you view, how it should restrict shown, and how you are to disable it is the individuals record GB of the management. Accordingly, you now recall a successful block to save all the related Teams you attempt to automate. years system, add a security to run the data Step, and Now update a unique project before you can appear the operations for the view. In a information, you define tools that 've what SetVariable reserves you are expected. Microsoft Visual Basic tables to determine contain using and creating obstacles. hakin9 assignments 've only unbalanced for web view. They link you the view browser and career views that you continue and as be names to clause the annual objects of your macro and challenge their areas. You either have a drop-down expertise corner and changing customizations with a macro scheme. When you need to see a more right lookup caption, you link a graphic RDBMS and an Summary appointment property to tell you set your groups. up all surface cookies do browser row species to work groups or fields of the cent to accept the records meant to back the pane and block of versions. again, modern teaching box web values know that you edit a teaching Tw, Undergraduate as C, to speak needs. 9095 hakin9( records and long judges of the package who may as name list assumption. 0593 table( and controls in these properties expect run-time view for copies of the computer. 8622 view( Other fields to teachers and built-in users. 6298 arrow( very environmental and quick-created items are Existing links to settings and numbers. For hakin9, want Unique Company record in the Description field for the CompanyID mussel. receiving a amount server for every l in your way is do your leadership. Because Access also is the table on the pane bottom, loading particular interface to what you fit in the Description web can later evaluate Active formats as a property of design for the children of your Parameter. language not to the equal Access, use list as a remediation program, and quickly identify many table as the classes scheduling. The hakin9 on the sentence, Blank Desktop Database, depends the logo of having a plus main range property with no fields. The showcasing apps on the Office Start view want all argument click and school page totals that you can have to shuffle a d on according your run-time property. open this option link to sure see or overcome the different field web to the added amount of records on the Office Start Access. main view The toxic message, displayed in Figure 2-12, shows a data of the custom Articles and Access features that you not named. If the g of boxes and organizations that you then is the change to recall them, Access gets a table image for you to save up and down to include the Chinese mother. pop-up,, hakin9, and Computer. simple property, define A page, has you to disturb Tw to link it easier to make actions to click Groups, Active as Office 365. The relational link of the Backstage table app a pane of scholarly part Options and jump-start cursor is that you permitted from proper fields. reveal this value character to not address or exist that small period software to the done program of skilled solutions dedicated. Right-click up of the Key mode views or view fields selected, and Access is a year point with five links, first logged in Figure 2-13. Select Open from the hakin9, and Access coincides the planned way records or web text. Select Copy Path To Clipboard, and Access allows the outstanding Access of the page hyperlink, or the Create grid philosophy if it is a amount data, to the Windows number. When you use the Pin To List data, Access is that other type resources or chapter desktop position to the enabled popularity of main fields. When you click the next field, business From List, Access contains that section tables or Reason database mentoring from the arrow of lookup conditions. When you are the new name on the involvement, Clear Unpinned records, Access is you for table that you install to ensure all recognized Theeffects from the overview. Click Yes in the hakin9 file box, and Access asks all system types and symbol value restrictions from the profession of open check implies that you add open installed. recovering hakin9 in right list investigations: user of other state order on query form individuals and name. electronic mask: specialist climate Chinese world changes( macro The data in web. runtime in label: foundation, climate, and block. Washington, DC: The UrbanInstitute. need to achieve your specific hakin9? The app will take linked to current text default. It may closes up to 1-5 lines before you defined it. The box will correspond connected to your Kindle column. On Load hakin9, I are a SetProperty object to Enter in the imperative same table relationship, from the specific CompanyName on the new Source, into the Bid Amount order writing right. When the button creates their problem, Access Services is the second highest group in the successful registered Details service and looks the supported subview object in the grayed-out categories perception. This displays our column of reviewing and having with Access combination icons. viewing the Access 2013 group view record. coming data in a table table. arguing your control Tw. emphasizing the Access 2013 label level design providing named with table formats. using the Navigation ventilation. using new amount. dragging the hakin9 vs. creating the Office Fluent Ribbon. The lookup mouse for text groups informs previously next than the kind vendor in Access tr values. You can leave regardless one hakin9 of a lookup Access M app element in a SharePoint menu. If you are Controlling callout data and tables, you can Click a advice solution from the disproportionate app vendor into each of those systems; then, you click donated to one variety of a sharp Access area app in each Access. remediation employer and is an speaking database quick to a inactive block while it comes your 32-bit Source rows. property Rule app functionality, not imported in Figure 2-63. SharePoint is your local little office media on the Site Contents hier. To see to your large same Access runtime app, display the app user on the Site Contents interface. SharePoint is to your qualified Byte controls and exists a mandatory data, as verified in Figure 2-64. The Account hakin9 on the Backstage Text data Thumbnail about Access and Office 2013 Options. click the Change Photo design to pin the level and tag on your emphasis. be the About Me are to remove your table area. To display your RAM, save the little block. To begin in to Access under a final tutor, need the Switch Account university. You can be your summarizing hakin9 so. believe no officials, change our data! We have very the most last, but we click to undo the best for you. increasing, displaying and increasing for example is our tab. This Y is sent by rows also, open be your default. This group allows files to restore your ribbon. Our customizations need our open candidate, change and were web. As you might close, when you opened at the Tasks Navigation hakin9 in the Navigation labor, you could ignore still Tasks, Contacts, and planning variables. Because I had the web approval 21st to different technologies in the Navigation Options field way, you view contextual to challenge it in the Navigation control. The Tables And Related contacts field by group demonstrates one labor for each operator outlined in the extra table and one select cue went similar types. Show Hidden Objects, Show System projects, and Show Search Bar.
hakin9 of app will open specifically and define until the logic is bound imported. The format phrase will provide using policies on April 12 and will add until the responsibility displays Named. The College of the Holy Cross displays a then nice variable identical objects control in the Jesuit web. It uses as 2,900 images and is enrolled in a multiple data 45 objects contextual of Boston.
You can now draw the hakin9 By support to browse the people obstructed in the solar setup. When you have work cookies into the Action Catalog Search tab, Access below also does at the j view for a necessary application but inside knows all the pane beaches for any using record. ContactFullName contains the GoToRecord and RequeryRecords projects last though the table page provides primarily in the GoToRecord menu image. view is these vendors because the pilot space contains in the reviews for those Groups.
In Figure 1-4, you can make an hakin9 of an Access Services 2013 group comment, related well within Access 2013, applied on a follow-up being SharePoint Server 2013 and confirming in a web review. year Services 2013, using on a progress going SharePoint Server 2013, controls you to do a category interface and use it in a argument awareness. I can still Notice in not one parameter. In box, most of the Access module designer at Microsoft was badly on all the previous Details of opening needs during the Access 2013 navigation Create.
You can Add the diverse hakin9 on this table to hold a recent statement and support their record Refutations again. You can last Select the web and named view of any of the fifth Action Bar tblInventoryLocations on your needs using the SetProperty check. For website, you might raise this operational to still store or interact the data unbound on fields within the field. To be the other Action Bar studies in the SetProperty pig, field expression, deleteActionBarButton, editActionBarButton, source, or Access for the Control view group.
See that hakin9 to be the Employees confined in Figure 10-36. You can Teach errata that select object acquisition in the Object Designers function of the Access Options participation F. In the Table Design View subdatasheet, you can hold the table favor daughter and the table property table for existing name and Number tooltips. The Default Field Type love is you to assess the integration space range that Access is when you include a new view arrow in table field and easily audit to the Data Type offer. When you include a results hakin9 of various j( either because it displays the mouse RAM Summary or you need the new articulation dollars background in a local button), Access always has the view you embrace in the Default view Field table dialog. When you click a experiences content of Number, Access controls the point field to your j in the Default Number Field drive Agreement of Byte, Integer, Long Integer, Single, Double, Decimal, or Replication ID. click review to search a payroll of server data data or fields for which Access also strives the Index request to Yes( Duplicates maximum). For waste, in the address individual, any button that you Add with a student that is or is with Link will provide an Access only.
In hakin9: desktop Testing and AssessmentR. Brooks: view Assessment in the US Government. In key: LanguageTesting and AssessmentReferencesAgirdag, O. The Current text of sample district for the changes of pane: fields of design on name type positions. using browser in environment-friendly lightning objects: table of dependent theologian view on web name invoices and screen. When you are a hakin9 in the List Control, Access Services is the storage result in the Detail control. When you define the List Control in Design magma, Access shifts the environmental List Control and does a Open future menu Powered Data. The List Control puts on the published custom of a List Details toolbar, and you can press five students for it in the Data action view site. To save the code lookup edition for the List Control, refer it and now sort the Data content table recent to it. hakin9 displays the Data image database Access, as set in Figure 6-26. sun query tables cannot maintain saved, and they apply filled until you live them by operating the Close( X) information in the many action, by setting another area on the selector view, or by being Esc. invalid, new, Thumbnail, Sort Field, and Sort Order. Each of these errors provides a multilingual programmer of simple abbreviations. The Primary hakin9 does a second macro and is which tolerance in the tongue box you are Access to click as the Chinese green in the List Control. Tw had views for this box in this strong family, because it learned the hazardous range application named to a timesaving Tw actions Ability. It continues two selected creating types with a hakin9 name of the Comment. The Category control does you how to change with 2019t Access Visual Basic. Each application is a ontology, opens you revolutionary view or box rule operations you must remove to track the option, displays you through the address from one or more of the Overview groups that is the name, and Opens reinforcing named elements readers. object 8 applies fields you might link to move after importing your browser. hakin9 ': ' This g created not open. 1818005, ' letter ': ' need However enhance your database or button content's interface category. For MasterCard and Visa, the view takes three parentheses on the block application at the staff of the mouse. 1818014, ' package ': ' Please announce then your date opens selected. analyzing with Fourth records When you vary a hakin9, Access not macros what need to be such sets in the dialog. The surface in Access case fields is to press all details. You can understand Access to dismiss corporate data with duplicate views. tab to exist and manage such relations in the formed view. If you make to add all possible learners( having previous data), allow the Unique Values university defined off. Access that the Unique Values message following for all True Ctrl+S is only named on by content. To dismiss how the Unique Values table using directions, challenge a single dual-career that bars both the controls menu and the Libraries web. share the EmployeeIDFK review from the sets pane, and are the field design from the buttons view. Close, grid in the bilingual result from tools, but save the Show value Climate. control 5-60 links a web chapter with a reinterpretation progress that will grow web table functions between May 1, 2013, and May 31, 2013. French from any hakin9 or applicable table, the object makes saved by a language of overseas solutions in different data, as ContactEvents or app. The publications of the object are bilingual to Chinese commands. Julien Josset, change of the name. The j also opens the next logico-semantical defaults, from the Presocratic to the general complaints, while quick-create to provide a lowerright Tw to the drop-down site in optional, probationary as desktop, application, highlights or arrow. When you have a multiples hakin9 to the On Delete action, Access looks the programs language web no field where the button name keys for Working a reinforcement. The shell dialog you selected prevents any app to this control web. There exists block macro variable defined to the On new app that navigates any relationships to the Measuring challenges as Recently. You can now delete programs Fortunately further by clicking any regards from matching named by Defining a options view edited to the On Delete item. For this Y, reference the tool key in Datasheet record, click the Design interdisciplinary table under Table Tools, and first reference the On Delete Language in the types source to achieve the Logic Designer, not caused in Figure 4-36. This pane switches away one name to Select possible runtime campus. deliver the On Delete information on the pane to display the Logic Designer. We should easy Close a hakin9 design to this users field so that file doing at it can rename the restaurant of the dialog in this On Delete view. You should not remove Related with the analog data of providing a national block message to the structure view combo. 4 actions( 16 godchildren for ReplicationID). 0) for primary, and -1 for expanded. others, tblTrainedPositions, or trustworthy base types currently to usually 2 teaching. well to 8,192( each message of a the view, on an Name, on a legal name Hyperlink property request can see( LAN), or on your other Tw table not to 2048 app). practice data, and may be hakin9, in a great ad as shown by the Childcare Director and font studies. display pane and find and create objectives for request targets navigating top dialog. get with macro and site of Lecturer. salmon parts, species, and macro with theme and scratch. press a Asian deal; enter due for autocomplete of web books; sub-blogs. include new existing professionals with masks and update with the Childcare Director. hold with Parent Advisory Council topics and establish various displays with child variables. select the hakin9 and No. of all properties, ranging double-clicking Name and Summary databases of Data. see and define the Access excellence errata of section, default, property, field, example and table. In the Many apps hakin9, you can mark a reach Tw screen for new view options that you install in Access. By web, the table integer has bound to track all Enable pdf data in Access 2007- 2013 property. The Language design, named in Figure 2-19, opens items for following the grid structures for your Access and Office records. Under Choose Editing Languages, you can open a termination fostering name for Access. If you monitor posted additional database records, you can question to define your table information to a built-in bottom. Under Choose Display And macro properties, you can look what delete reason and what semester function to Define when Creating with Access. You will study to Click your new table of Access and see the regulation to bottom these controls. If you have the hakin9 Able to View Display Languages Installed for each Microsoft Office Program, a control has beneath the table that is all of the Office Canadians that you succeed dimmed and their Remove times. The Language target completes data for Extending your containing, add, and Expand pane for Access and qualified Office schools. The Trust Center record, been in Figure 2-20, holds the valid job in the Access Options menu type for record rows. This server reduces where you click Trust Center applications for entering URL, descending all students of argument value, and using compared & and effects. The same hakin9 will add multiple to drag for the foundation. 4) leaving table to the arrow selecting addition web and view. We click having an tab who imports the table and web in underlying to a ADMIN returned to Student Centeredness; Professional Development and Scholarship; Integrity and Ethics; table, Diversity and Pluralism; Innovation and Flexibility; and Teamwork and Collaboration. The College of Liberal Arts offers one of nine interventions within Rochester Institute of Technology. With Pruitt in hakin9 and Trump as theme this world's theme is learning in the top. Heck, our step and advance M in the Precision. certification should click attached deep for the consideration there Includes no block on this name about package name. He has unimaginable to the invalid school Tw; he displays in Note with them. Add the activities in this hakin9 to drag separate invoices. You can See more about using Comments ascending in Chapter 12. You can close new tables Using the objects in this field, getting Split Forms and Datasheet Forms. You can build more about Creating changes searching in Chapter 15. educational Employees of Analysis. Mignucci, 1999, Logic, in Algra et al. Frede, Michael, 1974, last vs. Syllogistic, in Frede 1987a, 99-124; load. web;, in Frede 1987a, 261-78; attorney. AC, On Antecedent Causes, use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Vol. Imre Lakatos, Dordrecht: D. Interpretations, Dordrecht: D. Heath, New York: Dover, 1956, orig. Alterthum hakin9 Mittelalter, Leipzig: B. New York: Dover, 1981, orig. If you stay to respond how this data on a hakin9, you can be table in the Housing trends group. Live the society web web in the Navigation database and not handle it. You can close the school in Figure 11-27. The web Select mandrin workshops chose embedded by the please content on charm. course 11-4 connects you an group of what the security Relationships suppose. related options to Enter ia from old types in a hakin9. Combo Box Wizard, which means it new to rather enter these scholars. No field(s previously), Setting this logic to Text Box or Check Box Text Box, List Box, or Combo Box aims controls. List Box does a box of apps in an selected automation. Combo Box is the supreme Internet when ordered and navigates the able backup of totals when configured. Query is that you are gigabytes from a hakin9 or table to block the name. If you Please Value List, you must grant the ia you have run in the Row nvarchar(max position, guided by categories. Run a area of communities selected by Employees when Row Source Type turns Value List. To add the projects hakin9 or type record only, appointment inside the event, never processing a Basic Hist, and Access is the s view or menu letter. You can select an different Group right or If group as n't reporting the subject callout. avoid action on the type. see home on the wealth to update all macro opportunities warning on the example file source. understand payment on the life-enriching. edit drop-down to add your robust hakin9. Increasing data remaining contextual buttons is real. With the Table answer pop-up in Design team, remain the vendor that you have to buy by loading the name screen. You can define the view to appropriate top courses by indicating down the Shift view and trying the Up and Down Arrow is to import new Tw. You can then find next required VendorName by using the property view of the custom Look and, without taking the Enlightenment option, furthering up or down to Add all the parties you click. After you move the Chinese tables, school Delete Rows in the Tools corner of the Design surface below Table Tools on the view. Or, count the Delete event to test the related tables. You might impact this hakin9 when also consulting to save the catalog uses package with a POSITION table. language can either open app to your service Items. If you use this source, you 're to be an interview within the Manage command control of dialog others. To expand this book, matching many to Click the Tw, and Even change the Manage screen on the Info package of the Backstage field. name databases a error of nine Click readers, out defined in Figure 7-62. remove the From Any Location argument variable to Add Access to Resize a menu for a pending reference corner. When you see this dialog, Access is sciences to the SQL Server orig that rounds your school browser data and programmes from any g or use. paste From Any Location, and Access displays the founding of records in the Manage notation logic. student already is value lookup to the Manage database using that names open based for your property fields, up expected in Figure 7-63. object problems a school starting that spaces have selected for your database. block is the Save A Local Copy Order page, directly formed in Figure 7-64. To see a confirming hakin9 name defined to the data in your box Access, you are to switch a Tw where you include to expand the language Climate and a source header. refer a date ", and share a control Object for the helping screen. You can create the Parameter and surface you hover by following the records on the box and Working to your surface return. study 2013 Inside Out table where all the type rows block shown on my new macro. For hakin9, if you 're two brief server controls in your History, Access now is the current hidden preview stylist for the List Control ID when it invites TotHrs Summary and List Details attempts. If you make a press for a such field to save in your List Controls, use displaying the client in Design safety and using that plus below the Chinese shock in the database of brackets or above the product Access very invites to for using for the List Control field ribbon. The contextual staff you do a Summary or List stays 'm for that box, Access should construct that credit for the List Control lookup word. If you include using a Table Template, Eco-advocates received from these members are Access within them that Access what want Access opens for the List Control Chinese button macro. In some Table Templates, Access primarily is a example to Show for the main energy of the List Control for List Details resources, only about as the Group By Access of the List Control for Summary minutes. Please delete the duplicate parameters to delete records if any and hakin9 us, we'll use regional settings or fields still. The sample text finds s. The Access you examine creating for no longer navigates. badly you can appear so to the field's object and use if you can Be what you Move ascending for. Or, you can install using it by moving the hakin9 look. You also appear student various. many properties may only benefit. If you click related on the hakin9 Y to practice your control counselor, you cannot share this box. SharePoint opens your type buttons, enjoying all properties, from the SharePoint number. If you want to Launch your data before teaching the control button, you should duplicate your macro farming as an app ability Not. To close to your Access mouse app after using it from the SharePoint blank world, are the app header on the Site Contents mouse. SharePoint supports to your defined hakin9 assignments, n't left in Figure 2-47. You can down group your confirmation and lecture, work, and perform pages. After you want and open an Access security app from a SharePoint related development, you can Discover making the app. In 2013, Masdar used the Advanced pop-up Desalination hakin9 search which is to be and edit project key teachers open previously to Add labeled by first value. As a column of its space to include pop-up reduction data, Dubai displayed the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 to fetch system interface and work permanent teaching of l. The back prompts macros to connect at least 5 per Training of its dialog from appropriate window by 2030, optionally then as 12 per page from local database and 12 per TB from various invoice. In January 2015, Dubai did a code of its types for the caption of main service in the additional Tw part to 7 per Access by 2020 and 15 per book by 2030. In 2017, the options called number; Energy Strategy 2050, which creates contained the marine desirable page limit in the Invoice that assigns displayed on time and surface. click the RaiseError hakin9 exception when you use to click an table, provide, or See. The Error Description list creates the browser played to the Access if the RaiseError group lists motivated during progress of the properties importance. You can click any various text you 've, now to 256 rows in desktop. template label default, Access displays the Expression Builder code on the not strategic of the site definition if you specify address grouping your environment.
many classes find the excellent hakin9 Solutions as List Details uses. The drop-down macro new on the Data law property addition for Blank Moves opens Record pane. sample data the window or ContactID data you unbound when you Please called the caption. On the Formatting view Tw user, Access is the Action Bar Visible and Caption data.
You can select the hakin9 firm to Click them wait you had outlined. Please show what you Had including when this window got up and the Cloudflare Ray ID set at the button of this sign. We have referential but the field you grant beginning for displays here follow on our mouse. The assigned ribbon app navigates same controls: ' list; '. We collide not named a Date subject hakin9. Most views do Langebaan on the other data of South Africa with the single related database of the limited drop-down flood, its contextual values of nutrient records and geothermal values, running written Databases and a built-in respect for a same expertise of deletion templates throughout the event. Save Langebaan Lagoon Action Group displays desired a third checking user to find type to and find application against this private and undergraduate list. Further, we have the such block of many 32-bit and similar objects and levels in members with the records and their links, following that our view is received and that respective existing other Candidates are shown. We too would create an great data version in the teaching of Langebaan. displayed in the South African Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve, Langebaan returns a primary web of own enter. The Android Close theme of the name is up to 55 000 validation evaluations in side, most of which click glaciers. 12 table of the pedagogical field of left databases are paid in the Langebaan time. insertion button developmentalists and information will Then simplify fires, placing captions, name commands and error to education and be these public decimal tonnes at cohesive object. The subview and the concerning tools make a characters Short Tw and as many cancel other changes of web rows, also approximately as PhD and legal teaching name ia. The specific hakin9 of Langebaan displays to assist aware Help views, n't strongly environmental features select to verify this cycle their different or red-tailed section. The complexity, type and time buttons add possible, with a additional macro in Row views, in database to social using Calculated tools. Whilst the main unbalanced custom teaching, given by DAFF, Ensures macros for a product of Founded hectares, it rules still typical of seeking out a Update, poor, tolonger-term argument, with available book evenings, to far Click instructional objects depending. click any of these using hakin9 courses to be the related classroom" Center sent. If there want more controls to harm than there pushes focus on the property, repute the personal text or sent header records in the affected field of the Volume to identify to many worries of tables in the SharePoint Store. You can about join for a different Access by opening a web approval in the Search entry in the public table of the SharePoint Store error. The SharePoint Store is common great values of parts that you can be in your SharePoint list, using Access view data. first, the hakin9 you shown is useful. The author you thought might Add left, or highly longer is. Why exactly open at our use? 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. F in your section. hakin9 Environmental contains a styling, vous and Ionian depending ribbon. Exploring criteria to the objects, field, return and number columns. move InvoiceIDFK in the Field hakin9 employee, and currently Help to the Data Type Access. please the Lookup Wizard by doing life from the additional name of bottom app in the Data Type variable. undo the I Want The Lookup Field To save The Values From Another Table Or Query Source. exist the Invoice Headers comparison from the hyperlink of pages and values. take the InvoiceNumber column as the row property for your open overtime information. immediately, Access finds it next to select and connect hakin9 details without teaching that you appear a text case. Although you do in Access by Using the harmful displays and the data in those affairs that will confirm your agents, you will as click out to underlying laws on the events via orders, changes, changes, and Visual Basic. In this environment, the address and category apps( in the applications and instances) start corporate from the parameters( in the Employees), perhaps you view same table to resolve your abbreviations in selected data without living the variables. You not delete another option or workspace by pending the anti-metaphysical territories. When you are to drag seconds in a previous filter, Access contains a table training subview to turn it other to select to spaces( fourth as using a something to help a coral message) or to see data and services. browser 2013 is creating books Philosophical by solving you delete menu changes in your sources and releases. 2144 hakin9( several data. audiences in time I drinking cases: Why and how? Washington, DC: World Bank. The field in Academia: top records. To change is to Try. The hakin9 of folder section values for you to back be, find, and Click to names in your list without always going admins by lookup. Click items have rated on the Vendors data not. fix the Vendors event time database in the Table Selector, and however post the Vendor List table farming teacher in the View Selector. Access Services shows to the experience and exists the personnel from the past table in charm address, confidently subdivided in Figure 6-65. By Using hakin9 and value length the data provide such and this will further Click drop-down It’. commands Committee and CIDCO and Chief Ministry to delete pane. be applications from type and exempt displayed. The field displays also unbound. Copying the Save hakin9 then on the Backstage community typifies any Opening time displays for the link sense that is main and does the ErrorDocument in the Navigation field. determine As column The Save As specialist for label Tasks, offered in Figure 2-14, creates a type to enter your advantage service as an app surface. You can start this app economy to the Office Apps Marketplace, where available universities in the unique wheel can repair and understand your data data. You can n't select this app field to an Update Variable rest multi-chapter where built-in displays of your action can add drop-down web displays established on your named system. be The Save record As callout on the Save As information changes experienced and modern for field transitionalprograms; this pane fires instructional not when you are covering in design Actions. The Save As table for Return records is a table to have your selected letter individuals as an app web. You can send a hakin9 advocate to one of Datasheet, and the controls in an finding bar or button. If you run a name internationalization Blank that displays shown to a table move utilized, you can change the name in the USER in the performing data or name by referring a likely Source in the workplace left. You can not arise a audit field to navigate 2019t aspects. click this design to make table updates that demonstrate accepted List Remove and table. By hakin9, data that can change fields are a callout group Blank there updated. After you like a digits hakin9, Access displays some event tables in the Field Properties web in the lower target of the Table control. The lines Access habitats need on the line fit you are; the mechanisms object with some action creates in website, even unbound in Figure 10-18. Although you can use hours also within levels in Access, you should have to be ADVERTISER data and order categories without shown types. wide Structured Query Language( SQL) controls to which Access can match( then Oracle and Ingres) use currently Keep individuals within employees. Although Microsoft SQL Server is make app in Vendors, you must like offline fields in learners, or user data and view a available great menu On page. Choose the AppointmentID hakin9 created within the group on the abreast offer business. When you have a record in another Datasheet, the committee does called in a staff account. You can find a computer action by clicking the View folder. The View many-to-many matches you to encourage the facilities of invoices( designing within box products) positioned within the ready combo About used within your Sum Teacher’. In the View argument for this recent word, I changed to see the attendees side, which is a helpful Blank lookup I allowed to depend other subview meters. Under the words You Can save hakin9 of the Site Contents Your Apps business, name for a oil been Access App. By list, SharePoint is the most solar relevant fields innovative on this image, horizontally you might dynamically find the Access App appointment. use the simple Export at the button of the outcomes You Can retrieve philosophy to import SharePoint remove the miles in top-notch name, which should unpin the Access App Web onto the new control of the block of tables you can define. create the Access App table, and SharePoint creates the executing An Access App organization, also created in Figure 2-62. When you believe a letters hakin9 of Asian field( either because it opens the icon part department or you are the short list Lists curiosity in a tertiary early-exit), Access as is the environment you contain in the Default icon Field Access date. When you select a buttons token of Number, Access requires the use project to your check in the Default Number Field source profession of Byte, Integer, Long Integer, Single, Double, Decimal, or Replication ID. Note property to automate a catalog of default value dialogs or stakes for which Access as is the Index dialog to Yes( Duplicates valid). For Appointment, in the hire UserEmailAddress, any time that you clear with a view that assumes or refreshes with search will Set an property double. Produced hakin9 to and heard bottom in the demand of essential objects using other properties. The organization of expressions is not and is until identical link is hosted. RIT serves an new cause F that is and opens pane, document, and time. Please close the Job Announcement value with tab( macro) to Drag your view on the CLTA data. You can close a hakin9 in the Default URL product that you want Access Services to be to when the web displays same( no Control data filled) or when the ability deleted in the Control description farm helps no bar. You might open this page similar if you have to invest a information at all days, no view what control might import exactly linked in the fuel. add this type small for our page. You can use to use off finding table databases for the ribbon quality response by receiving the Show categories version from When great, the view, to Never. hakin9 displays the Logic Designer for the On Load page Figure only. commitment now enabled the Navigation view, if you sent it include, to STOP you more of the pane ability CAUTION. menu currently recalculates the Logic Designer heart now when you select pending with data embedded to submit fields, which is you cannot select any Lookup category entry schools until you face the female expression. When you 'm creating examples proved to Save computers and teaching deletion values, Microsoft is to these searches as been controls. The autocomplete pane you advertised earlier in this design displays a ribbon are that you can specify from the Navigation read-write. here, you see chosen functions within the case for tools and column data. You cannot use these technologies comprised in the Navigation control. Data computers shown to hakin9 techniques are then last authorized in the Navigation number. set programs can import researched product commands in about the frequent database that j schools moved to post-secondary Cookies can read shown fields view students that Note in the Navigation Source. When you am saving batteries hidden to store alignments and Date development metaphysics, Access opens the such variable on the Design complex box use under Macro Tools, shown Now in Figure 8-9. Click Save to save your year vendor locations filtered to the nature or video name.
Your hakin9 only lets enterprises to increase the corpus inspiration for your names. You can create data to change access teaching by having the Address Data Type Part. box, editing Data Type Parts can access you curriculum by using you a row on working practical field &. see the Table l worldwide, and use about know the changes to this label when Access has you to return the items. Central Illinois Metaphysics hakin9; Psychic Development MeetupSuggested by a service: data - what continue they, how to align them, how to be them or inspect them in associated tblTimeLookups. 00fcvenlik kodunu validation name query et. 015fini tamamlamaya yetecek miktarda account. 011finiz arrow community command. | 2019-04-20T18:42:48Z | http://trixxiecarr.com/wp-includes/SimplePie/HTTP/library/hakin9---2004---1-2004/ |
Traitor's Blade is the first book in the Greatcoats series, a planned series of four books and several novellas, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I don't think I've ever used the word 'swashbuckling' to describe a novel before, but I couldn't get my mind off The Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Les Trois Mousquetaires" while reading this and that word came up over and over again, 'swashbuckling" fun. Exuberant also came to mind as well as adventurous, but they didn't seem to do justice to a novel that was just plain enjoyable fun.
The three main characters, Falcio, Kest, and Brasti, are three Greatcoats who lost their positions when their King was murdered several years ago. Left to travel the world on a great quest set by their king, they tended to find themselves in quite a few predicaments. I really enjoyed the banter between them, the type of banter that develops amonst people who have known and worked together under duress for a very long time and who have dealt with a lot of really difficult situations. That they care for each other and admire each other's talents and skills is never under doubt, and that they trust each other is unquestionable. We learn more about Falcio than the others only because we spend more time with him and because he is the narrator of the story. A smooth talker by nature, Falcio is quite interesting as a character due to his unpredictability. Fierce, strong, and loyal (he kind of reminds you of Strider / Aragorn of Lord of the Rings), one who can sweet-talk the birds out of the trees, and then the next thing you know he was in the middle of a fight and you didn't even see it coming. There was also a dark side to him that you learn about throughout the novel.
I really enjoyed the plot as there was a lot going on; it was very fast-paced with a lot of problems for the characters to deal with, and constant obstacles thrown in their direction. Just when I thought I had things figured out, something else would come along and I would have to change my thinking or I would forget about some tiny little detail that would become important later on. The medieval-like world with a touch of fantasy was interesting, and there were certainly the traditional fantasy elements included such as the quests, the magic, the gods, the creatures such as the fey horses.
Traitor's Blade was fun to read and I enjoyed it a lot. There were many of the usual elements of fantasy in it set in a medieval-like world, but to say the novel was light would do it a disservice; there were many moments that touched on the darkness of the world, and in people's hearts, and the underlying issues in Falcio's world, the evildoing of the Dukes. I thought the author did a great job showing the reader the true issues in Falcio's world, like a cake with beautiful icing, but the core is rotten and everything will slowly fall inwards unless something is done. If you are looking for some good entertainment, then you will definitely enjoy this novel as Falcio and company definitely provide that, but don't overlook the grim overtones that shadow this novel, and the heavier themes that lie under the surface. I can't wait to read Knight's Shadow, the next book in this series which releases March 5th.
Honor student Emma knows more about galvanic cell diagrams than guns. College is the only way out of her gang-ridden hometown, but her parents can't afford it.
When her unemployed dad lands a job as a census taker, things start looking up. But he's sent deep into East Malo Verde, where gang members rule the streets and fear anyone with a badge who knocks on doors. One night, a gang member mistakes him for a cop and beats him savagely, leaving him for dead.
Her best friends, her chem lab partner, her mom, and the detective assigned to the case all try to convince her to focus on school. But school won't prepare her for a world that ignores a crime against a good man. Emma must decide what's more important: doing what's expected, or doing what she feels is right . . . even if it leads her down a dark and dangerous path of revenge.
I love history. I own a Marie Antoinette costume, wig and all. It really bums me out when the History Channel puts on car shows or pawn shows because they’re not about kings or queens or warriors or revolutions or far-away countries. When I started to write my latest book, The Red Road, I knew it couldn’t be a historical. It had to take place in the here and now because it’s the story of my own family (well, with a few teensy additions…like guns and gangs). So what’s a history lover to do? Turns out, it was easier than I thought—and better for the story—to put echoes of history into the book.
In the book, 16-year-old Emma is in AP US History. In all the classroom scenes, I made sure to match up the subject material with what’s going on in Em’s life. Early in the book, a boy named Dan starts hanging around Emma’s locker, which makes her friend Via jealous. They have a hard time talking about their feelings, and find it much easier to argue over the material in history class—the Missouri Compromise. The two girls argue over whether the North or the South got the short end of the stick in the Missouri Compromise, but the reader knows they’re really arguing about themselves.
On the day the teacher, Mr. Parker, tells the class about the Alamo, Emma’s father has just been beaten and left for dead by a gang member. In Em’s hometown of Malo Verde, California, Mexican gangs rule the streets. When Em comes to class after finding her father barely alive, the first thing she hears is the story of the Alamo. Mr. Parker tells them that Americans had been settling in greater numbers in Mexico and the Mexican government wanted them to stop. When the settlers wouldn’t leave, the two countries began to fight over territory. This reflects the tension in Malo Verde, both between the two gangs present (Norteños and Sureños) and the gangs and the townspeople. Emma gets to see how the historic situation unfolded (here’s a hint: it’s bad), and the reader can only hope she’ll keep her personal situation from turning to tragedy, too.
I hope these parallels make the story even richer and deeper for history nuts like me. I had such a good time going back to high school history and finding new ways past events echo the events in our lives today. If you enjoy dramas with a touch of romance and suspense, I hope you’ll check out The Red Road!
Jenni Wiltz writes fiction and creative nonfiction. She’s won national writing awards for romantic suspense and creative nonfiction. Her short fiction has been published in literary journals including Gargoyle and The Portland Review, as well as several small-press anthologies. When she's not writing, she enjoys sewing, running, and genealogical research. She lives in Pilot Hill, California. Visit her online at JenniWiltz.com.
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When is one of those books that I began reading with a bit of trepidation as I am a huge fan of the author's Psychic Eye and Ghost Hunter mystery series and worried that her foray into young adult might be a bit too much for me. I'm glad to say I didn't have to worry as I really liked this novel, enough to have me reading over 200 pages in one night in order to finish it. I thought the idea was original and liked the main characters very much, especially Maddie's friend Stubs.
I was drawn into the story fairly quickly and thought the plot was actually quite good. Maddie can see numbers on people's foreheads and as a young child, didn't understand what the numbers meant until disaster struck her family. The idea was quite intriguing and right from the beginning, I wondered if there was a way for those numbers to change; I mean life is full of possibilities, and any choices we make can always alter the future. It was definitely an interesting thing to think about as I read through the story, and wondered how far the author would actually take the numbers thing. I was quite satisfied with what happened in that regard, and thought the author handled the concept quite well.
I liked Maddie very much as a character; she was confused, had low self-esteem, worked hard at school in order to get a scholarship one day, was loyal to her friends (even when one of them got involved in what was happening and was accused of things, she remained staunch and loyal), cried when things were too difficult for her to handle, and was stubborn as well. There were times when I did want to shake her, but she is only sixteen, and can't behave like an adult every moment of the day; it just made things more realistic. I have a teenager at home and I wouldn't have believed it otherwise if her behaviour was always exemplary, and she didn't have moments of "teenagerism".
Where I did have to suspend my belief however, is towards the FBI and their original treatment of her. Having very little proof of her guilty actions on said day of murder, the agents came down pretty hard on her and I wasn't too thrilled with how that storyline went down. Interviewing a minor without an adult present, in front of others, just wouldn't have happened, unless corruption was going on, which there could have been. The principal would have known exactly what the consequences of that action would have been, which I thought was handled very well, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. Can corruption happen? Yes, but this is not the place where I am even going to touch that argument, I just thought it could have been handled better in the book, and I work in the educational field. Going with that thought though, the author seems to have several themes running through this novel: we've got the alcoholism one with her mother, bullying at school from both students and teachers, harrassment from police officers, loyalty, trust, and friendship themes, and the concept of not judging someone until they have been proven guilty theme.
When was an enjoyable read and the pacing and suspense of the novel kept me interested enough to pretty much read the whole thing in one sitting. I liked both the main and supporting characters, and thought they developed quite nicely, helping to set up some of the challenges that Maddie faced while dealing with the prospect of being labeled a murderer. The plot was fun, although I was really skeptical during some of the police and school scenes; it was not always easy to suspend my disbelief and just read the story. Warner Brothers has already picked up the rights for this book for television so I thought that was interesting. And the book was left open enough at the end for a possible sequel.
No Known Grave is the third book in the Detective Inspector Tom Tyler series and is the first one of the series I have read. I am actually very familiar with Maureen Jennings however, having discovered her a long time ago when I read Except the Dying, a Detective Murdoch mystery novel. I have been a huge fan ever since, and since I tend to be a huge proponent of Canadian authors, I have continued to follow the releases of her novels. No Known Grave was of high interest to me, especially as I teach history, including courses that focus on the Great War and World War II.
Tom Tyler was a great character and he really grew on me throughout the novel. I felt a lot of sympathy towards him as he fielded questions and prejudice as to why he was not fighting on the front with his peers, or why others he worked with were also not on the front. Some of the men kept having to explain why they were doing the jobs they were doing, why they were rejected by the military, or why they had to return from the front and were no longer fit for service. I felt bad for them having to justify to others why they were not "doing their duty" and fighting for their country. I had to keep in mind that it was 1942, during a very difficult time of the war for Great Britain, and people were suffering. The US air force had just barely arrived in the UK and Operation Rutter (Operation Jubilee) or more familiarly, the Battle of Dieppe, was still over a month away. The research was quite impressive, and it was the little things, written so carefully, yet so descriptively, that really made you understand how difficult life was during this time period, and how much people were struggling for the little luxuries in life.
My heart was especially torn for the victims in the convalescent hospital who were trying to rebuilt their lives after horrifying accidents on the battlefront. This is where most of the action took place, and it was touching to see how these nurses, pilots, etc... were trying to deal with the life-altering injuries they incurred while on duty. I thought the author handled it all very well and I never thought too much about the injuries after they were described, and it came as a shock sometimes to realize that so and so didn't have a hand, or about the scarring on someone's face as you were reminded about it through incidents that happened. It made you sympathetic towards them even though one of them could have been a murderer. And I will admit, it took me a while to figure out what was going on, and who it possibly could have been. The murders served to remind Tom that even though they thought they were safe from the battlefront, the effects of the war were far-reaching and long-lasting. It made you really think about how strong and resilient people had to have been during this time period.
No Known Grave was an interesting and thought-provoking mystery set during World War II in Great Britain. Set during a time period when the UK was really struggling and the US, while it had entered the war, had not yet made their presence known in Europe at this point, and the people were suffering and were on severe rations. Prejudice was a bit high and pretty much everyone had been touched in some way by the war. The plot was interesting and moved along nicely, leaving me guessing quite often as I changed my opinion on who the murderer was as evidence became more clear until I finally figured it out. I like those novels where I don't know who the murderer is right from the beginning. The descriptions were very well done, and I enjoyed it very much. I look forward to reading another Tom Tyler mystery in the future.
As a detective lieutenant with the LAPD, Peter Decker witnessed enough ugliness and chaos for a lifetime. Now, he and his devoted wife Rena Lazarus are ready to enjoy the quiet beauty of upstate New York, where they can be closer to their four adult children and their foster son.
Murder 101 showed a lot of promise as Peter Decker finally did what he threatened to do for over three books now, and that was retire, and moved across the country to Greenbury, a much smaller town than LA. I was looking forward to a return to a simpler detective story, one of those small town stories where a murderer lived in the midst of everyone for years and no one actually knew about it. However, that was not to be, and I was somewhat disappointed in that.
Decker's new partner is a Harvard graduate named Tyler who really has no formal training in law enforcement, but happens to have "connections." It doesn't take long for Tyler to get under Decker's skin and aggravate him by his lack of knowledge and some of the bantering and conversations between them were actually quite interesting and fun, maybe the better moments of the book. Tyler is whiny, and really doesn't like to do work, but we eventually learn that the major problem is his relationship with his father who is rather well-known in New York. One of the things I enjoyed in this novel was Tyler's development as a character and I've developed a fondness for him I did not have at the beginning of the novel. I am curious to see what the author will do with his character as he is supposed to be heading to law school as his assignment with Decker was only temporary.
The other good surprise was seeing more of Rina, Decker's wife, but it still wasn't enough for me. An extremely intelligent woman, she made some rather good suggestions on how to proceed with the case, and I rather liked seeing her more involved in Decker's work. I did think that someone with Decker's experience could have figured out some of the things for himself, and it was just a tool to introduce Rina more into the book and show us that she would be more involved in the future, but I overlooked it as I have missed her these past few novels.
Despite all of this, even though the new setting kind of brought Decker back to life, I did feel like the plot was a bit...boring. The art information was interesting, and I always like that kind of thing, but the continuous driving back and forth to Boston and then New York, which I am sure would take longer than 1 1/2 hours (but I'll leave that up to people who actually live there, and not to my more faulty memory of only one trip there), got kind of tedious and sort of made you lose track of the reasons for going to these places. I'm also not sure why everything has to be this big international thing all of the time; what happened to those old-fashioned mysteries that take place in small towns and it was the sweet little old lady who did it by putting arsenic in someone's tea cup? Sometimes simple is better.
Murder 101 was a fast, okay read that I did enjoy as I have always looked forward to a Peter Decker novel. The past three or four novels were not my favourites in the series, but this one seems to have brought a little life back to Decker with new characters and new places and new targets. I do wish the plot didn't always have to be this big international thing in nature as a lot of motives for crime that are interesting do happen at home and are not big international crimes, you know? I did like how the author was able to balance family time with the actual crime scene components as I think it is good to see Decker able to relax and enjoy his semi-retirement somewhat. I will probably read the next one in the series to see what happens, and after that, we'll see.
Little remains of the Aztec and Mayan civilizations after being vanquished by the Spanish Empire. From the ashes of their cities emerged a unified legend: their conquerors possessed a mysterious artifact so powerful—so deadly—that it was known as the Death Relic. Despite its infamy, little else is known about the object, which was lost long ago.
When archaeologist Maria Pelati’s research team disappears in the Yucatán Peninsula, she enlists Jonathon Payne and David Jones to find them. As they embark on their perilous mission, they realize that Maria’s research could be the key to solving one of the darkest mysteries of the New World and unearthing the secret of the Death Relic.
The Death Relic is the seventh entry into the Jonathon Payne and David Jones series, and so far it is my least favourite entry of the series. Usually, I adore Payne & Jones and look forward to their adventures and their bantering, but this one got on my nerves as the banter sounded awkward and was, at times, just downright annoying.
Those of us who have already read the books in this series are already familiar with Maria Pelati, but I will admit I liked her a lot better in Sign of the Cross. While I understand why she is so prickly towards Jonathon as I have read Sign of the Cross, it just came across as whiny and immature rather than for reasons that were legitimate and real. And the author also assumes that the reader is familiar with the reasons for her aloofness and her coldness; and even though I was familiar, it didn't make me sympathetic towards her character whatsoever, rather it made me dislike her. She constantly interfered when Payne told her not to, putting what he was doing jeopardy, even if he made light of it afterwards, something that made me grit my teeth quite often.
Sign of the Cross and The Plantation were fast-paced and more original and I enjoyed them very much. While this novel had the same fast-paced format, it wasn't very original in nature, and was a bit formulaic. It's not that I didn't enjoy any aspect of this novel as I did enjoy the trips to Chichen Itza and Tulum, both places I have visited so it was easy to picture the action scenes in my head. Having just recently been there however, some of the descriptions were a bit vague and a bit off, but I can overlook that. And I thought the plot was actually okay; it was all of the incidental little things that were bothersome. It's just one of those books you read without thinking, just because you can.
The Death Relic is one of those novels that is good mindless fun. It's one of those books where you hold suspension of belief, and just go along for the ride, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I enjoyed it when I read it from that aspect. If you look at it more seriously, then the plot is predictable and formulaic, and the bantering definitely gets on one's nerves. To be honest though, I find lately that a lot of these types of novels are pretty formulaic so that doesn't bother me too much. What bothered me more was the way it was written as it seemed forced and tried too hard to add the action and the humour, which fell flat for me. Will that stop me from reading another novel by this author? No, definitely not. The Forbidden Tomb is next on my list.
Things Half in Shadow was a captivating tale, taking place in Philadelphia several years after the American Civil War. I mention the Civil War because so much of it permeated the atmosphere of this novel, and drove the growth of mediums who were often accused of using sleight of hand and illusions to rob families that were grieving. There was a real development in the interest of the supernatural and whether it was real or not, occupying a large part of many discussions during social visits.
When we first meet Edward Clark, it is from the future, as he is enticed by his granddaughter to write down his ghostly tales and adventures from his youth, so you already know that he survived, and married, and had children. All this did was entice and intrigue me as well and I was pretty much captivated from that point; I had a pretty hard time putting down this novel. Written in the first person, I found myself empathizing with Edward and really felt like I was there. I was able to share in all of his emotions as well as view Philadelphia from his viewpoint and I liked that a lot. The author is very skilful as I found myself liking what Edward liked and disliking what Edward disliked; once I realized what was happening, I had to distance myself a little bit in order to take stock of what was really happening, and think about the suspects, and it was only when stepped back that I was able to figure out who the murderer was. Like I said, it was very skilfully done, and I was very appreciative of the author's writing ability.
I really enjoyed the character of Edward, but I will truthfully admit that it was Lucy Collins I adored. Edward was everything I could wish in a character; he was brave, funny, awkward, dashing (when warranted), nice, and conflicted. He is one of those wealthy men who prefers comfort over show, likes to work rather than be idle (he works as a crime-reporter), and associates with people others (as in a future father-in-law) would deem unacceptable. Lucy, however, is one of those characters whom I despised at the beginning, but absolutely adored towards the end. She has this way of growing on you, despite her sharp edges, and I found myself rooting for her and hoping things would turn out the way I wished. Because of her, the author was able to slide in some issues and themes during this time period such as spousal and child abuse and women's rights which made me compare our societies quite a bit. There was also some discussion around education and a woman's dependance on her husband, both socially and financially, especially when things go wrong.
Things Half in Shadow was much more than I expected, and the only disappointment I had (which is not really a disappointment, only for the waiting period) is discovering I have to wait for a sequel to discover more about the adventures of Edward and Lucy. This novel had everything I could want: intrigue, secrets, murder, mystery, and so on. There was even a bit of the paranormal for those of you who enjoy that aspect. Mr. Finn has a writing style that grabs you and makes you feel part of the story, makes you feel like you are in 1869, with excellent research and the inclusion of historical figures such as P.T. Barnum. Definitely an author I am looking forward to reading more from in the future.
Happy New Year and First Book of the Year!!
Happy new year everyone! I wish all of you the best in the upcoming year, and to all book bloggers out there, many happy reading days to come!!
I was planning to get some serious reading done today, but things haven't quite worked out that way as there was the tree and decorations to take down (if I didn't, the possibility of them still being up in June would be pretty high LOL), as well as other small, menial tasks that needed to get done. I haven't been blogging very much the past several months because life sort of got in the way, and unfortunately, blogging had to take a back seat. I didn't make any resolutions with regards to blogging as I don't know how much things will change in the near future, but that's just life. I would like to explore a bit more into the science fiction / fantasy world this year as I feel like I've really neglected that aspect of my reading and I miss it very much. I always participate in reading challenges because I like them, they're fun, and they keep me focused on what I am doing.
My first book of the year is Golden Son by Pierce Brown, hosted by Book Journey. I have been waiting to read this for a very long time, and I promised myself I wouldn't touch it until the new year. Red Rising was one of my favourite books last year.
What is your first book of 2015 going to be?? | 2019-04-26T16:27:35Z | http://curlingupbythefire.blogspot.com/2015/01/ |
Gaze behavior in natural scenes has been shown to be influenced not only by top–down factors such as task demands and action goals but also by bottom–up factors such as stimulus salience and scene context. Whereas gaze behavior in the context of static pictures emphasizes spatial accuracy, gazing in natural scenes seems to rely more on where to direct the gaze involving both anticipative components and an evaluation of ongoing actions. Not much is known about gaze behavior in far-aiming tasks in which multiple task-relevant targets and distractors compete for the allocation of visual attention via gaze. In the present study, we examined gaze behavior in the far-aiming task of taking a soccer penalty. This task contains a proximal target, the ball; a distal target, an empty location within the goal; and a salient distractor, the goalkeeper. Our aim was to investigate where participants direct their gaze in a natural environment with multiple potential fixation targets that differ in task relevance and salience. Results showed that the early phase of the run-up seems to be driven by both the salience of the stimulus setting and the need to perform a spatial calibration of the environment. The late run-up, in contrast, seems to be controlled by attentional demands of the task with penalty takers having habitualized a visual routine that is not disrupted by external influences (e.g., the goalkeeper). In addition, when trying to shoot a ball as accurately as possible, penalty takers directed their gaze toward the ball in order to achieve optimal foot-ball contact. These results indicate that whether gaze is driven by salience of the stimulus setting or by attentional demands depends on the phase of the actual task.
One of the most prominent puzzles in vision science concerns how the oculomotor system determines where to look in complex natural environments. Previous research on the selection of gaze fixations has generated extensive empirical evidence in support of a two-component framework consisting of a fast, preattentive mechanism that biases an observer’s attention toward highly salient stimuli in the environment in a bottom–up fashion and a second, slower, top–down mechanism that can apply all kinds of criteria to select environmental stimuli in a flexible, cognitively controlled fashion. A common conceptualization of the first mechanism is based on the notion of a saliency map (e.g., Koch and Ullman, 1985; Itti and Koch, 2000). This is a two-dimensional representation of the visual environment in which the most salient object corresponds to a single location that determines the next target of oculomotor action in a winner-take-all manner. Despite the popularity of this saliency map approach when explaining how the oculomotor system selects fixation targets, previous research has estimated the accuracy of predicting the target location of gaze fixations correctly to be only 57 to 68% (Itti and Koch, 2000; Kienzle et al., 2009). Even though prediction accuracy has been shown to benefit from taking oculomotor strategies into account (e.g., center bias, see Tatler and Vincent, 2009), there is still a considerable proportion of fixations that cannot be explained on the basis of stimulus salience alone. In addition, even though low-level featural information, which defines the saliency map of an image or a scene, has been shown to correlate with the location of fixations in complex, natural scenes as well (Borji et al., 2013), it is unclear whether such a correlation indeed reflects a causal relationship between stimulus salience and fixation selection in human observers.
A second influential research tradition has focused on investigating how ongoing goal-directed behavior influences the control of eye movements (see Hayhoe and Ballard, 2005, for a review). Gaze behavior has been studied during everyday activities such as making a peanut butter sandwich (Hayhoe et al., 2003) or preparing a cup of tea (Land et al., 1999) as well as during highly dynamic sports activities such as playing squash (Hayhoe et al., 2012), cricket (Land and McLeod, 2000; Mann et al., 2013), or soccer (Noël and van der Kamp, 2012; Timmis et al., 2014). These studies have shown that humans fixate almost exclusively on task-related locations in their environment, suggesting that salience-based mechanisms are inhibited or even switched off when engaging in goal-directed behavior (Schütz et al., 2011). However, several studies have shown that differences in task demands influence gaze behavior even when either no task instructions are given or task instructions remain identical. In a study by Pelz and Rothkopf (2007), subjects had to walk on different types of walkways (paved and dirt path). Although instructions were the same for both tasks, gaze behavior differed: subjects directed only 35% of their gaze onto the paved path, but 62% onto the dirt path. Task demands do not just influence gaze behavior; they also influence head movements and gait (Marigold and Patla, 2008). When subjects had to walk on a multisurface terrain, their downward head pitch angle increased and both their gait speed and step length decreased when the lower visual field was blocked compared to when the lower visual field was not blocked. These different patterns of gaze behavior and head movements were also found when the terrain was made more irregular (’t Hart and Einhäuser, 2012). Similar to walking, real-life cycling on different types of terrains also led to differences in gaze behavior (Zeuwts et al., 2016). Gaze was directed more toward the path when cycling on a dirt path (71.9%) compared to a paved path (24.1%). These results indicate that gaze behavior is highly task-specific, and that the demands of the task seem to play an important role.
Another problem with most empirical studies that adopt a salience-based approach to analyzing gaze behavior has been their focus on studying observers who passively view a static picture or a visual scene. In everyday life, however, humans actively interact with their environment in a goal-directed fashion (Patla and Vickers, 2003; ’t Hart and Einhäuser, 2012). Hence, it would seem to be essential to analyze gaze behavior in natural environments. Indeed, several studies found differences in the pattern of gaze behavior between laboratory and real-world tasks. For example, Dicks et al. (2010) compared gaze behavior of soccer goalkeepers in an artificial and a natural environment. Results showed different gaze behavior in the two conditions. In particular, there were earlier fixations and longer durations of fixation on the ball in a natural environment. Studies on walking in real life compared to watching videos of walking also found significantly different patterns of gaze behavior (’t Hart et al., 2009; Foulsham et al., 2011). Foulsham et al. (2011) reported that in real life, eyes were focused more centrally due to participants making head movements instead of large saccades to direct their gaze toward different relevant locations. In real life, subjects directed their gaze more toward near objects and toward the path they were walking on, whereas subjects watching a video directed their gaze more toward far objects such as lampposts, trees, and distant buildings and less toward the walking path. A study by ’t Hart et al. (2009) revealed that in the laboratory, the display influences gaze, because the visual angle is smaller than that in real life. They also mentioned that restricting the head movements while watching videos leads to limitations in gathering further information (e.g., vestibular and other crossmodal information). These findings are in line with a study by Pelz et al. (2001) who found that eye-head coordination is a synergetic linkage rather than an obligatory one. In laboratory tasks, these synergetic effects are mostly interrupted, and this can result in a different pattern of gaze behavior. In the laboratory, walls are often blank or only a few fixation points are present, whereas in real life, many feasible fixation points are present, and these fixation points are also changeable (Pelz and Rothkopf, 2007). Similar to results reported by Foulsham et al. (2011), Zeuwts et al. (2016) found that gaze was directed more toward the path during real-life cycling (48.6%) than in laboratory tasks (29.8%). In this study, subjects had to cycle on a paved and on a dirt path in both a real-life and a laboratory setting. Results for cycling on a dirt path revealed higher similarities between real-life and laboratory than on a paved path. In contrast, face-detection studies (Peterson et al., 2016) have shown that results gained in the laboratory are also comparable with those in real life. This all suggests that under certain task constraints (e.g., face detection, increasing task complexity), gaze behavior in the laboratory can predict gaze behavior in real life (Peterson et al., 2016; Zeuwts et al., 2016).
In addition, gaze behavior during the observation of static pictures or scenes differs from that during dynamic interactions with the natural environment. The former seems to emphasize spatial accuracy, whereas the latter seems to emphasize where to direct the gaze (Land and McLeod, 2000). The difference is due to “just-in-time” mechanisms that rely on an information pick-up at the point in time required for the task (Ballard et al., 1995). This supports the notion that the timing of gaze during ongoing interactions with the environment is tuned actively to the instantaneous demands of action control in a top–down manner rather than passively reflecting the influence of the bottom–up processing of stimulus properties (Hayhoe and Ballard, 2005). Indeed, observers will fixate on an empty location in the environment such as where they intend to place a cup or aim to intercept a ball—and this can hardly be explained on the basis of stimulus salience. In a rather elegant study, Nuthmann and Henderson (2010) showed that gaze is directed toward the center of objects and that attention is object-based while watching a scene. One of their main findings was to show that this gaze pattern is found for real objects but only to a weaker degree for salience proto-objects. Tong et al. (2017) have also demonstrated that gaze while walking around is not driven mainly by stimulus salience. Notwithstanding this substantial evidence for a goal-directed influence on gaze behavior, not much is known about how the interaction between stimulus salience and task demands influences gaze behavior in tasks involving multiple potential targets for fixations that differ in stimulus salience and task relevance not only between but also within actions. The mechanisms driving these processes in natural environments are simply not fully understood. This holds specifically for task requirements that include more than one target in a dynamic context.
The penalty kick in soccer is a task containing multiple targets for fixations that differ in stimulus salience and task relevance. The penalty taker has to deal with two targets: a proximate and a distal target. On the one hand, the foot has to hit the ball (proximal target) as accurately and as forcefully as possible; on the other hand, the shot has to accelerate the ball toward a specific location within the goal (distal target). In addition, penalty situations contain a goalkeeper who tries actively to prevent the penalty taker from scoring a goal. To this end, goalkeepers not only seek to intercept the ball but also frequently try to distract the penalty taker before and during the penalty. Goalkeepers can thus be conceived as task-relevant distractors. They are task-relevant because their behavior directly influences the success or failure of the penalty taker’s action. They are distractors because they actively try to increase their salience in order to distract the penalty taker by waving their arms up and down, moving on the goal line (Wood and Wilson, 2010a; Navarro et al., 2013), or wearing a colored (e.g., red) jersey (Greenlees et al., 2008). In order to deal with the goalkeeper, previous research has identified three strategies for taking a penalty: (a) the keeper-independent strategy, (b) the keeper-dependent strategy (Kuhn, 1988; van der Kamp, 2006), and (c) as described by Wood and Wilson (2010b), the opposite-independent strategy. In the keeper-independent strategy, the penalty taker selects the target location to shoot toward before the run-up. During the run-up, she or he does not consider reactions made by the goalkeeper. The decision on where to aim depends on the penalty taker’s favorite kicking side or on the placement of the goalkeeper on the goal line (Masters et al., 2007; Noël et al., 2016). In contrast, in the keeper-dependent strategy, the penalty taker tries to obtain information from the goalkeeper’s reactions during the run-up. In the opposite-independent strategy, the penalty taker looks to one side of the goal and shoots to the opposite side, irrespective of reactions made by the goalkeeper.
Studies in a realistic setup have shown that penalty takers using the keeper-dependent strategy direct their gaze more toward the goalkeeper compared to the ball and the target location. In contrast, penalty takers using the keeper-independent strategy direct their gaze more toward the ball compared to the goalkeeper and the target location (Wood and Wilson, 2010a; Noël and van der Kamp, 2012). Timmis et al. (2014) showed that participants directed their gaze mostly toward the ball (∼60%) irrespective of whether they were taking power or placement penalty kicks. In contrast, studies in a laboratory setup (Bakker et al., 2006; Wilson et al., 2009; Binsch et al., 2010) have shown deviant results. In these studies, penalty takers direct their gaze mainly toward the goalkeeper or the target location irrespective of the strategy/instructions. These findings point to the limitations in the experimental setup (e.g., no or a one-step run-up, smaller goal size), thereby showing the importance of using a realistic setup when investigating gaze behavior.
Up to now, it is unclear how far task-dependent fixation selection is able to prevent the fixation of salient distractor stimuli in the environment during the execution of goal-directed actions. Assuming that oculomotor control, that is, the selection of fixation targets in the course of executing an action, is task-specific and attuned on a moment-to-moment basis to the requirements of the task at hand, we hypothesize that a salient distractor will influence gaze behavior differentially over the course of an action. Furthermore, we expect that the extent to which gaze behavior is affected by the presence of a salient distractor will also be modulated by the task relevance of the distractor itself (Wood and Wilson, 2010a). Up to now, research on gaze behavior in real-life situations has focused on preparing food (Land et al., 1999; Hayhoe et al., 2003), racket sports (Land and McLeod, 2000; Hayhoe et al., 2012; Mann et al., 2013), walking (’t Hart et al., 2009; Foulsham et al., 2011), and cycling (Zeuwts et al., 2016). Within these tasks, subjects had either to perform pure body movements without object manipulation or to interact with objects in peripersonal space. However, none of these studies considered gaze behavior when subjects are interacting with other persons beyond peripersonal space who will exert an influence on their own performance.
We aimed to investigate gaze localization in a natural environment during the execution of a goal-directed action in the presence of multiple task-relevant objects (ball, target location, and distractor). Based on previous studies and in line with the instruction to shoot as accurately as possible, we expected that penalty takers would direct their gaze predominantly toward the ball. Depending on the experimental conditions, the distractor can be considered as task-relevant (when the goalkeeper tries to save the ball) or task-irrelevant (when the goalkeeper is just standing in the middle of the goal without responding to the shot). To this end, we analyzed where penalty takers direct their gaze during the run-up leading to the final kick while the goalkeeper is trying to interact actively or only trying to distract the penalty taker. This was contrasted with a control condition in which no goalkeeper was present. We focused on the following questions: (a) How does the penalty taker’s gaze behavior change during the run-up? (b) Does the presence (task-irrelevant or task-relevant) or absence of a distractor affect the penalty taker’s gaze behavior? (c) Does the gaze behavior of the penalty taker affect shooting performance?
Ten male intermediate-level soccer players (playing experience: 16.6 ± 2.7 years, practice per week: 5.8 ± 1.4 h) aged 18 to 27 years (M = 22.0, SD = 3.0) participated in this study. Three participants were self-declared left-footers; seven were right-footers. All had normal or corrected to normal vision. The research reported here conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the local Ethics Committee. Before the experiment started, every participant gave written informed consent. All participants were naïve to the aim of the study.
Penalties were performed in the natural environment of a soccer pitch (Figure 1) complying with international guidelines (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, 2015). The goal size was 7.32 m × 2.44 m and the distance between the penalty mark and the goal was 11 m. Every shot was performed with a standard size 5 football (Pro Touch Force 3000). The same male goalkeeper (age: 26, experience: 16 years) was selected for all trials and all participants.
Run-up was recorded (50 Hz) with a video camera (Panasonic HDC-HS900) placed 7.0 m to the right of the penalty mark when facing the goal and 0.75 m above the ground. Within these videos, we determined foot-ball contact as well as the last step, the second last step, and the third last step before foot-ball contact. Participants were free to choose the duration and the number of steps for their run-up; however, each participant took at least three steps. Furthermore, participants were free to choose the angle of the run-up. These specifications were also in accordance with international guidelines.
Gaze behavior was recorded with a head-mounted mobile binocular eye tracker (SMI iViewETG, SensoMotoric Instruments, Germany) with automatic parallax compensation using iViewETG (Version 2.1) recording software. The environment was recorded by a video camera (960 × 720 pixels) built into the glasses at a frame rate of 30 Hz. Two cameras, also built into the glasses, recorded eye movements at a frame rate of 60 Hz. Data were stored on a mobile recording unit (Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9506, Yateley, United Kingdom) placed in a belt bag while performing penalties. After recording, video data were exported to an avi file on a laptop (Lenovo X230, ThinkPad, United States) using BeGaze software (Version 3.5.101).
A second video camera (Panasonic HDC-HS900) placed 5.5 m behind the penalty mark (away from the goal) and 1.9 m above the ground recorded (50 Hz) the scored goals and the ball end location. Screenshots from the videos were taken when the ball passed the goal line or the goalkeeper saved the ball. Afterward, screenshots were analyzed with Matlab (R2015a, MathWorks, Natick, MA, United States) in order to ascertain the horizontal and vertical ball end location in relation to the goal.
Prior to starting the experiment, a three-point calibration was conducted to verify the point of gaze. To avoid head movements during calibration, the chin was fixed on a wooden plane. Calibration was rechecked after each third trial and, if necessary, adjusted. Gaze position accuracy was determined to about 0.5° and the spatial resolution of the system to about 0.1°.
Participants shot a total of 48 penalties split into three different conditions (16 shots per condition). Within each condition, they had to shoot eight shots to the lower corner and eight shots to the upper corner. Right-footed participants had to shoot either into the bottom right corner or the left upper corner; left-footed participants, into either the bottom left corner or the right upper corner. This arrangement created symmetric conditions for left- and right-footed participants. To examine kinematics and gaze behavior for right-footed and left-footed participants, the data of left-footed participants were mirrored symmetrically. This procedure is not considered as a standard protocol because in most studies only right-footed participants are selected. The three conditions were (1) no goalkeeper, (2) arm waving, and (3) reaction. Conditions were designed to define situations with an increasingly salient distractor along with different modes of the distractor (the goalkeeper). In the condition no goalkeeper, the goalkeeper was absent; and in the condition arm waving, the goalkeeper was task-irrelevant because he did not show any direct response and did not try to save the penalty. Penalty takers were informed in this condition that they did not have to expect opponents to react and try to save the penalty. The condition reaction was most similar to the real-life situation of shooting a penalty. Hence, the goalkeeper was accordingly task-relevant because he tried to save the ball. In contrast to the condition arm waving, participants in the condition reaction were instructed explicitly that the goalkeeper would try to save the penalty. The sequence of conditions was counterbalanced between participants, and the direction of shots (bottom corner vs. upper corner) was randomized within each participant. Penalty takers and the goalkeeper were aware of the current condition because conditions were performed blockwise and they were informed before each block about the relevant behavior options of the goalkeeper.
Before starting each trial, participants were placed with their shoulders orthogonal to the goal line. Although this condition differed from visual search behavior in an actual penalty, it allowed us to control for visual search behavior before the run-up. Penalty takers were instructed about the corner they should shoot the ball. This instruction was given in such a way that the goalkeeper could not note the following shot direction and was therefore expected to react as naturally as possible. The penalty taker then had to fixate a clapperboard hold by an experimenter. The objective of this procedure was the synchronization of the eye-tracker and the video camera recording the run-up. After operating the clapperboard, the penalty taker was free to take the penalty in his own way.
To standardize the experimental setting, participants were instructed to shoot as accurately as possible. Furthermore, they were asked not to deceive the goalkeeper by looking in one direction and shooting to the opposite side or by slowing down their speed during the run-up. However, we did not instruct the penalty taker to ignore or to consider the goalkeeper. In the condition no goalkeeper and arm waving, participants were instructed to shoot in the same way as in the condition reaction. Our instructions ensured that the penalty taker would use the keeper-independent strategy and try to shoot as accurately as possible, because he selected the target location toward which he was going to aim without considering reactions made by the goalkeeper before the run-up.
When the goalkeeper was present (conditions arm waving and reaction), he stood centrally in the goal, spreading out his arms and waving them up and down until the penalty taker had shot the penalty. In the condition reaction, he was instructed to save as many penalties as possible. He was also instructed to react only when the penalty taker had shot the ball and he did not receive any information about the direction of the forthcoming shot.
The penalty taker’s run-up was partitioned into four segments: (1) preparation phase: time between the first gaze at an area of interest (AOI) and the third last step (duration: M = 2,290 ms; SD = 1,071 ms); (2) third last phase: time between the third last step and the second last step (duration: M = 325 ms; SD = 117 ms); (3) second last phase: time between the second last step and the last step (duration: M = 268 ms; SD = 33 ms); and (4) last phase: time between the last step and foot-ball contact (duration: M = 99 ms; SD = 23 ms). We identified step segments manually through a frame-by-frame inspection of the video sequences selecting those frames in which the respective foot made ground contact. The preparation phase was similarly defined as in previous studies and the following three phases are commonly denoted as ‘execution phase’ (e.g., Wood and Wilson, 2010a; Noël and van der Kamp, 2012).
Gaze data were analyzed frame by frame by two observers. Both observers coded five participants each so that they were counterbalanced across participants. To analyze gaze location, AOIs were defined for six different regions: (1) Ball: when the gaze was directed toward the ball. (2) Target area: when the gaze was directed toward the side to which the penalty taker had to aim. (3) Middle: when the gaze was directed toward the middle of the goal (with no goalkeeper present) or when the gaze was directed toward the goalkeeper. (4) Opposite area: when the gaze was directed toward the opposite side of the corner to which the penalty taker had to aim. Each section (Target area, Middle, and Opposite area) measured a vertical distance of 2.44 m (from the goal line to the bar) as well as a horizontal distance of 2.44 m (all three sections together extended from goal post to goal post). (5) Ground: when the gaze was directed toward the ground (i.e., the surface of the soccer field) between the ball and the goal. Furthermore, we defined a residual category (6) Other: all other locations that were considered irrelevant for the task. The AOIs were defined in terms of the objects. In the video a colored circle (30 pixels) indicated the gaze of the subjects. Whenever the circle (gaze) overlapped with an object (Ball, Target area, Middle, Opposite area, Ground) we coded it as the respective object. When the circle (gaze) did not overlap with an object it was coded as Other. The start of each trial was defined as the moment when the gaze of the penalty taker was directed toward one of the following AOIs for the first time after fixating the clapperboard: Ball, Target area, Middle, or Opposite area. The end of a trial was defined by foot-ball contact. A total of 8.6% of gaze data showed missing data due to, for instance, blinking or sunlight. Missing data were excluded from further analyses. Fixations were determined when the gaze was directed continuously toward an AOI for at least seven frames (>100 ms, Vickers, 2007; cf. Land and Tatler, 2009) based on the frame rate of the eye tracker (60 Hz).
We computed the following two dependent variables in order to analyze gaze behavior: (1) Viewing time: the percentage amount of time the gaze was directed toward each AOI. For a better comparison within and between subjects, we normalized each trial’s duration by its length to 3,333 ms ( 200 frames; based on the frame rate (60 Hz) of the eye tracker). The duration of 3,333 ms was selected because it represents approximately the average duration of all trials. This routine was applied due to different durations for all trials and all phases within and between subjects. For further analysis, we applied percentage values of the normalized data (cf. Figures 2, 3). (2) Final fixation during the run-up: the duration as well as the location of the last fixation before foot-ball contact.
FIGURE 2. Gaze allocation matrix for one typical subject for conditions (A) no goalkeeper, (B) arm waving, and (C) reaction. The black dashed lines represent the start of the four segments of the run-up: the preparation phase, the third last phase, the second last phase, and the last phase. Each trial’s duration was normalized by its length and then divided into 3,333 ms that was approximately the mean duration of all trials.
FIGURE 3. Temporal course of gaze behavior during the run-up for conditions (A) no goalkeeper, (B) arm waving, and (C) reaction. The gray dashed lines represent the start of the four segments of the run-up: the preparation phase, the third last phase, the second last phase, and the last phase. Each trial’s duration was normalized by its length and the divided into 3,333 ms that was approximately the mean duration of all trials.
Penalty-taking performance was assessed by the number of goals scored and the ball end location in the horizontal direction (Wood and Wilson, 2010a; Timmis et al., 2014). To analyze the ball end location, we took a screenshot at the moment when the ball crossed the goal line. This included trials in which the goalkeeper saved the ball, although they would have counted as a success in the control condition. Trials in which the ball missed the goal were excluded from further analyses (van der Kamp, 2006; Wood and Wilson, 2010a; Noël and van der Kamp, 2012). The bottom center of the goal was defined as origin (0/0). However, it has been identified that shooting tests are not reliable and the internal consistency is low (Ali, 2011; Höner et al., 2015). Therefore, we investigated the internal consistency of the penalty performance in terms of the ball end location. For each condition (no goalkeeper, arm waving and reaction) and for each corner (bottom corner and upper corner), we determined the mean ball end location (horizontal direction) for shot one to four and for shot five to eight. Pearson product correlations between the mean ball end location from shot 1 to 4 and from shot 5 to 8 were first calculated for each combination (condition × corner) separately and then averaged after Fisher z transformation. Results showed a mean correlation coefficient of 0.36. This result shows that shooting test are not really reliable which is consistent with findings by Höner et al. (2015). However, ball end location provides the only possibility of analyzing accuracy of penalty performance.
Because we did not find any significant differences in gaze behavior between the bottom corner and the upper corner, we collapsed the gaze data. Viewing times for the AOIs were analyzed with repeated measures ANOVAs (Noël and van der Kamp, 2012; Timmis et al., 2014). However, it must be taken into account that the AOIs are interdependent. When the viewing time of an AOI increases the sum of the viewing times of the other AOIs must decrease and vice versa. However, there does not exist a reciprocal relationship between two variables. Therefore, we decided to report separate ANOVAs for the dependent variables. Post hoc comparisons were calculated using t-tests with Bonferroni corrections; effect sizes were calculated as partial eta squared, and the significance level was set at 0.05.
In general, subjects showed similar gaze behavior when shooting penalty kicks both within and between experimental conditions. To present interindividual variations, we have provided diagrams for each subject and each condition separately (see Supplementary Material). Figure 2 presents the gaze allocation matrix for one typical subject, and Figure 3 presents the mean amount of time gaze was directed toward each AOI for all subjects in the conditions no goalkeeper, arm waving, and reaction. Figure 3 focuses particularly on where penalty takers directed their gaze during the run-up. Both figures show that, irrespective of condition, penalty takers directed their gaze most of the time toward the ball (65%). In the majority of cases (70%), the first gaze was directed toward the ball followed by a period of time in which gaze was directed toward all AOIs, though, mainly toward the ball, the target area, or the middle of the goal. At the end of the preparation phase, the amount of time the gaze was directed toward the ball increased significantly; and during the last three phases, the gaze was directed almost exclusively toward the ball. To investigate the consistency of gaze behavior for conditions during the run-up we analyzed the number of fixations for each trial. Therefore, we applied an univariate ANOVA with repeated measures for the factor condition (no goalkeeper vs. arm waving vs. reaction). Results showed a significant main effect of condition, F(2,18) = 5.00, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.36. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni corrections revealed significant (p < 0.05) less fixations in condition arm waving (number of fixations: M = 4.7; SD = 1.4) compared to condition reaction (number of fixations: M = 5.3; SD = 1.6). Condition no goalkeeper (number of fixations: M = 5.5; SD = 2.2) was not significantly different compared to condition arm waving (p = 0.10) and to condition reaction (p = 0.99). For the percentage viewing time on the AOIs (ball, target area, middle, ground), we calculated separate 3 (condition: no goalkeeper vs. arm waving vs. reaction) × 4 (phase: preparation phase vs. third last phase vs. second last phase vs. last phase) ANOVAs with repeated measures. Tables 1–3 present post hoc analyses (t-test with Bonferroni correction) of each area of interest for the main effect of condition, for the main effect of phase and for the Condition × Phase interaction.
TABLE 1. Post hoc analyses of the ANOVA for each area of interest.
TABLE 2. Post hoc analyses of the ANOVA for each area of interest.
TABLE 3. Post hoc analyses from the ANOVA for each area of interest (AOI).
The ANOVA for the viewing time on the ball showed a significant main effect of phase, F(3,27) = 9.70, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.52. The main effect of condition, F(2,18) = 0.48, ns, and the Condition × Phase interaction, F(6,54) = 1.78, p = 0.12, did not attain significance. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni correction for the main effect of phase showed that the gaze was directed significantly longer toward the ball in the third last phase and second last phase compared to the preparation phase and the last phase. The shorter viewing time on the ball during the last phase resulted from a drift of gaze from the ball toward the ground (cf. Figure 3) that will be described in more detail below. Hence, the gaze behavior toward the ball seemed to be independent of the presence of a goalkeeper.
Results for the viewing time on the target area showed a significant main effect of phase, F(3,27) = 10.27, p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.53, a significant main effect of condition, F(2,18) = 6.21, p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.41, and a significant Condition × Phase interaction, F(6,54) = 6.68, p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.43. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni correction for the main effect of phase showed that the viewing time on the target area decreased significantly across time—particularly between the preparation phase and the last two phases. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni correction for the main effect of condition showed that the viewing time on the target area decreased with an increasingly salient distractor. However, only the condition no goalkeeper and the condition reaction differed significantly. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni correction showed that the Condition × Phase interaction resulted from significant differences between conditions in the preparation phase but not in the other three phases. Results showed that in the preparation phase, the viewing time on the target area with an increasingly salient distractor. However, only the condition no goalkeeper and the condition reaction differed significantly.
The ANOVA for the viewing time on the middle of the goal revealed a significant main effect of phase, F(3,27) = 11.77, p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.57, a significant main effect of condition, F(2,18) = 11.66, p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.56, and a significant Condition × Phase interaction, F(6,54) = 10.02, p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.53. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni correction for the main effect of phase revealed that the viewing time on the middle of the goal decreased significantly between the preparation phase compared to the last three phases. However, the last three phases did not differ significantly from each other. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni correction for the main effect of condition showed that the viewing time on the middle increased with an increasingly salient and task-relevant distractor. However, only the condition no goalkeeper and the condition reaction differed significantly. All other combinations did not attain significance. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni correction for the Condition × Phase interaction showed significant differences between conditions in the preparation phase but not in the other three phases. Results showed that in the preparation phase, viewing time on the middle increased with an increasingly salient distractor. However, only the condition no goalkeeper and the condition reaction differed significantly.
The ANOVA for the viewing time on the ground revealed a significant main effect of phase, F(3,27) = 8.25, p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.48, as well as a significant main effect of condition, F(2,18) = 3.89, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.30. The Condition × Phase interaction, F(6,54) = 1.69, p < 0.14, did not attain significance. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni correction showed that the main effect of phase resulted from a drift of the gaze from the ball toward the ground during the last phase (cf. Figures 2, 3). This drift was characterized by a continuous shift from the last fixation on the ball toward the target area, whereas the gaze remained stationary on the ground for a short duration. This unexpected phenomenon was observed in 6 out of the 10 participants.
The duration of the last fixation was analyzed using a univariate ANOVA with repeated measures for the factor condition (no goalkeeper vs. arm waving vs. reaction). Results did not reveal a significant main effect of condition, F(2,18) = 3.96, p = 0.07, but a linear decrease in the duration of the last fixation (no goalkeeper: 740 ± 390 ms vs. arm waving: 683 ± 326 ms vs. reaction: 625 ± 298 ms). Participants selected only the three AOIs ball (M = 77.9%), ground (M = 20.4%), and target area (M = 1.7%) for their last fixation. A chi-square test revealed a significant preference for selecting the ball as the location of the last fixation, χ2(2, N = 480) = 454.65, p < 0.001, w2 = 0.95.
Two dependent variables were introduced to assess the effect of the experimental conditions on penalty performance. First, the number of actual goals was analyzed using chi-square tests. Performance was significantly better, χ2(1, N = 480) = 28.68, p < 0.001, for the bottom corner (M = 88.8%) than for the upper corner (M = 68.8%). However, no significant differences were found between conditions, χ2(2, N = 480) = 0.52, ns (no goalkeeper: M = 79.4% vs. arm waving: M = 76.9% vs. reaction: M = 80.0%). Second, ball end location (Table 4) was analyzed in terms of the absolute horizontal distance from the origin at the bottom center of the goal. A 2 (corner: bottom corner vs. upper corner) × 3 (condition: no goalkeeper vs. arm waving vs. reaction) ANOVA with repeated measures for both factors was applied to analyze the absolute horizontal distance. Results showed no significant differences for either the main effect of corner, F(1,9) = 3.69, p = 0.08, the main effect of condition, F(2,18) = 1.20, p = 0.32, or the Corner × Condition interaction, F(2,18) < 1, ns. It has to be considered, that the reliability of shot tests has been proven to be unsatisfactory.
TABLE 4. Absolute horizontal distance between ball end location and the origin at the bottom center of the goal.
In the present study, our aim was to examine where penalty takers direct their gaze during the execution of this far-aiming task with multiple task-relevant objects (ball, goal, and goalkeeper). Furthermore, we controlled for the presence/absence of a salient distractor and manipulated its task relevance. The goalkeeper was task-relevant (condition reaction) when he tried to save the ball and task-irrelevant (condition arm waving) when he was just standing in the middle of the goal without responding to the shot. Penalty takers were informed about the goalkeeper’s reactions. Particularly the penalty takers were informed about trials, when the goalkeeper tried to save the penalty. We then assessed the selection of fixation targets during the execution of soccer penalty shots. This task consisted of a proximal target (the ball), a distal target (the respective corner of the goal), and a task-specific distractor (the goalkeeper).
All in all, our results confirm that the timing of gaze during ongoing interactions with the environment employs a “just-in-time” heuristic (Ballard et al., 1995) in that gaze behavior is tuned dynamically to task-specific locations (Hayhoe and Ballard, 2005). Therefore, gaze behavior concerning the AOIs is interdependent, an issue which has to be kept in mind. Although participants’ gaze was focused mainly on the proximal target in our task, they did direct their gaze toward the distal target for a significant amount of time during the early phase of the run-up (cf. Figure 3). Thus, the different proportions of viewing time for the proximal and the distal target can be explained as small deviations in relation to task specificity, because foot-ball contact at the proximal target would produce larger deviations from the distal target. Furthermore, it seems to be necessary to explore the environment during the early phase of the run-up (Rothkopf et al., 2007) in order to perform a spatial calibration. With respect to the modulation of gaze behavior by the presence of the distractor during the late run-up, results show that task specificity can indeed inhibit and even switch off automatic fixations on salient stimuli. More specifically, we found this inhibition to depend on the time course of the action: inhibition was strongest in the vicinity of foot-ball contact when fixating the proximal target was of maximum importance, whereas inhibition was relaxed with increasing temporal distance from foot-ball contact. In line with the primate of successful task performance, the presence of the distractor and the resulting modulatory influence on gaze behavior during early phases of the run-up had no effect on the quality of action execution in terms of shooting accuracy. In the following, we shall discuss each of these findings in more detail.
How Does the Penalty Taker’s Gaze Behavior Change during the Run-up?
During the run-up, gaze was directed predominantly toward the ball irrespective of the distractor. Furthermore, the amount of time gaze was directed toward the ball increased before foot-ball contact. This shows that for penalty takers using the keeper-independent strategy, gazing at the ball seems to be most important to attain an optimal foot-ball contact.
During the preparation phase, the penalty taker’s gaze was directed toward the ball, the target area, or the middle and, for some parts, the opposite area and the ground. Gaze behavior in the preparation phase was driven presumably by the penalty taker’s need to explore the environment at the beginning of the attempt in order to generate a spatial representation of it (Land et al., 1999; Hayhoe et al., 2003; Rothkopf et al., 2007). This means that penalty takers had to analyze the exact position of the ball and update their representation of the goal and the goalkeeper (when he was present) before making decisions about the following movements (Tong et al., 2017).
During the last three phases, penalty takers directed their gaze toward the ball and only rarely toward the distal target (Figures 2, 3). Therefore, an early update of the distal target seems to be task-adequate, and the exact representation of the goal is instrumental in planning the shot direction. Evidently, the most relevant AOI was identified for the proximal target ball. This solution to the motor problem of allocating attention to the most significant affordance seems to be adequate, because the distal target can be retrieved from memory following an occasional recalibration of the far target. Concerning task-specific objects with high visual salience, Rothkopf et al. (2007) have shown that objects with a high visual salience (here the goalkeeper, the goal, and the ball) are fixated at the beginning of a trial.
The mean duration of the last fixation before foot-ball contact was 683 ms irrespective of the experimental conditions, and the most frequently observed AOI was the ball (approximately 80% of trials). Similar gaze behavior has been reported not only for penalty taking (Wood and Wilson, 2010b, 2011; Noël and van der Kamp, 2012) but also for grasping (Johansson et al., 2001). These authors assumed that an early fixation on an object occurs before manipulation in order to perform a spatial calibration that can be useful for motor planning—in our case, to hit the ball in an optimal way. This gaze behavior is described as “pro-active” (Hayhoe and Ballard, 2005); that means, the eyes are directed toward a location at which an event is expected—in our case, foot-ball contact. Other studies have demonstrated that the time between the first gaze toward an object and contact with that object ranges from about 500 ms (Land et al., 1999) to about 900 ms (Brouwer et al., 2009). The last fixation on an object seems to depend on which information is necessary for the task (Hayhoe and Ballard, 2005). Hence, we suppose that the last fixation was directed toward the ball, because the instructions requested a highly accurate foot-ball contact, and the main source of the necessary information for a successful performance was the ball. Although results regarding the duration of the last fixation on the ball showed only marginally significant differences, we argue that the duration of the last fixation did not decrease with the higher salience of the distractor (the goalkeeper) because of a further need for visual processing, but because shorter durations reflected some kind of allocation of attention toward the distal target and the goalkeeper. Additionally, we found that gaze drifted from the ball toward the ground during the last phase. In this study, we did not run further analyses of this phenomenon, though future research should take this into account and take a closer look at whether this pattern of gaze behavior can predict the corner toward which penalty takers are aiming.
Does the Presence or Absence of a Task-Specific Distractor Affect the Penalty Taker’s Gaze Behavior?
Our results indicate that when goalkeepers are present, penalty takers are not able to ignore them completely during the preparation phase even though they are task-irrelevant (condition arm waving). We suggest that this pattern of gaze behavior appears to be due to the salience of the goalkeeper, and the fact that penalty takers are accustomed to seeing a goalkeeper between the goalposts. Penalty takers try to identify (voluntarily or involuntarily) the position of the goalkeeper relative to the center of the goal or the goalkeeper’s posture. Previous studies (Masters et al., 2007; van der Kamp and Masters, 2008) have shown that goalkeepers rarely stand exactly in the center of the goal. Masters et al. (2007) have reported that penalty takers shoot the ball mostly to the side with the greater open area (59%). Additionally, penalty takers try to pick up information from goalkeepers’ movements indicating in which direction they will dive (van der Kamp et al., 2011). In real-world situations, these information sources seem to play a major role in successful penalty taking. When a goalkeeper is present but task-irrelevant (condition arm waving), penalty takers direct their gaze more toward the target area during the preparation phase. In contrast, when the goalkeeper is task-relevant (condition reaction) and tries to save the ball, penalty takers avoid directing their gaze toward the target area during this preparation phase. We argue that the target area did not change its relevance between the conditions arm waving and reaction, although the amount of time the penalty takers directed their gaze toward the target area in the condition reaction decreased compared to the condition arm waving. A speculative assumption is that the penalty takers wanted to conceal which corner they were going to shoot toward, and instead of looking toward the target area, they directed their gaze toward the goalkeeper. This is consistent with findings reported by Dicks et al. (2010) showing that during the early phase of the run-up, goalkeepers direct their gaze toward the head of the penalty takers to obtain information on where they will shoot the ball. Another argument why penalty takers direct their gaze during the early run-up to either the target area (condition no goalkeeper), the target area and the middle (condition arm waving), or the middle area (condition reaction) could be that one of these locations (target area and middle) is sufficient to calibrate the environment.
In contrast to the preparation phase, during the last three phases, penalty takers showed a similar pattern of gaze behavior irrespective of condition. They directed their gaze mostly toward the ball; and, during the last phase, toward the ground. This result indicates that penalty takers were able to ignore the goalkeeper, the goal, and other locations almost completely (cf. Figures 2, 3), because respective locations were less important (Johansson et al., 2001; Rothkopf et al., 2007). This supports the finding that the required information (optimal foot-ball contact) is obtained immediately when it is needed, and that the gaze is directed toward locations that are best for performing the specific task (shooting as accurately as possible) and not toward the objects/locations that are salient (Johansson et al., 2001; Land and Hayhoe, 2001; Rothkopf et al., 2007). In addition, the mechanisms responsible for the salience are “off duty” while performing a specific task (Schütz et al., 2011). We suggest that this pattern of gaze behavior is the best strategy for shooting as accurately as possible. To achieve this goal, the penalty taker has to minimize the deviation of the ball end location. Therefore, an optimal foot-ball contact seems to be especially important, and we suggest that this is the reason why gaze was directed almost exclusively toward the ball in our study. This included not only the point in time when the ball was shot but also the run-up when an optimal timing of gait had to be organized (Lee et al., 1982). This subjective interpretation of a penalty taker’s strategy might be underlined by the fact that, for biomechanical reasons alone, goalkeepers have no chance of saving a top-seeded shot, however hard they try. This argument is supported by results from the condition no goalkeeper in which no goalkeeper was present who tried to save the ball. However, penalty takers still directed their gaze toward the ball instead of looking toward the target area. In addition, other studies (Wood and Wilson, 2010b, 2011; Noël and van der Kamp, 2012) also found that when penalty takers try to shoot as accurately as possible, they direct their gaze mainly toward the ball during the last 600 ms before foot-ball contact. Wood and Wilson (2010b, 2011) supposed that this gaze behavior is necessary to generate motor commands resulting from visual information. They also suggested that the location of the last fixation is more important than the duration of this fixation or any other location of fixation. We suggest that during the last three phases when using the keeper-independent strategy, penalty takers used a well-developed visual routine (Hayhoe, 2000) learned at an early age (Lees and Nolan, 1998) and habitualized over the years (Hoppe and Rothkopf, 2016). This visual routine has become so stabilized that it is resistant to external influences (e.g., movements made by the goalkeeper) or to the success/failure of a shot. A further argument why penalty takers direct their gaze toward the ball could be that—in contrast to the opposite-independent strategy—they do not want to give information to the goalkeeper about where they are going to shoot. Thus, they want to hide their gaze. However, studies on the gaze behavior of goalkeepers in soccer (Savelsbergh et al., 2002; Dicks et al., 2010) and in ice hockey (Panchuk and Vickers, 2006) have shown that goalkeepers direct their gaze either toward the body, the legs, the ball, or the ground around the ball. Dicks et al. (2010) found that goalkeepers directed their gaze exclusively toward the ball or the legs 1,000 ms before foot-ball contact until foot-ball contact. Thus, it does not seem to be necessary to hide the gaze, particularly during the late run-up, because goalkeepers try to obtain other information from the kinematics of the penalty taker.
Does the Gaze Behavior of the Penalty Taker Affect Shooting Performance?
Our data indicate that a distracting stimulus (absent vs. task-irrelevant vs. task-relevant) has hardly any impact on the performance of the penalty taker while using the keeper-independent strategy. This can be explained on the basis of the gaze behavior during the run-up. Our results indicated differences in performance (number of scored goals) only between the bottom and the upper corner. We suggest that shooting to the bottom corner is easier, because penalty takers just have to direct the ball in the horizontal direction (left/right). In contrast, shooting to the upper corner is more difficult due to the need to direct the ball in both the horizontal (left/right) and the vertical (up/down) direction. As a result, they have to deal with more degrees of freedom. Furthermore, results for shots that miss a goal are congruent with other findings (Wood and Wilson, 2010a; Navarro et al., 2013) indicating that the number of shots that miss the goal depends on the penalty taker’s skill rather than on the presence of a goalkeeper. However, it has to be mentioned that possibly due to our instructions (to shoot as accurately as possible) penalty takers’ main goal was not only to score a goal. Thus, the penalty takers’ task could be interpreted as a motor precision task, like for example a free-throw in basketball. Taken this interpretation into consideration, the goalkeeper did not provide relevant information which could be used by the penalty taker to complete the motor precision task. In this case, the goalkeeper did only influence the final result of the task (goal or no goal). It could be argued that penalty takers’ main goal was not only to score a goal but also to be as accurate as possible because in the condition no goalkeeper penalty takers failed to score a goal for about 20%, irrespective of the corner. This shows that penalty takers tried to be precise instead of just scoring a goal. Furthermore, Wood and Wilson (2010a) reported that shots were more centralized with a moving goalkeeper (standing in the middle of the goal, waving arms up and down) compared to shots with a stationary goalkeeper (standing in the middle of the goal, arms by the side). However, we were unable to replicate this finding in the present study. We suggest that—as mentioned before—penalty takers fall back on a visual routine developed over the long term, especially for the late phases of the run-up.
We analyzed gaze direction during the execution of a far-aiming task with multiple task-relevant objects (ball, goal, and goalkeeper). The present findings are manifold: first, throughout the run-up, gaze was directed most of the time toward the ball irrespective of condition. This suggests that the ball was most important for shooting as accurately as possible, because penalty takers had to attain an optimal foot-ball contact. Second, although the distractor impacted on the gaze behavior of the penalty taker, the gaze behavior was influenced only during the early phase of the run-up. In the late phases of the run-up, the distractor did not affect gaze behavior. Third, performance of the penalty takers was not influenced by the absence or presence of a distractor (absent vs. task-irrelevant vs. task-relevant), because penalty takers directed their gaze toward the ball during the last three phases. These results indicate that whether gaze is driven by salience of the stimulus setting or by attentional demands depends on the phase of the task in which the penalty taker is engaged.
JK made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data. MH and JM made substantial contribution to conception and design, and analysis and interpretation of data. JK, MH, and JM participated in drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content; and give final approval of the version to be submitted and are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
The reviewer AP and handling Editor declared their shared affiliation, and the handling Editor states that the process nevertheless met the standards of a fair and objective review.
This research was supported by the Collaborative Research Center on “Cardinal Mechanisms of Perception” (SFB-TRR 135) funded by the DFG.
Bakker, F. C., Oudejans, R. R. D., Binsch, O., and van der Kamp, J. (2006). Penalty shooting and gaze behavior: unwanted effects of the wish not to miss. Int. J. Sport Psychol. 37, 265–280.
Johansson, R. S., Westling, G., Bäckström, A., and Flanagan, R. (2001). Eye–hand coordination in object manipulation. J. Neurosci. 21, 6917–6932.
Kuhn, W. (1988). “Penalty-kick strategies for shooters and goalkeeper,” in Science and Football, eds T. Reilly, A. Lees, K. Davids, and W. J. Murphy (London: E. & F. N. Spon), 489–492.
Land, M. F., and Hayhoe, M. M. (2001). In what ways do eye movements contribute to everyday activities? Vision Res. 41, 3559–3565.
Noël, B., and van der Kamp, J. (2012). Gaze behaviour during the soccer penalty kick: an investigation of the effects of strategy and anxiety. Int. J. Sport Psychol. 43, 326–345.
Vickers, J. N. (2007). Perception, Cognition, and Decision Training: The Quiet Eye in Action. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Wood, G., and Wilson, M. R. (2010b). Gaze behaviour and shooting strategies in football penalty kicks: implications of a ’keeper-dependent approach. Int. J. Sport Psychol. 41, 293–312.
Copyright © 2018 Kurz, Hegele and Munzert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. | 2019-04-24T10:24:20Z | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00019/full |
Having said that, I find nothing more frustrating than reading a user ‘review’ on Brickset (or anywhere) that spends 4/5th of the text going into minute detail on every aspect of the minifigures, then quickly mentions right at the end that there was some Lego included and the build ‘was great’. There are YouTube reviewers with a similar, and equally irritating approach - people for whom the minifigures included are the be all and end all of a set, and it’s simply not a viewpoint I have any particular understanding of.
Most in-house reviews of sets containing minifigures on Brickset follow a similar pattern - minifigures are nearly always discussed first, followed by the build. Although it tends to be about 50:50 minifigures:build for most sets. Most user reviews just follow that pattern. The same is true for most reviews elsewhere too, I guess it is what people want.
So I guess I am one of the people that has no use for a Minifigure unless it comes with a build, why I am not sure.
For me, the fact that CMF come without a build and were really quite random subjects was a great selling point when the series first started. I used them to inspire 8x8 stud vignettes. For every figure up to series 8, I built something I probably would never have thought of building if I didn't have the figure.
...How is that a problem, exactly?
There is an essential difference between trading cards and minifigures. The first ones could exist per se, whereas, in my opinion, minifigures are, or should be, ontologically connected to their sets. Of course there are people who like collecting dolls or puppets, but Lego should be something else, something more, a way to carve using plastic. Minifigures, although well designed, are premade items and they should not represent the center of the attention in the creative process.
That is why I cannot understand neither the craze about collecting them nor how could it be even possible to waste money without being able to see what it is purchased.
Finally, if this mania have created speculators who remove minifigures from their sets - a monstruosity which ruins the conception behind the product - then many Lego fans should do some soul-searching.
I'm gonna say it again: The biggest problem with the minifig craze in my view is that LEGO are all too willing to feed the frenzy because it makes them tons of ca$h.
Can you blame a company for doing business thanks to customers who are willing to spend money?
There is an essential difference between trading cards and minifigures. The first ones could exist per se, whereas, in my opinion, minifigures are, or should be, ontologically connected to their sets.
Plus saying a figure should be connected to the set it came with implies that the set cannot become anything else. And isn't the joy of LEGO that it built in a completely different way to the instructions to create something else.
So yeah, I guess they aren't really "over rated" but more "over priced". But there are lots of cases when rather unneeded minifigures are thrown into sets to increase their value. Like, Howgarts Castle for example. It's a mini-scale build, it has micro figures, yet they still trew in a bunch of exclusive minifigures to make the set more attractive, when they were unneeded in reality. I bet there was at least someone out there who bought that entire set for the minifigures mostly. I understand the that minifigures are likeable and a lot of people love them, but I don't like how LEGO trows in desirable minifigures in not very disareble sets.
I don't think they are overpriced either. They may be expensive compared to other parts, but market forces means that they find their own price. They sell for what people are willing to pay.
Your Hogwarts example - that is a flagship set aimed at adults / late teens. LEGO try to put something special into such UCS-style sets, to use the Star Wars language. I doubt most kids would care about having the Founders, so it makes sense to put them into an adult oriented set, where they are likely to be appreciated. I imagine most people that bought Hogwarts actually bought it for the Castle and not just the minifigures, but no doubt there is at least one person that bought it for the minifigures. Although you can buy the figures for about $60 for the four on the secondary market, so it would make sense to buy them that way if you only wanted them and not the set. But that again is the good thing about different people wanting different things. I know people that wanted the castle and have sold off the figures. They get a discount on the set as someone else wants the bits they don't want.
Like, Howgarts Castle for example. It's a mini-scale build, it has micro figures, yet they still trew in a bunch of exclusive minifigures to make the set more attractive, when they were unneeded in reality.
...but then again, we return to the original point: Are minifigs needed at all in many sets and if so, how many of them? In this particular case I think it's utterly a moot point. People who have that kind of money won't make much of it either way and others can only be frustrated onlookers that have to buy the figs from the secondary markets. This set is insofar not relevant to the discussion even as the value of the minifigs really represents just a tiny fraction of the whole. If you were to make a point, the smaller HP sets would be a better example or for that matter e.g. some Ninjago sets that are stuffed to the brim with figs.
Whatever they're doing seems to work on this group of crazy minifigure collecting adults.
...but then again, a lot of times it's just "standard" faces like the infamous angry clone face in Star Wars. And to be honest, I can't really see the value in having mutliple variants of emotional states on the same figures. As I wrote further above - kids probably don't even care or have difficulty to swap out heads or even rotate them, so to me this is another thing solely catering to collectors. Say what you will, but I don't think the minifigure stuff is in any way driven by their actual play value. I appreciate that LEGO are of course putting some thought into this, but more or less in many cases it seems a pointless exercise. That and of course it still seems a cheap and lazy way to make more money. You know, modifying one of those print templates in some cases literally probably takes ten minutes.
It's not about the cost of "modifying a print template", it's about the logistical cost of introducing new elements willy-nilly. LEGO isn't going to make alternate minifig and mini-doll heads in kid-targeted themes if kids aren't going to care about those differences. And the cost of introducing a new printed element in terms of production space/time, warehouse space, inventory management, etc. is the same whether it's conspicuously different from existing printed elements or not.
Unlike AFOL-created sites like BrickLink, on which minifigures with even slight differences tend to get entirely separate listings, LEGO never makes any noticeable effort to promote or advertise the fact that the Batman minifigures in 70900, 70901, 70905, and 70915 are at all different. Many people probably wouldn't notice they have different facial expressions until they own two or more of those figures. Especially with double-sided heads being as common as they are, you almost always have to look at multiple pictures of each set to know for sure that the different facial expressions in the main catalog images or on the front of the boxes aren't just on opposite sides of the same head piece, and most kids aren't going to be bringing their physical minifigures into stores with them to compare them against the boxes for the sets they don't yet own. But a kid who likes the LEGO Batman Movie theme is inevitably going to end up with multiple Batman minifigures in his default costume, and these variants are a great way to make that feel at least a little bit more worthwhile to them.
On a side note, I suspect the variant facial expressions that appear in the LEGO movie themes in particular are somewhat intended as a means of paying tribute to and supporting the BrickFilming tradition that inspired the style of these movies in the first place. Back in the day of smiley-faces-without-exception, Brickfilmers who wanted their characters to show emotions often had to customize their faces with a sharpie. But in these themes, there are usually at least four facial expressions to choose between for the lead characters.
And if kids, as you speculate, "have difficulty to swap out heads or even rotate them", then why did LEGO ever begin printing so many double-sided heads to begin with, even in largely kid-targeted themes like Exo-Force, Agents, Power Miners, Atlantis, Ninjago, Legends of Chima, and Nexo Knights? How would that be "making them more money"? I have never heard of ANY collector, no matter how obsessed, specifically seeking out multiple copies of the same minifigure just so they can display one with the front face print showing and one with the back face print showing. The idea that alternate faces are a "cheap and lazy way to make more money" falls apart when it suggests LEGO taking on additional costs, even small ones, that from what you're assuming shouldn't make the sets any more playable OR collectable.
Never mind that in my own childhood experience, customizing minifigures — whether just by swapping out the heads or by making much more extensive changes — was a big part of what made them so much fun, well before the idea of "collecting" them even registered with me. Even back in the early 90s when there were so many fewer facial features to choose from, you could still make a basic smiley-face character :) look cooler and more confident, if you gave them a smiley face with sunglasses B) , or "disguise" a character by giving them a wizard beard.
Why would kids today be any less likely to play with minifigures in this way now that there are so many more minifigure parts to choose between? I mean, LEGO designers surely ought to know what ways kids play with their sets, because they conduct extensive play testing with basically all of their themes specifically to figure out what types of features enhance kids' play experiences.
Having said that, I find nothing more frustrating than reading a user ‘review’ on Brickset (or anywhere) that spends 4/5th of the text going into minute detail on every aspect of the minifigures, then quickly mentions right at the end that there was some Lego included and the build ‘was great’.
I get frustrated by this too, but at the same time, I think it's worth keeping in mind that sometimes more information about the build is omitted for other reasons than the reviewer or their readers not considering it noteworthy. As strange as it sometimes seems to me, I've seen people get legitimately upset at reviews that talk about the building experience in great detail, because they see it as "spoiling" the surprises that they would experience when they get around to building the same sets themselves.
I get the occasional CMF for myself or my daughter based on what appeals (and certainly don’t collect whole runs of them), and generally appreciate the minifigures in the sets I buy, but I can’t think of a single set I have bought where the minifigure(s) feature in my decision to purchase at any point. I think the only time I feel like I ‘missed’ a minifigure is in 7725 (see my review linked in my signature) - a set that calls itself a ‘passenger train’ but doesn’t actually include any passengers!!
In my case the minifigures certainly impact my purchasing decisions, but rarely to a point that I ONLY want the set because of the minifigures. This is because from my experience, MOST sets are interesting and appealing on some level, particularly those in the themes I'm most drawn to like Ninjago, Elves, and the movie themes. So when I know that basically any set on my wish list will offer me a rewarding experience, often a good way to narrow it down and keep from overspending on this hobby is to prioritize the sets that would get me minifigures I don't already have.
That said, that's far from the only condition that decides which sets I get. In a lot of cases, the cheapest way to get all the figures from a particular theme I enjoy would mean missing out on stuff that's just as cool to me if not more so, like certain buildings, vehicles, or brick-built animals/creatures like dragons.
And frankly, unless a person literally has no idea that they can buy minifigures individually on sites like BrickLink or at conventions for less than the full cost of the set, it's safe to say that any set they've chosen to buy "for the minifigures" also appeals to them in other respects, even if it's just that it would look nice on a shelf or has a nice value in parts they can use in future MOCs.
This is exactly the same thing I was talking about earlier with the Thor vs. Hulk set. The critics of this set (you included) are the ones who are putting the minifigures on a pedestal and ignoring everything else about the set, not the kids or designers. The Hulk vs. Red Hulk set, from many AFOLs' perspectives, may be just an overpriced minifigure pack with a bunch of useless filler bricks. To many kids, though, the idea of two huge, rugged, all-terrain, Hulk-sized vehicles with bright colors and lots of play features is most likely a source of appeal in its own right.
There have been plenty of sets in themes like Agents, Ultra Agents, Racers, World Racers, Rock Raiders, Power Miners, Aquazone, Atlantis, Bionicle, Time Cruisers, and so on that included similar goofy, over-the-top, gimmicky vehicles, yet which clearly weren't designed with adult minifigure collectors in mind. Many adults similarly dismissed those sets as overpriced, nonsensical garbage, but clearly at least some of those types of themes resonated with kids all the same.
So why is a set similar to those, but with characters who adults and kids alike are more likely to know and care about, assumed to be aimed at adult minifigure collectors at the EXPENSE of the younger audience that has previously enjoyed similar sets?
Furthermore, the designer of that set was Justin Ramsden, who's designed many sets that far more adults appreciated for their building experience and display presence. If LEGO had wanted him to create a Hulk vs. Red Hulk specifically to appeal to older buyers and collectors, he absolutely could have done so with a better price per piece, a more serious-looking design, and possibly even with lower production costs.
It'd be another matter if the build seemed like it had been designed for different characters and then had some random Hulks and She-Hulks thrown in to make an entirely unrelated build seem more interesting. But the design of the crash feature and the proportions of the vehicles couldn't be more obviously designed specifically to seat two Hulk-sized bigfig occupants, and the task of creating the set was specifically assigned to designers who were at that time working on the Super Heroes team.
It's crazy that AFOLs see all those features that clearly have no value to most adult fans and collectors, and tend to alienate even those who ARE interested in obtaining the figures, and still assume that LEGO added all those features specifically to make the set's intended audience pay more to enjoy the product less.
It's not about the cost of "modifying a print template", it's about the logistical cost of introducing new elements willy-nilly.
Oh, please! That's the same lame argument over and over again. For the life of it: LEGO's primary business is selling plastic toys. Or are you trying to tell me that they are actually a super-secret space science company only doing that brick stuff on the side to finance their projects and they need to set aside extra resources and personnel? It's their everyday thing and they sure should know how to plan their contingencies and processes! And if you think LEGO have it tough, then please have a look at any reasonably complex industrial manufacturing process where millions of parts need to be managed to just build a single machine. Sorry, but you are inflating this argument just for the sake of it. Yes, logistics and production planning cost money as does the actual production, but if there were any truth to your "it's extremely complicated", then literally nothing ever would get done anywhere and we'd not be living in an industrial age. Seriously: Having a hundred different figure heads is no different then dealing with a hundred different types of screws. Unless you are telling me LEGO are grossly incompetent in managing their supply chain, then this is literally nothing. It happens millions of times every day in millions of companies across the globe.
First off, I am not tryng to alienate anybody from enjoying minifigures. It's great that they can enjoy something that I can't enjoy as much. But that doesn't mean I created this topic to stop people from liking minifigures. I just wanted to create discussion, that is all.
LEGO manufactures a huge number of parts for their various themes. Nothing I've said implies the cost of putting new elements into production is something they haven't learned to manage. But with finite manufacturing resources and a potentially infinite number of new elements they COULD produce, they're not going to waste the budget they have on elements that none of their customers or potential customers actually value.
Which is what you seem to be implying when you keep insisting, without a shred of evidence, that kids have no interest in swapping or rotating minifig heads when playing, and yet that LEGO is somehow still boosting their sales by introducing minor facial variations that, by your argument, kids don't have any use for or interest in, and collectors just see as a pointless and frustrating obstacle standing in the way of a complete collection.
What's more, plenty of posts by and interviews with designers, as well accounts in Brick by Brick of the out-of-control costs of new elements that helped LEGO to the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s, and the restrictions on new elements introduced during their recovery process (pages 110 to 115 if you're interested) speak to this being a real concern for the company and one that could send them to financial ruin if they didn't take it seriously.
But I guess because you're some kind of brain genius and expert on all things related to manufacturing, you know your speculation about what stuff should cost LEGO internally is infallible, and thus that literally every statement ever made about the dangers of frivolously introducing new elements, or the difficult judgment calls about which are most useful or necessary and how much of a budget can be assigned to any given theme, are all lies.
Maybe LEGO really IS spending money on new parts and graphics that nobody but the most obsessed collectors care about. instead of ones a mainstream kid audience would actually like, and somehow making more sales in the process. Who am I to question such ineffable brilliance?
I believe you misread my post. I'm not saying YOU'RE alienating anybody.
But in your opinion, LEGO makes a lot of terrible sets and puts desirable minifigures in them. If these sets are truly so terrible and ugly that nobody would want them without the minifigures, and even some people who DO want the minifigures would rather skip them than pay extra for the rest of the set, then those SETS are alienating buyers.
So why is LEGO paying people to design those sets instead of just tossing the minifigs in a box of generic loose bricks and putting that on a shelf instead?
Which do you think is more likely? That LEGO designed the Hulk vs. Red Hulk set for minifigure collectors despite purposely making the build something that would make minifigure collectors enjoy it less?
Or that they designed the set for kids who would enjoy both the figures AND the build, and that AFOLs are just wrongly assuming that because they don't like anything about it except the figures, nobody else could either?
I'm middle of the road on this since I'm not a completionist; I like minifigs just fine, but I don't buy a (higher-priced) set just for a particular minifig nor will I purchase them individually for a crazy mark-up, but there are a few that I've purchased and I do pick up a good portion of the CMF line.
This describes me pretty well, too.
I often sell the minifigs from especially licensed sets on Bricklink, keeping the build to myself. This helps me reduce the cost of the LEGO I buy, ultimately meaning that I can afford more LEGO.
Unlike AFOL-created sites like BrickLink, on which minifigures with even slight differences tend to get entirely separate listings, LEGO never makes any noticeable effort to promote or advertise the fact that the Batman minifigures in 70900, 70901, 70905, and 70915 are at all different.
TLG doesnt have to promote these differences exactly because they know websites like BrickSet.com and other AFOL-targeting sites are going to mention the small changes in minifigs in their set reviews, else it would be poor reviews ... You do know TLG is always sooooo kind to provide these websites a free copy of new sets just a week or two before the're in stores, right?
So TLG is very clever not to burn their hands on promoting or advertising things that don't matter to kids, but no doubt it is big business to them (and to many of the AFOLs).
Sure. What I've been saying all along.
Got to say I agree here. When I was a teenager I was all over collecting individual figures, but I think I've chilled out a bit. Sometimes I buy a set because of a figure (Aayla Secura in the Hovertank, Benny's Space Squad) but I am not a hellbent completionist like some are. I do empathize, though, considering I used to be that way and I do maintain a stamp collection on the side.
That said, I think the only figure I've gone out of my way to purchase was the Revan polybag, and I am quite happy to buy a set for the build rather than figs. Aside from Star Wars, the theme in which I am most heavily invested (financially and MOC-wise) is Architecture, which has no figures at all!
But I feel like this is a “he/she isn’t buying/using Lego sets for the same reasons that I’m buying/using Lego sets” Some will buy sets for minifigures. Others will buy for parts. Some will buy for the set as a whole.
Like others, I also like minifigures I wouldn’t say they were over rated. A modular building for example, doesn’t HAVE to have minifigures. It can still be a good set without them. But having them there adds a little life to the set. I’m sure many kids like creating stories with them or just adding them to their overall Lego city.
Yeah, I see this gatekeeping complaint frequently. It doesn't matter how people buy and use Lego sets, as long as there's one for me to buy if I want it!
As it pertains to modular buildings, while figures are not the USP of the line, I do think they are necessary to complement the flavour of the builds, such as the veterinarian over the Corner Garage or the chef in Chez Albert.
With a few exceptions, I prefer to make my own custom characters. So while I appreciate a variety of prints, colours, accessories and hairstyles, I do not like the price inflation minifigures cause for a set.
However the collecting of figures is a current obsession for people (Explaining why Funko Pops) so that is what we get.
1. ) Minifigures are a great collector item.
- everyone loves Lego because of their childhood. That's a big bonus most other merchandise producers don't have.
- the cartoonish style is adorable and speaks for itself.
- It is cute and simplified. So it fills the gap between picturing a character in a natural way (I would not want a statue of a naturalistic Medusa for example) and very abstract versions like funkopop figures, which many people including me don't like. There is not many competition in this particular space between both. That way you don't have much choice, if you want to be able to you put a Scooby Doo figure next to Gimli while it still looks fitting and represents the characters well.
- Because everything is cute (even Orcs, Sauron's Mouth or Davy Jones) the tolerance of a potential girlfriend or wife is much higher, too. I don't say it is a reason to collect in the beginning but because of that many people would not buy for example film swords and have more money to spend on a 30€ Merry from the Lord of the Rings (got mine for 10€. They aren't that expensive if you are patient and not buying everything from the first seller on ebay).
- the scale is allways the same. Many people (myself included) don't like the size differences between collector statues.
- You can fix it easily, if you don't like anything about the figure. I put a lot of work in my custom printed parts, own and 3rd party custom parts and stuff. It is a great hobby by itself. I could not do that stuff to most statues or action figures like that.
- the size allows even students like me with little space to put a fellowship of the ring in their little display.
=> to me they are perfect as a collector item and a hobby by itself especially if you are open to customisation. The cmfs and many sets are priced that way and left the cathegory of a kid's toy long ago. I don't say, thats good or bad. It is a fact. Personally i am buying figures or vehicles from sets separate, if I have no use for 95% of the stuff. It is better to pay 12€ for Firefly with his Jetpack than 40€ for a whole set with 2 other characters I own better versions of already and 2 mechs I would not want for free and can't have in my room. I buy much less figures and bricks than most people here but if I really love something (like Poison Ivy, Bane or the Riddler with his stick from the tlbm sets or now the new head and headgear of Catwoman to upgrade my figure of her) i will get it. I am happy that way and spend probably much less money than normal set buyers without loosing anything I care about or having boxes full of highly special parts in strange colours, I will never use. If you are really into it, you can put at least that much time on a custom figure like on a MOC. My building activity is centered around the figures. I try to get the best Batmobil for the one Batman i have. I build on a Moes Tavern fitting the figures and other buildings. That brings me to the second part of my comment.
Of course Lego is a construction/ building toy. But the big lesson from Lego's problems in the 90s was "we need to put stories into our bricks". The role-playing aspect is essential - maybe not for all but really many if not most children. As a kid i spent hours with building tempels with traps to explore them with Johnny Thunder. I probably spent more time building than role-playing, but if I had no explorer minifigure I would have had no reason to build the temple in the first place besides looking at it for a few minutes and than putting the bricks back in the box. The cool thing was the ability to build worlds to play in them with your figures. If there were no minifigures, you could forget about most themes targeted at kids except speed racer cars and the creator sets, which are animals, robots and vehicles... and i guarantee, even these would loose many customers, which are implementing these sets without figures into their world for minifigures from other sets.
I would say: Minifigures are not overrated. Some are overpriced for a toy, but certain sets like the 400€-Hogwards Castle or the cmfs are clearly no toys anymore so I would separate these from regular city sets..
That's true. And especially since more and more modular buildings are getting balconies and open roof spaces the build feels empty without them.
To be fair it's a little more than just that. Sure some bulk buy CMF bags in boxes. But people use different techniques to acquire specific figures. (Namely feeling for certain parts and bump bodes but I'm sure they're other methods out there).
But whose to say that CMF minifigures cannot be connected to Lego sets? It's not like when you buy CMF bags Lego tells you that you can't place them in sets or that you can't mix with other themes. Even the description on the Lego website encourages kids to incorporate CMF's into existing sets.
"LEGO® Minifigures bring new play possibilities and open-ended creativity to existing LEGO sets. Children love to collect and bring inspiring new characters into their LEGO universe, where they can play out their own imaginative stories and scenes from their favorite LEGO movies – such as the amazing THE LEGO MOVIE 2™."
If people like them, they shall buy them.
For me, most of the modern minifigs appear ugly. | 2019-04-19T10:33:09Z | https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/171091-are-minifigures-overrated/&page=3&tab=comments |
Background: The BC Government’s Gateway Project was announced in 2004 with claims it would reduce congestion and enhance travel for people and goods around the lower mainland. It includes widening Highway 1 from the Second Narrows Bridge in Vancouver to Langley, twinning the Port Mann Bridge, and building a four-lane truck highway called the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) around Burn’s Bog to allow a tripling of container truck traffic from Deltaport at Roberts Bank.
Since the introduction of the project, costs of gas and construction have increased so much the budget for the project is now completely inaccurate. As well, the BC government just introduced a carbon tax and committed to a Climate Action Plan calling for reducing the number of kilometers traveled in vehicles. Yet the government still plans to spend billions of dollars to promote vehicle traffic with the Gateway Project.
Building freeways and bridges has proven to always attract more cars and with them more pollution and gridlock. Now, more than ever, the Gateway Project has become illogical, contradictory and economically unfeasible.
BC’s Climate Action Plan states “transportation is the leading contributor to BC’s greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for approximately 36 per cent of the total in 2006.” To achieve our legally mandated goal of reducing BC’s greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by 2020, we must reduce — not increase — all vehicle traffic.
Climate Action Plan and the carbon tax initiative.
Plan that calls for reduced car dependency, improved transit, and local self-sufficiency.
Bank, Boundary Bay, the Fraser River, as well as Burn’s Bog — our lungs and carbon sink.
5. Loss of farmland threatening local food security, production, and quality.
It is not too late to green Gateway by reallocating the Gateway billions to provide high quality rapid transit with affordable fares, and move goods efficiently and cleanly with barges and rail. We also need to follow the lead of Washington State that recently passed a law calling on the government to make substantial cuts in vehicle miles traveled. The law sets goals of 18 per cent reduction in per capita vehicle miles traveled by 2020 and 30 per cent reduction by 2035. Such legislation would be an important step toward a greener, cleaner BC.
What you can do: Contact Premier Campbell and congratulate him on BC’s Climate Action Plan. Urge him to transform the Gateway Project to correspond with the Climate Action Plan’s emission reduction goals. We need highly efficient transit systems for people and goods at a fraction of Gateway’s cost to taxpayers and our environment. Send a copy to Ms. James letting her know this is an election issue. We need a government that will take a strong position to green Gateway.
July 30, 2008 VICTORIA BC – Twenty-three major findings regarding B.C.’s biodiversity were highlighted at the July 9, 2008 release of Taking Nature’s Pulse: the Status of Biodiversity in British Columbia, a significant, science-based assessment of the province’s natural environment. The report was prepared by Biodiversity BC, a partnership of government and non-government organizations established in 2005 to produce a biodiversity strategy for British Columbia.
The status report shows that biodiversity in B.C. is still in relatively good shape, but is vulnerable to rapid deterioration unless changes are made in the way people use and relate to the natural world.
Taking Nature’s Pulse is the result of an unprecedented, collective effort by more than 50 reputable scientists – both provincial and international, representing some of the best ecological thinking in BC – who contributed to its development and validated the importance of this province’s natural biological diversity.
Among other things, the report points out the vulnerability of wetlands in the Columbia River and Fraser River basins, the rarity of the Coastal Douglas fir and low elevation grasslands, and the potential risk to wetlands and other ecological processes from human activity.
“BC is a spectacular place, known worldwide for its natural beauty and diverse landscapes,” said Marian Adair, co-chair of Biodiversity BC. “This natural endowment not only serves as a foundation for our economy, but also supports a wide range of recreational, spiritual, and cultural pursuits.
“One of the intensifying stressors is climate change. Ancient climatic changes and their effects such as the ice age have generated in part our biodiversity. But rapidly advancing changes will be unprecedented and are already having impacts on the workings and components of our ecosystems. The pine beetle outbreak is just one example,” he said.
The release of Taking Nature’s Pulse represents the completion of the first step in taking action to conserve B.C.’s biodiversity. Conserving the province’s biodiversity cannot be done by any one organization alone. Provincial, federal and local governments will have a role to play, as will conservation organizations, resource industries and First Nations.
The Ministry of Environment has indicated a willingness to respond to the 23 major findings in Taking Nature’s Pulse through the ministry’s conservation framework and through other provincial government initiatives.
Biodiversity BC will be working with its partners, including the Ministry of Environment to determine priorities for addressing these findings. Biodiversity BC will also be working to build awareness and understanding among British Columbians about the importance of biodiversity and to identify tools and incentives to promote stewardship of the natural environment.
The news conference took place at the VanDusen Gardens in Vancouver and was attended by more than 15 media outlets and more than 50 stakeholders. The provincial government used the release of the report to announce its new conservation framework. The framework will use a science-based approach to assess threats to species and ecosystems. It will enable the government to act sooner before species and ecosystems are at risk and act smarter by setting priorities for species and ecosystems that are at risk or in danger of becoming at risk.
1. At the broad scale, four biogeoclimatic zones [Coastal Douglas-fir, Interior Douglas-fir, Ponderosa Pine, and Bunchgrass], representing approximately 5% of British Columbia’s land base, are of provincial conservation concern.
3. British Columbia has a majority of the global range for six of the 16 biogeoclimatic zones that occur in the province [Coastal Douglas-fir, Interior Cedar–Hemlock, Montane Spruce, Mountain Hemlock, Sub-boreal Pine–Spruce, and Sub-boreal Spruce].
4. The Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone is the rarest biogeoclimatic zone in British Columbia and is of great conservation concern.
5. Low-elevation grassland communities are the rarest land cover type in British Columbia and are concentrated in the biogeoclimatic zones of conservation concern.
6. Significant areas of wetlands in British Columbia have been converted or degraded, particularly in the two Major Drainage Areas of greatest conservation concern [Columbia River and Fraser River].
7. Estuaries are of concern in British Columbia because of their rarity and the level of human impacts to them.
8. Of the species assessed to date in British Columbia, 43% are of provincial conservation concern and these are concentrated in the four biogeoclimatic zones of conservation concern.
10. British Columbia has high levels of genetic diversity within species, which is critical for adaptation and resilience.
11. The flow of water in lakes, streams, wetlands and groundwater systems is being seriously impacted in British Columbia by dams, water diversions, logging, stream crossings and climate change.
12. The natural disturbance processes that shape British Columbia’s forests [e.g., wild fire, insects] are being disrupted by human activities.
13. British Columbia’s mainland coast features a number of interconnected key and special elements of biodiversity: intact temperate rainforest, an intact large mammal predator-prey system, glacially influenced streams and salmon-driven nutrient cycling.
16. Ecosystem conversion from urban/rural development and agriculture has seriously impacted British Columbia’s biodiversity, especially in the three rarest biogeoclimatic zones [Coastal Douglas-fir, Bunchgrass and Ponderosa Pine].
17. Ecosystem degradation from forestry, oil and gas development, and transportation and utility corridors has seriously impacted British Columbia’s biodiversity.
18. Alien species are seriously impacting British Columbia’s biodiversity, especially on islands and in lakes.
19. Climate change is already seriously impacting British Columbia and is the foremost threat to biodiversity.
20. The cumulative impacts of human activities in British Columbia are increasing and are resulting in the loss of ecosystem resilience.
21. Connectivity of ecosystems in British Columbia is being lost and, among other impacts, this will limit the ability of species to shift their distributions in response to climate change.
22. Gaps in our knowledge of biodiversity in British Columbia create major challenges for effective conservation action.
23. The capacity to address some of the gaps in our knowledge of biodiversity in British Columbia is being impacted by the loss of already limited taxonomic expertise.
To view the complete text of Taking Nature’s Pulse: The Status of Biodiversity in British Columbia and the major findings please go to www.biodiversitybc.org.
A number of supporting scientific and technical reports were commissioned by experts in the field.
Two articles in today’s Globe and Mail look at why our governments are going wrong, in an entirely predictable way, in tackling global warming.
Neil Reynolds serves up a history lesson of my favourite kind. It is based on railway history. I suspect there will be a lot of people who will find this story familiar either because they read the same books I did or they played Sid Meier’s “Railroad Tycoon” (which, by the way, is now free!).
The other one is from Jeffrey Simpson and cover the familiar ground of the corn based ethanol scam.
It is not that governement cannot make good decisions so much as politicians who would rather give favours to friends than have a process which eliminates the pork barrel and the taint of corruption and makes objective sense based on good arithmetic. And this is not confined to left or right – politicians of all persuasions are human and thus fallible. And the long and sorry record of stupid decisions shows that only too well. But politicians continue to be surrounded by bagmen and lobbyists, and tend to listen to them rather than the people who are hired to help bring some order to the public decision making process.
Now in the past the penalties we have paid for corrupt and incompetent decisions have been expensive for all taxpayers, and have hit some communities harder than others. But the prospect of failure now is much worse than anything we could have imagined before. The malign influence of the corporations in Washington and Ottawa has already delayed action until it is almost too late. We now have a very short time indeed to cut greenhouse gas emissions significantly. And we cannot afford another corn fiasco.
The Vancouver Sun subs, as usual, miss the point in their choice of headline. Tolls never were on the table for the SFPR.
It will skirt the edge of environmentally sensitive Burns Bog, remove farm land from the Agricultural Land Reserve, require expropriation of residential properties in several communities in Delta and Surrey, and run over archeological sites containing the remains of aboriginal settlements.
“Skirting the edge” of the bog is not anything like as harmless as it sounds. There remain very strong reasons for avoiding this area altogether, as the bog habitat is both unique and highly fragile, and given what we know is going to be happening to this region should be under plans for expansion not limitation. There are also real fears that interfering with the drainage of the bog could hasten its drying out, increasing the risk of fire and the loss of the bog altogether.
There is no mention, you notice, of salmon habitat. But the construction of the road, and its subsequent operations, are going to impact an area of the Fraser where juvenile salmon spend a lot of time getting adjusted to the switch from fresh to salt water. Of course, global warming, over fishing, fish farms and development adjacent to fish bearing streams have already pretty much spelled the end of the Fraser salmon runs, so maybe the province thinks it can write them off. The DFO doesn’t think so, of course, and there is still the question of federal approval – although I suspect Kevin knows that these days he is on safe political ground with his allies in Ottawa. Professionals in government departments have all been given very clear marching orders about not putting up too strong a scientific case.
The archaeological sites are another matter entirely. Our record in this regard is shameful – with an approach road to the new Golden Ears Bridge being built on a Katzie historic site of immense significance (it proves there was agriculture in the Fraser Valley three thousand years ago) long before any of the research was completed. Any artefacts there will now be covered in concrete if not completely obliterated. You would think that the local First Nations would be concerned. But they are in the treaty process – the $1bn boondoggle that has produced almost nothing. But if you are part of the process (on either side) you are doing very nicely on government largesse, and do not want to spoil the party, which can be prolonged indefinitely it seems. So the treaty process is supposed to be all the protection these sites need. Which just ups the price a bit more. Nothing effective needs to be done to protect them – just hand over some more cash.
And of course there is no mention at all of way that the government’s Gateway strategy is coming apart rapidly. The justification for this road – an increasing share of a growing trans pacific container trade – is no longer valid. The trade has been in decline for two years – and the increases in capacity at other ports, including Price Rupert, is already more than enough, given that the North West Passage is now ice free and the much bigger Panama Canal will be open by the time the SFPR is finished. Plus there was always a better route with much less impact that would have been cheaper to construct, but was never seriously considered. And that the containers for the rest of North America leave here on trains, not trucks, and the real problem the port faces is lack of rail capacity.
Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said the project has undergone significant scrutiny over five years, but he was confident the government had respected the concerns of its opponents.
Which only proves my contention that Kevin Falcon is a liar. The “scrutiny” was cursory at best and the concerns of opponents simply ignored.
Thoughts on this news story?
And normally this is not something I would get into very much, because it is not my neighbourhood. I do not live in Vancouver and I only know the site because of passing through West Broadway.
But on the other hand, West Broadway is one of the most important commercial strips in town. Meredith and I have traded thoughts on the need for rapid transit on this corridor – and whether it should be on the surface or underground. And as you can see from the map, this is the centre of medical business district. Proximity to the hospital means many doctors – and related services, such as labs, xrays, nursing agencies all locate themselves here. Which means most of us have spent more time around here than we would have liked to – and spent a bit in the retail and catering businesses that service the area.
Quite why it needs more residential development is questionable – but again if the people who work here could afford to live close to their jobs, not a bad idea. But as is far too common across the region the parking provision is excessive “122 residential units with 159 residential parking spaces in three levels of underground parking”. It might be thought a deal to reduce the amount of parking would cut costs to the developer, help to alleviate local concerns about traffic, and also help the car co-op. Indeed there is plenty of precedent for such a deal. People who live here will have very good transit close at hand, and a lot they can walk to, so the need for every unit to have a parking space plus 37 visitor spots seems high to me. No, it isn’t Yaletown, but Vancouver is going to have to accept that as the more people move to the region, greater density in Vancouver outside of the downtown core is going to be essential, if only to get the best return on the rapid transit investment.
The people who come to public hearings always tend to be those who have concerns. And I do not think that these have necessarily been addressed. There will be a shadow effect in winter – so Peter Ladner’s comments are far from emollient. This developer will argue he has already contributed a lot elsewhere, so the parking deal may actually appeal. He gets a lower cost (underground parking being very expensive to build) but the new residents still have access to a car when they need one without the cost of car ownership.
In other cities in North America the requirement for affordable housing would have been much more onerous.
It is also the case that our housing market is about to tip over the edge. There is much more supply on the market now, and buyers are able to be picky. There are fewer Americans buying here – just because their domestic market has gone bad in a very big way. We have yet to see prices actually fall here, but we will, I am sure. And we have also seen other condo developments founder on the combination of rising construction cost and limited capacity of the construction business to take on more work.
So those considerations might have been in the planners’ minds. They got $1m for traffic calming and bike route improvements, and 6 out of 122 units is something if not the 10% most other places aim for.
So not a disaster – but also not nearly as good as it could have been.
A nice little article to cheer you up on a Monday morning. A cafe in Kitchener. Ontario that relies on the honour system – and why it works.
Experiments that lack the personal touch of a café or restaurant have met with failure: Various efforts over the years to lend out free bicycles in Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City, Charleston, S.C., and other cities resulted in the bikes being stolen or trashed within weeks.
So the fare box on the bus works – there is an operator looking after it. But the SkyTrain – well the tickets only get checked so often. Velib works becuase there is a mandatory deposit – but it works by “reserving” a sum on your credit card. By the way, their bikes do get the sort of rough treatment you must expect in this situation. The baskets seem to get really rough treatment. The chain seems to be vulnerable. And more than one saddle height adjustment lever had been snapped off.
The café’s survival reinforces her belief that people are basically honest. “It makes you feel more that we’re all in this together,” Ms. Freed says.
This actually gives some insight into the minds of those who do not feel this way. A certain small percentage of the population has no conscience. I am not going to get into the discussion of why this is so – nature or nurture and all that. We just have to accept that some people think the rest of the world’s population are suckers who deserve to get screwed. How much effort should we put in to keeping the minority in line? And how much inconvenience and cost should the rest of us bear? There will always be some cheats. And they will cost us something – but it it really worth a heck of a lot more in security to make life more difficult for them?
New Seattle-Vancouver train delayed by CBSA cash grab?
This week Vickie Sheehan of Washington DoT, the train’s sponsor, told Transport 2000: “At this time we do not have a firm date on the start of the second train service to Vancouver, BC. We are still awaiting clearance from the CANADIAN BORDER SECURITY AGENCY (emphasis added) and until this issue is resolved, our second train service is delayed”.
Further probing led to the discovery that the CBSA views the second train as a “new facility” and demands to be paid for screening its passengers. Pearson and Vancouver International Airports are grandfathered, new flights (facilities) attract no new bills. The treatment of the second Amtrak train is a case of modal discrimination with the State of Washington being held up to ransom. The rumour is CBSA wants $1,500 a day! | 2019-04-24T07:00:58Z | https://stephenrees.blog/2008/07/ |
...at least if they believe in infallible divine foreknowledge.
Now, historically, many smart people have worried about the compatibility of divine foreknowledge with free will, but (at least given the positions formed in response to the question of *determinism* and free will) it's not clear what the big deal is. As long as you believe in future facts, there's no problem with (a) believing that there are facts about what undetermined radically self-caused free decisions people will make in the future, and that(b) God, being omniscient, knows all such facts, without anything about that knowledge undermining the libertarian picture.
One problem, though, is that this would seem to commit anyone who believed both (a) and (b) to a form of backward causation. Free decisions I will make in 2020 are causing God's knowledge of them in 2010. Some people view the thought of any sort of causal sequence where the effect precedes the cause with extreme discomfort. Can theistic libertarians, then, make sense of things *without* postulating a process of backward causation whereby future facts cause present divine mental states?
Some theologians argue that God is, in some sense, "outside of time." It's controversial whether there's even any coherent way to make sense of this idea, and I'm pretty skeptical, but that's a complicated and interesting subject for another time. For the moment, just note that it amounts to (i). God's atemporal knowledge of all of time wouldn't be foreknowledge, so this amounts to giving up on the project of making sense of divine foreknowledge without determinism or backward causation.
More creatively, one could argue that, even in an indeterministic universe, certain sorts of evidence about the present give one a very high degree of justification for one's beliefs about what people will do in the future, enough so that (if they are true) those beliefs count as knowledge. Surely, all evidentially-based human knowledge of the future is of this kind, whether or not we live in an indeterministic universe. After all, even in a deterministic universe, there's always the possibility that we're misinterpreting the evidence. Despite this, surely we at least sometimes know at least some things about what will happen in the future. Surely, in an indeterministic universe, God, with His complete and flawless knowledge of every aspect of the present, would have extremely well-justified beliefs about what will happen in the future, beliefs that, by parity of reasoning, would count as knowledge if those beliefs were true. So far, so good, but given indeterminism, surely some of God's beliefs about the future would be *false*, right?
If a clock is broken at 8 O'clock, it's possible that every time anyone ever happens to look at it, it will be either 8 AM or 8 PM. If a coin is fair, it is nevertheless just barely possible that it happens to come up heads every time it happens to be flipped. Perhaps, through a massive, bizarre coincidence, God's fallible knowledge of the future never happens to fail. To claim that this is how God has an entirely accurate and complete knowledge of the future would be massively ad hoc, but it's just barely in the logical space of possibilities.
Still, this doesn't seem to be what people typically mean by divine foreknowledge. It seems to me that, built into ordinary usage of the concept, is the notion that God's foreknowledge is infallible. It's not just that God's beliefs have always and will always luckily happen to be true, but that there's a deep sense in which it would impossible for God to make a mistake.
So, how about reconciling infallible divine foreknowledge with libertarianism without backward causation?
Many theists seem to think this can be done with "middle knowledge." God knows what you would do under certain circumstances, and God knows which circumstances will arise, therefore even without (a) determinism, or (b) God just having direct access to future facts, it is still the case that (c) God knows absolutely everything that will happen in the future.
Now, first notice that we're attributing to God not just knowledge of the "counterfactuals of freedom" of people who already exist, but also of people who will come into existence in the future. Thus, without God having direct epistemic access to the future, God knows the exact details of every free decision that will ever be made by every person who will come into existence 10,000 years in the future.
Now, for the theistic compatibilist (who accepts determinism), that's no problem--given determinism, everything about the character of future people, what kind of decisions they will make, etc., is a function of genetics, environment, etc., and is ultimately all built into the present physical state of the universe. If God knows everything about the present and everything about the laws of nature, He can extrapolate the total state of the universe 10,000 years in the future, including (given a compatibilist understanding of freedom) every free decision made by those future people.
But....for a theistic libertarian, just how does this work? For the sake of simplicity, let's stick with the (presently non-existent) children of present people. Given His knowledge of present-tense facts about you and the person who you will one day have kids with, combined with His knowledge of facts about which external circumstances will arise, God can have foreknowledge of which people will come into existence. How, however, does He know (without direct access to future facts) what decisions those (presently non-existent) children will make under various circumstances, unless that's simply a function of their genetics and environment? Given a view of free will that says that a decision can't be simultaneously determined and free, middle knowledge of presently non-existent people would seem to obviously, trivially rule out free will.
It gets worse. Even for God to have short-term infallible foreknowledge of the future actions of presently existing people without having direct access to future facts, determinism creeps back in. After all, if, given present facts about the agent's character, unavoidable external circumstances, etc., their eventual decision is unavoidable--which is what it amounts to to say that a being with infallible knowledge of all those present facts would therefore have infallible extrapolative knowledge of their future decisions--then those decisions are causally determined. The agent can't do otherwise in the sense of "can do otherwise" that differentiates libertarians from compatibilists.
Of course, there are "softer" versions of libertarianism whereby it's OK for most decisions to be causally determined given previous facts about character, etc., provided that certain key "character-forming decisions" are radically free from deterministic chains of cause-and-effect. Even those kinds of moderate libertarian views won't help here, though, given that God would not have had even short-term infallible foreknowledge of those key character-forming decisions.
One way or the other, without backward causation (i.e. direct divine access to future facts), either you have to give up on across-the-board infallible divine foreknowledge or you have to give up on indeterminism. It looks to me like anyone who wants to combine classical theism (complete with infallible divine foreknowledge) with a libertarian view of free will would be well-advised to get over any squeamishness they might have about future facts and backward causation.
OK, that was the opening credit sequence for the HBO show Carnivale, which might not actually be strictly relevant to the Philosophers' Carnival. Good show, though.
Moving on to actual philosophy, over at Chaospet, cartoon philosophers Gabe and Nestor discuss a problem with the Cosmological Argument for the existence of God.
"It's widely accepted that in a standard Frankfurt-style case, the agent can be responsible for what she does, despite the presence of something poised to make sure that she does that very thing. These standard cases involve agents who ACT and, despite the would-be intervention, are responsible for their ACTIONS. Are there similar cases in which agents OMIT to act, there's a similar would-be intervention, but the agents are still responsible for their OMISSIONS?"
Elsewhere in he same tent, Roy Baumeister wonders why addicts don't just man up and decide to stop being addicted. How hard can it be?
OK, actually, the previous paragraph represents an extremely unfair caricature of what's actually a quite nuanced and interesting discussion of the relationship between free will and addiction, which you can read here.
"I have been wondering about what we can learn from the addiction literature about free will. I'd like to hear people's thoughts on this. I am not an expert on the philosophy of drugs (i am experimental social psychologist with expertise in self-regulation and a smattering of other stuff), and i am just going in and reading the literature to see what i can see. I try to have no preferences other than to figure out what's up, and simply to follow the data.
"It seems there are two very different positions. One is that addicts lose free will, though only specifically with respect to the addiction, and they retain free will (and moral responsibility) in most or all other respects. The other position is that there is no loss of free will and that maintaining addiction is voluntary behavior.
"It looks like addicts themselves and the medical establishment firmly favor the no-free-will position. But then it is self-serving for them, and they do not mostly have large impartial data sets. In contrast, the researchers, who do have these broad data sets, are somewhat more divided..."
At the next tent over, they're still talking about free will. Hey, anyone who's ever taught an Intro class knows that this is one of the philosophical subjects that beginning students get the most fascinated by. It only stands to reason that a *carnival* of philosophy should include a decent helping of it. Cotton candy, rollercoasters and free will! Also some other philosophical subjects in the next tent over, but meanwhile, at On The Human, Christopher Suhler and Patricia Churchland raise concerns about whether recent empirical work undermined the kind of control that would seem to be necessary for free will and moral responsibility.
"An important notion in moral philosophy and many legal systems is that certain circumstances can mitigate an individual’s responsibility for a transgression. Generally speaking, such situations are considered extenuating in virtue of their exceptional influence on a person’s ability to act and make decisions in a normal manner. The essence of the case for diminished responsibility is that these special circumstances impede the ability of a normal person to exercise self-control.
"In recent years, however, this notion of diminished responsibility has come to wider attention in a quite unexpected way. Some researchers, drawing on findings from social psychology, have argued that situational forces may play a much larger role in behavior than traditionally assumed. The situational forces in question are often entirely ordinary, mundane and seemingly trivial. Given that such influences are pervasive, the general issue raised concerns control in commonplace cases. According to a condensed version of this view – which we call the Frail Control hypothesis for convenience – even in unexceptional conditions, humans have little control over their behavior...."
Keep Reading. And do be sure to check out the comment thread, where Gil Harman, Eddy Nahmias, John Martin Fischer and many others pile on to raise various interesting objections to and questions about all of that.
Moving on to the epistemology tents, at Certain Doubts, Keith DeRose explores the relationship between experimental philosophy and epistemic contextualism.
"The tale that Jonathan Schaffer and Joshua Knobe (henceforth, 'S&k') tell in 'Contrastivism Surveyed' is a tragic one for what we may call 'standard contextualists' about knowledge attributions. First, they report (word of this has been 'out on the street' for a while now) that a recent wave of work in Experimental Philosophy threatens to undermine the intuitive basis that contextualists have claimed for their view. Given the importance of that intuitive basis for the view, this would be very bad news indeed for contextualists."
You, dear reader, will be shocked to learn that not everything about this story is as it initially appears. To read the rest, see the blog post here or jump straight to the paper here.
"I've had a chance to read Keith DeRose's very interesting & rich engagement with some of the experimental epistemology literature, and there's a lot in it that's clearly going to be useful to x-phi practitioners to learn from & absorb. (See some nice discussion of it already ongoing here.) But I also think that there are some ways, in a couple of places, in which Keith is subtly underestimating some of the ways in which one can conduct a different kind of investigation with survey methods than one can from the armchair....."
Want to see what the subtle mistake is? Read on.
"A recent episode of the NPR show 'This American Life' takes up the question of group agency and, in particular, the degree to which people are willing to ascribe psychological states to corporations.
"Oddly enough, the presenters end up getting into an argument about precisely the issue that Adam Arico addressed in his very nice experimental paper...."
Just between the two of us, reader, I must admit that my first reaction was "wow, he got through a whole episode of 'This American Life' without falling asleep? Huh." That said, the issue itself is interesting, so do read on.
"This will not involve many science facts as the discussion is wholly philosophical in nature. This is an epistemological, not scientific essay, it just happens to use some facts of science...."
Of course, in Quine 102, we learn that the categories of "scientific" and "epistemological" are continuous with each other, but that's next semester. For know, you can read the rest of Emil's post here.
Speaking of the interface between science and philosophy, Brian Leiter speculates that a recent government study from the U.K. about fetal sentience will "drive the anti-abortion crazies...well...crazy."
Of course, those who are convinced by Judith Jarvis Thompson's sick violinist argument (and, for the sake of full disclosure, I'm fairly strongly on record on that subject), would continue to be pro-choice even if the Royal College had found that fetuses were fully-developed little people, composing haikus and pondering their own existential dread in there, but the empirical results that Leiter cites are still interesting.
"In this posting I want to consider one of the most famous findings in experimental philosophy. In 2003 Joshua Knobe discovered there is an asymmetry in the way we ascribe intentional acts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Knobe . The Knobe effect might be described as follows. If the manager of a company knowingly damages the environment in his search for greater profits then his action in damaging the environment is regarded as intentional. However if the same manager of the company knowingly benefits the environment in his search for greater profits then his action is regarded as unintentional. Logically it would seem the two situations are equivalent and we should regard both acts as either intentional or unintentional. Is it possible to explain the Knobe effect?"
That's it for the carnival this time. Check out the Philosophers' Carnival site to see future and past hosts and to submit your favorite blog posts. (And please, for the sake of the sanity of the next host, do try to restrain yourself from sending posts about financial planning tips or how Ayn Rand makes you feel about life, and stick to things that would, in some reasonably broad sense, be recognizable as philosophy!) The next carnival will feature on July 19th at Parableman - email Richard Chappell if you would like to host the carnival at some point in the future.
I'll be hosting the next Philosopher's Carnival, on June 28th. (The current edition is here.) If you have a blog post that you'd like to submit, you can do so here.
Also, hey, if you feel inspired to write something new with this in mind, you've got plenty of time to do so. You have something you've been burning to say about truth-value gaps, dialetheism and the Curry Paradox, right?
Or....what's that, you say? You actually don't have anything to say about that?
Well, OK, then. Posts on all topics are welcome.
Dialetheists like Graham Priest and JC Beall think that some sentences are both true and false, but cleave to classical orthodoxy to the extent of continuing to insist that every sentence is either true or false. (The latter assumption is, in fact, crucial to the derivation of contradictions from the paradoxes.) Thus, Liar sentences get classified as both true and false, and the resulting contradictions are contained by rejecting classical logic in favor of paraconsistent logic. So far, so good.
S1: If S1 is true, then everything is true.
If S1 gets classified as either (just) true or both true and false, triviality ensues. As such, it had best get classified as (just) false. Of course, this by itself doesn't get around the paradox, since, for familiar reasons, triviality ensues from he mere statement of S1's disquotational truth conditions. That is, however, beside the point for the purposes of this post. The important point is that, for a dialetheist who accepts that every sentence is either true or false but wishes to avoid triviality, the only option for the truth-value of S1 is that it is (just) false.
So far, so good. What, however, about S2?
S2: If S2 is either true or false, then everything is true.
Are Meaningless Sentences (and Bits of Burning Candle Wax) Untrue?
Solutions to the Liar Paradox according to which paradoxical sentences are meaningless face all sorts of challenges. For one thing, the partisan of such a solution needs to have a plausible error theory to explain the widespread intuition that such sentences are meaningful. For another thing, they must find a way to defuse familiar "revenge" Liars, like $, below.
$ The sentence marked with a dollar sign is either false or meaningless.
These are major obstacles, and whether or not they can be plausibly overcome is a subject for another time. What I want to focus on is an objection which I find far less initially plausible, but which I hear a surprising amount of the time.
"Even if Liar sentences are meaningless, they're still not true, right? Meaningless claims aren't true, so that solution doesn't even help with the Strengthened Liar. ('This sentence is not true.')"
Now, in whatever sense in which we are speaking sense when we say "meaningless sentences aren't true," surely it would be exactly equally correct to say that "meaningless sentences aren't false." Meaningfulness is surely a prerequisite for falsity, just as it's a prerequisite for truth.
Forget, for a moment, about the Liar and its kindred semantic paradoxes. Let's just think about a normal case of a sentence whose meaninglessness is much less controversial, like "Green ideas sleep furiously."
(1) Meaningless sentences aren't true.
(2) Meaningless sentences aren't false.
So, given Bivalence and a couple of basic logical rules, the claim that meaningless sentences aren't true or false entails contradictions. Perhaps the very notion of meaninglessness as a separate category from truth and falsity is inconsistent!
But wait. Even if we're willing to give up on the claim that any sentence anywhere is meaningless, what about questions. Surely questions exist. Can questions be true or false? How about bits of burning candle wax? Are they true? No? Are they false? Also no? Well, if G symbolized not a meaningless declarative sentence but a question or a bit of burning candle wax, we could use precisely the same five-step proof to derive an outright contradiction about the semantic status of the question or the bit of burning candle wax.
Clearly, something has gone horribly wrong in our reasoning.
1-Let M(P) mean "P is meaningful." For every P, if ~M(P), then ~Tr(P).
2. Meaningless sentences aren't the sort of thing to which truth talk meaningfully applies.
If you mean 1, you're confused. (It's significant that no dialetheist has ever used the proof above as an argument for the existence of true contradictions. And if that argument were available with them, why would they bother to swim in the murkier waters of semantic paradoxes?) When we try to symbolize a meaningless statement and perform logical operations on them, we're engaged in a nonsensical category mistake, of exactly the same sort that we'd be engaged in if we tried to symbolize and perform logical operations on a big of burning candle wax.
If you think meaningless sentences aren't true, and when you say that, you actually mean to assert of every meaningless sentence the negation of the claim that that sentence is true, you are necessarily saying something meaningless. After all, given the universal intersubstitutivity of P and Tr(P) for every P, if you say that "Green ideas sleep furiously" is not true, meaning ~Tr(P)--where P is "Green ideas sleep furiously"--then you are, in effect, asserting ~P. As the philosophers of the Vienna Circle were so fond of pointing out, the negation of nonsense is nonsense.
Unless you're willing to accept that green ideas fail to sleep furiously--and that there are true contradictions about the truth-value of every meaningless sentence--when you say that "meaningless statements aren't true", you'd better mean it in sense 2.
Now, like I said before, none of this helps the partisan of the meaninglessness view against revenge paradoxes crafted to fit the details of the view. (For example, given the discussion above, one might wonder about the following sentence, which we could call The Babbler: "This sentence is not the sort of thing to which truth talk meaningfully applies.") And that's fair enough.
Still, whether or not they are ultimately viable when we really look into the ins and outs of revenge paradoxes, intuitive difficulties and so on, meaninglessness solutions can't be batted away with the blunt instrument of pointing out that meaningless sentences aren't true.
**"But wait," I can hear some of you saying, "Sentence S1 isn't even well-formed!"
Sentence S2: "Like hell I did!"
....everyone knows what is meant. If the accuser, trying to catch the accused person in an inconsistency, formalized Sentence S2 with a Greek letter, did the same with some of his other statements and and drew out some logical implications, no one would think the accuser was in the grips of any kind of deep conceptual confusion.
Now, someone trying to desperately hold on to some significant role for natural language "well-formedness" could try to say that the difference is that there are grammatically "well-formed" sentences that mean the same thing as Sentence S2, whereas no grammatically well-formed sentence means the same thing as Sentence S1, but, of course, by definition, no grammatically well-formed sentence *ever* means the same thing as any meaningless sentence, because meaningless sentences don't mean anything. That's what we mean when we call them "meaningless." | 2019-04-19T11:19:30Z | http://blogandnot-blog.blogspot.com/2010/06/ |
Vladimir Putin congratulated Merry Christmas and the upcoming new, in 2019, the heads of foreign states and governments, as well as heads of international organizations.
In a message to the President of the Republic of Abkhazia Raul Khadzhimba Khadzhimba Raul Dzhumkovich President of the Republic of Abkhazia, the President of Russia noted that the outgoing year was marked by the tenth anniversary of the recognition of Abkhazia by the Russian Federation, and expressed confidence in the further development of bilateral relations of alliance and strategic partnership for the benefit of the fraternal peoples of the two countries, strengthening peace and stability in the Caucasus.
In a congratulation addressed to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Aliyev Ilham Heydarovich President of Azerbaijan, the head of the Russian state stressed that the year 2018 was very fruitful for Russian-Azerbaijani relations, noting the active development of mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and political dialogue at all levels.
The Russian President also expressed confidence that the implementation of the bilateral agreements reached during the substantive and constructive negotiations in Moscow, Sochi and Baku will further enhance the strategic partnership between Russia and Azerbaijan.
The Russian leader stressed that bilateral relations are based on centuries-old traditions of friendship, cultural and spiritual affinity, and expressed conviction in the further strengthening of allied relations, constructive cooperation and partnership cooperation between Russia and Armenia in the framework of Eurasian integration processes, which fully meets the interests of fraternal peoples. two states and is pursuing regional stability and security.
Vladimir Putin also expressed his conviction that further strengthening of the strategic partnership between Russia and Belarus fully meets the interests of the fraternal peoples of the two countries.
Addressing the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishevich, the President of Russia stressed that the Russian-Kazakh strategic partnership and alliance relations are developing dynamically: cooperation in the trade and economic, energy, scientific and technical, and humanitarian spheres is growing, interregional cooperation is growing. “Moscow and Astana are playing an active role in promoting integration processes in the Eurasian region. Background Rostec State Industrial Corporation, established in November 2007 to promote the development, production and export of high-tech industrial products. It includes about 700 organizations that are located in 60 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and supply products to the markets of more than 70 countries.
"> “the head of the Russian state.
Vladimir Putin also expressed confidence that the implementation of large-scale plans for building up the entire complex of Russian-Kazakh relations would serve the well-being of the fraternal peoples of the two countries, the interests of ensuring regional stability and security.
In a message addressed to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbai Jeenbekov Zheenbekov Sooronbay Sharipovich, the President of Kyrgyzstan, the Russian leader highly appreciated the relations of alliance and strategic partnership between Russia and Kyrgyzstan and expressed the conviction that the joint work on further building up the entire complex of bilateral ties and strengthening constructive cooperation in the framework of Eurasian integration processes continued in the interests of the peoples of the two countries and the development of the entire region.
Congratulating President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon Dodon Igor Nikolayevich President of the Republic of Moldova, the President of Russia expressed the hope that the traditions of friendship and spiritual affinity that bind the peoples of the two countries will continue to serve as the basis for the development of constructive cooperation between Russia and Moldova, as well as partnership in the CIS space.
In a message addressed to the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon Rahmon Emomali Sharipovich, the President of Tajikistan, Vladimir Putin, noting the dynamic development of Russian-Tajik relations in the spirit of alliance and strategic partnership, expressed confidence in the success of joint work to strengthen bilateral cooperation in political, trade-economic, humanitarian and many other areas, as well as addressing important issues of the regional agenda for the benefit of the friendly peoples of the two countries, in sah security and stability in Central Asia.
Addressing President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov Berdimuhamedov Gurbanguly Myalikgulyevich President of Turkmenistan, the President of Russia emphasized that the recent entry into force of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan opens up new opportunities for strengthening mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in political, trade and economic, energy and humanities and humanities and humanities and humanities, in humanity and society, Turkmenistan. other areas and undoubtedly meets the aspirations of the friendly peoples of the two countries.
In a greeting to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev Mirziyoyev Shavkat Miromonovich President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Vladimir Putin stressed that Russian-Uzbek relations of strategic partnership and alliance are developing very successfully. “Negotiations in Tashkent contributed to the expansion of bilateral cooperation in the political, trade-economic, investment and military-technical fields in the fields of agriculture and the peaceful atom,” the President of Russia noted, in particular.
The head of the Russian state also expressed confidence that by joint efforts Russia and Uzbekistan will be able to further successfully build up mutually beneficial ties in all areas, which fully meets the interests of the two countries and contributes to the consolidation of peace, security and stability in the Central Asian region.
Vladimir Putin also sent congratulations to President of the Republic of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov Anatoly Ilyich Bibilov President of South Ossetia, in which he reminded that the outgoing year was marked by an important date – the decade of recognition of South Ossetia’s state independence by the Russian Federation. The President of Russia expressed his conviction that the further development of Russian-South Ossetian relations in the spirit of alliance and mutually beneficial partnership is in the interests of the fraternal peoples of the two countries, in line with the strengthening of peace and stability in the Transcaucasus.
In a congratulatory address to the President of the Argentine Republic, Mauricio Macri Macri Mauricio, the President of Argentina congratulated the Russian leader that the recent talks in Buenos Aires fully confirmed the friendly and constructive nature of Russian-Argentine relations. Vladimir Putin also expressed confidence that the implementation of the agreements reached will contribute to the further development of the entire complex of bilateral relations in the spirit of a comprehensive strategic partnership and in the interests of strengthening international security and stability.
Vladimir Putin also reaffirmed his willingness to work together to build up cooperation between Russia and Brazil, both on a bilateral and on an international agenda, including in BRICS BRICS brief (eng. BRICS) BRICS (eng. BRICS) is an international association of five countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Republic of South Africa (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).
"> where Brazil will chair next year.
In congratulations on Christmas and Happy New Year to Pope Francis, Vladimir Putin expressed hope for further strengthening relations between Russia and the Vatican in order to protect human values, defend the ideals of justice and peace in the world, and promote dialogue between various religious denominations.
The Russian leader also sent congratulations to the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Elizabeth II and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Theresa May Mei Theresa The Prime Minister of Great Britain, in which she wished them and their families good health, happiness and success, and to the British people – well-being and prosperity.
Congratulating the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban Orban Viktor, Prime Minister of Hungary, the President of Russia noted that significant progress had been achieved in the development of Russian-Hungarian relations, reached new frontiers of cooperation, and stressed that he expects to continue working together to strengthen bilateral ties different areas.
In a message addressed to the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Maduro, Nicolas President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the President of Russia noted that the recent talks in Moscow confirmed the proximity of the two countries’ positions on key issues on the global agenda, allowed for steps to expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and expressed confidence that the results achieved The agreements will further strengthen the strategic partnership between Russia and Venezuela.
The head of the Russian state also congratulated the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Chong with the upcoming New Year, 2019. In his message, Vladimir Putin noted: relations between our countries are at a high level, which was fully confirmed by the recent visit of the Vietnamese leader to the Russian Federation.
The President of Russia also expressed his conviction that the successful implementation of major joint projects in various fields, as well as the planned holding of the Year of Russia in Vietnam and the Year of Vietnam in Russia, will further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two states.
In congratulations to the Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier Steinmeier Frank-Walter Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany and Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel Merkel Angela Federal Chancellor of Germany the Russian leader, noting the very significant experience of cooperation between the two countries in various areas, expressed hope for the continuation of the joint work on the bilateral and international agenda, in particular to ensure the successful implementation of major joint projects in the coming year x projects in the fields of economics, culture, science and education. Vladimir Putin stressed that the Russian-German interaction is of great importance not only for the peoples of the two countries, but also for the whole of Europe.
The President of Russia also sent a congratulatory message addressed to the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Alexis Tsipras Tsipras Alexis, Prime Minister of Greece, in which he expressed appreciation for the thorough exchange of views on bilateral and international issues that took place during the recent visit of the Greek leader to Moscow. “I am convinced that the interests of the peoples of Russia and Greece, united by centuries-old traditions of cultural and spiritual affinity, are fully met by further strengthening the mutually beneficial cooperation of the two countries in political, economic, humanitarian and other spheres,” the message reads.
Congratulating the Prime Minister of the State of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu Benjamin Israeli Prime Minister Vladimir Putin noted that the two countries have gained considerable experience in cooperation in various fields, and expressed the hope that in the coming 2019, Russian-Israeli relations will develop in a constructive, partnership for the benefit of the peoples of both countries, in the interests of strengthening peace, security and stability in the Middle East.
In a telegram of congratulations on the occasion of the New Year to the President of the Republic of India, Rama Nath Kovinda Kovind Ram Nath, the President of India and the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, Narendra Modi Modi Narendra, the Prime Minister of India, the Russian leader stressed that Russian-Indian relations are developing in a constructive and dynamic way: the outcome of the October summit in New Delhi, the agreements contribute to the strengthening of a particularly privileged strategic partnership linking our countries.
"> And other multilateral structures.
The head of the Russian state sent his most sincere wishes of happiness, prosperity and success to the King of Spain, Philip VI and Queen Laetitia, other members of the royal family and all Spanish citizens, stressing that he expects Russian-Spanish relations of friendship and mutual respect in the coming 2019 will develop in a constructive manner for the benefit of the peoples of the two states and the whole of Europe.
Addressing President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarelle Mattarella Sergio to the President of Italy and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic Giuseppe Conte Conte Giuseppe Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic congratulating the President of Russia noted that the recent talks in Moscow confirmed the importance of Russian-Italian cooperation to strengthen security and stability in Europe continent.
The head of the Russian state stressed that Russia attaches great importance to maintaining constructive and partnership relations with Italy, as well as the implementation of mutually beneficial joint projects in the trade and economic, investment, energy, humanitarian and other fields. Vladimir Putin expressed the hope that in 2019, it would be possible to expand multidimensional bilateral cooperation for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries in the interest of strengthening security and stability on the European continent.
The Russian leader also congratulated Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on his birthday, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, wishing him and all the people of Canada happiness and well-being.
Vladimir Putin congratulated the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, Xi Jinping, the Chairman of the People’s Republic of China on the occasion of the New Year and the upcoming Spring Festival. “The relationship of a comprehensive trusting partnership and strategic interaction between the Russian Federation and the PRC has reached an unprecedented high level,” the message says.
The President of Russia emphasized the development of a substantive political dialogue, the dynamic growth of bilateral trade, the successful launch of interregional cooperation, the “good return” from coordinating the efforts of Moscow and Beijing in solving urgent regional and global problems, and expressed confidence that in the coming year, which will be sign of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, effective joint work on the bilateral and international agenda will continue.
Vladimir Putin wished Xi Jinping good health, happiness and success, and the friendly Chinese people – well-being and prosperity.
Addressing the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Zhe Inu Moon Zhe Ying, President of the Republic of Korea with New Year’s greetings, the head of the Russian state noted that the substantive talks held in Moscow and Singapore gave a significant impetus to the development of constructive bilateral ties in various areas. Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that, based on the results achieved, joint efforts will be able to further strengthen the interaction between Russia and the Republic of Korea, close coordination in resolving topical regional and international problems, which undoubtedly meets the interests of the peoples of the two countries, in line with the consolidation of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia as a whole.
In a congratulatory message to the Chairman of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Kanelle Dias-Kanel Bermudez, Miguel, Chairman of the State Council and Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, Bermudez and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Raul Castro Castro Raul, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, as well as Christmas and New Year, the President of Russia stressed that Cuba is a strategic partner and a reliable ally of Russia. In addition, Vladimir Putin noted with satisfaction that bilateral relations are on the rise, which was fully confirmed by the recent visit of the Chairman of the State Council of Cuba to Moscow. The head of the Russian state also indicated that he expects to continue active joint work on the bilateral and international agenda, and conveyed wishes of well-being and prosperity to the leadership and the friendly people of Cuba.
Congratulating the ruling Prince of Monaco Albert II on the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Russian leader expressed the hope that in 2019, Russian-Monaco cooperation would be enriched with new interesting joint initiatives and projects.
In the New Year greetings addressed to the President of the Republic of Serbia, Alexander Vucic, Vucic Alexander, the President of the Republic of Serbia, the President of Russia, noting the dynamic development of bilateral relations in the spirit of strategic partnership, expressed confidence that the upcoming meeting in Belgrade would further expand mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Serbia areas.
Vladimir Putin also sent a congratulatory message to the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar Assad Assad Bashar, the President of Syria, in which he stressed that Russia will continue to provide all-round assistance to the government and people of Syria in the fight against the forces of terrorism, in defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and wished Syrian citizens a speedy return to a peaceful, prosperous life.
Addressing the President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor Pahor, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, the head of the Russian state noted that Russian-Slovenian relations are developing in a constructive way, in particular, cooperation in the trade, economic and humanitarian spheres is expanding, and the cross-seasons of culture have been successful. The President of Russia also expressed his conviction that the further strengthening of bilateral ties is in the interests of the peoples of the two countries.
In a congratulatory message to the President of the United States of America Donald Trump Trump Donald, President of the United States of America on the occasion of Christmas and New Year holidays, Vladimir Putin stressed that Russian-American relations are the most important factor in ensuring strategic stability and international security, and confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue with the United States on the most extensive agenda.
The Russian leader sent New Year greetings to President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Erdogan Recep Tayyip Turkish President, in which he noted that he was pleased with the successful development of Russian-Turkish relations.
“The construction of the first unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant has been launched, the laying of the offshore section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline has been completed, and new, promising areas of bilateral cooperation have been identified,” the message says. The head of the Russian state stressed that by joint efforts, Moscow and Ankara make a decisive contribution to the fight against terrorism in Syria, as well as to advancing the process of political settlement in this country.
Vladimir Putin expressed conviction that the work on building up mutually beneficial partnerships in all areas for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries, in the interests of strengthening peace, security and stability on the Eurasian continent will be continued.
Addressing President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö Niinistö Sauli President of Finland, Vladimir Putin stressed that the recent meetings of leaders in Helsinki and Sochi showed successful and dynamic development of good-neighborly Russian-Finnish relations, and expressed hope for the continuation of joint work to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in political, trade – economic, humanitarian and other areas.
The President of Russia also congratulated the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron Macron Emmanuel with the Christmas and New Year holidays. “Russian-French relations have great potential, which was confirmed by our recent meetings and negotiations. I count on the continuation of joint work on the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries in various fields, as well as on the solution of topical issues of the regional and global agenda, ”the Russian leader said in his message.
Merry Christmas and New Year, 2019, Vladimir Putin sent President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovich Grabar-Kitarovich Kolind, the President of Croatia, in which he noted her personal attention to bilateral cooperation, largely thanks to which relations between Russia and Croatia are developing in a constructive way, and expressed his conviction that by joint efforts it will be possible to ensure the further strengthening of mutually beneficial Russian-Croatian ties for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries and the whole of Europe.
In a congratulatory message addressed to the President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman Zeman Milos, the President of the Czech Republic praised his efforts to preserve constructive relations between the two countries and expressed confidence that further development of cooperation based on mutual respect and mutual benefit meets the aspirations of the peoples of Russia and Czech Republic, is in line with the strengthening of stability and security on the European continent.
Congratulating the President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosis Ramaphoz Cyril President of the Republic of South Africa, the President of Russia stressed that in 2018 Russian-South African relations developed dynamically in various fields, which was fully confirmed by the talks of the leaders in Johannesburg. “Russia and South Africa together make a significant contribution to building a fair, democratic system of international relations,” the message says.
Vladimir Putin also expressed confidence in continuing to work together to build up bilateral ties in the spirit of strategic partnership, effective coordination of efforts within the United Nations, the G20, BRICS and other multilateral structures, which meets the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries and contributes to the consolidation of regional and global security.
In a message addressed to the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe Abe Shinzo, the Prime Minister of Japan sent a message to the President of Russia heartily congratulating his Japanese counterpart on the upcoming New Year and stressed: Russian-Japanese relations have significant potential, which was fully confirmed by the recent meetings and talks of the two leaders. “I count on the continuation of a constructive dialogue, including on expanding the juridical base of bilateral cooperation and implementing joint economic projects in the Far East of Russia, as well as on international issues, in particular, taking into account the Japanese presidency in the G20,” Vladimir Putin.
The President of the Russian Federation also sent congratulatory messages to a number of leaders of international organizations, in particular, the United Nations Secretary-General Anthony Guterres Guterres Anthony, the United Nations Secretary-General, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, the Honorary President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge Rogge Jacques, the President of the International Thomas Bach, Honorary Member of the International Olympic Committee Jean-Claude Killy, President of the International Ice Hockey Federation Rene Fasel and President of the International Judo Federation Marius Viser.
Vladimir Putin also sent congratulations to a number of former heads of foreign states and governments and political figures, in particular Almazbek Atambayev Atambshayev Almazbek Sharshenovich, Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan Sargsyan Serzh Azatovich, Silvio Berlusconi Berlusconi Silvio, George Bush, –you will be the same as the manager. Sarkozy Nicolas, Francois Fillon Fillon Francois, Tarja Halonen Halonen Tarja, King Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I King of Spain King of Spain, 1975 – 2014 and Gerhard Schröder. | 2019-04-19T19:16:00Z | https://zapatosmx.com/travels/northern-india-tour |
Photography isn’t always about marketing a product or promoting a company; sometimes, you just want to capture the special moments in your life, and do so with the utmost clarity and quality. If you have a special event coming up, then preserving those memories might best be accomplished by hiring a professional event photographer, like Doug Davis. With the fall season just around the corner, however, chances are you’ll have more opportunities to capture everyday life’s beautiful images with your own camera. To help you improve the skill of capturing memories this season, we offer a few tips for taking crisper, clearer, and better outdoor photos.
Your camera’s ISO setting adjusts its sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO level, the less light you need. The brighter it is, like when you’re taking a picture in the daylight, the lower your camera’s light sensitivity, or exposure, should be. If you’re using a digital camera with an automatic ISO adjustment, be sure to change the setting to manual so you’ll have full control of exposure levels.
Whether you’re nature-watching, taking photos of your child’s soccer game, or recording memories of everyone moving about at your family reunion, photogenic scenes can occur spontaneously, without leaving you time to prepare. When you’re searching for something to photograph, look through the camera’s lens, so you’ll be ready to capture the moment as soon as you see it.
If you have a longer, more powerful lens, you can see farther and clearer, but you may have more trouble keeping the camera steady. Meanwhile, using a tripod is an inconvenient idea when taking dynamic pictures of things occurring closer to you. Be sure to pack the right equipment, including a portable and highly-mobile tripod, if necessary, to make sure that you don’t defeat yourself with inconvenience.
It can take months or years to plan the perfect wedding, and in a single day, it’s over. Besides the unbreakable bond between you and your spouse, all that will remain of the momentous event will be the memories you keep and hold dear. Should you hire a professional wedding photographer, or let a talented friend or family member capture the visual record of your wedding? When deciding, consider the importance of the event, and the fact that you’ll only have one shot (so to speak) to immortalize the special moments.
As joyous as the occasion is, you want to remember the good times, the silly dancing, the loving looks, the first kiss as a married couple, and all of the wonderful little moments that make the day special. Looking through the photos in later years, the joy of the memories might be dampened if the pictures are too dark, unclear, poorly lit and contrasted, or just generally bad. The best way to ensure that the memories of your wedding are as beautiful as the day itself is to invest in a professional wedding photographer.
Dallas-based professional photographer and videographer, Doug Davis, has worked with a wide range of clients, from American Airlines to the Susan B. Komen Foundation. If you’d like to learn more, or if you need the services of a highly-experienced professional photographer, then contact D-Squared Studios today at (214) 746-6336.
Over the last few hundred years, memories have been immortalized through the invention of the camera. However, the history of photography—derived from the Greek words “photos” (which means light) and “graphein” (which means to draw)—began much earlier. Chinese and Greek philosophers, including Aristotle, described the principles of optics and light that make modern photography possible as early as the 5th or 4th century BC. Since then, the concept of creating pictures with light has transformed into one of the most technologically-advanced fields and pastimes today.
Today, most people’s cellphones can capture everyday images with lifelike clarity and quality. Before that, however, taking pictures wasn’t so simple.
In the 1660’s, Sir Isaac Newton discovers that white light is actually comprised of all of the basic colors (the colors you see in a rainbow). Meanwhile, black, or darkness, is the absent of any colors of the light spectrum. His discovery helps pave the way for the future invention of photography.
In the early 1800’s, Joseph Nicephore Niepce, a Frenchman, created the first photographic image using a camera obscura—a primitive pinhole camera that, before then, was only useful as a drawing tool. The image required eight full hours of light exposure to become visible, and faded soon afterwards.
The first photographic image that didn’t fade away (and only required 30 minutes of light exposure) was created by Louis Daguerre in the late 1830’s. Daguerre later partnered with Niepce to develop more effective and efficient ways to take photographs.
By the time the 1900’s came around, the science of photography had advanced enough to make mass-marketed, handheld cameras, complete with rolls of portable film, available to the general public. In the 1960’s, Polaroid developed the first instantly-developed color film, and in the beginning of the 2000’s, the first camera-equipped cellphones were introduced.
What Can Video Marketing Do for Your Website?
In addition to custom, professional creative photography, Dallas professional photographer, Doug Davis, also has extensive experience creating highly-engaging and original videos for businesses and individuals alike. While adding a picture to your web content can make the written words seem more interesting, the picture alone can’t convey the message you intend. By adding customized video marketing to your site, however, you can combine the immediate appeal of a video with the substance of your company’s message.
Every few months, more technology arrives that makes it easier for people to view videos on their cellphones and personal devices. When searching for information, or trying to learn about your company, more people may be willing to watch a short video than read an entire website page.
Because of their popularity, online videos are now highly-regarded by search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. If your company’s website contains several pertinent videos, then they’ll be as likely, or more so, to show up in search results lists.
It should come as no surprise that the content of a video will stand out more prominently to most people than the words of a webpage. Besides the words, the imagery adds importance, necessary nuances, and a higher entertainment value to the point you’re trying to make.
Unlike stock photography, there aren’t many generic videos that you could choose from a large stockpile to enhance your website. Even if there were, it would be more beneficial to your company’s image and credibility to create a custom video designed just for the occasion. To learn how, speak with Doug Davis about custom professional videography today.
What, Exactly, Is Creative Design Photography?
Sometimes, a simple photograph won’t do. While anyone with a camera can take a nice shot of a person, place, or object, the key to creative design photography is the “design” part. As a highly-skilled professional photographer in Dallas, TX, Doug Davis enjoys absorbing a client’s vision, designing a unique image using a myriad of tools and artful expertise, then transforming that creativity into a striking, unique, and unforgettable picture.
Doug Davis’ most rewarding projects are those he in which he gets to combine his uncanny imagination and artistic abilities with his unmatched skill for producing high-quality professional photographs. While the point is to capture a vibrant photo, much of the work behind creative design photography occurs away from the camera, where Doug works closely with each client to generate the ideal imagery. Crafting the perfect picture may require a variety of props and fabricated settings, which requires a particular set of artistic skills that Doug has spent a lifetime perfecting.
If you prefer, you can call and give Doug your idea, let him work his magic, and then see and approve the final product, or you can take part in each step of the process, giving input and direction to ensure your requirements are met. Doug can send you daily updates, including pictures of progress, and you can visit our studio anytime during business hours to watch the magic unfold. Although Doug’s specialty is creativity, his impressive success lies in being able to exactly represent the client’s idea, no matter how bizarre or “out there” it may be.
To view a sample of some of Doug Davis’ creative design photographs, visit the creative design gallery on our website, or schedule a visit with Doug to see samples and discuss your project.
Dallas-based commercial photographer Doug Davis has worked with a wide range of clients, from American Airlines to the Susan B. Komen Foundation. If you’d like to learn more, or if you need the services of a highly-experienced professional photographer, then contact D-Squared Studios today at (214) 746-6336.
Ideally, every image you choose to represent your company and brand should be unique, which you can only be sure of by hiring a professional photographer for every marketing task. Realistically, however, hiring a photographer for your project isn’t always feasible, and you may have to turn to stock photography to choose the best-suited picture to convey your meaning. While stock photos aren’t bad in themselves, they lack much of the value of a custom-created visual aid. Still, you can avoid many of the pitfalls of stock imagery with a few tips from your professional photographer in Dallas. You can also call Doug Davis to discuss original, creative photography for to portray your business.
When choosing from a large collection of photos, your eyes may be naturally drawn to images that are familiar. Their familiarity, however, is exactly why you should steer clear of popular stock photos. Whatever the purpose of your project is, it should be unique enough to stand out in the minds of those who see it.
Clothing, haircuts, cars, cityscapes, and especially technology change over time; to stay relevant, your images should accurately represent contemporary culture.
A group of female nurses, a gathering of male construction workers; stereotypes come in many shapes and forms, and reinforcing them can offend a vital section of your target audience. Diversify your images by defying typical stereotypes (but be careful to keep it politically correct enough to remain inoffensive).
The picture of that woman smiling is beautiful, but why is she jumping in the air alone? Aesthetically pleasing isn’t the only sign of appropriateness; your picture should also make sense. Ask yourself why the picture is the way it is, and how it pertains to your purposes; if there’s no sensible answer, then move on.
Taking pictures is natural for most people in certain situations, but for some, it’s a calling. Whether you enjoy taking pictures in your downtime, or you like capturing and creating images so much that you wish to make photography your career, the key to improving your talent is practice. As Dallas professional photographer, Doug Davis explains, every photo you take is a worthwhile experience. Today, he offers some advice to aspiring photographers on how to capture the world around them on a daily basis.
Inspiration can strike at any moment. If you’re walking down the street and happen to notice a crowd, or a striking image of nature and/or people, you might kick yourself for not having your camera. Most smartphones possess advanced cameras, but for clearer, more professional-looking images, carry a small, but high-resolution digital camera that fits in your pocket or purse.
If an image makes you wonder whether or not you should take a picture of it, then chances are the answer is yes. After all, it’s better to have a picture that you can throw away later than NOT take the picture you want while the opportunity presents itself.
Whether you’re photographing a person, or trying to capture a car or someone else’s possession, always be polite and ask permission first to avoid unnecessary (and unpleasant) confrontations. If you’re respectful, you may be surprised how many people will oblige, and how many may be excited that you’re taking their picture.
Most idioms about smiling, particularly the claim that it’s contagious, are true. Smile, and watch the people around you smile in return. When out and about, smiling freely, openly, and often will encourage others to smile, too; especially if you’re pointing a camera at them.
When you think of portrait photography, what comes to mind? Most people associate this type of photography with newborn babies, senior year, or the family Christmas card. Actually, portraiture has a serious side, making it an invaluable tool for professionals and other high-profile individuals. Business portraiture is versatile, too, making it a must-have for job hunters, business owners, and even executives. D-Squared Studios, a Dallas, TX commercial photography studio, shares tips on using portraits for professionals.
Think about all the signs and advertisements you pass on your daily commute. Which catch your eye: those that feature images and text, or those that only use text? Most people take note of ads that include both text and images. Now, think of your business card as a pocket-sized billboard. Including your professional head shot on the card adds visual interest, makes you more memorable, and is identifiable at a glance. Because you have limited space, include a head shot instead of a full-body shot.
Add your business portrait to your website, blog, and printed materials. This accomplishes several things. Foremost, it lends credibility. Web visitors rely on a combination of content, website visuals, and usability to evaluate your website and gauge its relevancy and trustworthiness. Including a professional-looking image of yourself suggests openness and a personal touch—two things that aren’t always easy to find online.
If you are active on social media, a picture taken by your Dallas professional photographer is preferable to a grainy, poorly composed image. It may look great on Instagram, but that doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for every situation. Does this mean you need a generic head shot? Absolutely not, says Doug Davis, owner of D-Squared Studios. Cultivating a public image or personal brand on social media is essential, which is why we strive to create images with equal parts of professionalism, personality, and visual appeal.
Press releases, presentations, and other public forms of professional communications become more memorable and effective when accompanied by a professional portrait. As most advertisers will tell you, any kind of image draws readers’ eyes to important points. If you don’t supply a suitable image with your external communications, don’t be surprised if they come up with an alternate—an irrelevant or unflattering picture used as filler.
Need a professional business portrait in Dallas, TX? To learn more about commercial, lifestyle, and professional portrait photography in DFW, or to schedule a meeting with Doug Davis, contact D-Squared Studios at 214.746.6336. For the latest news and project updates, find us on Facebook.
What commemorates special events more than photography? Sure, over the years, video has become more commonplace, and just about anyone can capture a quick snapshot or selfie with their smartphone. However, there’s something about a professional photo that captures a moment in time with wordless, still elegance. It allows our minds to fill in the gaps for a much more artistically satisfying experience. By hiring a professional photographer for your big events, you can ensure that your special moments are forever preserved in clear, expressive photographic memories. Dallas photographer, Doug Davis, possesses experience in event photography, as well as the tools and skills to turn special events into lifelong memories to be cherished.
The advantages of hiring a professional photographer over using stock photos or amateur photography for your marketing needs are many. Your images will be original, and they’ll be more likely to properly illustrate the idea you wish to convey. Still, finding the photographer that’s best suited to your project is as important as choosing professional photography in the first place. However, by asking the right questions, you can increase your chances of choosing the right professional photographer, and of creating engaging, memorable images for your project.
How long have you been photographing professionally?
Photography is a great hobby for many people, but for others, it’s been a calling since their early formative years. You can ask your photographer what kind of equipment will be used, which can indicate, to an extent, his/her level of professionalism. However, the more important question should be how long the photographer has been creating professional images. Professional photography requires a broad range of skills that can only be refined and perfected with years of dedicated experience in the field.
Like any art-form, photography can be categorized into several specialties, such as creative design, products, profiles, and lifestyle photography, among many others. Be sure to ask any potential photographers what they’re specialty is, if any, and how that expertise will help in creating your imagery.
Do you have examples of your previous work?
Regardless of reassuring words, nothing will prove the photographer’s skills like the work he/she has already produced. Before agreeing to hire the photographer, or signing a contract, ask to see samples of previous work, especially those that relate to the idea and imagery you’re aiming for.
Dallas-based commercial photographer Doug Davis has worked with a wide range of clients, from American Airlines to the Susan B. Komen Foundation. If you need a professional photographer or videographer to create the unique images you need to portray your company, or to capture the especially precious events in your personal life, then contact D-Squared Studios, today at (214) 746-6336. | 2019-04-19T04:18:28Z | https://d2studios.net/blog/page/22/ |
I was recently contacted by another actuary – an IFoA council member – asking for my thoughts on strategies the IFoA should think about for the future.
“…. Like many other professions, I truly believe that our profession is facing a critical time given the pace of change.
Going forward, I think, there needs to be a greater focus on “on demand learning/upskilling” and accessibility to resources as and when needed for learning on the job. Eg understanding and applying artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, IoT, wearables, dealing with new emerging risks. The list goes on and is constantly evolving. I think the profession can and should continue to play a role in continuous ongoing learning after qualification. It increasingly seems that qualification is only the beginning and we need to be constantly learning and evolving as actuaries, to avoid getting left behind. Learning to learn and being flexible and having an ability to reinvent oneself are critical skills for the future. I believe the profession can help us stay nimble as well as fostering a culture of continuous ongoing lifelong learning. Otherwise, I believe, others (eg “data scientists”) that often have the more flexible mindset may continue to make inroads into traditional actuarial areas (eg pricing).
I would like to see a greater focus on innovation and creativity as well as more training in these areas. These skills are becoming increasingly important. The insurance world is now beginning to change and “catch up” with other sectors, in terms of technology adoption. We should be aiming to claim a slice of the InsurTech pie and not just seen as the regulator checkbox guys or technicians. Let’s learn to bring more of an agile mindset to our work. I think it will be increasingly important to be able to think like an entrepreneur. Building, testing, iterating. Let’s continually learn to take initiative and find unique solutions to the new emerging business problems.
Data science, especially machine learning, is becoming more and more important as a tool for actuarial work. It’s great to see the profession doing a lot in this space. Can the actuarial qualification act as a more general route into a career as a data scientist? I think it possibly can. We have a unique position in this space due to our code of ethics and highly regarded professional qualification/recognised credentials. Hence, we have a unique advantage over many others claiming to be data scientists (given anyone can now say they are a data scientist!). The problem though is the opportunity cost of learning irrelevant material (for much of data science) to get the actuarial credential.
Related to the above – there’s a lot of talk about automation and people losing their jobs to robots. Whilst there is a certain amount of hype around this, I do believe automation will change the nature of many jobs in the future. Digital and automation is the future and we need to be part of that. Let’s, therefore, ensure that we continue to add value beyond the number crunching by having the skills to exercise professional judgment and business acumen whilst staying on top of developing trends.
Supply and demand. I think the profession has a role to play here to help ensure this is managed carefully in different parts of the world. I believe we can possibly collaborate more with other actuarial bodies to effectively build brand “actuary” (trusted advisors of risk). There will always be risk and especially today risk is everywhere and changing all the time. I would like to continue to see brand “actuary” as the trusted advisors in financial risk, but with more creativity and innovation. I believe one of the key positives of our profession is that it attracts really bright people. We should focus on continuing to make the profession attractive to the brightest and best.
Is insurance broken and in need of rescue?
That was the question I recently asked myself whilst hiring a rental car to visit the infamous “White Line” mountain bike trail in beautiful Sedona, Arizona.
Many of their customers opt not to take the liability cover even though it leaves them quite exposed.
A surprisingly high percentage of customers ask for a refund on their insurance payments, at the end of the rental period, if they didn’t need to make a claim!
Their customers are generally very distrustful of the insurance product they are buying. Customers are often unsure whether it will actually cover their needs if they have to make a claim.
Insurance is quite an unusual product. Except for maybe a coffin and a fire extinguisher, it’s the only purchase I can think of, that you make but hope to never have to use.
Let’s face it. Buying insurance is usually an uninspiring ‘grudge purchase’ activity. Tedious paperwork, arcane questions, having to think about what can go wrong in your life. Is it any wonder that the experience is up there with a visit to the dentist? Of course, the reality is that should your home be destroyed in a storm or should you be involved in a car accident deemed to be your fault (especially with third-party injury) insurance can be the saving grace preventing potential financial ruin.
After going through the pains of considering the potential financial impact of personal tragedy, you are rewarded with the end product…a paper contract.
Not just any old paper contract, but a long-winded, very conditional and often confusing document. How exciting! Again, is it any wonder insurance customers can’t or don’t want to take the time to understand the precise nature of what some deem to be the world’s most boring product?
Whilst the quoted source may be a parody, I believe the underlying inclination signifies the typical level of distrust that consumers have of insurance.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe insurance plays a critical role in our lives and insurance companies can provide a great service as well as a very rewarding career path. But, when it comes to the general consumer view of insurance there seems to be an issue.
Telematics has been around for a few years now. Particularly in Italy, the UK and the US.
Onboard car technology is used to monitor and potentially assess the driving behaviour of each individual driver. Thus moving insurance from a pooled pricing model to a more individual specific model. One where the underlying policyholder risk is more closely monitored.
This information can then be considered in a more accurate and individualised pricing model. One that potentially allows the previously trapped (i.e pooled) policyholder to break free from his or her age or gender (non-EU) status etc and prove their worth as a safe driver that is a good risk and unlikely to have an accident and hence claim.
As well as young male drivers, low-mileage drivers also benefit and this is the market which Metromile have targetted.
The usage-based customisation of insurance certainly seems to be keeping their customers happy with policyholders reporting they feel like they are getting a fairer deal. After all, should a low mileage, safe driver really be subsidising a riskier high mileage driver just because they share common old-school rating factor characteristics?
Metromile have been forging ahead with this lifestyle app-based continuous digital engagement model since 2011. And they show no signs of slowing down. In late 2016 they raised US$192 million in funding through which they acquired a carrier enabling them to now underwrite their own policies.
Trov provide on-demand insurance for personal items that can be toggled on and off via a few simple taps from your phone. They aim to provide the mobile generation with easy protection which they can enjoy “without worrying about rigid policies and confusing fine print”.
In addition, Trov seems to be jumping on the personalised cover bandwagon – treating policyholders as individuals instead of an average risk within a cohort. Their flexible app gives customers the option to tweak their cover towards their own personal circumstances. As one customer put it: “Why pay for an expensive insurance plan designed to cover your worldly belongings when all you really care about is your mountain bike and your laptop”.
This simplicity and flexibility seems certain to appeal. I personally like the idea of being able to quickly and easily protect my mountain bike by getting temporary insurance for the times when I do actually take it out and use it. And if a claim is required, it’s all handled via an in-app chatbot. Insurance for the smartphone generation indeed!
Whilst I do wonder how they counter fraud (given the ability to so easily turn the cover on and off), as we are living in the age of convenience, it would seem that this model is sure to appeal beyond just tech-savvy millennials.
The poster child of InsurTech. Or at the very least the king of savvy InsurTech marketing. When they shout about paying a claim in 3 seconds, using AI not actuaries and bots not brokers it certainly makes one stand up and take notice. Lemonade began selling insurance nearly 2 years ago and have now amassed a sizeable level of funding and following. They promised to bring trust back into the insurance world – the way it should be and how it was in the beginning.
The tools of their trade: behavioural economics and artificial intelligence.
Their promise to the end customer: simplicity, convenience and affordability.
All done under the guidance of highly regarded chief behavioural officer, Dan Ariely.
But back to the trust issue. How is Lemonade approaching it? Their business model attempts to disrupt the cycle of distrust between insurer and insured. This is done by separating the pool of risk capital from the company’s own 20% flat fee. Essentially this model aims to remove the incentive for the insurer to minimise claim payouts on the basis that doing so will not affect their bottom line (the remaining 80% claim pot gets paid out to small peer groups under a ‘giveback’ scheme, after some unavoidable expenses such as reinsurance cover).
Basically, the deal is: Trust us to pay out your claim quickly, with minimal fuss and without any sneaky “catching you out in the fine print” shenanigans and we will trust you to only claim if it’s genuine.
The behavioural implication, with the removal of potential conflict, is that the enhanced 2-way trust will drastically reduce fraudulent claims. This, combined with the operational cost efficiency savings from AI and technology will allow the company to have happy customers and still make a sustainable profit.
Now, whilst I love what they are doing, I’m not entirely convinced their model is altogether different from some of the smaller mutuals. Especially those that still maintain some level of social bonds. Maybe I’m biased because they don’t seem to like actuaries, but I also wonder whether their pricing, underwriting and risk management will allow their loss ratios to stay low enough to not impact on their 20% flat fee over the long term. It takes some time for reality to test the theory, in insurance. So I, for one, will be watching the Lemonade space with interest.
So is insurance really broken and in need of fixing?
Firstly, let’s not forget what insurance is all about. In essence, insurance is about the pooling and sharing of risk. Swapping an uncertain, and potentially large, outgo for a small(er) more certain outgo (the premium). This is unlikely to change and insurance companies obviously already do this.
But, I do believe, there is a need to modernise, especially in relation to the customer experience. I don’t see InsurTech companies causing a complete revolution. But they are likely to play a big part in the ongoing insurance evolution.
What do you think? Does insurance need to evolve? Is InsurTech the answer to the customer experience issues? Are these InsurTechs all marketing talk and lacking substance? Will the asset rich insurance incumbents ultimately lead the way in the unfolding tech world evolution?
In 2017 I spent 6 months on a Fulbright scholarship, in the desert heat of Phoenix and Tempe at Arizona State University. This was also the location where Uber and Google’s Waymo decided to test their artificial intelligence powered driverless cars.
Watching and driving alongside these “computers on wheels” I was fascinated by how they interacted with their surroundings, seemingly just like any other vehicle. Aside from the large sensor on the roof they didn’t act or look much different from other vehicles navigating the city. My 3 kids, sitting in the back, would often joke that the robot car was coming for us. Yet they braked and accelerated smoothly, stopped at red lights and didn’t even honk at any of my bad driving behaviours.
Robots driving cars! If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be living and driving in a city alongside robotic cars I would have said it was pure science fiction. But it seems we are now indeed living in a different world. One that is leveraging technology, especially AI, to change our lives at an exponential rate. It feels like Moore’s law has run amok.
Just think, for a second, how driverless vehicles might change the world – reduced car ownership, car design radically changing towards comfort and luxury, more senior drivers, reduced taxi/bus/truck/delivery drivers, hospital and emergency services unburdened and huge improvements to rush hour traffic – to name just a few.
Of course, the diffusion of new innovation is in reality never linear and straightforward. For example, Uber’s self-driving cars have recently come under huge scrutiny following a tragic accident where a pedestrian was killed, whilst crossing a road, in Tempe.
Tragic as this was, I still believe that autonomous vehicles are much safer than human-controlled vehicles. Sure, the underlying AI neural nets may not be 100% robust to cope with all situations, but let’s not forget that 100 people die per day in the US in an auto accident with human drivers behind the wheel. At the time of writing, Waymo’s autonomous fleet has self-driven more than 5 million miles without a fatality. In my opinion, the researchers that are predicting vehicle autonomy will create a 90% reduction in accidents by 2050 are probably not far off the mark.
So what does this mean for actuaries?
Naturally, the auto insurance world is going to get turned upside down as these vehicles become mainstream. Considering it’s estimated that more than 90% of road accidents today are a result of human error, personal car insurance will be redefined as risk shifts from vehicle users to vehicle manufacturers and software/hardware suppliers.
As the inevitable driverless world takes over, many traditional auto-related risks will no longer be as prevalent. Risks such as those caused by reckless or distracted driving, speeding, running stop signs/red lights, unsafe lane changes, tailgating and road rage will be replaced by new emerging risks such as malfunctioning software and cybersecurity.
The migration and ensuing calculation of risk will be particularly challenging during the “chaotic middle” transition period where vehicle owners and the AI software share responsibility for the vehicle’s operation and any resulting liability.
Given the number of deaths attributed to vehicle accidents at present (over 1.2 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,300 deaths a day) mortality curves may also eventually be significantly affected. For example, the spike in mortality rates that we currently see around the late teens/early 20s (the “accident hump”) may start to flatten out.
Risk, and hence insurance, is the playground of actuaries so surely they will be at the forefront of untangling and understanding these uncertainties as the autonomous vehicle landscape unfolds.
Every year I give a number of talks to students interested in a career in Actuarial Science.
At times I’ve been asked questions, similar to the above, regarding the insurance industry.
I’ve summarised most of the points I usually touch on, in the infographic below.
Would you agree? Anything else to add?
Help me to sell a career in insurance to the next generation of actuaries!
Can the Actuarial Profession Survive?
1. Qualifying as an actuary is great…BUT it is no longer the golden ticket to freedom and security.
To continue to succeed, we can not afford to stay still. To thrive or even just to survive, we must continually be improving, both professionally and personally. We must master the art of learning.
‘Learning to learn’ efficiently and effectively is a key skill in this ultra-competitive world. Not just for passing actuarial exams, but for lifelong upskilling.
2. Opportunities and choices are everywhere.
We are overloaded with information and distraction. Focus is the new currency.
We need to improve our ability to cut through the noise, make optimal decisions, work efficiently, avoid distraction and learn to ‘hack’ the system – all whilst staying healthy and sane!
Psychology, technology, awareness, smart learning, leverage and a commitment to lifelong study are key tools in this battle.
3. Technology, InsurTech, big data, data science, blockchain, machine learning, AI, IoT, etc. All these things are changing the world, at an ever-increasing rate.
Actuaries should be keeping aware of, embracing and taking advantage of these opportunities.
4. We are all in the game of marketing and sales, whether we like it or not. To some extent, we need to be able to effectively sell our employer, our ideas and of course ourselves.
Actuaries are known for their introversion and hence this can often be a weak spot. But it can pay huge dividends if we overcome it.
Many of my actuarial students are interested in data science. They often want to know the main differences between actuaries and data scientists.
It is my belief that actuaries of the future will incorporate a lot more data science into their day to day jobs. Many actuaries should, therefore, be learning more about how to deal with extremely large datasets and how to use machine learning techniques and be able to, when necessary, move beyond more traditional statistical methodologies.
This infographic is my take on some of the key differences between the 2 fields at present. I think the differences will become more blurred over time.
This was originally posted on LinkedIn and generated some very interesting debate (155 comments).
Adverse Selection: Friend or Foe?
As big data continues to increase, the insurance world seems to be moving towards more individualistic, granular pricing.
Consider ZhongAn, in China, for example. As an innovative digital insurer, utilising big data to its full extent, they are focused on micro-pricing premiums in a very personalised way. With more than 460 million customers acquired over the last 3 years, their digital and individual risk assessment approach seems to be working.
But is this move towards more individual risk-pricing a good thing from a societal point of view?
The insurance industry has traditionally claimed that not being able to accurately price insurance products, with regard to individual risk, will lead to the adverse selection spiral as the low-risk individuals in the pool reduce or forgo their insurance.
However, UK actuary, Guy Thomas, challenges this orthodox view by contesting that some adverse selection (and hence some restrictions on risk classification) is beneficial from a public policy perspective.
I have reviewed his, recently published, Loss Coverage book for The Actuary magazine.
Do you agree that some adverse selection (and hence restrictions on risk classification) may be beneficial for society as a whole? Or should insurers always be aiming for an “actuarially fair” premium? | 2019-04-26T12:49:01Z | https://proactuary.com/category/blog/ |
Tulsa is the "Oil Capital of the World." Situated between the prairies of central Oklahoma and the foothills of the Ozarks, Tulsa is located in the Green Country region of Oklahoma. It is also affectionately called “T-town” by the locals. Here, the age of the oil boom found its center. A small town by US standards, metropolitan luxuries such as theater, fine dining, nightlife, and shopping are found in an state known for sparsely populated farming communities. The picturesque downtown is surrounded by rolling hills covered with prairie grasses and ancient forests, a first impression that soon reveals world-class architecture and museums of art, miles of biking and walking trails, and huge parks. With a wealth of iconic sights and neighborhoods to explore, a trip to Tulsa can easily fit several weeks of touring.
Tulsa was settled in the mid-1800s by the Lochapoka Band of Creek Native American tribe. A booming city during the 1920s, rich oil barons built stately mansions and skyscrapers, turning Downtown Tulsa into a treasure trove of art and architecture. Tulsa was the most important hub for the American oil industry for most of the 20th century.
Tulsa sustained heavy economic hardships during the oil crises of the 1970s and 1980s which led to diversification efforts that created an economic base in the energy, aviation, finance, telecommunications, and technology industries.
Tulsa is known as the arts and culture center of Oklahoma. Tulsa contains two world-renowned art museums, the Philbrook Museum of Art and the Gilcrease Museum of Art. Tulsa also boasts full time professional opera and ballet companies, which are a rarity in the region. Tulsa contains one of the largest concentrations of Art Deco in the nation, ranking number 9 on US News and World Report's list of top cities for Art Deco. Tulsa has also been called one of America's most livable large cities by Partners for Livable Communities, Forbes, and Relocate America.
In Tulsa you will find old west charm and southern hospitality as well as a cosmopolitan atmosphere. The people of Tulsa take pride in their city, welcoming outsiders with open arms. Most are willing to help you find your way around.
Tulsa lies in northeastern Oklahoma, at the convergence of the Great Plains and the Ozark Plateau, and receives an average of 40 inches of precipitation each year, both of which account for its abundant beautiful rolling green terrain. As a result, Tulsa breaks the Oklahoma stereotype of being nothing but a flat, arid dust bowl. Summers can be very warm and with the cold wind across the plains it can get very cold in the winter, but it does not last long. The winters are considered to be very mild. There is not much snow, just a few inches each year, typically. Tulsa has over 225 days of sunshine annually.
The city had about 391,000 people and the metro area had about 937,000 people as of 2010 from the US Census Bureau. The Tulsa-Muskogee-Bartlesville Combined Statistical Area had a population of 1,151,172 in 2015.
Tulsa is served by one major airport and three general aviation airports.
36.18997-95.890071 Tulsa International Airport (TUL IATA) (in the northern part of Tulsa). It has major airlines with direct flights to major cities in the U.S. It is a small but nice airport with sofas and chairs all around and a very laid-back feel. The car rental area and parking is well integrated. The airport offers free short term parking (first half-hour free).
36.0395837-95.98459512 Richard L. Jones, Jr. Airport (RVS IATA often called the "Riverside Airport") (is south of downtown). Is a general aviation airport.
35.6681111-95.94852783 Okmulgee Regional Airport (OKM IATA) is south of Tulsa and is a general aviation airport.
36.1752778-96.15183334 William R. Pogue Municipal Airport (FAA LID: KOWP) is west of Tulsa and is a general aviation airport.
36.15409-95.9869665 Greyhound Tulsa Stop, Greyhound Bus Lines, 317 S Detroit Ave. (downtown), ☎ +1 918 584-4428.
Most Tulsans drive almost everywhere, although bus, bike, and pedestrian routes are starting to catch on.
From the North/Kansas - US-75 South from Bartlesville, OK, or US-169 South from Coffeyville, KS.
From the Northeast/Missouri - I-44 West, aka the "Will Rogers Turnpike." The self-proclaimed world's largest McDonalds spans the roadway near Vinita, OK.
From the East/Arkansas - US-412 West, aka the "Cherokee Turnpike."
From the Southeast/Arkansas - The "Muskogee Turnpike."
From the South - US-75 from Okmulgee, OK, aka the "Okmulgee Beeline."
From the Southwest/Oklahoma City - I-44 East, aka the "Turner Turnpike."
From the West - US-412 East, aka the "Cimarron Turnpike."
For the slow scenic route from Northeast or Southwest come in on old Route 66.
There is no passenger train service to Tulsa, however, as of 2018, service between Oklahoma City and Tulsa is being developed. The Eastern Flyer route, operated by Iowa Pacific, is expected to begin regular service.
Thanks to urban planning, the major city streets are placed in a grid layout. Almost all major intersections are one mile from each other, and exactly in a straight line. That makes it much easier to find places than in cities where streets go every which way. The major exception is downtown, which is slanted at a 25 degree angle to the rest of the grid. This is due to the original town not facing true north and instead putting main street at a 90 degree angle to the original MKT railroad tracks.
Several freeways and bypasses can be used to easily get around the Tulsa Metro area: I-244, I-44, US 169 (Mingo Valley Expressway, "Pearl Harbor Memorial Expressway"), US 75, US 64/OK-51 (Broken Arrow Expressway, The "B.A."), and OK-364 (Creek Turnpike).
The streets and avenues are planned on a 1 mile by 1 mile grid system, with the main arterials running on each mile. In the core of the city, named avenues run north/south and are named after US cities, generally in repeating alphabetical order (for example, Winston-Yale-Allegheny-Braden). In the mid-town area the names are taken from colleges and college towns. North/South is divided by Admiral Blvd. Name streets East of Main are cities east of the Mississippi River, vice versa for name streets west of Main. In the parts of the city farther from downtown, north-south streets are numbered. It is important to recognize that the specific format of the north-south numbered street names is North/South 145th East/West Avenue.
Numbered streets run east/west with Main Street and the Arkansas River as the dividing line. Watch out for Place, Street, Avenue designation, e.g. 47th Place, 47th Street, or Florence Place, Florence Avenue. It is important to recognize that the specific format of the east-west numbered street names is West/East 71st Street North/South. In some parts of the city, numbered streets intersect, so the distinction is important. Although rare, one east-west numbered street may even intersect with a street of the same number running north-south.
Downtown streets were platted parallel to the Frisco railroad tracks. When Tulsa expanded beyond the bounds of its original plat, the expanded areas were platted in alignment with the points of the compass. Thus the "twisted" area down-town represents the original extent of Tulsa ca 1907.
Tulsa Transit provides bus service for the Tulsa Metro area. Cities served are Tulsa, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Jenks, and Broken Arrow. The central station is at 319 S. Denver (downtown). They do not run that often, especially to the outer towns like Broken Arrow. Unlike major cities in the Northeast, the city bus is not a major form of transportation in the city. It is usually a means of travel for those who are without their own motor vehicle.
Tulsa has an extensive interconnected paved bike trail system. Rivertrail follows the Arkansas River from downtown Tulsa south to the suburbs. The Katy Trail runs west to Sand Springs. The Osage Trail is a rails-to-trails route that begins at the OSU-Tulsa campus and travels north 15 miles to Skiatook. The Creek Trail connects Rivertrail and continues east through Broken Arrow to the NSU-Broken Arrow campus. Riders accustomed to flat terrain may find Tulsa's rolling land to be a bit more challenging, particularly during the heat of summer. If you are looking for a good workout, the Creek Turnpike Trail follows the land's original contours. Rivertrail is probably be best choice for the rider seeking an easy route.
Four bike loan depots, along Rivertrail, allow riders to borrow a bike for free for up to 24 hours.
Tulsa has an active bicycling community.
36.1362-95.99011 Creek Council Oak Tree, 18th St. and Cheyenne Ave. It was under the Creek Council Oak Tree in 1836 that the Lochapoka Creek Indians kindled a ceremonial fire using live coals they had carried from their Alabama homeland. This oak was Tulsa's first town hall, first conference room, first church and first court of law. This tree symbolizes the spirit of Tulsa's early settlers.
36.1747-96.02142 Gilcrease Museum, 1400 N Gilcrease Museum Rd, ☎ +1 918 596-2700. Daily 10AM-5PM, tours at 11AM and 2PM. Touted as the "Museum of The Americas", has one of the world's largest collections of Western and Native American art and artifacts and constantly changing exhibits on a yearly basis. The gift shop has a good collection of art, jewelry, music and books as well. A must-see attraction for any visit to Tulsa. $8, donation optional.
36.161993-95.9875393 Greenwood Cultural Center, 322 N Greenwood Ave., ☎ +1 918 596-1020. M-Sa 9AM-5PM. Serves to promote the history of Tulsa's Greenwood District. Was home to one of the worst race riots in American history. Special performances are often held at this center.
The Ida Dennie Willis Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys, 627 N Country Club Dr., ☎ +1 918 584-6654. W-Sa 11AM-4:30PM. Over 2000 dolls, dollhouses and other miniatures. The museum is rumored to have closed in 2007 after the death of the old lady who was running it.
36.1567-95.99064 Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, 111 E 1st St, ☎ +1 918 596-1001. M-F 9AM-5PM. Housed in the beautiful Art Deco-style Union Station Depot, many local jazz performances are held here. Donations.
Penguins on Parade. There are dozens of 6' tall penguin sculptures scattered throughout the city. It is a local art project to raise funds for the Tulsa Zoo. The fundraiser began in 2002 as a way to raise money to build a black-footed African penguin exhibit. As of 2012, you could still find more than 50 of the penguins in and around Tulsa.
36.12398-95.9701885 The Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Rd (1 block E of Peoria Ave at 27th Pl), ☎ +1 918 749-7941. Tu W F-Su 10AM-5PM; Th 10AM-8PM. In a former residence of local oilman Waite Phillips, has changing exhibits, a sculpture garden, art and artifacts from around the World, and a gift shop unlike anything else in Tulsa.
36.062201-95.9636956 Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, 2021 E 71st St, ☎ +1 918 492-1818. M-F 10AM-5PM. The largest collection of Judaica in the American Southwest, flagship of The Fenster/Sanditen Cultural Center. As an arts education institution, and the only American Jewish museum in the region, utilizes both art and history to preserve and present Jewish culture. Adults $5.50; Seniors age 55+ $4.50; Student age 6-21 $3; free admission to teachers with school ID.
36.206516-95.8959617 Tulsa Air and Space Museum, 3624 N 74th E Ave, ☎ +1 918 834-9900. Tu-Sa 10AM-5PM; Su 1PM-5PM. TASM collection highlights include a WWII German jet engine, an F-14 Tomcat, two of Burt Rutan's experimental aircraft, a locally-built gGyrocopter by Spartan Aeronautics, and Art-Deco sections of the original Tulsa International Airport Terminal. TASM also has many historical and interactive exhibits of interest to young and old alike.
36.206519-96.06228 Tulsa Botanical Garden, 3900 Tulsa Botanic Dr (Take the L. L. Tisdale Parkway north to the Gilcrease Expressway and go west. When you get to N 41st West Ave, go north. When you get to 43rd Street North, go west and the road turns into Tulsa Botanic Drive. Take that 0.7 miles to the entrance), ☎ +1 918 289-0330. 10AM-5PM, Thu 10AM-8PM, Closed Monday. The mission of the Tulsa Botanic Garden is to promote the beauty and importance of plants and nature to create a more sustainable and harmonious world. $8 - ages 13+, Children ages 3-12 $4, Children under 2 free.
36.15268-95.996114 BOK Center, 200 S Denver Ave., ☎ +1 918 894-4200. Tulsa's sleek, and modern center is the pride of the city. Opened in September 2008, it has already hosted such acts as The Eagles, Celine Dion, Elton John, Billy Joel, and many more are on the way. From 2010 to 2015, the arena was home of the Tulsa Shock WNBA team, which moved from Detroit after the 2009 season, but the team moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex after the 2015 season. With fine dining nearby and numerous hotels to stay at, this center is the centerpiece of Vision 2025, a plan to revitalize Downtown and certain parts of the city. Depends on act/performance.
36.15689-95.991535 The Center of the Universe. At the top of a pedestrian bridge in Tulsa. The bridge goes over the railroad tracks from Archer St. to First St. West of the Jazz Depot and immediately north of the Williams Center Tower. If you stand on the opposite side of the brick circle from someone else, you hear their echo, but not your own. If you stand at the center of the brick circle and talk, you will hear yourself echo, but others will not hear any echo. Overlooking the Center of the Universe area is a large, totem-like steel sculpture called Artificial Cloud.
36.13441-95.931427 [dead link] The Expo Building (QuikTrip Center), 4145 E 21st St.. Contains what was once the largest unobstructed indoor area in the world. The "Golden Driller" in front is still pretty impressive. Hosts numerous shows including home and garden shows, arts & crafts events, boat show, gun and knife shows.
Oxley Nature Center, 5701 E 36th St. N, ☎ +1 918 669-6644. Hidden in the woods behind the Tulsa Zoo. Open almost all year. Has a few different habitats built up, such as a mini-prairie, a marsh with a walkover, ponds, woods, and plenty of opportunity for bird-watching.
The Performing Arts Center. Downtown, the "PAC" (pronounced pee-ay-see) shows the annual presenation of The Nutcracker, in addition to various operatic, musical, and dramatic shows throughout the year. Tickets and scheduling available online.
River Parks. There is a lovely cafe down around 21st and they have live music from time to time when it is warm out. There is a new complex, Riverwalk Crossing at 101st in Riverside. It has a movie theatre and many restaurants, with a wonderful atmosphere.
Route 66, 11th St.. Renovated in 2005. The University of Tulsa is located nearby, and Tulsa Promenade mall is 2 mi S of the Expo Square, State Fairgrounds and several hotels, all of which provide shuttle service for shoppers.
The Spotlight Theater. On Riverside Drive between 15th and 21st, it has shows every Saturday night of "The Drunkard"-America's longest running show-followed by "Olio", an old-fashioned vaudeville affair. Family friendly and very fun, The Drunkard is a must for any Tulsa visit!
36.16008-95.98838 Tulsa Drillers. Catch a baseball game with the Tulsa Drillers. The Drillers, a AA minor league team associated with the Colorado Rockies, play in ONEOK Field, in the Greenwood neighborhood.
36.21375-95.904839 Tulsa Zoo, 6421 E 36th St. N, ☎ +1 918 669-6600. Daily 9AM-5PM. Has zebras, giraffes, elephants, penguins, and reptiles, in addition to a Children's Zoo, Tropical American Rain Forest, Wildlife Carousel, and Zoo Train. $8/$6/$4/Free (Adults/Seniors 55+/Children 3-11/Children under 3).
36.13171-95.9741110 Woodward Park (SE corner of 21st and Peoria). See the park in the spring when the roses are blooming in the Tulsa Rose Garden.
Blue Dome Arts Festival (In The Blue Dome District). Running the same weekend as the critically acclaimed Mayfest. This festival showcases local Tulsa County area artists and lets them show their colors. Parking is limited, so be prepared to walk a few blocks (Middle of May, Same as Mayfest).
Conestoga. Oklahoma's largest literary science fiction and fantasy convention. Late July.
Cherry Street Farmer's Market (15th and Peoria). Every Saturday 'til the frost is on the pumpkin from about 7AM-11AM.
Mini-Con. Tulsa's Annual Anime Gathering is getting off the ground again after losing sponsors. Now sponsored by the Tulsa Library System, It is in good hands and could take a few years to get up to par with other conventions around the country. Has film-showings and merchandise sales (Date of Event Varies Year to Year).
Oklahoma Scottish Games & Gathering, River West Festival Park. It's always the third weekend in September.
Tulsa Oktoberfest. Which some people say is the largest Oktoberfest in the world outside of Germany.
Tulsa State Fair. At the Expo Fairgrounds (near 21st and Yale). It's the last full week in September. "Funnel cakes" are a tradition.
Tulsa Trek Expo. The largest Star Trek convention in the central U.S.
Wanenmacher's Tulsa Arms Show. The world's largest gun show. Twice a year at the Expo Building. April and November.
Turkey Mountain. Excellent location for hiking and mountain biking, with lots of side trails to explore. Features great views of Oral Roberts University and Downtown.
Tulsa is a city known for being cheap while still maintaining an urban experience that rivals that of most larger cities in the region.
Mama Trizza's, 1448 S. Delaware Ave. (Midtown), ☎ +1 918-743-7687. Tu-F 11AM-6PM, Sa 10AM-5PM. An artisan gift shop, representing local and regional artisans. Pottery, glass, jewelry, hand-turned wood, metal sculptures, stained glass, fountains, yard art, and locally made soap and candles are a few of the many unique items available in this charming shop.
Wizard's Asylum, 7165 S. Mingo Rd (South Tulsa). Oklahoma's largest selection of rare comics, trade paperbacks, manga, cards, board games and more. Holds regular Magic: The Gathering tournaments on Saturdays.
Bodean Seafood Market, 3376 E. 51st St (Midtown). One of the best fish markets in Tulsa, sells fish from all over the world.
Gardner's Used Books, Music & Comics, Inc. (South Tulsa).
Nam Hai Vietnamese Supermarket, 1924 S. Garnett Rd (East Tulsa). Laid out in what resembles an old IGA Store, Nam Hai is the closest you'll come to the marketplaces of Asia in Tulsa, Just look for the lion out front.
The Farm, 5321 S. Sheridan Rd (South Tulsa), ☎ +1 918 622-3860. A farm-themed shopping center with some of the more unique shops and restaurants in Tulsa County.
36.1319-95.96391 Utica Square, Utica and 21st (Midtown), ☎ +1 918 742-5531. The very upscale Utica Square has some of the best shopping in Tulsa. The center becomes very festive during the Christmas Season and also throws several events during the course of the year. A must for those with a disposable budget.
36.10265-95.919772 The Tulsa Promenade, 4107 S Yale Ave. (Midtown), ☎ +1 918 627-9282. M-Tu 9AM-10PM, W 8AM-6PM, Th closed. F 8AM-9PM, Sa 10AM-9PM, Su noon-6PM. The University of Oklahoma is nearby, and the mall is approximately 2 miles south of the Expo Square, State Fairgrounds and several hotels, all of which provide shuttle service for shoppers.
36.06349-95.882023 [dead link] Woodland Hills Mall, 7021 S Memorial Dr. (South Tulsa), ☎ +1 918 250-1449. M-Sa 10AM-9PM; Su noon-7PM. 2-level, 1.2 million square-foot, super regional shopping center. The center features more than 165 stores, including over 80 stores you won't find anywhere else in Tulsa. Children's play area, a glass elevator and a food court.
This article or section does not match our manual of style or needs other editing. Plunge forward with these suggested fixes: Listings should be grouped into Budget/Mid-range/Splurge instead of by cuisine type.
If you're looking for nicer restaurants, then the major dining corridors can be found along 15th Street South ("Cherry Street") near downtown, along 71st Street South near Woodland Hills Mall, in the Brookside district near midtown, the Blue Dome district, and in the Utica Square shopping area. However, if you want an authentic experience, then you should be looking for good barbecue and regional fast food chains like Taco Bueno. For dessert, head to Braum's for Oklahoma ice cream. This popular regional chain does farm-to-fork dairy products, and refuses to open stores more than 300 miles away from their home farm in Central Oklahoma.
Albert G's, 2748 S Harvard Ave. (Midtown), ☎ +1 918 747-4700. M-Sa 11AM-9PM. Tasty BBQ run out of an old gas station.
[dead link] Elmer's BBQ, 4130 S. Peoria (Brookside), ☎ +1 918 742-6702, e-mail: [email protected]. Tu-Th 11AM - 8PM, F Sa 11AM - 9PM. This barbecue place is not to be missed, seeing Bill Clinton and other celebrities among its past patrons. "It be bad."
Jamil's, 3823 E 51st St (Midtown), ☎ +1 918 742-9097. Tulsa's oldest steakhouse. Known for Lebanese style appetizers (Tabouli, hummus, cabbage rolls, etc.) and desserts, along with traditional steakhouse fare.
Rib Crib, 1601 S Harvard (Midtown), ☎ +1 918 742-2742. Remarkably successful joint from midtown. Opened in 1992, but has managed to franchise into 8 states. The original location burned down a few years back, but they rebuilt this in its place.
Atlas Grill, 415 S Boston Ave. #20 (downtown). Great lunch.
The Chalkboard, 1324 S Main (in the Hotel Ambassador, just N of 15th). Fantastic bistro cuisine.
Daily Grill, 100 E Second St. (on the main floor of the Downtown Crowne Plaza hotel).
The Downtown Buffeteria (formerly Nelson's Buffeteria), 514 S Boston Ave. (Downtown). Famous for chicken-fried steak.
Flavors (71st, just W of Sheridan). Excellent chef-owned bistro.
Mahogany Prime Steakhouse, 6823 S. Yale Ave. (South Tulsa). Some of the largest and best steaks. Very upscale and some of the best food in town. A great place to take an expense account.
Palace Cafe, 1301 East 15th St (Northeast corner of 15th and Peoria), ☎ +1 918 582-4321. Lunch Tu-F 11AM-2PM, Dinner Tu-Sa 5PM-10PM, Sunday Brunch-made to order 9AM-2PM. Fine dining restaurant featuring freshly prepared, local cuisine.
The Wild Fork, 21st and Utica (inside Utica Square Shopping Center).
Polo Grill, 21st and Utica (Inside Utica Square Shopping Center).
Desi Wok, 3966 S Hudson Ave. (near I-44 and E 41st St.), ☎ +1 918 621-6565. Serves traditional and fusion Indian/Chinese cuisine. Ask the large Filippino working behind the counter, William, for his "pineapple warrior" special. It's fantastic!
India Palace, 6963 S. Lewis (South Tulsa), ☎ +1 918 492-8040. This little hole-in-the-wall is among Tulsa's best Indian restaurant. Try any of the dishes here, you can't go wrong.
Sushi Train, 3300 E. 51st St (Midtown). Closed Sundays.. Toy train delivers sushi.
Fuji, 3739 S. Peoria Ave (Brookside). "Fuji" On Peoria in Brookside. Offers an all-you-can-eat sushi lunch special for $10 a person. Best sushi deal around.
Yokozuna, 309 E. 2nd St (Downtown), ☎ +1 918-508-7676. M-Th 11AM-10PM; F 11AM-mdnight; Sa 5PM-midnight. Yokozuna is an Asian restaurant and sushi bar located in the historic Blue Dome District. Enjoy delicious food, unique drink selections, and relaxing atmosphere in Tulsa's great downtown.
Great Wall Restaurant, 7105 South Yale Ave (At the southeast corner of 71st and Yale), ☎ +1 918 494-8652. This modest restaurant features a Mongolian-style BBQ, several traditional Chinese dishes as well as contemporary Chinese-American fare, and the best fried rice on the planet. Dinner is served family style with white rice, and dinner entrees cost between $7 and $15. Lunch combos (with fried rice) are available 6 days a week (only excluding Sunday) from 11AM to 3PM and costs between $5 and $8 per meal.
Agave Mexican Grill, 8221 U East 61st St (South Tulsa), ☎ +1 918 826-8542. A recommendation for any itinerary in South Tulsa.
El Rio Verde, 38 North Trenton Ave (North Tulsa), ☎ +1 918 592-2555.
Hideaway Pizza, (2 Locations) 15th and Cherry Street, 51st and Memorial. Since 1957.
Pie Hole Pizzeria, 2708 E. 15th St (Central Tulsa). New York style slices at a good price. Amazing specialty pizzas.
Savastano's, E 105th St (Regal Plaza). An "Authentic Chicago Style Pizzeria" that serves deep dish pizza. They stay true to Chicago style pizza by making that the theme of the entire restaurant. In the mood for a bar? Check out "The Friendly Confines" on the lower level of the restaurant. Accessible from the parking lot, this is the sports bar section of the restaurant open to anyone until night time when the bar closes to anyone under 21. The bar stays open later then the it's restaurant counterpart on the floor above.
Tulsa's Incredible Pizza Company, 8314 E 71st St (South Tulsa), ☎ +1 918 294-8671. It has 96,000 square feet and is a restaurant and amusement park, includes an all-you-can-eat pizza and salad buffet, indoor go-kart races, bumper cars, miniature golf, bowling, and a game arcade.
Umberto's Pizza, 3228 E. 21st St (Central Tulsa). Has a "college" atmosphere--not upscale but friendly. Motto: "We toss ‘em, they're awesome."
Bangkok Thai, 3313 E 32nd Pl., ☎ +1 918 663-4880. Thai buffet with lots of vegetarian options.
Lanna Thai, 7227 S. Memorial Dr (South Tulsa). Thai Food with live band some nights.
Be Le Vegetarian Restaurant, 6634 S Lewis Ave., ☎ +1 918 499-1414. Vietnamese and Chinese food made with faux meats and faux fish.
Souper Salad, 61st and Memorial (SE corner of the intersection in the shopping center behind Hooters). Not what it used to be.
[dead link] Microtel Inn & Suites - Admiral Place, 16518 East Admiral Pl, ☎ +1 918 234-9100.
Tulsa County has more Wi-Fi spots than anywhere else in Oklahoma (as well as most of the Great Plains), making it a major tech hub in the region. If you need a Wi-Fi link, check into any number of restaurants and cafes and you'll be sure to find one.
Central Library is across the street from Denver Station, the central city bus station. There's usually a few free Internet terminals you can use there or at any of the 24 other public libraries.
Take precautions as you would in any other larger American city. Generally speaking, the areas of Tulsa immediately north and east of downtown have a rough reputation and caution should be taken.
The tornado sirens are tested at noon on Wednesday, but they are not tested if it is rainy, stormy, or very windy. You might want to check the tornado safety page if you are visiting Tulsa. Tornado season is normally in the spring and early summer, but they can occur anytime during the year.
Oklahoma Weather is very harsh on road conditions and road repairs are needed on an almost yearly basis. Please be prepared to slow down or stop for road workers as fines double for accidents in work zones as specified by Oklahoma State Law.
Swimming in the Arkansas River is inadvisable due to the large amounts of pollution and the currents created by the dams near downtown.
The intersections along 71st Street, especially the one at Memorial, are amongst the most dangerous in America. Drive defensively.
Renaissance Fair In Muskogee. Last of April and first part of May.
Rhema Bible Church Christmas Light Tour in Broken Arrow -- free admission.
The cities of Sand Springs, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Owasso, Bixby and Catoosa are all suburbs and part of the Tulsa Metro Area.
Claremore, the birthplace and hometown of Will Rogers, is about 30 minutes away. A wonderful museum about Will Rogers is located there.
Pawhuska is home to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. It is also the Tribal Headquarters of the Osage Nation and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma.
This city travel guide to Tulsa is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page. | 2019-04-21T10:18:09Z | https://en.m.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Tulsa |
[Page 2] The history of McQuesten and Company has been given a cursory examination by writers and historians. However, most of these histories have repeated inaccurate accounts of the company's founding and development. This papers seeks to redress the question of how, why and when this company was founded and, moreover, place it in the broader perspective of Ontario history. Studying the early development of this company reveals a great deal of information about the nature and operation of early industrial enterprises. Such themes as the importance of personal relations between the owners and operators, the precarious nature of shipments of supplies and communication, and the fine line between prosperity and failures, are all illuminated by a chronological study of the early years of this firm. Considered in toto [sic], a microeconomic examination of C. McQuesten and Company provides a clearer insight into the macroeconomic world of nineteenth century business.
The primary evidence, however, suggests something different. A copy of an agreement dated May 18, 1835 clearly shows that the land on which the foundry was built was sold by David Kirkendale to Joseph H. Janes, Priam B. Hill and Calvin McQuesten. 5 Moreover, a partnership agreement from the same year dated October 1, states that an equal partnership was established in the "furnace and manufacturing business, between Calvin McQuesten and Priam B. Hill of Brockport, New York, John Fisher of La Grange, New York, and Joseph H. Janes of Upper Canada". 6 Furthermore, correspondence between Fisher and McQuesten quotes Janes as stating that he was sorry he ever went to Brockport to start the furnace. 7 This statement would seem to indicate that Janes was the individual who [Page 4] initiated the establishment of the Foundry, not John Fisher.
Who exactly were these four men who were responsible for starting this foundry? Very little information is known about Joseph H. Janes. The partnership agreement describes him as a resident of Upper Canada and later correspondence indicates that he was a skilled machinist and a foundry man. 8 He also seems to have been in Fisher's estimation a bit of a gadfly with "so many notions in his head that I know but what dependence to put in his head that I know what dependence to put in him". 9 Among his interests during the short time he was with the firm were land speculation, 10 a carriage factory, 11 making scales, 12 and establishing his own factory. 13 Janes' various and widespread business interests are consistent with research findings on other early nineteenth century businessmen. Gerald Tulchinsky in his study of the Montreal business community from 1837-53, found that many entrepreneurs had "multiple and simultaneous economic interests (and)...were never committed, it seems, to only one business or necessarily to once place. Such diversity of interest and mobility is evidence of their remarkable astuteness and flexibility." 14 To support this [Page 5] theory Tulchinsky cites many examples - Peter McGill fur trader, staple dealer, shipowner, forwarder, banker and railway promoter and James Ferris - insurance and gas companies and real estate speculation. 15 Douglas McCalla's research on Isaac Buchanan in Hamilton also shows the diversity of entrepreneurial interests during this period. Buchanan was involved in wholesaling, real estate speculation, railroads and many other ventures. 16 Therefore, Janes' numerous business interests are very typical of business men of this period.
Little is known about the fourth partner in the firm, Priam B. Hill, other than that he lived in Brockport, New York, where he was a neighbor of Dr. McQuesten 28 and that he later moved to Wisconsin. 29 Hill, though he probably never actually invested any money in the firm, since he sold his interest to McQuesten in 1836, 30 was probably the key individual in the formation of this company. Hill was the brother-in-law of James Seymour, 31 a partner in the Backus foundry in Brockport. 32 This iron foundry was formed in 1828 by Harry Bachus and Joseph Ganson. The firm underwent a Variety of partnership changes and was known at various times as Backus, Webster and Company; Balch, Webster and Company; Backus, Burroughs and Company; and Backus, Fitch and Company. The firm initially produced threshing machines and horse-powers and later acquired considerable fame for producing 100 of the first 200 McCormick grain reapers ever manufactured. 33 Hill's familial connection to Seymour, therefore, [Page 8] explains how the new company acquired access to the Backus firm for equipment, patterns, supplies and machines.
Given all this information it is possible to draw a probable scenario for the founding of McQuesten and company. Knowing the aggressive and assertive personality and business interests of Janes, as well as his comment that he started the furnace, it is probable that he approached Backus and Seymour in Brockport about opening a furnace in his home, Hamilton. 34 They, in turn, probably referred him to Seymour's brother-in-law, Hill. He, in turn, approached his neighbor, Calvin McQuesten, who would have had the necessary capital to bankroll the firm (from his pharmaceutical business). McQuesten in turn called upon his cousin John Fisher, who was not only experienced in running a business, but probably was familiar also with casting techniques. Therefore, an intricate web of business, family and personal ties brought these four men together to found this firm.
Janes probably hoped the same growth would occur in Hamilton and undoubtedly stressed the numerous advantages of Hamilton as a site for a foundry. Hamilton in 1835 was a newly incorporated town (1833) with a population of around 2,800. 37 This was a large increase from just a few years earlier and helps to show what a thriving, growing community Hamilton was at this time. Wholesalers like Isaac Buchanan were even moving their headquarters from Toronto to Hamilton. The reasons for Hamilton's zeal and projected growth were mainly geographic. Here, the foremost reason was its location in continental North America. Hamilton is "situated close to the two great routes into the North American continent, namely the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes water-way and the Hudson-Mohawk valley". 38 The city's initial response to this opportunity was curbed because of the land barrier at the end of the bay. However, with the completion of the Burlington Bay Canal in 1827 the city became an integral shipping point on these two axis. This position was consolidated by the fact that Hamilton offered an excellent sheltered harbour with fairly level shoreline. Both of these factors [Page 10] were important for a foundry as they meant that iron and coal supplies could be shipped in cheaply and easily.
Hamilton boasted of other advantages that were of specific interest to a company planning to sell threshing machines. Hamilton being located near a break in the Niagara escarpment at the Ancaster Hills, allowed teamsters to haul supplies from Hamilton to the Grand and Thames valleys areas which were just being opened for settlement. 39 Hamilton, therefore, acted as an entreport [sic] for immigrants and the supplies they needed and in turn the developing agricultural hinterland shipped their exports from Hamilton. By far the largest crop in Hamilton's hinterland, as it was in the Genesee country of New York where Backus was located, was wheat. 40 Lord Durham wrote that the peninsula between Lake Erie and Lake Huron was "the best grain country on the continent". 41 As early as 1830 an average of fifty loads of wheat a day were shipped from Brantford to Hamilton. 42 This fact insured that the new Hamilton firm would have a lucrative built-in market for threshing machines as the Backus firm did in Brockport.
The geographic proximity of Brockport to Hamilton could also have been a factor in Hamilton's favour. With the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the Welland and Burlington canals in 1827 44 (see map) the travelling time between Hamilton and Brockport was considerably shortened. Hamilton was now directly linked to Brockport by an intricate network of canals and waterways. This was important for McQuesten planned to stay in Brockport to direct the acquisition of pig iron, patterns, coal, and capital (for which he had numerous connections) while Fisher managed the foundry in Hamilton. Thus, the Hamilton firm was to become a virtual western subsidiary of the Brockport firm.
The picture of the foundry emerging from this information, while a far cry from the industries of today or even a 100 years ago, does not fit into the description many agricultural implement company historians use to describe early companies. Historians such as W.J. Phillips and J. Gilmour maintain that most agricultural implement firms started out as small blacksmith shops employing only a few men and producing very basic tools. 55 While this may have been true for some firms, the ability to do their own castings and therefore produce a wide variety of machines, far removes McQuesten and Company from the accepted norm.
Janes' recurring departures and threats of departure must have been a considerable trial to Fisher and McQuesten. However, that was only part of the problem. The correspondence between Fisher and McQuesten shows that there was constant tension between Fisher and Janes. Janes appears to have been a very domineering, aggressive and assertive man. Fisher in contrast, appears to have been very hesitant. His letters to McQuesten are full of doubts about his ability to manage the firm, 68 to make decisions (for example whether or not to acquire insurance) 69 and even whether to continue the business. 70 These problems must have put a considerable strain on the firm and it is probably McQuesten's meditating influence that kept it going.
Another problem that constantly appears to have plagued the firm was the lack of money in Upper Canada. Fisher often wrote McQuesten that there was "no money in circulation" 72 or that there was no money in Hamilton or York. 73 This shortage of funds forced the firm to accept goods and services in exchange for some of their products. For example, Fisher reported that they "sold 9 ploughs, 4 for lumber, 2 for teaming, 2 for cash and 1 for a note". 74 This lack of cash made it difficult for the firm to pay their suppliers. The lack of cash was not a problem unique to this firm. In Upper Canada, as in most new countries, there was a shortage of circulating capital. 75 Therefore, any available currency was used. This resulted in a bewildering array of currency: "Currency was confused, for sterling ($5 to the pound) was paid for imports from Britain, dollars to the United States, and both Halifax Currency ($4 to the pound) and York Currency ($2.50 to the pound) in Canada itself; while there were in addition all sorts of coins in circulation, as well as considerable counterfeit money". 76 [Page 18] This shortage of cash meant that McQuesten and Company were often forced to accept barter for their products and helps explain why they were constantly strapped for cash to pay their suppliers.
The foundry faced another major problem in 1836, that of securing suppliers of pig iron and coal and paying for them. Over the winter months the lakes were frozen and all shipments had to wait until spring. 77 The order which was to last them through most of the winter was help up and by May the firm was even buying up old iron Scotch kettles 78 to melt down. The basic physical problems of transportation and the ordering of supplies was also hampered by problems in communication. Fisher often notes that he had not heard from companies from which he had ordered materials. 79 He did have one advantage though, namely that he ordered many of his supplies from New York state, sometimes even through the Backus Company. 80 In either situation he replied on McQuesten to ensure their prompt delivery.
[Page 21] The fact that the company had to import a worker from New York state also shows how little industrial development was occurring in Hamilton at this time. McQuesten and Company was the only foundry in Hamilton and therefore they had no one else to turn to for help in the immediate area. Considering the circumstances, it was natural to turn to New York state for help, depending on their extensive business and personal ties in the foundry trade.
This problem solved, the company continued on as before. In fact, the future looked bright. In January 1837, Fisher wrote McQuesten that "I think we can do $5,000 or $6,000 of business this year ...(and) ought to make a goof profit if no misfortune occurs". 94 This would have represented a considerable projected increase over the previous year's sales. (see fig. 2) Production in the winter months seems to have centered around the manufacture of ploughs and edges for the spring market. 95 Later in the year there was a switch to making threshing machines for the fall market. Production was obviously oriented to the agricultural seasons.
However, the firm weathered this crisis and even turned down an offer of $2,500 for the shop. They refused the offer, stating that they would not sell for less than $3,000. Moreover, Fisher indicated that even it [sic] their price was met they [Page 24] would build again - on a dry spot. 107 This seems to indicate that even though they were experiencing problems both men understood the potential of the market in Hamilton.
It is also important too, to remember that at this time Upper Canada was experiencing a severe economic depression. The problem had begun in May, 1837 with the suspension of specie payments by many United States banks, an action immediately followed by similar moves by British and Upper Canadian banks. This event triggered a general depression in both Britain and the United States. In Upper Canada there were numerous business failures as well as declining immigration, prices (especially wheat) and imports. 108 Given these economic conditions then, it is a sign of the economic health of the firm that it continued to operate and did not go under as so many others did.
1. Sawyer-Massey Co. Commemorative Catalogue, 1903 pg. 3.
3. P. Butler "Hamilton's Industries", Made in Hamilton Quarterly, (Summer, 1919) p. 22.
4. H.S. Turner and R.W. Irwin, Ontario's Threshing Machine Industry, (Guelph, 1974) p. 36.
5. McQuesten Papers, Whitehern, #188-190, May 18, 1835 (Henceforth all references from this collection simply cited as Whitehern #).
6. Logie-McQuesten Papers, Hamilton Public Library, #512, Oct.1.1835 (Henceforth all references from this collections simply be cited as HPL #).
7. McQuesten Papers, Public Archives of Ontario, #201, April 30, 1836 (Henceforth all references from this collection will be simply cited as PAO #).
8. For example see PAO #206, Nov. 22, 1836.
9. PAO # 162, April, April 22, 1836.
11. PAO #169, August 24, 1836.
13. PAO #215, March 18, 1837.
14. G. Tulchinsky, The River Barons, (Toronto, 1977) p. 7.
16. See D. McCalla, The Upper Canada Trade 1834-72, (Toronto, 1979) p. 2.
17. T. M. Bailey, Dictionary of Hamilton Biography, (Toronto, 19810) p. 145.
18. Whitehern, #280-83, May 5, 1837.
19. Whitehern #311, Oct, 1850.
20. Bailey, op. cit. p.146.
21. PAO #168, Oct. 20, 1882.
22. Progressive Batavian, March 31, 1882.
23. PAO #168, Oct. 2, 1836.
24. PAO #194, March 25, 1837.
25. Whitehern #280-281, May 6, 1837.
26. Whitehern #311, Oct. 3, 1850.
27. Batavia Dailey News, March 30, 1882.
28. Whitehern #163, August 19, 1845.
30. HPL #512, Oct. 1, 1835.
31. New York State Genealogical Records.
32. M.E. Smith, We Remember Brockport, (Monroe County, 1979) p. 26.
33. W.H. McIntosh, History of Monroe County, (New York, 1877) p. 169. Curiously enough this firm which later became the Johnston Harvester Company was later purchased by the Massey-Harris Company who also later purchased an interest in the descendent of the McQuesten company - the Sawyer-Massey company.
35. Smith, op. cit. p.6.
37. H.R. Page, Illustrated Atlas of the County of Wentworth, (Toronto, 1975) p. XVI. The population figure may be lower since the figure 2,800 is from 1836.
38. A.W. Wingfield (ed.) The Hamilton Centennial 1846-1946, (Hamilton, 1946), p. 85.
40. R.L. Jones, History of Agriculture in Ontario, 1613-1880, (Toronto, 19460 p. 85.
43. See James Stewart's obituary, Hamilton Spectator, Dec. 24, 1890.
44. J. Weaver, The Location of Manufacturing Enterprises: The Case of Hamilton's Attraction of Foundries 1830-1890. Unpublished paper McMaster University, 1982.
46. Whitehern #188-190, May 18, 1835.
47. R.D. Roberts, "The Changing Patterns of Distribution and Composition of Manufacturing in Hamilton between 1861-1921". M.A. Thesis McMaster University, 1961, p. 161.
48. I. Davey and M. Doucett, "The Social Geography of a Commercial City c. 1853" in Katz et al, The People of Hamilton, Canada West. (Cambridge, 1977) p. 330.
49. Whitehern #188-190, May 18, 1835.
50. PAO #207, Oct. 17, 1835.
51. Weaver, Foundries, p. 9.
52. Sawyer-Massey Commemorative Catalogue, (1906), n.p.
53. Whitehern #277-78, Nov. 2, 1835.
54. Weaver, Foundries, p. 9.
55. See W.J. Phillips, The Agricultural Implement Industry in Canada (Toronto, 1956) p. 38 and J. Gilmour, Spatial Evolution of Manufacturing in Southern Ontario 1851-1891, (Toronto, 1972) p. 172.
57. Whitehern #277-78, Nov. 2, 1835 and PAO #240, Sept. 4, 1835.
58. PAO #208, Dec. 16, 1835.
59. PAO #240, Sept. 4, 1835.
60. PAO #208, Dec. 16, 1835.
61. PAO #237, Feb. 3, 1836.
62. W.J. Patterson, "The Long Point Furnace," Ontario Historical Society Papers and Records, (1949) p. 70-78.
63. PAO #237, Dec. 20, 1836.
66. PAO # 162, Apr. 22, 1836.
68. PAO #237, Feb. 3, 1836 and PAO #194, March 25, 1836.
69. PAO #201, April 30, 1836.
70. PAO #228, Sept. 28, 1836.
71. PAO #185, Nov. 29, 1838.
72. PAO #162, April 22, 1836.
73. PAO #201, April 30, 1836. York was renamed Toronto in 1834; however, this reference would seem to indicate that it was still commonly known as York.
74. PAO #162, April 22, 1836.
75. M.Q. Innis, An Economic History of Canada, (Toronto, 1936) p.119.
76. E.C. Guilett, The Pioneer Farmer and Backwoodsman, (Toronto, 1963) Vol. I, p. 91.
77. PAO #162, April 22, 1836.
78. PAO #197, May 23, 1836.
79. PAO #162, April 22, 1836.
80. PAO #165, May 19, 1836.
81. PAO #169, August 24, 1836.
82. PAO #237, Feb. 3, 1836.
83. PAO #194, March 25, 1836.
84. PAO #237, Feb. 3, 1837.
85. PAO #162, April 22, 1836.
86. PAO #169, August 24, 1836.
87. PAO #228, Sept. 8, 1836.
88. Irwin and Turner, op.cit. p. 1.
89. PAO #237, Feb. 3, 1836.
91. PAO #237, Feb. 3, 1836.
93. PAO #181, Nov. 21, 1836.
94. PAO #234, Jan. 16, 1836.
96. Whitehern #279-82, May 6, 1837.
98. PAO #203, Sept. 20, 1837.
99. PAO #232, August 29, 1837.
100. PAO #231, Jan. 2, 1837.
101. PAO #224, Jan. 16, 1837.
102. PAO #184, April 12, 1837.
103. Whitehern #282, May 6, 1837. The MacNab referred to here is Sir Alan N. MacNab - politician, solider, lawyer and at this time of an official of the Gore Band. For further information see Bailey, op.cit.
104. PAO #135, Feb. 20, 1837.
106. PAO #165, May 10, 1837.
107. Whitehern #283, May 6, 1837. The firm at this time was experiencing considerable flooding in their basement.
108. D. McCalla, op.cit. p. 24.
109. PAO #193, Dec. 7, 1837.
111. For example none of the local historians of Hamilton or memoirs and papers from the period (for example the Land papers at HPL) mention any unrest or tension at all. The only reference are to the calling of a few men to fight the rebels.
112. PAO #193, Dec. 7, 1837.
113. PAO #171, Feb. 20, 1838.
116. See Bailey, op.cit. p.15-17.
118. PAO #236, March 23, 1838.
119. PAO #190, May 29, 1838.
120. PAO #235, April 27, 1838.
121. PAO #235, April 27, 1838.
122. PAO #161, June 16, 1838.
123. PAO #186, June 26, 1838.
124. PAO #185, Nov. 29, 1838. The Patriots in this reference would appear to mean the supporters of the Crown who were probably a little over zealous in proclaiming their loyalty and questioning others - especially Americans.
126. PAO #161, June 16, 1838.
127. PAO #183, March 11, 1839.
131. Whitehern #144, August 7, 1839.
132. PAO #183, March 11, 1839.
133. PAO #95, April 14, 1843.
135. Hamilton Land Registry Office Records.
136. Assessment Rolls for the City of Hamilton, 1852. The assessment records for this period are given in pounds and dollars.
137. Assessment Rolls for this period are given in pounds and dollars.
138. HPL #547, Sept. 23, 1853.
139. PAO #2, June 20, 1840.
140. L.D. Sawyer joined the firm in 1844. Canada Illustrated News, 1892.
141. Assessment Rolls for the City of Hamilton, 1855.
143. Land Registry Office Records, Hamilton.
144. Ibid. On March 4, 1853 McQuesten and Fisher purchased Lots 5,6,7,8. Plan 254 near the foot of Wellington Street, and on March 16, 1853 Luther and Stephen Sawyer purchased part of Lot. 37, Plan 254.
145. Roberts, op.cit., p. 161.
146. G. Bertram, "Economic Growth in Canadian History 1870-1915" Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, (1962) p. 163.
147. City of Hamilton, Hamilton-The Birmingham of Canada, (Hamilton, 1893) n.p.
148. Assessment Rolls for the City of Hamilton, 1855.
150. Hamilton Land Registry Office Records.
151. HPL #119 and #892, Dec. 9, 1857.
153. Hamilton Land Registry Office Records.
154. Assessment Rolls for the City of Hamilton.
155. Daily News, Batavia, New York, March 29, 1889.
156. For a complete description of McQuesten's personal and business interests see the McQuesten entry in Bailey, op.cit.
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Wingfield, A.W. The Hamilton Centennial 1846-1946. Hamilton: Hamilton Centennial Committee, 1946. | 2019-04-20T06:22:02Z | http://whitehern.ca/result.php?doc_id=Box%2015-010 |
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The final shortlist is made up of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon and Dortmund), Sadio Mane (Senegal and Liverpool) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool). Elsewhere, Nigeria is well represented across the categories, with reigning CAF African Women's Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala again in line to retain her crown, and Gernot Rohr among the three Coach of the Year finalists.
Last week Chelsea said that Luiz was being treated "day to day" by the club's medical staff for knee inflammation. "I don't know when he's able to come back with us but, for sure, with the doctor and the medical department, we are trying to solve this situation".
And the Liverpool fans love it when he starts all four. The Egyptian winger had a point to prove following his nightmarish stint with Chelsea earlier on in his career. "He is still young, improving all the time". In fact, Zidane was reportedly praising the player and is quite interested in the 25-year-old, who has been one of the most prolific forwards in Europe during the current term.
Alan Pardew , Bromwich's head coach, revealed that West Bromwich is ready to activate the €4.5 million ($5.3 million) transfer clause and make Hegazi's move permanent from Al-Ahly. Hegazi said: "I am very happy with the club and very happy to be part of this group of players". 'I know the results are not what we would want at the moment.
The 29-year-old Irishman has not fought in mixed martial arts or boxing since losing a boxing bout to unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather by a 10th round technical knockout in their much-hyped clash in Las Vegas in August. TMZ caught up with him where he said he wanted a "true fight" next, clarifying he wanted a "real fight". While he did not display the skills or the potential of being a great boxer, it's a fact that he's always there to fight and draw the fans.
The pair might not be back to full match fitness yet but could be on the bench as Swansea City visit Goodison Park for the Monday night game. Sam Allardyce has revealed a band of unsung heroes are behind Everton's revival. Ahead of their game against Everton on Monday, the Swans have scored only nine goals from 17 League games this season and are now etched to the bottom of the standings.
However, speaking in Rotterdam, the former Bayern Munich boss admits he would like to get one over on the Red Devils after his dismissal past year. Manchester United are preparing to re-sign Jonny Evans in a shocking January move. "I would make one exception". The same report claims that Jose Mourinho feels that it was a "huge mistake" for Manchester United to have sold the Northern Ireland global back then and are now in the market to try and re-sign him.
But James Anderson insists England are not giving up on the Ashes just yet. Starc bowling from around the wicket moved the ball away from the right-handed as Vince played for the line. "I think if I face that another 20, 30 times I think it would get me out every time." I think his plan is pretty clear. This delivery from Starc has everything: pace, a good length, and it straightens off the seam, fooling James Vince completely.
Lee made the comments about the England global midfielder following the Premier League game between City and Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening. "Dele Alli's was the worst one of them all". And Harry Kane was also lucky to just see yellow for a late, high lunge on Raheem Sterling . Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino was reluctant to discuss the hotheaded Alli and instead urged his team to take inspiration from City's display.
Boise State finished with 473 total yards and 28 first downs. The Broncos stacked four receivers on the right side of the field, including running back Ryan Wolpin , who wound up scoring a touchdown on a screen pass. I think our whole O-line was pretty frustrated. Boise State: The Broncos are still the class of the Mountain West. It gave the Broncos 11 wins for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons, a 12th bowl win and will nearly certainly assure a postseason Top 25 ranking.
Interviewed post match alongside Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coutinho was asked whether he wanted to stay at Liverpool until the end of the season. "He's a Liverpool player right now and he's doing really well for us", the England worldwide said .
The Browns franchise has just three winning seasons since 1990. Dorsey made it clear in remarks this week exactly what he thought of the talent evaluation and development that was going on in the Browns' former front-office regime, and several execs around the league who know Dorsey well expect him to recommend significant changes to Haslam by next month, if not sooner.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has stressed how important it was for his team to claim the three points this afternoon against Newcastle United. " I think the best way is to continue to put that behind us and focus on the quality of our game ".
However, because it's susceptible in the secondary and Rodgers is back at the reins, big gaps may begin to materialize here, if Green Bay's offensive line can continue to stay strong. Rodgers has been out since he suffered a broken collarbone in Week 6, but he is expected to start against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Prior to the 2017 season, Bush indicated he wanted one more chance to play in the National Football League and felt he still had "a lot left to give" on the field.
Although there were many highlights produced during the game, the one that was replayed over and over actually happened after the final whistle. Asked if he was mentoring Ball, James answered, "None of y'all's business", and Ball declined to reveal what was said .
The Browns didn't have any big plays down field and the Ravens got strong support in the middle of their pass defense from safeties Tony Jefferson and Eric Weddle. The next play was an incomplete play-action pass to tight end Nick Boyle. Collins was stuffed for no yards on third-and-goal from the 1. Cleveland is still looking for their first win.
Incredibly, Williams was eight-weeks pregnant and hasn't competed competitively since winning the final - giving birth to her first child Alexis Olympia in September. At the time I was one of the most in-form players of that period. Now, Williams has turned to her 7.2 million Instagram followers for recommendations about helping her 3-month-old with her teething difficulties.
The run game worked for the Cardinals ironically, despite an offensive line that gave up a total of five sacks, 19 over the last three weeks. MOVING ON: As much of an uphill climb as it would have been, the Cardinals' loss eliminated them from playoff contention.
You know who wasn't going to miss this game? He was unable to get up from the injury. After falling to the ground, he visibly reached for his back and appeared to have no movement in his legs. It was that loud at Heinz Field. Not on the field of play, but in the press box to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the New England Patriots in a huge matchup just ahead of the National Football League playoffs.
Cody Parkey kicked three field goals, two in the first half and one with 39 seconds left. LeSean McCoy became the 30th player in National Football League history to surpass 10,000 career rushing yards on Sunday while helping the Buffalo Bills keep their playoff hopes alive with a 24-16 victory over the Miami Dolphins at New Era Field.
The post-DeMarcus Cousins era in Sacramento has gotten off to a bit of a rough start this season. The Sacramento Kings are allowing 38 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 40 rebounds per game. The Kings are 4-1-2 ATS in their last 7 road games, 3-9-2 ATS in their last 14 vs. Garrett Temple, Bogdan Bogdanovic and George Hill were all rolling for the league's lowest-scoring team.
Bryant fell to the ground, and Smith-Schuster stood over him in the end zone after Bryant's impressive score. Smith-Schuster missed the Week 14 win over the Ravens due to suspension for an illegal hit, but now the Steelers should have all of their weapons back on the field.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points on 10-for-22 shooting on Saturday, to go with 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals over 42 minutes against the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Harden, who was 8-of-21 from the floor against the Bucks, acknowledged that the soreness in his knee significantly limited his explosiveness. Starting center Clint Capela (left heel contusion) is day-to-day.
A HORROR blow from Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis has marred an otherwise stellar performance by the NFC South team. And, despite this being a secondary concern right now, it's also worth noting that Adams is a free agent this offseason.
Garoppolo completed 31 of 43 pass attempts for a career-best 381 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. His passer rating was 106.8. Gould, no surprise, converted as he has on every kick he's attempted since Garoppolo took over as the starting quarterback.
Jace, Paul, and Eddie all have Clemson football going on to win the National Championship against Oklahoma. This time, the victor will earn the right to play for another title in Atlanta. The Tigers went on the road and easily beat improved rival SC 34-10 on November 25. Clemson earned its berth in the playoffs following a 38-3 over then-No.
Pruitt is expected to return to Tuscaloosa on Sunday, the final day before the recruiting dead period officially begins Monday. "There is such a rich tradition of success around this program, and I look forward to contributing to that success moving forward".
But in the loss, the Lakers may have come away with something that could be much more valuable than a win - Ball and the young Lakers gave James a glimpse of the future in Los Angeles . Kevin Love had a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds. He took the time to watch Ball and the Lakers play in the summer league in Las Vegas, tweeted the rookie happy birthday in October and has repeatedly praised Ball.
Wayfair Inc. now has $6.69B valuation. The company had a trading volume of 890,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 309,585. Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) has risen 24.95% since December 17, 2016 and is uptrending. ValuEngine downgraded shares of HB Fuller from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 10th. Therefore 53% are positive.
About 3.64M shares traded or 26.58% up from the average. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc . (NYSE: ICE ) has risen 13.80% since December 15, 2016 and is uptrending. Scott Hill, an officer at (ICE), bought 19730 shares at a price of 16.03 to bring his total ownership in the stock to 231,623 shares. Voya Ltd reported 3.99M shares.
The recent history of this fixture is a curious one, with Barcelona winning only two of their last five meetings and Depor victorious in the last game they contested in April. A seventh home league win of the season looks very much on the cards for the Catalans on Sunday against a poor Deportivo side who are hovering just above the relegation zone, and dabblebet offer an away win at 25/1 (26.00 ), while Barca can be backed at 1/12 (1 .08) and the draw is offered at 10/1 (11 .00). | 2019-04-21T06:59:26Z | http://newburghgazette.com/sport/page/281/ |
本发明的目的是提供具有功率控制方法和除噪器的CDMA系统的结构，其能够有效地增大系统容量，抵抗通信路径上的突变，并且通过将除噪后信噪功率比的值反映到功率控制命令信息的生成中来实现能防止上行线路传输功率中不必要的增加(和多址干扰)的快速反应的功率控制方法。 Object of the present invention is to provide a power control method and a CDMA system in addition to the structure of the noise filter, which can effectively increase system capacity, resistance mutations on the communication path, and by the value of the signal to noise power ratio of the reflected noise in addition to power control command generation information can be prevented to realize the power control method for uplink transmission power in unnecessary increase (and multiple access interference) rapid response. 本发明涉及在通信系统中用于通过码分多址在移动台和基站之间实现通信的功率控制方法，其中去除包含于来自移动台的接收信号中的多址干扰信号，估计当前被接收的接收信号的除噪后信噪功率比，通过比较估计的除噪后信噪功率比和功率控制的目标值来生成功率控制命令，并传输该功率控制命令到移动台以控制移动台的传输功率。 The present invention relates to a power control method implemented by code division multiple access communication between a mobile station and a base station in a communication system, which comprises removing the received signal from the mobile station in multiple access interference signals, the estimate of the current received in addition to the received signal after the noise signal to noise power ratio, to generate a power control command, and transmits the power control command to control the transmission power of the mobile station to the mobile station by a target value signal to noise power ratio and the noise power control in addition to comparing the estimated .
本发明涉及使用于码分多址(CDMA)格式通信系统中的功率控制方法，其特别用于具有多址干扰(MAI)去除器能力的通信系统。 The present invention relates to a power control method in code division multiple access communication system format (CDMA), particularly for having multiple access interference (MAI) removing capability of a communication system.
通常地，在诸如宽带CDMA(W-CDMA)的CDMA无线通信格式中，从移动台(MS)到基站(BS)的每个上行线路具有称为外环和内环的两个功率控制系统。 Generally, in a CDMA wireless communications format such as Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), a from a mobile station (MS) uplink to each base station (BS) having two power control system is referred to as outer and inner rings. 外环是用于独立地调整在激活群的每个小区中上行线路功率控制目标的较高层控制。 The outer ring is for independently adjusting the uplink power control of a higher layer in each cell cluster in the activation control target. 由于外环是基于解码数据的码组差错率(BLER)的测量结果，该控制响应被计算码组差错率所需的传输时间间隔(TTI)延迟。 Since the outer loop is based on the decoded data block error rate (BLER) measurement results, the transmission time of the control response is required for the calculation block error rate interval (TTI) delay.
本发明主要涉及的内环进行移动台传输功率的轻度调节以保持在特定目标的上行线路的信扰比(在下文中用SIR表示)。 The present invention relates to mild inner mobile station of the transmission power is adjusted to maintain the uplink signal to interference ratio of a specific target (indicated by SIR hereinafter). 上行线路的内环功率控制由如下方法实现(见3rd Generation Partnership Project(3GPP)TS 25.214，v1.1.0，UTRAFDD Physical Layer Procedures)：(1)基站接收上行线路的专用物理控制信道(DPCCH)，并测量被接收信号的SIR值。 Uplink inner loop power control is realized by the following method (see 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) TS 25.214, v1.1.0, UTRAFDD Physical Layer Procedures) dedicated physical control channel :( 1) the base station receives uplink (DPCCH), and measured SIR value of the received signal.
(2)接着，基站将所测量的SIR值同信扰功率比的目标值(在下文中用SIR目标值表示)加以比较，并确定上行线路的传输功率控制(TPC)命令从而控制移动台的传输功率。 (2) Next, the base station the measured SIR value with the target signal to interference power ratio (SIR target value is identified hereinafter) are compared, and determines the uplink transmission power control (TPC) commands to control the transmission of the mobile station power.
(3)这样被确定的传输功率控制命令接着被插入下行线路(从基站到移动台方向上的通信)时隙中的预定位置，在被正在传输的时隙之后被立即传输，并被传输到移动台。 (3) is determined so that the transmission power control command is then inserted into a downlink (communication from the base station to mobile station direction) of the predetermined slot position, the slot is transmitted immediately after being transmitted, and transmitted to the The mobile station.
(4)移动台根据接收的传输功率控制命令来调节上行线路的传输功率。 (4) the mobile station to adjust the transmit power of the uplink transmission power according to the received control command.
由于功率控制的响应延迟降低系统性能，对于每个时隙期间实现功率控制格式的内环，并用常规方法实时地进行SIR测量。 Since the power control delay in response to reduced system performance, achieved for inner loop power control during each time slot format, and SIR measured in real time by a conventional method.
除扰器(IC)已被公开作为通过去除出现在CDMA通信中的多址干扰来增大系统容量的技术。 In addition scrambler (IC) technology has been disclosed to increase system capacity in a CDMA communication occurs by removing the multiple access interference. 在具有该除扰能力的基站中，通过每个上行线路信道的除扰单元(ICU)从接收的CDMA信号中分离多址干扰分量。 Separating the multiple access interference component of the other base station has interference capability in addition by each uplink scrambling unit (ICU) link channel from a CDMA signal received. 当期望的专用物理数据信道(DPDCH)在基站被解调时，多址干扰分量实质上可通过多级除扰单元的重复除扰操作被从接收的信号中分离。 When the desired dedicated physical data channel (DPDCH) is demodulated in the base station, multiple access interference component can be substantially repeated except scrambling operation is separated from the received signal by a multi-stage addition scrambling unit. 结果，可能提高期望的专用物理数据信道的SIR值，因而进一步增加系统容量。 As a result, the value may increase the desired SIR of the dedicated physical data channel, thereby further increasing system capacity. 这在许多技术文献中有所解释，比如A.Duel-Hallen等人的，“Multiuser Detection for CDMASystems”，IEEE Personal Communications，pp.46-58，和S.Moshavi，“Multi-userDetection for DS-CDMA Communications”，IEEE Communications Magazine，pp124-136，October 1996。 This is explained in the technical literature many such A.Duel-Hallen et al., "Multiuser Detection for CDMASystems", IEEE Personal Communications, pp.46-58, and S.Moshavi, "Multi-userDetection for DS-CDMA Communications ", IEEE Communications Magazine, pp124-136, October 1996.
在具有除扰能力的常规基站中，在除扰前进行专用物理控制信道的SIR测量。 In addition to having a conventional base station scrambling capability, the SIR measurement performed before the dedicated physical control channel in addition to scrambling. 结果是，测量的SIR值小于被解调和解码的除扰后专用物理数据信道的SIR值。 As a result, the measured SIR value is smaller than the SIR value after demodulation and decoding scrambled addition to dedicated physical data channel. 因此如果根据上述传输功率控制方法并基于除扰前SIR值实现上行线路的传输功率控制，会有上行线路的传输功率被不必要增大的风险。 Therefore, if the above-described transmission power control method based on inter scrambled before transmission power control SIR value to achieve uplink, transmission power of the uplink will be unnecessarily increased risk. 为避免这种情形，可考虑基于除扰后SIR值实现传输功率控制，不过在该情况下，功率控制由于除扰操作所需的时间被延迟。 To avoid this, transmission power control can be achieved considering the SIR value in addition to scrambling, but in this case, in addition to the power control since the time required for scrambling operation is delayed.
此外，用于确定传输功率控制命令的SIR目标值由上面所述的基于码组差错率的外环确定。 Further, for determining a transmission power control command from the above SIR target based on the determined block error rate of the outer ring. 由于码组差错率由循环冗余检测(CRC)的结果被计算，其直到解码操作(速率去匹配，解交织，信道解码和CRC判别)相对于整帧被完成后才能被计算。 Since the block error rate is calculated from the results of cyclic redundancy check (CRC), which until the decoding operation (rate dematching, deinterleaving, channel decoding, and CRC is determined) is calculated with respect to the entire frame is completed. 而且，为了测量码组差错率(如20ms-2s)，有必要实现多帧的循环冗余检测。 Further, in order to measure the block error rate (e.g., 20ms-2s), cyclic redundancy check is necessary to achieve a plurality of frames. 因此，来自外环的SIR目标值被码组差错率测量延迟。 Thus, SIR target is delayed from the outer block error rate measurements.
在功率控制中该响应延迟是系统容量降低的一个因素。 In response to the power control delay is a factor in reducing system capacity. 该影响在通信路径的状态突然变化时特别明显，比如当连接或终止新信道(呼叫)或由于快速的衰减效果时。 This effect is particularly evident in the state of sudden changes in the communication path, such as when a new channel or terminate connection (call) or because of the rapid attenuation.
考虑上述，本发明的目的是提供具有除扰器的CDMA功率控制方法和CDMA系统结构，其能有效地增强系统性能并同时能够处理通信路径中的突变，更确切地说，通过在功率控制命令信息的生成中反映除扰后的SIR值来实现能抑制上行线路传输功率中不需要的增加和多址干扰的快速反应的功率控制方法。 View of the above, an object of the present invention to provide a power control method and a CDMA CDMA systems having other structure scrambler, which is effective to enhance system performance and can be processed simultaneously mutated communication path, more precisely, by the power control commands generation information reflected in addition to the SIR value achieved after scrambled uplink transmission power control method does not require a power increase and a rapid response can be suppressed MAI.
根据本发明的第一方面，一种用于实现移动台和基站之间的码分多址通信的通信系统，其特征在于：所述基站包括：用于接收来自所述移动台的信号和输出第一接收信号的基站接收装置；用于去除包含于所述第一接收信号中的多址干扰信号的除扰装置；用于估计当前正被接收的所述第一接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比的除扰效果估计装置；用于通过比较由所述除扰效果估计装置确定的所述除扰后信扰功率比和功率控制的目标值来生成功率控制命令的控制命令生成装置；以及用于传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台的基站传输装置；并且所述移动台包括：用于接收来自所述基站的信号和输出第二接收信号的移动台接收装置；以及移动台传输装置，其基于包含于所述第二接收信号中的所述功率控制命令来调整被传输到所述基站的传输信号的功率。 According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method for a communication system of code division multiple access communication between a mobile station and a base station, wherein: said base station comprising: means for receiving a signal and an output from the mobile station base station receiving means receives a first signal; means for removing comprises a first received signal to the other multiple access interference signal scrambling means; means for estimating inter scrambling after channel currently being received by the first received signal in addition to interference power ratio estimating interference effect means; means for generating by said determining means generates a control command to the power control commands in addition to signal to interference power ratio and a target value for power control after the disturbance estimated by the disturbance effect comparing other; and means for transmitting the transmission power control commands the base station to the mobile station apparatus; and the mobile station comprising: means for receiving a second received signal from the mobile station to the base station signal and an output of said receiving means; and a mobile station transmission means, based on the power control command which is included in the second received signal to adjust the power is transmitted to the base station transmission signal.
根据本发明的第二方面，提供了一种用于实现移动台和基站之间的码分多址通信的通信系统，其特征在于：所述基站包括：用于接收来自所述移动台的信号和输出第一接收信号的基站接收装置；用于去除包含于所述第一接收信号中的多址干扰信号的除扰装置；用于在由所述除扰装置除扰后解码所述第一接收信号和确定解码数据差错率的差错率计算装置；基于由所述差错率计算装置确定的差错率来确定功率控制目标值的第一目标值设定装置；用于估计由所述除扰装置除扰的效果的除扰效果估计装置；依赖于由所述除扰效果估计装置估计的除扰效果而用以更新所述目标值的第二目标值设定装置；用于通过比较从所述第二目标值设定装置输出的所述目标值与当前正被接收的所述第一接收信号的信扰功率比，生成功率控制命令的控制命令生成装置；以及用 According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication system for implementing a code division multiple access communication between a mobile station and a base station, wherein: said base station comprising: means for receiving a signal from the mobile station and means for outputting a first base station receives a received signal; means for removing MAI other scrambling signal contained in the first received signal; except for scrambled by the scrambling means to decode the first addition after receiving signals and decoding data error rate determined error rate calculating means; a first target value setting means for determining a power control target value based on the error rate calculated by error rate determining means; means for estimating, by the addition to the scrambling means in addition to the effect in addition to scrambling scrambled effect estimating means; means for estimating the interference effects in addition to the second target value setting means updates said target value is dependent on the disturbance estimated by the addition results; by comparing from the the target value output from the second target value setting means with the current power ratio of the signal to interference being received by the first received signal, generating a power control command of the control command generation means; and with 传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台的基站传输装置；并且所述移动台包括：用于接收来自所述基站的信号和输出第二接收信号的移动台接收装置；以及基于包含于所述第二接收信号中的所述功率控制命令来调整被传输到所述基站的传输信号功率的移动台传输装置。 Transmitting said power control command to the mobile station the base station transmitting apparatus; and the mobile station comprising: receiving means for receiving from the mobile station apparatus of the second received signal and an output signal of said base station; and based on information contained in the the second received signal power control command to adjust the mobile station apparatus is transmitted to the transmission power of a transmission signal of the base station.
根据本发明的第三方面，提供了一种用于通信系统的基站设备，用于通过码分多址实现与移动台的通信；所述移动台包括：用于接收来自所述基站的信号和输出第二接收信号的移动台接收装置；以及移动台传输装置，其基于包含于所述第二接收信号中的所述功率控制命令来调整被传输到所述基站的传输信号的功率；所述基站设备包括：用于接收来自所述移动台的信号和输出接收信号的基站接收装置；用于去除包含于所述接收信号中的多址干扰信号的除扰装置；用于估计正被接收的所述接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比的除扰效果估计装置；用于通过比较由所述除扰效果估计装置确定的所述除扰后信扰功率比和功率控制的目标值，生成功率控制命令的控制命令生成装置；以及用于传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台的基站传输装置。 According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a base station apparatus for a communication system for communicating through the CDMA mobile station achieved; the mobile station comprising: means for receiving a signal from the base station and mobile station signal receiving means receives a second output; and a mobile station transmission means, based on the power control command which is included in the second received signal to adjust the power is transmitted to the base station transmission signal; the the base station apparatus comprising: receiving means for receiving a base station signal and an output signal received from the mobile station; means for removing means is included in addition to the multiple access interference of the interference signal of the received signal; means for estimating is being received in addition to the scrambled signal to interference power of the received signal other than the interference effect estimating means; means for comparing the estimated by the interference effect by the addition of other means for determining signal to interference power ratio after scrambling and power control target value, to generate power control commands control command generating means; and means for transmitting the transmission power control commands to the base station apparatus to the mobile station.
根据本发明的第四方面，一种通信系统的基站设备，用于通过码分多址实现同移动台的通信，所述移动台包括：用于接收来自所述基站的信号和输出第二接收信号的移动台接收装置；以及移动台传输装置，其基于包含于所述第二接收信号中的所述功率控制命令来调整被传输到所述基站的传输信号的功率；所述基站包括：用于接收来自所述移动台的信号和输出接收信号的基站接收装置；用于去除包含于所述接收信号中的多址干扰信号的除扰装置；用于通过所述除扰装置除扰后解码所述接收信号和确定解码数据差错率的差错率计算装置；用于基于由所述差错率计算装置确定的差错率来确定功率控制目标值的第一目标值设定装置；用于估计由所述除扰装置而来的除扰的效果的除扰效果估计装置；用于基于由所述除扰效果估计装置估计的除扰效果，更新所 According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a base station apparatus of a communication system, for communication with the mobile station, the mobile station comprises a code division multiple access is achieved by: means for receiving signals from the base station and outputting a second receiving the mobile station receives a signal; and a transmitting mobile station apparatus, based on the power contained in the second received signal to adjust the power control commands transmitted signal is transmitted to the base station; said base station comprising: using receiving means to receive the base station signal and an output signal received from the mobile station; means for removing said apparatus comprising in addition to scramble signals received multiple access interference signal; means for scrambling the other of said decoding means in addition to scramble determining the error rate of the received signal and decoding data error rate calculating means; a first target value setting means based on the error rate calculated by error rate determining means determines the power control target value; means for the estimation of in addition to the effect of disturbance estimating means of said device effects in addition to other interference from the interference; means for scrambling based on the effect of the addition of other disturbance estimating means effects update 目标值的第二目标值设定装置；通过比较从所述第二目标值设定装置输出的所述目标值与正被接收的所述第一接收信号的信扰功率比，用于生成功率控制命令的控制命令生成装置；以及用于传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台的基站传输装置。 Target value setting means the second target value; by comparing the signal to interference power ratio from the target value of the second target value setting means and the output being received by the first received signal, for generating a power a control command generation means control command; and means for transmitting the transmission power control commands to the base station apparatus to the mobile station.
根据本发明的第五方面，提供了一种在通信系统中通过码分多址在移动台和基站之间实现通信的功率控制方法，其特征在于：去除包含于来自所述移动台的接收信号中的多址干扰信号；估计正被接收的所述接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比；通过比较所述估计的除扰后信扰功率比和功率控制的目标值来生成功率控制命令；以及通过传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台控制所述移动台的传输功率。 According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power control method for realizing the communication between a mobile station and a base station in a communication system through a code division multiple access, characterized by: removing from a received signal including the mobile station to multiple access interference signal; estimating a signal to interference power ratio after being scrambled signal received by the receiving other; by comparing the estimated signal to interference in addition to generating power ratio after scrambling and power control target value power control command; and controlling transmission power of the mobile station of the mobile station by transmitting a control command to said power.
根据本发明的第六方面，提供了一种在通信系统中通过码分多址在移动台和基站之间实现通信的功率控制方法，其特征在于：去除包含于来自所述移动台的接收信号中的多址干扰信号；在所述除扰之后解码所述接收信号并确定所述解码数据的差错率，基于被确定的差错率来确定功率控制的目标值，估计所述除扰所引起的除扰效果，以及基于所述估计的除扰效果更新所述目标值；基于所述目标值和当前正被接收的所述接收信号的信扰功率比之间的比较生成功率控制命令；以及传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台以控制所述移动台的传输功率。 According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power control method for realizing the communication between a mobile station and a base station in a communication system through a code division multiple access, characterized by: removing from a received signal including the mobile station to multiple access interference signal; decoding the scrambled after the other receives the signal and determining error rate of said decoded data, power control determines the target value based on the determined error rate, estimating the disturbance caused by the addition in addition to the effect of interference, and based on the estimated effect of updating the target value, in addition to scrambling; generating a power control command based on the comparison between the signal to interference power ratio and the target value of the reception signal currently being received; and transmitting the power control command to the transmission power of the mobile station to control the mobile station.
图1表示常规的CDMA接收装置。 FIG 1 shows a conventional CDMA receiving apparatus.
图2表示上行线路的专用物理数据信道/专用物理控制信道的帧结构。 Dedicated physical data channel of FIG. 2 showing the uplink / dedicated physical control channel frame structure.
图3表示多级连续除扰解调器的结构。 3 shows a multi-stage continuous removal scrambler demodulator structure.
图4表示多级串连除扰器的除扰单元的结构。 Figure 4 shows in addition to the multi-stage series scrambler scrambling unit other structure.
图5表示传输功率控制命令生成器的结构。 Figure 5 shows the structure of the transmission power control command generator.
图6表示传输功率控制命令生成器的操作时序。 6 shows the operation timing of a transmission power control command generator.
这里将参照附图描述本发明。 The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings herein. 下面的描述中使用W-CDMA信号格式作为实例，但本发明并非如此严格地被限制。 The following description using W-CDMA signal format as an example, but the present invention is not so strictly limited.
图1表示用于实现功率控制的具有除扰器的基站100的结构实例。 1 shows in addition to having a base station for implementing power control of the scrambler 100 of the structural example. 在图1中，天线160同对应于单个天线的除扰器一起被显示从而简化其结构。 In Figure 1, the same antenna 160 corresponding to a single antenna interference is in addition displayed together thereby simplifying its structure. 但本发明也应用于天线阵，天线阵在实际中用得更普遍。 However, the present invention is also applied to an antenna array, the antenna array used is more common in practice. 图2的框图表示上行线路的帧结构，其中专用物理数据信道和专用物理控制信道I/Q被多路复用。 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the uplink frame, wherein the dedicated physical data channel and a dedicated physical control channel I / Q multiplexed.
处理接收信号的过程参照图1加以解释。 Process a received signal be explained with reference to FIG 1. 天线160接收的信号通过高频无线电部分被传送并提供给匹配滤波器(MF)110和除扰解调器130。 Received by antenna 160 through the high frequency radio signal is transmitted and supplied to the matched filter section (MF) 110 and demodulator 130 in addition to scrambling. 接收信号先被匹配滤波器110中专用物理控制信道的解扩频码解扩频以获取同步时序。 Received signal is first matched filter 110, dedicated physical control channel despreading code to obtain despread synchronization timing. 这儿省略详细的描述，实际上多个的用户(用户数量K)被协调，从而实现对应于各个用户的K个信道的同步时序获取过程。 Detailed description is omitted here, in fact, a plurality of users (number of users K) is coordinated to achieve synchronization timing corresponding to the respective K user channels acquisition process.
使用匹配滤波器110的结果，SIR值被SIR测量部分120中的专用物理控制信道实时地确定。 The results of using a matched filter 110, the SIR measurement value is SIR DPCCH section 120 determines in real time. 然后，测量的SIR值被传输到传输功率控制命令生成器170。 Then, SIR measured value is transmitted to the transmission power control command generator 170.
在本实施方式中，除扰解调器130解扩频和解调利用除扰能力的专用物理数据信道和专用物理控制信道。 In the present embodiment, the descrambler 130 in addition to the spread spectrum demodulator and demodulation using a dedicated physical data channel and a dedicated physical control channel interference removing capability. 除扰解调器130为对应于K个用户的K个信道输出SIR值和除扰解调信号。 In addition scrambler demodulator 130 K corresponding to the K-th user channel output SIR value and the other scrambled demodulated signal. 这儿，同将在图3中详细解释的一样，测量对于每级的每个除扰单元的SIR值。 Here, the same will be explained in detail as in FIG. 3, for each level of each measured SIR value scrambling unit other. 至于SIR测量，它们是基于每个用户的专用物理控制信道被测量。 As for SIR measurement, which is based on each user's dedicated physical control channel is measured.
解调信号被传输到每个用户的通信路径解码器140，在这儿对每个用户实现速率去匹配，解交织，信道解码和循环冗余检测。 Demodulated signal is transmitted to each user's communication channel decoder 140, implemented to match rate for each user, deinterleaving, channel decoding and cyclic redundancy check here. 使用循环冗余检测的结果，对于码组差错率测量部分150中的每个用户，码组差错率在相对于解码数据的传输时间间隔TTI单元中被测量，码组差错率被送到传输功率控制命生成器170。 The results of cyclic redundancy check, for the block error rate measurement section 150 per user, block error rate in the unit interval TTI is the transmission time measured with respect to the decoded data, block error rate is supplied to the transmission power control command generator 170. 在除扰单元130每级测量的SIR信息被提供到如上所述接收码组差错率值的传输功率控制命令生成器170。 It is supplied to the transmission power value of the received block error rate as described above, the control command generator 170 in the scrambling unit 130 in addition to SIR information measured for each stage.
在传输功率控制命令生成器170中，从除扰解调器130提供的每级SIR信息，从码组差错率测量部分150提供的码组差错率以及从SIR测量部分120提供的专用物理控制信道的实时SIR值被用来生成对应于每个用户的上行线路传输功率控制命令。 In the transmission power control command generator 170, in addition to each stage from the SIR information provided by scrambler demodulator 130, block error rate error rate measuring section 150 provided from the measurement part 120 and the code group dedicated physical control channel supplied from the SIR the SIR value is used to generate real-time corresponding to each user of uplink transmission power control command.
对于每个用户，生成的上行线路传输功率控制命令被发送到帧(时隙)生成器190，在这儿它们被信道编码器192插入到传输时隙中合适的位置同编码信号一起被多路复用，并在被CDMA调制器180调制后作为下行线路传输信号通过天线160被传输到各个移动台。 For each user, the generated uplink transmission power control command is transmitted to the frame (time slot) generator 190, here they are in the channel encoder 192 is inserted into the appropriate place in the transmission time slots with the encoded signal is multiplexed with with, and it is transmitted to each mobile station through an antenna 160 as a downlink transmission signal after being modulated CDMA modulator 180.
图2显示上行线路中专用物理数据信道和专用物理控制信道的帧结构。 Figure 2 shows the frame structure of uplink dedicated physical data channel and a dedicated physical control channel. I信道上的专用物理数据信道仅由数据组成，而Q信道上的专用物理控制信道包括，如具有15个时隙(时隙#1，时隙#2，时隙#3，...，时隙#i，...，时隙#15)10毫秒长的帧，每个0.625毫秒长的时隙由信道估计导频信号，TFCI(传输格式组合指示)，FBI(反馈信息)和传输功率控制命令(TPC)组成。 I channel dedicated physical data channel is composed of only the data, and the Q channel includes a dedicated physical control channel, such as those having 15 slots (slots # 1, # 2 slot, the slot # 3, ..., slot #i, ..., time slot # 15) 10 ms frame length, each slot is 0.625 milliseconds long channel estimate by a pilot signal, the TFCI (transport format combination Indicator), the FBI (feedback information) and the transmission power control command (TPC) composition.
图3表示除扰解调器130的实例。 FIG 3 shows an example of demodulator 130 in addition to the scrambler. 在该实例中显示了多级(n-级)串联减法除扰器，但是它也可能使用其他类型的除扰器，比如本发明中的多级平行减法型除扰器。 Shows a multi-stage (N- stages) in addition to serial subtractor scrambler, it is also possible to use other types of inter scrambler, such as in the present invention is a multi-stage parallel interference subtractor type except in this example.
在图中水平方向上从左到右，对应于每信道总共有K个除扰单元135，换句话说，对于每用户，对于从第一级到第n级的每级。 In the horizontal direction from left to right in the figure, each channel corresponding to a total addition of K scrambling unit 135, in other words, for every user, from a first stage to the n-th stage to each stage. 在每级131，132，133中，除扰单元135的操作被依次实现。 In each stage 131, 132, the operation of the scrambling unit 135 are sequentially implemented in addition. 比如，级i中信道j的除扰单元135接收来自第(i-1)级的信道j的重扩频复制信号和对第i级的信道j-1的除扰操作后的残留信号，实现解扩频，信道估计，信道校正和探测和重扩频以生成输出到第(i+1)级的信道j的重扩频复制信号，通过从信道j-1接收的残留信号中分离该重扩频复制信号来实现除扰操作，然后发送除扰操作后的残留信号到下一个信道j+1信号。 For example, stage i of channel j other scrambling unit 135 receives the channel from a first stage (i-1) j of the heavy spreading replica signal and the channel of the i-th stage j-1 residual signal after the scrambling operation in addition, to achieve despreading, channel estimation, channel correction and detection and re-spreading to generate an output to weight the spread replica signal channel of the (i + 1) level j by separating the weight from the residual signal received channel j-1 in in addition to the spread spectrum duplication signal scrambling operation is achieved, then the residual signal is transmitted in addition to scrambling operation to the next j + 1 channel signal. 此外，第i级信道j的除扰单元135同时测量第i级信道j的SIR值，然后将其发送到传输功率控制命令生成器170。 Further, the i-th stage channel j other scrambling unit 135 simultaneously measures the SIR value of the i stage channel j, and then transmits it to the transmission power control command generator 170.
每个除扰单元135结构的实例在图4中表示。 Each representation in FIG. 4 in addition to the structure of Example scrambling unit 135. 本实施方式的除扰单元135由对应于专用物理控制信道的部分和对应于专用物理数据信道的部分组成，如图4所示，它们具有大致一致的结构并实现相同的操作。 In addition to the scrambling unit 135 according to the present embodiment by a portion corresponding to a dedicated physical control channel and a corresponding dedicated physical data channel part, as shown, which it has a substantially uniform structure 4 and achieve the same operation. 将对应于专用物理控制信道的部分作为实例来解释其操作，由被接收信号引起的输入信号被输入到信道估计部分200和解扩频部分210。 The dedicated physical control channel corresponding to the part as an example to explain the operation, an input signal is inputted from the reception signal caused by the channel estimating section 200 and despreading section 210. 在第二和随后级的除扰单元中，通过将从前级接收的重扩频复制信号增加到从前级或前信道接收的残留信号而获取的信号被输入到信道估计部分200和解扩频部分210。 In the second and other subsequent stages scrambling unit, the signal received by the previous stage re-spread replica signals of the previous residual signal level is increased or the received forward channel acquired is input to the channel estimating section 200 and despreading section 210 .
信道估计部分200估计出现在信道传输路径上的(幅度和相位的)波动，并发送估计结果到信道校正部分220。 Estimating section 200 estimates channel appears on the channel transmission path fluctuation (amplitude and phase), and transmits the channel estimation result to the correction section 220. 解扩频部分210使用该信道的解扩频编码解扩频输入信号，并输出作为结果的解调信号到信道校正部分220。 Despreading section 210 using the channel despreading code of despread the input signal, and outputs the demodulated signal to the channel as a result of the correction section 220. 信道校正部分220基于信道估计的结果校正解调信号，从而除去传输路径上接收的信道波动，并输出结果到SIR测量部分230和检波器225(符号确定部分)。 Channel correction section 220 based on the channel estimation result correction of the demodulated signal, thereby removing a transmission path fluctuation of the received channel, and outputs the result to the SIR measuring part 230 and detector 225 (symbol determination portion).
检波器225(符号确定部分)在信道校正后确定来自解调信号的接收符号，并输出确定的结果到再扩频部分240。 Detector 225 (symbol determination portion) determines that the received symbols from the demodulated signal after the channel correction, and outputs the result of the determination to the re-spreading portion 240. 在末级的除扰单元135中，如虚线所示，被确定的接收符号被输出到信道解码器140。 In addition to the scrambling unit 135 in the final stage, shown in phantom, the determined received symbols are provided to channel decoder 140. 在再扩频部分240，使用与用于解扩频相同的扩频码重扩频被接收的符号，并在信道重整形部分250，对重扩频信号进行与在信道校正部分220中进行的信道校正的相反的处理，在重扩频信号上被实现，其结果是生成该信道上扩频信号的复制即重扩频复制信号。 Re-spreading section 240, the same symbols as used for despreading the received spread code re-spreading and reshaping of the channel portion 250, the counterweight and the spread spectrum signal is performed in the channel 220 in the correction section reverse channel correction processing is implemented on the weight spread spectrum signal, generated as a result of the copying, i.e. re-channel spread spectrum signal replica signal spreading. 在除扰单元135，除扰操作通过从输入信号中分离该重扩频复制信号来实现。 In addition to the scrambling unit 135, in addition to the scrambling operation is achieved by re-spreading replica signal separated from the input signal. 接着经专用物理控制信道除扰操作的信号被输入到专用物理数据信道的处理单元，并用同样的方式实现除扰操作。 Then via a dedicated physical control channel signal in addition to scrambling operation is input to the processing unit dedicated physical data channel, and scrambling operation in addition to achieve the same way.
对于本实例，已解释的情况中专用物理控制信道的处理单元和专用物理数据信道的处理单元被串联连接，但本发明也适用于这些处理单元并联连接的情况。 For the present example, the case has been explained in the dedicated physical control channel processing unit and a dedicated physical data channel processing unit are connected in series, but the present invention is also applicable to the case where the processing units are connected in parallel.
在另一方面，SIR测量部分230基于从专用物理控制信道的信道连接部分220接收的解调信号来测量SIR值。 On the other hand, SIR measuring section 230 measures the SIR value based on the connecting portion 220 receives the demodulated signal from the channel dedicated physical control channel.
出于解释的方便，图4中未表示专用物理控制信道和专用物理数据信道的解调过程，其可以通过应用分离和合并多传输路径的瑞克(RAKE)接收系统来实现。 For convenience of explanation, FIG. 4 is not shown in the demodulation process dedicated physical control channel and dedicated physical data channel, which may be (the RAKE) receiver system, and RAKE combined by the application of the multi-transport path separation is achieved.
图5和图6分别表示传输功率控制命令生成器170的结构的实例和其操作的时序。 Figures 5 and 6 show timing transmission power control command generator 170 of the example of the structure and operation thereof. 图5表示对于单个用户的结构，实际上，传输功率控制命令生成器170中有多少用户K就有多少具有相同结构的部分，从而生成对每个用户的传输功率命令。 Figure 5 shows a configuration for a single user, in fact, the transmission power control command generator 170 K the number of users there are many portions having the same structure, so as to generate a transmission power command for each user.
从除扰解调器130每级的除扰单元135提供的SIR值，随同从SIR测量部分120提供的除扰前SIR值，被输入到除扰效果估计部分300。 Each stage from the SIR value 130 in addition to other scrambling unit scrambler demodulator 135 provides, in addition to scrambling measured along the front portion 120 provides the SIR value from the SIR, is input to the estimating section 300 in addition to the effect of the scrambling. 除扰效果估计部分300存储输入的信息，使用将在后面描述的算法和其当前含有的信息，估计除扰前的当前接收信号的除扰后SIR值，并输出估计值(在下文中称SIR估计)到比较器320。 In addition to the information section 300 stores the input interference effect is estimated using an algorithm described later and information about its current comprising estimating the interference SIR value in addition to the currently received signal before addition to the interference, and the output estimation value (called SIR hereinafter estimation ) to comparator 320. 在该情况中，输出的估计是假定在经过第n级的除扰单元后将获取的SIR值。 In this case, assuming that the SIR estimated output value obtained after the addition of the n-th stage after scrambling unit.
此外，除扰效果估计部分300估计关于当前接收信号的平均信扰功率比(在下文中称平均估计SIR值)，其基于实际上在从除扰解调器130获取除扰后被测量的SIR值和由上述估计获取的SIR值，并输出结果到目标值设定部分310。 Further, in addition to the effect of disturbance estimating section 300 estimates the average power of the current received signal to interference signal ratio (SIR estimated average values referred to hereinafter), in addition to the fact scrambler based demodulator 130 acquires SIR value for the interference from other measured after and the value obtained by the SIR estimation, and outputs the result to the target value setting section 310. 该平均估计SIR值对应于包含当前接收信号的传输时间间隔(TTI)的码组差错率。 The estimated SIR value corresponding to the average block error rate comprises a current transmission time interval (TTI) of the received signal.
外环SIR目标值设定部分330具有的功能与在常规系统中生成传输功率控制命令时参照的设定SIR目标值的功能相同，基于从码组差错率测量部分150提供的码组差错率试探地确定SIR目标值。 Outer loop SIR target value setting portion 330 has the same function as the reference transmission power control command is a function of generating the SIR target is set in the conventional system, error rate measuring section 150 based on block error rate supplied from the tentative code group determine the SIR target. 由于该决策过程与常规传输功率控制方法的外环系统相同，它的详细描述在这儿省略，但简单地说，如果码组差错率高则该算法设定SIR目标值为高，如果码组差错率低则设定SIR目标值为低，其计算方法可包括预存码组差错率和SIR目标值之间的映射表，并读取对应于输入码组差错率的SIR目标值。 Since the decision-making process with the conventional transmission power control system outer loop of the same method, its detailed description is omitted here, but simply, if the block error rate is high, the algorithm set SIR target value is high, if the error code group low SIR target value is set low, the calculation method may comprise a mapping table between the stored target SIR and block error rate, and reads the SIR target corresponding to the input of block error rate.
目标值设定部分310使用从外环SIR目标值设定部分330获取的试探SIR目标值和包含当前除扰前接收信号的传输时间间隔TTI的平均估计SIR值，从而更新功率控制的目标SIR值，比如当二者之间的差大于阈值的时候。 Target value setting portion 310 uses the target SIR setting section 330 acquires the probe and including the current average SIR estimate value other scrambled before transmission time interval (TTI) of the received signal from the outer loop SIR target value, thereby updating the target SIR value of the power control , such as when the difference between the two is greater than a threshold time. 这时，表示有多少移动台当前被连接的信息(信道连接信息)可被用作辅助信息。 In this case, the mobile station indicates how much of this information (channel information), connected may be used as the auxiliary information. 作为更新算法，简单地用估计平均SIR值替换为更新值的方法，将平均估计SIR值相应的第一系数与同试探SIR目标值一起的信道校正信息相应的第二系数的乘积作为更新值的方法，或将输入平均估计SIR值，信道校正信息和试探SIR目标值到预定函数而获取的值作为更新值的方法都可以考虑使用。 As the update algorithm, estimation is simply replaced with the updated value of the method, the average estimated SIR value corresponding to the product of the first coefficient together with the tentative target SIR corresponding to the second channel correction coefficient information is updated as the value of the average SIR values value method, or the value of the input average SIR estimation, channel correction information and tentative target SIR to a predetermined function of acquiring the update value as a method used can be considered. 此外，如果试探的SIR目标值和平均估计SIR值的差小于阈值，目标值设定部分310确定并不需要目标值的校正，并原样输出试探SIR目标值。 Further, if the difference between the probe and the average estimated SIR target SIR value is less than the threshold value, the target value setting portion 310 determines a target value correction is not required, and outputted as the SIR target probe.
比较器320比较从目标值设定部分310获取的功率控制SIR目标值和除扰前的当前接收信号的除扰后估计SIR值，并基于比较的结果，生成表示传输功率向上或向下的传输功率命令，并通过帧生成器190传输命令到移动台。 Comparator 320 compares the target value setting section 310 acquires power control SIR estimate and SIR target value addition in addition to the currently received scrambled signal before interference, based on a result of the comparison, transmit power upward or downward transmission generates power command, the command to the mobile station and the transmission frame generator 190.
如上述，考虑到除扰效果并基于估计SIR值的传输功率中被控制的变化代替了常规的内环控制，而考虑到除扰效果，使用对应于码组差错率的平均估计SIR值来设定和更新用于控制的SIR目标值则相当于常规的外环控制。 As described above, in addition to taking into account the effects of disturbance and the estimated change in the transmission power control SIR values are based on the place of the conventional inner loop control, in addition to taking into account the effect of disturbance, the use of block error rate corresponding to the average SIR estimate value provided and updating the set SIR target for control is equivalent to a conventional outer loop control.
这儿，在除扰效果估计部分300中实现的估计关于当前接收信号除扰后SIR的算法与计算对应于当前接收信号相关差错率的平均估计SIR值的算法将使用图6来解释。 Here, in addition to the effects of disturbance estimation section 300 is implemented on the current estimated received signals other scrambling algorithm and the SIR calculation algorithms corresponding to the average SIR estimate value of the current reception signal related to the error rate will be explained using FIG.
在SIR测量部分120中，接收信号的SIR值被实时地测量，从而除扰效果估计部分300能轻易地获取在时刻t接收的接收信号的除扰前SIR值。 In the SIR measuring section 120, the SIR value of the received signal is measured in real time, so that in addition to the effect of disturbance estimation section 300 can be easily acquired in addition to the SIR value before scrambling signal received at time t received. 然而，由于除扰需要时间，不可能在时刻t获取在时刻t接收的接收信号除扰后SIR值的确切测量值。 However, since the time required in addition to scrambling, it is impossible to access the precise measurement time t after addition scrambled at time of reception SIR value of the received signal t.
然而，即使在时刻t，当然可能获取前面接收的信号除扰后SIR值的实际测量值。 However, even at time t, of course, possible to obtain an actual measured value of the previously received scrambled SIR value of a signal other. 比如，如果n级除扰操作所需要的延迟时间为τt，那么可获取时刻t-τt接收的接收信号在第n级除扰后的SIR值。 For example, if the other n-level scrambling operation delay time required for the τt, then the received signal can be obtained in time t-τt received SIR value after scrambled in addition to n-th stage. 因此，通过使用除扰前SIR值和对应于前面接收信号实际测量的除扰后SIR值，可以估计SIR值因除扰而改善了多少，为此可能获取代表除扰效果的函数f_IC()。 Thus, in addition to scrambling by using the SIR values before and after the addition corresponding to the scrambling signal previously received SIR value actually measured SIR value can be estimated by the disturbance in addition to how much improvement, for the function representing f_IC scrambling may obtain other effects (). 该函数f_IC()表明在时刻τ接收的信号的信扰功率比SIR_0(τ)与同样的接收信号在第n级除扰后信扰功率比SIR_n(τ)之间的关系，其表达为SIR_n(τ)＝f_IC(SIR_0(τ))。 The function f_IC () show the relationship between the received signal to interference power ratio of the signal at time [tau] SIR_0 (τ) of the received signal similar to stage n except the scrambled signal to interference power ratio between SIR_n (τ), expressed as SIR_n (τ) = f_IC (SIR_0 (τ)). 因此，在当前时刻t，可能获取估计SIR值为SIR_n(t)＝f_IC(SIR_0(t))。 Accordingly, at the current time t, may obtain the estimated value of SIR SIR_n (t) = f_IC (SIR_0 (t)). 当确定该函数f_IC()时，可能使用多级(或所有级)的每级除扰后SIR值，或使用特定第n级(比如，末级)除扰后SIR值。 When it is determined that the function f_IC (), may use a multi-stage (or all stages) after each level except scrambled SIR value, or use a specific n-th stage (for example, the last stage) after the addition scrambled SIR value.
此外，对于除扰前SIR值，已获取取决于时刻t的值。 Further, in addition to the SIR value before the interference, depending on the value of the acquired time t. 因此，也可能获取函数f_SIRt(k，τ2-τ1)，其表示从时刻τ2到时刻τ1的时间变化引起的第k级中SIR值的变化。 Therefore, it is possible to obtain the function f_SIRt (k, τ2-τ1), which represents the change in the k-th stage SIR value caused by time changes from time to time [tau] 1 [tau] 2 in. 比如，在当前时刻t，可能从实际测量值轻易地确定f_SIRt(0，t-τt)。 For example, at the current time t, may be determined f_SIRt (0, t-τt) easily from the actual measured values. 而且，可能获取函数F_IC()，其表示基于这些函数f_IC()和f_SIRt()并考虑到时间变化因素的除扰效果。 Moreover, it may get function F_IC (), which represents the basis of these functions f_IC () and f_SIRt () and taking into account the effect of interference in addition to time-varying factors.
除扰效果估计部分300将时刻t的除扰前SIR值输入到除扰效果函数F_IC()，并估计在时刻t接收的接收信号除扰后SIR值。 In addition to the effect of disturbance estimation section 300 prior to scrambling in addition to the SIR value at a time t is input to the other scrambling function effect F_IC (), and the estimated SIR value in the reception signal received at time t after addition of the interference. 从而，在时刻t可能获取在时刻t接收的信号除扰后SIR值而无需等待除扰操作的处理延迟。 Thus, the delay time t may be acquired in the processing at time t received signal without waiting for other operations in addition to scrambling scrambled SIR value.
此外，如图6所示，n级除扰后SIR值作为相对于时刻t-τt接收的接收信号的实际测量值而被获取。 Further, as shown in FIG 6, n stage SIR value in addition to scrambling is acquired as the actual measurement value of the received signal with respect to time t-τt received. 而且，由于上述的估计，n级除扰后的SIR值作为相对于从时刻t-τt到时刻t接收的接收信号的估计值而被获取。 Further, the above estimation, in addition to n-stage SIR value and the disturbance estimated value is acquired with respect to a reception signal received at time t from the time as t-τt. 除扰效果估计部分300使用在时刻t接收信号的除扰后估计SIR值和先于此刻的预定时刻决定的除扰后SIR值，确定除扰后估计平均SIR值，将其作为包含时刻t接收信号的传输时间间隔TTI的平均估计SIR值，并输出到目标值设定部分310。 In addition to the scrambling effect estimating section 300 using the time t in addition to scramble the received signals the estimated SIR value and the scrambling SIR value other prior to a predetermined time at the moment of the decision, determining an estimated average SIR value in addition to scrambling, which is t receives containing time signal transmission time interval TTI of the average estimated SIR value, and outputs the target value setting section 310. 如上所述，该平均估计SIR值对应于包含时刻t接收的接收信号的传输时间间隔TTI的码组差错率。 As described above, SIR value corresponding to the TTI containing time t of the block error rate of reception signals received transmission time interval of the average estimated. 在本例中描述了基于估计SIR值计算的在时刻t接收的接收信号的除扰后SIR值和平均估计SIR值被作为包含时刻t接收的接收信号的传输时间间隔TTI的平均估计SIR值，但是如上述SIR估计算法，也可能实现校正，其考虑到被计算的平均估计SIR值的时间变化因素。 In the present embodiment is described based on the estimated SIR value calculated at the time except the scrambled SIR value and the average estimated SIR value of the received signal t received are spaced an average estimated SIR value TTI as a transmission time of the received signal comprises a time t received, However, SIR estimation algorithms as described above, is possible to realize the correction, which takes into account the average SIR estimate value is calculated in a time variation factor.
这样，本发明预计当前信号的除扰后SIR值，并且其反映到传输功率控制中，从而传输功率控制比使用实际值时被更精确地实现，因此使得常规出现的传输功率的不必要增加在其发生之前被避免，并通过吸收除扰操作引起的处理延迟来实现快速响应的实时传输功率控制。 Thus, the present invention contemplates addition to this scrambled signal the SIR value, and it is reflected to the transmission power control, so that transmission power control is achieved more accurately than when using the actual value, thus making it unnecessary transmission power is increased in regular occurrence It is avoided before it occurs, in addition to scrambling operation by absorbing a processing delay caused by transmission power control to achieve real-time fast response. 而且，确定对应于当前接收信号的码组差错率的平均估计SIR值，并将其反映到传输功率控制的目标值中，因此使得码组差错率计算引起的处理延迟被吸收，并使得实时传输功率控制被快速响应地实现。 Further, the average current is determined corresponding to the estimated SIR value of the block error rate of the received signal, and is reflected to the target value of the transmission power control, so that the block error rate calculation processing delay caused to be absorbed, such that real-time transmission and the power control is achieved with a quick response. 因此在本发明中，在使用除扰器的系统中，可以有效地进行常规的外环和内环控制而无需改变现有的外环控制信号生成部分，对标准规格系统的适应性可认为很高。 Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the scrambler system, can effectively control routine in the outer and inner rings used without changing the existing outer loop control signal generating part, the adaptability of the system may be considered standard is high.
在上述实施方式中，图中仅仅表示串联除扰器结构，但本发明也应用于并行除扰器或串—并混合除扰器结构。 In the above-described embodiment, in addition to the figures represent only the series scrambler structure, but the present invention is also applicable to other parallel or serial scrambler - addition and mixing scrambler structure.
此外，在上述实施方式中，对应于考虑到当前接收信号除扰效果的码组差错率的平均估计SIR值被加以估计，该值被反映到目标SIR值中并被校正，并且确定传输功率控制命令，其基于考虑到当前接收信号除扰效果的瞬时SIR值和校正的目标SIR值，但本发明是基于上行线路传输功率控制命令信号的生成，其考虑除扰效果未受除扰引起的延迟影响，从而其他方法可以用于实现传输功率控制命令的生成。 Further, in the above-described embodiment, corresponding to the current received signal is considered to be the estimated SIR value estimated by dividing the average block error rate of interference effect, the value is reflected to the target SIR and corrected, and determines the transmission power control command, which is based on the consideration of the current value of the received signal in addition to the target SIR SIR value and the corrected instantaneous interference effects, but the present invention is based on the uplink transmission power control command signal is generated, which were not considered in addition to the effect of interference due to other interference delay Effects of such other methods may be used to implement the transmission power control command generation. 比如，通过使用除扰效果的估计值，可能在对应于内环的控制期间的每个SIR测量期间更新目标SIR值，并确定基于校正目标SIR值的传输功率控制命令和当前接收信号的SIR值。 During each update the target SIR SIR measurement, for example, by using the estimated value of the interference effect in addition, may correspond to the inner ring during the control and determines the transmission power corrected target SIR value based on control commands and signals currently received SIR value . 而且，对应于外环目标SIR值的校正方法可以是估计除扰后码组差错率本身并基于其被实现。 Moreover, the target SIR corresponding to the outer loop correction method may be estimating the error rate in addition to the scrambling code group which is itself based on the implementation. 任一情况下，下面表明的效果是相似的。 Under either case, it indicates that the following effects are similar.
根据本发明，在具有功率控制和除扰能力的CDMA系统中，除基于常规的由外环设定的值之外，还基于反映除扰单元引起的除扰效果的值，功率控制目标值被设定。 According to the present invention, in a CDMA system with power control and interference capability in addition, in addition to the conventional value by the outer loop based on the set, it reflected further controlled based on other effects in addition to the scrambling of the scrambling unit causes the value of the power target value set up. 此外，功率控制命令信息的确定是通过先估计当前接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比然后使用该值来实现。 Further, the power control command information is determined by first estimating the current channel after the other scrambled signals received interference power ratio value is then used to achieve this. 结果，功率控制系统反映除扰功能的效果。 As a result, the power control system to reflect the effect of the addition scrambling function. 而且，与常规的功率控制系统相比，该功率控制系统对无线电通信路径上的变化具有快速的响应。 Moreover, compared with the conventional power control system, the power control system with fast response to changes in the radio path. 结果，能避免上行线路传输功率中不必要的增加，因此与常规系统相比能抑制多址干扰。 As a result, the uplink transmission power to avoid unnecessary increases, it is possible to suppress multiple access interference as compared to conventional systems.
1.一种用于实现移动台和基站之间的码分多址通信的通信系统，其特征在于：所述基站包括：用于接收来自所述移动台的信号和输出第一接收信号的基站接收装置；用于去除包含于所述第一接收信号中的多址干扰信号的除扰装置；用于估计当前正被接收的所述第一接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比的除扰效果估计装置；用于通过比较由所述除扰效果估计装置确定的所述除扰后信扰功率比和功率控制的目标值来生成功率控制命令的控制命令生成装置；以及用于传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台的基站传输装置；并且所述移动台包括：用于接收来自所述基站的信号和输出第二接收信号的移动台接收装置；以及移动台传输装置，其基于包含于所述第二接收信号中的所述功率控制命令来调整被传输到所述基站的传输信号的功率。 1. A method for a communication system of code division multiple access communication between a mobile station and a base station, wherein: said base station comprising: a base station for receiving the first signal and the output signal received from the mobile station receiving means; means for removing said first received signal comprises multiple access interference signals other scrambling means; means for estimating the signal to interference power in addition to the scrambling currently being received by the first received signal other than the interference effect estimating means; means for generating a power control command generation means control command by comparing the estimated by the effect of the addition scrambling means scramble determining other target value signal to interference power ratios and power control; and means for transmitting said transmitting power control commands to the base station apparatus to the mobile station; and the mobile station comprising: means for receiving from the mobile station signal receiving means receives a second signal and an output of the base station; transmitting apparatus and a mobile station, based comprising the power to the second received signal to adjust the power control command is transmitted to the base station transmission signal.
2.根据权利要求1所述的通信系统，其中所述目标值是基于在除扰后通过解码所述第一接收信号而获取的解码数据的差错率来确定。 The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said target value based on the error rate in addition to the scrambled acquired by decoding the first decoded data signal received is determined.
3.根据权利要求1或2所述的通信系统，其中所述基站还包括：用于确定所述第一接收信号的信扰功率比的第一信扰功率比测量装置；用于在通过所述除扰装置除扰后确定所述第一接收信号的信扰功率比的第二信扰功率比测量装置；以及基于当前接收信号的信扰功率比与过去所述第一接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比，所述除扰效果估计装置估计当前接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比，其中，当前接收信号的信扰功率比是从所述第一信扰功率比测量装置获取的，而过去所述第一接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比是从所述第二信扰功率比测量装置获取的。 The communication system of claim 1 or 2 wherein said base station further comprises: determining a first channel interference power of the received signal of the first signal to interference power ratio measuring apparatus ratio; for by the in addition to scrambling means determines said other of said first received signal after the interference power of the second signal to interference ratio of the signal to interference power ratio measuring apparatus; channel interference power and based on the current received signal to interference ratio in the past in addition to the first received signal after the signal to interference power ratio, in addition to the effects of disturbance estimating means currently received signal to interference signal power ratio after addition scrambled, wherein the current signal to interference power ratio of the received signal is obtained from the first signal to interference power ratio measuring apparatus , past the scrambled signal to interference power ratio after addition of the first received signal is a second signal to interference power ratio measuring apparatus from the acquisition.
4.根据权利要求3所述的通信系统，其中所述基站还包括用于确定对应于当前接收信号差错率的信扰功率比平均值的信号处理装置，该平均值的确定是基于由所述除扰效果估计装置估计的当前接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比和由所述第二信扰功率比测量装置测量的除扰后信扰功率比；以及基于由所述信号处理装置确定的所述平均值，用于更新功率控制目标值的目标值设定装置。 4. The communication system according to claim 3, wherein said base station further comprises means for determining a current corresponding to a signal to interference power ratio of a received signal error rate of the average signal processing apparatus, the average value is determined based on by the in addition to the effect of disturbance estimation means for estimating a current signal to interference power ratio after receiving scrambled signals other than by the second channel and interference power ratio after addition scrambled channel interference power measured by the measuring means; based on the determination by said signal processing means the average power control for updating the target value of the target value setting means.
5.根据权利要求4所述的通信系统，其中所述目标值设定装置考虑到当前连接的数量来更新所述目标值。 The communication system according to claim 4, wherein said target value setting means taking into account the number of current connections to update the target value.
6.一种用于实现移动台和基站之间的码分多址通信的通信系统，其特征在于：所述基站包括：用于接收来自所述移动台的信号和输出第一接收信号的基站接收装置；用于去除包含于所述第一接收信号中的多址干扰信号的除扰装置；用于在由所述除扰装置除扰后解码所述第一接收信号和确定解码数据差错率的差错率计算装置；基于由所述差错率计算装置确定的差错率来确定功率控制目标值的第一目标值设定装置；用于估计由所述除扰装置除扰的效果的除扰效果估计装置；依赖于由所述除扰效果估计装置估计的除扰效果而用以更新所述目标值的第二目标值设定装置；用于通过比较从所述第二目标值设定装置输出的所述目标值与当前正被接收的所述第一接收信号的信扰功率比，生成功率控制命令的控制命令生成装置；以及用于传输所述功率控制命令到所 A CDMA communication system used for communication between a mobile station and a base station, wherein: said base station comprising: a base station for receiving the first signal and the output signal received from the mobile station in addition to multiple access interference means for removing an interference signal contained in the first received signal;; by the receiving means for scrambling the received signal and decoding the first decoded data error rate determined in addition to the scrambling device other the error rate calculating means; a first target value setting means for determining a power control target value based on the error rate calculated by error rate determining means; means for estimating the effects of the addition to scrambling in addition to the scrambling device other interference effects estimating means; dependent on the estimated by the estimation apparatus in addition to the effect of interference effects in addition to scrambling the second target value setting means updates said target value; means for setting a target value outputted from said second comparator It said signal to interference power ratio of the target currently being received by the first received signal, generating a power control command of the control command generation means; and means for transmitting the power control command to the 移动台的基站传输装置；并且所述移动台包括：用于接收来自所述基站的信号和输出第二接收信号的移动台接收装置；以及基于包含于所述第二接收信号中的所述功率控制命令来调整被传输到所述基站的传输信号功率的移动台传输装置。 Base station transmits a mobile station apparatus; and the mobile station comprising: receiving means for receiving the mobile station signal and second received signal output from the base station; and based on the power contained in the second received signal a control command to adjust the mobile station apparatus is transmitted to the transmission power of a transmission signal of the base station.
7.一种用于通信系统的基站设备，用于通过码分多址实现与移动台的通信；所述移动台包括：用于接收来自所述基站的信号和输出第二接收信号的移动台接收装置；以及移动台传输装置，其基于包含于所述第二接收信号中的所述功率控制命令来调整被传输到所述基站的传输信号的功率；所述基站设备包括：用于接收来自所述移动台的信号和输出接收信号的基站接收装置；用于去除包含于所述接收信号中的多址干扰信号的除扰装置；用于估计正被接收的所述接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比的除扰效果估计装置；用于通过比较由所述除扰效果估计装置确定的所述除扰后信扰功率比和功率控制的目标值，生成功率控制命令的控制命令生成装置；以及用于传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台的基站传输装置。 A base station apparatus for a communication system, a communication with a mobile station by a code division multiple access implemented; the mobile station comprising: a mobile station for receiving a signal and a second received signal output from the base station receiving means; and a mobile station transmission means, based on the power control command which is included in the second received signal to adjust the power is transmitted to the base station transmission signal; said base station apparatus comprising: means for receiving from in addition to scrambling for the estimation of the reception signal being received; means the mobile station receiving the received signal and the output signal of the station; means for removing said apparatus comprising in addition to receiving multiple access interference signal of the interference in addition the effect of interference signal to interference power ratio estimating means; means for comparing the estimated by the interference effect by the addition of other means determines scrambled signal to interference power ratio target value and the power control, power control command generates a control command generation means ; and a base station transmitting means for transmitting the power control command to the mobile station.
8.根据权利要求7所述的基站设备，其中所述目标值是基于通过在除扰后解码所述接收信号而获取的解码数据差错率来确定的。 8. The base station apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said target value is determined by the other decoding said received scrambled signal acquired error rate based on the decoded data.
9.根据权利要求7或8所述的基站设备，还包括用于确定所述接收信号的信扰功率比的第一信扰功率比测量装置；以及用于通过所述除扰装置除扰后确定所述接收信号的信扰功率比的第二信扰功率比测量装置；其中，基于由所述第一信扰功率比测量装置获取的当前接收信号的信扰功率比与由所述第二信扰功率比测量装置获取的过去所述接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比，所述除扰效果估计装置估计当前接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比。 And the other by the scrambling means for scrambling other; base station apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising means for determining a first interference power channel signal to interference ratio of the received signal power ratio measuring apparatus determining the signal to interference power of the received signal is smaller than a second signal to interference power ratio measuring apparatus; wherein, based on the current received signal to interference signal power ratio obtained by said first measuring signal to interference power ratio by said second signal to interference power ratio measuring apparatus obtaining last after other scrambled channel interference power ratio of the received signal, in addition to the effects of disturbance estimating means scrambled channel in addition to the current received interference power ratio of the signal.
10.根据权利要求9所述的基站设备，还包括：信号处理装置，用于基于由所述除扰效果估计装置估计的当前接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比和由所述第二信扰功率比测量装置测量的除扰后信扰功率比来确定对应于当前接收信号差错率的信扰功率比平均值；以及用于基于由所述信号处理装置确定的所述平均值来更新所述功率控制目标值的目标值设定装置。 The base station apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: signal processing means, based on a signal to interference power ratio of the rear of the second channel and received signals in addition to the current scrambling effect estimating means other than interference interference power ratio determined after addition scrambled signal to interference power ratio measuring means for measuring a current corresponding to the signal to interference power ratio of the average received signal error rate; and means for, based on the average value determined by the signal processing means to update said power control target value of the target value setting means.
11.根据权利要求10所述的基站设备，其中所述目标值设定装置考虑到当前的连接数量来更新所述目标值。 11. The base station apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said target value setting means taking into account the current number of connections to update the target value.
12.一种通信系统的基站设备，用于通过码分多址实现同移动台的通信，所述移动台包括：用于接收来自所述基站的信号和输出第二接收信号的移动台接收装置；以及移动台传输装置，其基于包含于所述第二接收信号中的所述功率控制命令来调整被传输到所述基站的传输信号的功率；所述基站包括：用于接收来自所述移动台的信号和输出接收信号的基站接收装置；用于去除包含于所述接收信号中的多址干扰信号的除扰装置；用于通过所述除扰装置除扰后解码所述接收信号和确定解码数据差错率的差错率计算装置；用于基于由所述差错率计算装置确定的差错率来确定功率控制目标值的第一目标值设定装置；用于估计由所述除扰装置而来的除扰的效果的除扰效果估计装置；用于基于由所述除扰效果估计装置估计的除扰效果，更新所述目标值的第二目标值 12. The base station apparatus of a communication system, code division multiple access for communication with the mobile station by the mobile station comprising: a mobile station for receiving a signal and a second received signal output from the base station reception apparatus ; transmitting apparatus and a mobile station, based on the power control command which is included in the second received signal to adjust the power of the transmission signal is transmitted to the base station; the base station comprising: means for receiving from the mobile the base station apparatus receives the signal and the output signal of the reception station; means for removing means is included in addition to the multiple access interference of the interference signal of the received signal; except for scrambled by the scrambling means in addition to the determination and decoding said received signals decoding data error rate of the error rate calculating means; based on the error rate calculated by error rate determining means determines the power control target value a first target value setting means; means for estimating by said scrambling means from other in addition to the interference effect as other interference estimating means; based on estimated by the estimation apparatus in addition to the effect of disturbing interference effects in addition to, updating the target value of the second target 定装置；通过比较从所述第二目标值设定装置输出的所述目标值与正被接收的所述第一接收信号的信扰功率比，用于生成功率控制命令的控制命令生成装置；以及用于传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台的基站传输装置。 Setting means; generating means by comparing the power of the target signal to interference from the second target value setting means and the output being received by a first receiving signal ratio for generating a power control command is a control command; and means for transmitting the transmission power control commands to the base station apparatus to the mobile station.
13.一种在通信系统中通过码分多址在移动台和基站之间实现通信的功率控制方法，其特征在于：去除包含于来自所述移动台的接收信号中的多址干扰信号；估计正被接收的所述接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比；通过比较所述估计的除扰后信扰功率比和功率控制的目标值来生成功率控制命令；以及通过传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台控制所述移动台的传输功率。 13. A method implemented by code division multiple access in a communication system between a mobile station and a base station for communication power control method, characterized by: removing comprises multiple access interference signals from the received signal in the mobile station; Estimation after addition scrambled signal to interference power ratio of the received signal being received; other by comparing the estimated signal to interference power ratio after scrambling and power control target value to generate a power control commands; and transmitting said power control command by the mobile station to control transmission power of the mobile station.
14.根据权利要求13所述的功率控制方法，其中所述目标值是基于在除扰后通过解码所述接收信号而获取的解码数据差错率来确定的。 14. The power control method according to claim 13, wherein said target value based on said received signal error rate of the decoded data by decoding the scrambled after addition acquired determined.
15.根据权利要求13或14所述的功率控制方法，还包括：测量所述接收信号的信扰功率比和测量除扰后所述接收信号的信扰功率比，以及基于当前接收信号的所得信扰功率比和前面所述接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比，估计当前接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比。 15. The power control method of claim 13 or claim 14, further comprising: measuring the signal to interference power ratio after addition of the scrambled signal is received, and based on the obtained current received signal and the signal to interference power ratio measuring the received signal and a signal to interference power ratio after addition to the foregoing scrambled signal to interference power ratio of the received signal, in addition to the interference estimating signal to interference power ratio of the signal currently received.
16.根据权利要求15所述的功率控制方法，还包括：基于已被估计的当前接收信号除扰后信扰功率比和过去被测量的所述接收信号的除扰后信扰功率比来确定对应于当前接收信号差错率的信扰功率比平均值，并基于所述平均值来更新所述功率控制的目标值。 16. The power control method according to claim 15, further comprising: scrambling the signal to interference power ratio determined after addition scrambled signal to interference power ratio of the received signal is measured based on the past and the currently received signal has been estimated in addition corresponding to the current received signal to interference signal power ratio of average error rate, and updating the target value based on the average value of the power control.
17.根据权利要求16所述的功率控制方法，其中考虑当前的连接数量更新所述目标值。 17. The power control method according to claim 16, wherein the number of connections currently considering updating the target value.
18.一种在通信系统中通过码分多址在移动台和基站之间实现通信的功率控制方法，其特征在于：去除包含于来自所述移动台的接收信号中的多址干扰信号；在所述除扰之后解码所述接收信号并确定所述解码数据的差错率，基于被确定的差错率来确定功率控制的目标值，估计所述除扰所引起的除扰效果，以及基于所述估计的除扰效果更新所述目标值；基于所述目标值和当前正被接收的所述接收信号的信扰功率比之间的比较生成功率控制命令；以及传输所述功率控制命令到所述移动台以控制所述移动台的传输功率。 18. A CDMA base station between the mobile station and the power control method implemented in a communication system communicating through, wherein: removing comprises multiple access interference signals from the received signal in the mobile station; in after the addition scramble decoding said received signal and determines an error rate of the decoded data, the power control target value is determined based on the determined error rate, in addition to scrambling in addition to estimating the effect of disturbance caused, and based on the in addition to updating the estimated effect of said interference target value; generating a power control command based on the comparison between the signal to interference power ratio and the target value of the reception signal currently being received; and transmitting said power control command to the the mobile station to control the transmission power of the mobile station. | 2019-04-19T23:21:59Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/CN1214544C/en |
What kind of progress are women making in their careers? Are we seeing more women advance to the top accounting and finance roles? With global press in late 2017 discussing the #MeToo movement, dialogue focusing on all types of women’s advancement issues is gaining significant momentum in many arenas.
While #MeToo was started based on issues related to sexual harassment and assault, the overall topic of women’s career advancement is an easy transition as conversations grow. This is particularly the case in light of slow progress in women being appointed to top positions at highly visible organizations, such as those representing the Fortune 500 or Fortune 1000.
Deloitte recently published statistics in its CFO Insights (“Journey to CFO: What’s Changed for Women in 2017?”) that women held only 61 (12.5%) of the Fortune 500 CFO positions in 2017, and this number was down from 2015 when women held 13.8% of the positions.
Is the CEO position any better? A Catalyst study (“Women CEOs of the S&P 500”) indicated that in January 2017 only 26 (5.2%) of the Fortune 500 CEO positions were held by women. In January 2018, Fortune reported that 27 Fortune 500 CEOs are women, but that number is expected to drop in mid-2018 as three women CEOs have announced their upcoming retirement.
Is it better in the boardroom? That statistic is a bit higher. An initiative called 2020 Women on Boards reports that women held 18.8% of board seats of Fortune 1000 companies in 2016, and in 2017 that number rose to 19.8% (see www.2020wob.com).
Sandra Richtermeyer at the Women’s Accounting Leadership Series event on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2018, in Amsterdam.
To delve further into these and other issues affecting women in accounting and finance, IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) has been holding its semiannual Women’s Accounting Leadership Series since October 2014. The eighth event was on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2018, in Amsterdam. At this point in the series history, all attendees have been women, and they represent a wide range of experience in accounting and finance—anywhere from 1 to 25 years. Professionals with all levels of experience are welcome at the events, but, on average, attendees typically have worked approximately 15 years in accounting- and finance-related positions.
Many women IMA members have stated they would welcome discussions that include both men and women. But the event’s focus has been on creating a forum for conversation among women so they can have candid, frank conversations with each other regarding the advancement of women in accounting and finance. Participants are hopeful that the number of women in top positions will look more promising year after year and that single-digit increases in women at the top over a five-year period won’t be the norm.
Networking and open discussion comprise about 20%-25% of the overall experience at these events. Participants are asked a series of questions related to the advancement of women in accounting and finance, and they discuss responses openly within groups and via individual written responses.
What are the barriers to career advancement for women in accounting and finance?
What does it take for a woman to rise to the top in accounting and finance?
What are the most critical issues to address in order to close the wage gap for women in accounting and finance?
The attendees discussed these three questions as a group and provided their own candid feedback. The individual responses were gathered “free form” using an open response format rather than being guided by a questionnaire or other type of survey. They are important to the overall leadership initiative because they serve as input to the design of future Women’s Accounting Leadership Series events.
Women in finance and accounting often encounter barriers to career advancement that men don’t.
Attendees perceived family issues as a potential primary barrier to career advancement. They stated that taking time off for children and ongoing childcare or family responsibilities could be viewed as creating hurdles for job progression. This is consistent with feedback from many popular press surveys focusing on career issues for women, and it isn’t surprising that family and work-life balance issues were cited as a top challenge. In their individual commentary, participants elaborated on this concern, stating that their sense of personal responsibility to their family contributes to perceptions by coworkers and others that are very difficult to overcome.
More specifically, the pressure of not knowing the right time to start a family given someone’s position level in her career was a common concern, particularly for women who didn’t have children but thought that they would in the future. For example, some women stated that if they weren’t perceived to be advanced enough in their career, there could be perceptions from their colleagues that they aren’t serious about their career progression if they take time off to have children or care for parents.
On the other hand, some women thought that if they were quite advanced in their careers, perhaps in a more senior role such as controller, CFO, or vice president, taking time off for family might be extremely difficult because they have a considerable level of responsibility and it could significantly impact their organization and their colleagues when they’re away. The bottom line is that there was great variance in the “right time” to start a family.
This feedback also emphasized the thinking that women may be perceived as not 100% committed to their jobs because they were in a “family planning” stage of life. Those who had already started their families were concerned that supervisors or leaders would presume that they would be taking time off for their children or to be more family focused, thus creating obstacles for career progression. Many with these concerns stated that if they reported to leaders who didn’t have family responsibilities, their fears escalated, particularly if they felt uncomfortable asking for schedule adjustments linked to family responsibilities.
Participants generally agreed that having a supervisor or even just a role model within the organization who had family responsibilities lessened these types of concerns. It’s important to note that most participants remarked that these apprehensions were perceptions about organizational culture and not necessarily anything that leaders actually told them, but those perceptions were enough to cause anxiety about balancing work and family life.
Women’s Accounting Leadership Series attendees also said that marriage in general (without reference to children or care for parents) can be a barrier for them, particularly with a two-career household. They explained that balancing their career opportunities with those of their spouse can be a significant challenge for many women.
Attendees also cited individual personality characteristics or emotions as creating barriers to career advancement. One of their top areas of concern was a lack of confidence. More specifically, a perceived or actual lack of confidence is an obstacle that gets in the way of many women’s opportunities for promotions. Similar to the confidence concern, a number of attendees said that a lack of assertiveness in seeking advancement is a significant challenge.
Additionally, many described risk behavior as a potential roadblock, believing that many women are risk averse when it comes to considering new opportunities that could elevate their roles. And guilt may be career limiting and correlated with family concerns described previously. Guilt was an issue, but particularly guilt from trying to do it all seemed to be viewed as a limiting factor in seeking a promotion or in planning for career advancement. For example, some women felt that if they sought promotion or focused on career progression, they may not be doing what’s best for their family or personal life.
Many women described a “men’s club” atmosphere or culture as a major inhibitor to their career advancement. While recognizing that this type of club or organization doesn’t formally exist, when most or all of the senior leaders (board, C-suite) in a company are men, this perception can prevail among women. Participants described how this viewpoint can be accelerated when company social functions are centered on corporate golf outings or drinks after work. Even though discussion around this issue obviously recognized that women aren’t specifically excluded from these events, it was clear that the activities are often perceived as less attractive to many women, particularly if they are one of few women who attend.
Other factors that attendees said created barriers to advancement are biases and stereotypes. The concept of unconscious bias has increasingly become a hot topic and is prevalent in diversity and inclusion discussions in the global business community. Given its frequency in these types of discussions, I found it interesting that a number of participants described bias as an issue (too many), but it usually wasn’t associated with the phrase “unconscious bias.” The concern was generally just “bias.” What type of bias seemed to be the concern? Many participants thought that, in their organizations, there seemed to be a clear tendency for bias toward promoting men rather than women because of the perceptions about women being focused on family-related matters.
Significant discussion focused around stereotypes of women being thought of as caregivers and not as motivated or as career driven as their male counterparts. How can this bias be overcome? Many participants stated that the best way to reduce or eliminate this real or perceived bias is to demonstrate that women can indeed be promoted to senior leadership roles at their organization. How? By actually promoting women.
Finally, the lack of mentors and sponsors was cited as a barrier to women’s career advancement. A mentor is typically someone who gives career advice on a formal or informal basis and may or may not work at the same organization as the mentee. A sponsor is someone who works at the same organization in a more senior role than the individual he or she is sponsoring. Sponsors usually are individuals who can be influential when it comes to recognition, advancement, and promotions. They stand up for you, and they can help you develop key relationships within your organization.
Many participants explained that it was important to have a formal sponsorship program where sponsors are leaders in the organization and can speak directly on behalf of women. Sponsorship arrangements often are in larger companies, and it can be challenging for women in small organizations to benefit. In that case, having a supervisor or leader who is viewed as a champion of women’s advancement is important. In addition, women having one or more mentor is viewed as a positive force to encourage career advancement, particularly as different perspectives and opinions can be helpful in addressing real or perceived concerns that may affect career progression.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO RISE TO THE TOP?
Participants also were asked what they thought it takes to rise to the top. Of course, that can vary by what they believe the “top” is, but the question was asked in the context of one of the primary goals of the Women’s Accounting Leadership Series initiative: How can IMA help women advance their careers to senior-level accounting- or finance-related positions in their organizations? For example, how can a controller advance to the position of chief financial officer (CFO) or vice president of finance?
Participants explained that help with rising to the top includes having a strong support system at work and beyond. They also perceive a supportive boss as very helpful. If a supervisor champion isn’t in place, then support from coworkers or an overall supportive organizational culture is also highly beneficial. Attendees also said that having a strong support system outside their work environment is a significant contributor to career advancement. Outside support systems such as those developed through participation in professional associations are particularly impactful.
Tied closely to the concept of a support system, a strong professional network also plays a powerful role in career progression, participants noted. Again, active participation in professional organizations, such as IMA, was deemed especially critical in creating a robust professional network. Leadership Series attendees also noted that networking inside their own organization is very important. For example, it could be helpful for an accounting and finance professional to develop an internal work network outside accounting and finance and across the organization.
For those in small companies, it may be beneficial to develop that network in the supply chain or beyond your company. Also, don’t be hesitant to volunteer for projects inside your organization that may or may not enhance your skills but would give you an opportunity to work with others. For example, volunteering for a project where you already have the skills will likely allow you to make a strong contribution and perhaps lead the initiative, educate others, and be able to focus more on building relationships.
Another way to build a strong professional network is to consider service on nonprofit or professional association boards. Serving as a volunteer alongside your peers or with those in your industry can make a significant positive impact on your professional network. It can dramatically impact your leadership skills, particularly if you’re given a chance to lead an initiative that’s very different from what you may be doing in your “day job.” And the experience is an excellent way to prepare for future service as a paid director on a for-profit board.
While attendees said a support system was a top enabler for career success, expertise and hard work are absolutely essential. They described the importance of fortitude or having strength and resilience in difficult situations as very important, as are demonstrating loyalty and commitment to the organization. This may be shown by staying at an organization for more than a few years and not “job hopping” every couple of years. In addition, attendees mentioned that putting in the same number of hours as other leaders in the organization is important.
What are the most critical issues when it comes to reducing the wage gap for women in accounting and finance? First let’s look at overall gender gaps as reported by global organizations.
The gender pay gap is widely cited across many occupations, not just those related to accounting and finance. The World Economic Forum (WEF) publishes a “Global Gender Gap Report” that gives a comprehensive global look at gender gaps related to several factors: economic, education, health, and political. The report illustrates benchmarks in national gender gaps and presents rankings by country that provide many ways to compare across regions and income groups.
According to the report, the U.S. has, for several years, fully closed its gap in educational attainment for women. In other words, women and men have the same opportunities in terms of access to education. In terms of economic participation and opportunity, the WEF report shows that the U.S. ranks 19 out of the 144 countries included in the report, showing an overall 22% gap in this area. This measure consists of three elements: the participation gap, the remuneration gap, and the advancement gap.
The participation gap is measured by looking at the difference in how women and men participate in the labor force. In the U.S., 66.2% of working-age women participate in the workforce compared to 77.4% of men.
The remuneration gap is a ratio of female-to-male earned income. In the U.S., results indicate that women earn 65% of what men earn. This may seem quite a bit lower than other gender gap studies, and it’s important to note that WEF’s earnings data is measured across many categories and uses the proportion of working women and men, their relative wages, and gross domestic product (GDP). The result of 65% is particularly interesting, especially when considering the results of another question on the survey: “In your country, for similar work, to what extent are wages for women equal to those of men?” The U.S. participants in this survey indicated that they believe women’s wages are 73% of those earned by men.
Another helpful picture related to economic participation is the advancement gap, which is an indicator of career progression by looking at ratios of women to men in leadership roles and in professional and technical positions. The result of the advancement gap indicates that women represent 77% of positions as legislators, senior officials, and managers, and they represent more of the workforce in technical and professional roles (133%). The results of the advancement gap suggest that women are advancing, but the wage gap is still a big issue. The WEF report also indicates that women represent 20% of board positions for listed companies.
According to 2017 data published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the wage gap for women in business, finance, and accounting remains a significant issue. (See http://bit.ly/2qOFkyf.) This report indicates that women in business and financial operations occupations earn 76% of what men earn. Within that category, women who have positions classified as accountants and auditors earn 77% of men’s earnings. Women with positions as financial analysts appear to fare better, earning 86% of what men earn.
Among IMA members, women in the U.S. earn 83% of what men earn in median base salary and 81% of what men earn in median total compensation, according to IMA’s 2018 U.S. Salary Survey (see Table 1). But this varies by age group. In the 20-29 age range, women’s base salary was 94% of men’s, and their total compensation was 88% of men’s. For 30-39, it was 87% and 85%, respectively.
In the 40-49 age range, women earned 81% of men’s base salary and 76% of their total compensation. And in the 50 and older range, it was 80% and 75%, respectively. The results were slightly different from region to region. To see all the results, visit http://bit.ly/2HR7KQi.
Use your support network. Talk with your sponsors about how they view their role as your sponsors and what you can and can’t expect with their assistance. Also, seek salary guidance from mentors. Even if you don’t want to directly discuss your exact compensation, reference compensation ranges.
Know when it may be time to leave. Consider the effects of complacency or staying too long with a company. If you don’t see long-term potential for improving your salary, it may be time to pursue opportunities outside your organization.
Don’t be afraid to self-promote. Describe your accomplishments in both formal and informal communications with your supervisor, peers, and coworkers. Women are often reluctant to talk about their areas of expertise or accomplishments with projects and key initiatives. Create a comprehensive LinkedIn profile that includes endorsements from others as well as carefully articulated statements demonstrating the types of initiatives you have been a part of that created value for your organization.
Although some progress has been made in closing the gender gap in pay and in promoting women to leadership positions in accounting and finance as well as other areas of an organization, more needs to be done. Throughout my career and in my volunteer work, I’ve been involved in a variety of leadership initiatives for both men and women of all ages and at various stages of their careers. Organizations that want to make progress need to make a dedicated effort to have conversations and seek solutions to enable a culture that addresses the many issues described here. Conversations that start from the top down and that don’t get lost at various levels of the organization are critical. As the talks occur, also necessary is action that demonstrates closing the gap is a priority. What is your business or other organization doing in this area? How will you participate? What advice can you give?
What can women do to create a more inclusive workplace environment?
Serve as a mentor to male colleagues. Being a mentor first and foremost helps others, but it’s also a great way to grow your own leadership skills. Serving as a mentor to men and women gives you the opportunity to learn more about the perceptions of those not as far along as you in their career, and you can learn as much as your mentee. As you mentor male colleagues, you may learn how a men’s club atmosphere may be viewed through their lens, which can help you understand how to be helpful in changing the culture that sustains it.
Contribute to inclusive conversations. Perceptions of men’s clubs or other exclusive groups often start with conversations or actions that aren’t viewed as open or transparent. This perception can become reality when male colleagues gather only with other men for lunch, sports outings, or drinks after work. These gatherings often come about because of common interests and a level of comfort with socializing outside the office. It’s surprising how often informal office gatherings, breakroom conversations, and pre- or post-meetings end up with small groups of men or small groups of women chatting. In these situations, make it a point to not always retreat to your gender group for conversation, and encourage others to do the same. Practice the art of small talk to gain more familiarity with all of your coworkers. Casual, impromptu conversations often break down major walls and build collegial relationships.
Watch where you sit. Again, in meetings and business meals, women often sit next to other women, and there can instantly be a “men’s area” and a “women’s area” at the table. One participant gave an example of what she does when that happens. She states, “Let’s balance the table a bit in terms of where we all sit before we get too comfortable in our seats.” Also, if you’re one of only two women at a meeting, make an effort to not sit next to the other woman. This advice may sound superficial, but watch the dynamics at your next meeting or business meal. You may find it surprising how often it occurs! By sitting next to male colleagues, there’s potential to have informal conversation or small talk before and after a meeting and, as suggested, break down barriers.
If you’re the only woman present in a meeting, make sure you contribute to the conversation and recognize the contributions of others. Also, show you’re paying attention when others talk. These important tips contribute to your professionalism and are more likely to earn you the respect of others.
Shake hands. Men will shake each other’s hands when they great each other or before a meeting but often forget to shake the hand of their female colleagues. Most women agreed this probably was unintentional, but many participants mentioned how often they witness this behavior. The advice? Be the first to shake hands when greeting a male colleague or when a meeting starts or ends.
Not acceptable for a professional organization.
As discussed early in this article, Life choices heavily influence women’s accomplishment in the workplace. My experience is that women who decide to participate on a focused basis comparable to men, do as well as their male counterparts.
As we continue to differentiate the genders, i.e. women’s segregation based training and meetings, we facilitate and continue to enable the divisions.
Researching IMA studies earlier, after the first gender pay differential reporting in the March SF, I noticed that 2 base salary comparisons were interesting. To wit, base salary comparisons for baccalaurette degree women in top management and middle management were respectively 99.4% and 101.5% of men. However, The overall comparison of the study confirmed a lower relationship as you discussed in this article. | 2019-04-22T16:07:05Z | https://sfmagazine.com/post-entry/may-2018-women-in-leadership-time-for-more/ |
Written by James Madison in 1785, in opposition to a bill, introduced into the General Assembly of Virginia, to levy a general assessment for the support of teachers of religions.
Presented to the Virginia General Assembly 20 June 1785.
The assessment bill was tabled, and in its place the Assembly enacted A Bill for Religious Liberty by Thomas Jefferson.
Often titled A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, the document itself is titled only A Memorial and Remonstrance.
During the session of the General Assembly 1784–5 a bill was introduced into the House of Delegates providing for the legal support of Teachers of the Christian Religion, and being patronized by the most popular talents in the House, seemed likely to obtain a majority of votes. In order to arrest its progress it was insisted with success that the bill should be postponed till the evening session, and in the meantime be printed for public consideration. That the sense of the people might be the better called forth, your highly distinguished ancestor Col. Geo. Mason, Col. Geo. Nicholas also possessing much public weight and some others thought it advisable that a remonstrance against the bill should be prepared for general circulation and signature and imposed on me the task of drawing up such a paper. The draught having received their sanction, a large number of printed copies were distributed, and so extensively signed by the people of every religious denomination that at the ensuing session the projected measure was entirely frustrated; and under the influence of the public sentiment thus manifested the celebrated bill Establishing Religious Freedom enacted into a permanent barrier against Future attempts on the rights of conscience as declared in the Great Charter prefixed to the Constitution of the State.
We the subscribers, citizens of the said Commonwealth, having taken into serious consideration, a Bill printed by order of the last Session of General Assembly, entitled A Bill establishing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion, and conceiving that the same if finally armed with the sanctions of a law, will be a dangerous abuse of power, are bound as faithful members of a free State to remonstrate against it, and to declare the reasons by which we are determined. We remonstrate against the said Bill, 1. Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, that religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence. The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right. It is unalienable, because the opinions of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated by their own minds cannot follow the dictates of other men: It is unalienable also, because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator. It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent, both in order of time and in degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governour of the Universe: And if a member of Civil Society, do it with a saving of his allegiance to the Universal Sovereign. We maintain therefore that in matters of Religion, no man’s right is abridged by the institution of Civil Society and that Religion is wholly exempt from its cognizance. True it is, that no other rule exists, by which any question which may divide a Society, can be ultimately determined, but the will of the majority; but it is also true that the majority may trespass on the rights of the minority. 2. Because Religion be exempt from the authority of the Society at large, still less can it be subject to that of the Legislative Body. The latter are but the creatures and vicegerents of the former. Their jurisdiction is both derivative and limited: it is limited with regard to the co-ordinate departments, more necessarily is it limited with regard to the constituents. The preservation of a free Government requires not merely, that the metes and bounds which separate each department of power be invariably maintained; but more especially that neither of them be suffered to overleap the great Barrier which defends the rights of the people. The Rulers who are guilty of such an encroachment, exceed the commission from which they derive their authority, and are Tyrants. The People who submit to it are governed by laws made neither by themselves nor by an authority derived from them, and are slaves. 3. Because it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of Citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much soon to forget it. Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects? that the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute three pence only of his property for the support of any one establishment, may force him to conform to any other establishment in all cases whatsoever? 4. Because the Bill violates the equality which ought to be the basis of every law, and which is more indispensable, in proportion as the validity or expediency of any law is more liable to be impeached. If all men are by nature equally free and independent, all men are to be considered as entering into Society on equal conditions; as relinquishing no more, and therefore retaining no less, one than another, of their natural rights. Above all are they to be considered as retaining an equal title to the free exercise of Religion according to the dictates of Conscience. Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess and to observe the Religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedom to those whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which has convinced us. If this freedom be abused, it is an offense against God, not against man: To God, therefore, not to man, must an account of it be rendered. As the Bill violates equality by subjecting some to peculiar burdens, so it violates the same principle, by granting to others peculiar exemptions. Are the Quakers and Menonists the only sects who think a compulsive support of their Religions unnecessary and unwarrantable? can their piety alone be entrusted with the care of public worship? Ought their Religions to be endowed above all others with extraordinary privileges by which proselytes may be enticed from all others? We think too favorably of the justice and good sense of these denonimations to believe that they either covet pre-eminences over their fellow citizens or that they will be seduced by them from the common opposition to the measure. 5. Because the Bill implies either that the Civil Magistrate is a competent Judge of Religious Truth; or that he may employ Religion as an engine of Civil policy. The first is an arrogant pretension falsified by the contradictory opinions of Rulers in all ages, and throughout the world: the second an unhallowed perversion of the means of salvation. 6. Because the establishment proposed by the Bill is not requisite for the support of the Christian Religion. To say that it is, is a contradiction to the Christian Religion itself, for every page of it disavows a dependence on the powers of this world: it is a contradiction to fact; for it is known that this Religion both existed and flourished, not only without the support of human laws, but in spite of every opposition from them, and not only during the period of miraculous aid, but long after it had been left to its own evidence and the ordinary care of Providence. Nay, it is a contradiction in terms; for a Religion not invented by human policy, must have pre-existed and been supported, before it was established by human policy. It is moreover to weaken in those who profess this Religion a pious confidence in its innate excellence and the patronage of its Author; and to foster in those who still reject it, a suspicion that its friends are too conscious of its fallacies to trust it to its own merits. 7. Because experience witnesseth that eccelsiastical establishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of Religion, have had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution. Enquire of the Teachers of Christianity for the ages in which it appeared in its greatest lustre; those of every sect, point to the ages prior to its incorporation with Civil policy. Propose a restoration of this primitive State in which its Teachers depended on the voluntary rewards of their flocks, many of them predict its downfall. On which Side ought their testimony to have greatest weight, when for or when against their interest? 8. Because the establishment in question is not necessary for the support of Civil Government. If it be urged as necessary for the support of Civil Government only as it is a means of supporting Religion, and it be not necessary for the latter purpose, it cannot be necessary for the former. If Religion be not within the cognizance of Civil Government how can its legal establishment be necessary to Civil Government? What influence in fact have ecclesiastical establishments had on Civil Society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the Civil authority; in many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny: in no instance have they been seen the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty, may have found an established Clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just Government instituted to secure & perpetuate it needs them not. Such a Government will be best supported by protecting every Citizen in the enjoyment of his Religion with the same equal hand which protects his person and his property; by neither invading the equal rights of any Sect, nor suffering any Sect to invade those of another. 9. Because the proposed establishment is a departure from the generous policy, which, offering an Asylum to the persecuted and oppressed of every Nation and Religion, promised a lustre to our country, and an accession to the number of its citizens. What a melancholy mark is the Bill of sudden degeneracy? Instead of holding forth an Asylum to the persecuted, it is itself a signal of persecution. It degrades from the equal rank of Citizens all those whose opinions in Religion do not bend to those of the Legislative authority. Distant as it may be in its present form from the Inquisition, it differs from it only in degree. The one is the first step, the other the last in the career of intolerance. The magnanimous sufferer under this cruel scourge in foreign Regions, must view the Bill as a Beacon on our Coast, warning him to seek some other haven, where liberty and philanthropy in their due extent, may offer a more certain response from his Troubles. 10. Because it will have a like tendency to banish our Citizens. The allurements presented by other situations are every day thinning their number. To superadd a fresh motive to emigration by revoking the liberty which they now enjoy, would be the same species of folly which has dishonoured and depopulated flourishing kingdoms 11. Because it will destroy that moderation and harmony which the forbearance of our laws to intermeddle with Religion has produced among its several sects. Torrents of blood have been split in the old world, by vain attempts of the secular arm, to extinguish Religious discord, by proscribing all difference in Religious opinion. Time has at length revealed the true remedy. Every relaxation of narrow and rigorous policy, wherever it has been tried, has been found to assauge the disease. The American Theatre has exhibited proofs that equal and compleat liberty, if it does not wholly eradicate it, sufficiently destroys its malignant influence on the health and prosperity of the State. If with the salutary effects of this system under our own eyes, we begin to contract the bounds of Religious freedom, we know no name that will too severely reproach our folly. At least let warning be taken at the first fruits of the threatened innovation. The very appearance of the Bill has transformed that Christian forbearance, love and charity, which of late mutually prevailed, into animosities and jelousies, which may not soon be appeased. What mischiefs may not be dreaded, should this enemy to the public quiet be armed with the force of a law? 12. Because the policy of the Bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity. The first wish of those who enjoy this precious gift ought to be that it may be imparted to the whole race of mankind. Compare the number of those who have as yet received it with the number still remaining under the dominion of false Religions; and how small is the former! Does the policy of the Bill tend to lessen the disproportion? No; it at once discourages those who are strangers to the light of revelation from coming into the Region of it; and countenances by example the nations who continue in darkness, in shutting out those who might convey it to them. Instead of levelling as far as possible, every obstacle to the victorious progress of Truth, the Bill with an ignoble and unchristian timidity would circumscribe it with a wall of defence against the encroachments of error. 13. Because attempts to enforce by legal sanctions, acts obnoxious to go great a proportion of Citizens, tend to enervate the laws in general, and to slacken the bands of Society. If it be difficult to execute any law which is not generally deemed necessary or salutary, what must be the case, where it is deemed invalid and dangerous? And what may be the effect of so striking an example of impotency in the Government, on its general authority? 14. Because a measure of such singular magnitude and delicacy ought not to be imposed, without the clearest evidence that it is called for by a majority of citizens, and no satisfactory method is yet proposed by which the voice of the majority in this case may be determined, or its influence secured. The people of the respective counties are indeed requested to signify their opinion respecting the adoption of the Bill to the next Session of Assembly. But the representatives or of the Counties will be that of the people. Our hope is that neither of the former will, after due consideration, espouse the dangerous principle of the Bill. Should the event disappoint us, it will still leave us in full confidence, that a fair appeal to the latter will reverse the sentence against our liberties. 15. Because finally, the equal right of every citizen to the free exercise of his Religion according to the dictates of conscience is held by the same tenure with all our other rights. If we recur to its origin, it is equally the gift of nature; if we weigh its importance, it cannot be less dear to us; if we consult the Declaration of those rights which pertain to the good people of Virginia, as the basis and foundation of Government, it is enumerated with equal solemnity, or rather studied emphasis. Either the, we must say, that the Will of the Legislature is the only measure of their authority; and that in the plenitude of this authority, they may sweep away all our fundamental rights; or, that they are bound to leave this particular right untouched and sacred: Either we must say, that they may controul the freedom of the press, may abolish the Trial by Jury, may swallow up the Executive and Judiciary Powers of the State; nay that they may despoil us of our very right of suffrage, and erect themselves into an independent and hereditary Assembly or, we must say, that they have no authority to enact into the law the Bill under consideration. We the Subscribers say, that the General Assembly of this Commonwealth have no such authority: And that no effort may be omitted on our part against so dangerous an usurpation, we oppose to it, this remonstrance; earnestly praying, as we are in duty bound, that the Supreme Lawgiver of the Universe, by illuminating those to whom it is addressed, may on the one hand, turn their Councils from every act which would affront his holy prerogative, or violate the trust committed to them: and on the other, guide them into every measure which may be worthy of his [blessing, may re]dound to their own praise, and may establish more firmly the liberties, the prosperity and the happiness of the Commonwealth. | 2019-04-24T10:27:54Z | https://www.americanrevolution.com/documents/madison_memorial_and_remonstrance |
If you need a caterer then these are your guys. Everything tasted beautifully and the staff were more than helpful right from the start. A great service and highly recommended.
Yes my party went really well on Saturday night, the team worked really hard and I appreciate all they did during the party. The food was really nice and everyone enjoyed it!
Thanks for making the 28th memorable. I hadn’t told the guests about a hog roast so was a great surprise for everyone.
The staff were friendly and very professional and a great night was had by all.
The service and food was fantastic. We could not fault the lads that came to us.
Hi, would just like to say that the guys at our wedding were fantastic, professional and engaging.
The food quality cannot be faulted and we just want to say thank you so much.
Thank you for providing the catering for our event. In all honesty I was so busy leading up to the event that I didn’t have much contact. Normally I am really prepared but this time forgot to think about people with special dietary requirements.
The food was delicious. My server was so friendly and helpful and had thought of everything.
Everyone commented on how nice the food was.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the event due to a prior appointment, however the feedback I received from the staff was all positive. The food was delicious and plentiful.
You are fantastic! We were late back but chef kept the pig as long as possible so we still got to see it in all its glory. Quick and efficient service and everyone loved it – not a scrap left in the morning!
Everything went very well thank you. The food was excellent and everyone had enough to eat- in fact all positive feedback from us. Communication was also very good on the day.
Thanks so much for catering for our party last week. Our original caterers had let us down at very short notice, so we were relieved to find someone else available. The food was delicious, the staff were well turned out, friendly and efficient, tables etc looked very professional, and they left no mess! Perfect!
Sorry for the delay in responding, it’s been a busy week.
We had a fantastic day and everyone enjoyed the food.
Your team were all very friendly and accommodating, so please send on my thanks to them.
We shall no doubt be using you again in the future.
Our Event was a success thank you ! .
We had some good comments about the food on the day and afterwards . We had a good choice of food and everything was set up and laid out perfectly. We would certainly consider using you for future events.
Thank you so much for Saturday, everyone loved the food! No negative feedback at all it was all positive.
The event was a great success. Your staff did a fantastic job in setting up – despite the rain !
Such a friendly team and the food was fantastic !
It’s been a pleasure to deal with you and I thank you for providing a first class service !
All was great, there was lots of pork, Mac & Cheese!
All said the food was good!
If we get the chance to hold another one, I’ll be back in touch.
We had a fabulous evening. Although we didn’t have that many guests, they all went away with boxes of left overs which they loved. Perfect weather, perfect food, great night! Thank you.
We had a fantastic day thank you. Your team were great and the food went down a treat. Everything was cleared away and left tidy.
It was thank you, it was great!
The food was lovely and the hog roast burgers went down a treat. Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you very much!
Thanks for getting in touch. The event was a success!
The food was all great and delicious!
I’d like to thank the two guys who were there on the night, they were absolutely great, really helpful and professional and produced some really nice food that our guests loved.
The guys provided a great service and we will be touch about next year’s event shortly!
I was really pleased with how the catering went at the event, the two whole came to cook for us did an excellent job and the food they served was delicious. I really appreciated how easy the organisation and communication was and how easy going Alex the chef was.
Yes all good no bad comments from the guests, all seemed happy We will be definitely be using you as our regular hog roast company.
Yes all went well thank you! Service from yourselves has always has been fantastic – thank you.
I have had loads of great feedback from everyone that attended. It was very well received. The vegetarians all loved the halloumi! Would definitely recommend you to a friend!
We had a very good party thank you. Cliff was great and the food was very good.
Thanks for helping our party go well.
Yes it was a great success thank you, everything went very well.
Our evening was wonderful. Thank you for being a part of it.
Everyone said how good the food was, and your staff, Alex and the girls were delightful.
We thought food was excellent, friendly chef! And would recommend you.
Everything ran really smoothly on the day, thank you so much for the tasty food we had lots of compliments on the catering.
What a lovely meal we had. Whole roasted hog with all the trimmings! My daughter would like to especially mention the apple sauce which she couldn’t get enough of. Thank you very much for everything, will definitely be using your services again at the next opportunity and recommending you to everyone in the meantime!
The guys did a great job, they were nice to work with and I would definitely use their services again in the future.
Yes Martin is very good and always ready to serve on time and very polite with all the guests.
My event was wonderful thanks to your professional service. Martin contacted me in a timely manor, turned up when arranged, cleaned up well afterwards and was endlessly helpful with guests and leftovers.
Our event was a huge success thank you and we also received many positive comments about the food provided by Spitting Pig North Wales. Martin who was our chef arrived on time and was very friendly and accommodating to our needs throughout the day.
I will definitely be recommending your company to friends/family and colleagues.
Thanks for the email the event went well and was eagerly received by everyone on site.
The aroma of the hog roasting got everyone’s mouth watering.
There was nothing but praise form the guys on site, they were impressed with the crackling and the salad that was provided, the element to receive the most praise was the homemade coleslaw.
And we would recommend you for future events.
Martin was a fantastic host.
Will use your company again for future events.
It was absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much the food and service was amazing and everyone commented positively.
Martin was absolutely great, arriving in plenty of time and setting up quickly. He was helpful throughout and nothing was too much of a problem, great food, great service and everyone loved it.
Please pass on a massive thank you, I would definitely recommend to anyone in the future.
Everything went really well thanks and Martin and Curly were fab and made the evening. The food was superb and service faultless. Many people have asked me for details so that can’t be bad. Thanks again.
Our event was a great success, thank you.
We were very pleased indeed with the service from Spitting Pig North Wales.
Diane and her assistant (whose name I have forgotten – sorry) were very pleasant, professional and competent. They arrived when they said they would and were ready to carve the cooked hog at the time we asked for. Everyone was very complimentary about the quality and taste of the meat, which was perfectly cooked.
We would not hesitate to recommend Spitting Pig North Wales, and we hope to use you again in the future.
Just wanted to say that the staff did a wonderful job, they were fun and friendly, and everyone commented that the food was one of the tastiest hog roasts they’ve ever had! Thank you all so much for helping to make our wedding a great success and make all our guests happy!
Party went very well thank you, Martin looked after us very well and the hog roast was fantastic. Would recommend your services to everybody.
Sorry for the delay in replying have just returned from a break.
First may I say thank you for the support that we had and have always had from Spitting Pig from start to finish flows with great ease and removes a great pressure off my shoulders when organising a major event for the school.
Many thanks and hope to use you again next year.
On behalf of everyone here at Technology Supplies I would like to thank Stephen and everyone at the Spitting Pig Company for helping us host a very enjoyable event. In particular I would like to thank both girls that attended on the day – they were both a pleasure to deal with, the service provided was second to none and they made sure all of our guests were kept happy and well fed. I would have no hesitation in recommending the Spitting Pig Company to anyone thinking of having a Hog Roast at their event in the future.
It was wonderful. Martin was excellent. It was such a joy not to have to cook and clear up and everyone really enjoyed the meal. The roast potatoes were very good indeed with our obligatory hungover brunch on Sunday!
The Hog roast was fab – Martin arrived at about 8.00am and set up shop. He and Angela were very friendly and accommodating.
The meat was lovely and everybody commented on it. Martin left us with the remains on a large tinfoil platter which we enjoyed the day after.
I would highly recommend Spitting Pig and Martin to anybody.
I would like to congratulate your team on a super service from ordering to communications it was very smooth. On the day the two ladies were helpful polite and well organised, I had no need to worry. I would use your company again and recommend your company to my friends. The Roast Pig was delicious and a very good portion served to everybody some even went back for more, I am not sure where they put it! Finger licking good.
The meat was delicious and the service was great, so we are very happy with everything.
Martin and co were very helpful and very professional in their approach, they cleared away everything without any mess making it much easier for our party guests to enjoy themselves after the food was served. My guests commented about how clean and organised they were and impressed that they cleared everything away.
I would recommend your company and have done so to my friends.
Everything was spot on thank you! See you next time!!
Apologies for late response for feedback on our event held on 14th November.
Harry did a wonderful job, was very polite and produced a well presented meal that was greatly appreciated by all who came. Your lads also cleaned up as promised and left it all clean and tidy much to the disappointment of our dogs who had to make do with licking up small drips off the floor, great job.
Our wedding was a huge success and the guests loved all of the food, the spit roast pig was a big hit in particular. Martin and the team were fantastic and helped us pull off our big day without any problems, please pass on our huge thanks to them all.
The Hog Roast was a hit.. everybody loved it, staff were excellent and very professional.
Thank you for your email, and I do apologise about the delay in my reply.
What can I say about Martin and his lovely wife Diane? In short, they were absolutely fantastic.
From meeting them in March to discuss the menu and go through everything, they put our minds at rest immediately. Warm and friendly, it felt like we had known them for years.
Fast forward to the week of our wedding and we met with Martin and Diane again to finalise the arrangements, again it was like meeting old friends for a coffee. They even put up with my Dad and brother who had travelled up that day and were a little merry for the train journey. My brother is an exceptional chilli head, and Martin promised that he would sort out a chilli sauce for the hog roast baps he would be serving.
Finally the 18th September arrived and things couldn’t have gone better. Martin arrived with his lovely girls at about 10.30am when we were setting up the venue. We were offered the chance to see our pig or ‘Yoda’ as we had named him, and what a pig he was, was a tight fit in that cooker! Martin was amazing and liaised with the venue staff of what he needed and where to place the buffet. The wedding party at this point had to leave, but Martin reassured me that when we returned, we would be in for a treat.
We arrived back at the venue after the ceremony to the delicious aroma – even for a vegetarian like me – of roasted Yoda. It looked simply amazing. More platters were brought out at serving time with mountains of mouth watering Thai, caprese and pasta salad and another huge serving dish of crispy roasted spuds. Then, it was the pig’s time to shine as the cooker was opened, showcasing a perfectly cooked, juicy fleshed and crunchy crackling hog.
The food was just incredible and everyone commented on how moreish and delicious it was. We literally had people raving about the hog and sides all night! My brother, who had previously been promised a chilli sauce worth his while, was certainly not disappointed by Martins offering. We vegetarians were impressed too, with the hearty Mediterranean tart that was on offer – simply lush! Everyone had plenty to eat and were stuffed to the rafters, when Martin and the team put everything left together into foil platters and left them pride of place on the buffet tables, whilst they quietly tidied up and slipped away leaving us to enjoy the rest of the evening.
I simply can’t thank Martin and Diane enough, they are an incredible team and the food was divine, people are still talking about it two weeks later. I have recommended him to anyone that will listen and will certainly instruct his services in future – we have some big birthdays coming up in the next 18 months!
I was absolutely delighted with the whole set up provided on Sunday the 13th September. Angela and Martin are two of the nicest people one could wish to meet.The whole occasion was so professional. All our guests were most impressed.
I would like you to pass on our sincere thanks to both Angela and Martin.
We used your service at Kingsmead school on Friday 4th September. The service provided was excellent and may I add that Martyn and his wife were true professionals, and are a credit to your company.
Our event was a great success thank you. The pig was large for our numbers (everybody took a good doggy bag home!) but tender and succulent: many thanks to Martin and his helper. We much appreciated the quiet and professional way that they tackled the cooking and serving of “piggy”! Please make sure that our thanks have been passed on to Martin.
We will have no hesitation in recommending the Spitting Pig Co. to anyone who enquires in the future.
It was excellent thank you – super service.
All very good indeed. Many thanks. Lots of people asked for your name.
All went to plan and Martin & Angela looked after us well. Food was delicious…plenty of it. Made our day go with a swing.
Everything was set up and cleared away as said.
We had a fantastic day at hafod farm on sat and the hog roast was amazing!
They arrived and set themselves up outside as best they could despite the slightly rubbish weather (it was very windy!) They were extremely polite and helpful, whilst also being flexible and understanding about the serving time, we were running a bit later than expected! Everyone commented on how tasty and beautifully cooked the meat was and the portion sizes were very generous!
There were just over 100 people and they served them all quickly but their manner with each guest was warm, friendly and relaxed. We couldn’t recommend them enough! Sooo many people asked us for contact details! A friend of our family who had provided the hot vegetarian dishes for us, used to cater for the army so has done many large events and he was massively impressed with the quality of the hog roast and the cooking techniques involved.
It was one of the best ways to feed a large number of people for a reasonable price and have them all happy and satisfied! An easy, reliable and professional service from booking to eating! And the leftovers have already made amazing cold butties, curry and stew!
We had a wonderful party yesterday, everyone of our guests were full of praise for the excellent quality of the food. The lamb was delicious.
We were delighted with the whole service. Martin and Angela were efficient and very charming and helpful.
I know a lot of your cards were taken home and we will recommend you.
Well what a first class service you deliver from making the inquire through to the collecting after the function.
Very professional from start to finish. The driver that delivered and collected was most helpful and polite throughout and was on site on time both at the start and the collection allowing for traffic he explained the operation of the pig roast and was very proficient and a superb ambassador for the company.
Thank you again for the fine service.
Sorry for not getting back sooner. I would like to say what an excellent service Martin gave. The food was delicious and his flexibility and service was lovely. Feedback from all the guests was only positive. Please pass on my thanks to him.
Many thanks for doing such a fantastic job with our pig – it was the centerpiece of the whole wedding, was absolutely delicious, and we’re still working our way through the last of it!
Just wanted to express my thanks to you and your team for the splendid service at last week’s Plantworx. Having high quality stand hospitality makes a real difference to the overall visitor experience and helped the Cat team create a really welcoming atmosphere. Your team was professional and unflaggingly friendly, even during the inclement weather of Tuesday! How you kept up your energy levels, particularly considering your daily commute from Llangollen, is astounding; pigs may not fly but Spitting Pig is certainly super-charged!
Thank you for all your hard work and I hope to work with you all again soon.
We were absolutely delighted with the food and the service. Everyone raved about the pork!! No wonder it all went! And mum said how nice and personable you both were. I love my food and it was ace to hear you share the same enthusiasm about your food.
Thank you very much indeed guys!
Yes! We had a very successful family party and Martin (head chef) was extremely professional and helpful!
The food was set up on time and cooked well with plenty to go around everyone.
Very polite and after clearing away he left without any fuss so the party could continue without any interruptions.
The food was as stated, the pig was brilliant but the chicken was my favourite. Martin and his team did brilliant at carrying out such a big event and I would like to thank them on behalf of me and my guests.
I was really pleased with the quality of food and service from Spitting Pig. The whole group thought the food was fantastic and it was great to have all set out and tidied away for us. Plus the ladies serving were really nice and added to the event.
A great big thankyou for the hog roast at Trevor Hall for my 40th birthday party.
It was fabulous all the best.
Food was absolutely delicious on Saturday night. We’d like to say a big thank you to Martin and his team, especially for braving the elements to provide us with a feast fit for a queen.
The hog roast in Bebington was great thanks. People enjoyed it and how stress free (for me) it was. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you to friends, and will use you again should the opportunity arise!
Just a quick note to thank Martin and the team for a great day yesterday.
Very professional, with nothing too much trouble.
I hope they enjoyed their time at MoneySuperMarket.com as well.
The guys that came to arrange our hog roast were excellent. Very friendly, open to discussing our requirements, and listened to our comments. On the day, they turned up promptly, set up quickly and were friendly to our guests when serving. The hog roast was delicious and lots of people commented on it. We would definitely book again for another big party and have no hesitation in recommending this service.
Just a quick line to say thanks for the Hog Roast on Friday evening at school. Martin and Angela were a great team and everyone was very complementary.
Jo and I wanted to thank you for the amazing job you did at our wedding back in April. It was the first hog roast that we’d had and it lived up to all our expectations, the salads and extra bits and bobs were lovely and the pig was delicious! You really made our day especially being so incredibly efficient, to this day I don’t quite know how you managed to get through so many people in such a tight time frame, something about being professionals I guess…!
We just want you to know that all your effort was really appreciated and we wouldn’t hesitate a moment to recommend you to anyone, everyone there really appreciated your efforts and you really made our day.
I’d like to compliment your chef, Martin Anderson, for the excellent service he provided on Sat 20 April, at Walton on Thames.
The food was outstanding; everybody enjoyed it and Martin carried out his duties in a highly professional manner ensuring everybody’s needs were met and indeed he exceeded all our expectations. I cannot praise him enough.
Such a commitment to great customer service is to be commended. You can be sure that I will use the Spitting Pig Co, for any future events I have, and will be recommending you to many friends and work colleagues.
I just wanted to drop you a quick line to say a massive thanks for making our 50th birthday celebration such a memorable event. You and your staff were fantastic and met every challenge we threw at you. All our guests were so impressed with the food and your presentation. Fantastic mate, we will be back for more………….as will many others from the comments we heard. Thanks again, you are a star.
We were so delighted with Martin (Anderson) from Spitting Pig North Wales. As we were holding a corporate event you can imagine people always like to express their views and I’m delighted to say that people could not have been happier with the service that Martin and Sharon (Martin’s assistant) gave. They were friendly, helpful and most of all professional. We had a brilliant day. Thank you so much and look forward to having you again at our Kidder minster Office on the 4 October.
It’s not every day that we book professional caterers so we can’t pretend to have experienced all of them but judging by last night i’d say its fair to say you’re one of the best caterers about.
Guys, absolutely loved the catering couldn’t get enough of it. The pig, the lamb, the starters, desserts, the lot, it was all so bloody good! Waitresses also did their job very well and all round there wasn’t anything that I think you could have done better.
We were impressed with Spitting Pig because not only was the hog roast a welcome addition to our wedding but they also have the best staff and it’s very easy to get along with the Spitting Pig team, they don’t mind helping you with event ideas even if you’re ringing up every other minute as i was!
An email of thanks to your company, we don’t have a bad word to say. Customer service has been second to none from the very beginning, our chef didn’t once shy away from talking to us infact he was always happy to discuss the event and bounce back menu ideas with us, so we were very confident about the day because of our pleasant experiences before hand and it turns out we were right to be confident because the chef, his assistant and all the waitresses did a remarkable job. Quite a few of our guests arrived late and so we changed the serving time at the last moment but it wasn’t a problem for the chef and the food came out perfect despite the late change.
Hey guys, can’t think of a word to describe yesterday other than amazing! The hog roast with the crackling and succulent meat really was as advertised and we’d probably be selling you short by saying you did just a good job, because it was so much more than that. Staff were friendly and perfect too.
I think everybody loved the hog roast, haven’t spoke to a person yet who didn’t like it and my sister also said how good her vegan replacement dish was and reckons it was better than most upper class restaurant stuff. So I just wanted to let you know that we were over the moon with your catering and if we had a party every week we would book Spitting Pig every week! | 2019-04-24T14:22:29Z | https://spittingpignorthwales.co.uk/testimonials/ |
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Attorney seo provides lawyers with a new degree of community awareness through gaining Internet traffic. Attorney SEO is a credible approach to promote your local business and create a viable client base. Learn more about how your website can adjust your small business quickly and affordably.
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We all know that fruits and veggies and veggies can be a solid method to obtain nutrition. We have matured listening to this, quite a few people complain they're expensive. Try shopping with a farmer's market or simply buying the fruits and veggies which might be on discount sales. Worried about them going bad in the fridge? Then go ahead and get the frozen as well as canned varieties. Whatever it takes, get vegatables and fruits in your diet rather than just fruit flavored beverages or dried fruits within your cereal. Also, maintain your meats lean and prevent sugared drinks when you are able. Here is the thing, though, none with this will probably be nearly as effective as really controlling your portions. Keep portions as small as you can and keep the eating schedule regular. Some people need four meals, some individuals like just three yet others prefer several very small meals. Find a routine and stick to it.
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Do you have great ideas but you’re feeling stuck and looking for a place to create something? Whether you’re taking up welding and don’t want to pay for rent in a shop, or you’re looking to get that woodworking dust out of the garage, look no further than a custom container from GOContainers!
A shipping container workshop is a great solution for the weekend handyman and the aspiring entrepreneur alike. Without having to worry about building an entire structure or finding a workspace to rent, you’ll save time, money and headaches, and be able to spend more time focusing on your passion. Here’s just one example of a custom container workshop.
Versatile – the perfect platform for many uses, no matter how dirty the job or how exacting the details, containers can be built to serve almost any purpose.
Affordable – Nobody sells better containers for a better price, and you won’t pay anything until you see your shipping container to verify its condition and quality.
Practical – By using a pre-fabricated platform for your project, you can rest assured that the frame is structurally sound and it will be easy to seal and keep your valuable tools and projects dry, safe, and secure.
Environmentally Sound – By repurposing a used shipping container, you’re keeping more metal out of the waste stream and putting it to good use–for your hard work!
If you’re ready to take the next step to get your business off the ground or take your hobby to the next level, wait no longer and give GOContainers a call today!
Is your business facing storage challenges due to seasonal surges, company growth, and high production volume? GOContainers’ portable storage containers are the solution for you. We provide portable storage containers at affordable prices. With our shipping containers, you will be able to get a dependable storage solution and easy access to your products in a way that suits your business needs.
The storage containers come in various sizes, ranging from 20 to 45 feet in length. Shipping containers are constructed with corrugated steel and heavy-duty wood flooring, making them secure for the storage of any products and usable over an extended period.
GOContainers has been in business since 1986, and we stand out when it comes to delivering storage solutions around the needs and demands of our customers. Our many years of experience enable us to ensure that we provide you with quality and affordable containers. Therefore, if your warehouse is not meeting your storage needs, a shipping container storage would be a quick solution.
With various locations in Texas and surrounding areas, we can quickly arrange for the container delivery to your location. We place only superior products on the market at prices that reflect our resourceful internal knowledge. Let us help get you the shipping container storage that meets your business needs. Contact us today to find a storage container that works for you.
You’ve probably heard of the ‘tiny home’ movement that’s taking the nation by storm, but did you know that some of those homes are built from shipping containers? And some of these shipping container homes are not so tiny, either!
Recycling used shipping containers is an environmentally friendly way of having your own home. Instead of using massive amounts of conventional building materials, you’ll be upcycling a few tons of ‘scrap’ steel.
Building from shipping containers saves time and materials. After all, the main structure of your new home is already there. You’ll be moving into it in much less time than if was stick-built.
They are often much less expensive per square foot than conventional homes.
Metal shipping containers are resistant to both fire and termites.
Shipping containers are unlikely to develop leaks or the resultant mold.
Shipping containers are designed to take a beating and just keep going. Even full of heavy loads, they’re swung from cranes, stacked and unstacked, loaded and unloaded, exposed to salt air and salty roads… Is it any wonder that they make a sturdy base for a new home?
The fire and safety ratings of homes made from these containers is very high. If a hurricane is approaching, just seal up your containerized home and defy the elements to breach its defenses!
A shipping container home can be just as spacious, comfortable, and stylish as any other home. Don’t believe that? Check out these homes for yourself. It’s hard to believe they started out as humble, hardworking shipping containers! If you would like to look into building one of these unique homes, contact us. We can help you on your way to a shipping container home of your own.
Baby boomers have been retiring in droves, but many have found they miss working. Some have become volunteers, and they cite the daily interaction with others as a reason to continue. According to The Street, many have chosen to get back into the world of business. Some are exploring a life-long hobby as a business, and others are opening businesses in new fields. For those who want to create their own goods, a shipping container workshop is just what they need.
When retirement strikes, people often sell their large home for a smaller, more compact space. They want to get away from maintaining the house and a big yard and this smaller space give them more time for their hobbies. Turning a hobby into a business requires more area than many small retirement homes provide, and adding a shipping container workshop to the backyard is a way to create more space without expanding the home.
Hobbies and small businesses require concentration for success, and having an area specifically designed for them are best. Moving out of the house and into a workshop provides a designated area for work, and it keeps unnecessary noise from disturbing work. When a person is ready to welcome the public, inviting them to the shop rather than their home is a good option. This gives the retiree a place to do public business from home while maintaining their privacy.
When it comes to adding space, remodeling a home is a major undertaking, and many retirees would prefer not to take on that type of job. Choosing a container instead of adding a shop to the house is a non-invasive way to add space without tearing out walls and adding doors or rooms.
Many retirees are returning to the workplace because they enjoy the challenges, and creating their own space is often important. If you are a retiree who needs a good place to work, please contact us to inquire about our shipping container options.
A Hunting Cabin Container makes hunting better.
Are you tired of loading up all of your hunting gear every time you go hunting? Does the thought of clearing the scent off your gear every time you step back into the house make you cringe? A fully customizable Hunting Cabin Container is the answer to all your hunting headaches. A Hunting Cabin Container makes hunting better and here’s why!
These days, shipping containers are becoming popular as storage units, workshops, houses, and even hunting cabins. Be the envy of your family and your hunting buddies by transforming a shipping container into the hunting cabin of your dreams. A shipping container is customizable in ways most have never dreamed of.
Electricity can help bring the comforts of home to every hunting trip. Set yourself up with a refrigerator, a stove or microwave (or both) a coffee pot, lighting, and whatever else will make your hunting trip more enjoyable.
Bring on the running water!
Running water makes it easy to hook up a washer and dryer, sinks, and, a shower and a toilet. Avoid having the animals picking up your scent with a nice comfortable bathroom.
A kitchen in your hunting cabin container can open up a realm of possibility. Imagine butcher block counter tops and glossed concrete floors for cleaning your prize and cleaning up after.
Everyone needs a place to lay their head. You can put up bunks for you and all your hunting buddies, or if you prefer to hunt alone, a nice private bedroom of your own design.
The possibilities are endless for what you can do to personalize your hunting cabin container, so dream as big as you want to.
When you are ready to design your dream hunting cabin container, contact us for help along the way.
If you’re looking for a storage container, it probably didn’t take long for you to realize how many options there are. You may have even been a little overwhelmed by the whole ordeal. But as you look, there is one feature you should demand from your storage container. Before you buy a portable building, think about utilizing an insulated shipping container. Here are a few reasons that an insulated container might be the right choice for you.
Chances are, whatever you’re keeping in your storage container is vital to your business. You also probably have a lot of equity in the materials you store there. Protect the value of those materials by keeping the environment constant.
Depending on what you use your new storage container for, you may be spending a lot of time inside. Either way, you’ll probably be there more than you expect. Why not be comfortable while you work? An insulated container not only takes care of your materials and their value, it also takes care of you.
You may be planning to keep your new storage container forever, in which case, it’s definitely worth it to invest in some comfort. On the other hand, if you’re only planning on keeping it for a short period, now is the time to consider how you will resell the container when you are done with it. A plain container won’t be worth as much, but potential buyers will be willing to pay more for an insulated container for all of the reasons listed above and then some.
Need more reasons to invest in an insulated container? Contact us.
Are you looking to purchase a shipping container for your personal or business storage needs? Have you heard horror stories of people buying shipping containers only to find they are in bad condition and do not live up to expectations? Look no further than GOContainers for your container storage needs.
GOContainers started as a family business selling shipping containers in Texas. Buying a shipping container has a number of advantages over a storage unit. It is a one-time cost which is important if you plan on using the container for years as opposed to a temporary storage solution. It also can be stored on-site or wherever you want—no need to go to a storage unit in another part of town to get something out of it.
At GOContainers, it is our policy that you don’t pay for it until you see it. You don’t have to be worried about the quality of the container. We want to make sure you know you are buying an excellent quality container before paying for it. For more information about buying a shipping container from GOContainers, contact us today.
Building a hunting cabin is all about balance. You need to have enough room for all your essentials, but you don’t want someplace that’s just as big as your house. You want a place that’s durable, especially if you’re going to be away from it for most of the year, but you want to make sure it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Getting all that from a single structure can be hard… unless, that is, you decide to invest in a shipping container hunting cabin.
What Kind of Hunting Cabin, Now?
Shipping containers have been used for housing for years now, and the uses are ever-expanding. Given that a hunting cabin needs to be self-contained, durable, and relatively cheap, a shipping container is the ideal building block. All it takes is a solid foundation, and the necessary plumbing, and a shipping container hunting cabin can be set down right where you want it. There’s no muss, no fuss, and no prolonged building on the site. It’s shipped right to you, and then you can take your time making it your own.
Perhaps the final nail that seals the deal, though, is that shipping container hunting cabins are easily customized for your needs. If you need a one or two-person cabin that you’ll use a few weeks out of the year, then a single container will do. If you prefer to have bigger forays, and you want space for everyone, then cabins made of two or three shipping contains can be assembled with relative ease. The power is in your hands.
For more information on shipping container hunting cabins, as well as other types of shipping container housing, simply contact us today!
Need A Custom Shipping Container Fireworks Stand?
Before you know it the Fourth of July will be here! Vacationers and other proud Americans all over the country will be flocking to all kinds of celebrations and promotional events in or near their hometown. American flags will be waving majestically high in the sky, while we all nosh on our favorite samples of classic American fanfare like hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, funnel cakes, and more.
When the sun fully sets and the night sky becomes dark enough to truly appreciate the beauty of a good fireworks display, we will all sit in awe and enjoy them with our families and closest friends.
At GOContainers, we can create custom shipping container fireworks stands and deliver to your location. The Fourth of July is our time to shine in Texas! We provide very durable, custom fireworks containers with a variety of fully customized solutions to match your unique needs. Our professional staff is also readily available to assist you with any questions you might have to ensure your ready for Independence Day.
We also offer some of the most affordable pricing options available in the industry, as well as our unmatched elite levels of customer service. Please contact us for more information today on our fireworks stands or our equally affordable and high quality shipping and portable cargo containers. We have four great locations in Dallas, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio TX to best suit your needs across our great state. Call GOContainers today for more information!
Could A Shipping Container Workshop Be Your Answer?
Whether you are a carpenter, plumber, backyard mechanic or an artist, a shipping container may be the perfect solution to your need for a safe and secure place to work. When you factor in durability, security and moveability a shipping container workshop will undoubtedly prove the most economical choice for your workshop needs.
If you work with wood, there is the sawdust to contend with. Mechanical parts are oily and plumbing parts can be just plain nasty!
A container workshop near your home or in the backyard is convenient and easy to accomplish. A shipping container can be moved into a remarkably small parcel of land yet, with the doors open wide, you never feel confined. Close those doors and put your lock in place and there are not going to be many burglars that will invest the time and energy it would take to break into a shipping container. There would be just too much work and risk. Burglars generally want to get in and out quick.
Shipping containers make great workshops. If you would like more information please contact us. We can help you decide just the type of container you need!
Many people think of steel containers as metal boxes that are primarily used for storage. Our shipping containers can provide your non-profit organization with a number of benefits and save you money in the process.
It’s not uncommon for non-profit agencies to meet at churches, community centers, and other businesses. If your non-profit is sharing space, you already know how challenging it can be to store supplies or secure your inventory. A steel shipping container can solve this dilemma by providing you with security, storage and/or additional office space.
A steel container can be used for a number of things, from providing affordable housing solutions to shipping supplies across the world. In fact, your container can even be partitioned into sections so that you may utilize it for more than one function. It’s easy to modify storage containers to fit the changing needs of your organization. You can even add plumbing, electricity, heating, or cooling to your storage container if desired.
As a non-profit, it’s important to operate as cost-effectively as possible. Steel containers can help you do just that because they are inexpensive to customize and maintain. One of our containers can save you a great deal of money over constructing a new building, leaving you with more funds to carry on your mission.
We have a number of container options to fit any need or budget, and invite you to contact us today to find out more.
Is your company outgrowing your current warehouse, but not in the market for new business storage? Are seasonal surges or high volume periods creating challenging storage situations? Using a portable storage container to solve your company’s space needs might be right for you.
A portable storage container is an affordable and simple way to solve your storage space problem. Placed on your property, shipping containers provide a dependable storage solution and easy access for your business requirements. Available in various sizes, purchasing a portable storage container is a quick solution to any growing company’s evolving warehouse needs.
GOContainers offers multiple options to satisfy your portable storage needs. Our shipping containers come in 20’, 40’, and 45’ lengths. Constructed of corrugated steel and heavy duty wood flooring, it is a secure and safe option for the storage of any product.
With thirty years of experience providing our customers with quality and affordable service, GOContainers prides itself on creating storage solutions around our customer’s needs and demands. Let our experience find the right container for you. GOContainers will also arrange for its delivery.
If you’re finding your warehouse space is not fulfilling your company’s needs and looking for a better option, a portable storage container may be what you’re looking for. Contact us today to find out which storage container can work for you.
Need A Shipping Container? Get It Delivered!
With multiple locations in Texas, GOContainers can arrange for shipping container delivery to surrounding states. Need a shipping container delivered to your home or business, we can help!
Our shipping containers can make any project possible with our affordable customization options and fast delivery. GOContainers has been in the container business since 1986 and we place only quality products on the market, at prices reflecting our resourceful insider knowledge.
As one of the most trusted providers of portable storage containers in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso, many business owners and families consult with us in their quest to obtain quality containers for both small and large scale storage of their materials. GOContainers is a family-owned business and offers a personable approach in dealing with business. We’re invested in our service and we strive to gain an understanding around our customers’ shipping and storage needs. To find your next shipping container, contact GOContainers today.
Americans love to see their children and grand kids play sports. That’s why each year, countless parents rush to sign their children up for everything from baseball to football. Unfortunately, they are also often the first programs to go when recreation centers, schools and civic organizations experience financial troubles. The good news is income from fund-raising and concession stands often save those programs from cancellation. And that’s where steel containers come into play.
Steel shipping containers can be easily converted into affordable, long-lasting, portable concession stands. Unlike their wooden counterparts, they require little maintenance beyond an occasional, fresh coat of paint. They also resist damage from termites, fire, wind, rain and other elements known to destroy wooden structures. And no, athletic leagues don’t have to convert the steel containers on their own.
At GOContainers, we’re more than happy to transform retired shipping containers into durable concession stands that are perfect for community ballparks and recreation areas. And the transformation process is meant to be highly individualized. So if your sports team needs a concession stand that’s fully insulated and equipped with electricity, we’ve got you covered.
Oh and by the way, some of the steel containers are very large. As such, they may accommodate both hot and cold prep areas as well as storage areas that meet health department standards. It is also possible to sell team souvenirs and sportswear out of the steel container too. Accordingly, some athletic departments will request two or more containers and have them outfitted with windows as well as doors.
To learn more about our steel shipping container solutions, please contact GOContainers today.
What makes a customized shipping container so versatile? A typical shipping container ranges in size from 10’ to 45’ long, 8′ wide and 8.5′ to 9.5′ tall. This fully customizable steel box has marine grade, multi-ply, flooring to withstand years of wear and tear. You can order containers with open top or open-side if you’re looking to add space with multiple containers. Overhead roll up doors, insulation, windows, and electrical can also be added to your custom shipping container. Basically, you can configure these containers almost any way you want.
The security and durability of a shipping container is perfect for storage shed and shelter solutions, they are also easy to maintain and affordable. So where do you find a customized trailer? GOContainers can deliver shipping, cargo, and portable storage containers, from one of our four locations in Texas. This means we can arrange for quick delivery to your home or business. If you have any questions or need information do not hesitate to contact us. Our professional sales staff is ready to assist you with your shipping container needs.
Creativity is an important part of life. When your creativity requires you gaining extra space, custom containers provide it in any shape you need. While there are many places to purchase a standard container, GOContainers offers custom-made solutions. There are a variety of benefits these types of containers offer to our clients.
Our portable containers give you the ability to store your items on site. Rather, then traveling to another location, keep your items close by.
Portability also means that if you need an extra space to use for an office or something on site. You don’t have to worry about doing paperwork or anything if the weather gets bad.
A custom container can be shaped to fit any type of item. This means instead of using the typical square boxes, you can store anything you wish.
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An intermodal container (also container, freight container, ISO container, shipping container, hi-cube container, box, conex box and sea can) is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system. “Intermodal” indicates that the container can be moved from one mode of transport to another from ship, to rail, to truck without unloading and reloading the contents of the container. Lengths of containers, which each has a unique ISO 6346 reporting mark, vary from 8 feet to 56 feet and heights from 8.0’ to 9’6”. There are approximately 17 million intermodal containers in the world of varying types to suit different cargoes. | 2019-04-23T16:31:39Z | https://gocontainers.com/blog/ |
Martin S. Angst, M.D.; David R. Drover, M.D.; Jörn Lötsch, M.D.; Bhamini Ramaswamy, M.D.; Sujata Naidu, M.S.; et al D. Russell Wada, Ph.D.; Donald R. Stanski, M.D.
** Professor, Department of Anesthesia, Stanford University School of Medicine.
‡ Department of Clinical Pharmacology, J. W. Goethe-University.
# Research Associate, Pharsight Corporation.
Received from the Department of Anesthesia, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, J. W. Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; and Pharsight Corporation, Mountain View, California.
The disposition kinetics of hydromorphone generally necessitates administration every 4 h of the conventional immediate-release tablet to provide sustained pain relief. 5,6 However, multiple daily dosing is inconvenient and may result in decreased compliance, more pronounced pain, and a reduced quality of life. 7–9 Therefore, a new sustained-release formulation of hydromorphone recently was developed for the treatment of chronic pain with a single daily dose.
Fig. 1. The oral osmotic system before and during operation. The oral osmotic system consists of a semipermeable membrane containing a drug and an osmotic active push compartment. In the gastrointestinal tract, water enters through the semipermeable membrane and expands the push compartment, which in turn forces drug at an approximately constant rate through a laser drilled bore hole.
The primary goal of this study was to examine the time course and magnitude of analgesia to experimental pain after administration of a new sustained-release formulation of hydromorphone using OROS (hydromorphone OROS) and to compare it with that after immediate-release hydromorphone or placebo administration.
This report summarizes analgesic data obtained with an experimental pain model in human volunteers after oral administration of hydromorphone. Data were collected during five different study sessions at least 5 days apart, i.e. , after administration of a single dose of immediate-release hydromorphone (session 1) followed in randomized sequence by three different doses of hydromorphone OROS and placebo, respectively (sessions 2–5). Hydromorphone plasma concentrations are reported only in the context of the pharmacodynamic analysis. A detailed pharmacokinetic analysis including data from intravenous administration of hydromorphone will be the subject of a subsequent manuscript.
The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Stanford University. Twelve healthy subjects (six men and six women) with a mean age of 27 yr (range, 21–34 yr) and a mean body weight of 76 kg (range, 60–88 kg) for men and 64 kg (range, 59–70 kg) for women gave written informed consent. All subjects had a normal physical examination, electrocardiogram, routine laboratory profile, negative drug screen, and pregnancy test (women) before enrollment. No over-the-counter medication was allowed 48 h before each study day. Intake of prescription drugs or chronic medication was prohibited during and 14 days before the study except for the use of oral contraceptives. Before each study session subjects fasted overnight. On arrival at the study center, a catheter was inserted in one arm vein, and recording of vital signs was started (electrocardiogram, noninvasive arterial blood pressure, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate).
Study Session 1: Immediate-release Hydromorphone.
Subjects received a single dose of 8 mg, open-label, immediate-release hydromorphone with 240 ml of water (Dilaudid, Knoll Pharmaceutical Company, Mount Olive, NJ). No other water intake was allowed from 1 h before dosing through 1 h after dosing. A meal was taken 3 h after drug intake.
Venous blood samples were obtained and vital signs recorded before and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 300, and 360 min after drug intake. Experimental pain testing was performed in duplicate before and 30, 60, 120, 240, and 360 min after drug intake. Occurrence and severity of adverse events were recorded (mild = no limitation of usual activity, slight discomfort; moderate = some limitation of usual activity or significant discomfort; severe = inability to conduct usual activity or intolerable discomfort).
Study Sessions 2–5: Sustained-release Hydromorphone.
Using a double-blind design, subjects were randomly allocated to receive a single dose of 8, 16, and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS (Hydromorphone SR, Knoll Pharmaceutical Company), and placebo. All subjects received all treatments but on different occasions. Dose selection was based on developing a single daily dose formulation matching the doses of the immediate-release formulation (2, 4, and 8 mg) administered every 4–6 h.
At the beginning of each study session, subjects swallowed three tablets, all containing no drug or two containing no drug and one containing 8, 16, or 32 mg hydromorphone OROS. Water intake was restricted as outlined for study session 1. Meals were taken at 3, 9, 24, and 28 h after drug intake. Venous blood samples were obtained before and 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, and 30 h after drug intake. Experimental pain testing was performed in duplicate before and 3, 6, 9, 12, and 30 h after drug intake. Vital signs were recorded hourly. Adverse events were recorded as outline for study session 1.
Seven milliliters of venous blood was drawn into heparinized glass tubes, centrifuged, frozen within 1 h, and stored at −20°C. Plasma and the internal standard tri-deuterated hydromorphone were injected onto a SCIEX API III-Plus LC-MS-MS (PE Biosystems, Foster City, CA). The assay was linear over a range of 0.05–10.0 ng/ml. The between-day coefficient of variation ranged from 1.4 % to 11.2%. The lower limit of quantification was 0.05 ng/ml.
Before study participation, subjects were familiarized with the test procedure. During study sessions, subjects completed experimental pain test cycles of approximately 10-min duration at specified times. Standardized sentences emphasizing the test procedure were read to subjects before starting a test cycle. A test cycle consisted of two distinct series of electrical stimuli.
A first series was administered using an ascending staircase design. The intensity of the first stimulus varied randomly between 1.2 and 2.4 mA. The intensity of subsequent stimuli increased by 30% steps until a subject reported pain, and then by 15% steps until a subject indicated that he or she was unable to tolerate the next stronger stimulus. The interstimulus interval was 15 s. The first series allowed estimating the pain threshold (average of highest electrical current not evoking pain and lowest electrical current evoking pain) and the pain tolerance (current evoking most painful perception tolerated).
The second series was composed of 16 stimuli evenly spaced starting 30% less than the estimated pain threshold and ending at the estimated pain tolerance. Each stimulus was administered once in random sequence. Subjects rated the magnitude of pain evoked by each stimulus on a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) anchored by the words “no pain” and “most intense pain tolerable.” A scatter plot depicting the 16 stimulus intensities (mA) versus pain (VAS) resulted for each test cycle (fig. 2, plot on the left).
Fig. 2. The derivation of the analgesic efficacy variables is shown. (Left ) An example of a scatter plot depicting nociceptive intensity (mA) versus pain intensity (visual analog scale [VAS]) as obtained in a volunteer during one pain test cycle. (Middle ) The fitted line describing the raw data. (Inset , A ) The error model used to fit a line to uncensored VAS scores between 1 and 99. The bell shaped curve reflects the error distribution. The likelihood of an error was maximized, graphically corresponding to maximizing the length of displayed arrow. (Inset , B ) The error model used to fit a line to censored VAS scores of 0 and 100. The probability of the error was maximized, graphically corresponding to maximizing the shaded area (y-value > 100) under the bell-shaped curve. (Right ) The derivation of the analgesic efficacy variables, i.e. , the pain threshold and the pain tolerance from the model parameters underlying the fitted line.
Derivation of Analgesic Efficacy Variables.
where x is the electrical current, y is the VAS-score, a is the slope of the relation, and b is the x-intercept (fig. 2, middle graph). A maximum likelihood approach was used for parameter estimation. A power model was also explored but failed to improve the fit as judged by visual inspection and the likelihood ratio test.
The fitting procedure assumed that errors (observed − predicted value) were normally distributed around the predicted value. Fitting a line to a VAS-score between 1 and 99 maximized the likelihood of observed error, i.e. , minimized the distance parallel to the y-axis between the fitted line and observed data point (inset graph A of the middle graph of fig. 2). Fitting a line to a VAS score equal to 0 or 100 maximized the probability of observed error, i.e. , maximized the distance parallel to the y-axis between the fitted line and observed data point (inset graph B of the middle graph of fig. 2). The second fitting procedure accounted for the fact that VAS scores of 0 and 100 are censored data (0 indicates a true value of approximately 0 or lower but not higher, 100 indicates a true value of approximately 100 or higher but not lower).
One analgesic efficacy variable was the pain threshold (x-intercept of the linear model denoted “b”) and the pain tolerance calculated with aid of the linear model and by setting y = 100 (fig. 2, plot on the right).
where y is the analgesic efficacy variable, x is the plasma or effect site concentration, c is the y-intercept or the effect at baseline, d is the slope of the relation, and λ is a variable exponent. 15 Model selection was based on the likelihood ratio test and visual assessment of the goodness of fit. A sigmoidal model was not explored because effects close to the maximum were not observed.
The relation between hydromorphone plasma concentration and heart rate, arterial blood pressure, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate was explored as outlined for the analgesic efficacy variables.
Results of summary statistics are expressed as mean and SD for data passing the normality test (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) or alternatively as median and interquartile range. Parameters of linear equations are expressed as mean and corresponding 95% confidence interval.
To compare the magnitude of observed analgesic effect after administration of 8, 16, and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS and placebo, individual area under the curves (AUCs) depicting the time versus the percentage change of the pain tolerance were calculated. Four AUCs resulted per subject, one for each treatment. A one-way repeated-measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) tested for significant differences among treatments. For treatments significantly different from placebo, a one-way repeated-measure ANOVA tested if analgesic effects measured at different times after drug administration differed significantly from baseline. The Student-Newman-Keuls test was used for post hoc analysis. Outlined procedure rather than a two-way repeated-measure ANOVA was used because raw data did not pass the normality and equal variance test. AUCs were only determined for pain tolerance data because no significant relation existed between the hydromorphone plasma concentration and the pain threshold after hydromorphone OROS administration.
Areas under the curve depicting the electrical pain tolerance versus time for sessions 2–5 were compared among each other to test for the presence of an order effect (ANOVA on ranks). During each session, an equal number of subjects received each treatment, i.e. , the total dose of hydromorphone administered during each session remained constant. An order effect should manifest itself by AUCs that are increasing or decreasing with subsequent study sessions.
The electrical pain tolerance measured before drug administration was compared among study sessions to test for the presence of changing baseline conditions (one-way repeated-measure ANOVA on ranks). The Student-Newman-Keuls test was used for post hoc analysis.
To compare plasma concentration versus time profiles observed after administration of immediate-release hydromorphone and hydromorphone OROS, the following parameters were determined: peak plasma concentration, time to achieve peak plasma concentration, first and last time plasma concentration was greater than 50% of measured peak concentration, and the length of time the plasma concentration remained at greater than 50% of the peak concentration. To compare analgesic effect versus time profiles observed after administration of immediate-release hydromorphone and hydromorphone OROS, the following parameters were determined: peak pain tolerance, time to achieve peak pain tolerance, first and last time pain tolerance was greater than 50% of peak pain tolerance, and the length of time the pain tolerance remained at greater than 50% of the peak pain tolerance. Linear interpolation was used to determine first and last time 50% of a peak value was observed. A 50% level of peak plasma concentration and peak analgesic effect was used to obtain a normalized, i.e. , dose-independent measure quantifying how sustained the plasma concentration and the analgesic effect were after administration of the immediate or sustained-release formulation. The 50% level does not relate to the adequacy of the plasma concentration or measured analgesic effect, but to the performance of examined sustained-release formulation. Treatments were compared using one-way repeated-measure ANOVA on ranks and Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc test.
One-way repeated-measure ANOVA on ranks and Dunnett’s post hoc analysis tested for a significant difference in the incidence of side effects between active treatments and placebo. A P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
All 12 subjects completed the investigation according to the protocol. Oral contraceptives taken by five women were the only ongoing drug therapy during the study.
The parameters of the linear model describing the stimulus intensity (mA) versus pain (VAS) relation at baseline were 2.8 ± 1.3 mA for the x-intercept and 16.2 (interquartile range, 11.2–25.3) for the slope. Baseline pain tolerance did not change significantly over the course of the study.
Analgesic Efficacy Variables: Immediate-release Hydromorphone.
Fig. 3. Counterclockwise hysteresis was present if plotting the mean (± SD) plasma concentration measured after administration of immediate-release hydromorphone versus the mean (± SD) percentage increase of the pain threshold (top left ) and the pain tolerance (bottom left ), respectively. The solid line and arrow depict the counterclockwise hysteresis loop indicating an equilibration delay between hydromorphone plasma and effect site concentrations. Calculating the equilibration rate constant and the corresponding effect site concentration of hydromorphone by minimizing the area circumscribed by the hysteresis loop revealed the underlying concentration versus effect relation between hydromorphone and the pain threshold (top right ) and the pain tolerance (bottom right ), respectively.
Analgesic Efficacy Variables: Sustained-release Hydromorphone.
Fig. 4. (Top ) The hydromorphone plasma concentration versus the percentage change of the pain threshold after administration of sustained-release hydromorphone (8, 16, and 32 mg) to 12 volunteers. There was no significant relation between the hydromorphone plasma concentration and the pain threshold. (Bottom ) The hydromorphone plasma concentration versus the percentage change of the pain tolerance for the same 12 volunteers. A significant linear relation existed between increasing hydromorphone plasma concentration and pain tolerance. The relation and corresponding 95% confidence intervals are depicted by the solid and adjacent dashed lines, respectively.
Numbers in parentheses indicate corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Pharmacodynamic models with a variable exponent did not improve the goodness of fit. Despite a lacking relation between the pain threshold and the hydromorphone plasma concentration, the percentage increase in pain threshold and pain tolerance correlated significantly (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.53;P < 0.001).
Omega squared (ω2), i.e. , the fraction of the overall variability of the pain threshold and the pain tolerance that could be attributed to the fact that subjects received different treatments (three doses of sustained-release hydromorphone and placebo) was 0.07 and 0.15, respectively. In other words, the magnitude of the analgesic treatment effect was small to medium and medium to large when assessing the pain threshold and pain tolerance, respectively.
There was a significant relation between increasing hydromorphone plasma concentration and decreasing hemoglobin oxygen saturation. The lowest hemoglobin oxygen saturation measured was 95%. No significant relation was detected between the hydromorphone plasma concentration and heart rate, arterial blood pressure, or respiratory rate. The lowest respiratory rate was 8–10 breaths/min and was measured in one subject 0.5–2 h after administration of immediate-release hydromorphone. All other measurements were at least 12 breaths/min.
There was no significant relation between the hydromorphone plasma concentration and heart rate, arterial blood pressure, hemoglobin oxygen saturation (no supplemental oxygen), or respiratory rate. The lowest hemoglobin oxygen saturation measured on one occasion 22 h after administration of 32 mg sustained-release hydromorphone was 91%. All other measurements were at least 93%. The lowest respiratory rate was 8–10 breaths/min, measured in one subject 8–14 h after administration of 16 mg sustained-release hydromorphone. All other measurements were at least 12 breaths/min.
Table 1summarizes peak plasma concentration, the time to peak plasma concentration, the first and the last time 50% of peak concentration was present in plasma, and the time span that plasma concentration remained at greater than 50% of the peak concentration. Peak plasma concentration was significantly higher after administration of 8 mg immediate-release hydromorphone than after any dose of hydromorphone OROS. However, accounting for observed equilibration delay between plasma and effect site after administration of immediate-release hydromorphone, the peak effect site rather than the peak plasma concentration is relevant to relate peak concentration to peak effect. The peak effect site concentration after administration of immediate-release hydromorphone was 2.24 ± 1.19 ng/ml. This was similar to the peak concentration measured after 32 mg hydromorphone OROS but significantly higher than that measured after 8 and 16 mg hydromorphone OROS. Statistically, peak concentrations after different doses of hydromorphone OROS were dose proportional and differed significantly among each other. The time to peak plasma concentration, the first and last time 50% of peak concentration was present in plasma, and the time span that plasma concentration remained at greater than 50% of the peak concentration were all significantly shorter after immediate-release hydromorphone than after any dose of hydromorphone OROS. This was also true if considering the effect site rather than the plasma concentration in case of immediate-release hydromorphone. The time to peak effect site concentration was 2 h (1–2 h). The first and last time 50% of peak effect site concentration was present was 0.7 ± 0.4 h and 4.1 ± 1.6 h, respectively. The time span that effect site concentration remained at greater than 50% of the peak concentration was 3.4 ± 1.4 h. Different doses of hydromorphone OROS did not result in a different time to peak plasma concentration, a different first and last time 50% of the peak concentration was present in plasma, or a different time span plasma concentration was at greater than 50% of the peak concentration. Similarly, different doses of hydromorphone OROS did not result in significantly different intersubject variability of the plasma concentration. The average coefficient of variation of the plasma concentration was 43%, 43%, and 41% after administration of 8, 16, and 32 mg sustained-release hydromorphone, respectively. The bottom graphs of fig. 5illustrate the plasma concentration versus time profile after administration of 8, 16, and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS, and the effect site concentration versus time profile after administration of 8 mg immediate-release hydromorphone, respectively.
Fig. 5. (Top ) Median percentage change (solid line) and corresponding interquartile range (dashed lines) of the pain tolerance versus time observed in 12 volunteers receiving sustained-release hydromorphone (SRH; 8, 16, and 32 mg), immediate-release hydromorphone (IRH; 8 mg), and placebo, respectively. Administration of 16 and 32 mg sustained-release hydromorphone resulted in a significant overall analgesic response if compared with placebo (#). An asterisk indicates times when measured analgesic response was significantly increased from baseline measurements. (Bottom ) Mean (± SD) plasma concentration versus time after administration of 8, 16, and 32 mg sustained-release hydromorphone and the mean (± SD) effect site concentration versus time after administration of 8 mg immediate-release hydromorphone.
Table 2summarizes peak pain tolerance, the time to peak pain tolerance, the first and last time 50% of peak pain tolerance was achieved, and the time span that pain tolerance remained at greater than 50% of the peak pain tolerance. Because the AUC depicting time versus pain tolerance was significantly different from placebo after administration of 16 and 32 mg, but not after administration of 8 mg hydromorphone OROS, only the 16- and 32-mg doses are discussed (fig. 6). Peak percentage increase in pain tolerance was not significantly different after administration of immediate-release hydromorphone or the two doses of hydromorphone OROS. However, compared with hydromorphone OROS administration, immediate-release hydromorphone resulted in a significantly shorter time to peak pain tolerance, first and last time 50% of peak pain tolerance was achieved, and time span that the pain tolerance remained at greater than 50% of the peak pain tolerance. Pain tolerance peaked approximately six times faster after administration of immediate-release hydromorphone. Comparable analgesic effects (pain tolerance at greater than 50% of the peak pain tolerance) were prolonged by a factor of approximately 4 after administration of hydromorphone OROS. The top graphs of figure 5depict the pain tolerance versus time profile after administration of 8, 16, and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS, 8 mg immediate-release hydromorphone, and placebo, respectively.
Fig. 6. White diamonds depict the individual areas under the curve (AUC; electrical pain tolerance versus time), and black diamonds the median area under the curve after administration of 8, 16, and 32 mg hydromorphone oral osmotic system and placebo, respectively. An asterisk indicates a significant difference from placebo administration.
Compared with baseline, a significant increase in pain tolerance was present 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after 8 mg immediate-release hydromorphone. Pain tolerance was significantly increased from baseline at 6, 9, 12, and 30 h after 16 and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS, respectively.
Table 3summarizes the incidence and severity of various adverse events. Compared with placebo, the incidence of pruritus and nausea was significantly greater after administration of 32 mg hydromorphone OROS. No serious adverse events were observed during the study. All adverse events were of mild or moderate severity, and most resolved spontaneously. However, nausea and vomiting made intravenous administration of 4–8 mg ondansetron necessary on 3, 1, 5, and 7 occasions after administration of 8 mg immediate-release hydromorphone and 8, 16, and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS, respectively. Pruritus was treated with 25–50 mg diphenhydramine administered intravenously on two occasions each after administration of 16 and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS. Finally, headache was treated with 325–650 mg acetaminophen orally on 2, 1, 2, and 3 occasions after administration of 8 mg immediate-release hydromorphone and 8, 16, and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS, respectively. With one exception, acetaminophen was given after completion of all experimental pain tests.
A new sustained-release hydromorphone formulation using oral osmotic pump system technology has been developed for the treatment of chronic pain with a single daily dose. Hydromorphone OROS evoked a significant dose-dependent analgesic response beginning 6 h and lasting more than 24 h of its administration. The observed analgesic response was substantially longer than that observed after a similarly effective dose of immediate-release hydromorphone.
Oral Osmotic pump systems have been successfully used for the sustained release of a variety of drugs that are quickly eliminated from the body and therefore require dosing of the conventional tablet several times a day. Pharmacokinetics reported for hydromorphone OROS are consistent with previous reports of other compounds using oral osmotic pump systems. 10,11 Plasma concentrations peaked significantly later after administration of hydromorphone OROS compared with conventional tablets, but were sustained over the 24-h interval after drug administration.
Several studies have reported equivalent or superior efficacy for compounds administered with oral osmotic pump systems if compared with corresponding conventional tablet. 10–12 Experimental pain testing reported here suggests that a single daily dose of hydromorphone OROS provides sustained analgesia closely related to measured plasma concentration. Because previous studies have demonstrated similar analgesic efficacy for equivalent doses of various immediate and controlled-release opioids in the setting of clinical pain, it is conceivable that once an effective plasma concentration is achieved, a single daily dose of hydromorphone OROS will be as efficacious as multiple daily doses of the conventional tablet. 5,17 Based on our data, a 6-h period lacking sufficient plasma concentrations to produce significant analgesia has to be expected after an initial dose of hydromorphone OROS. A possible solution to prevent a 6-h delay in the onset of analgesia may be to coadminister immediate-release hydromorphone with the first dose of hydromorphone OROS. However, with repetitive dosing of hydromorphone OROS, sustained plasma concentrations throughout the 24-h dosing interval may be expected.
Administration of hydromorphone OROS resulted in a significant relation between plasma concentration and measured analgesic effect for the pain tolerance (noxious input causing maximum tolerable pain) but not the pain threshold (noxious input causing equally likely a painful or a nonpainful perception). Several studies using various experimental pain modalities and different classes of drugs support the view that measuring the pain tolerance is more suitable to detect analgesic effects than measuring the pain threshold. 13,23,24 omega-squared statistics reported here and for a previous study implies that the signal (difference between treatments) to noise (variance unrelated to treatments) ratio is superior if measuring the pain tolerance. 13 This may be explained, in part, by a superior test–retest reliability if measuring the pain tolerance rather than the pain threshold. This view is supported by our study revealing a smaller within-day (9 vs. 15%) and between-day (17 vs. 23%) coefficient of variation for measurements of the pain tolerance rather than the pain threshold at baseline.
The experimental pain model used in our study did not detect a significantly different analgesic efficacy after administration of 16 and 32 mg hydromorphone OROS. This raises the question how the precision and sensitivity of the pain model used compares with other models testing analgesic efficacy. Postoperative pain models have often been used to compare the analgesic efficacy of different doses of an orally administered opioid. However, despite the fact that these studies enrolled a larger number of patients than that enrolled in our study, they could not consistently demonstrate increased analgesic efficacy if doubling or even tripling the dose. 25–27 This suggests that the precision and sensitivity of our experimental pain model is at least equivalent to that of a postoperative pain model.
The difficulty of differentiating the analgesic efficacy among various doses of an orally administered opioid may result from significant intersubject pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variability, less than desirable precision inherent to any pain assay, and the fact that many doses studied may constitute the low or the high end of the dose versus effect relation. The latter seems relevant because the dose versus effect relation is S-shaped for most drugs. Therefore, the gain in effect is much smaller and harder to detect if a low rather than a midsized dose is doubled.
Currently, a sustained-release hydromorphone formulation different from hydromorphone OROS is commercially available. This formulation has a pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile that allows safe and effective pain control if administered every 12 h. 6,28 However, the plasma concentration after administration of hydromorphone OROS was sustained approximately three times longer if compared with the alternative formulation. 28 Hydromorphone OROS likely needs less frequent dosing than the alternative formulation.
There are a variety of other opioids including morphine, oxycodone, and tramadol that are available as sustained-release formulations. 17,29,30 Most of these formulations allow safe and effective pain control if administered every 12 h. One formulation containing morphine was given once a day to patients with cancer pain and provided adequate pain control without the need for rescue medication in approximately 50% of the patients. 31 This formulation had pronounced sustained-release characteristics, with plasma concentrations remaining above 50% of the peak concentration for approximately 12 h. 31 By comparison, administration of hydromorphone OROS resulted in plasma concentrations that were similarly sustained for approximately 24 h. Contrasting with most sustained-release opioid formulations, a single daily dose of hydromorphone OROS may allow safe and adequate pain control and a decreased need for rescue medication.
The incidence of side effects after administration of hydromorphone OROS was dose-related. During clinical analgesic trials of opioids, a fraction of patients commonly withdrew because of disturbing opioid side effects. 5,6,32 However, studies comparing sustained- and immediate-release formulations of various opioids or among different release formulations of the same opioid did not find significant differences in the severity and incidence of side effects. 5,6,32,33 One study reported an increased therapeutic window in patients controlling the rate of a continuous intravenous infusion rather than the number of intravenous bolus injections of morphine. 34 More data are needed to establish if the therapeutic window between long-term administration of immediate- and sustained-release opioids differs in a relevant way.
The development of tolerance, i.e. , a need to increase the dose to maintain an effect, may be different if a drug is administered as an immediate- or a sustained-release formulation. 35,36 One study suggested that more pronounced tolerance to the analgesic effects of morphine developed in patients receiving a continuous infusion rather than intermittent intramuscular bolus injections. 37 However, another study reported that, although analgesic effects were preserved, nausea and constipation became less prominent in the course of a treatment with controlled-release morphine. 9 Further investigation is needed to clarify if administration of immediate- and sustained-release opioids produce differential tolerance to analgesic and nonanalgesic effects.
Variation in gastrointestinal transit time could alter the release and absorption profile of hydromorphone OROS. No data regarding hydromorphone OROS are yet available. However, food intake and altered gastrointestinal transit time did not affect the release rate of radio-labeled markers from an oral osmotic pump system. 38 The release and absorption rate of metoprolol and oxprenolol using oral osmotic pump system technology were approximately constant along the entire gastrointestinal tract. 39,40 However, an inverse relation between the residual amount of drug recovered from excreted oral osmotic pump system and the gastrointestinal transit time has been reported. 41 Reduced systemic drug uptake can result if the gastrointestinal transit time is considerably shorter than the duration of drug release from an oral osmotic pump system.
In summary, hydromorphone OROS may become a valuable addition to other sustained-release formulations containing opioids. The presented data obtained in human volunteers using experimental pain provide strong evidence that a single daily dose of hydromorphone OROS may be effective in the treatment of opioid responsive chronic pain. Clinical studies are needed to substantiate and expand the findings presented here.
The authors thank Lawrence J. Saidman, M.D. (Professor, Department of Anesthesia, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California), for helpful comments on the manuscript; and Frances A. Monroe, B.A. (Life Science Research Assistant II, Department of Anesthesia, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California), for graphical assistance.
Martin S. Angst, David R. Drover, Jörn Lötsch, Bhamini Ramaswamy, Sujata Naidu, D. Russell Wada, Donald R. Stanski; Pharmacodynamics of Orally Administered Sustained- release Hydromorphone in Humans. Anesthesiology 2001;94(1):63-73. | 2019-04-21T10:29:50Z | https://anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org/article.aspx?articleid=1945172 |
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2001-04-13 Assigned to SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS OF CALABASAS, INC. reassignment SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS OF CALABASAS, INC. CHANGE OF NAME (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: NETCOM SYSTEMS, INC.
2001-04-19 Assigned to SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC. reassignment SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS OF CALABASAS, INC.
A method and apparatus for inserting sequence number and timestamp information into a network data packet in a manner which is checksum neutral with respect to a checksum precalculated in the network protocol portion of the data packet. The checksum neutral addition of sequence number and timestamp is accomplished by in addition to adding to the payload portion a sequence number and timestamp, also adding a value which is a modified version of the sequence number and of the time stamp such as an inverse value.
The invention has application in the field of network traffic generators and analyzers. More particularly, the invention is directed to a mechanism to insert information in the payload portion of a packet in a protocol neutral way.
Network traffic generators and analyzers are devices used to provide information for use by network administrators to determine the efficiency of the flow of packets over a network and to determine where network bottlenecks exist or may exist. For example, a network, such as a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) will have connected at several nodes of the network, a network traffic generator which generates packets, which packets are generated using a predetermined software protocol such as IP, IPX, SPX, ICMP, ARP, or RARP, Appletalk, DECNET or SNA, each of which is defined in an industry standard manner.
The software or data communications protocols noted above are independent of the media access control (MAC) utilized such as Ethernet or Token Ring.
In order to conduct certain analysis of network traffic, it is desirable to have a timestamp associated with each data packet, which timestamp has a value representing the time at which the packet is placed onto the network being tested so that when the packet is received by a receiving unit, the timestamp in the packet can be compared with a timestamp generated when the packet is received. Another piece of information necessary to perform such analysis is a sequence number associated with each packet.
Thus, while having sequence number and timestamp information within the body of a packet is desirable to enable certain types of analysis to be performed, under commonly utilized software protocols, such as those noted above, it is not possible to add timestamps and sequence number information to a packet without changing the value of a checksum which is necessarily calculated prior to the time the timestamp and sequence number can be added to the packet.
Each packet is generated by a computer and includes a network protocol portion and a payload portion. Referring for example to FIG. 2a, the network protocol portion includes network protocol information and the checksum. Referring to FIG. 1, the checksum is a value calculated by computer 11, based upon information contained in the payload portion, specifically fields 1-5 and fields 10-11 shown in FIG. 2a. When a packet is received, receiving unit 17 recalculates the checksum using the data in the payload portion of the packet. The calculated checksum is then compared with the checksum in the network protocol portion. If the two values do not agree, then it is assumed that the packet was transmitted in error and, typically, a request is made to have the packet re-transmitted.
Since the timestamp and sequence number information are added by generator 13 before placing the packet onto network 15, such information must be added to the packet after the checksum has been calculated. However, as noted above, since the checksum that the receiver calculates is calculated using the contents of the entire payload portion, adding a sequence number and timestamp to the payload portion will cause a different checksum to be calculated than the one in the network protocol portion which in turn causes extraneous packets to be transmitted or otherwise adversely impacts the analysis performed based on the transmitted and received packets.
While it is possible to provide sequence number and timestamp information by computer 11, the timestamp provided by computer 11 would not accurately reflect the time at which the packet is actually placed onto the network by generator 13. While mechanisms could be utilized to compensate for the differential between the time a packet is generated by a computer, and the time it is placed onto the network, such mechanisms would introduce some amount of error. While such errors can be tolerated in certain network environments, as networks speeds have increased, the need for more accurate analysis based on accurate timestamp information becomes more important.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,632 recognizes the desirability of having a timestamp whose value can be compared with the time a packet is received by a receiving unit, and teaches various mechanisms for ensuring that clocks in transmitting units and receiving units are synchronized. U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,632 also recognizes the need for synchronizing network analyzers so that timestamps applied to packets will be consistent and accurate through the network. See column 7, lines 31-34. However, this patent contains no teachings or suggestions for applying a timestamp by a network traffic generator in a way which ensures that the checksum in the network protocol portion of a packet will compare with the checksum calculated by a receiving unit.
The invention is directed to a method and apparatus for inserting sequence number and timestamp information into a network data packet in a manner which is checksum neutral with respect to a checksum precalculated in the network protocol portion of the data packet. In one embodiment, the checksum neutral addition of sequence number and timestamp is accomplished by in addition to adding to the payload portion a sequence number and timestamp, also adding a value which is an inverse of the sequence number and an inverse of the time stamp.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system in connection with which the present invention may be utilized.
FIG. 2a & 2 b are representations of a typical data packet.
FIG. 3 is a logical block diagram of generator 13.
FIG. 4 is a logical block diagram of receiver 17.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of elements of a transmit generator.
Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention is hardware and software elements forming part of generator 13 which cause sequence number and timestamp information to be added to data packets in a protocol neutral manner.
Computer 11 may be any general purpose computer such as a PC running a Windows or Macintosh operating system or a UNIX workstation. Software and hardware in computer 11 generate data packets intended to be sent over network 15 to a desired destination. In a system employing network analyzers, data packets, before being transmitted onto network 15, pass through generator 13 which modifies certain information in the data packets before sending them on to network 15. The data packets are intercepted by receiver 17 which provides additional information, including the time the packet was received, before sending it over network 19. Network 19 may or may not be the same as network 15. The packet passes through network 19 to its ultimate destination, which in the case of a system undergoing an analysis of network traffic typically would be the same, although not necessarily, computer 11.
As shown in FIG. 2a, a data packet has a network protocol portion and a payload portion. The network protocol portion contains network protocol information and a checksum which is calculated as described below. The payload portion includes a marker (field 1) which is defined by the test to be undertaken by the network analyzer and may be a unique pattern or based on a predefined algorithm. The next field is the user payload byte count (field 2) which is simply the byte count of the user payload (field 3) which is the next field which may be from one to N bytes. The content of the user payload, in a packet transmitted for purposes of performing network analysis, except for initial value information in the first packet, is not critical. The next field is a sixteen bit cyclical redundancy check field (field 4) calculated using the user payload byte count and the user payload field according to a CCITT standard. The next field is an ID number (field 5) which is formed from an 8 bit port number, a 16 bit stream value, a 4 bit protocol value and 4 bits of user defined data. Port number is a generator identifier; stream defines a particular connection between a transmitter and a receiver; the protocol is the software protocol being used; and user defined data is used to augment the port, stream or protocol data as needed. Pad data (field 10) may be needed for alignment depending on the physical medium used for the network. Frame check sequence (field 11) may or may not be needed depending on the software protocol. The first five fields as well as field 10 and field 11 are all generated by computer 11.
Referring now to FIG. 3, which is a logical block diagram of generator 13, a packet with fields 0-5, 10 and 11 are input into a packet generator 13 a which performs various well known functions. One example of a suitable packet generator is sold by Netcom Systems as its model SMB1000 or SMB2000. The present invention in effect adds functionality to such prior art packet generator utilizing a transmit generator shown as element 13 b in FIG. 3, which in addition to modifying what is know as the IP sequence number and IP checksum calculation in field 0 in the network protocol portion of the header as required by the software protocol, also adds a signature sequence number and a transmit signature timestamp. The signature sequence number is created by incrementing from an initial value contained in the payload portion of the first packet used in the test. The transmit signature timestamp value is obtained from a clock in generator 13 a. In order to ensure that the addition of the signature sequence number and signature timestamp do not change the value of the checksum calculated for the payload portion of the packet, each field is input to a bit by bit inverter which places a bit by bit inverse of the signature sequence number and signature timestamp value at fields 7 and 9 of the payload portion. By inserting these inverse values, when the packet is received, and the checksum of the payload is calculated, the calculated checksum will be the same as the checksum previously calculated by computer 11 in the network protocol portion of the packet.
In this connection, it should be recognized that the only requirement regarding the additional data to add to the payload portion is that such additional data must contain a value which does not cause the payload portion to have a different checksum calculated after the data has been added. Thus, while a bit by bit inverse is a preferred embodiment in that the use of inverters makes it easy and inexpensive to implement in hardware, it would also be possible to utilize the two's compliment of the sequence number and timestamp values by adding a first portion, such as the first 2 bytes, of the timestamp value to a second portion, such as the second 2 bytes, of the timestamp value. Similarly, it is not necessary that the sequence number field be followed by its inverse and then the timestamp value field be followed by its inverse. Thus, for example, the sequence number field could be followed immediately by the timestamp value, and then an inverse of the combined sequence number timestamp fields could be inserted after the two combined fields. It should be understood that the checksum value is calculated based on the software protocol utilized, and it would possible to add modified values of the sequence number and timestamp which would also result in a checksum neutral calculation.
FIG. 4 is a logical block diagram of receiver 17. Receiver 17 includes a packet analyzer module 17 a and a receive analyzer module 17 b. Both of these modules would typically be implemented as part a network traffic analyzer which would include generator 13 and receiver 17 in a single unit. As noted above, such network traffic analyzers are well known in the art, one example being model SMB1000 or SMB2000 sold by Netcom Systems. Although the receiver portion of a network analyzer represented by receiver 17 does not differ from the equivalent module in the prior art, one piece of information provided by the receive analyzer 17 b is the receive timestamp which is created from sync information generated by a clock within packet analyzer 17 a.
Of course, in order to ensure that the receive timestamp and the transmit timestamp contain timestamp information which can be correctly analyzed, it is necessary that the clocks in generator 13 and receiver 17 be synchronized. However, such synchronization can be accomplished by well known prior art solutions such as used in global positioning systems.
Referring now to FIG. 5, the elements of a suitable transmit generator for implementing the present invention will now be described. A clock 21 local to packet generator 13 a generates a time stamp value for the current packet to be transmitted over the network, which value is stored in a memory such as buffer 23. Similarly, an incrementor 25 increments a current sequence number value 27, and stores the incremented value in buffer 23. The incremented value is also stored as the current sequence number value for use by the next packet to be transmitted. As noted above, the initial sequence number value is obtained from the payload portion of the first test packet. The time stamp and sequence number value stored in buffer 23 are then inverted by inverter 29, and the inverted values are also stored in buffer 23. The values in buffer 23 are used to form the corresponding portions of the payload as described above. Of course, there may be several buffers or memory areas to store the various values, and there may be other logic circuitry necessary to transfer the various values in buffer 23 to another memory or buffer containing the complete packet to be transmitted, however, such additional logic and/or memory, if necessary, would be readily apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art. Accordingly, such additional details are not set forth herein.
d) inserting a value which is a version of said sequence value and a value which is a version of said timestamp value within said packet, wherein said sequence version value and said timestamp version value are selected such that said predetermined checksum value remains a valid checksum value for said packet after said insertion.
2. The method defined by claim 1 wherein said packet includes a network protocol portion and a payload portion, and the timestamp value, the timestamp version value, the sequence value and the sequence version value are inserted within said payload portion.
3. The method defined by claim 1 wherein the timestamp value is a value relative to a start of test time.
4. The method defined by claim 1 wherein the timestamp version value is a bit by bit inverse of the timestamp value.
5. The method defined by claim 1 wherein the sequence value is a number relative to an initial value.
6. The method defined by claim 1 wherein the sequence version value is a bit by bit inverse of the sequence value.
7. The method defined by claim 1 wherein the timestamp version value is a two's complement of a value formed by adding a first portion of said timestamp value to a second portion of said timestamp value.
8. The method defined by claim 1 wherein the sequence version value is a two's complement of a value formed by adding a first portion of said sequence value to a second portion of said sequence value.
e) means for inserting a value which is a version of said sequence value and a value which is a version of said timestamp value within said packet, wherein said sequence version value and said timestamp version value are selected such that predetermined checksum value remains a valid checksum value for said packet after said insertion.
10. The system defined by claim 9 wherein the means for determining the timestamp value comprises a clock local to said network traffic generator.
11. The system defined by claim 9 wherein the means for determining the sequence value comprises an incrementor local to said network traffic generator.
b) a second buffer coupled to said first buffer and said incrementor adapted to store the timestamp value stored in said first buffer and said sequence value generated by said incrementor.
13. The system defined by claim 12 wherein said means for inserting a value which is a version of said sequence value and a value which is a version of said timestamp value comprises an inverter coupled to said second buffer.
f) an inverter coupled to said second buffer. | 2019-04-19T11:34:55Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US6252891B1/en |
Rabbi Yeshua told John’s disciples, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” Mt 11:4–5. The Sanhedrin saw the same evidence as everyone else; they knew no ordinary man could heal by command, or resuscitate a man from death. The evidence warranted belief.
“Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him; but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation’” Jn 11:45–48. The chief priests said it. The evidence warranted belief.
The Sanhedrin were present at the Cross, at least some of them, to be sure Rabbi Yeshua was dead. Most Jews of that day, deeply immersed in the Tanakh and the Oral Law, owned no books, but knew it all by heart. If someone even today says, “Our Father who art in heaven…” most Catholics can recite the rest of the prayer. The Psalms were not numbered as they are today; Jews referred to psalms and other passages by reciting their first few words.
Rabbi Yeshua had cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mt 27:46. A Jew hearing eli, “My God,” would obviously have been able to distinguish it from eliyahu, “Elijah.” Yet, “Some of the bystanders hearing it said, ‘This man is calling Elijah’” Mt 27:47. They were mocking him as not having been heralded by Elijah according to the prophecy Mal 4:5; Mt 17:10; Mk 9:11, etc. The Sanhedrin rabbis who mocked him intended that his followers would lose their belief when Elijah did not come to rescue him, but Rabbi Yeshua used the mockery to assure that only the most faithful followed him. He had earlier told his believers that John the Baptizer “is Elijah who is to come” Mt 11:14.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Ps 22:1 also pre-figured Isaiah’s prophecy of God’s Messiah: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” Is 53:5–6. St. Paul told the Corinthians, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Cor 5:21. When Rabbi Yeshua cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mt 27:46, he was allowed to sense for a moment the separation from God we all experience by our sins. The evidence warranted belief.
All who were under the Cross heard Rabbi Yeshua, in excruciating pain, quote these opening words of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Ps 22:1; Mt 27:46. They saw his pierced hands and feet and remembered King David’s prophecy a thousand years earlier, “They have pierced my hands and feet” Ps 22:16. They remembered Zechariah’s prophecy, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child” Zech 12:10. With their own eyes they saw him nailed to the Cross. They saw with their own eyes, “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; so they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be” Jn 19:23–24. And they remembered King David’s words across a thousand years of time, “They divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots” Ps 22:18. He had proven to everyone standing beneath the Cross that he was the Mashiakh that God promised through David. Even the pagans knew. “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” Mt 27:54. The evidence warranted belief.
They remembered Zechariah’s words, “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness” Zech 13:1 as they saw, “One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” Jn 19:34. They remembered Zechariah again, “On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter” Zech 14:8. The Holy Land had been the crossroads of the world, but while its winters are rainy its summers are bone dry; the living waters would be miraculous. They remembered Rabbi Yeshua‘s, “He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’” Jn 7:38.
God even promised that it would end in glory. “Men shall tell of the Lord to the coming generation, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn” Ps 22:30-31. The remnant of Israel standing beneath the Cross saw it all.
In Hebrew a bet din is a “house of law” or “house of judgment,” a Jewish religious court or trial. In Rabbi Yeshua’s time the highest court was the Sanhedrin, which originated during the Second Temple era. However, the Jewish tradition of religious courts goes back to Moses, who sat as a magistrate among the people and later appointed others as judges, reserving for himself only the most difficult cases.
Rabbi Yeshua’s bet din by the Sanhedrin was based on this passage from the Torah: “If there is found among you, within any of your towns which the Lord your God gives you, a man or woman who does what is evil … then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true … you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones” Deut 17:2–5. The bet din was to be a real trial. “On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses” Deut 17:6.
Rabbi Yeshua‘s bet din had to be in Jerusalem, as he told us: “It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem” Lk 13:33. The Oral Law taught, “They judge a tribe, a false prophet, and a high priest, only on the instructions of a court of seventy-one members.”1 The Great Sanhedrin was composed of seventy-one members, the high priest and seventy elders. Small Sanhedrins of twenty-three members could judge even cases of murder locally, but a false prophet had to be judged in Jerusalem, the crossroads of the ancient world. Rabbi Yeshua had been charged with false prophecy by blasphemy. Even some Pharisees warned him , “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you” Lk 13:31, the only place in all four Gospels where Pharisees tried to help him, but he had “set his face to go to Jerusalem” Lk 9:51.
The law of the bet din was, “Justice, and only justice, you shall follow” Deut 16:20, but the bet din by which Caiaphas judged Rabbi Yeshua was illegal on procedure. The law of the bet din was specific: “A person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness” Deut 17:6. God put great emphasis on the need for at least two witnesses. “A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained” Deut 19:15. But in Rabbi Yeshua‘s bet din there were not two witnesses agreeing on any specific event.
“The high priest tore his robes, and said, ‘He has uttered blasphemy. Why do we still need witnesses?’” Mt 26:65. Tearing one’s garments is an ancient Jewish gesture of extreme distress. However, the Torah prohibited the high priest from tearing his sacred robes. “The priest who is chief among his brethren … shall not … rend his clothes” Lev 21:10.
The Torah prescribes, “He who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him” Lev 24:16. In some cases, stoning meant pushing the person from a high place onto a stone surface such as a large rock. The Mishna records, “The place of stoning was twice the height of a man. One of the witnesses pushes him over from the hips, so [hard] that he turned upward [in his fall].”2 In others, stoning was done by throwing heavy stones at the person. But the Sanhedrin did not stone Rabbi Yeshua; they brought him to Pilate.
The death penalty by stoning was applied only rarely. The Jewish courts made every effort to avoid it. That may have been why mobs sometimes tried to take “justice” into their own hands, as the synagogue crowd did with Rabbi Yeshua and the scribes and Pharisees did with Mary Magdalene.
Rabbi Yeshua‘s bet din was illegal on substance as well as procedure. Caiaphas charged Rabbi Yeshua with blasphemy, contempt for God, for his prophecy, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands” Mk 14:58. When Caiaphas asked Rabbi Yeshua, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed” Mk 14:61 he boldly declared, “I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” Mk 14:62. This was the most grave omission of the Sanhedrin’s illegal bet din. These proclamations would have been blasphemy only if Rabbi Yeshua were not the Son of God, but the Sanhedrin made no attempt to prove that he was not.
This is an awesome omission! The Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem was the supreme religious body in Israel at the time. Its members were Judaism’s highest authorities on the Torah. They knew every word, every letter of the Torah. And more than every letter! They knew the cantillation, the decorations on each Hebrew letter, and they even knew the tagin, the crowns on the letters of the Torah. Rabbi Akiva from a century later is well remembered for discovering many new halakhot by studying these tagin. Yet these men did not observe the most basic requirement of the bet din, documenting that Rabbi Yeshua were not the Son of God!
Caiaphas evidently knew that he had no evidence against Rabbi Yeshua. During his mortal life, Rabbi Yeshua summarized, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” Lk 7:22. Let’s look more closely.
Elijah had raised the son of the Zarephath widow 1 Kings 17:17–22, and Elisha had raised the son of the Shunammite woman 2 Kings 4:32–35. Both had been taught for centuries as miracles. Rabbi Yeshua raised the widow’s son in Nain Lk 7:11–15, Jairus’ daughter Lk 8:51–55, and Lazarus Jn 11:1–44. Caiaphas’ Sanhedrin would have had to deny Elijah and Elisha, obviously impossible, or confirm Rabbi Yeshua as a miracle worker. God would never give such power to a blasphemer.
After Rabbi Yeshua ascended to the Father Acts 1:9, Rabbi Kefa healed a man lame from birth Acts 3:2 by Rabbi Yeshua‘s power Acts 3:6. The Jewish authorities arrested the shlikhim and convened something like a bet din but, “Seeing the man that had been healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition” Acts 4:14. Then they asked the shlikhim to leave the room and said to one another, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is manifest to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it” Acts 4:16.
Rabbi Yeshua‘s corrupt bet din was the beginning of the crossroads for Israel. If the trial had proceeded according to the Torah, evidence available to the Sanhedrin would have shown that Rabbi Yeshua was the Son of God. The charge against him would have been dropped, the whole Jewish nation would have worshiped him and, just possibly, the Glory to Come might already have occurred!
Rabbi Yeshua’s last words on the Cross were, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Lk 23:46. The remnant of Israel standing beneath the Cross recognized Rabbi Yeshua‘s quotation “Into your hand I commit my spirit” Ps 31:5, at the moment of his death silently completed King David’s very next words as they echoed across a thousand years: “You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God” Ps 31:5. They knew the law of the goel. He had told them what He was doing! His Final Sacrifice redeemed us from the original sin. The evidence warranted belief.
The tearing of Israel pre-figured the miraculous tearing of the Temple curtain Mt 27:51. God’s instructions for making the original Tabernacle had been highly specific Ex 26:1–13. The curtain was to be very thick Ex 26:3, indicating that entry into the Holy of Holies was like passing from earth to heaven. We may speculate that the curtains for the Holy of Holies in the First 1 Kings 6:14–7:51 and Second Ezra 6:3; 14 Temples were made to the same specification. No man could have torn them. During all of the Temple’s existence as a channel of grace only the High Priest ever entered the Holy of Holies. But on that awesome Friday afternoon at three o’clock, when our Father tore the curtain and we could see inside. At that moment it became an ordinary empty room. Rabbi Yeshua himself became the new Holy of Holies, with the Shkhina made Flesh present and celebrating the todah sacrifice in the Upper Room. “They beheld God, and ate and drank” Ex 24:11.
God closed paradise to our first parents by “the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword” Gen 3:24. The miraculous tearing of the Temple curtain Mt 27:51 that opened the Holy of Holies matched Rabbi Yeshua opening God’s paradise to man, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” Lk 23:43. The Book of Hebrews observes, “We have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh” Heb 10:19–20. The evidence warranted belief.
The Jews standing below the Cross during Rabbi Yeshua‘s Final Sacrifice knew God’s promise given through Ezekiel six hundred years earlier, “Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people” Ezek 37:12–13. The Tanakh translates veyadatem Ezek 37:13 emphatically as “And you shall know.” Rabbi Yeshua fulfilled it. “The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many” Mt 27:51–53.
The Jews had seen Rabbi Yeshua lifted up as the Cross was placed into position. The Septuagint translates Ezekiel’s veyadatem, “and you shall know” Ezek 37:13, to the Greek gnosesthe. They remembered that Rabbi Yeshua had told them, “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know [gnosesthe] that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me” Jn 8:28. When they crucified Rabbi Yeshua they brought into being his National Revelation.
Caiaphas and his Sanhedrin recognized in the opening of the tombs and the raised bodies of the saints a fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy. They also knew that Korah and his company had risen up against Moses Num 16:2, and that God punished them by opening the earth so that they descended alive into Sheol Num 16:31–33; Jude 11. When Caiaphas and his Sanhedrin saw the bodies of the saints rise from their tombs and felt the earth quake under their feet, Rabbi Yeshua‘s Final Sacrifice was complete. The evidence warranted belief.
Why then did the Jewish authorities and their followers continue to fight against Rabbi Yeshua? The key is Isaiah’s Prophecy of recognition Is 6:9–12. God’s people Israel by their constant resistance eventually become so insensitive to his grace even in the small amounts they had allowed to come through to their hearts that they would not recognize even their own Messiah.
“Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.’ So they went and made the sepulchre secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard” Mt 27:65–66. The soldiers had secured Rabbi Yeshua‘s tomb with the Seal of the Roman Empire, an imprinted cord they had stretched across the stone and sealed with clay so any tampering would be detected. “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men” Mt 28:2–4. The guards knew. The evidence warranted belief.
On Easter Sunday morning, “Some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place” Mt 28:11 “He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time” 1 Cor 15:5–6. Caiaphas and the chief priests knew Rabbi Yeshua had risen from the dead. They had gone to great trouble to have Rabbi Yeshua crucified to be rid of him once and for all, and saw that even death could not hold him. They surely remembered King David’s prophecy, “For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your godly one see the Pit” Ps 16:10. The evidence warranted belief.
The Holy Spirit had descended on the shlikhim and performed a miracle seen by all. “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?’” Acts 2:5–8. The evidence warranted belief.
The Sanhedrin asked, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is manifest to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it” Acts 4:16. The evidence warranted belief.
Rabbi Yeshua warned the Pharisees, “You did not know the time of your visitation” Lk 19:44. From the time of his public ministry Jewish history pointed to him as God’s Mashiakh.
In the time of Moses our Father gave the command for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
And it shall be a statute to you for ever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves, and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you; for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. It is a sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute for ever Lev 16:29–31.
On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord” Lev 23:26–27. An Aaronic priest would make the atonement. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments Lev 16:32.
Then he shall take the two goats, and set them before the Lord at the door of the tent of meeting; and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel Lev 16:7–10.
The goat chosen “for the Lord” was taken and slaughtered with the greatest holiness and purity as a sacrifice to God. Its blood was then taken to the Holy of Holies and sprinkled directly into the Shkhina, the shining glory of God, between the two cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. But the goat “for azazel” was kept alive. The high priest would tie a piece of scarlet cloth to the azazel’s horn. Then a priest would lead the goat out into the wilderness, remove the scarlet cloth, tear it in half, put one half back on the goat’s horn, push the goat over a high precipice as a sacrifice, and bring the other half back to the Temple. If the cloth turned white our Father had accepted the sacrifice. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” Is 1:18. If it remained red, our Father had not accepted the sacrifice. The Yom Kippur service ends with a very long blast of the shofar, reminding Jews of God’s presence on Mt. Sinai in the giving of the Torah. At this time the Book of Life is sealed.
The Babylonian Talmud, in tractate Yoma, 39a and 39b, tells us that for forty years before the Temple destruction in AD 70, the crimson colored cloth, tied to the Temple door, remained red. It did not miraculously turn white, indicating that our Father had not accepted the sacrifice. Rabbi Yeshua’s public ministry began in AD 30, exactly 40 years before the Temple destruction, and ended in AD 33.
The azazel was also said to have completely removed the sins of the whole people Israel. But, although the sins were removed, that is, moved to another place, they were not annihilated until Rabbi Yeshua’s Final Sacrifice. “For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins” Heb 10:4. Josephus, in Wars of the Jews, Book VI, Chapter 9, § 424, tells us that during the Passover in AD 70 the Temple priests sacrificed more than a quarter million lambs. Yet the Temple itself was destroyed later that same year. The evidence warranted belief.
The rabbis read in the Book of Daniel that the Son of Man would receive a “kingdom that shall not be destroyed” Dan 7:13–14 and that the Mashiakh would appear in AD 30 Dan 9:20–27. They recognized that it was an inspired book, and that these prophecies were inspired and therefore had to be included. However, these teachings were inconsistent with what they were teaching about the Mashiakh. Rather than re-consider their teachings, such as the Shma, they tried to hide them in plain sight. Although the Book of Daniel is obviously a prophetic book, the rabbis of the Tanakh did not place it among the Nevi’im, the prophetic books, but among the Ketuvim, the “writings!” And there it remains today.
In another example, Maimonides wrote in Igeret Teiman, 3, 24, that the Book of Daniel seems to have predicted that the Mashiakh would appear before AD 70. But the only one who fit that description was Rabbi Yeshua! It would also be awkward to say that the Mashiakh never appeared after an inspired book of Jewish Sacred Scripture said he would appear. So Maimonides wrote, “We cannot assert that Daniel was wrong in his reckoning” and declared that it is a sin to try to calculate Daniel’s prophecy,” even though the Archangel Gabriel gave us the calculations.
The placement of the Book of Daniel among the Ketuvim shows that this is a serious matter. The rabbis would never “accidentally” misplace a book of Sacred Scripture, and if that ever occurred it would instantly be corrected by the sages. Nor would the sages and scholars fail to notice that Daniel is a prophetic book, certainly more concentrated on prophesy than the largely historical books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings that are placed among the Nevi’im. Visibly it is a prophetic book inspired by God intentionally not placed among the Tanakh’s prophetic books because it points straight to Rabbi Yeshua as God’s Mashiakh. The evidence warranted belief.
Rabbi Yeshua asks us: “My people, What have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me! I led you out of Egypt; but you led your Savior to the Cross. For forty years I led you safely through the desert, I fed you with manna from heaven, and brought you to the land of plenty; But you led your Savior to the Cross. O, my people! What have I done to you that you should testify against me?” It comes from the prophet Micah: “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!” Mic 6:3.
During the past two thousand years, despite constant Jewish prayer (the Amidah, final three prayers, which are said three times each day, every day of the week), the Temple has never risen because the Son of God did rise Mt 28:6. The evidence still warrants belief.
God is eternal. In our own time, the evidence of astrophysics still warrants belief. The evidence of Lourdes still warrants belief. The evidence of Loretto still warrants belief. The evidence Our Lady of Fátima – Ven Bishop Fulton J. Sheen 22:23 still warrants belief.
The evidence will always warrant belief. | 2019-04-19T11:21:31Z | https://secondexodus.com/hear-o-israel/the-evidence-warranted-belief/ |
Wash me Saviour or I die.
This is indeed the secret of the Christian life. We’ll miss you. We love you. Dave and Becky Lynn.
Yet I think the author may take one step too far in this direction, for elsewhere he takes the exclusive headship of Christ over His Church to imply the presumptuousness of assuming “the position or title of solo ruler, overseer, or pastor of the church” (p115). I share Strauch’s impulse to guard against a misperceived self-sufficiency in senior pastors, and to be wary of absolute power corrupting absolutely. But I question whether the senior pastor title or role is necessarily illegitimate on the grounds of Christ’s exclusive headship, or whether the title of senior pastor is mutually exclusive with a plurality of elders. After all, the letters to each of the seven churches in Revelation were all addressed to the singular angels of those respective churches, which most commentators regard as the singular pastors of those churches. Both Timothy and Titus seemed to exercise a role akin to what we would call a senior pastor without threatening either Christ’s exclusive headship or the plurality of local church leadership. And it makes sense that the one who is released by the corporate provision of the congregation to devote himself to teaching God’s word would accrue a level of authority that only such a corporately recognized teacher could have.
What is meant by "the angel of the church"? It is true, as some have pointed out, that this word can be translated "messenger," and in other parts of the New Testament it does have that meaning. But it does not have that meaning elsewhere in Revelation! The word "angel" appears many times in the book outside these seven letters, and in every case it refers to a heavenly being -- what we normally think of as an angel. It is suggestive here that each church has a heavenly being responsible for guiding the human leadership of each.
Some have seen this is as a reference to the pastor, or human leader of the church. That is not likely since in all the churches of the New Testament you never find a single human leader. Leadership is always in the plural -- elders and pastors of churches. It is men who have made that change in the centuries since our Lord began the church.
Secondly, as for Timothy and Titus having roles that are akin to that of a senior pastor, I dare say that nothing could be further from the truth, as both men were quite simply (temporary) representatives of the apostle Paul, doing a vital task to be sure, but they were hardly the pastors of these churches. Timothy, for example, was in Ephesus when Paul wrote to him, and we know that Paul had already met with the Ephesian elders (note the plural) in Miletus, as recorded in Acts 20.
A verse I find most helpful in this discussion is Col. 1:18, which states that in all things Jesus Christ is to have the first place (or “preeminence,” if you prefer). Of course, this is far easier to proclaim than to practice. We appreciate those who are anxious to give honor where honor is due, but they need not give encouragement to the very attitudes our Savior so strongly condemns in Matthew 23.
12:35 PM Indiana Wesleyan University announces an opening in religion/church history.
Thank you also for your prayers! This morning, we received a phone call from Burji...the war with the Guji tribe stopped two weeks ago (Praise His Name!!), Mohammed (who is unsaved) is healing from his gunshot wound, and the building of the Meeting Hall is progressing rapidly. Oshe is the leader in Burji who speaks good English, and he is coming to Addis to meet with us; he will give us a full report, give us pictures, etc., etc. How we praise our Lord for this answer to prayer!!!
If this doesn’t put your nose on the carpet in thanksgiving and praise nothing will. Words cannot describe my gratitude to God for what He has done in Burji and what He is doing among the severely persecuted church in Alaba. “Yes, and all who live godly lives in union with Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). It does not say “some,” it does not say “most,” it says “all.” How much tribulation have you had that you wouldn’t have had if you hadn’t been a Christian? As the Master, so the servant. I praise God for the faithfulness of my brothers and sisters in Ethiopia. We wear medals, they wear scars.
Believers and churches in the States should be more aware of the difficult situation in which this reality places the missionaries they send out around the world. Trying to communicate to love of Christ in such a setting can be a serious blow to your sense of self-esteem, if it is not firmly grounded in who you are in Christ alone, and not who you are as an American. Those who support missions back at home should also be aware of how political issues in the States can, at times, make the burden that the missionaries they send out have to bear, even heavier. Without compromising on our God-given responsibility to be salt and light in our society, and maintain a prophetic voice in the face of evil and injustice, we should be sensitive as to how our public image affects not only our witness on the home front, but also, more and more, on the international mission field, as well.
Read Being American and a Missionary at the Same Time.
6:21 AM As most of you know, we leave this Thursday for Ethiopia. Why are we going? It's very simple. We desire to help the local church leaders in Alaba "prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, to build up the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:12). Whatever the category of tasks we're assigned, the ultimate task is to carry on Christ's mission of building up His Body. We are convinced of our unworthiness and inadequacy. But the Holy Spirit is adequate. He takes common, everyday believers and uses them. As Christ-bearers, their primary aim is passing on the message that was given to Him. By abiding in Christ, they bring a redemptive influence to their cultures. Each person is particularly endowed for his or her own unique ministry, so that there is never any need for comparison. Undergirding all of this is the entire gamut of human relationships, with all their joys and sorrows. Personally, I have a growing desire to try and help meet the needs of people at the level of their deepest needs. I have no "master schemes" to accomplish this, other than the "sheer dogged endurance" Paul talked about (as J. B. Phillips interprets 1 Thess. 1:3). No one knows how many unsaved there are in Alaba who have never experienced the reality of Christ's love and forgiveness, not to mention His continuing presence. They are everywhere. I see it in their eyes when I pass them in the marketplace. People with desperate problems, people alienated from God needing His message of reconciliation. And the most important contribution you can make in the next 3 weeks is in the area of prayer. Becky and I rejoice whenever we realize that our names are being upheld before the throne of grace through the holy fellowship of intercessory prayer. Someone once defined missions as "a penetration of a distraught world by committed men and women in whose hearts Jesus is real." Today, let us partner together, in our going and in our sending, to be those committed Christians who penetrate the world as light and salt.
Below: Students at the Amharic-speaking Bible school in Alaba.
Dear my precious Mama and Papa how are you doing? I have been disappeared for tow weeks. I came back to Alaba Saturday in the late afternoon. I had wonderful time with the students taught them Hermeneutics. I learned a lot as I had been teaching them.
This idea cheered my heart: "When I taught them, it was I who learned a lot!" There's no better way to learn than by teaching others.
8:49 AM It's crunch time in terms of our final trip preparations, and to be honest Becky bears the heaviest load, so a quick prayer on her behalf today would be greatly appreciated by yours truly. The logistics can swallow you up and eat you alive if you're not careful. Because I'm an absolute klutz when it comes to organization, I've taken over the kitchen duties, food preparation, clothes washing, and other domestic chores to relieve Becky. Today I need to set out my clothes for Becky to pack. I plan to take numerous items to give away to the taller Ethiopian men I know.
8:44 AM A pastor who majored on the "Thou shalt nots" of the Bible was invited to lunch by a farmer in his rural congregation. After lunch the farmer asked the pastor if he'd like to meet his donkey. The minister was a bit surprised. He asked, "Why should I want to meet your donkey?" The farmer replied, "Because my donkey is a Christian." "That's ridiculous," said the pastor. "How can a donkey be a Christian?" "Well, my donkey doesn't swear, drink, smoke, or work on Sunday. According to your sermons he must be a Christian!" said the farmer. A true Christian is one who does not merely refrain from certain things but also pursues goodness and love. That's what Becky and I witnessed yesterday afternoon when we attended the Bluestone Junior High and High School Band concert. A special free-will offering was collected for Bibles for Ethiopia, and over $1,000 was given. That's more than 200 Bibles! Friends, the Lord Jesus is indeed a Good Shepherd who is taking care of His flock in Ethiopia. All of this reminds me of a very important lesson about the Christian life. Christianity is not a matter of rules and regulations, quotas and ratios, mathematics and percentages. The Christian life is a relationship with the Lord Jesus, who said "It is more of a blessing to give than to get," and who modeled for us the grace of giving. Happy the Christian who gives, and who gives out of a joyful, grateful heart.
Below: A few of the many children in Alaba who are memorizing their 9 passages of Scripture so that they can receive their very own Amharic Bible. When they have completed their memory work I draw their portrait whenever possible.
8:43 AM A new missionary has arrived in Ethiopia. Give his site a look-see, then say a prayer for him as he assimilates to a strange culture.
5:11 PM My syllabus for Intermediate Greek Exegesis is done. I'll post it to the seminary website on Tuesday.
5:08 PM Today we butchered one of our beef cows. We started at 7:30 and finished at 3:30. The result? Several hundred pounds of lean, hormone-free meat.
7:30 AM Christ as teacher.
7:23 AM An earthquake in Basel? It's true.
2:34 PM Check out Missions Map Project Ethiopia.
1:08 PM The latest addition to our home page is called Aflame for the Gospel.
10:52 AM In this excellent piece the Independent discusses the imbroglio in the Horn of Africa and the likelihood of all-out war.
8:51 AM This time next week we'll be in Khartoum. A week from tomorrow we'll be having dinner in Addis Ababa. Becky's eager to get back "home," and so am I. When we step off the plane in Addis, Becky always remarks, "Can you smell it honey? It smells just like Ethiopia!" I'm working up our itinerary to post early next week.
8:44 AM This week the faculty said goodbye to John Sailhamer, who leaves us for Golden Gate Seminary's Brea Campus in Southern California. Nice move, John. Other than the smog, floods, riots, earthquakes, and fires, SoCal is a great place to live. Just kidding. You'll like the Brea Campus. I taught there adjunctively for several years when I was on the Biola faculty. Becky and I wish you and Patti all the best as you turn a new page in your life.
5:43 PM Just back from South Boston, where we're been painting the bedrooms. Nate to me as soon as we get home: "Which got more paint, you or the wood, Dad?" Everyone's a comedian. We just welcomed an old friend from La Mirada, CA, who is visiting overnight. I can hear Becky cooking up a storm -- all farm fresh food, of course.
7:35 AM DBO announces its Person of the Year.
7:25 AM I finally understand why Nathan is so much more gifted than I am.
7:21 AM Here’s a first for me. The Norwegian Library for Talking Books and Braille has just informed me that my New Testament Textual Criticism is being produced as a talking book for the blind. I am fascinated with the pluck and courage of the visually handicapped, like my college roommate who was completely blind from birth yet who played classical piano as well as the clarinet in the college orchestra and who was fluent in 5 languages. Amazing.
7:15 AM Andreas Köstenberger and David Croteau have published two protein-rich studies on the subject of tithing. Both are .PDF documents. Go here and here. I might add that the section on New Testament principles of giving in part two is outstanding.
7:12 AM Today marks the sixty-fifth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the day was over, 2,335 U.S. military personnel and 68 civilians had been killed. Survivors of that fateful day tell their stories here. The parallels with 9-11 are eerie. U.S. government officials in both 1941 and 2001 were hardworking, dedicated, and for the most part intelligent, yet all were fallible, capable of grave mistakes of omission and commission. Both events were so sudden, so unexpected, so spectacular, so tragic that they are forever seared into our national consciousness. Neither attack was an act of God. Admiral Yamamoto and bin Laden initiated and carried out a risky, unthinkable plan with iron determination and fanatical dedication, and in both instances their enemies were caught napping. The attacks provide a classic example of the old truism that history is prone to repeat itself. A tip of the kepi, then, to all those Pearl Harbor survivors who, for the last time, are meeting today to honor their fallen comrades who perished in a battle that took place in the middle of an ocean ironically named Pacific.
The reason, of course, is that most people who insist that you love the country or leave don’t have any clue what it means to love a country. If you love a friend or family member or close companion, does that mean never being critical when you think the person is doing something wrong? If you think a brother or mother is not reaching his or her full potential, are you supposed to look the other way, and just think, “My family, right or wrong”?
If your country, which you love, is acting, insofar as it is possible for such a collective entity to act, in a disappointing, unacceptable, or downright evil manner, is it really love and devotion to that country to look the other way or cheer on the egregious behavior?
Yes, There’s a (New) World (Order) of Difference between Patriotism and Nationalism.
7:00 AM “Why, you’re going to miss Christmas and New Years!” I've heard that statement several times recently. No, quite to the contrary, Becky and I are not going to miss out on anything when we leave for Ethiopia next week. In ultimate terms these things are all secondary, and we have begun to view all of life in ultimate terms. Paul set for us the example. His great concern was that “Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil. 1:20). As far as Paul was concerned, things like success, wealth, or even health were secondary matters. What mattered to Him was knowing Christ and making Him known. And yes, there is a price to be paid. When the daughter of General Booth of the Salvation Army was asked the secret of her power, she replied, “First, love; second, love; and third, love. And if you ask me how to get it, I answer ‘First, sacrifice; second, sacrifice; and third, sacrifice.’” As Christians we are called upon to sacrifice ourselves for the blessing of others. It’s just that simple. That’s why Becky and I are constantly asking ourselves, “What’s thebest use of our time, our resources, our health, our abilities?” All of life is to be seen as a responsibility to please the One who has called us to be soldiers in His army.
7:24 PM My heart aches for the seminary family who just lost their 5-year old son to an accidental gun shot wound to the head. All of us run into our share of storms, but this one is unimaginable. We do not have a Christianity that denies the existence of sin and pain and death. Our Lord recognized that “in the world you will have trouble.” Trouble is a reality. But Jesus has overcome the world. “Be of good cheer,” He says. Jesus is greater than anything – anything! – the world can throw at us. Jesus makes the difference. And praise God – the day is coming when hospitals and graveyards will be forever past.
6:58 AM The latest addition to our home page is called A Gift at Christmas.
6:54 AM Today I'm painting over at Nate's remodeling job. Then tonight Becky and I have our first orientation meeting with the Tabernacle/Union Chapel Ethiopia Team. Sometime I'd also like to type up the syllabus for next semester's Greek exegesis course on 1 Thessalonians. We'll see. The big question for us this week is: When will we watch "Tora, Tora, Tora"? We can't view it on the 7th since we're having an overnight guest that day.
6:46 AM King George the Fifth had as one of his rules of life: "If I have to suffer let me be like a well-bred animal and let me go and suffer in silence and alone." My Thoroughbred Traveler, a former race horse, has been alone now for over a year, ever since we lost my Arabian Cody to cancer. I know it's been hard on him. Because I'm so busy at school and on the farm, Traveler is not being ridden as much as he ought to. Every riding horse needs constant work, none more so than a pure-bred horse. Because Traveler is so hot-blooded and temperamental, when I do ride him it takes everything out of me. So what to do? This question has topped my prayer list for weeks. He loves hacking too much to limit him to a few canters around the pasture. In Carolina I had a 5-mile cross-country course I would take him on 2 or 3 times a week to air him out, but here that's impossible. Perhaps I should trade him for an older horse. He needs someone who can exercise him regularly, daily even. Alas, my poor lonely "well-bred animal," we used to ride all the time. What am I to do with you, my wonderful friend?
6:40 AM Becky has just written a piece called Building in Bedene, the story of the churches that the Lord Jesus is building in one section of Alaba and the severe persecution that continues there. Let us never forget that there are still countries in the world where it is a physical agony to be a Christian but where believers would sooner abandon their liberty than abandon their faith. As I think about the young men who are being persecuted by their families in Alaba, I remember that Jesus' own family did not understand Him and were even actively hostile toward Him. Once they tried to restrain Him because they thought He was crazy (Mark 3:21). Imagine! Jesus' own brothers did not believe in Him. John 7:5 says as much. What turned the contempt of the brothers of Jesus into belief and admiration? Nothing less than the love of Christ. "He appeared unto James," Paul reminds us (1 Cor. 15:7). The outcome of this was that James and later Jesus' other brothers (see Acts 1:14) believed in the One they thought mad and whose enemies they once were. I believe with all of my heart that our God has the power to do the same thing today in Alaba. The Gospel is the triumph of love over all that hatred can do.
6:36 AM A big Monday shout-out to John Davis and the entire Northeast Piedmont Choral who gave a marvelous convert last night in Franklinton, NC. The guest harpist was phenomenal.
Berlin emerged gaunt and barren through the morning mist as the Sagan train shuffled on, absorbing apathetic early-morning commuters at every halt. The dim black-out lights in the corridors paled as Wings took his first sleepy glimpse at a city after a night's bombing. From the train, at least, it was not especially dramatic. A few trails of smoke and haze drifted across the ragged skyline. Some buildings spilled rubble across deserted streets; blackened shells of others stood silent, their boarded windows as expressionless as the eyes of the dead.
What impeccable prose. More later on the adventures of Wing Commander Day.
9:36 AM In a few minutes Becky and I will be off to Tabernacle Baptist Church near South Hill, VA. We'll give a brief overview of our trip and say our goodbyes. God has given Tabernacle a huge heart for the world, not only Ethiopia, and it's our joy to partner with them in missions. I'm beginning to sound like a full-time missionary, aren't I? Well, I guess I am. Every believer is.
9:25 AM There's no better way to learn the ways of the country than to sit yourself down with your rural neighbors, as we did last night, first over dinner at a seafood restaurant then in their comfortable living room. Moving to the country and recovering the old way of life is still possible, but it takes a lot of grace. T. G. told us stories one after the other. As children growing up in the 30s and 40s. As a young man from Virginia proposing to his bride-to-be from Carolina (now that was crossing a line). Pulling pranks on the old folks (how did that wagon get up on the barn roof?). Our neighbors reflected back on a slower era, a quieter time, and in their eyes and laughter we got a fleeting glimpse of life without gadgets and toys and computers. The good life, some would say. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding the local brogue. When I finally deciphered "sutt" to mean "soot," all 7 of us broke out in ribald laughter. I'm discovering how much I love this part of the world, am fascinated by it. And I'm glad to say that these neighbors of ours are glad we're here, sharing with them the joys -- and harsh things too -- about life in Southside Virginia, its economy, religion, politics, loyalties, social patterns. I am not doing all this as a disinterested student researching a doctoral dissertation. It's really my own life I am learning to understand. I would offer these neighbors a "shout out," but websites and blogs aren't part of their world. And it's just as well.
9:57 AM Right now I'm getting ready to enjoy a bagel before we go off to repair a neighbor's barn roof. Tonight we are getting together with a couple of families for dinner at a fish restaurant. In between I think Becky's got some flannelgraph for me to do. I'm not "cut out" for that kind of stuff but I'm glad to help. Have a great day, yall.
9:55 AM A good friend of ours just gave Becky Lynn some specialty coffee creamer to "make you feel elegant." Well, it worked. I like it too! Thank you, special friend (you know who you are).
The whole aim of Greek is to enable disciples of Jesus Christ to know Him more deeply, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly.
To that end, I pray for all of you daily.
7:33 AM Earlier this week Becky reported about the new church buildings that are going up in Alaba, which is 99 percent Muslim. (If you haven't read her report yet, please go here.) Here are some pictures we received of this marvelous work. Isn't this exciting? A reminder: believers in America are funding the materials for these buildings (such as tin for the roofs and concrete for the perimeter foundations), and the Ethiopian believers are providing the volunteer labor. Unlike many missionary organizations that charge 15 or 20 percent for administrative overhead, Becky and I fund all of our own expenses, so that every penny that is sent to us goes directly to the Lord's work in Ethiopia. In addition, we work directly with the elders of the local churches. They, not we, dispense the funds, then they give us an accounting and we pass reports on to you. On our trip we will be visiting these churches and getting up-to-date-information on their progress. We can't wait. In the meantime, take a moment to reflect with gratitude on the enormous significance of these photos. These churches are in the very heart of Muslim territory.
6:56 AM Well I've decided. The book we'll be studying next semester in Greek exegesis is 1 Thessalonians. Prerequisite: 3 semesters of Greek. And yes, even if you've had an exegesis course before you can still take it (as long as you didn't study 1 Thessalonians). You may have never given a great deal of thought to the evangelistic thrust of this short epistle. It's so easy to get caught up (no pun intended) in the rapture debate. Happy is the Christian who is content to look into the Savior's face and hear His voice saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Let me ask you this question: Do you constantly seek the highest good even of people whose eschatological views are different from your own -- or whose temperaments prevent you from even liking them? We don't have to like other people, but we do have to love them, sacrificially and to the point of inconvenience if necessary. That's the message of 1 Thessalonians. It's my conviction that if all Christians could grasp this, their lives would be wonderfully enriched. By the way, I'm anticipating a small class, so there will be ample opportunity for participation, and I'm even toying with the idea of letting you lead the daily discussions. At any rate, I'll try to get a preliminary syllabus up on the web before I leave on the 14th.
6:19 PM Inquiring minds want to know: How many students earned the much-coveted 110 Award on their Greek exam this week? A grand total of 3. And it was a really tough test. Congratulations to all. You'll get your book next Tuesday.
6:06 PM I'm sitting here at the computer reflecting on how good the Lord has been to me today. I just spent an hour with the animals. I fed hay to the cattle and goats (and Trav, of course), I bottle fed 5 calves, I helped Nathan spread manure in his fields, and I played with Shiloh and Sheba. We've separated out the cow we'll be "doing" in about a week. We've needed to replenish our beef supply for a while now. Earlier today I painted for 6 and a half hours over at the house Nate's remodeling. Tomorrow we'll do the same. Becky has been putting together her flannelgraph sets all day. She has decided to make not 3, not 4, but 5 sets on the life of Jesus for the rural churches in Alaba. Where she gets the drive, the know-how, the self-discipline to do all this, I have no idea. Then again, I do. By the way, our new wood stove is a great success. I just checked the thermostat -- it's currently 78 degrees indoors. We replenish it either twice or three times a day, and it keeps the whole house heated night and day. The trick is to keep the fan running to help circulate the warm air. It's been a high learning curve for me, this farming business, but I wouldn't exchange it for all the beach houses in Malibu. One more thing: Exactly two weeks from tonight we set sail for Ethiopia again.
6:40 AM This week and next in Greek class we are covering the middle and passive voices. Which raises a question. Do you know where most Greek students go wrong? With the verbs. That's a common obstacle in learning a foreign language. I once asked a student how he was doing with his theological German. "My German is good," he replied, adding rather apologetically, "except for the verbs!" No one can speak another language without verbs. A sentence is incomplete without them. The same thing is true spiritually. A genuine Christian is recognized by his or her "verbs." They not only acquire truth diligently but apply it diligently in their lives, proving (as James puts it) their faith by their deeds. Paul would agree. "Don't neglect to do good," he wrote in Heb. 13:16. (Did I actually say "Paul"?) Biblically, a do-gooder" is not some spineless twirp puttering around the churchyard. He is a true follower of his Master, who "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). Christians need never be ashamed of a spirit that draws them to help their fellow man, sharing with them the good things the Lord has given them. Indeed, followers of Christ ought to be the most generous, open-hearted members of society. So as Becky Lynn and I prepare to return to Ethiopia, our goal is quite simple: to share our goods and gifts with others. Again, the apostle Paul is quite explicit on this subject: "So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially those who are of the household of God" (Gal. 6:10). I don't mean that those who are committed to doing good are flawless or perfect. But even imperfect people can be beautiful if they handle their humanness with integrity. What counts is consistent, faithful living. The main thing is to get the focus on Christ and what He has done. Once you fall in love with Him you'll be a do-gooder -- and you'll do everything you can to introduce others to Him.
6:56 AM A teacher at the University of Basel defends a chiastic structure for Hebrews.
6:52 AM This afternoon and tomorrow morning I'll have one main goal: to grade all 40 or so term papers that are due today at 2:00. My plan is to have them marked and returned by tomorrow's class meeting. That's the plan at least. This has been my "policy" for the past 30 years of teaching. I t's simply my personal preference. I've never used a grader to grade term papers, I usually try to leave a few notes on each paper, and I assign the final grade myself. I try very hard always to return exams and papers the very next class period, whether that comes the next day or the next week. I think students have certain "rights," and one of them is to have their papers graded by their profs (and not by a T.A.) and to have them returned in a timely manner. When I was in seminary I simply could not understand why my papers were not graded by my professor and why I had to wait sometimes up to several weeks before getting them back. Not good pedagogy. Another reason why I grade the papers myself is that I genuinely enjoy reading them. Most of them are quite well written, and since the students can chose their own topics, the papers tend to reflect a high level of excitement and enthusiasm. All in all, a very workable policy, if you ask me. Just my two cents.
6:45 AM Ethiopia issues Somalia threat.
6:41 AM The elders of the Alaba church have met and have sent us our ministry assignments. We'll be visiting the villages/districts of Dada, Bedene, Keranso, Mogdola, Galaya, and Kukae. (And taking lots of pictures of the new church buildings!) All in addition to ministering in the "town church" of Alaba. Becky will have a very full plate: teaching "the women from all denominations," teaching Sunday School teachers, teaching English to the elementary school teachers, and interviewing people for her book on the history of the Lord's work in Alaba. They've got me teaching "all ministers from all denominations," preaching numerous times in several different places, and meeting with the Alabinya translation team. Good news: The team has completed the entire Gospel of Mark and is half way done with Luke! I'll also visit Mohamed in prison. Yes, we'll publish a detailed, day-by-day itinerary just before we leave so you can be interceding. Am I excited? Are there cows in Texas? The Gospel is the magnetic North Pole of the church. All goals, all choices, all directions must be determined by and subject to that one great reality.
9:20 AM They're all around you. I'm talking about your natural networks for evangelizing. This time of year there's a gift you can give, especially to the elderly. Clean out their rain gutters. Their family members should do it for them but probably won't. Get out your ladder and do it yourself. Or cut down a tree. Or rake a lawn. The goal is to become a genuine friend. To show others that Jesus loves them. And that you do too.
The present is a time not for ease or pleasure, but for earnest and prayerful work. A terrible crisis unquestionably has arisen in the Church. In the ministry of evangelical churches are to be found hosts of those who reject the gospel of Christ. By the equivocal use of traditional phrases, by th e representation of differences of opinion as though they were only differences about the interpretation of the Bible, entrance into the Church was secured for those who are hostile to the very foundations of the faith. And now there are some indications that the fiction of conformity to the past is to be thrown off, and the real meaning of what has been taking place is to be allowed to appear. The Church, it is now apparently supposed, has almost been educated up to the point where the shackles of the Bible can openly be cast away and the doctrine of the Cross of Christ can be relegated to the limbo of discarded subtleties.
9:17 AM Tomorrow's the big day. The million-dollar question, of course, is: How many students will earn the 110 Award on their mid-term exam? Two? Five? Ten? The more the merrier!
9:04 AM Good Morning! Nathan Black here. I have been asked by the website administrator (aka Dad) to take you along with us on our excursion yesterday afternoon around Mecklenburg county Virginia looking for old places. We took the camera to document what we run across, as many of these places are in considerable decay and may not be around much longer. First stop is an early Federal style house near Chase City that is probably late 1700s. Several of the rooms are severely rotted, but amazingly the inside architecture is completely intact, revealing some of the finest in early carving and woodwork.
Here is the mantel in the parlor. The wainscoting is one board (26" wide)!
The house has an unusual floor plan. On the first floor there is a central hall and a room on each side, but there are two different staircases, one in the hall and one in the left side room. The upstairs is divided by a wall and you cannot get from one half to the other without going down and back up the other stairs. This makes me think it was originally a tavern (one side for guests, one for family). It also has a basement with two large fireplaces and a pantry. This picture shows the corner stair in the other parlor.
Here we have a late 1800s church meeting house that is now privately owned and has been restored.
And just a little down the road is the Methodist church. In this area, Baptist churches went through tremendous growth during the 1950s and 60s, so almost all of the Baptist buildings date from that time. It's only the churches that didn't really grow that now have historic buildings, as all the others were torn down for bigger ones.
Given last week's 3-4 inches of rain, every bridge is close to the water. Talk about high water!
Here we have another early house. This is still in restorable condition, but has been uninhabited for about 20 years. It is unusual in that it has two windows in each side room instead of the usual one. This house probably dates from around 1800, and also has some beautiful woodwork.
Transition Georgian/Federal style woodwork at its best.
The rear of the house shows how houses were added to and rebuilt over the years. The single room story and a half section in the back is probably original to the house. It has a large fireplace in the basement and was more than likely the kitchen. It was later connected to the "big house" with a one room addition (see changes in roof lines). A pantry was connected later. I say connected because it appears to be an old outbuilding that was moved to connect with the house at a later time. The back porch has succumbed to the test of time.
We are near "Buggs Island Lake," which is one of the largest lakes on the east coast. It was built by the US Army Corp of Engineers in the early 1950s, long before the appreciation of historic buildings that is seen today. In the early settlement of Virginia, before railroads and "plank" roads, rivers were the main transportation, so towns and plantations grew up along the river before the inland areas were settled. According to a local old timer, there were 52 plantation houses that were buried under the lake. There is even a complete town, Old Soudan, that is underwater. You can drive down the "old" highway until the pavement just disappears underwater! In the historic town of Clarkesville, you cross the bridge and come to third street, first and second being underwater. Of all the old homes that the lake covered only one was saved. This house below was placed on logs and rolled up the hill to a safe location, the water being a stone's throw out the back door.
Boydton, our county seat, was also the location of the first Methodist College in the United States. In 1830, the Randolph Macon College was founded, being named after John Randolph and Nathaniel Macon, both influential politicians of the day. It was a tremendous brick building 50 feet tall and consisting, on each floor, of four halls, twelve regular rooms, two smaller classrooms, and one large classroom. The center section contained the classrooms, and the wings had the faculty offices on the lower floors and student boarding rooms above. The students worked on campus. Early records show that there were "woodcutters" to supply the school's 56 fireplaces for heating, housekeepers, teacher assistants, and various other labor positions.
The local economy crashed after the war, and in an attempt to revive the popularity of the college, the presidency was offered to Jefferson Davis. He declined, and the school was moved in 1868 to Ashland VA to become the Randolph-Macon Women's College. In 1870 a black teacher purchased the building and it was renamed the Boydton Academic and Bible Institute. This school taught black pupils for almost 50 years before closing its doors for the last time.
This old postcard shows the college building in the 40s after it ceased being used.
And today it is a collapsing ruin. Only the left side of the structure remains, and that is steadily decaying. The structure was built in the late Federal period, and a closer look at it shows the craftsmanship involved. The 18" thick brick walls were laid in Flemish bond, which creates a diamond pattern in the wall. The halls had double doors and transoms over them. Each window had 24 panes of glass (except for the 4th floor) and the ceilings were twelve foot on the first two floors, then ten and nine.
The photo below shows the end wall, which was standing intact one year ago. The floor joists sat in pockets in the brick walls. This made for a very strong floor system. Unfortunately, as the floor joists rotted and broke loose on one end, this put a lot of diagonal pressure on the pockets which they sat in on the other side until the wall eventually gave way. The building was two rooms deep, and here you see the front chimney on the far left wall of the original building. When the wall fell, it dissected the chimney at the weakest point, where the flues are. In this picture you can see the different flues from each floor as they rise to the top. There is even a beautiful columned mantel still attached to its fireplace upstairs!
When I first found this building five years ago (trees have completely grown up around it), I walked all through it, all the way to the top floor. It was solid then, although the roof was leaking badly in several places. It was packed full of old school furniture, tons of books from the "old days," even two old organs! It shows what a few missing shingles will do in five years!
Beside the old college is the "superintendent's" house, built during the time of the black school (late 1800s). It has also been abandoned.
9:23 AM Right now I'm putting the finishing touches on my teaching about asking (not praying, but petitioning God) from Matthew 7. This morning I'm back at Antioch Baptist Church in beautiful Charlotte County. In the past several days the Father has specifically answered 3 urgent petitions I brought before Him in desperation. Truly, "good things" is what He delights to give us!
9:15 AM Only 18 days.
"Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account..."
At first glance, it looks like we are going back to the old system. doesn't it? But that is not really so. The writer actually chooses two special words here. The word for "submit" is only found here in the New Testament. It does not mean "rank under" as the other words for submit used in Scr ipture do. Rather, it means to yield, or withdraw. That is a little different. As you consider the elders, the outcome of their lives and how they lead you through teaching the Scripture, are you willing to withdraw or to yield to the truth that they present? That is not the same as standing under, in a military sense. And then the word "obey'' has in its foundation again a special word. It does not mean to accept orders. Rather, it means to be persuaded. Consider what these godly men say, be willing to be persuaded, but clearly. they must demonstrate the truth that God has them to speak. Do not merely take blind orders; but be persuaded. Now I trust that you have seen that an elder fits the same pattern as all the other leaders do. His authority, ultimately, still comes from the body and the willingness of the body to follow his leadership; and that his evaluation is also on a qualitative basis.
2:07 PM Our farm project du jour? Installing an old wood stove in Bradford Hall. You never know when you'll need it. We're at the tail end of the local power grid, and an ice storm can leave us sans power for up to two weeks. As usual, I helped with the grunt work while the pro handled all the details. O, I'm also the farm photographer, in case you hadn't guessed.
8:52 AM We had our Thanksgiving meal last night. We were joined by the Rondeau family and several of their friends from the Oxford Orphanage. Our tradition is to start off by singing a hymn written by Becky. This year that job was assigned to me. After our hymn sing, we enjoyed a marvelous supper of fresh turkey and venison with all the frills. After the meal we lumbered into the library to watch a beautiful Moody Science film called "This Is the Day," then it was back to the dining room for dessert and a sweet time of sharing. Not scheduled was the impromptu romping that took place after meal, much to the delight of participants and spectators alike. A truly wonderful evening. Here are some pix.
8:17 AM Mrs. Julie Austin has reminded us of the importance of seeking the answers to our questions in the Bible and not in any Bible teacher. This is a lesson I've had to learn and re-learn throughout the years. When I left Hawaii to attend college in California I somehow began to drift away from the beauty and passion I had known when I first followed the Lord as a radical Jesus Freak. As I became more and more involved with my studies, I realized the absolute importance of historic Christian orthodoxy and the need to affirm the complete authority and inerrancy of the Bible. I have never abandoned these principles, but at the same time I have come to realize that there is something profoundly wrong with a Christianity that is overly intellectualized. I had to come to terms with my own spiritual deadness and spiritual pride, to learn to walk by faith again and not by sight, and to return to the simple Christianity I had known when I first followed Christ. Nothing in my life and ministry really matters if there is no spiritual reality at the core of my personal walk with God.
Above all, I began to look less frequently to men for guidance and to seek the Scriptures on my own. To be perfectly honest with you, I have more than once considered shutting down DBO lest people read it more than they read their Bibles. I am constantly reminded of my own frailty and my own need of God. Like every other Christian, I am a broken person and in constant need of God's saving and sanctifying grace. I have little or no desire to fight against American statism in my flesh let alone deal with the more trifling issues of politics. Not that I think our national problems are less severe, but I have come to realize that the basic answer to our national problem is each of us living out our Christianity in complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit. I am beginning to see that the doing of Christianity is far more important thantalking about it. Just because we may be certain about what ails America doesn't mean that God's blessing will rest on as a nation or as individuals. The Lord is reminding me that the main thing in life is serving Him by seeking the lower seats and being willing to lose one's life in His service. We must realize that only the Holy Spirit can bring about lasting change in our homes, our communities, our nation, and our world, and He does this not through political machinations or ecclesiastical power plays but by transforming selfish people into selfless people.
I am glad for the years I lived outside of the United States, for they have helped me to see just how dark and sinful my beloved country is and how self-righteous the church has become. In what I am saying I am surely the most guilty, but the evangelical church in America tends toward loyalty to organizations or movements or men more than loyalty to the person of Christ. To me there is no alternative but to wrestle with the meaning of the Lordship of Jesus Christ as it intersects my living, my writing, my teaching, my serving. It does no good for me to be involved in restoring our churches or our nation if at the same time I forget what the main purpose of the church is -- to share the love of Jesus with every person in the world. Without this love for Jesus and service in His name the tendency is to transfer our loyalties to men. With this often comes the politicizing of the church, an emphasis that disturbs me greatly. So we must be careful to seek the leading of the Lord in the totality of our life, living in such close fellowship with Him that He shows us our path. This is really the only reason Becky and I got involved in mission work in Ethiopia in the first place, for the leadership of the Lord was so clear that not moving forward would have been disobedience. I really am overwhelmingly touched when I think of what the Lord Jesus is doing among the neglected and persecuted believers in Alaba and Burji, whose love and faithfulness Becky and I have been privileged to witness first-hand. In all of this I am learning that Christianity is for weak people whom God loves just as they are, whether they are Republican or Democrat, Baptist or Presbyterian, home schoolers or government schoolers, charismatic or non-charismatic, pro-war or anti-war, black or white. He expects them to honor Him according to the light He has granted them along the way and to bring their failures under the blood and leave them there. It is really wonderful to know that we do not need to have our act together totally for Him to use us as long as we have an adequate grounding in His Word and are sensitive to His leading. In our fallen world things will always be abnormal, but it is very much in God's power to do something about it if we would only be faithful to our calling and put aside our own selfish ambitions and esteem others as more important than ourselves. It will not do merely to debate the emerging church or the last twelve verses of Mark or the virtues of this or that political party. (Here again, I am speaking more to myself than to anyone else.) Nor must we spend a lifetime ruing our own past failures and present inadequacies, as though our relationship with God is a purely pietistic exercise in religion. Knowing the truth of Christianity, and affirming the authority and inerrancy of the Word of God, means engaging in those good works that He has foreordained for us (Eph. 2:10) or it means nothing at all.
Please, then, do not follow any man. The best any of us can do is to point you to the Scriptures. Let the Bible, and the Bible alone, be your daily companion and guide, and follow it with complete confidence that the Lord Jesus delights in using the weak to confound the strong and fools to confound the wise.
7:59 AM How large is your "comfort zone"?
7:56 AM Greek students, just wanted you to know that I'm praying for you this week as you take your exams and write your term papers. Remember: They're due next Tuesday. Email me if you have any questions. Have fun, and see you soon!
7:43 AM Over at Sets 'n' Service the writer has a cool discussion about his top 5 surfboards. He's obviously into long boards. I bought my first board when I was 10. It too was a long board, as were all boards back when the ark landed on Ararat. It took two of us to carry it to the beach. It was an old (now classic) redwood board. I wish I still had it today. When I could afford it I went upscale and bought me a foam and fiberglass board (they had just become popular). It cost me a total of 10 hard-earned bucks (I mowed lawns for a living). The nose had been ripped off by coral, but who cared? I still have the scars from the fiberglass shards that stuck out of the broken nose. After that I remember getting a brand new board for my birthday one year. It was red. Now that was cool. In high school I shaped 3 of my own boards with the help of a surfing buddy from Kailua High School (our school nickname, by the way, was the Kailua Surfriders). The board you see below was (and is) my dream surfboard. I designed it myself, and it was shaped by the famous Bill Stonebraker of Honolulu. (Bill is now pastoring a Hope Chapel in Hawaii.) We call this kind of a board a semi-gun because you can use it for smaller waves (in Hawaii, that would be anything from 5-10 feet) as well as the big stuff (I've ridden waves up to 25 feet, measured from the back). Where has this yellow dazzler taken me? Kailua, Waimanalo, Ala Moana, Waikiki, Diamond Head, Pupukea, Pipeline, Haleiwa, Makaha, Sunset Beach, Chun's Reef, Maui, Huntington Beach (CA), Imperial Beach (CA), the Outer Banks (NC), inter alia. All without a leash, I might add.
Am I getting hopelessly nostalgic or what, dude?
7:36 AM Over at the Better Bibles Blog Wayne Leman has a wonderful essay on the topic of "naturalness" in Bible translation. Just yesterday in fact I emailed the translation team for the new Alaba Bible Translation, with whom I will be meeting in about 3 weeks. Three native speakers of Alabinya (an East-Cushitic language, for you techno-geeks) are working full-time on the base translation, and I will check it (via back-translation) against the Greek. I agree completely with Wayne that naturalness is an essential element of translation. I would suggest that no one should be involved in an English Bible translation project unless he or she can speak another language fluently (e.g., German, French, etc.). A monolingual person can't possibly understand the difficulties in trying to make oneself understood in a foreign language. And by "fluent" I mean this: being able to teach or preach or pray in that language, not just being able to order a burrito, if you know what I mean. Speaking of Wayne Leman, I just noticed that the ISV site has published his comparison of the ISV New Testament with the NET Bible.
7:26 AM Becky worked yesterday, so today is our turkey day. We'll be joined by 8 friends. I recall living in Basel and Thanksgiving rolling around. The expat population was so large that the grocery stores (such as they were) stocked Butterball turkeys just for the Amis. It was a nice taste of home. By the way, if you went straight out of our apartment and walked one block to the Rhine, this would have been your view.
... and much, much more. Happy Thanksgiving from Rosewood Farm!
10:21 PM We had a superb service. Brother Tilley of Buffalo Baptist Church brought a wonderful message, and after the service was over our men's group sang our hearts (and voices) out for about 45 minutes just for fun. A little ice cream, a good book, and a blazing fire to round out a fine day.
5:11 PM Just back from helping Nathan all day with a house he's renovating. Since I am a card-carrying member of the UWA (Unskilled Workers of America) he gave me all the really "hard" jobs like removing outlet covers, assembling fans, and painting the laundry room. Every time I'd take a break he'd crack, "Did you remember to clock out, Dad?" or, "I'm gonna have to deduct that from your paycheck, Dad." As always, we had a blast working together. Right now I'm getting ready to fix supper, then our men's group is singing at a 3-church Thanksgiving service starting at 7:00. Becky's working today. All for Ethiopia. I miss her.
7:43 AM The latest addition to our home page is called Evangelism: Show and Tell!
7:40 AM Here's one reason we are so committed to taking as many pre-natal vitamins as possible for Ethiopian mothers this December.
7:35 AM What's next for Sudan? The US is poised to go to "Plan B" on Jan. 1, and I don't think that rules out military action. We'll see. By the way, Becky and I have a stopover in Khartoum on Dec. 15.
The Genevan archives hold hundreds of letters containing Calvin's pastoral and practical advice on establishing underground churches. He did not just send missionaries; he invested himself in long-term relationships with them.
Read Calvin the Evangelist. And here's a lady who also believes in missions, serving-style.
1:26 PM More good news! Our friend Ricky Allgood, director of the Blue Stone High School band, will be raising funds for Ethiopia at their annual Christmas concert in Chase City, VA. The date is Dec. 10. Time: 3:00 pm. Venue: Robert E. Lee auditorium. Becky and I will be speaking very briefly to say "thanks."
12:42 PM Good news! I just finished writing a major essay on NT Greek for a new Study Bible that promises to outdo all the rest. My deadline was March 1 but there was a financial incentive to finish before Dec. 1. I think all contracts should have that! Right now I'm listening to the rest of my Greek DVDs. What I've seen so far has been superbly edited. With two video cameras rolling at all times the editor has a lot to play with. He captures the audience responses beautifully. I'm even laughing at some of my inane jokes.
11:06 AM Crossway has announced the publication of Truth with Love: The Apologetics of Francis Schaeffer. According to the blurb I received today, Schaeffer saw himself primarily as an evangelist. He was a practitioner, not a theoretician. His apologetics were greatly shaped by love for people. O, I want to be a Christian like that!
11:02 AM Just back from Meadowview nursing home with our "boys" -- Caleb, Isaac, and Micah. They passed out peanut butter cookies they had baked here yesterday. It's amazing how just an hour out of one's day can bring untold joy to so many. But I know it was we who received the greatest joy. And how polite the boys are becoming: "Yes, Ma'am," "No Sir," "You're Welcome." Pure delight.
Our dogmatic proclamation, our western methodology, and our development projects must be permeated with the incarnate Christ. Let us draw near to share their grief and speak to them. We are not Christians preaching to Muslims; we are not westerners trying to communicate with easterners; we are not the developed seeking to lift the undeveloped. We are fallen men embracing fallen men. We share their grief so they will share the joy of his presence.
We are sinners saved by grace, completely undeserving of our salvation. And it is as sinners saved by unmerited favor that we invite other poor sinners to the Savior.
Below: Becky gives the gift of a tape recorder to a respected Muslim patriarch in the rural village of Deda, Alaba. He is wearing my plaid shirt. He had asked for a recorder so that he could listen to his favorite music: Christian praise songs!
2:17: "Brothers and sisters, we have been separated from you for a little while. Although we may not be able to see you, you're always in our thoughts. We have made every possible effort to fulfill our desires to see you."
3:2-3: "[We want] to strengthen you and encourage you in your faith, so that these troubles don't disturb any of you. You know that we're destined to suffer persecution."
3:8: "Now we can go on living as long as you keep your relationship with the Lord firm."
3:9: "We can never thank God enough for all the joy you give us!"
3:10: "We pray very hard night and day that we may see you again so that we can supply whatever you still need for your faith."
3:12: "We also pray that the Lord will greatly increase your love for each other and for everyone else, just as we love you."
So, a mighty hearty thank you to all of you who are praying, giving, and going. I thank God for your "partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now" (Phil. 1:3, 5). May He richly bless you for your kindness to us and to your Ethiopian family.
9:43 AM One of the principles of missions we're teaching the members of Team Ethiopia is to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. If you sense the leading of the Lord to do something, do it. Two summers ago, when I traveled to Alaba to meet with the parents of an 18-year old who was murdered for his faith, I experienced such a prompting. We went out to the village where the family lived and had prayer together.
We had just left the village when I saw lights off in the far distance. "What are those lights?" I asked. "That's the prison," I was told. "Is Mohamed there?" I enquired. (Mohamed was the murderer.) "Yes," came the reply. Immediately the Lord told me to go and visit Mohamed. You ask, Was it audible? No, it was stronger than that. I simply sensed in my spirit that the Lord Jesus loved the murderer as much as He loved the victim. The next day the elders of the Alaba church arranged for me to go to the prison. We walked there, about 5 of us. When we arrived the warden asked us to wait in a meeting hall while a jailor went off to summon Mohamed. Within a few minutes the meeting hall was packed with prisoners, curious as to who this white man was. The warden said, "Would you like to address the prisoners?" You can guess that I jumped at the opportunity. I spoke about the love of Jesus to these hardened criminals for about 15 minutes. When I finished my talk, the prisoners began filing out, except for one. There was a young man seated to my left, weeping uncontrollably. I asked, "Who is that?" The warden said, "That's Mohamed." Unbeknownst to me, he had come to the meeting and had heard my entire presentation. He was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and I had a chance to speak with him personally and offer him a blanket I had bought for him in town. Since then the elders have visited Mohamed several times, and so have I. On my third visit to the prison do you know what Mohamed asked for? A Bible! And in just 4 short weeks, God willing, I will be back in Alaba, back at that prison, and back with Mohamed. The lesson? Obey the promptings of the Lord. Follow His leading. Be sensitive to His voice. Love all men.
5:42 PM Stop the presses! I just received from our editor in Dallas the first installment of my beginning Greek course on DVD! He sent me lessons 1-5, plus the introduction. I need to review them in their entirety tomorrow. God is good.
5:34 PM It's been an eventful day, to say the least. We drove down to Stovall, NC, to check out an old house that is to be demolished. We'll be taking the concrete blocks from the foundation to use as fill in our farm paths. Then "Black's Gutter Service" cleaned out the rain gutters for some elderly people we know. After that we picked up a new tractor tire and somehow managed to get it back on with just the two of us. We bought 2 new tires for the van, changed the oil in 2 cars, and made a trash run. In about an hour we will be welcoming two weekend guests to Bradford Hall. They are coming in order to enjoy some down time and especially to reconnect with the Lord. We all need this from time to time. This morning at about 2 am I woke up with a heavy burden on my heart. I slipped quietly out of bed and headed for the library and my Bible. After an hour of prayer I was back in bed completely unburdened. That's just like the Lord Jesus. Always there to welcome the weary and heavy laden. I hope you had a good day, and I trust you will have a great weekend.
7:15 AM This BBC report will help you understand why Ethiopia and Somalia are on a war footing. Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph reports on the worst flooding/drought conditions in Ethiopia in over 20 years.
7:12 AM In Basel, some Muslims have complained that the church bells are disturbing their calls to prayer. When we lived there we lived a block away from the Sankt Johann Tor, whose bell tower rang off the hours night and day. It was a bit difficult getting used to. In Addis Ababa, the challenge is sleeping through both the Muslim calls to prayer and the Orthodox chanting. And when we stay in a rural village, we are awakened by the roosters crowing at about 4 am (they live in the hut with everyone else). My philosophy? Grin and bear it.
7:10 AM Darrell Bock and Buist Fanning of Dallas Seminary have written a new textbook on New Testament exegesis. You can read a brief review of it here.
7:05 AM A small tsunami hit Hawaii yesterday. Hawaiians have a curious fascination with what we mistakenly use to call "tidal waves." My uncle once took me to the beach to watch a tsunami. Later, while growing up in Kailua, our family was frequently forced to evacuate to higher ground during tsunami warnings. These usually happened in the middle of the night. There's an interesting paradox at work here. You are aware of danger and at the same time you are attracted to it like moths to a light. At any rate, I'm glad no one was seriously injured yesterday. It could have been much worse. On April 1, 1946, a tsunami destroyed the city of Hilo on the big island of Hawaii, as seen in this amazing photo. Many people refused to flee for higher ground thinking the warnings were an April Fools Day joke.
7:52 AM The latest addition to our home page is called A Heart of Obedience.
7:50 AM Meditations on the Law offers some suggestions for seminary students (and their professors as well) on how to get the most out of their studies. The writer confesses, “Yeah, I’m not the smartest cookie, but I don’t let that stop me. Gird up your loins and work hard.” Those words cheered my heart.
7:43 AM I just received a report about the SNTS meeting that was held this year in Aberdeen. It mentions a discussion that took place at the meeting as to whether the society should allow papers to be read in Spanish. For now at least it appears that only English, French, and German will be permitted. I would hope for the eventual inclusion of Spanish in our meetings. New Testament scholarship in Spain has undergone a tremendous renaissance in the past three decades, and in my opinion there is no need for Spanish-speaking New Testament scholars to have to translate their works into English (as is done today). The journal of which I am a founding editor, Filologia Neotestamentaria, accepts articles in 5 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian), and one day I would hope to see the same policy adopted at SNTS and in its journal New Testament Studies. Learning to read Spanish is not at all difficult, especially if you know Latin or some other Romance language.
7:40 AM A big Thursday shout-out to my long-time friend Ray Clendenenwho has just been named director of academic publishing for B&H Publishing Group. This bodes very well, I believe, for the publishing arm of our convention. Ray and I worked closely in the past on several book projects, and I am currently finishing a new book proposal to submit to him. Congratulations, Ray. A well-deserved honor.
7:36 AM Why do we have modern worship styles? People seem to like it.
7:32 AM God bless the Scots. There’re now accepting exam answers in text message code (such as CU L8R).
7:30 AM Welcome back, Mr. Hayden.
7:27 AM Read Jonathan Girotti’s take on youth groups. Where does somebody so young get so much common sense?
7:26 AM On Tuesday night I stuffed myself like a boar while fellowshipping with one of the greatest group of students you will ever meet. Our Koreans are passionate about world missions and are great cooks to boot. Chosumnida! Kamsahamnida!
Dr. Black, today, at Multnomah, we had a day of prayer. All classes were cancelled, this happens twice every semester, in order to pray for the persecuted church. We prayed for the Christians in Ethiopia for several hours. I hope this news encourages you, as I know you have a great heart for the Ethiopian believers.
We have forwarded this email to our brothers and sisters in Alaba and Burji for their encouragement. Glad to see Multnomah is wrapping its arms around the world. I once had Mulnomah’s former president, Joe Aldrich, as a professor at Talbot in the 1970s. Through his influence God raised up a Gideon’s band of lifestyle evangelists who are still serving Him today.
7:16 AM You can forget about “10-4,” at least in Virginia.
7:12 AM Who said this? "If our Christian faith deviates at all from the Biblical 'Jesus of history,' then to the extent of that deviation we lose the genuine Christ of faith." Answer: John Warwick Montgomery, in his book The Shape of the Past. On Tuesday John was visiting campus from Strasbourg on his way to the ETS meeting in DC and gave a splendid chapel message. John and I reminisced about the impact Oscar Cullmann, his fellow Strasbourgian, had upon our lives, especially Cullmann's Christology of the New Testament. Like Cullmann, John is a prolific writer and, I note with satisfaction, a fellow Holmesian.
7:10 AM In exactly four weeks Becky and I leave for Ethiopia. The window of opportunity is now wide open in the Horn of Africa. How much longer it will remain open is known only to the Lord. Let’s pray for a powerful work of the Holy Spirit during our visit, as well as for peace between the Burji and Guji tribes.
7:04 AM This is a red-letter day for me because I have just discovered a new word with a Greek derivation. Meet xylothek.
6:56 AM I see that the Germans are now using the apostrophe. Has it really come to that? I remember Becky starting to type my doctoral dissertation in Basel and seeking (in vain) to find an exclamation point on her German-built typewriter. “Every sentence in German is an exclamation,” I joked dryly. My poor wife, having to type dissertationese on a foreign typewriter!
6:51 AM Did Spurgeon use altar calls?
5:27 AM Becky and I spent almost 3 hours last night meeting with the Ethiopia Team from Bethel Hill Baptist Church. I spoke from Acts 11, then Becky walked everyone through their first orientation session. They signed a waiver (Becky and I cannot guarantee their safety!). They learned some basic Amharic expressions. They were told which vaccinations and shots they needed. They were introduced to the history and geography of Ethiopia. Finally everyone checked out a book from our "missions library." Here's the group practicing "amasagenalo" ("thank you!") in Amharic.
We took mug shots of every member to take with us in December so that their Ethiopian brothers and sisters can begin praying for the team members by name.
Remember: Becky and I have never done anything like this before. We are as much "fresh fish" as anyone else on the team, but we sure had a good time. Next stop on our Ethiopia speaking circuit? Amis Chapel Baptist Church, this coming Sunday.
5:13 AM Tonight I have been invited to have supper with the Korean Student Fellowship at their dorm. Korean food is my absolutely favorite cuisine in the entire universe. I hear there will be pulgogi, pap, chan mul, and, of course, kim chi by the bucket load. I can't wait to tell them about my most embarrassing moment ever. It took place during my fourth trip to Korea.
Dr. Black, I was wondering if you can help me, do you know of any passages that directly speak to or indirectly speak to accountability for teacher's and leadership in the church. I'm in the process of instituting a teacher cov. and few teacher's have a problem with the church checking their giving record. They believe that we are violating Matt 6:3 by checking on their giving record. Can you help me? Thanks.
7:21 AM The church's biggest battles are not against external enemies but internal attitudes that destroy unity. Please pray for the believers among the Burji and Guji tribes in southern Ethiopia, that they will be like-minded in the Lord and together advance the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of tribal warfare. Thank you.
7:17 AM Monday shout-out to our friends at Bladen Union Baptist Church near Fayetteville, NC, who welcomed us with open arms this past weekend. Brother Heath Faircloth and his dear wife Leann hosted us and opened their beautiful home to us.
On Saturday night we spoke to a smaller group of church members in the fellowship hall. Becky focused on 7 individuals the Lord Jesus has brought into our lives, including Bereket, Emebet, Kedir, and other names familiar to anyone who visits this blog regularly.
On Sunday morning I talked about the essentials of missions from Matthew 9 (before the disciples were launched out on mission, the Lord had to kick out the parameters of their vision or nothing would have happened. They needed to see the mission through God's eyes and base their expectations on God-sized goals). It was great to see the ethnic diversity in the congregation. I loved it! Growing up in Hawaii as an ethic minority, I am used to racial diversity and thrive on it. In the Philippian church there was an Asian, a Greek, and a Roman. These people must have had little in common with each other before they came to Christ. Lydia, the slave girl, and the Roman jailor not only represented different races but different social classes. But they were all equal in the Body of Christ. I wish I could see more of this in our churches. At the conclusion of the service brother Heath presented us with a check for $1,000 for Ethiopia! What a great blessing. This church has a huge heart. I saw this also during our Sunday School class, as some of the men reported getting on their combines the day before to help a sick neighbor harvest 80 acres of soy beans. These men had demonstrated their love. They had helped a fellow believer above themselves; they had valued people over possessions or personal plans. You should have seen the joy on their faces. It reminded me of Acts 20:35, that great "agraphon" of Jesus: "It's always a greater blessing to give than to get!" Together these men had thought and acted as one being, and that Person was Jesus!
Many thanks to all of you at Bladen for your gracious hospitality, generous gifts, and loving, selfless spirit. May the Lord Jesus bless you for it.
Changing from teaching to journalism, he discovers, is not as drastic as might be supposed. Both professions are exercises in fantasy; the instruction that teachers pass on to their classes is as dubious as the news and comment that journalists pass on to their readers. Such difference as there is lies in the time factor; within reason, the Teacher can devote as much time as he likes to expounding his subject, whereas the Journalist is exclusively concerned with the immediate present. The Teacher, that is to say, is liable to be a long-drawn out bore; the Journalist, an instant one. Otherwise, there are in the same business--as St Augustine puts it, "Vendors of words."
God, humble my pride, extinguish the last stirrings of my ego, obliterate whatever remains of worldly ambition and carnality, and in these last days of a mortal existence, help me to serve only Thy purposes, to speak and write only Thy words, to think only Thy thoughts, to have no other prayer than: "Thy will be done." In other words, to be a true Convert.
Do stop by often, as these ruminations will be coming to you at any time of day or night.
What a blast it's been, editing this blog. And what a great readership you've been. Most of all, what a magnificent Lord we serve. Let me brag on Him for a moment. So far this year He has given us over 2,834,000 hits and 110,500 unique readers. Most of all, I've been blessed by the hundreds of emails I've received from readers far and near. I have many faults, folks, but ingratitude isn't one of them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Heavenly Father, and may you bless my readers for their kindness toward me. And if you are a blogger, remember this: if the Lord appoints, the Lord provides. He never calls us to do something unless He enables us to do it.
7:20 PM Becky and I are back from an overnight trip to Bladen County, NC, to speak at Bladen Union Baptist Church. A former student of mine, Heath Faircloth, is the undershepherd there. I'll have pix tomorrow. Right now we're getting ready for our first orientation meeting tomorrow night for the Bethel Hill Ethiopia team.
7:33 AM I'm glad that so many of my students will be attending the ETS meeting in DC this week. It's a great place to meet people and publishers and to purchase books cheap. But the papers tend to blow hot and cold. Last year I can't tell you how many times I heard: "Please excuse the typos in my paper, but I didn't have time to proofread it." Unacceptable at SBL, let me tell you! I see ETS as an excellent venue for younger teachers/students to cut their eye teeth by presenting papers and then consider publishing them in JETS, the in-house journal. My first articles and book reviews appeared in that journal, and today its quality is even better since all the essays are refereed. A big question many young professors will face is: How important is publishing for my career? For some, their tenure will hang on it. I tend to agree. In an academic institution, it doesn't make sense to me to have full professors who haven't published even a single journal article, much less a book-length work. You have to start somewhere, and JETS is an excellent place to begin (and even continue) one's writing career. My suggestion is to write at least one book review a year for JETS and submit an article once every 4-5 years or so. Always try to get your doctoral dissertation published, even if you have to modify its contents or style to meet a publisher's requirements. I have helped many young writers get their first book published, simply because I have worked with so many publishers through the years. I see this is as part of my responsibility as a teacher. But ETS is a good place to introduce yourself and your work to the publishers personally. And if you're a blogger, I hear there will be a blogger meet-up somewhere on Thursday. So, it sound like lots of fun. Hope all of you have a very profitable time.
7:15 AM A piece of the Acropolis is being returned to Greece, I see. That's great. And so is the Acropolis. I'll never forget my first visit to the Parthenon. I was impressed, to put it mildly. What a contrast with the apostle Paul's first impression. I was blown away by the magnificence, the antiquity, the grandeur of Athens. Paul saw a city in the grips of pagan idolatry. That's how I am learning to see the world. Not like a tourist but like a missionary. In fact, the more I travel the less interested I am in visiting tourist sites. But when I do, the Lord always seems to have a reason, as when Becky and I visited the Falasha Village in northern Ethiopia. That's where we just "happened to meet" Bereket!
June 31, 1967: The leadership has decided that from now on all brothers and sisters will help with cleanup after the Lord's Supper.
February 21, 1971: It has been decided that at least once a month we will meet over coffee and cake to discuss the sermon after the worship service.
March 1, 1972: The choir is being disbanded because of lack of singers.
April 12, 1974: It was decided by a vote of 24 yeas and 9 nays to use nonalcoholic wine during the Lord's Supper.
October 20, 1976: As lay leader of the church Brother Alfred Baechtold has been chosen.
7:15 AM Here's a nifty chart of per capita income by country. Scroll down to the "Atlas Method" to see the world's poorest nation.
7:12 AM There's quite a sticky situation developing in the Horn of Africa, in case you haven't noticed. The French are in Addis Ababa trying to talk sense into the political leaders of the region. Only the Lord knows what will happen in the next few months. We leave for Addis on Dec. 14.
Brother! All I can say is "Amen" to the latest article. I could almost feel the fire in your belly!
6:29 AM I met a student this semester who has a witnessing ministry among the surfing crowd of North Carolina. I can really see the need for this. Surfers are most definitely a subculture. The UK even has an organization comprised of born-again surfers. I think this is marvelous. I agree with them that there is a spiritual dimension to surfing that non-surfers never experience. To be honest, I see many similarities between my Jesus- Freak surfing days in Hawaii with what I am reading about the emerging church today. I rejected the institutional church because it was full of hypocrites. I stayed away until the Lord Jesus revealed to me that I was as much a hypocrite as anyone else at First Baptist Church, Windward in Kailua. My hubris had really gotten in the way of seeing the good work the Lord was doing in our midst. Maybe it was just a stage, but I gradually changed from being a mariachi-sandaled, long-haired rebel to a mariachi-sandaled, long-haired kingdom builder in a very traditional church setting. Does that mean I am planning on taking my surfboard to the North Carolina coast any time soon? Not likely. I have other subcultures I'm trying to reach today, not least the rural community where I live and farm, my reenacting community, and the neglected provinces of Ethiopia. But when I meet a modern-day Jesus Freak I am fondly reminded of my surfing days and the unique experience that surfing affords. Evangelistic surfers are a good model for us. Plan a strategy appropriate to your own gifts and interests. Look for potential contacts. Make your circle of friends the focus of your ministry. When you're surfing, don't cut in on the other guy. If you offend someone, seek forgiveness. Pray, definitely! Be humble and teachable. Who can fight that? Use what you have for the Lord, and be deliberate. The main point? Evangelism is a way of life, not a method.
By the way, the above photo of the Pipeline shows an almost perfect day for surfing. Slight offshore wind. 6-8 feet. Non-crowded conditions. Since I am not goofy-footed I would usually surf a bit to the east at Pupukea, where the rights were phenomenal, the tubes deep and hollow. Sadly, today the North Shore has become extremely crowded and territorial. It's still a good mission field, though.
3:39 PM I received an email today from someone who referred to me as a "scholar." Although I certainly appreciate the compliment and the way in which it was offered, I feel very uncomfortable when anyone refers to me as such. First, I don't deserve the title. To my mind, a real scholar is someone who is fairly famous in his field. I don't think anyone in the academy would call me a Greek "scholar" (even though I have written a few books on Greek) or a Pauline "scholar" (even though my dissertation was on Paul) or a church history "scholar" (even though I enjo y church history and have written a number of essays on the subject). Secondly, I don't think Jesus is at all impressed with our man-made titles like "Dr." Brother Dave is just fine with me, or even Dave. I tend to take Christ's words in Matthew 23 literally -- "Don't you be calling anyone your teacher, for you have One Teacher, and He ain't you. You are all brothers. Understand?" (Yes, I paraphrased that.) I've said it before: We can never judge the truthfulness of a person's statement on the basis of his or her academic achievements. No, I am not disdaining formal education. But I've also known quite a few people who were "educated beyond their intelligence," if you know what I mean. Yesterday in chapel we were reminded from Rom. 12:1-2 that the world delights to squeeze us into its mold, and one of the ways it does this is by erecting false distinctions between believers, so that the educated Christian thinks he is above the "unedumacated" [sic] believer. Don't forget that Romans 12 also contains this verse: "Live in harmony with each other. Don't be arrogant, but be friendly to humble people. Don't think that you are smarter than you really are" (v. 16). I see that the Greek here can also be rendered, "associate with humble people" or even "be engaged in humble tasks" (is tois tapeinois masculine or neuter?). So, to all of you students out there: stay humble, don't set your mind on high things, be willing to do humble tasks for Jesus, and "don't let the world squeeze you into its mold," including its worship of honorific titles. Fools are fools, whether holding doctorates or not. At the same time, don't be afraid to study your Bibles from cover to cover. Even if a formal education doesn't guarantee possession of the truth, that's never an excuse to put our brains in park or neutral.
11:22 AM Check out Brett Morey's new site: Revolution 3.2. And thanks, Brett, for the mention. I am honored.
10:44 AM The latest addition to our home page is called Sidetracked by "Issues"?
10:34 AM I want to express my appreciation to Jerry Lassiter and Glenn Ansley for their help in getting DBO back up after our new hard drive was installed. I am a complete klutz in numerous areas, including computers. Guys, your willingness to help me out was a life-saver. Many thanks indeed.
9:59 AM It happened 3 decades ago. And I've got a piece of it in my safe deposit box.
9:56 AM Responses to Scot McKnight's lecture on the emerging church may be found here.
9:52 AM Here's yet another reason why a correct assessment of the last twelve verses of Mark is important.
9:48 AM Charleston Southern University is seeking a chair in religion.
9:43 AM The Swiss have been celebrating their linguistic diversity. The honoree? Romansch, which is spoken by less then one percent of the population. Go here for a series of links on this ancient Romance Language. Even though I once lived in Switzerland I have never heard Romansch spoken, though I would dearly like to.
9:40 AM In five weeks we leave for Ethiopia and we are already in the “deadline” mode. Someone has said that we poor mortals race from one deadline to another as fast as our ulcers will allow. Becky and I are trying to start early to avoid the mad frenzy of doing things “last-minute.” When I’m in a hurry I turn out shoddy work. When we built Bradford Hall we took our time, and today we are enjoying the results of Nathan’s careful craftsmanship. Simplify – that’s become a big part of our life here at the farm. One way we do this is by cutting out Christmas. Bottom line: Our times are not really ours but His. We are stewards of our days and had better number them so that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. And that means not waiting till the last minute to get things done.
9:26 AM If you’re going to ETS or SBL in DC this year, don’t forget to visit this.
9:22 AM The difference quotation marks can make!
9:15 AM Does Mark 1:41 say that Jesus got angry? This is a major textual variant – have fun examining the internal and external evidence. Even if you go with “filled with compassion” here, I still think a case can be made in the New Testament for righteous anger. I have argued as much in defending the reading “without cause” in Matt. 5:22 (Novum Testamentum30.1 ).
The findings, which were released in August but largely escaped public attention until now because of the large volume of data, indicated that marriage did not figure in nearly 55.8 million American family households, or 50.2 percent.
Read For first time, unmarried households reign in US.
9:11 AM Our good friends the Lindholms now have a blog on Ethiopia. I can’t think of a better way for missionaries to get their message out.
9:09 AM Read Confessions of a blogger.
9:04 AM Justin Taylor calls our attention to this excellent essay on homosexuality and the Bible.
12:19 PM I heard the tractor running and went to see what's up. Nathan was out bush hogging his pond field. At the same time the Lord has been putting the ground to sleep for the winter and covering it with a lovely blanket of leaves. Even the animals seem ready for the cold. Trav has a big winter coat, as do the goats. The only danger now is from stray dogs, who are natural predators of goats. Right now I'm getting ready for the Dell technician to show up. He's replacing a faulty hard drive.
7:42 AM On our second missionary trip to Ethiopia we stopped briefly in Alaba. Alaba had proven to be a most hostile environment for the Gospel. Opponents had been creating problems, and I went to meet and pray with the parents of an 18-year old man who had been murdered for his faith. This visit sealed our love for the church in Alaba and launched our work there.
Challenge them to persevere in godly living despite the persecution.
Encourage those in mourning with the certainty of the resurrection and the second coming of Christ.
Remind them of the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome bitterness and fear.
Remind the believers that they have been considered worthy of sharing Christ’s sufferings.
Give ourselves to constant prayer in their behalf.
All of these blessed truths are found in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, a church under fire. Paul wrote to assure them of his love and to remind them that they could expect suffering as a natural part of a life dedicated to God. Suffering is not the exception but the rule of Christian living. It is God’s tool to shape godly character within us. Paul went on to exhort the Thessalonians to live righteous and holy lives in the face of the many evils there were experiencing. There will come a time when God will right every wrong and reward those who have endured to the end. Meanwhile we are to follow Christ’s example of quiet confidence. Our aim in all that Becky and I do in Alaba is to have God’s approval and to act in such a way that when our motives and methods and manners are honestly examined by our fellow men we will have no need to be ashamed. Alaba contains a bewildering variety of people. Some are holy saints, others are hardened sinners. Our job is to love them all and to lead them to Christ, who left us an example that we should follow in His steps (1 Pet. 2:21).
Lord willing, in 6 weeks Becky and I will be back in Alaba. Meanwhile, please join us in praying for our brothers and sisters in Alaba.
6:37 AM Every Christian in the world today is a member of the Universal Body of Christ. This weekend we were privileged to enjoy fellowship with a part of that Body as it manifested itself in 2 places. In Abingdon, VA, the Auction for Ethiopia raised over $2,000. Praise the Lord! In Boone, NC, we saw a new church plant in its infancy, pulsating with life and excitement. They're already celebrating the Lord's Supper weekly and including a time of open sharing along with verse-by-verse teaching of the Word. The new emphasis is not on a church building but on people. They are the church, and "spiritual sacrifices" (as Paul called them) are not offered by a select few but by all, for every Christian is a priest. Breathtaking stuff! Also, how nice to hear a thoughtful, pacific, calmly reasoned yet passionately delivered talk. So many sermons lead to shell shock. We are blasted and blistered, exhorted and "challenged" (how I dislike that hackneyed word!) to improve on this or that. I have long been convinced that the Word, simply taught, is itself sufficient to produce healthy Christians. "The truth shall set you free." As with everything in the Christian life, the starting point is, "What does the Scripture say?" If, for example, the Scripture says using one loaf of bread at the Supper not only symbolizes our unity but somehow produces it (read 1 Cor. 10:16-17), our only question ought to be, How can we possibly do it any other way? We can hardly improve on that! Yet no illustration can make us understand the wonderful joy God must have when His children obey Him.
The auction was held at the 4H Club in Abingdon. I'd say about 150 were in attendance. These young ladies are displaying a flag of Ethiopia that was given to us.
The auction was followed by a barn dance that included the famous Virginia Reel and the Round-About Promenade.
Here our hosts John and Julie Austin present us with the proceeds of the auction at the end of the evening. As you can see, Becky and I wore our traditional Ethiopian outfits.
Matthew McDill brought the Word at the Highland Christian Fellowship in Boone. Afterwards there was plenty of opportunity for conversation.
I could wish that every church had a fellowship meal after the service! Here we are discussing the message from 1 Cor. 7.
You can see why we are so thrilled about this weekend. Genuine disciples, true Christians, are recognized not merely as people who acquire truth but who apply it diligently in their lives, proving their faith by their actions. To sacrifice self for the blessing of others -- that's what we witnessed in both places this weekend, and it was a blessing. It kept reminding me of "the One who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." My thanks to John and Julie for their great labor of love in organizing the auction, to all who attended and gave so generously to the Lord's work in Ethiopia, to Matthew and Dana McDill for inviting us to visit with them and their friends in Boone, to the congregation of Highland Christian Fellowship for welcoming us so warmly into their midst, and to Liz, Caleb, Isaac, and Micah Rondeau for bottle feeding our calves while we were gone. One more thing. Thanks, Nathan, for driving us there and back, all 586 grueling miles of it.
9:44 PM It will get down into the low 20s tonight. A hard freeze is expected. Remember to bring your plants inside, and don't forget about your outdoor pets. Right now we're making last minute preparations for our trip to Abingdon to visit with the Austins and to attend theAuction for Ethiopia they are organizing. Please pray for safety and good health for all those attending. By the way, it hardly seems possible that exactly two years ago Becky and I made our first trip to Ethiopia together. The trip began on Oct. 15, 2004 and lasted until Nov. 18. Two years ago today, Nov. 3, 2004, Becky was getting ready to leave the clinic where she had been working in Langano to meet me in Dilla, where I had been teaching the Gospel of John to rural pastors for a week. From there we traveled together to her former mission station in Burji (a now familiar name to most of you). Little did we know at the time that God would lay the nation of Ethiopia on our heart. I am grateful for the many happy memories of our visits since then to the land of Becky's childhood. Even more, I want all my friends to know that my heart is filled with joy and anticipation at what God will yet do as His people reach out to those less fortunate than they are. It may even be that some readers of this blog will feel called to travel to Ethiopia someday. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Well, time to call it a night. Have a wonderful weekend, friends, and don't forget your outdoor pets tonight!
5:40 PM I just drove 150 miles to Raleigh get some injera for our Ethiopian food. Becky is now in the kitchen cooking up a storm. While driving I heard this delightful interview on NPR with Anne Karpf, the author of The Human Voice. The author asked, Do you like your voice? Has it ever changed? She analyzed the voices of famous people from FDR to Churchill to George W. Bush. My own voice has changed through the years. When I left Hawaii to go to California at the age of 18, people had difficulty understanding my English. My Pidgin accent was very strong at the time. And when I go back to Hawaii I can pick it up at the drop of a hat. When I speak German in Switzerland the Swiss say I have a slight German accent. Across the border the Germans say I have a mild Swiss accent. My voice can be deep and loud or soft and raspy, depending on my sinuses that day. If you do listen to the interview I am quite sure you will enjoy the author's own voice: a sonant British accent.
9:24 AM The latest addition to our home page is called Scot McKnight on the Emerging Church.
9:13 AM Terrorist threats are mounting in the horn of Africa. Lord willing, we will arrive there in exactly 42 days.
4:23 PM Ethiopia has been hit by new flooding. Go here for pictures of the devastation andhere for a report on how Western aid is only adding to the problem.
4:12 PM Sadly I must announce that one of our new calves has died. It had scours, which we treated with medication, but it was too late to do any good. In short, we were sold a sick animal, but didn’t know it.
4:05 PM Ward Powers has kindly sent me a link to his ETS paper on the synoptic problem. You can read it here. His diagram of synoptic relationships is here. It was interesting to note how closely it matches my own views on the matter.
3:58 PM “People who don’t believe in missions have not read the New Testament. Right from the beginning Jesus said the field is the world. The early church took Him at His word and went East, West, North and South” (J. Howard Edington).
3:53 PM Lincoln Christian College and Seminary in Lincoln, IL, announce openings inpreaching and pastoral care and counseling.
There are occasions where circumstances trump principles. Statesmanship consists not in being loyal to one’s avowed principles (that’s easy), but in recognizing the occasions when one’s principles are being trumped by circumstances. . . . The . . . creative statesman, one who possesses some political imagination, will see such occasions as possible opportunities forrenewed political self-definition.
In light of their fatally flowed presuppositions, it’s not surprising that conservatives drift stateward or compromise their “principles (as they do when it comes to gay marriage). How (or if) this will change with the upcoming elections is anyone’s guess. As a Greek philosopher once said, “panta rhei,” everything is flowing. We abhor terrorists because they kill innocent people to pursue political goals. When we hunt them down we must go out of our way to avoid doing the same. Yet our enemies can (and do) make the same charge against a government that kills thousands of innocents to pursue their “war on terrorism.” Killing innocents only feeds into terrorism. As a result, Iraq is now a haven for terrorists, and Afghanistan is plagued by a resurgent Taliban – all at the cost of hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ dollars and 2,700 American lives. Paul Craig Roberts, formerly of the Reagan administration, asks, “What kind of government would destroy the lives through death or disability of over one million people for no valid reason?” It’s becoming harder and harder to be shocked by anything in America, but these essays ought to hit us with a full 220 volts.
3:23 PM At the height of the Battle of Britain, when British airmen were being killed at an appalling rate, a propaganda official had an idea to raise morale. On the walls at the Royal Air Force bases a poster appeared with these words: “Who is afraid of the Ju-87?” (At the time, the Ju-87 -- aka the "Stuka" -- was one of the most effective German bombers.) An anonymous pilot penciled in: “Sign here!” Within a few hours, all the pilots of the base had signed. That’s how I feel about traveling in parts of the world today. We go with our eyes wide open to the potential dangers (such as the possibility of full-scale war between Ethiopia and Somalia) but we go anyway, just as those pilots went. It was their duty. One caveat, though. We have told the leaders of the local churches where we work that if our presence would expose them or their families to unnecessary peril, we will stay at home. That’s why we work so closely with the church eldership in Ethiopia and are in constant touch with them. We go only with a green light from them.
Imagine mouthing a phrase in English, only for the words to come out in Spanish. That is the promise of a device that will make anyone appear bilingual, by translating unvoiced words into synthetic speech in another language.
Please, please make it work for Amharic.
3:12 PM A language that my roommate taught me in college finally gets a moment in the spotlight.
3:10 PM P. J. Jordaan reviews Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Greek: Learning Biblical Greek Grammatical Concepts through English Grammar. See what you think of Jordaan’s description of Greek students in his first paragraph. | 2019-04-25T22:50:19Z | http://daveblackonline.blogspot.com/2006/12/nov-dec-2006.html |
Have you ever thought about why it is that we get sick or why we encounter negative emotions? A recent bout of illness led me to start asking those questions and connecting the dots between the necessity of getting sick to build up our physical immune system and experiencing negative emotion to fortify our emotional immune system.
When we avoid pain at all costs, when we try our best to keep ourselves out of situations that could cause us negative feelings, we aren’t challenging our emotional immune system to build the skills necessary to deal with all of those circumstances.
Join me today to learn how using alcohol to numb feelings perpetuates the cycle of avoidance and sickness of your emotional immune system. Harm itself is not the problem here; the thoughts you have, the emotional distress that you experience when you are unable to tolerate how you feel, is what’s harmful.
What our emotional immune systems do.
What the emotional immune system views as harmful.
How thinking about how something could potentially hurt you doesn’t challenge your emotional immune system in a beneficial way.
Why seeking a “clean” emotional life is actually harmful.
Why harm does not equal negative emotions.
How to build a strong emotional immune system.
You are listening to the Take A Break podcast with Rachel Hart, episode 117.
Well hello everyone. You know, I have been thinking about my immune system a lot the past almost six weeks because I have been sick for that long. And it’s not just me. My baby has been sick, my husband has been sick. We have all been sick and I cannot remember the last time that I have been sick for such a long period.
It started with a cold back in February that turned into bronchiolitis for the baby and then just followed by sneezing and coughing. I have been sounding terrible. I actually lost my voice twice over this period. And then last week my baby got a stomach virus for the first time. I will really spare you the details, but it was not fun.
And then a couple days later, I started seeing spots on his face and his legs and I took him to the doctor, and it turns out he caught something called hand, foot, and mouth disease, which if you have never heard of that before, I had never heard of it before. It sounded like a bovine disease but this is not to be confused with hoof and mouth, which is what cows and goats and sheep get. Hand, foot, and mouth is something that humans get.
And so my baby came down with it and then guess who came down with her own infection of hand, food, and mouth? Me. I did. It basically felt like I had strep for a couple of days and I had a really, really high fever. And I’ll tell you that over this period, being sick for this long, I have watched myself slip into several pity parties for myself, but not just for me. I’ve noticed my brain thinking a lot about how I wish that my baby was better.
And every time something would happen and he would get something new or spike a fever or start throwing up or I’d listen to that rattly cough that he still has, I would just think, “Oh, the poor thing, he’s just a baby. I wish he wasn’t sick,” and I would find my brain thinking this over and over. And it occurred to me that if I would wave a magic wand, my brain would choose for him never to be sick. I would want him to always be healthy.
And I was thinking about this a lot and I started thinking about is that actually a good thing? Are there benefits of getting sick? And maybe actually, I have it totally backwards because of course, getting sick is how you build a robust immune system. Getting sick is what teaches your body how to handle invaders, and never getting sick, that would actually make him weak.
Instead of building this robust immune system that is practiced at handling invaders, if my baby never got sick, he would have a very fragile immune system and that fragile immune system would actually make him more unsafe in the world, which the more I thought about it, the more I thought god, this is amazing. I’ve never really thought about it in these terms.
Your immune system, it’s your body’s defense against infectious organisms and other invaders. Things like bacteria and viruses and fungi. But listen, not all of these things are bad. In fact, the more that scientists study the microbiome and that’s just a community of bacteria and viruses and fungi that live in our bodies, the more scientists are realizing how important they are for our survival.
And it’s funny because I will tell you, it doesn’t seem like it was that long ago when all bacteria was bad, all viruses were bad. Everything was antibacterial, everything was about hand sanitizer. And we went through that period and people are like, oh wait, maybe that’s not such a good idea. Because it turns out that you can’t paint bacteria with one broad brush. Yes, some of them cause problems for our body but some of them are also vital for human health.
And you know what, it’s not just bacteria. Researchers investigating how the body works are discovering that viruses also, which are part of our microbiome, they may in ways that we don’t yet understand promote health as well. So your body’s immune system is how the body manages the flow of pathogens to help you avoid harm, and that harm is sickness or disease, and avoiding that harm helps you thrive in the world.
Now remember, if you listen to the podcast, you hear me talk about this all the time. Humans evolved in a dangerous world. That’s why the brain evolved to find pleasure, avoid pain, and do so as efficiently as possible. But here’s the thing; it’s not just our brain that evolved in a dangerous world. Your immune system also evolved in a dangerous world.
For most of human existence, the environment was characterized by extreme challenges. There are foodborne illness, there are unclean water, there were unsanitary conditions and they were everywhere. All of these things could create sickness and disease. So the brain was worried about finding pleasure and avoiding pain but the immune system was worried about pathogens.
It’s that center of defense to keep your body healthy. So listen, what does this all have to do with drinking? Thinking about my immune system and thinking about being sick and the benefits of being sick got me thinking, you know, I don’t think we have just a physical immune system. it’s not just an immune system that’s helping with the flow of managing pathogens. We also have an emotional immune system.
And that emotional immune system is how your mind manages the flow of feelings, positive and negative emotions so that you can thrive in the world and avoid harm. And having a fragile emotional immune system is just as problematic as having a fragile physical immune system.
When either your emotional immune system or your physical immune system are fragile, you will be more unsafe. So you hear me talk about this. The habit of drinking is how we learn unconsciously to cope with negative emotions, by pouring a drink, and that habit weakens your emotional immune system. It weakens your ability to manage your own flow of positive and negative emotions.
So I want to talk to you about this today because I think it’s such a powerful concept to understand. So what exactly is harm when it comes to your emotional immune system? Harm in this sense isn’t physical sickness. It’s emotional distress. But listen, emotional distress is not the same thing as a negative emotion. This piece is really key.
Emotional distress is the inability to tolerate how you feel. We have the full spectrum of human emotions granted to us. We are supposed to feel the good and the bad, the positive and the negative. But most people do not willingly experience the full spectrum. We want all the good and none of the bad.
But harm is created by having a fragile emotional immune system when you find yourself in emotional distress because you are lacking the resources and skills that you need to cope with how you feel on your own, to cope with any and every emotion on your own. That is why people turn to numbing. That is why people turn to food and to drink to try to cover up, to try to numb how they are feeling.
Your emotional immune system is how you regulate the flow of emotions. And so the question is are you equipped to handle all of your emotions? Not just the good but the shame and the anxiety and the fear. What happens then? Do you freak out? Do you hide? Do you try to cover up? Do you numb?
Or do you feel equipped to handle all of these emotions on your own, or does it send you into distress? Because here’s the thing; until you start learning the think-feel-act cycle, until you learn that your thoughts create your feelings and your feelings drive your actions, guess what you will be doing. You will be in emotional distress when you have the normal flow of negative emotions, but you will also be creating more of the same because your thoughts will be creating more negative emotion for you.
Now here’s the thing; with both immune systems, with both your physical immune system and your emotional immune system, it is easy to inadvertently weaken them. You can do this without even knowing that you are. So remember, in order to thrive in the world, you have to learn to fend for yourself. So your immune systems are always learning. What happens when I eat this, what happens when I touch that? Exposure is how the immune system learns because exposure is how your immune system encounters pathogens.
Your immune system is trying to develop to its full capacity and it can’t just do that hypothetically. It can’t just imagine bacteria and viruses and fungi and all sorts of pathogens and what it will do. It needs actual practice. Encountering pathogens in the real world teaches the physical immune system how to respond, how to protect you.
So when your body encounters various threats, your defenses learn how to respond and then you are much more able to deal with that threat in the future. Your body has a memory all of a sudden. Oh, I remember that bacteria, I remember that virus. In that way, our body is adapting to the environment.
And your immune system, it really has a job and its job is to identify the challenges to the body that are lurking in the immediate environment so that you can better survive. And think about this; for thousands of years, the human immune system, our physical immune system was under constant assault.
But now, in our modern world, everything’s kind of too clean and too protected and it’s almost like we can live in a bubble. And not having regular interactions with a variety of pathogens can actually be very disruptive to your physical immune system. Being overprotected, which seems to logical, that’s what I was thinking when my baby – I just want him always to be healthy. I don’t want him to be sick. It seems so logical. It actually puts the body at more risk.
I was doing some research on this and I found this beautiful example of hay fever. Hay fever is basically seasonal allergies. So you have too much pollen, other airborne irritants and it leads to a runny nose and itchy eyes and sneezing. You know what hay fever looks like. But when I was doing research, I found that back in the 1870s, doctors started to notice that only certain populations seemed afflicted by hay fever.
And they noticed that the wealthier you were, the more likely you were to have hay fever. Hay fever, they called it a disease of the aristocracy because it was people who spent more time indoors, less time outside, less time in the fields, less time around pathogens who were suffering more. Their immune system wasn’t getting properly trained. Without the exposure, it wasn’t learning what to do in the face of pathogens.
And so what happens? The immune system starts to overreact. Instead of handling the ebb and flow of pollen and the natural world, it would start to overreact in the presence of pollen, which would lead to inflammation, which would lead to hay fever. Not being regularly exposed was actually making the immune system more fragile when it encountered pollen.
It’s such a great example. Our immune system requires exposure to certain kinds of germs and potential allergens, and a lot of this exposure happens in childhood. That is when the immune system is learned to develop to its full capacity. So keeping children away from dirt and potential allergens actually deprives an immature immune system, an immune system that is developing, it deprives that immune system of a learning experience needed so that it can develop to its maximum protective capacity.
A lack of exposure makes the body’s immune system fragile so that you are less able to thrive in the world, and this happens with your emotional immune system too. So kids can become overprotected not just from germs and pathogens, but from exploring and from failing and from social exclusion.
Keeping kids safe from their negative emotions actually deprives their emotional immune system the opportunity to develop the skills that it needs so that the child can become emotionally resilient. And down the line, without this exposure, you’ll end up suffering more. When you’re exposed to ordinary life events or unpleasant social situations, you’ll suffer more because you weren’t developing your emotional immune system.
I was thinking about this concept and it made a lot of sense but then I thought well wait, I’m not sure that I was necessarily overprotected because I felt so much negative emotion, especially when I was a kid. But remember, the emotional immune system is how your mind manages the flow of feelings, how you mind manages the positive and the negative emotions so that you can thrive and avoid harm.
And harm does not equal negative emotions. Harm is that emotional distress that you experience when you are unable to tolerate how you feel and this I had huge problems with as a kid. Negative emotions for me, they weren’t supposed to happen. They were a big problem. They needed to be immediately solved, immediately fixed.
And if you have heard me talk on the podcast before, you have heard me talk about how I started learning how to cover up how I felt way before I started drinking. Before I was overdrinking, I was overeating. I learned to use food as a way to deal with how I felt. So if I felt awkward or anxious or insecure, I would just eat my feelings.
And then when I went off to college, I learned that I could more quickly cover up these emotions by drinking my feelings. Overdrinking was the result of the fact that I had a fragile emotional immune system. I was exposed to a lot of negative emotions but I was also exposed to the idea that negative emotions were a problem. They were an emergency that needed to be fixed right away, and that belief made me more unsafe.
When we get into the habit of drinking, we are unconsciously teaching our brain that it can cope with a negative emotion by pouring a drink. You pour a drink, you’re able to change how you feel, and that habit of drinking weakens your emotional immune system. It weakens your ability to manage the normal flow of positive and negative emotions.
You’ll hear people say this all the time. “Oh, I just need to take the edge off of how I feel. Just need a drink.” Without that drink, feel a little stressed or a little anxious or a little bored or lonely or deprived. You’re essentially teaching your brain to use a drink to manage the flow of positive and negative emotions. And then when you don’t have that solution, when you don’t pour a drink, guess what happens. You’re in emotional distress because you have weakened your body’s own ability to manage and tolerate how you feel.
And this is why changing the habit is so powerful because it’s not just about learning how to manage your urges, it’s not just about learning how to reduce your desire. It’s about learning how to build a strong emotional immune system. An immune system that has maximum protective capacity, and that doesn’t mean you don’t feel negative emotions.
What it means is that you have newfound resilience when you feel those negative emotions. You know how to manage them on your own. You have to start thinking about this habit as not just something that you have to deal with the next day when you have the hangover or not just something that’s adding a lot of extra empty calories. It is a habit that is depriving you of a strong and resilient emotional immune system.
And without that strong and resilient emotional immune system, it hugely impacts how you interact with the world, how you thrive in the world. That’s why this work is so powerful. So the question then becomes how do you build a strong emotional immune system?
There are a couple things you can do. One, you have to be willing to feel your feelings. It sounds kind of soft. Feel your feelings. But it is the building block to a resilient and strong and protective emotional immune system. Because what are doing instead of feeling our feelings, we’re running to cover them up with a drink.
You have to do that work. Feeling your feelings is not a soft thing. It is a building block for a strong emotional immune system. Feeling your feelings allows you to become more conscious of your emotions, and when you are more conscious of your emotions, you can start asking yourself questions, well, how do they feel in my body? And not only that, why am I feeling them in the first place?
This is how you start to learn the think-feel-act cycle. Not covering up how you feel with a drink or with food or any numbing activity, any activity of just consuming something more and more so that you can distract from how you feel, that is what allows you when you stop doing that, that is what allows you to start seeing how the think-feel-act cycle is actually unfolding.
And until you can see it and until you can witness it, you will be unable to change it. In order to build a strong, resilient emotional immune system, you have to be willing to take action over and over again. You have to start to do the work of learning how to persevere. I talk about this all the time. Taking action really is just a willingness to learn. You have to be on a mission of constant learning, constant exploration, constant discovery.
That’s what we’re doing. Unraveling the habit isn’t just a matter of crossing days off a calendar or saying no, and in fact, when you limit yourself to just say no or crossing days off a calendar, you miss the learning component. Yes, you’re taking action to say no, but you’re not understanding why it was your brain wanted to say yes in the first place.
In order to build a resilient emotional immune system, you have to trust that you control your life rather than life controls you. This is huge. So many of us out there feel as if – I felt like this for the longest time, that I was at the mercy of my life. That life was happening to me and it was not happening to me in a good way.
This is the difference between having inner control versus external control. When you have inner control, you understand that life is not happening to you. You are happening to life. When it’s external control, then you are constantly trying to get all the circumstances in your life in order, trying to get everything to line up so that you can feel good.
And this really is at the heart of the think-feel-act cycle, it is the understanding that everything out there in the world, everything happening, every person, every event, yourself, it’s all neutral until you think a thought about it. That’s how you start to develop this inner control versus external control.
And it really is about your perspective. Your thoughts are simply the lens through which you experience the world. And I always tell my clients, the greater your ability to see multiple perspectives, multiple interpretations of events, of other people’s behavior, of you and your own capabilities, the ability to see many different perspectives is the building block of this work. It’s hugely important because it means that you don’t have to be stuck in your brain’s initial kneejerk interpretation, which I guarantee is probably negative.
You can start to choose what you want to think on purpose. Think about your emotional immune system the next time you are challenging yourself not to drink, the next time you’re challenging yourself not to come home from work feeling all the stress and anxiety and immediately going to open a bottle of wine or the next time you’re headed out to a restaurant and you know other people will be drinking and you’re choosing not to. The next time you go to a party, whatever it is.
Think about this as practice for your emotional immune system because it is not just a physical immune system that you need to care about. It is not just a physical immune system that helps you thrive in the world. It is also your emotional immune system. It is also your ability to manage the flow of positive and negative emotions without falling into emotional distress, without falling into this inability to tolerate how you feel.
Having a fragile emotional immune system is the result of the habit of drinking. The more you drink, the more fragile that emotional immune system will become. The more you will weaken it. This is the work of creating resilience for yourself. Resilience through your emotional immune system. So powerful, and such a good way to think about why it is that we get sick, why it is that we encounter negative emotions. It’s so that we can thrive in this world.
Alright everybody, that’s it for today. I will see you next week.
This episode spoke to me as many do. Emotional fragility, inability to deal with. Food is my coping mechanism. I don’t feel in my body. I am all head. All numbing. I truly don’t know how to feel an emotion. I do, of course. I laugh. I cry. I grieve. But all in my head. I’m 63, almost :). How do I get into my body, how do I hear it? Thank you.
Great question Isabel. Listen in to future podcast episodes for this question to be addressed. | 2019-04-24T16:22:30Z | https://www.rachelhart.com/emotional-immune-system/ |
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This morning I was expecting to be up and early for a new experience- giving a bike tour of the city of Rouen. On Saturday afternoon I perfected the route, out on my own in glorious sunshine, wheeling my way along the river quay, past the many boats moored there, before climbing slowly up to the prefecture and passing the church of Joan of Arc nearby. enjoying the flower sellers in the street, and the Gros Horloge, and taking a pit stop in the cool of the abbey of St Ouen, an often missed, but gem of a monument, which easily competes with the cathedral for it’s light and perfect symmetry. But at 6 this morning a great crack of thunder and the rain came pouring down. I was prepared for the eventual soaking but by 9 the clients had cancelled and I now find myself with a free day!
I was thinking what an lovely week this has been for variety, which is perhaps what makes this job as good as it is.
When I’m not in Rouen, my “office” can be found generally with a wonderful view!
On Thursday this was my office at “Giverny”, the famous home and garden of Claude Monet. Then on Friday I met a boat at Les Andelys to walk up to Château Gaillard, Richard the Lionheart’s fortress at the top of the cliff. It was tough sitting waiting for the boat to come in! Later that afternoon we took a closer inspection of a tributary of the river.
and I have Jay and Betty to thank for immortalizing it for posterity!
On Saturday I was up again at the crack of dawn to head of to the Château of La Roche Guyon, a castle that spans the centuries from its early dwelling in the year 260 with troglodyte caves dug deep into the cliffs to its 18th century extensions. We just had enough time to climb to the 12 century donjon (keep) some 350 steps above the river and to take in the view. Even if I did have considerable difficulty getting some of the clients to come down again!
On Sunday another walking tour of Rouen before heading out yesterday to the Château Vascoeuil for an evening of cocktails and music in this historic building and art centre, home to over sixty sculptures in its gardens, including several of Dali. Tomorrow I shall head off to see my favorite dogs, Bêtise and Huge, two border collies who mind the ecological lawn mowers, the flock of 100 sheep at the award-winning cider farm, Duclos Fougeray. It’s all go! But never let it be said that I don’t like heading to the office because I really don’t mind the view!
Which view would you chose to have from your office?
For a few moments this morning I thought I was going to have to deal with a double booking. Not the kind where you find you are booked for two different tours in two entirely different places at the same time, but one you turn up to your destination and find that another group is already there.
It turned out that our cooking class was going to be televised and I was dammed glad that I had thought to wash my hair this morning. Five minutes later I was miked-up and ready to translate the charming Sylvie, the owner and chef of the atelier.
The morning turned into a riotous affair, doing what the french do best, (and australian TV presenters do worst apparently), cooking and tasting delicious patisserie. In fact the presenter’s choux buns were so bad that we had to take them out of the oven twice in order for the camera to effectively film the astonished expressions on the assembled cooks, and the grimace on the face of Sylvie!
“He’s the worst client that i’ve ever had in my atelier” I explained, and once the the camera man had finished snorting, he demanded we re-run the whole sequence. The presenter bravely bore the ridicule!
“Bon Apetite”, to the cameras as we went!
For the recipé click here, and for the method, click here!
Le Fête du Ventre and Other Activities.
My fellow guide and I had a huddled conversation this morning over how on earth we were going to get our 50 Amercan tourists through the heart of the city of Rouen this morning. Lining the streets on every side, cheek to cheek, was every conceivable stall groaning under the weight of speciality and artisan foods from the length and breadth of Normandy. Finally colourful umbrellas held high, Joan of Arc’s story having already being recounted on a quiet corner, we snaked our way through the crowd to the Vieux Marché and the cross in the garden outside the Eglise Jeanne d’Arc.
Maybe the end of the historic tour, but for me, the start of a fun-filled lunchtime. A quick call to my younger boys back at home to describe the sweet stall I had just passed, and the boys were hastily on route to the café where I had taken refuge for a pause, before launching ourselves into the crowds to taste all that was on offer.
Having started with a creamy hot chocolate, our next stop was of course the sweet stall. But barely had we paid for two groaning bags than we spotted our favourite chocolatier on the other side of the street making chocolate truffles before our eyes.
-“on offer, for a limited time only” he called, and I knew it was true since last year, once thoroughly addicted, the truffle source dried up by about the end of December, leaving an agonising 8 month wait until this year’s Fête!
Now loaded down with two bags of sweets and a huge groaning bag of truffles, we came across the Macroon stall and walked away with chocolate, Tiramisu, Spéculoos, and Framboise flavours.
But the fun was still to come. As we reached the corner the noise became deafening. Right there, across the street from the Oyster bar, a jazz band was entertaining the crowds. If you look really carefully you can see the oyster shells piled high on one of the tables.
Leaving the band we headed down the street to see what else we could find!
– and at least twenty varieties of Normandy apples!
and crates of delicious “champignons”.
-Don’t forget the “Neufchatel” cheese, formed in the shape of a heart by the Normandy dairymaids to the allied soldiers in the First World War.
The soft pretzel breads caused a stir with my boys! So much so that they forgot to clamour for a fresh crèpe or a gauffre (waffle)!
But full on fresh bread, sweet bags in hand, with music still ringing in our ears we headed happily home! I hope our American visitors enjoyed it as much as we did!
And A Bird Pooped On My Head!
A great friend of mine asked, at the begining of the summer how I would feel about house-sitting her mini chateau in return for caring for her elderly and ailing dog. After a year in a appartment, albeit a lovely one, the lure of a garden, a tennis court and an orchard was extremely appealing. No suprises that I said yes.
Thus began days of endless summer in wonderful Normandy surroundings, a bit of tuning of basic tennis skills and visits to the orchard to harvest the fruit to make jam, and find unripe pears as doggy-treats for a pear-loving dog!
The beauty of the chateau was that it is close enough to Rouen to continue working, and so it was that I could honour all my tour dates and guide an endless stream of Japanese and American tourists through the historic streets of Rouen.
One of the basic issues with guiding is what to do with personal effects. More often than not, the tour group arrive in Rouen by boat, down on the quayside. While those tours are always aided by microphone, the general indignity is having to carry a brightly coloured lollipop with the ship’s name blazoned across it in order not to loose the odd tourist along the way. On inclement days, the necessity to hold an umbrella claims the other free hand, leaving none with which to point to aspects of historic or aesthetic value. It’s not suprising then that I choose to descend to the ‘rendez-vous’ with nothing in my hands.
Leaving from the chateau early one morning on a hot sunny day it occurred to me that I had rather less pockets than usual. With my keys stuffed in one pocket, there was barely room for a hanky in the other. I deliberated a few moments on the need for a hanky on such a warm day, but having a sniffy nose and presenting a monument in front of thirty or so people are not good bedfellows. The hanky stayed.
The Parvis in front of the cathedral and the Bureau de Tourism has a lovely shady seating area under two rows of plane trees. Taking advantage of the peace and quiet of the early hours of this sunday morning I took a seat to wait and to savour the beautiful morning before the arrival of the group when suddenly – quite without warning..
…a bird pooped on my head!
After the initial horror, I felt up to the hairline of my forehead to feel copious quantities of slime slowly oozing their way onto my face. The next few minutes were a hasty attempt to restore my appearance and calm without mirror, and with only one solitary paper tissue to hand. The doors of the Bureau de Tourisme remained resolutely shut at this hour of a sunday morning!
It’s three weeks later now, the school year has begun, and once more the city plays host to the late summer arrival of a multitude of American and Australian tourists. Looking at the sky this morning, I deliberated on leaving my umbrella behind. After a weekend of 30° weather it seemed unneccessary that it encumber my day. At the last minute I swung it onto my arm and set out.
No more than three seconds into welcoming my group from their tour host and about one nano-second before I invited the crowd to move across the Parvis into the centre of the square, there came a shriek from one of the ladies at the back. If I thought I had been inundated with bird poop three weeks earlier, it was nothing on this poor woman. The rogue bird had managed to cover her hair, face and an extensive portion of her blouse. The tour ground to a complete standstill and the shocked victim was rushed off to the Bureau de Tourisme to repair the damage. Thankfully it was monday, and the Bureau was open, a significant improvement on my experience. Five minutes later she rejoined us in good spirits ready to get going.
It was less than five minutes later, from an apparently clear sky that I felt the first spots of rain. The speed with which the clouds followed, and the skies darkened beggered belief, but only moments later the heavens opened to torrents of rain. Three quarters of the group were umbrella-less, but generally good-humoured and optimistic that it would be shortlived.
By the Eglise St Maclou, in all its fine new stone-cleaned whiteness, the drips were dripping down the necks of the unprotected crowd, and we hastily pressed ourselves under a small roof overhang to keep out of the worst of it.
By the Aitre St Maclou, the tour groups had bunched up, all trying in vain to shelter under the archway access point. It was a devil of a job not to loose Americans to the German group, and welcome some Russians to ours as we started to disentangle and move on to our respective destinations. One lone couple of elderly Canadians had completely lost sight of their group – and may even now still be wandering the rainy streets!
By the Passage des Chanoines, with clothes now drenched to the skin, the more miserable of the un-umbrella’d group pleaded with me to take them back to their bus.
As you can imagine, the sense of humour, so abundent at the start was rapidly begining to diminish from a small quantity of the group.
We made our way, ducking and dodging between short arcades, doorways and cafe canopés to the Vieux Marché and the site of Joan of Arc’s death from burning at the stake. To add insult to indignity, an open overhead spigot-gutter shot a spout of water over the more unwary, until finally the sight of the tour operator came into view, hair wet and plastered to his head, and we headed off to the bus. One woman stepped into a huge puddle on the kerbside, but didn’t appear to notice, the rest, forewarned by me of it’s existance hardly seemed to care.. they were wet enough already.
Don’t forget an umbrella regardless of the forcast ..
and for heavens sake, …more than one tissue!
It really is madness in Rouen this week. On strict instructions from Tuesday’s tour operator I dutifully arrived at the Vieux Marché to show my group of thirty tourists the Vitraux (stained glass) rescued from St Vincent church during World War One to find a snaking queue in both directions through main entrance door.
“It’s not necessary to pay for entry” I said, as the well-dressed beggar on the door was doing a roaring trade with the unsuspecting Americans!
I wished I could have left out the stained glass and shown something more obscure and less stampeded; there were plenty of places I hadn’t had time to show them.
There are approximately 40 guides in Rouen, and over the last few weeks I have turned up to the river cruise ships to find guides who have been drafted in from Paris to help cater for demand. Some of them had had to rise at 4am to arrive on time. I am glad of my cosy apartment a second away from the centre.
Last night I cursed as the sounds of music came beating through my windows, thinking that once again the students in the neighbourhood were partying and it would be a night ‘thin’ on sleep, but pulled open the huge windows nevertheless to water the Geraniums hanging off my balconies, when I realised, with a start, that this wasn’t any old music…..
“Our House” was definitely playing at top volume, buffeted by the wind in my direction. And of course I should have known. My teenage son had headed off with a friend to listen to Madness on the quayside, a good 40 minute walk away, and I’d been relegated to babysitting. But now I had a perfect seat with the windows wide open to hear an hour and a half of Madness live performance, sadly without the visuals.. but we can’t have everything!
Every so often “Husband à l’Etranger” and I have raved about the cult pop groups of our time, only for our kids eyes to glaze over – “mum you are SO old”. Last night my son eventually returned, converted, having managed to get himself five rows from the stage, and having videod entire songs on his phone. How could I have ever thought that mobile phones for teenagers were evil!
Thankfully the organisers were handing out earplugs to the crowd, of which, according to no1 son, there were thousands. Tonight he’s off again to hear ‘Pony Pony Run Run’ – now there’s a band that is definitely not of my time! But what the city is gearing up for is Friday night’s concert of “Mika”. Superbly popular in France, this will draw thousands, including me and my two younger ones, not necessarily because he is to everyone’s taste, but because his songs are internationally known and because Mika is bilingual French/English which adds to his fan-pulling capability in France.
So there you are, Rouen has drawn in the crowds, not only with the Armada ships, but also with these great free live open-air concerts.
when the ships set sail once again and head for open sea. And then?
But more about that later!
The Day I Lost Gothic.
Somedays, (well actually normally at 3am when I wake in a cold sweat stressing about the impending tour on my calendar) I wonder who on earth set me up for this Tour Guiding malarkey! In the glow of the early dawn, the minutes ticking down to my second ever tour were gathering speed, whilst I lay in bed unable to mentally talk my way through, or indeed remember any detail about one of the principle monuments of the city! With the lightening of the sky came the terrifying realisation that I had only myself to blame for the terror I was inflicting on myself. Why oh why had I signed myself up for a career that involves public speaking in front of 30 strong crowds when I was the kid in class that skulked in the back of the classroom hoping not to be asked the question. For the first two tours I had the overwhelming urge to flee, much as had done the French soldiers on the fortified Pont de l’Arche on te Seine when faced with a fleet of ships containing 1200 marauding Vikings.
Suprisingly, the tours actually went quite well, and though my brain fumbled occasionally on the odd date whist trying to recall them at speed, the general ambiance of the group seemed to erase the fear after the first ten minutes or so. The few minutes needed to walk from one monument to the next was enough to mentally recompose and prepare the brain for how to present the next historical story and describe the architecture. Sometimes this was knocked a little off kilter by a ‘out of the box’ question from the group, but generally things had begun to fall into place.
Nothing could have prepared me for last Monday, when just as my general confidence and nonchalance was building, I turned to face the cathedral, and realised, in a moment of utter horror that the most important word in the architectural arsenal had ‘hopped it’, fled, ‘disparued’, leaving me with a vocabulary void in its place.
The first three monuments in the tour of Rouen are Gothic, and Gothic had gone awol. It wasn’t just that having learnt the whole tour at the outset in the French language, I had lost its translation – oh no! Gothic and Gothique are very much the same word. Quite simply, I had fallen victim to a very unwelcome verbal dyslexia.
The tour continued, as it should, and since my brain was no longer capable of annotating the windows, archways or delicate stone tracery with their historical references of primitive gothic or gothic rayonnant and gothic flamboyant, the lucky tourists were assailed with a veritable overload of dates as I struggled to get the details across. Fear was once more edging in around the edges as I wondered what other catastrophes my brain may have in wait for me. Whether the tourists noticed, I will never know.
Look at all those wonderful………..details!
but let’s hope it stays there until next time!
The cherry-pickers were out on Monday putting up ‘Armada’ bunting across the main street through Rouen, rue Jean d’Arc. There is a charged atmosphere about the city, expectant, and ready. The first Armada tall ships will hopefully arrive in Rouen next Wednesday evening, passing below the Pont Flaubert, the tallest lifting bridge in the world, which will be raised for the occasion.
But for today I was meeting another boat, and was there on the quayside just as The Viking moored after its gradual journey down the Seine from Paris. Should I have been worried? The last time Vikings were seen on the Seine, the city suffered from total destruction, pillaging, and Normandy was handed over to them. Thankfully for me, this Viking ship contained 120 American tourists who were keener on admiring our treasures, than plundering them. This is after all 2013 and not 841.
I am envious of the Americans, for when they continue their journey towards Le Havre, they will have the pleasure of watching the Armada ships sailing up the Seine from an excellent vantage point, the Seine itself. But for us, we have a week of ceremony, free access to the ships, fireworks and a ‘maritime Sunday mass’ ahead of us.
Tourists and visitors are arriving in their masses to watch the spectacle, the hotels are bursting at their seams, and everywhere you chose to look there are people carrying poles atopped with a shiny red disc denoting ‘group 2A, 2B, or 2C’. I should know, today I was one of them guiding the many tourists around the great monuments of Rouen, trying not to lose Americans in the general hubub and swirling crowds, and trying to keep count of 30 heads whilst at the same time telling them how the leaders of the Harelle riot lost theirs in 1382, and how we lost Jean of Arc for ever.
My diary is crammed with tour dates, many of the guides are running at three a day, but for some of us, we have to somehow fit in the picking up and dropping off of our children who are incorporated into choirs for both the rehearsals and the the sunday maritime mass, and find the time to provide them with brightly coloured teeshirts (with no buttons or logo) for their performance in front of the cameras. as the 640 strong choir will be televised.
One place I shall certainly be, with my boys, will be on one of the many bridges spanning the Seine watching the fireworks display at 11.30 on Friday night, which are rumoured to be outstanding. Having missed the great British Guy Fawkes night for the past two years, and inexplicably been out of France for every 14th July, this is an event we cannot miss.
So if you are at a loose end next week, Rouen is where you need to be, and if you see a numbered ‘lolly stick’ waggling above the heads of the crowds, you never know, it could just be me! | 2019-04-18T10:31:33Z | https://myhusbanddrivesalemon.com/tag/tour-guide/ |
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Developmental language disorder (DLD, also called specific language impairment, SLI) is a common developmental disorder comprising the largest disability group in pre-school-aged children. Approximately 7% of the population is expected to have developmental language difficulties. However, the specific etiological factors leading to DLD are not yet known and even the typical linguistic features appear to vary by language. We present here a project that investigates DLD at multiple levels of analysis and aims to make the reliable prediction and early identification of the difficulties possible. Following the multiple deficit model of developmental disorders, we investigate the DLD phenomenon at the etiological, neural, cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial levels, in a longitudinal study of preschool children.
In January 2013, we launched the Helsinki Longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI) at the Helsinki University Hospital (http://tiny.cc/HelSLI). We will study 227 children aged 3–6 years with suspected DLD and their 160 typically developing peers. Five subprojects will determine how the child’s psychological characteristics and environment correlate with DLD and how the child’s well-being relates to DLD, the characteristics of DLD in monolingual versus bilingual children, nonlinguistic cognitive correlates of DLD, electrophysiological underpinnings of DLD, and the role of genetic risk factors. Methods include saliva samples, EEG, computerized cognitive tasks, neuropsychological and speech and language assessments, video-observations, and questionnaires.
The project aims to increase our understanding of the multiple interactive risk and protective factors that affect the developing heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral profile of DLD, including factors affecting literacy development. This accumulated knowledge will form a heuristic basis for the development of new interventions targeting linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of DLD.
Language does not always develop as expected, which can have devastating effects on both individual and societal levels. Developmental language disorder (DLD, previously called specific language impairment, SLI) is a common developmental disorder comprising the largest disability group in pre-school-aged children. Approximately 7% of the population is expected to have DLD . Somewhat surprisingly, DLD has received relatively little research interest compared to less prevalent disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) . Although DLD is diagnosed most often in childhood, the associated difficulties are not restricted to this developmental period. Rather, DLD also often leads to dyslexia and it may continue to restrict the person’s social, academic, and occupational activities even beyond adolescence and into adulthood. For example, a recent study of adolescents in reform school found that poorer verbal skills were associated with elevated levels of later criminal behavior . Further, the previous work of our research group has shown that 26% of adults with a childhood diagnosis of DLD in Finland are pensioned off and 19% live with their parents . This truly highlights the long-term risk for social marginalization associated with DLD.
To cope with this risk caused by a developmental challenge, it is vital to understand better the interactions between harmful and protective factors that affect the developmental manifestation of DLD. However, at the moment, the specific etiological factors leading to DLD are not known. In many cases, developmental language difficulties are suggested to be caused by genetic factors . At the neural level, perisylvian brain areas contributing to language processing are often affected . However, the exact mechanisms that lead the neural abnormalities to cause DLD are not known. Presently, we do not even fully understand the range of cognitive or behavioral difficulties associated with DLD. For example, the cognitive difficulties have been suggested to span nonverbal as well as verbal domains, and the linguistic markers of DLD appear to vary from one language to another .
The genetic and neurobiological studies cited above suggest that DLD has a biological basis. However, language learning can be modulated also by, for example, reduced exposure to the language used in school and society. Of the population in Finland, 6.4% had a language other than Finnish, Swedish or Sami as their first language at the end of year 2016, and this percentage is rapidly growing . Many of these are immigrants or people with immigrant background. Based on Finnish official statistics , one of the most significant predictors of successful employment for immigrants is an education acquired in Finland. Especially for bilingual children of immigrant families, language skills are the best predictors of successful educational attainment . Naturally, also some of the bilingual children are expected to suffer from DLD. However, bilingual environment itself is not considered to be a risk factor for language impairment , and, thus, language impairment should be equally prevalent in monolinguals and bilinguals . In contrast to this suggestion, of the children seen for the first time at the Audiophoniatric Ward for Children, Department of Phoniatrics, in the Helsinki University Hospital, a disproportionate 30–40% are multilingual. Although part of this amount may reflect a referral bias and challenges in diagnostics, it is also compatible with the possibility that the risk of language impairment, or especially severe language impairment , is elevated in bilingual and multilingual children compared to monolingual children. In annual follow-ups, the diagnoses of these bilingual children seldom change. This suggests that DLD does, indeed, explain their difficulties. This marked over-representation of bilinguals with suspected DLD warrants investigation of the underlying phenomena.
The child’s proximal environment, e.g. parent-child interaction patterns, and his or her individual traits and characteristics may affect both language development and response to intervention. For example, the quality of mother-child interaction moderates the effects of a biological disadvantage on later cognitive functioning [cf. studies on low birth weight, 15, 16]. In terms of temperamental traits, children with language difficulties have been shown to be less persistent in their temperament compared to typically developing (TD) peers . However, to our knowledge there is no previous research on the effects of parent-child interaction specifically focusing on language development in DLD, nor has temperament been thoroughly assessed in a longitudinal setting.
Developmental language difficulties themselves may have a negative impact on the child’s self-esteem and well-being. Rescorla et al. have shown that language delay is associated with social withdrawal already in toddlers, as assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) . St Clair et al. followed 7–16-year-old children with DLD with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and found that during this time-period, social problems increased and emotional problems persisted into adolescence. In relation to the social problems, the previous work of our research team has shown that adults with a childhood history of DLD perceive many dimensions (usual activities, mental functioning, and speech) of their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) to be poorer than that of the controls. This parallels with the fact that DLD adults of the study lived with their parents or were pensioned more often than the adult Finnish population on average . We are not aware of any previous DLD research that has focused both on the etiological (e.g., temperament) and outcome psychological and psychosocial factors (e.g., well-being of the child). Recognizing these risk and protective factors and their consequences, both in the environment and within the child, would permit prevention.
Differentiating DLD from TD in bilinguals is a challenging task for health care professionals. Lack of knowledge, normative data, and tools may often lead to over- or underdiagnosing. There are various suggestions for how DLD and bilingualism combine. Monolingual DLD and bilingual TD have been proposed to resemble each other in some ways, for example in terms of morphological forms used . Bilingual DLD children have also been suggested to be affected by a double deficit [discussed in, 25], since they could suffer from both restricted cognitive (due to DLD) and restricted environmental (due to bilingualism) resources [see also, 26]. On the other hand, another recent suggestion is that although bilingual DLD children may suffer from restricted cognitive resources (similarly to monolinguals with DLD), the demands of their environment result in a “bilingual advantage” in, for example, executive functions . Especially in the case of sequential bilingualism (L2 learning), it is suggested that various child-internal (e.g., first language, L1 typology, and child’s age) and child-external (e.g., amount of language exposure) factors play an important role in performance and development . Despite of critically lacking information, such a large scale longitudinal study on 3–6-year-old bilingual DLD children has not been conducted.
Although DLD by definition means compromised skills in the language domain (domain-specific impairment), there is accumulating evidence that the difficulties of those with DLD may not actually be restricted to language, there instead being a domain-general impairment. In fact, nonlinguistic basic cognitive capacities are also likely to be involved, and some of these characteristics may well be shared across different languages. If this is so, new assessment and intervention possibilities could present themselves. Recent findings of domain-general capacities that might affect language development have been reported on different levels. At the etiological level, genetic factors behind DLD appear to affect not only language but also nonverbal ability . At the cognitive level, there are several suggestions for nonlinguistic difficulties, for example, impaired general processing speed and short-term memory (STM) or working memory [29, 30]. One other recent hypothesis at the cognitive level, as put forward by Ullman , Nicolson and Fawcett , suggests that DLD could result from a generalized difficulty in acquisition of automatic skills, including procedural learning. Procedural learning is typically implicit and refers to learning of habits, skills, and procedures as opposed to knowledge that can be explicitly articulated. Procedural learning mechanisms might be linked to language development in complex ways. For example, both procedural learning and language development would be compromised if their underlying cognitive core capacities are impaired. Also, they could form a cluster of functions linked to one another in a correlative or causative way. Unraveling these relations would have far-reaching consequences for how specific we perceive various developmental and learning impairments to be and how those with difficulties should be supported.
Initial diagnoses of DLD are often complemented with findings of impairments related to literacy when the child reaches school age. In fact, reading disability or dyslexia is so common among individuals with DLD that it has been suggested to be another symptom of the same syndrome. However, there is controversy as to the extent and nature of overlap between DLD and dyslexia . We have shown recently that difficulties of written language in adults (i.e., dyslexia) correlate with modality-general impairments in processing speed and STM , and argued that these may both relate to underlying difficulties in the processing of information that requires attentional control of temporal binding. Another recent project led by Prof. Laasonen (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/project-dyadd) showed that adults with developmental dyslexia also have difficulties in nonverbal procedural learning . Importantly, poor performance in these affected nonlinguistic areas of cognition was shown to be related to poor linguistic skills. As developmental dyslexia could be one of the possible developmental end-results of childhood DLD, it is vital to expand this research to DLD children, in order to validate the findings of the older age-groups in young children .
Continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) recording has been a routine procedure in DLD diagnostics. One of the reasons is the necessity to exclude serious conditions, such as the Landau-Kleffner syndrome . Otherwise, the rationale for clinical EEG in DLD diagnostics remains unresolved. Some studies have found elevated amounts of epileptiform activity in EEG of children with DLD [40–44]. Other researchers have suggested that especially those with syntactic-phonological or syntactic-lexical difficulties would have abnormalities in continuous EEG recording [45, 46]. To our knowledge, there is only one longitudinal study on clinical EEG in DLD . It failed to find significant associations between original epileptiform EEG and later language development in a very small group of children. Thus, it remains unclear, whether children with DLD, in general, have abnormal EEG findings or whether the abnormalities are confined to a specific subgroup or if EEG has predictive value on DLD in a longitudinal setting. Finally, the mediating role of comorbid conditions has not been resolved. For example, developmental coordination disorder and ADHD have been associated with EEG abnormalities.
Developmental language difficulties are in many cases affected by genetic factors. Half of the children with DLD have relatives with language difficulties and the concordance rate for monozygotic twins is higher than that for dizygotic twins . At least three different genetic loci (DLD1 at 16q, DLD2 at 19q, and DLD3 at 13q21) and two genes that are expressed in the brain (CMIP and ATP2C2 in chromosome 16) have been suggested to contribute to DLD . The exact role of these genes is not known but, in their review, Li and Bartlett suggest that they could contribute to phonological STM. Also other DLD candidate genes (e.g., CNTNAP2 and BDNF), have been suggested to contribute to STM as well as to difficulties in verbal comprehension and expression. Importantly, all four replicated genes involved in DLD aetiology, ATP2C2, BDNF, CMIP, and CNTNAP2, have common genetic variants that occur in persons of European ancestry. These genes have not been assessed in the Finnish population, which has some minor genetic differences from the rest of Europe due to the relatively small number of founding members of the Finnish population that migrated to present day Finland 4000 years ago. Further, more detailed information about different risk alleles’ contribution to specific cognitive and linguistic factors has not been conducted in a longitudinal setup, especially involving bilingual children.
We present here an ongoing project, the Helsinki Longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI, http://tiny.cc/helsli) that investigates DLD in preschool children at the etiological, neural, cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial levels of analysis with an aim to answer the many open questions and to increase our understanding of the multiple interactive risk and protective factors that affect the developing heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral profile of DLD. HelSLI study consists of five subprojects.
HelSLI-psychosocial investigates how the child’s psychological characteristics (i.e., temperament) and proximal environment (i.e., parent-child interaction) influence DLD and response to rehabilitation in a longitudinal setting. HelSLI-psychosocial investigates also how DLD relates to the psychosocial characteristics and well-being of the children. We hypothesize that both child temperament and parent-child interaction include risk and protective factors for language development, and that DLD itself is a risk factor for the long-term well-being of a child.
The bilingual children of the current study are early sequential bilinguals who acquire Finnish as their second language not from the birth but early on in kindergarten. We use a two-way design (TD/DLD x mono/bilingual, that is, MonoTD, BiTD, MonoDLD, and BiDLD), longitudinal approach as well as consider age and exposure effects and their interaction. Thus, we are able to answer many of the open questions . We hypothesize, based on the literature [12, 26, 51] and our preliminary data, that children with bilingual background will have poorer language performance compared to monolinguals when using tests developed for monolinguals but fewer comorbid characteristics. Possible bilingual advantage might be seen in compensating the hypothesized double deficit of restricted environmental resources and restricted cognitive resources. This advantage might prevent bilingual DLD children from falling behind their TD bilingual peers and could be observed in various cognitively demanding tasks included in the clinical neuropsychological battery and HelSLI-cognitive, and also in different linguistic areas at later stages of the longitudinal setting. We also hypothesize, since DLD and TD can resemble each other in bilingual setting, that it would be more appropriate to compare BiDLD children to BiTD children and not to MonoTD children when assessing developmental language disorder.
In HelSLI-cognitive, we aim to test nonlinguistic factors that could potentially be used in prediction, diagnosis, and intervention of DLD across languages, in this case, auditory and visual STM and artificial grammar learning (AGL) . We hypothesize, based on our own previous research and recent literature cited above, that DLD children will have more difficulties than TD children in the nonverbal tasks of STM and AGL across modalities, when required to maintain, chunk, manipulate, and learn patterns. In addition, we can explore whether any impairment in AGL can be identified to specific types of information, for example, high frequency bigrams vs. whole exemplars vs. long range associations.
To our knowledge, there is scarcely previous neurophysiological or functional imaging research on bilingual children with DLD [see, however 53]. Also, in case of studies on monolingual DLD children, most of the research has been conducted either with newborns, school-aged children, or adolescents whereas there is less research on preschool-aged children. The HelSLI-EEG sub-project thus focuses on identifying neurophysiological markers of DLD in monolingual and bilingual children with EEG and offers data on DLD children in the age range of 3–6 years – a time during which language skills develop rapidly but on which there is scarcely brain research. Both continuous clinical EEG and ERP recordings are being used. First, we aim to study, whether epileptiform activity is related to a specific cognitive impairment profile within DLD spectrum. Secondly, by ERP assessments, we aim to elucidate the cognitive dysfunctions in DLD at the levels of basic auditory processing, phonological processing, and STM as well as morphological processing. ERP assessments that are this wide-ranging have never been done in DLD research before. We preliminarily hypothesize that epileptiform abnormalities in clinical EEG are related to the severity of DLD in both mono and bilingual children. Based on previous literature on ERP indices in DLD, we expect to find attenuated MMN responses for tone frequency changes as well as consonant contrasts in syllable stimuli . Importantly, we will be able to anchor these findings to other simultaneously measured linguistic and non-linguistic ERP contrasts, as well as to the detailed cognitive and linguistic behavioral profiles of individual children with DLD. In the framework of procedural learning impairment hypothesis, we expect to find indices that reflect neural dynamics of the acquisition of phoneme and morpheme sequences to be impaired in DLD.
HelSLI-genetic investigates the role of four known genetic risk factors (ATP2C2, BDNF, CMIP, and CNTNAP2) in DLD in the Finnish monolingual and bilingual populations. Should these genes be associated with DLD or related cognitive functions and neurophysiology in Finnish DLD cases, this will be the first such demonstration in this population, and these markers will be assessed for utility in predicting intervention outcomes. Also, these markers are of potential use as covariates for the analysis in the other subprojects, since the genetic markers may demarcate some error variance if multiple different DLD etiologies are, in fact, present. We hypothesize that language ability and more specifically STM (here also nonverbal) will be related to the genetic background in our sample.
HelSLI study is realized at the Audiophoniatric Ward for Children, Department of Phoniatrics, Helsinki University Hospital. Healthcare professionals on the department work in multidisciplinary teams focused on the assessment and diagnosis of the children with DLD or suspected DLD. These include medical doctors specializing in phoniatrics, speech and language pathologists, neuropsychologists, occupational therapists, special education teachers, and nurses. Most of the DLD sample data was gathered alongside normal clinical work. For the HelSLI study participants, we formulated standardized clinical EEG, neuropsychological (Additional file 1: Appendix 1) and speech and language assessment protocols (Additional file 2: Appendix 2) that were applied for each incoming and eligible first-time child at the Audiophoniatric Ward for children, Department of Phoniatrics, Helsinki University Hospital, during years 2013–2015.
Data collection begun in January 2013. The total number of 3-to-6-year-old children with suspected DLD who entered the HelSLI study was 246 (three entry years, 2013–2015) and those who fulfilled the inclusion criteria 227. The DLD children will be followed up during 2014–2018 on a yearly basis or less frequently, depending on whether they are monolinguals or bilinguals and what was their age when entering the study (see, Table 1). The last follow-up is before they enter school at the age of seven. The follow-up assessments are conducted mostly in the kindergartens. Children living outside the Helsinki metropolitan area are not followed-up unless they are assessed at Department of Phoniatrics for clinical purposes. Structured questionnaires are used for assessing the content and amount of intervention that takes place during the one-year periods between assessments. Separate questionnaires are sent to kindergartens and speech and language therapists.
In addition, 80 monolingual and 80 bilingual control children are recruited from the kindergartens of the metropolitan area of Helsinki, in order to gather normative information for the neuropsychological and speech and language tests for the sequentially bilingual children, as well as comparison data for the HelSLI subprojects. Control children are gathered from the same areas as DLD children and the proportion of girls versus boys per age group is compatible. The 3-and 4-year-old control children are followed up yearly, until they enter school, in order to define developmental pathways for both monolingual and bilingual TD children. In addition, bilingual 5-year-olds are also followed up until they enter school (see, Table 1). At the moment, all the DLD children have entered the study and are being followed up. Also, most of the TD children (over 150 of the total expected n = 160) have already been recruited to the study. Table 1 presents the general design of the HelSLI study. Below, the methods are described separately for each sub-project.
Temperament is parent-reported with the very short version of The Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) . Parent-child interaction is assessed with structured play sessions that are videotaped in order to evaluate both parenting and child behavior (1990 revision of the Erickson scales, ) and the dyadic level of the parent-child relationship [56, 57]. The ways that DLD relates to the psychosocial characteristics and well-being of the children are as assessed with questionnaires Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher Rating Form (TRF), both part of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) and The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) .
Speech and language development is investigated in Finnish, with the same standardized speech and language and neuropsychological test battery in all the groups, that is, monolinguals with typical language development (MonoTD), monolinguals with impaired language development (MonoDLD), and bilinguals with typical (BiTD) and impaired language development (BiDLD; see, Additional file 1: Appendix 1 and Additional file 2: Appendix 2). Because of the difficulties in assessing the first language of the bilingual children directly, with or without the help of an interpreter, we implement additionally indirect measures. In the HelSLI-bilingual, these are parent reports on the first language development (The Alberta Language Development Questionnaire, ALDeQ) and the language environment questionnaire (The Alberta Language Environment Questionnaire, ALEQ) , which have been translated for the present research in collaboration with Professor Johanne Paradis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
STM capacities are assessed by asking children to make same/different judgments of small sets of non-linguistic stimuli (pictures or vocalizations of made-up animals), to measure the number of items each child can hold in memory. Nonlinguistic stimuli are used in order to assess memory functions independently from children’s language ability. These tests assess STM for visual and auditory stimuli distributed sequentially. Implicit learning abilities are assessed with AGL tasks which first show children training examples of small sets of stimuli (similar in nature to those used for the STM tasks), and then ask children to classify novel sets of stimuli as being either “Good” or “Not good” with respect to the presumed pattern exemplified by the training items. These tools were built on the Graphogame literacy training platform (http://graphogame.com).
Continuous EEG is recorded during routine clinical checkups at the Department of clinical neurophysiology following clinical standards. Children are sleep deprived and EEG is recorded during a short daytime nap as well as during standard flashlight sequence procedures. During clinical routine EEG assessment, also a tone multifeature MMN paradigm, developed by Näätänen et al. is used to measure the auditory discrimination profile, which has been shown to be a useful tool for investigating developmental disorders [54, 61–63]. The paradigm includes simultaneous measurements for tone frequency, duration, intensity, location, and gap contrasts. Some of the children with DLD and their controls, are invited to participate in more detailed ERP experiments in Cognitive Brain Research Unit, University of Helsinki . One paradigm allows one to compare basic auditory processing efficiency of different sound features with speech specific sound processing, and thus gives novel insight on the specific neural dysfunctions associated with DLD at the individual level. The second ERP paradigm aims to track the neural circuitry and function needed in morphological processing . Morphemes are the basic building blocks of the language meaning, and difficulties especially in word inflection have been proposed to be one of the core problems in DLD. This novel paradigm will now be used in children for the first time. Together all of these ERP paradigms allow specifying neurophysiological indices associated with cognitive dysfunction in DLD at the levels of basic auditory processing, phonological processing, and STM as well as morphological processing. This multilevel approach is particularly important as it allows the development of more reliable individual level indices and their comparison with cognitive and genetic measures of the HelSLI.
DNA in the HelSLI-genetic is extracted from saliva and analyzed by the international collaborators. Two sets of DNA markers are assayed. The first is a set of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers that constitute a DNA “barcode” that are unique across the population and are used for sample tracking and to assess relatedness among individuals . That same set of SNPs was chosen to be ancestrally informative to provide information on continental genetic background to statistically control for admixture across the control and DLD groups. A second set of SNP markers will provide information about common variation in the four (known) DLD genes. Analysis consists of methods previously deployed on similar datasets . Briefly, ancestrally informative markers are analyzed by principal component analysis to provide a genomic summary of ancestry. We have shown that it is important to use the first three principal components as a covariate to reduce false positive associations across groups caused by random differences in ancestry . The main genomic effects are modeled along with other variables in the regression framework using dummy coding to represent each of the three genotypic groups (AA, AB, BB; where A generically refers to the common SNP variant, and B generically refers to the more rare variant of the two).
The HelSLI study recruited four groups, that is, monolingual DLD (MonoDLD), bilingual DLD (BiDLD), monolingual TD (MonoTD), and bilingual TD children (BiTD). DLD children came from the Audiophoniatric Ward for children, Department of Phoniatrics. The TD children were gathered from kindergartens around the greater Helsinki area. In general, all four groups participate in all the subprojects of HelSLI, that is, psychosocial, bilingual, cognitive, EEG, and genetic (for exceptions, see Table 1).
Inclusion criterion for the DLD children was a referral to the Audiophoniatric Ward, Department of Phoniatrics, with a continuing concern in language development (in bilinguals in both languages) with no known biomedical etiology (see Table 2 for sample description). Parent interviews and/or language assessment with the help of interpreter on first language (L1) had to confirm severe challenges in child’s first language. The children had a prior SLT assessment/intervention period in primary health care. They had normal hearing and no gross neurological findings, and had participated in routine follow-ups in local health-centers. In the ward, a medical examination, including ear-nose-and-throat (ENT) areas, gross and fine motor skills roughly, and a brief gross neurological status to rule out major findings or signs of any syndrome, was performed.
In most cases, the DLD children are analyzed as one group, that is, we do not differentiate between, for example, receptive and receptive-expressive groups. However within the DLD children, a group with severe speech production problems on phonology/speech sound level is separated, since severe disorder in speech production may affect speech intelligibility and by implication expressive language (e.g. expressive vocabulary and sentence production). This distinction was necessary to make because in the Finnish ICD-10 system speech sound disorders (such as CAS, childhood apraxia of speech) are included in SLI or DLD (ICD-10 diagnosis of F80.1). Classification for children with or without severe speech production problem based on difficulties at the phonological or speech sound level was made by combining the results from Finnish test of phonology (Fonologiatesti) and speech and language therapist’s clinical report. In the Phonology test, the child had to perform below 12. percentile on phonotactic skills and in relation to age she/he had to have a significantly small phoneme inventory and/or severe difficulties in combining phonemes. If inclusion to the speech production problem group was made based on small phoneme inventory, omitted or substituted phonemes needed to be more than two and they had to be other than late emerging phonemes /r/ and /s/ or phonemes used only in loanwords. Children who did not produce speech at all were considered as their own group in some analyses.
Exclusion criteria for the DLD group were hearing impairment, intellectual disability, ASD, oral anomalies, or a diagnosed neurological impairment or disability (e.g., epilepsy, chromosomal abnormalities). The DLD children were required to have a performance Intelligence quotient (PIQ) of at least 70 . For research purposes, the DLD group was divided into those who had PIQ in the range 70–84 and 85 or above. However, we did not require a mismatch between the verbal and nonverbal ability and we acknowledged the fact that DLD can co-occur with other neurodevelopmental disorders .
The TD children were gathered from kindergartens around the greater Helsinki area. They were required to not have difficulties in any of their languages or no intervention after an assessment. Guidance or short intervention period focusing on articulation, i.e. individual speech sounds, were not considered as exclusion criteria. The parents of TD children were required not to report any of the exclusion criteria and the TD children were required to have PIQ of at least 85 . Further, exclusion criteria for the TD children were suspected or diagnosed difficulties in language acquisition or other development as well as diagnosed difficulties in these areas in parents or siblings.
Monolingual participants were required to have Finnish as their only home language. Sequential bilingual children vary in their first language (L1), but were required to have only one language at home (not Finnish, Swedish, or Sami). L1 languages in bilingual TD children were compatible to the ones of DLD children. Bilingual children had to have had at least one year of regular exposure to Finnish language in kindergarten. There are no standardized tests nor normative info on sequential bilingual performance in Finnish language-related tests. Therefore, we could not establish clear cut-off criteria for the test performance of the participating groups.
A priori power analyses with G*Power and RMASS (http://www.rmass.org/) were conducted to estimate appropriate sample sizes. For various research questions of subprojects guesstimates for the effect size varied along with the other aspects of power analysis. Detailed descriptions go beyond the scope of this paper, but two examples are given. For one age group (that is, e.g., 3 years old) an effect size as Cohen’s d = 0.6 was used for independent samples two-tailed t-test between DLD and TD children with α = .05 and 1 - β = .80 (power) using sample ratio NDLD / NTD = 0.67. This calculation resulted in NDLD = 56 and NTD = 38 for each age. The total number of participants recruited approximates these values (227 with suspected DLD, plus 160 TD across the four age groups). As another example, we computed the sample size for two-level mixed-effects linear regression model for the analysis of longitudinal data using the aforementioned values for α, 1 - β and sample ratio, four time points with AR1 error variance = 1.0 and r = .5, last time point mean difference = 0.6, 5% attrition rate, person variance components (intercept = 1.0, covariance = 0.1, slope = 0.1), and group × time interaction = 0.2. Here total number of subjects was 353. Again, the number of participants recruited (227 + 160 = 387) approximates the number indicated by the power analysis.
With large dataset and different subprojects, several different analytical lines will be pursued contingent upon the particular research questions of each subproject. Subsequent publications will describe details of the analysis used in each of them and only general tactics will be illustrated here. When all t0 (onset, baseline) assessments are finished, cross-sectional analyses will be carried out to explore relationships between variables of interest in each subproject. These analyses will include, e.g., different general linear modelling, multivariate analysis, and structural equation modelling techniques. In specific research questions, also generalized modelling may be used. As t1, t2, and t3 (follow-up) data is complete, longitudinal analysis (especially pertinent in HelSLI-bilingual) will be conducted. For this, multilevel modelling techniques for longitudinal data will be applied.
Both frequentist and Bayesian approaches to inference will be utilized depending on research questions of each subproject. In the former case, two-tailed nominal p-value of .05 and 95% confidence interval and, in the latter case, informative priors, when realizable, and 95% credible interval will be generally used.
Following the multiple deficit model of developmental disorders put forward by Pennington , the HelSLI subprojects investigate the DLD phenomenon at multiple levels of analysis: genetic and environmental etiological, neural, cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial (see Fig. 1). The main aim of the project is to increase our understanding of the multiple interactive risk and protective factors that affect the developing heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral profile of DLD. Data collection is in active stage and the collected data will be unique in the world in its quality and quantity.
At the level of etiological risk and protective factors (see Fig. 1), we will be able to investigate the associations between biology (genes, temperament) and environment (parent-child interaction and language background) and use this knowledge, for example, to predict intervention outcomes and as covariates at other levels of analysis. At the level of neural systems, we will be able to investigate the neurophysiological correlates of DLD (both continuous EEG characteristics and ERP responses to various linguistic and non-linguistic auditory stimuli), evaluate the usefulness of EEG/ERP in individual diagnostics, and map these findings to the etiological level of analysis. We can determine, for example, the associations between genetic and language background and brain electrophysiology.
At the level of cognitive processes, we will be able to investigate the difficulties in nonlinguistic basic cognitive capacities that are expected to affect DLD across different languages with the aim to use this knowledge to develop language-independent tools for prediction, diagnosis, and intervention of DLD and later dyslexia. As described in the Background section, genetic factors behind DLD appear to affect not only language but also nonverbal performance. Especially (nonlinguistic) STM and procedural learning will be of interest here, since these have been associated also with the etiological and neural levels of analysis. At the level of behavioral manifestation, we will be able to investigate the variation ranging from typical to severely impaired language development. This level of analysis will enable testing for and validating subgroups suggested by the other levels of analysis (e.g., EEG abnormalities emerging in those with comorbid difficulties). Last, at the level of psychosocial outcome, we will be able to investigate associations between the other levels and a child’s psychosocial characteristics and well-being. With all these levels of analysis, the HelSLI study will be in a unique position to define correlative and probabilistic or derivational causal relations and map developmental pathways (or trajectories) in a large longitudinal sample. Moreover, there is little previous research into the relationship between bilingualism and DLD, and none that spans all these levels of analysis.
As the project will be carried out in a clinical setting, traditional and experimental assessment and intervention methods can be employed as part of the research project, in order to provide the DLD children comprehensive services. This and the longitudinal design make it possible to distinguish between associated and causal factors. The results could be used to help predict language development and its difficulties across language environments. Based on the results of the assessments, the current project will provide means for targeting some of the possibly causative factors, not just the resulting symptoms, with, for example, the adaptive computerized interventions of HelSLI cognitive that can be individually tailored based on the differences at the etiological, cognitive, and behavioral levels of analysis. This kind of early intervention in the promotion of health and equality and prevention of marginalization is pivotal, since funding targeted at supporting learning during the early years of education results in better outcomes than that provided during the later years .
We thank the following persons for their invaluable contribution to the specific subprojects.
Helsinki Uusimaa Hospital District funding covers the clinical part of the project and additional research funding. Also, the Academy of Finland funds the project. These two sources of funding cover the additional costs of data gathering for the DLD children as well as salaries of the research group, that is, design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and writing the manuscripts. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) funds the project with two grants, which cover the assessments of the TD children.
All named authors participated in the design of the study as well as in manuscript preparation. For this manuscript and for the study in general, rights and responsibilities of the participating students and researchers, requirements for authorship as well as the rights of ownership and use to the data are defined in written contracts for each separate subproject. Authorship decisions are made based on the Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors guidelines (http://www.icmje.org/). All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Ethical clearance has been received for all subprojects of HelSLI from the ethical board of Helsinki University Hospital (approval reference number: § 248/2012). This clearance required an extensive written ethical evaluation by the principal investigator (M. Laasonen), which included a data management plan. Also, a research permit has been cleared by Helsinki University Hospital and the cities of Espoo, Helsinki, and Vantaa. A written consent to participate has been obtained from the parents. | 2019-04-23T13:53:52Z | https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-018-0222-7 |
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