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For purposes of this column, Raleigh is the center of the universe, which is as it should be. Is there a trendier city or state capital? In a bigger swing state than North Carolina? In the greatest nation on earth—except if you're listening to The Donald, who tells us we're stupid. But I digress.
Looking back at my columns in 2015, my view, naturally, is out from Raleigh as we make our mark on the world. My obsessions are: 1) carbon emissions, which imperil the planet; and 2) the growing divide between the rich and the rest of us, a phenomenon so out of control that, as the Pew Research Center reported this month, America's once-dominant middle-class no longer includes a majority of the population.
Separately, scholars Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page studied how public policy decisions are reached in the U.S. and concluded that we can't even claim to be a democracy. We're an oligarchy, where only the rich have influence. Yikes!
But I don't mean to be all doom and gloom at the Christmas dinner table. Carbon emissions worsened in 2015, the economic divide is wider, and I agree with the pastoral letter issued by the United Church of Christ, whose congregations—including United Church of Chapel Hill, where I visited—are examining "the ongoing manifestation of racism evident in tragic and painful ways in our communities."
Still, 2015 was a year for restoring hope that the future will be better. And Raleigh, if not the driving force, is poised to do our medium-size-city bit. Ditto Wake County. State government remains a white hole. (Not a black hole, since every top Republican is white.) But the year saw real headway at the presidential-election level thanks to Bernie Sanders, who's got presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton stealing his best lines about trade, climate change, the scourge of the rich and racial injustice.
Feel the Bern! Too bad the mainstream media is letting the Republicans' fear campaign highjack the election season and evade the real issues of climate change and wealth inequality.
Globally, Pope Francis issued an encyclical on climate change and its causes. "Ecological sin is due to human greed," the pope declared. It followed a Solar Summit in Raleigh (coincidence?), where climate-change activists have been on the case for years, led by—to name a few—Karen and Joe Bearden of 350.org, Jim Warren of NC WARN and 13-year-old Hallie Turner of iMatter, a youth-led national advocacy group, whom I first interviewed when she was 11.
On Dec. 12, representatives of 195 nations signed the landmark climate accord in Paris, the most significant achievement of the year.
And on further review:
Raleigh: Housing and Dix. Most of what Raleigh can do to combat economic inequality falls under affordable housing. The City Council whiffed twice this year on chances to add affordable units to downtown projects. First, it sold a parking lot at 300 Hillsborough St.—near the Capitol—after rezoning it for a 20-story building with zero affordable housing required. Later, it rezoned the whole downtown for up to 40 stories with, again, no affordable-housing mandates.
But that was the old council. In October, voters replaced a trio of shopworn incumbents with fresh faces (Corey Branch, David Cox, Dickie Thompson). Meanwhile, the state is about to sell some sweet fixer-upper properties to developers, including 42 acres next to the fairgrounds on Blue Ridge Road. This follows the sale, to the city, of the 325-acre Dorothea Dix tract, which will become a park.
Parks are good for rich and poor, and for the environment. The new council has pledged to get serious about inclusive housing. But we'll need some transit.
Wake County: Transit. Last fall the voters tossed out the Republican majority on the Wake commission, electing four more Democrats to what is now a 7–0 Democratic body. The Republicans were against public transit. The Democrats have spent 2015 building consensus for a plan to create high-frequency, high-quality bus transit using a half-cent sales tax, which will be on the ballot in 2016.
The bus routes should help spur development in Southeast Raleigh and up Capital Boulevard, where affordable housing is a must. The plan also calls for bus transit on Western Boulevard, where it can link to Dix Park and development that's already begun outside the park's periphery. And it will link to Blue Ridge Road—see above—where the city has yet another chance to achieve dense development, with affordable units included, that's supported by first-rate transit, not just lots of cars.
The State: SMH. Republican policies are a disaster. But what's really galling is that, after Democrats won the Wake elections (and, a year earlier, the school board elections), Republican legislators stepped in with new gerrymandered districts designed to return all of Wake to GOP control starting with the 2016 elections. The switched districts are a giant screw you to Wake voters. But if that's not reason enough for U.S. District Court Judge James Dever to strike them down—and he heard arguments last week—here's another: They're a blatant case of racial gerrymandering. They pack as many black voters as possible into screwy-looking districts so the all-white Republican Party can prevail in other districts.
Race-based gerrymandering unrelated to any reasonable public purpose is unconstitutional, Judge Dever.
Great article Bob. I learned something about NX designation. UDOs are not easy to read or understand. …
Duke power rates are outrageous, my power bill this month was over $431. There's no way I used that amount …
Great article Bob. I learned something about NX designation. UDOs are not easy to read or understand. …
Duke power rates are outrageous, my power bill this month was over $431. There's no way I used that amount …
I never seen a company like DUKE ENERGY, it's unbelievable the customer service is unprofessional, when you call them you …
Your unnecessarily lengthy spiel in defense of Republicans suppressing votes, doesn't seem to be needed, as like you said, even …
Thanks Bob for the passion and ideas delivered in style. Glad you'll still be occasionally writing articles in the future.


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Beneteau Oceanis 48, 2012 model.
A well-equipped and professionally maintained yacht - in excellent condition and lightly used (only 3-6 weeks use annually). This is a real gem for family cruising in warm climates.
Beneteau Oceanis 48 built by Beneteau, France, in 2012
British/Gibraltar Flag.
White hull
GRP hull and deck
Teak in cockpit
Fin keel
Dual wheel steering w/ covers
One Yanmar, 4 cyl, seawater cooling, diesel engine, 75 HP
Annually serviced
770 hours run at April 2017
7 knots cruising speed
9 knots max speed
Saildrive to 3 blade fixed propeller
4 Exide batteries
Engine alternator
2 x battery charger
Shore power and cable
2 fuel plastic tanks w/ a total capacity of 400 L
3 water plastic tanks w/ a total capacity of 690 L
1 x 80 + 1 x 100 L plastic holding tanks
Pressurised water
Manual sea water in galley
Hot water from 220 V and engine
Sparcraft aluminium spars
In-mast furling mainsail
Furling genoa
Assymetric spinnaker fittings
Mainsail and genoa, 2012
2 x Harken dual speed self-tailing genoa electric winch
2 x Harken dual speed self-tailing halyard winch (portside is electric)
Six berths in 3 dble cabins
Eno gas cooker with three burners
Oven and grill
Dble sink in galley
Two head with Jabsco WC, handbasin and shower
Air-co throughout
Leather/cream upholstery
2 m + headroom
2 x Plastimo Compass
Simrad echosounder, speed, log and wind instruments
Simrad VHF
Simrad autopilot
Simrad plotter
Simrad AIS 300
Handheld Simrad VHF
Delta anchor
Rocna anchor
50 m at 10 mm chain
Quick Electric windlass
Fortress anchor
Hand spotlight
Deck shower
Fire extinguisher
Fire blanket
Electric and manual bilge pumps
Basic safety equipment
Guardwire, pulpit, pushpit
Teak cockpit table with cover
Sprayhood (folding)
Bimini (folding)
Simrad Fusion radio CD
Boarding ladder
Teak Passarella
Zodiac dinghy, 2008
Honda 2.3 4T outboard engine, 2011
Various warps
6 fenders
Cutlery, crockery, utensils
Zodiac liferaft
Jonbouy personal liferaft
Weems and Plath clock and barometer
Slatted bases on all beds
Owners comments : Yacht was delivered from Spain to Turkey by a professional crew in June 2012 and since then has been sailed around the Turkish coast, usually in the area Didim to the Kekova Straits.
Broker comments : a well-equipped and professionally maintained yacht. It is in excellent condition and lightly used – only 3-6 weeks use annually. This is a real gem for family cruising in warm climates.
In this case we are acting as brokers only. The Vendor is not selling in the course of a business. Whilst every care has been taken in their preparation, the correctness of these particulars is not guaranteed. The particulars are intended only as a guide and they do not constitute a term of any contract. A prospective buyer is strongly advised to check the particulars and where appropriate at his own expense to employ a qualified Marine Surveyor to carry out a survey and / or to have an engine trial conducted, which if carried out by us shall not imply any liability for such engine on our part.
Note to seller and purchaser: If the boat you are selling or purchasing is registered, please ensure that the registration is completed after the sale of the boat. If the purchaser wishes to cancel the registration is the duty of the seller to contact the Registry and inform them that the registration is to be cancelled. If the purchaser wishes to continue with the registration, it is the duty of the purchaser to complete the relevant forms and post off the bill of sale to the Registrar.
Port Gocek Marina
48310 Gocek

subset: commoncrawl


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Mexican style pan roasted potatoes
Lynn Socko
Amazing is all I can say.
Prep time does not include making pico de gallo.
Prep time does not include making pico de gallo.
4 cpeeled and cubed potatoes
1-2 tsppinto bean seasoning
2-3 Tbspolive oil or canola oil
1 cpico de gallo
How to Make Mexican style pan roasted potatoes
- Place 2-3 tbsp. oil in skillet on med heat. Add potatoes and pinto bean seasoning and salt if desired, cover and cook about 10 min. Stir and add pico de gallo. Cover again and cook about 15 min more. Remove lid and increase heat and cook for about another 10 min stirring often till browned. **Cook until potatoes are fork tender.
- NOTE: Cooking time may vary depending on the type of potato you use.
About Mexican style pan roasted potatoes
Course/Dish: Potatoes
Main Ingredient: Potatoes
Regional Style: Mexican
Dietary Needs: Vegetarian, Low Sodium
Other Tags: Quick & Easy, Healthy


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As I began to think about my Thanksgiving Prayer for 2017 (now a 16-year tradition), I thought about the world and ALL that is going on. I want to pray for peace, but I stop and think . . . how do we truly start peace? Because to pray for world peace we must first have it within us. So, I felt compelled to talk about the rushing of this world, when we rush and when we go, go, go and it is hard at times to find peace. You have the Political rush, the Hollywood rush, the violent and crime rush, the rushing your children to do it all, the do-good rush, and the rush to post first on social media, the list goes on. Even a young eleven-year-old heart reminded me that we rush Thanksgiving to get to Christmas, she said, "When people put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving they're missing the true meaning of Thanksgiving," we rush it all.
To gain peace, we must start in our hearts and our homes, let it spread from there. How often do we sit in silence? How often do we quiet our minds? How often do we find the peace we need to be present in every aspect of our lives? Don't rush, be still. Who can be still with all the technology and the noise in this world? My thanksgiving prayer is about the rush of this world and praying for us all to find peace with in our hearts and home. Take a moment before you have your Thanksgiving dinner and sit in silence to feel Gods love and presence and then say a prayer.
May you have a blessed Thanksgiving. Giving God all the Glory!
Dear Heavenly Father,
Creator of goodness and love, please look into our hearts and see the gratitude we have for all we have and do not have. Thank you for all the graces and blessings. We are so grateful for our faith. We give thanks for all our loved ones here with us on this day and the ones who are with You in your Kingdom. We pray for all Your angels to protect each of us and our families and friends that are gathered together and those who could not be here with us. We ask You to grace them with Your presence that they may feel Your love always. We pray for all the men and women and their families who cannot be together because they are serving You and our country. We pray for the sick and we are ever so grateful for our health. We are so thankful for the love we have for our family and friends.
How full is this world of Your unending creativity? We are so grateful for the same creativity that keeps us very busy and so rushed in this world. The astounding variety that keeps it all so interesting and very complex, but we are ever so appreciative for the newness in each day. With new life, change and growth for us all. The provision You have provided for us is overflowing and we give You thanks. Lord, help us to celebrate all of this in a new way, a way that we can be still, invite the Holy Spirit in and ask peace to settle into each one of us. A way that we can have creativity, change and growth, and be in harmony and peace with one another throughout the world.
Dear Father, in Your infinite generosity, please grant us continued, graces and blessing throughout the coming year. God help us to put You in the center of our lives so our hearts lead with Your pure peace. Please teach us that being still and sitting in silence with You will bring harmony in our lives and this peace will ripple throughout the world. We celebrate Your great goodness with thankful hearts and joyful lives.
In the name of Your son, Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.


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|Posted by Eurovision On Top on December 5, 2017 at 10:00 AM
The inspiration for the stage of Eurovision 2018 was presented today allong with it four points of inspiration
Florian Wieder explained that the stage for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest has been inspired by four key points linked to Portugal's culture and history: Navigation, The Sea, The Ships, The Maps.
Navigation: The flag of Portugal features an armillary sphere. The armillary sphere is also featured in Portuguese heraldry, associated with the Portuguese discoveries during the Age of Exploration. For this reason the armillary sphere becomes the visual key element in the design concept.
The Sea: The sea gives us a sense of freedom and clarity making it one of the most peaceful places on earth. The design of the stage shows a modern interpretation of a sweeping wave and its organic shape.
The Ships: The Portuguese have been masters in crafting ships since the ancient times. They were able to explore the world because of this outstanding skill. The structure of the stage is inspired by these pieces of boatbuilding art.
The Maps: A map is a diagrammatic representation of land and sea. The radial lines of a map spread out in different directions to connect all of these places. Lisbon becomes the centre where all of the lines come together.
Categories: Portugal, Eurovision 2018
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The words you entered did not match the given text. Please try again.


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Get a solid overview of mobile web (responsive) and mobile apps.
- Take a look in your pocket, in your hand,…on your desk, beside your bed,…or just about anywhere…within about an arm's length of your body.…Odds are pretty good that you've got one…or more connected mobile devices in that space.…The world has gone mobile,…and the connectivity and computing power…that we have at our fingertips, anywhere, anytime,…has really transformed the way…that we behave as consumers.…For a marketer, that means lots of new opportunities.…Now, we've already talked about websites…and just how important it is that websites you're building…are accessible, viewable,…and optimized for all the different devices…and screen sizes they might be viewed on.…
To handle this, you have a few options.…First, you might choose to create, manage,…and maintain a totally separate website…aimed at catering to mobile devices.…Now, you might've come across these kinds of sites…in your own browsing,…and you might notice that the domain you see on your phone…might be something like M dot whatever the domain is…instead of the www that you usually see,…
NOTE: While specific software and platforms aren't endorsed, you will see how tools like a customer relationship management system and web analytics work in a successful marketing mix.
- What is digital marketing?
- Understanding the marketing data being generated
- Reaching customers via digital channels like social, search, and display
- Working with digital experiences
- Selling online with ecommerce
- Going mobile
- Measuring and optimizing with testing and analytics
- Running and operating a business with technology
- Storing and extracting data
- Learning and predicting with data exploration and modeling


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Welcome to my website! I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
I study legislative politics and policymaking in Latin America. My dissertation explores the drivers of policy activity in legislatures where reelection is neither possible nor desired. I focus on Latin America, particularly Brazil and Mexico.
I hold a master's in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At UNC-Chapel Hill, I was also a Rotary Peace Fellow at the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.


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Call our team immediately. We will aggressively defend your rights and your future.
Unlike other attorneys, we aren't all bark and no bite; we aren't afraid to go to trial for you.
We want to address all of your questions abd ensure you know what you are up against.
We have handled close to 10,000 DUI cases and have an extremely high success rate.
If you do contact the DMV within 10 days of the DUI arrest, then you preserve
your right to the APS administrative per se hearing. In that case, your
California drivers license remains valid until the outcome of the hearing
is determined. The drivers license only goes into suspension if you ultimately
lose your hearing. Even though the pink temporary license says "30
days," the temporary license will extend until the administrative
per se hearing takes place and a decision is reached --even if this process
takes several months. If you hire an Orange County DUI defense attorney,
he should represents you at both the DUI court proceedings and the administrative
per se hearing. If you hire the California DUI attorney within 10 days
of being arrested, the DUI attorney should take responsibility for contacting
the DMV and arranging the APS hearing on your behalf. If you have not
hired an attorney within 10 days of the arrest, then
you must contact the DMV to request the administrative per se hearing. You
can call the DMV, or fax in the request, or mail a certified letter. Whichever
method you select, there are several key things to mention in the request:
You are required by law to submit to a chemical test to determine the alcohol
and/or drug content of your blood. If you did not agree to take a
blood test or
breath test after being requested to do so by a peace officer, you may have to take
urine test if:
A hearing officer will conduct the hearing just like a prosecutor would
in a criminal case, but the officer also makes the final decision based
on the evidence presented. It will not matter that you need to drive for
work or because of a medical or educational need (unless you are under
age 21). You may represent yourself or hire an attorney to represent you,
just as in a criminal case. The only issues that will be discussed, by
law, at the hearing are:
If you refused or failed to complete a blood, breath or urine test the
issues are:
You or your attorney must request documents or police reports in the DMV's
possession in writing before the hearing in order to see the DMV's
evidence. You or your Fullerton DUI lawyer may present oral testimony
and other evidence, or file the information in written form. Although
the arresting officer does not have to testify, the DMV may call the officer
if it is later determined that his or her testimony is needed. You or
your attorney may subpoena the officer or any other witness you feel may
help your case. If you decide to represent yourself, you are responsible
for payment of any required fees and for making sure your witness receives
the subpoena. If, after hearing the argument of an attorney regarding
your license, the review shows there is no basis for the suspension or
revocation, the action will be set aside. You will be notified by the
DMV in writing only if the suspension or revocation is set aside following
the administrative review. If you lose at the hearing, you may request
a departmental review in writing within 15 days for an additional fee
($150). Or, you may request a court review by filing a writ with the Superior
Court within the number of days shown on the bottom of the notice that
was mailed to you telling you the results of your hearing.
It is possible to win a
DMV hearing. In many cases, there are legal questions concerning the procedure of
the arrest that can be challenged, to which the DMV must prove was carried
out legally in order to suspend a driver's license. In addition,
DMV statistics for 2001 show that 17% of ALL persons who were suspended for
DUI kept their driver's license simply by requesting a hearing to fight
the suspension. In a license suspension hearing, the DMV has to show that
the suspension of your license is justified. Contrary to what the DMV
may tell you, it is not your burden to show that the suspension was unjustified
-- the DMV has the burden of proof to justify the suspension. The DMV
may do this by showing that any person arrested for driving under the


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Tag: "life"
Surgery For Living in Dogs
posted on Apr 22, 2010 | by admin in In real life, Pets
It is a common practice in some of the dog breeds to perform surgery to allow the dogs to live or to breed.? In particular, the English Bulldog, Pugs, Pekinese and the Neapolitan Mastiff normally require surgery to ensure life and comfort.? From fixing… more »


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- Concepts: of Cooperation: Learning how to share, cooperate, take turns and persevere wi Read more »
March, 2018 I have been in the early education and care field for over 35 years and I have seen a lot of new innovations and the revitalization of old techniques that are once again new. I recently read an article by Vicki Palmer who also has over 35 years of experience working as a preschool teacher. She has identified essential benefits of early childhood education that I agree with whole heartedly. Some of those benefits include:


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Spring Cleaning: A More Natural Approach
Ah, the smell of a clean house. Smells like…nothing? In my house, that's pretty much the case except maybe a hint of lemon or vinegar. I make most of my own cleaners and the few I don't make don't really have much of an odor. With an overly sensitive sense of smell (me) and allergies to just about everything (the kids and hubs), I like to keep the stink down, even if its a "good" stink.
So what do I use to clean up around here? My homemade cleaning arsenal consists of microfiber cloths, vinegar, baking soda, borax, washing soda, lemons, soap, and hydrogen peroxide (and I'm not going to lie – I still use some things that aren't the best eco option, but I'm getting there).
Here's what I use around my house:
Microfiber cloths: I use these for all kinds of things – wiping down the counters, dry dusting, soaking up spills, and as reusable floor sweeper pads. You can save some money by finding them in the automotive care aisle in bulk.
Vinegar: This is a very versatile cleaning tool. It's a natural deodorizer and don't worry, the smell disappears when it dries!
Undiluted, I use it to clear out hard water that clogs my shower heads and faucets. I just take a baggie, pour in some vinegar, put it over the faucet or shower head and hold it on with a rubber band. I let it sit overnight and then in the morning take off the baggie and run some hot water through. It works well in my dishwasher as a rinse aid and I also use it in my laundry as a natural fabric softener. I pour it into the little softener dispenser in my machine, but you can also just use a cup in the rinse cycle as well.
Mixed with water, its a great all-purpose spray for just about everything in the kitchen and bathroom. I use a 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water mix in a spray bottle to clean my counters, stove, cabinets, sink, fridge, and floors. In the bathroom I use it as a daily spray to keep the hard water and soap scum to a minimum. I also use it on the mirrors and windows.
Baking soda: This is another multi-tasker in the cleaning arsenal. I'm sure most people know its a great deodorizer for the fridge and freezer, but its also great for gentle scouring, clearing drains, and cleaning the toilet. Clean your oven by making a paste of baking soda and water to use instead of the harsh, smelly oven cleaners. If the oven's really dirty, leave the paste on overnight and wipe it off in the morning with a sponge.
Remember science class? Ever make an erupting volcano? If not, here's your chance – pour some baking soda into the toilet, scrub around the bowl with your toilet brush and then pour in some vinegar and watch the fizz! Let it sit for about 5 minutes, do a final swish with the brush, and flush. You can use the same process to clear your drains as well – pour in baking soda, let it sit, follow with a few cups of hot water, then vinegar, and a few more cups of hot water. I will admit it's not as quick and easy as the chemical-laden stuff – sometimes it takes repeating the process a few times.
Borax and washing soda: I make my own laundry detergent. It's a whole lot easier than you'd think – really. I use Borax and washing soda (not baking soda), which can both be found in the laundry section of your store, in equal amounts combined with a bar of Fels Naptha or Ivory Soap. I haven't really seen a difference in the cleaning power between the different soap brands, it was just what I had available at the time. I've also haven't noticed any big differences in the cleanliness of my laundry after switching from the conventional brands. If the laundry needs an extra boost of deodorizing, I also sprinkle in some baking soda.
I've also tried using borax and washing soda in to make dishwasher detergent, but I wasn't thrilled with the results. I may have my ratios off – I did 50/50, but my dishes felt gritty and looked hazy. I still haven't found an alternative detergent for the dishwasher that cleans my dishes well enough, so I'm using a conventional product at the moment.
Lemons: These little citrus fruits not only make tasty beverages, they also make great cleaning tools! I use a salted lemon to clean the copper items I have in my home. I also use it in my shower to clean the spots that build up on the faucet and knobs. Although I've never tried it personally, I know people who have had luck getting stains out of their whites by soaking the stain in lemon juice and putting it out in the sun to dry.
This last one might be a "duh" one, but its something that people often overlook just because there are so many cleaning options out there – how about soap? Just make sure to check the kind that you use to make sure it doesn't contain any harsh chemicals.
So, now that you know what I use – what do you use? Have any tips or tricks to share? Please leave a comment below!


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The semester will start in the middle of November and the induction on the coming Saturday. The timing is perfect as I've just returned from my one-week trip in Australia.
I'm glad that my Italian self-study has stabilised and I will continue to reinforce my mastery of the language through reading of books and magazines related to my MBA studies IN Italian.
What this potentially means, too, is that I will not be studying Spanish as intensely as I first planned to, but I will still do my best. In writing my Personal Statement for the application to the MBA program a few weeks ago, I realised more than ever the need for prioritisation toward achieving my long-term career goals. These goals will be key for my achieving of my personal goals to ultimately realise my dream to live in Italy. Therefore, the start time now is perfect, apart from the fact that I fit in nicely with the demographics of an MBA student (being in my late thirties, a successful manager, etc.).
I'm looking forward to sharing my learning experience with all of you!
P/S: For more updates, LIKE me on my Facebook pages at Alice Teh and The Weekend Traveler, OR FOLLOW me on Twitter and Instagram. See you there!


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« Back to News
With the cooler weather just around the corner now is the perfect
time to start thinking about enjoying the best of the outdoor
activities that Dubai has to offer. Dubai Creek Golf &
Yacht Club and Emirates Golf Club provide the perfect locations for
children to learn the game of golf with world class tuition at the
award winning golf academies.
Whether your child is an experienced golfer or is brand new to
the game and looking to learn a new skill, Dubai Golf's fully
qualified team of experienced Golf Professionals are on hand to
assist young golfers of all levels of ability.
George Kasparis, Senior Golf Professional at Dubai Creek Golf
& Yacht Club said, "The Junior Programme at Dubai Golf
introduces children as young as four years old to the game and
allows them to progress through different levels of tuition from
technique and the basic rules to ensure that sound fundamentals are
installed from the beginning. Our ultimate goal is to provide
your child with the facilities, skill sets and knowledge required
to reach their full potential."
Stephen Deane, Head Golf Professional at Emirates Golf Club added,
"Learning as part of a group is a great way for children to learn
the game whilst making some new friends along the way. The Junior
Programme for the new season is now even more exciting with a brand
new series of golf tournaments across both our clubs that have been
added to ensure participants are able to get even more out of the
Registration for the new season is now open with lesson packages
commencing at the end of September.
Junior group lessons are available after school and at weekends for
AED 850 for eight weeks. During the 2011/2012 season over 400
children participated in the popular lesson programmes at Emirates
Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, secure your
child's space for the new season by registering now!
Lesson packages are subject to availability and must be booked in
advance, to register your place please contact:
Dubai Creek Golf Academy, call +971 4 295 6000 or email email@example.com
The Academy at Emirates Golf Club, call +971 4 380 2222 or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Dubai Golf is a division of wasl Asset Management Group
Tel: +971 (0)4 3801234Call Toll Free: 800 TEETIME (800 8338463)
Email: email@example.com


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Lil' Lilith and I were both pretty excited when we Phoebe Tonkin in commercials for a new show on the CW, The Secret Circle. (No, Lil' Lilith hasn't watched the show. I have only seen part of one episode.) Tonkin stars as "teen witch" Faye Chamberlain.
While watching The Vampire Diaries, I recently discovered yet another H20 alum - Claire Holt - as Rebekah, one of the "Original" vampires.
Apparently these two just can't play regular human beings anymore. Mermaids... witches... vampires. We thought it was pretty funny.
Then we thought about what other actors and actresses have been "typecast" into a supernatural pigeonhole as well. (We already examined the "six degrees of vampire separation last year, but we know there are more by now - especially if we open up to other "species" other than just vampires and werewolves.)
So here are a few more actors who have been "typecast" into non-human/extra "special" human roles...
On The Secret Circle, opposite Tonkin, is Jessica Parker Kennedy who before playing a witch appeared as a "Dryad" (basically a tree monster) on Nickelodeon's The Troop and as an elf in the Santa Baby films.
Also on the show is Nathasha Henstridge, who portrays Principal Dawn Chamberlain and whose first role was that of Sil, the human-alien hybrid on Species.
By now, we're all familiar with Janina Gavankar, who played Luna - Sam's shapeshifter girlfriend - on True Blood. But did anyone else recognizer her as Leigh Turner from The Gates? Yep, she was the police officer who keeps her heart in a box (literally).
Just last night I spotted Travis Caldwell from The Gates on one of Lil' Lilith's Disney shows - Wizards of Waverly Place - as a ghost. So he went from playing a guy who came back from the dead to... a dead guy.
Skyler Samuels, who played a "succubus" on The Gates recently starred in The Nine Lives of Chloe King (ABC Family) as a girl with cat-like powers. Her character was said to be a descendent of an ancient Egyptian race of Baset offspring called "Mai".
Colton Haynes, who starred with Samuels on The Gates (as a jerky jock and werewolf) was later cast as a series regular on the MTV show Teen Wolf as yet another jerky jock who wants to be a werewolf. (It's not clear yet whether or not he will be turned.) He also appeared in one episode of Chloe King as a "Jackal" (a race descended from the Egyptian jackal-god Anubis).
We're not necessarily saying that these actors have been "typecast"... these casting choices are probably more likely due to the fact that everything is about supernatural beings nowadays. But we do think it's a pretty funny coincidence.


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For discussion
on on 14 January 1998
Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the creation of the following permanent post in the Departmental Administration Unit of the Offices of the Chief Secretary for Administration and the Financial Secretary -
1 Principal Executive Officer
offset by the deletion of the following permanent post -
1 Chief Executive Officer
(MPS Point 45 - 49) ($72,135 - $83,105)
The present ranking of the Chief Executive Officer (Administration) post in the Offices of the Chief Secretary for Administration (CS) and the Financial Secretary (FS), also titled as Head, Departmental Administration Unit (DAU), is not commensurate with the responsibilities and experience required of the post.
2. We propose to upgrade the post of Head, DAU from its present rank of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (MPS Point 45 - 49) to Principal Executive Officer (PEO) (D1).
3. In April 1995, we downgraded the Head, DAU post from the rank of PEO to CEO following a devolution exercise in which we transferred the responsibility for resource management in various branches from the Director of Administration to each policy secretary. Over the last two years, particularly in recent months with the establishment of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July, the duties and responsibilities of the Head, DAU have increased substantially. We envisage that this trend will continue and there is a need to enhance administrative and resource management support of the DAU. We set out below an account of the increase in work and work complexity of the DAU.
Resource Management
4. The Head, DAU assists the Director of Administration to manage the financial and human resources requirements of the Offices of the CS and FS, and their component offices, including the Efficiency Unit, the Central Policy Unit, the Executive Council Secretariat, the Protocol Division and the Government Records Service Division. Introduction of various new government initiatives and services, such as the Business and Services Promotion Unit, the Legal Aid Services Council and the Steering Committee on Land Supply and Housing, has necessitated the establishment of new offices under the Offices of the CS and the FS. Moreover, after the reunification, the scope of work of the Protocol Division has expanded considerably. All these have increased significantly the work on resources management of the DAU.
5. The Director of Administration is also responsible for co-ordinating the provision of resources for major, and very often high profile, events which either cut across different programme areas or fall within the auspices of the CS or the FS. Examples include the setting up of the Handover Ceremony Co-ordination Office, the Commission of Inquiry into the Garley Building Fire and the annual Policy Address Team. We envisage that the need for the Director of Administration to carry out such ad hoc tasks will emerge from time to time. The head of the DAU has to provide prompt advice to the Director of Administration and to acquire the necessary resources within a very tight time-table. He has to carry out co-ordination, consultation and documentation work in conjunction with directorate officers of the Finance Bureau, the Civil Service Bureau and other relevant policy bureaux. The huge volume of high level and sensitive work require the personal attention of the Head, DAU in ensuring the provision of necessary resources in a timely manner.
6. The increase in volume and complexity of work in resource management in the Offices of the CS and the FS demands an officer of a higher rank to cope with.
Inter-departmental Coordination
7. In the context of the Chief Executive (CE)'s Policy Address and Policy Programmes, the Director of Administration needs to monitor actions taken by bureaux and departments and to advise the CS and the FS of any possible slippage in their work areas. The Head, DAU is responsible for co-ordinating feedback from bureaux and departments, identifying areas where intervention is necessary and recommending actions to either reduce slippage or better facilitate the achievement of targets. As these tasks involve liaison with senior officers and co-ordination of actions amongst bureaux and departments, we will require an officer at directorate level who has the required depth of knowledge of government mechanism to deal with them.
Office Accommodation
8. The DAU oversees the management of Central Government Offices (CGO) premises and the provision of common services for policy bureaux housed therein. With the relocation of the CE's Office to the CGO, the management of the premises and the provision of common services have increased both in volume and complexity. The Head, DAU needs to formulate and implement security strategies in anticipation of more frequent public rallies and visits from important guests to the Government Secretariat at CGO. He therefore has an important responsibility in ensuring the smooth conduct of government business within offices located in CGO.
9. To enhance the operational efficiency of the central government and to cater for expansion of the bureaux and restructuring of the responsibilities of policy secretaries in the Government Secretariat, we need to ensure maximum utilisation of the space available in CGO. Also, the DAU will take over the management of the Murray Building in mid-1998 which will then become an extension of CGO to make available more office space for bureaux. The Head, DAU has to draw up, in consultation with the affected bureaux and works departments, a well-conceived strategy for enhancing building management, the rationalisation of office space and a timely reshuffling and orderly decantation programme. In the long run, the DAU will plan for the relocation of CGO for which a feasibility study is underway. The increase in the scope and level of responsibilities in office accommodation matters justifies the attention of a senior officer at the directorate level.
Government Communication Network in Government Secretariat
10. To facilitate information transmission and decision making, we have linked all the Local Area Networks (LAN) of the policy bureaux in CGO to the Government Communication Network (GCN). While individual policy bureaux in CGO are responsible for the administration of their own LANs, the DAU is responsible for administering the development and upgrading of the GCN in the Government Secretariat. It is critical that all modifications are properly co-ordinated to ensure compatibility. The DAU is also required to address issues of common concern and to promote the efficiency of the GCN. He is also required to work out with policy bureaux a long-term strategy for the regular improvement and updating of the functions and operation of the GCN. As a first step, we intend to set up a team comprising information technology staff under the DAU in 1998-99 to provide advisory services on the wider use of information technology to meet the requirements common to all policy bureaux in CGO on a co-ordinated and cost-effective basis.
Need for a PEO as Head, DAU
11. In the light of the increased responsibilities and complexity of work of the Head, DAU, we consider it necessary to upgrade the post from the rank of CEO to PEO. We set out at Enclosures 1 and 2 the proposed duties of the Head, DAU post and organisation of the Administration Wing of the CS's Office respectively.
12. To meet the immediate operational needs of the DAU to co-ordinate work for the establishment of the permanent CE's Office, renovation of the CE's Official Residence, office reshuffling in CGO and related security improvement measures, we created a supernumerary PEO post under delegated authority on 1 November 1997 to serve as Head, DAU while holding the existing CEO post vacant. The supernumerary post will lapse upon creation of the permanent post.
13. The additional notional annual salary cost of the proposal at MID-POINT is -
No. of post
New permanent post
Permanent post deleted
Additional cost
The additional full annual average staff cost of the proposal, including salaries and staff on-costs, is $434,760. The proposal will not necessitate the creation of non-directorate posts. No provision has been included in the 1997-98 Estimates to meet the cost of this proposal, which is estimated at $35,830 for the remainder of the financial year. Subject to Members' approval, we shall provide the supplementary provision required under delegated authority. We will include the necessary provision in the 1998-99 draft Estimates to meet the cost of this proposal.
14. The DAU is responsible for managing the financial and manpower resources of the Offices of the CS and the FS, and oversees the management of CGO premises and the provision of common services for policy bureaux. At present, the DAU comprises one CEO as Head of the Unit and 165 supporting staff.
15. Civil Service Bureau supports the upgrading of the CEO (Administration) post to PEO level having regard to its increased responsibilities and complexity of work. It also agrees that the grading and ranking of the proposed post are appropriate.
16. The Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service has advised that the grading proposed for the post would be appropriate if the post were to be created.
Offices of the Chief Secretary for Administration and the Financial Secretary
December 1997
Enclosure 1 to EC(97-98)50


text:
They are designed to invite unencumbered conversations of character and local community, identification, and aspiration.
To this conclude, we will be building new academic resources to support students each recognize and strategy the options the essay offers for them. 2017-2018 Popular Application Essay Prompts 1. Some pupils have a qualifications, identification, desire, or talent that is so significant they believe that their application would be incomplete devoid of it.
If this seems like you, then make sure you share your tale. [No change] 2. The classes we take from road blocks we face can be essential to later results. Recount a time when you faced a problem, setback, or failure.
How did it impact you, and what did you master from the encounter? [Revised] 3. Replicate on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or plan. What prompted your imagining .
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Why does it captivate you? What or who do you switch to when you want to understand much more? [New] 7. Share an essay on any subject matter of your decision. It can be a person you've by now penned, a person that responds to a different prompt, or 1 of your have layout. [New]The Personal-Essay Increase Is Around There's a specified type of private essay that, for a lengthy time, everyone seemed to loathe. These essays have been mostly penned by females. They came off as unseemly, the writer's judgment as flawed. They had been much to.
own: the matters appeared insignificant, or else way too important to be aired for an audience of strangers. The essays that drew the most consideration tended to tumble inside of specified groups. There had been the a single-off human body-horror pieces, these kinds of as " My Gynecologist Identified a Ball of Cat Hair in My Vagina ," revealed by xoJane, or a notorious lost-tampon chronicle revealed by Jezebel.
There were essays that incited outrage for the existence models they described, like the a single about pretending to dwell in the Victorian era. or Cat Maell's oeuvre. There have been those people that incited outrage by offering voice to awful, uncharitable feelings, like " My Previous Friend's Death Was a Blessing " (xoJane once again) and " I'm Not Going to Pretend I'm Bad to Be Approved by You " (Thought Catalog). Eventually, there were being those people essays that directed outrage at culture by describing incidents of sexism, abuse, or rape. These essays began to proliferate numerous a long time in the past-precisely when is really hard to say, but we can, I think, date the commencing of the boom to 2008, the year that Emily Gould wrote a first-man or woman address story, named " Exposed ," for the Situations Joual . which was about, as the tagline place it, what she obtained and dropped from composing about her personal existence on the Net.
Blowback followed, and so did an infinite source of imitations.


text:
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My one-time boss and long-time idol Jean Nouvel is relaunching the French magazine "l'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui" (Today's Architecture). I was amazed by how little information can be found on the web, in either English or French, given the significance of the magazine – it doesn't even have a wikipedia page. Founded in 1930 by Andre Bloc it ran until 2007, when it hit financial difficulties. It was a magazine instrumental in the dissemination of Modernism, particularly as a mouthpiece for Corbu and his cronies in the post-war rush to build the least functional suburbs in the world. Nouvel cites it as one of the ways he first heard about Claude Parent, his mentor [Parent worked extensively with Paul Virilio, and his fascination with bunker architecture can be seen in projects like the Eglise Saint Bernadette. I am still trying to find a copy of their 'Architecture of the Oblique', which has been out of print for some time.] Other participants in the relaunch include Shigeru Ban, Gehry, Winy Maas and Philippe Starck. Definitely worth keeping an eye out.
A video for Francophones.
It is really interesting. Could you please tell me your sources?
J'aimerai contacter justement ce journal s'il etait amener a ressurgir.
C'est trop bizarre, leur blog n'existe plus.
Quand meme, j'imagine que vous pourrait les contacter par leur site:
et voici leur groupe facebook.
J'espere que ca vous aide.
bon, ben, voila:


text:
Point of View: Tuberculosis innovations mean little if they cannot save lives
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The past decade has seen the emergence of new diagnostics and drugs for tuberculosis, a disease that kills over 1.8 million people each year. However, these new tools are yet to reach scale, and access remains a major challenge for patients in low and middle income countries. Urgent action is needed if we are committed to ending the TB epidemic. This means raising the level of ambition, embracing innovation, increasing financial investments, addressing implementation gaps, and ensuring that new technologies reach those who need them to survive. Otherwise, the promise of innovative technologies will never be realized.https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25956.001
Main text
As the old saying goes, never bring a knife to a gunfight. And yet, the global tuberculosis (TB) community has been doing exactly that for decades – fighting a protracted battle with antiquated, inefficient tools (Pai et al., 2016), and losing millions of patients in the process.
The most commonly used TB test, sputum smear microscopy, dates back to 1882, the time Robert Koch first demonstrated the bacilli under a microscope. The Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine, first used in humans in 1921, is still used globally, even though it has been largely ineffective in controlling the TB epidemic. On the treatment front, the TB community had to wait for nearly 50 years for new TB drugs to reach the market.
Lack of good tools has cost us dearly. Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the TB epidemic was worse than previously thought, with an estimated 10.4 million new TB cases in 2015 (World Health Organization, 2016a). WHO also estimated that 1.8 million people died from TB in 2015, making TB a bigger killer than HIV and malaria combined.
Thanks to concerted efforts by donors, industry, product development partnerships, and other stakeholders, the past decade has seen the emergence of new diagnostics and drugs for TB. However, these new tools are yet to reach scale, and access remains a major challenge for patients in low and middle income countries (Pai and Schito, 2015; Furin et al., 2016).
Access to new diagnostics
Several new TB diagnostics have emerged on the market and many have also been policy-endorsed by WHO and other agencies (Pai and Schito, 2015). These new diagnostics include Xpert® MTB/RIF (Cepheid Inc, Sunnyvale, California) (World Health Organization, 2013a), line probe assays (World Health Organization, 2016b), urine lipoarabinomannan antigen detection test (World Health Organization, 2015a), liquid cultures (World Health Organization, 2007), and interferon-gamma release assays (World Health Organization, 2014a).
Although it is widely acknowledged that rapid, accurate diagnosis is critical for timely initiation of anti-TB treatment, many people with TB (or symptoms of TB) struggle to access an adequate initial diagnosis. This is underscored by the fact that an estimated 41% of the 10.4 million new cases globally are either undiagnosed or not reported (World Health Organization, 2016a). These "missing" 4.3 million people with TB contribute to ongoing TB transmission, including the transmission of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).
Even if diagnosed with TB, access to universal drug-susceptibility testing is far from reality for most patients in high burden settings. Nearly 75% of the 480,000 cases of MDR-TB are either not detected or not reported (World Health Organization, 2016a). Even among previously treated patients at risk of drug-resistance and mortality, nearly 40% are not tested for drug resistance.
Cumulatively, since the launch of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay in 2010, over 6,500 GeneXpert machines and 23 million Xpert MTB/RIF cartridges had been procured in the public sector in 130 of the 145 countries eligible for concessional pricing, as of 31 December 2016 (World Health Organization, 2017a; Figure 1). While this trend is promising, the volume of Xpert MTB/RIF testing remains a small proportion of all TB tests conducted in high burden countries. It is estimated that over 77 million sputum smears are performed annually in 22 of the highest TB burden countries, including follow-up tests (Kik et al., 2014). With the notable exception of South Africa, which has rolled-out Xpert MTB/RIF on a national scale and accounts for almost 50% of global Xpert MTB/RIF volumes, other countries are still reliant on insensitive smears (FIND et al., 2015). This is reflected in the ratio of smear volumes to the number of Xpert MTB/RIF cartridges procured. In 2014, the ratio in South Africa was 1.6 – significantly lower than most other high burden countries, where approximately 40–70 smears were performed for each Xpert MTB/RIF test (Qin et al., 2015). Although the ratio has become more favorable to Xpert MTB/RIF in 2015, smears still dominate the TB testing landscape in high burden countries (Danielle Cazabon, personal communication).
From a policy perspective, only eight countries have made Xpert MTB/RIF the initial diagnostic test for all people suspected of having TB, despite the high accuracy of the test and its ability to rapidly detect drug resistance (Albert et al., 2016). Even when the technology is available, access is limited to patients. A recent large, international study of Xpert MTB/RIF access and utilization in 18 countries found that the majority of sites had access to Xpert MTB/RIF, but only 4% of TB/HIV co-infected patients were actually tested using Xpert MTB/RIF (Clouse et al., 2017). Lack of diagnostics with high sensitivity, and inadequate access to drug-susceptibility testing forces patients to make multiple visits and spend a lot of money, and increases morbidity (Chavan, 2017).
Children are an especially vulnerable population when it comes to TB and MDR-TB. Although tools like Xpert have been endorsed for use in children (World Health Organization, 2013a), and Xpert has been shown to greatly improve the detection of MDR-TB in children (Raizada et al., 2014), access remains a concern in this subgroup.
Why are new TB diagnostics not reaching the patients who need it the most? As reviewed by Albert and colleagues (Albert et al., 2016), the roll-out of Xpert MTB/RIF has highlighted major implementation gaps that have constrained scale-up of this technology and limited its impact on patient outcomes. The roll-out has been hampered by high costs for cash-starved national TB control programs in high-burden countries. It is not just the cost of testing, but also the cost of treating MDR-TB, since Xpert MTB/RIF invariably identifies more patients with drug-resistance than conventional testing.
Another barrier for scale-up of Xpert MTB/RIF has been a lack of a complete diagnostic package for TB that includes comprehensive training, quality assurance, implementation plans, and maintenance support (Albert et al., 2016). Also, pragmatic trials have shown that the clinical impact of Xpert has been blunted by weak health systems, resulting in prolonged time to diagnosis and treatment, compounded by empirical therapy by healthcare providers (Theron et al., 2014; Durovni et al., 2014; Churchyard et al., 2015).
In India, for example, an average TB patient is diagnosed after a delay of nearly two months and after seeing three providers (Sreeramareddy et al., 2014), and diagnosis is a major gap in the cascade of care in the public sector (Subbaraman et al., 2016) and the private sector (Das et al., 2015). In South Africa, even though Xpert MTB/RIF and line probe assays are freely available in centralized laboratories, studies show long delays between sample collection and initiation of TB treatment (Hanrahan et al., 2012; Naidoo et al., 2014), and missed opportunities to deploy tests that are available (Chihota et al., 2015).
In many countries the private sector plays a dominant role in care provision, yet this sector has been excluded from concessional Xpert MTB/RIF pricing, resulting in high costs for patients who pay an average price of nearly USD 70 for the test (Puri et al., 2016). In addition, quality of TB care, especially diagnosis, is a concern in the private sector (Das et al., 2015). Addressing this requires a comprehensive private sector engagement strategy that includes patient-centric quality care as a centerpiece (Cazabon et al., 2017).
In many countries, TB control receives limited domestic funding, and many low-income countries are heavily reliant on external donor funding (Floyd et al., 2013). India is a case in point. Despite having the largest number of TB patients in the world, the country's governmental expenditure on health is one of the lowest in the world at 1.4% of GDP (The Lancet, 2017). This under-investment is reflected in India's Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP), which has struggled to receive budgets necessary to tackle the world's biggest TB epidemic (Pai et al., 2017). This, in turn, has made India rely heavily on old tools such as smear microscopy. Although over 600 GeneXpert systems are now available in the Indian public sector, and have been shown to dramatically increase the MDR-TB case detection rates (Sachdeva et al., 2015), the country has restricted the use of this technology primarily to individuals at risk of MDR-TB, persons with TB/HIV co-infection, and children. This might improve with India's new, ambitious plan to eliminate TB by 2025, although it is unclear whether India's TB control budget will match the ambition (Pai et al., 2017).
Access to new drugs
Even if access to new diagnostics was to be dramatically improved, patients still need adequate access to drugs. The past five years have been a period of great potential with the introduction of two new therapeutic agents for the treatment of MDR-TB: delamanid (Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, Tokyo, Japan) and bedaquiline (Janssen Therapeutics, NJ, USA) (Gler et al., 2012; Diacon et al., 2014; Field et al., 2012). Both drugs have been conditionally approved by stringent regulatory authorities and recommended by the WHO for the treatment of MDR-TB in situations in which there is resistance or intolerance to the other second-line agents or a high risk of treatment failure (World Health Organization, 2013b; World Health Organization, 2014b).
Although there was initial excitement about the availability of these new drugs, because they were approved using phase IIB data, their use was recommended in a cautious way (World Health Organization, 2013b; World Health Organization, 2014b, World Health Organization, 2017b). Since then, global introduction has not kept pace with the dire need for these drugs, especially for patients with drug-resistant disease who endure prolonged, toxic therapies with poor outcomes (Lessem et al., 2015). Complicating this have been the long delays seen in starting pivotal late-stage clinical trials for MDR-TB (RESIST TB, 2017).
A conservative estimate is that one-third of newly diagnosed patients with rifampicin-resistance will have an indication for a new drug during the treatment for MDR-TB, although some studies suggest that as many as two-thirds of patients would benefit from the new drugs (Bonnet et al., 2016). This means that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 persons in need of the novel medications each year. Even a more conservative estimate, based on a third of the total number of persons actually started on MDR-TB treatment each year, reveals a major access gap among the 41,667 patients who urgently need these medications each year.
Currently, just over 8,000 patients have ever received either bedaquiline or delamanid for the treatment of MDR-TB under program conditions (DR-TB STAT, 2017). Recent optimistic reports about new drug uptake released by the WHO – which state there are 70 countries using bedaquiline and 39 using delamanid – are somewhat misleading in that they count any country that has treated a single patient with a new drug, even under compassionate use conditions (World Health Organization, 2016a).
There is tension between wanting to "protect the new drugs" as opposed to protecting the lives of patients
Program use data shows that as of March 1, 2017 there were 8,195 persons who have ever taken bedaquiline and 496 who have ever taken delamanid under program conditions (DR-TB STAT, 2017; Figure 2). Of note, 60% of global bedaquiline use is from South Africa (DR-TB STAT, 2017). So, most countries are either not using the new drugs or are focused only on small pilot projects. One example of this is in the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) region of the world, where it is estimated that there are more than 7,000 patients in need of either bedaquiline or delamanid, but fewer than 100 individuals who have received either of these medications.
There are several barriers for wider use of bedaquiline and delamanid (Furin et al., 2016). Some of these are related to costs and registration. Although there is a bedaquiline donation program that allows Global Fund eligible countries to obtain bedaquiline free of charge, countries who are not eligible for this donation often pay a high price via a tiered pricing structure, with middle-income countries paying USD 3,000 for a six-month course of the drug, and high income countries paying as much as USD 26,000 for the six-month course – costs that are almost impossible to bear for poorly funded TB programs (Gotham et al., 2017). Some countries, however, have recognized that the cost of purchasing bedaquiline is lower than the cost to health systems of the ongoing spread of MDR-TB, as seen in the successful South African program. South Africa has to purchase its own bedaquiline yet it accounts for more than 60% of the global use (Ndjeka, 2016).
Delamanid is available for purchase at USD 1,700 for Global Fund eligible countries, but the costs in non-Global Fund eligible countries are excessive and may be as much as Euro 30,000 (approximately USD 32,000) in some settings (Gotham et al., 2017). While bedaquiline has been registered in a range of countries – including the high burden countries of South Africa and India – delamanid only has regulatory approval in four regions: European Union, Japan, South Korea, and Macau. None of these areas have a high burden of MDR-TB, and delamanid is still not registered in most of the countries where clinical trials were done.
Other important country-level barriers seem to be driving the slow uptake of new drugs on the part of national TB programs, regulatory agencies, and clinical providers. Some of these barriers are based in excessive concern about potential side effects, a concern that needs to be balanced with the high mortality rate in persons with poorly treated MDR-TB and the high rate of serious adverse events that occur using the existing medications (Ahuja et al., 2012). There is tension between wanting to "protect the new drugs" as opposed to protecting the lives of patients, with the drugs being restricted in order to purportedly preserve their efficacy. This was the situation in a recent court case where a young woman and her family sued the Indian government to provide her with access to bedaquiline – a case they won – but the government argued that doing so would risk the development of bedaquiline resistance (Kirby, 2017).
There has been almost no involvement of the private sector in the use of new drugs, even in private sector tertiary care facilities that have a proven track record in the successful management of MDR-TB (Udwadia et al., 2017). There are also complicated pharmacovigilance requirements for new drugs (World Health Organization, 2015b) that have delayed their use in some settings (Furin et al., 2016). And most countries feel compelled to follow the interim WHO guidance to the letter on the use of these medications, and guidelines can lag behind the most relevant safety and efficacy data. Given the rapid accumulation of data on the safety and efficacy of these drugs, rigid adherence to interim policies can delay access to life-saving drugs for patients. It should be noted, however, that most countries are unable to implement new drugs even following these restrictive recommendations.
Children are especially vulnerable to TB and MDR-TB and they have been largely overlooked when it comes to access to the new drugs, even though delamanid was recommended by the WHO for children as young as six years of age in 2016. Such exclusion is often a result of a desire to "protect" children from the unknown adverse effects of novel agents, a practice that is especially concerning given the well-known toxicity of the injectable agents (Weld et al., 2017). Not only is there a need to include children earlier in the clinical trials of novel agents (Nachman et al., 2015), but there is also a need to develop child-friendly formulations of the medications (Furin et al., 2015), something that is being pursued with both bedaquiline and delamanid. Other populations vulnerable to exclusion include pregnant women and persons with extrapulmonary TB. Thus, countries should make plans for off-label use of new drugs in these individuals, should the benefits outweigh the risks.
Silver linings and potential solutions
Amidst the disappointingly slow pace of new tool uptake, there are some positive examples and potential solutions. South Africa has been exceptional in scaling-up both Xpert MTB/RIF and bedaquiline, due in large part to a forward-thinking National TB Program and Department of Health, backed by an ambitious Health Minister, and supported by academic and non-governmental organization partners (Ndjeka et al., 2015). Other countries too have had success introducing bedaquiline, especially when they prioritized patient needs, were flexible with their innovations, and partnered with other supporting groups (Guglielmetti et al., 2017). Also, the early success of tools like Xpert MTB/RIF and bedaquiline have renewed industry engagement in TB R&D, pushed countries to develop systems for conducting field trials for policy changes, and revitalized front-line health workers and civil society (Pai and Schito, 2015; Furin et al., 2017). It is also wonderful to see countries develop more ambitious plans for TB elimination, with India being a prominent, recent example (Central TB Division, 2017).
It is wonderful to see countries develop more ambitious plans for TB elimination, with India being a prominent recent example
Many of the barriers to optimal use of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies can be readily surmounted with bold ambitions that are followed up with concrete implementation. With regards to new diagnostics, we need a comprehensive approach to their implementation (Albert et al., 2016), including increased engagement of patients, civil society, and policy makers; demand creation for new tools among diverse stakeholders; broader health systems strengthening in preparation for new tools; increased advocacy for TB financing; and market-based approaches to address both demand and supply side barriers (Engel et al., 2016). These solutions are particularly relevant as WHO recently endorsed the use of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra, a more sensitive assay than the current Xpert MTB/RIF cartridge (World Health Organization, 2017c), and point-of-care molecular diagnostics (e.g. GeneXpert Omni) are becoming a reality.
When it comes to the novel agents, while there are indeed limited data on their use in large populations, this should always be considered in the context of currently recommended treatment regimens, which are based on expert opinion and observational data, are associated with poor treatment outcomes, and are associated with an unacceptable safety profile that has been well documented. When viewed through this lens, the introduction of new therapeutic options can only be seen as a welcome event. The WHO must take this into account, and release unified MDR-TB guidelines that are consistent in their use of recommendations based on observational and programmatic data. There has now been sufficient experience in the successful introduction of novel agents for MDR-TB, and the programs and providers responsible for this success should be leading the global rollout of these drugs. Finally, urgent patient needs must be prioritized, with the organizations and agencies failing to address these needs being held accountable for delayed or denied access. After all, "protecting human rights, ethics and equity" is one of the four key principles of the WHO End TB Strategy (World Health Organization, 2017d).
New diagnostic and treatment options have been sought for decades in the field of TB and MDR-TB, and new tools have been successfully introduced. But we have learnt the hard way that availability does not necessarily result in widespread access. Considerable effort is required to make sure new tools are made accessible to the persons who need them most. This has not happened as quickly as desired with tools such as Xpert MTB/RIF, bedaquiline, and delamanid, and the result is that tens of thousands of TB patients around the world suffer needlessly from late or misdiagnosis, ineffective treatment, or intolerable side effects. The mere fact that 1.8 million people die of a potentially curable infection each year is the surest indication that they are not getting the quality care they deserve.
Urgent action is needed if we are committed to ending TB in a mere 13 years. This means embracing innovation, increasing financial investments in TB control, addressing implementation gaps, and making sure that new technologies are available in the service of those who are trying to survive. More importantly, the global TB community needs to learn from the HIV/AIDS experience, and raise its level of ambition. This means a change in the mindset, to not settle for less.
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Identification of patients who could benefit from bedaquiline or delamanid: a multisite MDR-TB cohort studyThe International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 20:177–186.https://doi.org/10.5588/ijtld.15.0962
Quality of Tuberculosis care in high burden countries: the urgent need to address gaps in the care cascadeInternational Journal of Infectious Diseases 56:111–116.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2016.10.016
National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination 2017–2025 (Draft)New Delhi: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Government of India.
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Use of standardised patients to assess quality of tuberculosis care: a pilot, cross-sectional studyThe Lancet Infectious Diseases 15:1305–1313.https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00077-8
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and culture conversion with bedaquilineNew England Journal of Medicine 371:723–732.https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1313865
March 2017 Task Force UpdateStop TB Partnership. Accessed 2017.
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New treatment options for multidrug-resistant tuberculosisTherapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease 6:255–268.https://doi.org/10.1177/1753465812452193
TB Diagnostics Market in Select High-Burden Countries: Current Market and Future Opportunities For Novel DiagnosticsTB Diagnostics Market in Select High-Burden Countries: Current Market and Future Opportunities For Novel Diagnostics, https://www.mcgill.ca/tb/files/tb/tb_diagnostics_market_in_select_high-burden_countries_current_market_and_future_opportunities_for_novel_diagnostics.pdf.
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Global progress and challenges in implementing new medications for treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosisEmerging Infectious Diseases, 22, 10.3201/eid2203.151430, 26885674.
Combating drug-resistant tuberculosis: the unexpected benefits of bedaquilineThe International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 21:4–5.https://doi.org/10.5588/ijtld.16.0768
A bitter pill to swallow: the need for better medications for drug-resistant tuberculosis in childrenThe International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 19 Suppl 1:55–60.https://doi.org/10.5588/ijtld.15.0380
Delamanid for multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosisNew England Journal of Medicine 366:2151–2160.https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1112433
Estimated generic prices for novel treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosisJournal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 72:dkw522.https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkw522
Examples of bedaquiline introduction for the management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in five countriesThe International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 21:167–174.https://doi.org/10.5588/ijtld.16.0493
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Replacing smear microscopy for the diagnosis of tuberculosis: what is the market potential?European Respiratory Journal 43:1793–1796.https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.00217313
Landmark legal ruling sees Indian girl prescribed bedaquiline for XDR-TBThe Lancet Respiratory Medicine 5:249.https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(17)30042-5
Access to new medications for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis: patient, provider and community perspectivesInternational Journal of Infectious Diseases 32:56–60.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2014.12.012
Towards early inclusion of children in tuberculosis drugs trials: a consensus statementThe Lancet Infectious Diseases 15:711–720.https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00007-9
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Treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis with bedaquiline in a high HIV prevalence setting: an interim cohort analysisThe International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 19:979–985.https://doi.org/10.5588/ijtld.14.0944
Incorporation of bedaquiline in the South African National TB program2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
TuberculosisNature Reviews Disease Primers 2:16076–23.https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2016.76
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How is Xpert MTB/RIF being implemented in 22 high tuberculosis burden countries?European Respiratory Journal 45:549–554.https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.00147714
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Delays in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in India: a systematic reviewThe International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 18:255–266.https://doi.org/10.5588/ijtld.13.0585
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The time has come: the case for injectable-sparing regimens in children with multidrug-resistant tuberculosisThe Lancet. Respiratory Medicine 5:245–246.https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(17)30078-4
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The Use of Lateral Flow Urine Lipoarabinomannan Assay (LF-LAM) for the Diagnosis and Screening of Active Tuberculosis in People Living with HIV. Policy UpdateGeneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
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Decision letter
Emma PewseyReviewing Editor; eLife, United Kingdom
In the interests of transparency, eLife includes the editorial decision letter and accompanying author responses. A lightly edited version of the letter sent to the authors after peer review is shown, indicating the most substantive concerns; minor comments are not usually included.
Thank you for submitting your article "Tuberculosis innovations mean little, if they cannot save lives" for consideration by eLife. Your article has been reviewed by 3 peer reviewers. The following individuals involved in review of your submission have agreed to reveal their identity: Jane Coyne (Reviewer #3).
I've copied the reviews below. In general, the reviewers were enthusiastic about the article, but they each have a number of points they would like you to address in a revised version of your article. Please try to address all these points in your revised version, or explain in the cover letter accompanying your resubmission why you did not feel it was essential to do so.
Reviewer #1:
1) Although there is nothing wrong in publishing this article as such, considering the authors' expertise, vast experience in the field of TB and other infectious diseases, they should also include few constructive suggestions on the above aspects than being generic.
2) Also, often time researchers ignore the necessity to concentrate more on the follow-up of TB cases started on treatment, and bacteriological confirmation at various time points to ensure the completion of treatment and disease free status. There is no diagnostic test available at present to differentiate dead and viable bacteria. Even the famous Bangladesh study relied only on vital staining techniques such as FDA/ EB based microscopy to prove that the MDR cases are not secreting non-viable bacilli. Considering this need, the authors must urge the scientific community to concentrate on this aspect as well.
3) People generally tend to ignore paediatric and extra-pulmonary TB cases due to diagnostic constraints. Although XPert does wonders in the early detection of such cases, access becomes difficult and also specimen collection, which requires additional provision including hospitalization, negates the optimal utility of XPert. With any new technique when the sensitivity gets enhanced, the danger of quality being compromised lingers on. To overcome this, the necessity to establish quality assurance in public and private care should be included.
4) Likewise, the easy access and availability of drugs in suitable formulations for paediatric TB cases should be advocated. This applies more so for newer drugs.
5) The upcoming improved version of Xpert such as XPert Ultra, Omni and other methods such as TB LAMP, True NAT etc may also be mentioned to show that some hope is on the horizon.
6) Finally TB control should be inclusive and we are all aware that involving private care remains mostly on paper now for various reasons. Until the respective governments give their commitment by way of legislation or decree, we will be rendering mostly lip service and any amount of writing may not solve the problem. This may be advocated in the UN Assembly as and when they hold a special session on TB Control. Can this be considered by the authors and also other points submitted.
Reviewer #2:
1) The authors omit to mention that Bdq and Dlm are not fully approved by any SRA but got either accelerated or conditional approval by FDA or EMA after their phase IIb. This justifies the pharmacovigilance requirements and partly explains the reluctance of some countries to use these drugs.
2) The paper fails to recognize and describe the major obstacles that lie at country level (regulatory authorities, NTPs, or reluctance from clinicians): India which is eligible to GF is limiting access to Bdq to 6 centers of excellence for a country of 1.3 billion inhabitants; Peru, despite registration and free access to Bdq has only enrolled 71 patients, Philippines 51, etc.
3) Presenting the cost as a major obstacle to access is somehow contradicted (or at least tempered) by the facts: there is very little uptake of Bdq by most GF eligible countries for which Bdq is free (numerous examples: Peru, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, India, etc.) when South Africa (which pays Bdq at 900 USD per treatment because of internal procurement mechanism) is far ahead with over 4,000 treatments.
4) There is no doubt that the WHO recommendations on new drugs should be revised, however most countries are far from even reaching the current WHO recommended indications. One could quite easily make estimates showing that following these recommendations "to the letter", as the authors say, would rather result in a much greater uptake than what is actually observed.
5) Minor comments
-77 million sputum smears is a bit misleading as it includes the follow-up smears
- Presenting the costs of the new drugs in high income countries is not relevant to the scope of the paper
- I would suggest referencing the WHO guidelines for Xpert, LPA, LAM, etc.
- Bonnet et al. found that 2/3 of their cohort (mainly from CIS countries) could benefit from the new drugs
- Presenting the WHO recommended basic aDSM as a complex pharmacovigilance slowing down the uptake seems quite exaggerated.
Reviewer #3:
1) Figure 1 - I think it would be stronger if you added graphically to it the estimated number of smear tests - to show the GeneX growth in the context of smear usage
2) Diagnostics section - when you mention private sector I think you are wasting an opportunity - the issue is not just with concessionary pricing it's that there is no effective oversight and no political leadership to assure quality of diagnosis and care in the private sector.
3) Paragraph three - I would calculate the estimated number of patients that need access to these drugs (480K *1/3 = 160K annually) to emphasize how far off the mark we are with 7000 ttt's total. This would strengthen the deficithttps://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25956.005
Article and author information
Author details
Reviewing Editor
- Emma Pewsey, Reviewing Editor, eLife, United Kingdom
Publication history
- Received: February 13, 2017
- Accepted: April 10, 2017
- Version of Record published: May 2, 2017 (version 1)
© 2017, Pai et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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text:
Ars Technica may have found the most logical explanation for the Do Not Disturb bug in iOS this year:
Here's how it works and why it's throwing DND for a loop. The ISO week numbering system uses the YYYY format for the year instead of the Gregorian calendar's yyyy. It then looks at which week of the year it is, and then uses a date digit with 1 starting on Monday. So, for example, Tuesday of the 50th week of 2012 would have been 2012-W50-2 in ISO week format.
Now the question is: why is Apple using week numbers for something that is being dealt with on a daily basis?
The conclusion of the article is right. Although Apple is embarrassed by the problem, creating and pushing a fix would take more time than wait for January 7th.


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North East India is home to over 200 tribes. Each tribal community have their own distinct culture and traditions. They speak different languages, have different religious practices, wear clothes with distinct patterns and also have different ways of celebrating. These celebrations form a part of their festivals where these communities performs colorful dances, showcase their traditional cuisines and source of livelihood like their agrarian practices and their handlooms and handicrafts.
Across a majority of the tribes of north east India one can find a close resemblance with the communities of South East India. One such tribal community of Assam are the Tai Khamyang tribes. Known to have migrated to Assam from the Kachin State in Myanmar the Tai Khamyang people derive their name from the Tai word 'Khamyag' meaning 'people having gold'('kham' meaning 'gold' and 'yang' meaning 'to have'). Many Khamyangs have also historically used 'Shyam' as a surname, which is a cognate with 'Siam', the old word for Thailand.
The Tai-Khamyangs, represent a brethren of Great Tai/Thai family of South East Asia. They are numerically tribal group found in Tinsukia, Jorhat, Sivasagar and Golaghat districts of Assam as well as adjacent parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Their population totals about 7,000 of which only a small minority speak the native Tai Khamyang language. The Khamyang are followers of Theravada Buddhism and are closely related to the Tai-Khamti. They maintain good relations with other Tai Buddhist tribes of Assam.
The Tai Khamyangs, in the Patkai Mountain Range, got divided into two groups namely the Maan Nam or Pani Nora (Low Land Nora) and Maan Loi or Dum Nora (Upper land Nora). These settlements lies near the great lake 'The Lake Of No Return – India's Bermuda Triangle'. In the mid eighteenth century, due to the critical surrounding for the presence of couple of Cobras in the lake and problems faced from the Kachins, the Tai-Khamyangs crossed over the Patkai hill and settled in a fertile valley of Arunachal Pradesh. It is said that they constructed a pagoda which is still present near the 'Lake of no return'.
Jungleideas welcomes you to India's North East and be a part in Celebrating Indigenous people of the Legendary Tribes of North East India – the Tai Khamyang Tribe, Tinsukia District, the State of Assam, Incredible India!
Recommended Itinerary for your visit: Tribes of North East India


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New For November !!
Well the summer season has come to an end and the staff at Olympia would like to thank all our customers old and new for visiting us. We hope you had as much fun with us as we did looking after you !!
This year the minions from the film Despicable Me 2 have been the latest to have toy, so if you would still like to win one hurry down to play one of our grabber machines or a 2p pusher before our stocks runs out !!
Our new facebook page has been a great success, so if you want keep ahead of everyone else and be the first to take advantage of our many offers follow us on facebook.
Bowling News
Our bowling league has just started, so if you would like to join please email (via this website) or phone us on 01723 377960 for more details. We are now taking bookings for our bowling Christmas party season for more details Phone 01723 377960.
Coming Soon !! There are going to be some big changes to the front of Olympia this November !! Feel free to come and visit us to fine out what they are !!!


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We hope that this Youth Group Brochure will help you get the word out about your ministry's vision, regular programs, and youth group activities. This package contains PSDs, Indesign files, and jpegs so that you can create a stunning brochure to highlight your ministry. These editable files will enable you to create a custom brochure that you can share with your church family and visitors to highlight the focus and vision of your ministry. Fonts used in these Photoshop and Indesign documents are Novecento and Helvetica Neue, both available for free online.
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text: Tap to show main menu Jump To: Example Comments References Cheeseburger Oreos Anyone? Jump To: Example Comments References An image currently circulating via social media has some hard-core Oreos fan salivating with excitement while others shudder with revulsion (not really). The image depicts a packet of 'Limited Edition Cheeseburger Oreos', allegedly made with ground beef. But, alas for more adventurous cookie lovers, Cheeseburger Oreos are not real and won't be hitting supermarket shelves anytime soon. The image is just a prank. The image comes from a YouTube video - called Will It Cookie? - Cheeseburger Oreo - created by the crew at Reckless Eating, a YouTube Channel that invites viewers to watch 'a bunch of friends eat weird stuff' (see embedded video below). Reckless Eating acknowledges the prank in a post on their Facebook Page: Lots of people are linking me to the cheeseburger oreo picture floating around online. We know the person who made it and did it ourselves. The picture is of course fake lol. The prank is similar to an earlier hoax image that supposedly depicted Fried Chicken Oreos. Tweet Share Tweet Related Links Fried Chicken Oreos Image is a Hoax Spider in Oreo Cookie Photograph Tim Tams 'May Contain Traces of Human Flesh' Hoax Image Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Learn how to stay safe online with Hoax-Slayer's comprehensive eBook: Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft, Internet Scams & Phone Scams Example Limited edition cheeseburger Oreos!! Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial Last updated: May 14, 2015 First published: May 14, 2015 By Brett M. Christensen About Hoax-Slayer References Will It Cookie? - Cheeseburger Oreo Reckless Eating Facebook Page Fried Chicken Oreos Image is a Hoax More stories! 'Internet Capacity Warning' Phishing Scam According to this email, which claims to be from the 'Support Department' at 'Information Technology Services', your internet capacity is 70% full and you therefore need to contact support to avoid problems. Published: July 6, 2015 Kroger 'Free Coupons' Survey Scam Message being distributed across Facebook claims that users can receive free coupons from American retailer Kroger just by sharing a message and visiting a third party website to claim their prize. Published: June 16, 2015 Pointless Facebook Warning - Hackers Posting Insulting Messages or Sexual Content In Your Name 'Hacker' alert messages circulating on Facebook claim that, without your knowledge, hackers are posting insulting or sexual messages that appear to come from you onto your Facebook Timeline. Published: June 3, 2015