text:
- Home
- Proposals
- The Arguments
- About Us
- News
- BBC bias on climate change
- Latest News
- Climate change balance lost by BBC
- Energy Prices-The Times
- Turbines trash landscape benefit billionaires
- Global Warming Panic Over!
- Mini-Nukes the future
- The dirty secret of Britain's power madness
- Extreme weather the new Global Warming
- Tax Payers Alliance Energy view
- Britain can't afford wind power
- Fracking = prosperity?
- Its time to drill- Times leader
- Thoughtful article on Fracking
- Wind double subsidised
- Deluded energy policy
- The EU U-turn over energy
- Windfarm Wars Company in Churchover
- New noise guidance increases risk of harm
- Peter Lilley MP, Delingpole's new hero
- Shale Gas update 2013
- Maggie U-turned on Global Warming
- Devastatingly sad news
- 'smart' energy technology
- Engineers surveyed 2011
- Lord Turnbull speaks out
- Miracle shale gas
- Planning application refused!
- Warwickshire heritage beauty spot protected!
- Press
- Articles
- Letters
- How To Help
- Donations
- Letters of Objection
- New Churchover PC Objection
- New Historic England Objection
- Churchover Resident Objection
- CPRE Objection
- English Heritage Objection
- Objection by expert R&F historian
- Leicestershire County Council objection
- Warwicks CC Ecology objection
- Harborough District Objection
- Churchover PC Objection
- Bitteswell PC Objection
- Pailton PC objection
- Some other Objections sent
- Rugby BC Planning Committee
- Contact Us
Submitted by Admin on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 16:30
ASWAR is overjoyed on behalf of the local community that the Secretary of State Greg Clark (a member of the Cabinet), has announced that the McAlpine/RES 'Appeal' (and supported - without credibility - by Rugby Council planners) that was in favour of subsidised wind turbines in the Upper Swift Valley, is dismissed and planning permission finally refused.
ASWAR Congratulates the Churchover/Cotesbach community. It is fantastic how the community came together to fight for six years and win against two strong armies.
- Firstly, we have defeated the wind turbine subsidy speculators and can now put them behind us, leaving them to cry over how their scam has not worked.
- Secondly, it is the Rugby Council planners' actions that Rugbeians should know about for the future and put in place training and proceedures to not allow it to happen again.
The planners tried to circumvent the democratic process. The electorate correctly hold their elected Councillors accountable for making decisions on planning policy. But the planners ignored the Councillors and decided by themselves to change the Council wind turbine policy from 'refusal' to 'support' without allowing the councillors to have a say. On top of that they wasted some £20,000 of tax-payer money to hire an expensive lawyer to aggressively attack community representatives at the public Inquiry.
ASWAR welcomes and is encouraged that the government Inspector and Secretary of State, have listened to the people and re-established some democratic trust in the planning system.
The planners, professionals who got it wrong, and have now publicly apologised to the community. We thank them for that.
Yes, the community is proud to have fought our 'Nimby' battle but we have always also publicised the arguments for the wider national interests and let us all hope it will not be long before the 2008 Climate Change Act is suspended and a sensible national energy policy based on 'Energy security and affordability for all' is implemented and important jobs, like in the high energy intensive steel industry, can be saved.
The full decision statement and inspector's report can be found here:
The Secretary of State agreed with his Inspector that "the degree of harm to landscape, visual amenity and heritage interests is considerably greater than the appellant or the Council acknowledge."
ASWAR is confident the Secretary of State will dismiss wind subsidy speculator's recovered appeal following end of 6-day public inquiry
Click on the links below to read ASWAR and Churchover Parish Council's evidence presented at the public inquiry
- ASWAR Closing Submission
- ASWAR Opening Submission
- ASWAR Verbal Evidence
- ASWAR Noise Evidence from around the world
- Our Barrister's Closing Submission
- Our Barrister's Opening Submission
Latest application ruled INVALID
by Rugby Borough Council!
A third victorious battle in the five year war to defend Churchover/Cotesbach has been won. Rugby planners have been forced to agree with ASWAR and deem the re-application for four wind turbines invalid.
However, this still leaves us with the big, expensive battle - the McAlpine/RES Appeal against the original local rejection with an Inquiry that is planned to start on Wednesday 2nd September in front of a government inspector. He will then report his findings to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, who will finally decide whether what was put in the Tory Manifesto and realised in subsequent planning policy changes, will be implemented or whether the community will be put to the wind turbine dogs.
Though our arguments across a range of local planning issues are strong, what is defining and crucial, is that on June 18th 2015 Greg Clark announced that on-shore windfarms should not be given permission if the local community was against them. By any measurement this local community is against!
ASWAR calls for McAlpine/RES to withdraw their Appeal and stop wasting everybody's time and money
In the meantime an enormous amount of time has been put into writing ASWAR's and Churchover Parish Council's Proofs of Evidence papers that have been submitted to the Inspector and will be posted on this web site some time after August 6th.
New Churchover Parish Council objection
exemplifies overwhelming local objection
Churchover Parish Council has now submitted its detailed and compelling objection to the latest windfarm application which can be read here.
Historic England (formerly English Heritage) have repeated their strong objection to this application which can be read here.
Another detailed objection from a Churchover resident is also worth reading here.
McAlpine/RES submit a new application
The community across the Revel District goes into its fifth year under threat from now a new application to build four huge wind turbines that if not fought could be given permission this year to generate millions in subsidy for the next 25 years for speculator McAlpine/RES taken from everybody's electricity bills, thereby increasing fuel poverty, losing jobs in energy-intensive manufacturing and through the wind's intermittency helping put at risk the National Grid's efficient ability to keep the lights on.
However, the winning post is in sight, with legislation promised to stop subsidies for the on-shore wind turbine scam from next year announced by new Secretary of State Amber Rudd, after which it will become unprofitable to build them.
But more importantly, new Government planning policy taking effect from 18th June dictates that windfarms cannot be approved without local backing! We need to continue to demonstrate that this application most definitely does not have local backing so it is vital that everyone objects again now
Following NATS withdrawing its objection to the windfarm, McAlpine/RES have submitted a new planning application which is almost the same as the last one. If you objected to the previous application around Jan 2014, please note that your objection will NOT be carried forward to the new application. Nor is it enough to tell the Borough Council that you maintain your previous objection. Unfortunately, new objections must be sent-in. You can certainly send in a copy of your previous objection, but it MUST be sent in again, mentioning the new Reference Number R15/0908
EMAIL to: email@example.com
WRITE to: Nathan Lowde, Rugby Borough Council, Town Hall, Evreux Way, Rugby, CV21 2RR
Please remember to mention your name and address, and the reference number R15/0908, in your objections. The key planning objection is the paragraph below.
The setting of the heritage church in the conservation village, that has dominated the beautiful meandering Upper Swift Valley for 1,000 years, will be industrialised and ruined.
Go to the How To Help section of this web site for more details on how you can help.
BBC Midlands Today wind turbine story featuring Churchover broadcast on 13th April 2015 can now be seen on YouTube
Are NATS putting Aviation Safety at risk for commercial gain?
ASWAR has recently discovered that legal representatives acting on behalf of McAlpine/RES are stating publicly that, as a result of "detailed discussions" between McAlpine/RES and NATS, there is, to quote them directly, "a real possibility that NATS will be in a position to withdraw its objection to the proposal" in advance of the September 2015 Inquiry.
We have therefore emailed and asked Paul Golby, the chairman of NATS to answer several questions relating to this:
- Is there any truth to the statement made by McAlpine/RES, and has NATS authorised McAlpine/RES to announce this information?
- If NATS is close to withdrawing its objection to this application, please can you provide full details of how this is possible in light of the fact that none of the accepted mitigation schemes can be applied to this development and your own extensive research into understanding the AGA comms impact along with updated guidelines is not scheduled to be completed until March 2016?
- Again if NATS is close to withdrawing its objection, what evidence does NATS have to be 100% certain that this particular development would never have any impact on AGA comms from the Pailton radio station and hence put Aviation Safety at risk?
- Has McAlpine/RES given or promised to give NATS any funding? Can you please provide us a full schedule of 1) the people or organisations who have provided funds to NATS (and how much) to help pay for your research into this area and 2) the amounts of money you have already and are planning to invest in this area.
Where Aviation Safety is concerned, your previous safeguarding stance and record has rightly in our opinion been to take no risks when the poorly understood issue of AGA comms interference from wind turbines is concerned. Your own research and that of other independent parties has produced evidence that there can be an impact from wind turbines on AGA comms. Until there is a much greater understanding of this issue, backed by an agreed set of updated safeguarding guidelines, developed in line with already announced, (and peer-reviewed) research, should not this be the position that must be maintained by NATS to continue to guarantee the safety of aviation in the UK?
Solar Park - Well done with your Objections!
The proposed 60-acre Solar Park that has been called 'an abomination' by our local Conservative Councillor and MP, has generated many objections and will be delayed in going to the planning committee, which will not now be until July at the earliest.
ASWAR and the Parish Council have submitted detailed planning objections while we need everybody to please send a quick individual email to firstname.lastname@example.com
quoting R13/1401 and saying you object. He has said he is still open to receiving objections.
(see * below for the address to send letters to)
There is no need to go into long elaborate detail, it is a high number of simple objections that is needed (you don't need to live locally) and just say whatever you want or some of the following:
- Solar Parks on good agricultural ground is against Government policy since May 2014. (The two farmers who have farmed this land for over 20 years and the land adjacent, say it has high quality, excellent soil on ideal flat land for grazing or crops. The widow of the previous farm manager quotes the late Fred Green, an important local farmer, who owned over 2,000 acres around the district, that he always said this was the best and most versatile land he owned).
- It will be an eyesore from every direction, looking like a Prison Camp, with its rows of reflective solar arrays, security fencing and lighting with cameras on high gantries.
- These speculators should build on brownfield sites and factory and warehouse roofs before using good land and destroying our environment and landscape. There are lots of warehouses around here.
- The Village has voted 85% against, at a well-attended meeting of 60 in a village of 100 dwellings, where the Chairman of a Solar National Trade Body spoke in favour, with the local Conservative MP and a UKIP MEP against. Government Ministers have stressed that large Solar Parks need local support and involvement, before planners can give a go-ahead.
- It will industrialise the 'vital green lung' between sprawling Rugby warehouses south of the M6 and Lutterworth with its appendage of Magna Park.
- 25 years is not a 'temporary' inconvenience in the life of a village, whose property values will be reduced without compensation.
- Good agricultural land should not be taken out of food production, by a regressive scam that moves our money into greedy landowner's pockets, sudsidy speculators and overseas manufacturers, while increasing fuel poverty among the poorer members of the community.
- It will be an intrusion on the conservation village and heritage assets and historic landscape.
- Subsidised Solar Parks create small amounts of expensive, intermittent energy that requires inefficiently run 'spinning' fossil-fuelled back-up, all of which increases costly electricity bills and reduces British industry competitiveness. The independent OBR (Office of Budget Responsibility) commenting on the recent Government's Autumn Statement, predicted: Green levies on household energy bills will triple over the next five years to £10 billion as the number of wind turbines and solar parks already permitted are built. NHS go weep!
Thank you, your help is much appreciated by a community under siege now for five years.
* the rules say that the planning officer has to present any comments received up to the Friday before the Planning Committee meeting so they are taken into account by Councillors in their determination of the application).
Address for objection letters. Remember to add your own address and R13/1401:
Richard Redford,
Rugby Town Hall,
Evreux Way,
Secretary of State Eric Pickles Calls-In McAlpine/RES Appeal
Following Secretary of State Pickles Calling-In McAlpine/RES's appeal, ASWAR has given the following Press Release and calls supporters to help raise significant funds. Click here for info on how to donate now
"Air Traffic Safety at risk, as Churchover raises funds to defend community at Called-In Appeal.
We do not agree that a tiny amount of costly, intermittent energy from wind turbines of the subsidy speculator McAlpine/RES, is more important than Air Traffic Safety, nor the industrialising of an historic conservation village in a vital green lung between Rugby and Lutterworth.
We are grateful to Mark Pawsey, the local Conservative MP, for his effective lobbying on behalf of the community that has now been under threat for five years, which has persuaded Secretary of State Eric Pickles to immediately Call-In the appeal.
If the community's excellent argument is well presented at the Inspector's Appeal, the Call-In makes it much more likely that the decision will go against the turbines.
Churchover Parish Council and ASWAR have now launched an appeal to raise significant funds to hire a top lawyer to lead their case.
David can defeat Goliath."
Note 1: The NATS objection to the McAlpine/RES turbines is not because of clutter the turbines may create on their radar screens which has been a major problem for Airports and why NATS objected to 2% of turbine applications in 2013. It is because of interference with their Air-Ground-Air Communications Systems from their Pailton Station which is in direct line-of-sight with the proposed turbines. See http://nats.aero/blog/2013/10/winds-of-change-aviation-and-wind-energy/
Irrespective of the Rugby Borough Council Officer's assurance to the planning committee that there was no possible mitigation available to NATS's objection and therefore Councillors thought they had no need to add other heritage and landscape objections, ASWAR has a worry about NATS's open desire to help the wind subsidy speculators. (It has already sunk £14m of the public's money into trying to mitigate radar interference from wind turbines – an added cost of wind energy)
Will NATS give-in to political and commercial pressure, cut corners in Air Traffic Safety and withdraw their objection when they come under attack by McAlpine/RES concerning their technical competence at the appeal?
Note 2: The intermittency of energy from wind turbines requires the National Grid to have fossil-fuelled back-up on inefficient 'spinning' reserve, for when there is lack of or too much wind, in order to balance generation and keep the lights-on. The more turbines and solar parks that are built the more out-of-kilter will the balance become. Energy Secretary Ed Davey it is reported will announce this week more costly emergency contingences for the National Grid to pay large companies and hotels to 1) generate their own power or 2) turn down their refrigerators. Ordinary households it seems will have to pay for these freebies given away when the wind does not blow or the sun shine.
Note 3: Average capacity efficiency of on-shore, combined with windy off-shore, turbines is around 25%. Midlands turbines operate at less than this and nowhere near the 32.9% figure claimed by McAlpine/RES, who are not independent as they say but a wholly owned subsidiary of the enormous McAlpine building group, who were accused by the BBC's Panorama of setting-up the illegal blacklist in the building trade.
Note 4: The high price of UK and European electricity is because of wind and solar park 'renewable' subsidies and it is driving energy intensive manufacturing jobs overseas. See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/business/international/basf-an-industrial-pillar-in-germany-leans-abroad.html?_r=1 Green energy destroys real jobs while creating a small number of subsidised jobs. In Rugby there are 1000 un-subsidised well-paid skilled engineering jobs in power generation and a handful only of highly subsidised wind jobs. Local interests are not supported by present wind and solar park subsidy policies
Note 5: The Dept of Energy and Climate Change has had to admit recently that its prediction under Chris Huhne and Ed Davey, that gas prices would rise by 2020 and comparatively make wind and solar park renewable energy more competitive, is wrong. Their new prediction is a reduction in gas price of 20%. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/11137332/Expensive-green-energy-a-bad-gamble-as-ministers-slash-gas-price-forecasts.html and http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2014/10/3/close-down-decc.html
One large gas power station like the one in Pembrokeshire creates about the same energy as all the UK wind turbines combined and takes up some 500 acres while the turbines cover 250,000 acres and Solar parks 130,000 acres!
Note 6: A report commissioned by accountancy firm KPMG came to the conclusion that if the government dropped its wind turbine subsidy policy it would save the nation £34 Billion which means £550 saved for every person. NHS go weep!
Note 7: Owen Paterson, formerly Secretary of State for the Environment, in a major seminal speech in October quoted from the EU paper 'pathways to 2050' that the cost of 'UK decarbonising' by 2050 was £1.3 Trillion, the equivalent of the total national debt. He called for the Climate Change Act, which requires Britain to be the only country in the world to legally hit 'decarbonising' targets, to be repealed. He recommended more sensible commonsense energy policies, like local CHP (Combined heat and power) that are not regressive in the way that renewable subsidies take money from ordinary citizens' electricity bills and give it to the 'green blob' including rich land owners and renewable companies. See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2807849/EXPOSED-shadowy-network-funded-foreign-millions-making-household-energy-bills-soar-low-carbon-Britain.html
Note 8: Last week's EU energy summit agreed to put to next year's Paris Climate Change Conference the recommendation on targets to 2030 "A 27% renewable energy target that is binding at an aggregate European level but voluntary for individual member states." I.e. as the UK has already hit its renewable targets for 2020 and no more turbines need to be built, nor will there be a specific UK target to 2030 that require more expensive subsidised turbines. If as is almost certain the US, China or India refuse in Paris to agree binding targets then the EU will also drop its targets, otherwise Europe will become even more uncompetitive with its subsidy driven expensive energy, continuing what EU commissioner Mr Tajani has called "an industrial massacre". See http://www.euractiv.com/sections/eu-priorities-2020/eu-leaders-adopt-flexible-energy-and-climate-targets-2030-309462
Note 9: Scientists accept that Global warming has stood still for the last 18 years while man-made CO2 has increased. The climate change alarmists' computer models predicted continuing global warming during this period. This hiatus suggests there are huge questions about the theory of man-made global warming. See Matt Ridley: Whatever Happened To Global Warming? The Wall Street Journal, 5 September 2014
Note 10: Every political party is talking about making a fairer society. How can it be fair for already rich land owners and renewable energy companies to be paid twice the value of what they produce (gas is half the cost of onshore wind) and expect the whole community, including the poor and vulnerable, to subsidise them?
Note 11: McAlpine/RES have tried before to use bribes to influence the debate and have been rejected. We have no reason to suppose a repeat of the bribes, though villagers are weary of the continuing threat to their community, will soften their resolve to fight these subsidy scavengers. In addition it would be financial suicide for house owners when a major 10 year study concludes turbines 1.2 miles away will slash the value of a £250,000 house by £27,000. See http://www.aswar.org.uk/content/lse-study-house-prices
85% against at Solar Park Community meeting
Local Conservative MP Mark Pawsey, and UKIP National Spokesman on Energy, Roger Helmer MEP, combined together in speaking in the defence of the small Churchover community, under siege for the third time in five years, now by a Solar Park.
The community meeting was also spoken to by the chairman of a national solar trade body but he was unable to swing the vote of 45 against, 7 in favour (including 4 financially involved with solar parks) and a handful of abstentions.
Lorne Smith, the ASWAR coordinator of the successful and well attended meeting in the beautiful Holy Trinity church (an oil leak in the village hall made it unavailable), said that "1) the solar park subsidy speculators should not to be trusted, listing a number of lies within their propaganda, and that 2) the two farmers, who attended the meeting, who have farmed and know the land better than anybody, say it is of high agricultural quality".
He added that "with the government and some 85% of the local community against the blighting of good agricultural land that is a green lung between the encroaching Rugby and Lutterworth, with an inefficient and costly industrial solar park, we are confidant the local planning committee will reject this proposal, if the speculators wish to waste more of their money and everybody's time by submitting an application".
Click here to read ASWAR's initial objection to this solar park
The Government's Energy Minister has pledged recently that solar parks must not become the "new onshore windfarms" on greenfields and said he wanted solar panels installed on factory rooftops (and warehouses) instead.
Also, in the first solar park appeal case since Eric Pickles's tightening of government solar guidelines in March, Hive Energy's proposal at Tattingstone, Suffolk was rejected. The Inspector Elizabeth Ord makes it clear that large-scale solar parks should focus on "previously developed and non-agricultural land".
To read a letter on "The catalogue of damage resulting from 'renewables' in Churchover" in the Leicester Mercury from John Philpott click here
Support WASTE against Wolf wind turbines
The community around Wolvey came together on June 20th and voted overwhelmingly by 175 to 6 (97%) against a new gigantic wind turbine proposal between Wolvey and Monks Kirby.
Below is the WASTE Rally on the steps of the RugbyTown Hall on 3rd September 2014
Over 200 people sent in their objections to the building of a wind monitoring MetMast at Wolvey Wolf and over 50 people again lobbied a second planning meeting on September 24th but councillors on the advice of Nathan Lowde, the planning officer, accepted the application for three years on a majority vote. The argument was made that an Inspector on appeal would approve the Metmast even though it was in the GreenBelt and this would cost the Council money.
Click here to visit the Wolvey Wolf page on this website and see a map where the turbines are proposed.
ASWAR is hosting this website page for WASTE to help publicise their campaign to defend another community 'around Rugby' from wind turbine speculators.
Click www.wastewolvey.com to visit a new website being developed by WASTE
Second defeat for Churchover wind turbines
ASWAR is delighted that its four year campaign on behalf of the local community has fought-off for the second time the ruination of one of Warwickshire's most beautiful heritage and wildlife areas, (a conservation village and the setting of a listed 1000 year old church, as well as household and sporting amenity) and was supported (in Easter holiday week and in working hours) by a significant 'Shires Anti-Wind Turbine Rally' with residents from villages across Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. (See the rotational photo above)
We thank the Rugby planning committee councillors, who discussed adding extra reasons for refusal and decided this was unecessary with the Officer stating there was no mitigation available to the NATS Aviation Safety objection, gave a unanimous vote to refuse, with two Lib Dem and one Labour councillor abstaining.
Dr Chris Down, a Churchover resident said that "ASWAR believes local democracy was at stake with every local Parish Council, Lutterworth Town, Harborough District and Leicestershire County Councils, our MP, English Heritage, CPRE, ramblers, birders, riders, fishers and over 90% of residents objecting."
It has only now come to light that McAlpine/RES have known since 2012 that NATS (UK's air traffic control body) would object and their lawyers should have been aware that RBC would be legally required to refuse their application. ASWAR asks why have these speculative developers kept the local community under threat for two years? Has somebody been trying to cover-up their earlier mistake of buying the landowner contracts off SSE?
McAlpines should now do the decent thing and announce that they are immediately withdrawing and will not return, letting the community get on with its life in peace.
Lorne Smith, ASWAR's coordinator added that "McAlpine/RES have repeatedly propagandised their wind turbines in economic terms but people with commonsense, who may although like the concept of renewables, know that the primary purpose of wind turbines and solar farms is to generate money for land owners, overseas manufacturers and development speculators at the expense of the public and increased fuel poverty, at which they are very efficient.
Their secondary purpose is to minutely generate intermittent electricity at which they are inefficient, unpredictable and uneconomic, requiring subsidies even after more than 25 years in development."
ASWAR notes that as John Waine of Nuneaton in The Sunday Telegraph (letters 2/3/14) wrote: "Even if climate change is "man-made", nothing that Britain does to reduce carbon emissions will make a jot of difference. Thus there is no justification for any of the green taxes which Labour imposed and which the present administration has maintained so steadfastly."
Posted; Nov 2013 UNDER SIEGE AGAIN
The communities around Churchover and Cotesbach are under seige again.
For info to send a letter/email of objection before end Feb 2014 to Rugby Borough Council please CLICK HERE
To read ASWAR's initial (12 page) response to the new application CLICK HERE.
To read Churchover Parish Council's (34 page) objection CLICK HERE.
The subsidy farming McAlpine/RES, the same massive group who the BBC's Panorama accused of setting up the illegal blacklist in the building trade, have put in another application to build four wind turbines in the Warwickshire heritage and wildlife beauty spot of the Upper Swift Valley.
This new application, along with bribes for the NIMBYs, will not only receive the same degree of local rejection on the same grounds as the earlier proposal was unanimously rejected but with the encroachment of an intense windfarm landscape in the last two years, there are even more planning reasons now for rejection.
There is no rational energy or economic reason in favour of these wind turbines that steal some 15% of everybody's bills and stuff the subsidies into the pockets of speculators and rent-seeking landowners - 10% (33% by 2020) in green taxes plus a proportion of the new infra-structure cost of linking turbines to the grid.
How can it be right for companies to be paid twice to three times the going rate for electricity when they are damaging the environment and communities?
The alarmist propaganda in favour of wind turbines relies on the argument that they reduce the UK's 2% of the world's man-made CO2 emissions and thereby infinitesimally reduce global warming.
But actually the intermittency of wind makes it necessary to have fossil-fuel back-up spinning the whole time for the National Grid to maintain an even voltage; (electricity cannot be stored) therefore wind turbines don't even save CO2 anyway. (also the scientists say that GW has not increased since 1997 - seventeen years of stand-still).
It is surprising that anybody can support this energy policy that is making this nation globally uncompetitive, driving manufacturing jobs overseas and ordinary people into fuel poverty (a record number of people died from cold last winter), while attacking the asset values of innocent property owners and killing birds and bats (scientists say 900,000 bats are killed by wind turbines every year).
(America is receiving increased manufacturing investment because it has reduced its energy costs and CO2 emissions through its safe, clean, Shale Gas fracking policy).
Villagers under siege from SSE and now McAlpines, rally outside the windfarm propaganda exhibition in Churchover
Mr Lorne Smith from ASWAR (Against Subsidised Windfarms Around Rugby) said:
The community around Churchover/Cotesbach turned out in force to show their dislike at being victims of the windfarm scam for a second time. With each windfarm job in the UK being subsidised by £100,000 from our electricity bills, and 10 McAlpine/RES staff supporting their propaganda exhibition, there was £1 million of our money walking around Churchover today!
Government Ministers and the local MP have promised that local communities need to give their consent before windfarms can be built, so ASWAR held a Community Meeting on Wednesday July 10th in Churchover Village Hall to discuss and vote on the new windfarm proposal.
At the meeting, where there was a unanimous vote against the windfarm proposal, Lorne thanked Leigh Hunt and Philip Morris-Jones, their elected Borough and County Councillors for their support and the many from other local villages, as well as James Delingpole, fresh from his spirited performance on BBC's Any Questions programme, who gave the meeting a preview of 'the diabolically expensive' way the government will attempt to keep the lights on when the wind does not blow, given in his Mail on Sunday article published July 14th.
Dr Chris Down, the professional local planning consultant, noted that four out of five reasons used by the Rugby planning Committee to reject the SSE wind turbines apply to the new four turbine proposal, while the accumulation of other windfarms, that have recently appeared across the nearby landscape, further strengthen the reason for rejection.
Lorne, speaking about the windfarm economic scam and its effect on increasing fuel poverty, recommended householders to discover how much tax they are paying in their utility bills, by using the simple calculator on the Tax Payers Alliance website www.energyswindle.org
The community has given ASWAR a strong democratic mandate
In summer 2010 a Scottish developer gave a week's notice of an exhibition to announce their 15 turbine wind power station proposal. With half a day's notice, the community of Churchover had reacted with a Mass Picket. See photo on the right.
The Parish Council, wanting a true test of the Parish's opinion, organised a listening event for people to confidentially log their view. Well over 90% were against.
A campaign launch meeting was held in the packed village hall at the end of September ( Click here to see the Press report ) when there was a unanimous vote to set up an Action Group to defend the community.
A second propaganda exhibition by the developer for a 9 turbine proposal was mass picketted in October with many people coming from nearby villages. click here to read the Press report.
A Rally on the steps of Rugby town Hall was held on a cold january's evening to emphasise to Councillors that over 90% of the community expected them to reject the proposal. See photo on the left.
The developer's proposal was for 9 wind turbines each linked by a 6 metre concrete track across the valley behind Churchover. At 126 metres tall, they will be 5 times the height of the village church. The nearest will be about 700 metres from the officially designated village conservation area and some 430 metres from some houses.
It must be in everybody's interest to resist these wind turbines
wind is free, windpower is not
- Do you want your electricity prices increased by 50% ( some say much higher) to pay for windfarm ROC subsidies? Read more…
- Will your house value be reduced? Read more.. It is a good investment in time and money to help the fight.
- Do you want one of the Midland's iconic views of a conservation village with its 9th century historic church that presently dominates the meandering Swift Valley to be blighted and vandalised?
- Are the health hazards of Turbine noise (audio and infra-sound) being brushed under the table?
- If the Churchover windfarm goes ahead, it will be the first of many across the rural Rugby area and being in a beautiful area and so close to housing, no area will be protected in the future. Help stop a precedent being created.
- A wind energy policy stands no chance of altering atmospheric CO2 concentrations, still less of deflecting climate change. Read more..
- Protect your life – support ASWAR
"saving the environment" by building wind power stations that damage the environment, is NOT a good idea!


text:
Free Download Shootback v1.1.5 – Retina Photography WordPress Theme
Shootback v1.1.5 – Retina Photography WordPress Theme
Shootback is ultra responsive, retina ready, and built on Twitter Bootstrap framework. It features a clean, modern and interesting design, packed with the super powerful TouchSize Layout Builder which offers unlimited possibilities and options. Our Page Builder is at the core of our theme, giving you full control over your website and lets you create sites that suits your needs. The builder incorporates some incredible features making it one of the most versatile themes on the market . If you're looking for a theme that will offer you the possibility to create any website – Shootback is the one.
Demo Online
Free Download Link

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The former Fifa boss is launching a final appeal to clear his name to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the world's top sporting tribunal, seeking to revoke the suspension imposed by world football's governing body.
Blatter, who has described the ban as "stupid", is to appear at the hearing in person as the court convenes at 8:30 am (0630 GMT) in Lausanne.
Arguments at CAS are expected to last just one day, although a decision may take several weeks.
"I'm very confident," the 80-year-old career sports administrator told AFP last week, although his prospects for an outright victory would appear to be remote.
The now infamous, endlessly debated case first emerged in September of last year, when Swiss prosecutors said they were investigating Blatter over a suspect two million Swiss franc payment ($2 million, 1.8 million euros) he authorised in 2011 to his one-time heir apparent, Michel Platini.
Those revelations initially triggered a provisional suspension by Fifa's ethics committee.
A full investigation and trial by Fifa's in-house court found Blatter and Platini both guilty of ethics violations. They were banned from football for eight years in December.
A Fifa appeals committee cut those penalties to six years in February, just before Blatter's successor and fellow Swiss national, Gianni Infantino, was elected as Fifa's new president.
Blatter's hopes for redemption at CAS are likely hampered by Platini's failed appeal at the Lausanne-based court.
In a May ruling CAS judges said they were "not convinced" that the $2 million payment was legitimate.
Too severe
They did however reduce the suspension against the former French star and European football chief from six years to four, judging Fifa's penalty "too severe."
Throughout the protracted saga, both Blatter and Platini have insisted the payment was part of a legitimate oral contract.
Platini had been hired by Fifa as a consultant from 1999 to 2002 and had apparently not received his full compensation.
The two men claimed the $2 million was authorised in 2011 as an honest effort to settle that account.
Judges at Fifa and CAS have so far found that argument unpersuasive.
Blatter has maintained his innocence as his four decade Fifa career unravelled over the last 13 months, and continued that trend in the interview last week.
"Fifa made the contract with Platini, and this was an oral contract," he told AFP at a plush restaurant in Zurich.
"So far in the Fifa committees, in the ethics committee and in the appeal committee, they were saying: we don't believe that. But we are not all liars. So I think there is a good chance that this panel will believe that there was a contract."
The hearing marks the latest legal battle in a series of intertwined scandals that began in May of last year, when the US Justice Department unsealed a raft of corruption indictments against top Fifa officials.
Prosecutors in New York have since indicted 40 football and sports marketing executives over allegedly receiving tens of millions of bribes and kickbacks.
Some of the most powerful people in the game have fallen, including Fifa's long-serving secretary general Jerome Valcke who like Blatter is facing a criminal investigation in Switzerland.
Blatter 'confident' as he faces Swiss sports court
Sepp Blatter is back in court in Switzerland on Thursday in a final bid for redemption as he seeks to overturn a six-year ban from football following more than a year of scandal.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.
See Also
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.


text:
A simple item found in almost every medicine cabinet a cotton swab -- may be a key tool in the fight against post-surgical wound infections.
In a sentinel trial, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center surgeon Shirin Towfigh, MD, showed that painless and gentle probing of a wound with a dry cotton swab after surgery dramatically reduced infections in post-operative incision sites: only 3 percent of patients who had the daily probings contracted infections compared to 19 percent of those who didn't -- a rate more than six times higher than that of the study group.
"That a humble cotton swab could have such an impact in reducing the incidence of hospital-acquired infections is really quite remarkable," Towfigh says. "This study reminds us that scientists can still find effective treatments when we are willing to think outside of the 'technology box.' "
Surgical site infections most commonly occur when patients have "dirty" or contaminated wounds, such as after a trauma, bowel surgery, or perforated appendicitis. Until now, no preventative treatment at the contaminated wound site including topical antibiotics, under-the-skin wound drains or delayed closure of the wound has proven to reliably decrease these infections. More than 500,000 such infections occur in the U.S each year, accounting for nearly one-quarter of hospital-acquired infections and a major source of illness and cause of death in patients.
The exact mechanism by which the technique prevents surgical site infection is unclear, though Towfigh and colleagues surmise that wound probing allows contaminated fluid trapped within soft tissues to drain, reducing the bacterial burden while maintaining a moist environment needed for successful wound healing.
Besides greatly reducing incision infections, painless probing with the cotton swab resulted in less post-operative pain for patients and significantly shorter hospital stays (five vs. seven days). Patients also had better cosmetic healing of their incisions and unsurprisingly -- higher satisfaction with their outcomes.
As reported in the Archives of Surgery, all study participants had undergone an appendectomy for a perforated appendicitis. Half of the 76 patients in the prospective, randomized trial had their incisions loosely closed with staples, then swabbed daily with iodine (the control group). The study group had their incisions loosely closed. Then, their wounds were probed gently between surgical staples with a dry, sterile cotton tip applicator each day.
"This practice was introduced to me as a surgical resident 15 years ago," Towfigh says. "I've used it routinely since then. While I thought all surgeons were aware of this treatment approach, I learned otherwise when I began my professional career. Since it was evident to me that probing certain wounds after surgery resulted in far fewer infections, I developed this clinical trial so that my colleagues across the country could learn about -- and confidently adopt the practice."
Towfigh, part of the Cedars-Sinai's Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery and the Department of Surgery, has taught her wound probing technique to the medical and nursing staff throughout Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The team of colorectal surgeons at Cedars-Sinai has not only adopted the practice but has begun a clinical study in their own patient population.
As a surgical educator at Cedars-Sinai, Towfigh teaches the probing technique to her medical students, residents and fellows with the expectation they will educate others as they fan out to hospitals nationwide.
Towfigh is a faculty member in the medical center's division of General Surgery.
Our Understanding of Immune Issues Is Evolving: Here Are 5 Reasons Why
June 14th 2024Recent medical advances include RNA vaccine technology, enhanced understanding of immune dysregulation, improved inter-specialty communication, deeper insights into inflammation, and recognition of biological complexity.


text:
English teachers: Download a worksheet for your classroom
RAY FREEMAN: PEOPLE IN AMERICA -- a program in Special English on the Voice of America.
Every week at this time, we tell the story of a person was important in the history of the United States. Today Steve Ember and Frank Oliver begin the story of industrialist Henry Ford.
STEVE EMBER: Many people believe Henry Ford invented the automobile. But Henry Ford did not start to build his first car until eighteen ninety-six. That was eleven years after two Germans -- Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz -- developed the first gasoline-powered automobile.
Many people believe Henry Ford invented the factory system that moved a car's parts to the worker, instead of making the worker move to the parts. That is not true, either. Many manufacturers used this system before Ford.
What Henry Ford did was to use other people's ideas and make them better.
Others made cars. Henry Ford made better cars. And he sold them for less money. Others built car factories. Henry Ford built the biggest factory of its time. And he made the whole factory a moving production line.
Henry Ford had great skills in making machines work. He also had great skills as an organizer. His efforts produced a huge manufacturing company. But those same efforts almost ruined the company he built.
FRANK OLIVER: Henry Ford was born on a farm in the state of Michigan on July thirtieth, eighteen sixty-three. The farm was near the city of Detroit.
Henry was always interested in machines. He was always experimenting with them. He enjoyed fixing clocks. And he helped repair farm equipment. When Henry was sixteen years old, he left the family farm. He went to Detroit to learn more about machines.
In eighteen seventy-nine, when Henry began work in Detroit, the city was a center of industrial development. Travelers could tell they were near Detroit by the cloud of smoke that hung over the city. Detroit was a center of iron and steel making. Nearby mines of lead and salt brought chemical companies to the city. And Detroit's copper and brass business was the largest in the world.
One thing Henry Ford learned in Detroit was to have the right tool to do the job. It was something he would never forget.
STEVE EMBER: After three years in Detroit, Henry returned to his family farm. He remained on the farm until he was thirty years old. But he was not a real farmer. He was a machine man. A nearby farmer, for example, had bought a small steam engine to be used in farming. The machine did not work correctly. Henry agreed to try to fix it. At the end of just one day, Henry knew everything about the machine. And he made it work again.
Henry remembered that time as the happiest in his life. He said: "I was paid three dollars a day, and had eighty-three days of steady work. I have never been better satisfied with myself. "
Another thing that made those days happy was meeting a young woman. Her name was Clara Jane Bryant. Years later Henry said: "I knew in half an hour she was the one for me." They were married in eighteen eighty-eight, on Clara's twenty-second birthday.
FRANK OLIVER: Henry and Clara lived on a farm near Detroit. But, still, Henry was not a real farmer. He grew some food in a small garden. And he kept a few animals. But he made money mostly by selling trees from his farm. And he continued to fix farm equipment. It was really machines that he loved.
In eighteen ninety-one, Henry visited Detroit. There he saw a machine called the Silent Otto. It was a device powered by gasoline. It had been developed by a German, Nikolaus August Otto. He was one of the men who had worked with Gottlieb Daimler, who developed the first gasoline-powered automobile.
The silent otto did not move. But Henry saw immediately that if the machine could be put on wheels, it would move by itself.
He returned home to Clara with an idea to build such a machine. He was sure he could do it. But the machine would need electricity to make the engine work. And Henry had not learned enough about electricity. So he took a job with an electric power company in Detroit. Henry, his wife Clara, and his young son Edsel moved to the city.
STEVE EMBER: While Henry worked for the power company, he and a few other men developed a small engine. In June, eighteen ninety-six, Henry had his first automobile. He called it a quadricycle. It looked like two bicycles, side by side. It had thin tires like a bicycle. And it had a bicycle seat.
In eighteen ninety-nine, Henry resigned from the power company to work on his automobile. He won the support of a small group of rich men who formed the Detroit automobile company. By the start of nineteen-oh-one, however, the company had failed.
Another man might have decided that the automobile business was not the best business for him. He might have stopped. Henry Ford was just getting started.
FRANK OLIVER: In the early days of the automobile, almost every car-maker raced his cars. It was the best way of gaining public notice. Henry Ford decided to build a racing car.
Ford's most famous race was his first. It also was the last race in which he drove the car himself.
The race was in nineteen-oh-one, at a field near Detroit. All of the most famous cars had entered. And all withdrew, except two. The Winton. And Ford's. The Winton was famous for its speed. Most people thought the race was over before it began.
The Winton took an early lead. But halfway through the race, it began to lose power. Ford started to gain. And near the end of the race, he took the lead. Ford won the race and defeated the champion. His name appeared in newspapers. His fame began to spread.
STEVE EMBER: Within weeks of the race, Henry Ford formed a new automobile company. He left soon after, however, because he could not agree with the investors. He had no trouble finding new ones.
Henry continued to build racing cars. His most famous cars of the time were the Arrow and the 999. Both won races. And they helped make the name Henry Ford more famous.
Henry used what he learned from racing to develop a better engine. In nineteen-oh-three, he was ready to start building cars for the public. On July fifteenth, nineteen three, a man named Dr. Pfenning bought the first car from the Ford Motor Company.
FRANK OLIVER: The sale to Dr. Pfenning was the beginning of a huge number of requests for Ford cars. By the end of March, nineteen four, almost six hundred Ford cars had been sold. The company had earned almost one hundred thousand dollars. Sales were so great that a new factory had to be found.
At the start of nineteen five, the Ford Motor Company was producing twenty-five cars each day. It employed three hundred men. The company produced several kinds of cars. First there was the Model A. Then there were the Model B, Model C and Model F. They were just a little different from the Model A -- one of Ford's most famous cars.
Ford's Model K car was for wealthy buyers. One of the company's investors was sure the future of the automobile industry was in this costly car. Henry Ford did not agree. He was sure the future of the automobile industry was in a low-priced car for the general public. He said then, and many times after, "I want to make a car that anybody can buy."
FRANK OLIVER: These conflicting beliefs led to a battle for control of the company. In the end, Henry bought the stock of the investors who wanted to make costly cars. He was then free to make the low-cost car he believed in.
The story shows the way Henry's mind worked. When he thought he was correct, he was willing to invest his efforts and his money. Earlier, he had walked away from the business of making cars when he could not control the business. Now he had the money to buy the stock of those who disagreed with him.
STEVE EMBER: In nineteen seven, Henry Ford said: "I will build a motor car for the great mass of people. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for one person to operate and care for. It will be built of the best materials. It will be built by the best men to be employed. And it will be built with the simplest plans that modern engineering can produce. It will be so low in price that no man making good money will be unable to own one. "
That was what Henry Ford wanted. To reach his goal, his life took many interesting turns. That will be our story next week.
RAY FREEMAN: You have been listening to the Special English program People in America. Your narrators were Steve Ember and Frank Oliver. Our program was written by Richard Thorman. I'm Ray Freeman.


text:
The registers contain technical and formal documentation used in the Norwegian Spatial Data Infrastructure. The documentation can be viewed in the registers modules of the geoportal, and are also available through APIs.
Norwegian NSDI register of spatial data product fact sheets
Norwegian NSDI register of data product specification documents
Registret inneholder filer av ulike typer.
The coverage map shows which datasets in the public map of the map are covered by the various municipalities.
The table displays datasets confirmed to be part of the municipalitys approved data for public administration.
The table gives an overview of performance and quality of deliverables from the different Norwegian public organisations delivering data according to the Norwegian Planning and Building Act. The law defines a broad set of data suitable for processes on land use planning, building permits, environmental assessments, risk assessments etc. The Norwegian Mapping Agency has the duty to assess these data sets.
The register provides an overview of data collected through the projects; Mareano and "Marine base map". The overview shows the status of various datasets' fulfillment of the FAIR principles as well as other requirements from the national geographical infrastructure
The table gives an overview of performance and quality of deliverables from the different Norwegian public organisations delivering Inspire data. The icons show level of conformity for the different requirements and recommendations according to the EU Inspire directive and underlying regulations. Validation is done mostly by automated tests.
Register of change notifications for services registered in Geonorge.
Contains info and links to systems for collecting Geodata
Norwegian NSDI register of cartography definitions – SLD and other formats
Norwegian NSDI register of pictograms and symbols used in cartography
Norwegian NSDI register of cartography documents (PDF format)
Norwegian NSDI register of code lists for spatial data
Norwegian NSDI register of code lists for metadata
Norwegian NSDI register of organisations
Norwegian NSDI register of coordinate reference systems, EPSG-codes
Norwegian NSDI register of national SOSI code lists
Norwegian NSDI Feature Catalogue with UML-models and definitions
Norwegian NSDI register of GML application schemas
Norwegian NSDI register of standards and accompanying guidance documents
Her finner du alle standarder under SOSI paraplyen, inkludert standarder for geografisk informasjon
Documents that govern the implementation of solutions in the geographical infrastructure
Norwegian NSDI register of name space for spatial data
Registeret inneholder konteksttekster som sier noe om hvordan en skal forholde seg hvis tiltak kommer i konflikt med ulike typer temadata.


text:
You can find the best Technical Writing professionals on Bark. Start your search and get free quotes now!
First time looking for a Technical Writing professional and not sure where to start? Tell us about your project and we'll send you a list of Technical Writing professionals to review. There's no pressure to hire, so you can compare profiles, read previous reviews and ask for more information before you make your decision.
Best of all - it's completely free!


text:
Brought to you byThe Printhouse
Museum quality Giclee print on a premium fine art paper, 100% cotton, acid-free, archival
Framing options –
8 in stock
Frosted Silver (Alum) (+₪200)
Glossy Silver (Alum) (+₪200)
Black (Alum) (+₪200)
Maple (Wood Veneer) (+₪240)
Oak (Wood Veneer) (+₪240)
Anti-reflective, high quality UV Glass (+₪130)
This is an edge-to-edge print. You may choose to add passpartout margins between the print and frame (add about 5cm on each side)
Passpartout margins (approx. 5cm each side, natural white 4 ply archival museum board) (+₪70)


text:
Lawrence B. Stacy, Mobile, Alabama, a real estate investor, has agreed to plead guilty and to serve prison time for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama. To date, as a result of the ongoing investigation, three individuals and one company have pleaded guilty..
The charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.
Stacy was charged with one count of bid rigging and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. According to the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Stacy has agreed to serve six months in prison. Additionally, Stacy has agreed to pay a $10,000 criminal fine and to cooperate with the department's ongoing investigation.
According to court documents, Stacy conspired with others not to bid against one another at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama. After a designated bidder bought a property at the public auctions, which typically take place at the county courthouse, the conspirators would generally hold a secret, second auction, at which each participant would bid the amount above the public auction price he or she was willing to pay. The highest bidder at the secret, second auction won the property.
Stacy was also charged with conspiring to use the U.S. mail to carry out a scheme to acquire title to rigged foreclosure properties sold at public auctions at artificially suppressed prices, to make and receive payoffs to co-conspirators and to cause financial institutions, homeowners, and others with a legal interest in rigged foreclosure properties to receive less than the competitive price for the properties. Stacy participated in the bid rigging and mail fraud conspiracies from at least as early as May 2002 until at least January 2007.
Each violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals. The maximum fine for a Sherman Act charge may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victim if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine. Each count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine in an amount equal to the greatest of $250,000, twice the gross gain the conspirators derived from the crime, or twice the gross loss caused to the victims of the crime by the conspirators.
The Department of Justice made the announcement.
The investigation into fraud and bid rigging at certain real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's Atlanta Field Office and the FBI's Mobile Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Alabama. Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division's Atlanta Field Office at 404-331-7100 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.
The charges are part of efforts underway by President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency task force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
"The Antitrust Division will continue to pursue vigorously the perpetrators involved in these real estate foreclosure auction schemes," said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. "Those who eliminate competition from the marketplace and prey on the misfortune of others will be held accountable for their actions."
FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Mobile FBI Office Lewis M. Chapman recognized the perseverance of agents and prosecutors in this complex investigation. Chapman stated, "This investigation sends the message that real estate fraud, including antitrust violations, will continue to be pursued in these tough economic times, no matter how intricate the scheme."


text:
I'm a little sad, and yet a little relieved, to say that this will be my last Mosaic Monday post. For the past several years, I have found it hard to keep up with this weekly duty -- first because an overuse injury to my hand has kept me from commenting on other blogs, and secondly, because of time constraints. I have found that I'm not taking as many photos purely for my own enjoyment as I used to, and that is something that I need to work more on in the future. For whatever else I do with my camera, I want to make sure that I am always following my heart.
So I have removed the advertising from my blog, and I am giving up Mosaic Monday. If anyone wishes to take over and keep it going, please email me, and I will announce it on the blog later this week. I will be keeping the blog available, though I'm not sure how often I will be posting. Hopefully, that will be only when I have something worthwhile that I wish to share. In the meantime, I have to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all your comments and encouragement throughout the years. You have been such a large part of my life! xoxo
Edited to add: Great news! Judith, from Lavender Cottage, has offered to host Mosaic Monday. Please join her next week. She will be posting around 2:00pm EST.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.


text:
Grand Tour Intaglio Case
Grand Tour Intaglio Case
By Bridie Hall
In stock : 1Ref: SOR-BHB1117
Triangular atomic red & blue case filled with multicoloured intaglios.
Inspired by the famous Cobbe museum's collections of colourful 'medallion wafers'. When hardstone cameos and intaglios produced during the Italian Renaissance period, were so rare and expensive they were reserved for only the richest collectors. The more modest 'grand tourers' sought out reproductions in glass and plaster or red or white sulphur during the C18th and C19th.
Cast in two parts from Bridie's own small collection of antique plaster intaglios, in Jesmonite. The intaglio reliefs are picked out in a milky cream while the body of the intaglios come in a selection of candy colours taken from the earliest examples of Wedgwood jasper ware.
Displayed within a beautifully handmade wooden triangular case. Lacquered, gilded and painted in sublime colour combinations picked out from the Aubusson, Verdure and Gobelin tapestries.
Make an impact grouped or hung individually. No two intaglio cases are ever the same, each collection differs slightly.
Dimensions: Length 20cm, Width 23cm, Depth 2.7cm.
Made by hand in London.


text:
LOCAL LINK BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES IN Wayne County, PA
Wayne County has many unique opportunities available for sponsorship. This is merely a sample - we have 33 sponsorships available in total.
Below are the top 10 sponsorship opportunities available.
Sponsorship | Score | Social Media Detected |
What is ZipSprout?
ZipSprout is a local SEO agency focused on building relationships between local grassroots organizations and businesses. We work with national, regional, and local businesses seeking local SERP visibility, nonprofit partnerships and/or event marketing in Atlanta. Solutions range from enterprise services, to a DIY tool for smaller campaigns. Learn more about how ZipSprout works here.
We believe that mission matters, and that grassroots local connections provide more long-term value than ad networks. Learn more about how ZipSprout can help you connect:


text:
Army of Two: The 40th Day
Co-op shooter sequel on the way from EA Montreal.
Guildford, UK – March 12, 2009 – EA Montreal, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced ARMY OF TWO™: THE 40th DAY. The ultimate two-man private military team of Salem and Rios return in this epic sequel where they must survive and prevail in a city under siege. EA Montreal is once again leading the next evolution in co-op shooter games offering a fresh, innovative and fluid co-op experience with a deep arsenal of customizable weapons so players can team up with their friends online for the fight of their lives.
"With ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY, we're pushing the tactical two-man military team into new battlegrounds offering a completely organic and rich co-op experience to deliver an action-packed co-op shooter this winter," says Reid Schneider, Executive Producer, EA Montreal. "As chaos blankets Shanghai, China, you must rely on your partner to survive as you weave through a broken city left devastated in a mysterious wake."
When a disaster of epic proportions strikes Shanghai, China, Rios and Salem find themselves right in the middle of it all—the wrong place, the wrong time, but the right team. A carefully orchestrated series of mysterious catastrophes is dragging Shanghai to the brink of ruin, and now the Army of Two must fight their way through ravaged city districts as they try to beat the odds and uncover the secret of the 40th Day.
ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY features a bigger playbook of new co-op moves that either player can use at any time, opening up new strategies and countless choices for both players. The result is a bigger, better, more organic and immersive co-op experience that lets gamers put their best two-man tactics to use whenever and wherever they want.
ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY will be available for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) this winter.
For more information on ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY please visit: www.armyoftwo.com. For more information on EA Montreal, please visit www.eamontreal.com or www.ea.com.


text:
UK Release
PetSafe® Brand launches four new dog toys
Playtime for pups is about to get even more fun with the launch of four new dog toys from PetSafe® Brand. Just like people, pets need to take time out to enjoy themselves – and the new additions are designed to help dogs do just that.
Global pet product expert PetSafe® Brand has designed each of the four toys to excite dogs of all ages and sizes, while also challenging them mentally to keep them actively engaged and alert.
The following new additions to the Play & Challenge range are available from September from the PetSafe® Brand website and other selected retailers:
Squeak 'n Treat Ninja Star – this fun durable toy features rubber Treat Meter™ treat dispensers that offers customisable rates of treat release. The toy also has a squeaker which gives pups the fun of the squeak without pet parents having the mess of plush toy destruction clean-up. Available in three sizes, the Ninja Star's unique shape makes it perfect for fun fetch play too.
Chilly Penguin – this unique freezable toy releases cool dog-safe treats making it perfect for the hotter months. Pet parents simply put their dog's favourite treat in the bowl-shaped cavity, pop in the freezer overnight and then the treat is ready to enjoy. The toy's wobble design gives dogs an extra challenge and further helps extend playtime. Multiple Penguins can be stacked on top of one another in the freezer and the toy is conveniently dishwasher safe.
PetSafe® Grip 'n Tug™ – this durable toy provides a rewarding, safe and fun experience for pups and their parents and is a wonderful way to train dogs with basic commands like "drop it." Its smart design means the fleece and rope braided tug does not get stuck in a dog's teeth or gums and its protective handle makes it safer and less tiring for pet owners. Conveniently, the "Tugs" are detachable, meaning they can be both machine washed and replaced if needed.
Download© 2024 Radio Systems Corporation All Rights Reserved. * Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Privacy Statement Cookies Policy


text:
Pope John Paul II: The Magisterium Exercises Authority in Christ's Name
Address to Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
November 24, 1995
Your Eminence,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
1. I would first of all like to express my joy at being able to meet you at the end of your plenary assembly. This is a fitting occasion to show you my gratitude. Your work, difficult and demanding in so many respects, is of fundamental importance to the Christian life. Indeed, it seeks to promote and defend the integrity and purity of the faith, which are essential conditions so that the men and women of our time can find the light to embark on the way of salvation.
I thank Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for the sentiments expressed in his address and for explaining the work you have done during your plenary assembly, which was particularly devoted to the problem of the reception of the pronouncements made by the ecclesiastical Magisterium.
2. The continual dialogue with Pastors and theologians throughout the world enables you to be attentive to the demands of understanding and reflecting more deeply on the doctrine of the faith, which theology interprets, and at the same time, it informs you of the useful efforts being made to foster and strengthen the unity of the faith and the Magisterium's guiding role in understanding the truth and in building up ecclesial communion in charity.
The unity of the faith, for the sake of which the Magisterium has authority and ultimate deliberative power in interpreting the Word of God written and handed down, is a primary value, which, if respected, does not involve the stifling of theological research, but provides it with a stable foundation. Theology, in its task of making explicit the intelligible content of the faith, expresses the intrinsic orientation of human intelligence to the truth and the believer's irrepressible need rationally to explore the revealed mystery.
To achieve this end, theology can never be reduced to the "private" reflection of a theologian or group of theologians. The Church is the theologian's vital environment, and in order to remain faithful to its identity, theology cannot fail to participate deeply in the fabric of the Church's life, doctrine, holiness and prayer.
Magisterium Is a Service to the Truth
3. This is the context in which the conviction that theology needs the living and clarifying word of the Magisterium becomes fully understandable and perfectly consistent with the logic of the Christian faith. The meaning of the Church's Magisterium must be considered in relation to the truth of Christian doctrine. This is what your Congregation has carefully explained and spelled out in the Instruction *Donum veritatis* on the ecclesial vocation of the theologian.
The fact that the dogmatic development which culminated in the solemn definition of the First Vatican Council has stressed the Magisterium's charism of infallibility and clarified the conditions of its exercise must not lead to the Magisterium's being considered only from this standpoint. Its power and its authority are actually the power and authority of Christian truth, to which it bears witness. The Magisterium, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ (cf. *Dei Verbum*, n. 10), is an organ of service to the truth and is responsible for seeing that the truth does not cease to be faithfully handed on throughout human history.
4. Today we must note a widespread misunderstanding of the meaning and role of the Church's Magisterium. This is at the root of the criticisms and protests regarding its pronouncements, as you have particularly pointed out with respect to the reactions in not a few theological and ecclesiastical circles to the most recent documents of the papal Magisterium: the Encyclicals *Veritatis splendor*, on the principles of moral doctrine and life, and *Evangelium vitae*, on the value and inviolability of human life; the Apostolic Letter *Ordinatio sacerdotalis*, on the impossibility of conferring priestly ordination on women; and the *Letter* of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the reception of Eucharistic Communion by divorced and remarried faithful.
In this regard, it is certainly necessary to distinguish the attitude of theologians who, in a spirit of cooperation and ecclesial communion, present their difficulties and questions, and thus positively contribute to the maturing of reflection on the deposit of faith, form the public stance of opposition to the Magisterium, which is described as "dissent"; the latter tends to set up a kind of counter-magisterium, presenting believers with alternative positions and forms of behavior. The plurality of cultures and of theological approaches and systems themselves has its legitimacy only if the unity of the faith is presupposed in its objective meaning. The very freedom proper to theological research is never freedom with regard to the truth, but is justified and realized when the individual complies with the moral obligation of obeying the truth presented by Revelation and accepted in faith.
5. At the same time, as you have rightly considered in your assembly, it is necessary today to foster a climate of positive reception and acceptance of the Magisterium's documents, calling attention to their style and language, so as to harmonize the solidity and clarity of the doctrine with the pastoral concern to use forms of communication and means of expression that are incisive and effective for the consciousness of contemporary man.
It is not possible, however, to overlook one of the decisive aspects that lies at the base of the malaise and uneasiness in certain parts of the ecclesiastical world: it is a question of the way authority is conceived. In the case of the Magisterium, authority is not exercised only when the charism of infallibility is involved; its exercise has a wider field, which is required by the appropriate defense of the revealed deposit.
For a community based essentially on shared adherence to the Word of God and on the resulting certainty of living in the truth, authority for determining the content to be believed and professed is something that cannot be renounced. That this authority includes various degrees of teaching has been clearly stated in two recent documents of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: the *Professio Fidei* and the Instruction *Donum veritatis*. This hierarchy of degrees should not be considered an impediment but a stimulus to theology.
Authentic Concept of Authority Must Be Recovered
6. However, this does not entitle one to hold that the pronouncements and doctrinal decisions of the Magisterium call for irrevocable assent only when it states them in a solemn judgment or definitive act, and that, consequently, in all other cases one need only consider the arguments or reasons employed.
In the Encyclicals *Veritatis splendor* and *Evangelium vitae*, as well as in the Apostolic Letter *Ordinatio sacerdotalis*, I wished once again to set forth the constant doctrine of the Church's faith with an act confirming truths which are clearly witnessed to by Scripture, the apostolic Tradition and the unanimous teaching of the Pastors. These declarations, by virtue of the authority handed down to the Successor of Peter to "confirm the brethren" (Lk 22:32), thus express the common certitude present in the life and teaching of the Church.
It therefore seems urgently necessary to recover the authentic concept of authority, not only from the formal juridical standpoint, but more profoundly, as a means of guaranteeing, safeguarding and guiding the Christian community in fidelity to and continuity with Tradition, to make it possible for believers to be in contact with the preaching of the Apostles and with the source of the Christian reality itself.
7. As I rejoice with you, dear Brothers in Christ, over the intense, arduous and valuable ministry you carry out in service to the Apostolic See and for the benefit of the entire Church, I offer you my encouragement to continue firmly and confidently in the task entrusted to you, in order thus to help guide and preserve everyone in the freedom of the truth.
With these sentiments I cordially impart my Blessing to you all, as a pledge of affection and gratitude.
Reproduced with permission from *L'Osservatore Romano*, English Edition, November 29, 1995, p. 3.


text:
Big Ceramic Bowls
Regular price
Sale price
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Bowls are the new plates. We work with Marin based therapist, Tina Fossella, who transudes her human sensibility into her wares to create a range of exclusively-for-us ceramics that truly depicts our vision for the style of life - one that celebrates the hand, encourages the senses and respects the ritual of use. Pick it up and feel it for yourself - it is heartily alive.
Use and Care: Dishwasher safe. Treat it with respect.
Product dimensions: top diameter 10"W x 3 1/2"H


text:
New drug discovery center focuses on brain disorders
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has established a new Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery to accelerate research that may lead to new treatments for Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia and other disorders of the brain.
The center will incorporate and build on the successes of the Vanderbilt Program in Drug Discovery, established in 2003 by P. Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., the Lee E. Limbird Professor of Pharmacology.
Conn will co-direct the new center with Craig Lindsley, Ph.D., professor of Pharmacology and Chemistry, and principal investigator of the Specialized Chemistry Center for Accelerated Probe Development.
Conn will lead the pharmacology and neuroscience efforts at the center, while Lindsley will continue to direct the medicinal chemistry group.
Other members of the center's leadership team are:
• J. Scott Daniels, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology, director of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics;
• Carrie Jones, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology, director of in vivo pharmacology; and
• Colleen Niswender, Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmacology, director of molecular pharmacology.
With support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and from foundation and corporate partners, Vanderbilt's neuroscience drug discovery team has pioneered approaches for "tuning" the activity of receptors in the brain involved in a wide range of disorders.
The researchers are developing "allosteric modulators," compounds that do not directly activate or block receptors but instead work like a dimmer switch in an electrical circuit to more specifically and precisely tune receptor activity up or down.
With funding from the NIH and Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Johnson & Johnson company, they are developing a compound that, by "tuning up" the activity of a metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR5, may improve treatment of schizophrenia.
With Seaside Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., the team is trying to "tune down" excessive signaling through two different pathways.
The goal is to relieve — for the first time with a drug — learning, memory, social and behavioral problems associated with Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of mental retardation and the most common genetic cause of autism.
A third project, supported by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, could lead to a new way to relieve the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The researchers have identified two compounds that, by "tuning up" the activity of a different glutamate receptor, mGluR4, reduce rigidity and "freezing" of certain muscles in animal models of the disease.
Gaining center status is a reflection of the tremendous growth of the eight-year-old program, which received $16.4 million in extramural funding in the current fiscal year, and which supports the work of 94 Vanderbilt researchers.
It is also based on the growing opportunities institutionally and nationally in neuroscience drug discovery.
"This program has truly been a model for how academic drug discovery can be successful, and their future visions are poised to further capitalize on the progress to date," said Susan Wente, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for Research.
The new center will continue to leverage opportunities for trans-departmental collaborations and for accelerating movement of their discoveries from the lab bench to patient care.
For example, all three active projects are ready to advance to final toxicity testing in animals, which are required before beginning clinical trials.
"Vanderbilt has always been a pioneer at the forefront of experimental medicine, (and) … has tremendous expertise and infrastructure for performing early stage clinical proof of concept studies," Conn said.
The progress that has been made during the past seven years "is just amazing," he said. "It's a real testament to the quality of the people here and to the dedication of our team."


text:
Graphic Design for Marketing
Website Design Services, Print Design Services, Product Photography, & Staff Photography
Custom Website Design
Small Business Website Design Services, WordPress, WordPress Training, single page websites, multi-page website design, and e-commerce solutions
Print Design Services
Business card design, brochure design, logo design, company letterhead, folders, product catalogs, gift certificates, posters, and flyer design
Photography Services
Staff portraits, on-location photography, real estate photography, event photography, product photography, stock photography
Recent Work
View the latest Website Design Projects, including WordPress Websites, HTML Multi-Page Websites, and Web Graphics. Some of the latest projects are available on our
Web Design Portfolio Page.
View some of the latest Print Design Projects including Product Sale Flyers, Product Information Sheets, Posters, and Print Ads. Some of the latest projects are available on our
Print Design Portfolio Page.
The latest Product Photography, Corporate Event Photography, and Corporate Head Shots can be viewed on the
Photography Project Portfolio Page.


text:
The Irish Republic declared independence from the UK in 1919, and the Anglo-Irish Treaty making them the Irish Free State was signed in 1921 and became effective in December 1922.
That was 93 years ago, and it's taken till now for the Irish President to pay a state visit to Britain.
On the day of the visit, the Irish economist David McWilliams wrote a sweet article entitled Are the Irish the creative bit in the English? where he pointed out that there are 14 million people of Irish descent in England - as he put it "close to three times as many more English people of Irish descent than there are Irish people of Irish descent" and then went on to say that some of these people (Morrissey, the Gallaghers of Oasis and others) went on to do some very creative stuff.
Reading this from an English point of view, you can't help noticing that Morrissey et al are as Irish as David Cameron is Scottish (i.e. their fathers may have been from Ireland or Scotland but they themselves were formed by their peers in England). And that the % of Irish-Brits who have done creative stuff is no greater than the % of Caribbean-Brits or Scottish-Brits or Jewish-Brits or whatever.
No matter - the article was exploring identity and some Irish pride was taken in the fact that these people became successful in England even if they wouldn't have done in Ireland and the Emerald Isle was basking in reflected glory.
The comments to the article also explored identity and this is when things became painfully poignant. Here's a comment from someone called Douglas Kastle:
I find this slightly bemusing. The Irish are getting all worked up into a tiz now that the English are being nice to us, look at the Queen isn't she lovely. Yet they, the English as a people, couldn't care less. Checking the front page for the Guardian, The Times and even the Daily Mail have no mention of President Higgins visit. The only thing getting any traction about Ireland is a priest singing Hallelujah on YouTube.
I have a lot of English friends and get on great with them. However there was one disconnect I found repeatedly and a quote I heard once, that actually goes as far back as GK Chesterton summed it all up nicely:
"the tragedy of the English conquest of Ireland in the 17th century is thatthe Irish can never forget it and the English can never remember it"
I can't imagine a quote being more appropriate of the way the two nations operate. While the Irish are brought up on a diet of famine, the rising, independence, civil war, troubles, bloody english!!! etc. The English don't know any thing about itAfter nearly a century, the people of the Irish Republic are desperate for the UK to acknowledge and validate them, but because they are no longer part of our country, we don't give them a thought.
How can it be otherwise? We're a nation of 63 million people and they are just about 5 million. They don't really affect us, but we affect them - especially economically - hence their face is constantly turned to us like the moon faces earth, and we notice only if we're awake on a bright night.
But suppose they'd stayed in the UK as full participating members. They'd be on TV, they'd be sending people to Parliament, they'd have as much chance of leading a political party as anyone else, and hence the chance to become Prime Minister and shape the nation for a generation. Look at the impact the Welsh have had in creating the welfare state - Lloyd George and his state pensions and Nye Bevan and his NHS. As long as you are part of a single political entity you have a voice even if you speak a different language (as Lloyd George and Bevan did).
If you are outside though, it's like you don't exist. Does anyone from John O'Groats to Lands End spare a single thought as to how our economic policies affect the Irish Republic? Of course not. Yet most of Ireland's exports are to Britain. They joined the EU because we did and they felt they had to, or lose out. They joined the euro because they thought it would break the British grip on their economy (it didn't, it only hurt them) and now they're agonizing about what will become of them if we leave the EU - the reality is that they'll be forced to follow us out like a faithful puppy dog.
This is the fate awaiting Scotland if they vote Yes. They believe that independence will make them more equal to the English than they are now. The reality is that they'll be less equal, way less equal, due to disparities of size and the disappearance of the obligation on our part to consider them as fellow travellers.
But how does England make this point to the Scots without coming off as patronizing? Or should we just do what I've done in this article, say it, publish and be damned?
There was another thought-provoking comment in that Irish article:
If you have Irish parents and are raised 'in the belly of the beast' on the island of Britain, it leads to a hybrid identity that can only be kept balanced by being 'creative'. There's no room for the lazy certainties of Irish-American plastic paddy bunkum and Ireland is close enough to have to face up to the numerous puzzles. In the 70s I remember listening to fok singing 'rebel' songs whilst being unable to buy/use contraceptives as their 'rebel' leaders were in thrall to a foreign Pope rather than a resident Royal. Etc.
Never thought i'd live to hear "Amhrán na bhFiann" ring out over Windsor Castle as an old elite makes a deal with a young elite to bury the past. No 'famine' memorial unveiled by Higgins in London, no more investigations of past terrorism on both sides. Let's do a deal: Canary Wharf + Canary Dwarf. The IFSC as a £ hedge in case the Euro works out, with a guarantee of an Irish return to Sterling on great terms if Europe goes tits up. It's the economy, stupid. Geo-political chess moves hidden under pomp and ceremony. Very clever. Bread and Circus. Etc.
There is no such thing as a singular 'Irish' or 'English' identity. It might suit Royals and Presidents to claim that all issues of class,accent, family background, education, gender, sexuality and economic wealth can be subsumed beneath the butcher's apron or the green jersey, but only the credulous still wallow in those comforting totalising narrativesThere is no such thing as a singular Irish or English identity - it's taken Ireland almost a century to realize this.
As anyone who has ever debated Scottish independence knows, once you have defeated the arguments on grounds of economics and common interest, they come back with the idea of "separate nations". One person spelt out to me what this really meant: the "nations have separate bloodlines".
But how true is that? Not true at all.
Bryan Sykes has mapped the DNA of Britain, looking at people who had grandparents and great-grandparents in the same area (i.e. they didn't move about). He found that western England, Wales, Cornwall. Devon and Somerset were Celt. The east coast from Aberdeen to East Anglia were anglo-saxons. There was no genetic difference between the Anglo-saxons and Danish invaders - turned out they both came from the same part of Denmark separated by 200 years. The great middle of Britain was a mix of anglo-saxon and celt with the celts being the majority. And the true Vikings (Norwegians) had a genetic marker, which was found in Cumbria, Isle of Mann and Shetland Isles.
So in 1707 when the Act of Union took place, England and Scotland had a similar mix of people. The dividing line on the island back then was vertical not horizontal.
The union itself produced the industrial revolution - a marriage of Scottish invention and English capital and this completely mixed everyone up. People moved from the country to the city, from north to south, east to west and vice versa. Empire opened up. People moved around the globe and Scots met English in places Singapore and married each other. The long depression of the late 19th century brought a huge amount of German immigrants (who hastily anglicized their names on the eve of WW1). The pogroms in Poland and Tsarist Russia brought Russian Jews.
Post war Britain saw people from the commonwealth arrive, as well as people from Italy (who settled in Bedford) and other places. And everyone mixed and married. Sri Lankan Tamils married English women (George Alagiah and wife), German-Turks like Boris Johnson married half-Sikh half-English ladies. Polish Jews married English women (Ed Miliband and wife), Scots married English women (Gordon Brown and wife).
Is this happening in Edinburgh and Cardiff as well as London and Bristol? Of course. And nobody even thinks twice about it - the ordinary people of Britain truly believe they are one nation. So the "separate bloodlines of the Scots" are as fake as Hitler's Aryan fantasies.
But how do you argue with people who are desperate to construct fantasies about how "different and special" they are? Especially when I don't even understand why they want to make up stuff like that?
The dreadful fear is that this Braveheart crap will carry the day and the world's oldest consensual political union will have ended (Japan doesn't count because their political system was imposed on them by the Americans after the war). England will be fine, Labour will be fine (it's a little known fact that poor Keir Hardie had to come to England and relied on the good people of West Ham South to send him to Parliament as the first Labour MP). But Scotland will end up like the Irish and something special will have gone for good.