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Exploring drug driving legislation in Malta – President's Foundation
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National Centre for Freedom from Addictions launches 'Exploring drug driving legislation in Malta in the context of the European landscape.'
In early 2015, the Maltese Government introduced the Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act, the purpose of which was to provide a framework to tackle the personal possession of small quantities of prohibited drugs through the administration of fines, treatment and rehabilitation.
The passage of this Act triggered a debate within the National Centre for Freedom for Addictions, a branch of the President's Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, regarding the possible impact of increased drug-use on behaviours such as driving.
The Foundation said that it was immediately apparent that the topic of drug-driving was one that deserved particular attention given the risks it poses to both to the drug-user, as well as society as a whole.
"The relevance of drug-use in the context of driving has also been highlighted at EU-level with drug-driving (together with drunk-driving) considered as one of the three main 'killers' in terms of road fatalities."
To provide a timely response to the new Maltese legislation, the Centre embarked on a research project to gain a better understanding of the status of drug-driving policies across the EU, with particular reference to a few Member States including Belgium, Norway, the United Kingdom and France.
A comparison was then drawn between approaches to counter drug-driving in these countries and the situation on a National level. The analysis was structured in a systematic way, focusing on four main areas of the policy-making and policy-implementation processes: scientific evidence; policies and legislation; enforcement; and sanctioning.
A set of ten recommendations, specifically related to these four areas, was developed for consideration by Maltese authorities and stakeholders. These are presented below.
Recommendations related to scientific evidence
Recommendation no. 1 – Malta should implement research studies to understand the prevalence of drug-driving in the local population and its influence on road accidents.
The ability to formulate evidence-based policies tailored to the local context rests on the availability and the quality of scientific data describing the drug-driving problem. Unfortunately, national-level data on deaths resulting from drug- (and drunk-) driving is currently unavailable.
National studies to identify which substances are of greatest concern, how these are being used by drivers, and how they are ultimately affecting road safety on a local level are urgently needed. Malta could adopt an approach similar to that used in France in the early 2000s and pass legislation to enable the collection of data in the context of a national study on drug-driving. Bringing this to fruition would require significant political will as well as far-reaching stakeholder engagement.
Recommendation no. 2 – Data relevant to drug- (and drunk-) driving should be housed in a dedicated central repository.
A central repository for relevant statistics should be set up before (or in parallel to) any changes in legislation/enforcement measures related to drug-driving are put in place and a decision would need to be made regarding the appropriate authority or Ministry to house such a database. In France, data was collected by the Central Observatory on Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) for the purposes of the research study implemented between 2001 and 2003. In Norway, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health receives all blood samples related to drug-driving.
The decision on the appropriate Ministry or entity to house such a repository may need further discussion. However, there will definitely need to be exchange of information between a number of stakeholders, including the National Addictions Advisory Board, the Malta Transport Authority, the National Statistics Office, and the Directorate for Health Information and Research, and the National Focal Point on Drugs and Drug Addiction, to name a few. Issues related to the maintenance and protection of this data would also need to be tackled.
Recommendations related to Policies and Legislation
Recommendation no. 3 – Malta should adopt a two-tier system whereby per se limits for a defined list of 'problem' drugs are available but prosecution on the basis of impairment remains possible.
There are two main legislative options to tackle the drug-driving problem: an 'impairment approach' or a 'per se approach'. Implementing and enforcing impairment legislation requires the provision of evidence showing that the driving abilities of the driver were impaired when he/she was stopped by traffic police, as well as evidence that a psychoactive substance was present in the driver's body. In the case of per se legislation, an offence is committed if the concentration of a substance in a driver's body has reached or exceeds a legally-prescribed threshold.
In recent years, countries are developing per se legislation to tackle drug-driving by developing legal thresholds for a specific list of illicit (and sometimes, legally-prescribed) drugs. Adopting a per se approach for a group of 'problem drugs' while retaining an impairment approach that serves to counter any form of impairment while driving (a 'two-tier system') has been recommended in EU-level fora.
However, the process of deriving legal limits can be a complex affair. Some countries, including Norway and the United Kingdom, have engaged advisory boards or expert panels to help with the establishment of legal thresholds, and have also arranged nation-wide consultation processes. It is also imperative for such thresholds to be acceptable to the general public as this will contribute to greater compliance with the law.
Recommendation no. 4 – Road safety objectives should not be confused with the general policy concerning drug-use, however, consideration should be given to how other legislation may influence the implementation of 'per se' drug-driving legislation.
Given the relationship between drug possession and drug-driving, consideration needs to be given to how the Drug Dependence Act could affect or influence the implementation of future drug-driving legislation. One possible scenario is that the Act would be perceived by the public as constituting more 'lenient' sanctioning of drug-possession, which may, in turn, result in an increased incidence of drug-driving in the general population. This could justify the implementation of more stringent drug-driving legislation that counters the potential negative impact on road safety, and that could also act to deter drug-use in general.
Apart from the impact of general drug laws on road safety, there is also another point that Maltese legislators need to consider. In some countries, including the United Kingdom and Belgium, the results of drug tests taken in the context of proving a drug-driving offence cannot be used as evidence to support other charges related to drug possession.
This approach has also been recommended in the literature. Should per se legislation be introduced, Maltese legislators would need to consider whether the recommended separation of the two charges, as has been done in other Member States, would also need to be made in local proceedings.
Recommendation no. 5 – The implementation of any new laws needs to be evaluated and legislation must be amended/improved when problems are encountered.
Following the early experience with the implementation of legal thresholds to tackle drug-driving in the United Kingdom and France, it is evident that any new law would be met with some resistance and 'teething problems'. The lack of evaluation processes to monitor the impact of drug-driving legislation has been highlighted in the literature, and is one of the main factors hindering progress in this field.
Should Malta decide to adopt per se legislation for drug-driving, a system would need to be set up to monitor the implementation of this law and to ensure that it can achieve the goals set by government.
Monitoring would include the collection of statistics, as well as a compilation of reports on the progress of implementing any enforcement measures. The network of Ministries/agencies responsible for the evaluation of legal measures would need to be defined, however, this would definitely include the Transport Authority, the Malta Traffic Police, the Department for Health Information and Research and the National Coordinating Unit on Drugs and Alcohol.
Recommendations related to Enforcement Measures
Recommendation no. 6 – Malta should consider the introduction of road-side drug screening using hand-held devices and update drug-testing procedures in the relevant laws and regulations.
The introduction of road-side screening for drugs can significantly improve the enforcement of drug-driving legislation irrespective of whether an impairment approach is retained or 'enhanced' through the introduction of per se limits. Road-side screening can enhance the confidence of traffic police and increase the efficiency of the enforcement and sanctioning processes. Furthermore, the implementation of road-side oral fluid testing for drugs has been found to be cost-beneficial in countries where the existing level of enforcement is low, as is the case in Malta.
A national-level cost-benefit analysis could help inform the formulation of rules governing enforcement approaches. The role of the national toxicology laboratory (which is currently not accredited to perform forensic drug-testing of biological specimens), the availability, specificity and sensitivity of both hand-held devices as well as laboratory equipment, and the role of medical professionals (specifically-assigned by the police) as part of the drug-testing process would also need to be discussed. In terms of the involvement of medical professionals, separation of the patient care processes and law enforcement procedures should be maintained.
Recommendation no. 7 – Training of all players involved in the detection procedure should be mandatory.
Although detection of impairment through toxicological testing can simplify matters, many countries including Norway, the United Kingdom, and Belgium, still consider the use of behavioural tests as an integral part of enforcing drug-driving legislation. Training in the recognition of the physical signs of impairment should be instituted and complement any sessions to instruct traffic police in the use of hand-held screening devices.
Training should also extend beyond the police force, and include any other professional that may be involved in determining driving impairment due to drugs, for example, physicians and toxicologists. Such training should be guided by the legislation and any procedures put in place to standardise the detection process from initial screening to confirmatory testing and then reporting (possibly in a court sitting).
Recommendation no. 8 – Malta should explore opportunities to exchange information and learn from the early experiences of new legislative and enforcement measures being implemented in other Member States.
There exist a number of opportunities for Malta to learn and exchange ideas with Member States that have made changes in drug-driving legislation in recent years. Talks at bilateral level, as well as exchanges within dedicated fora (such as those hosted by the European Traffic Police Network, TISPOL), should be pursued.
Recommendations related to Sanctioning
Recommendation no. 9 – Malta needs to explore the best sanctioning options available to deter drug-driving on a local level by involving all stakeholders.
Given the variation in the sanctioning procedures used in other Member States as well as the limited evidence on the effectiveness of these approaches to deter drug-driving, Maltese authorities should consider developing a procedure tailored to the local context.
The type of penalties that would need to be imposed, their potential general and special deterrence effects in the case of drug-driving (which may be different from drunk-driving), and how the penalties would be imposed (e.g. through judicial or administrative procedures), are all matters that need to be discussed.
The stakeholders that should be involved include the Police, the Justice Ministry, the National Coordinating Unit on Drugs and Alcohol and the agencies and not-for-profit organisations involved with the provision of services to drug users/abusers. The general public should also be consulted, as the social acceptance of the sanctions being proposed has a huge impact on the compliance of the public with drug-driving laws.
Recommendation no. 10 – Malta should consider the implementation of better procedures targeted at problem drug users and drivers using substitution treatment.
Problem drug users should be targeted with specific and tailored approaches to reduce their risk of engaging in drug-driving behaviour. When drivers who are caught drug-driving are recognised as having problems with addiction, the implementation of any sanction should be coupled with a referral of the driver to a treatment service.
If the sanction involves revocation of the driving licence, earlier re-reinstatement of the licence can then be considered if the driver shows progress in his/her treatment. The re-granting procedure should be coupled with a medical assessment that is repeated on a regular basis to ensure compliance with the law.
For those on substitution treatment, individual assessments of fitness to drive should also be implemented and repeated on a regular basis to seek assurances regarding continued abstinence from the concomitant use of other drugs.
The risks and benefits of conditional licences versus (full) revocation of driving licences in drivers using opioid detoxification services would have to be weighed up, and further research, even on the local level, may be needed to clarify the mixed and inconclusive findings of the influence of methadone on driving ability in persons on long-term substitution treatment.
A note on Education and Prevention Approaches
The Foundation said that one issue that is of great concern is the lack of awareness among the general public of the potential impact of drug-taking on driving ability, and the potential multiplicative effect of mixing different drugs or drugs and alcohol. Educational approaches that raise awareness of the effects of psychoactive substances on the ability to drive are needed in order to improve this situation.
The launch of mass media campaigns is one approach, but, to be effective, these need to be shaped around the audience being targeted and on the issues most pertinent on a local level. Furthermore, educational approaches need to involve young people, as well as families, schools and health practitioners, in an effort to bring about a change in mentality, as well as a change in behaviour.
Propagation of 'anti-drug-driving' messages could also help increase the social disapproval of this specific behaviour. This phenomenon has already been observed for drunk-driving, and has been found to have a significant general deterrent effect on drivers.
In terms of the prevention of drug-driving behaviour, a number of measures have been put in place or recommended to prevent individuals from driving while under the influence of drugs that could also be emulated in the local context. These measures include:
· Increasing the availability and use of public or alternative means of transport, particularly by young people on weekend nights;
· Identification of potential drug-drivers in recreational settings and involvement of the managers and owners of such places in the implementation of prevention campaigns; and
· Including drug awareness training as part of the driving licence course and training of driving school operators on drug-driving so that they can propagate prevention messages and sensitise their students.


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The Government has ordered a major review of the structure of the railways to prevent "further suffering" to passengers.
Announcing the shake up yesterday, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said the way rail was privatised had led to "fragmentation, excessive complication and dysfunctionality".
The time had come to streamline rail organisations because "passengers and taxpayers will only suffer further if this fragmentation is not addressed," said Mr Darling.
One organisation that will definitely remain is Network Rail, the Labour-created Railtrack replacement which, Mr Darling said, was "already operating in the public interest".
He also firmly ruled out a return to nationalisation of the railways, stressing that he was a believer in the partnership of the private and public sectors.
But he did say he wanted to see a closer link between track work and train operations and stressed nothing had been ruled out on structural changes.
Mr Darling added: "There are too many organisations, some with overlapping responsibilities. This has got in the way of effective decision making and frequently leads to dispute.
"The objective is clear - to streamline the structure and make it as simple and effective as possible."
Mr Darling said the Government would publish proposals in the summer and would also set out its spending plans for the railways through to 2008.
The Government has committed £33bn of public money to the railways for this decade, but it has become clear that even this huge sum is not enough.
A fifth of trains are still not running on time on a system convulsed by a series of devastating accidents.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the biggest rail union, the RMT said: "The Transport Secretary is ignoring what every rail passenger and railway worker in Britain knows only too well. The only sensible future for a well-planned national railway service is within the public sector."

subset: commoncrawl


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Keeping tabs on a woman he no longer desires to be with only makes things harder for you.
Similarly to his ex-wife, if this man has kids from his previous marriage, you'll definitely need to be accepting of that.
She is a pastoral family counselor and has parented birth, step, adopted and foster children.However, a divorced man can't just erase his ex-wife from his memory and his life.You'll have to be able to accept the fact that his wife will always be part of his life.This means accepting his children and understanding that trash talking their mom won't do anyone any good.A divorced man who has already been through the hoops of a marriage may be a bit more hesitant to rush through things.


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Home > Agile adoption, Scrum > Scale Your Product Not Your Scrum
Scale Your Product Not Your Scrum
February 13, 2016 Leave a comment Go to comments
I published an article on Scrum.org where I discuss how to scale Scrum without adding additional stuff but rather by applying Scrum itself at larger scale.
You can download the pdf here.
Categories: Agile adoption, Scrum Scaling Scrum


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Product DescriptionBlack Magic Attraction Yantra: This Is Black Magic Vashikaran most powerful yantra, At first we decided to not introduce such powerful yantra publically but as we always say magic is for everyone and here on this site people came to know the Ancient Secrets of Occultism that are better than our Todays technology !!! So here is another most powerful works in seconds black magic yantra of vashikaran that will defenately make your love your slave or your money back ! Vashikaran literally means to have someone under your control Hence, the Vashikaran Yantra is worshipped and used to attract the person you desire and bring him or her under your influence.This Yantra is used to enchant (spell) and bring the person you love in your life. It can also be used for attraction and drawing someone in your life. It is a very powerful Yantra. If your Saturn is bad then you can use together with Nav Graha Yantra to maximize the benefit. Vashikaran can also be used to attract prosperity and success in your life. It concentrates the energy of your mind waves to influence the woman or man of your dreams and within a period of 40 to 90 days attracts her or him towards you. The more intense your desire, the faster the results – provided you perform the ritual worship of the Vashikaran Yantra with sincere devotion and single-minded purpose.This yantra is to attract someone you love, get the partner of your choice. A real mystical marvel of the ancient Indian science. If your love is true you will see the result from the first day itself. For attracting someone you love or drawing a soulmate into your life. Also for bringing a beloved person under control for good or beneficial intentions such as promoting harmony and synchronicity as a couple. This Yantra should not be used for negative purposes or ill intentions. This Yantra can be applied in various ways such as gaining cordial professional and personal relationships between superiors, colleagues, friends and others. It can also help obtain favours from others especially in matters relating to one's profession. At the same time, it helps enhances a good impression of yourself on others to win affection and friendship in their hearts and minds. This Yantra also causes others to be drawn towards you favorably. It should be noted that this Yantra will work only if there is a karmic propensity between the two people. Love can only be encouraged to happen, never forced.
- First purify your body and start with a clear and positive mind frame


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MKV to iPhone 7 – Put MKV movies on iPhone 7 Plus for watching in easy way
Posted by cook at June 7th, 2017
Do you encounter such a problem? I have a lot of classic movies and most of them are MKV video format, now I want to watch them on my iPhone 7 Plus. What should I do? As the iPhone 7 Plus can't play MKV movies directly, you need convert MKV movies to iPhone 7 Plus video format, such as MP4 format which support well by iPhone 7 Plus. In this guide we will use MKV2X MKV Video Converter in order to rip MKV to MP4 for iPhone 7 Plus in three simple steps. It also can convert video to MP4, MKV, WMV, AVI, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, FLV, 3GP, DivX, MOV, M4V, DivX, XviD, ASF, SWF, VOB, and HD video etc. with high conversion speed and excellent sound/image quality. You can download the best MKV Converter from the link below.
Free download: MKV to iPhone 7 Converter (For Windows, For Mac)
Quick guide:
How to play MKV movies on iPhone 7 Plus with best video settings?
Step 1. Import MKV files
After run the MKV Converter for iPhone 7 Plus on your computer, click the drop-down memu of "File" to load MKV video files , or just drag them into the software.
Step 2. Choose output format for iPhone 7 Plus
Select MP4 file from the profile list, you can choose "1:1 copy" option with MP4 output format in 30X faster speed with 100% lossless quality.
Step 3. Convert MKV to iPhone 7 Plus for playback
Finally, click "Convert" button to start MKV toiPhone 7 Plus format conversion. After conversion is completed, you can copy the converted MKV movies to iPhone 7 Plus for playing.
Category: How to


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List of winners for the 2005 Fly-By-Night Video Challenge / competition, for which i have only a small set of links to share ... anyone who has further info, or links to video/shorts; please do email me. thanks! onwards:
Four Play
Ryan Ng, Su Yuhan, Kee Jun Wei, Phua Tiong Hoe
Loser - Large Quicktime
Loser - Small Quicktime
Chai Yee Wei (blog), Kelvin Lam.
To Live A Day For You
Randy Ang, Nicholas Chee, Christina Choo
view the "prequel" HERE.
The Symbol Life ?
Chitraveni d/o Kumar, Kiong Leon Wei, Alvin Lim, Lee Ailin
Cheng Ding An, Vincent Ong
Miss-Take ?
Ghazi Alqudcy, Ezzam Rahman, Idris Ismail, Ariff Aripin
Etymology of ^#&$* ?
Lim Tee Lip, Kenneth Lim
Shanghai Tang ?
Raymond Chin, Ho Wan Ling, Teo Wai Chin, Derek Tang
One People, One Nation, One ^#&$* ?
Wu Min Xiu, Mardiana Kasmani, Melissa Yuen, Ng Puay Hoon
The Upside Down World ?
Kelvin Wee (blog), Chan Siew Long, Joseph Ang, Jan Rick
Special Mention:
Eunice Wong, Philip Thee, Sue Ann Teo, Eugene Wong
The Cat with No Ball (*animation) ?
Sally Poh and Koh Siang Leng
The Undecided video here or here. and blog here and here.


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Liz McColgan: Former world champion says world record rewrite plans 'very unfair'
- From the section Athletics
Former 10,000m world champion Liz McColgan has criticised proposals to rewrite athletics world records.
European Athletics has proposed rewriting world records set before 2005 in a bid to restore the sport's credibility following doping scandals.
Scot McColgan, 52, says the move is "very, very unfair", and fears current anti-doping measures are insufficient.
"Before they scrap records, they need to think of how to guarantee the next few years will be clean," she said.
- Darren Campbell: Rewriting records would be for greater good
- Mike Powell: Long jump world record holder criticises rewrite plans
"In our day there was blatant drug use and we had to compete against it. We lost medals to a lot of drug cheats. It's not just happening the last 10-15 years, it's been happening long before that.
"How they can just say from 2005, a certain date, it's not right. If they're going to clean the slate, it should be completely from the start.
"But also, how are they going to guarantee that in the future it's going to be clean, because they're not bringing in blood testing, and until they have more stringent testing in place, and all countries following that testing, then what's the guarantee the next five years are going to be clean?
"I personally don't think it's going to be clean, the next five years."
'We knew there were cheats'
McColgan won the 10,000m World Championships title in Tokyo in 1991. She also won 10,000m Commonwealth gold in Edinburgh in 1986, and in Auckland four years later. Between those titles, she claimed a silver medal in the same event at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
The former runner, whose daughter Eilish reached the final of the 5,000m at last year's Rio Games, also claimed a world title in the half marathon during 1992.
"When we ran we knew there was drug use out there but we could do nothing about it, and had to get on with the job in hand," McColgan told BBC Scotland.
"A few of us did go on to win medals and set records, it wasn't the drug cheats that won all the time, but it's very difficult to say it's this record or that record that's going to go, I think that's very, very unfair.
"And I also think to make it a sport for our future, we have to be more stringent in what we're doing.
"It's not an easy option just saying, well let's make the slate clean and we move forward - there's a lot more thinking that has to go into how we move forward with it."
'There shouldn't be a cut-off date'
McColgan's appraisal of the plans to rewrite records was shared by fellow ex-world champion Zola Budd.
Budd, 50, who represented both South Africa, the nation of her birth, and Great Britain, set a world record for the 5,000m at the age of 17 and became a household name for running barefoot.
"I think it would only be fair if they want to rewrite the records, they should find a date, like today, or tomorrow, and rewrite all the records," Budd said.
"There shouldn't be a cut-off date like 2005 or whenever, because that will be unfair to everybody.
"If they want to rewrite the records, it should be a clean slate and a start from scratch for everybody, and include all athletes, not just from the 80s or 90s, but everybody."
'We need everybody to get off their couches'
Both former athletes are in Scotland to take part in Sunday's first Stirling Marathon.
"I've run loads of times round Stirling, Dundee, Perth and I think it's about time we had calibre races back in Scotland," McColgan said.
"It's just fantastic we've got races here on Scottish soil. I hope all the Scots get really inspired again, because we were an endurance running nation that were really, really good.
"We've got youngsters coming through like Andy Butchart, Laura Muir, Eilish, my daughter, and Lynsey Sharp. We just need everybody else now to get off their couches, get out, run, and make running really popular in Scotland again.
"Even just at our age to get out and be active, to show people our age can still get out there and do it. That's what we're here for - hopefully we finish in one piece."


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I am a 4'11 woman have brown hair and brown eyes I have very multi, racial.. I weigh at 135 I am a 40 yr old have 3 kids and I like to go camping, and fish, I get into sports I like to draw I try to go at least 5 to 6 x to the gym to work out i know the meaning of being around bikers I have been around them almost all my life. I don't drink and...
I am an outgoing, funloving, crazy, wild at heart woman, seeking the same in a man who I can enjoy my free time with. I am looking for a man who is honest and funny, and one that obviously enjoy a good long ride through the mountains. I am brutally honest at times and I guess that could be considered a down fall but thats who I am. I love to be...
61 BBW New Mexico
I love to travel, like the adventure. I'm straight up. I don't want any bs. I like to deal with others who are the same. I don't want to waste the time. I'm 5'4', look good for the age, a few extra pounds but very well proportioned. Easygoing, try to stay on the light side of things, don't like drama. like to be with people who are optimistic.
29 BBW New Mexico
I love Harleys, they sound so great that whenever one drives by i want to go for a ride.
61 BBW New Mexico
redhaed. green eyes, lusty, busty built for comfort and to wrap my lega around my man on his Harley.
Compasionate Individual looking for the same. Love to hang out at home, take a ride, and lauph together.


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Subject FIRE & FLOOD SIGNED COPY GIVEAWAY
Over on that-there-Twitter, we are running a highly exclusive Fire & Flood signed copy giveaway. We have three UK editions signed by the author, Victoria Scott, and have decided to put you through a test to rival the Brimstone Bleed itself in order to nab one. Here's what you have to do ...
Firstly, make sure you are following us on Twitter: @Chickenhsebooks and then follow these three steps:
1) Design your own Pandora (magical animal companion imbued with a special magical power). Draw or collage or photoshop your Pandora.
2) Change your Twitter avatar to your Pandora this Friday 7th March and tweet to tell us what its special power is. Use #FFPandora and @chickenhsebooks so we can find you.
3) Author @VictoriaScottYA will help pick the best three and we will send the three lucky winners a signed copy each.
As an example I have displayed a picture of my very own attempt at sketching my Pandora and here is the example Tweet:
"My Pandora is 'Chippa' and she spits rotting food from her cheek pouches to ward off enemies
#FFPandora @chickenhsebooks"
The giveaway is open to entrants from the UK and Ireland only.
Best of luck!
Subject The Chicken House Little Breakfast London
ByFiona Bradbury
On the sunny, scorching morning of the 18th July, we hosted one of our inimitable Little Breakfast events at the Modern Pantry in London, featuring some of our most exciting authors.
At the party were authors Lucy Christopher (STOLEN, THE KILLING WOODS), Cathryn Constable (THE WOLF PRINCESS), Sandra Greaves (THE SKULL IN THE WOOD), Sam Hepburn (CHASING THE DARK) and Dan Smith (MY FRIEND THE ENEMY), along with many other wonderful 'book people' – from booksellers to literary agents to book bloggers!
As we all helped ourselves to ample cups of tea, yummy croissants and fresh orange juice, Barry Cunningham introduced each author to the room. Lucy Christopher, Sandra Greaves, Sam Hepburn and Dan Smith all took to the stage and read from their newest releases. We cowered at images of cackling birds in THE SKULL IN THE WOOD, a boy's bravery in MY FRIEND THE ENEMY and CHASING THE DARK – along with the truly unsettling opening of THE KILLING WOODS!
After the readings, the authors signed copies of their books and enjoyed brunch with the guests. A very merry time was had by all!
If you would like to know more about our Little Breakfast events, please contact email@example.com.
Subject A SLINKY, SLITHERY FRIEND ...
Author of THE EXTINCTS, Veronica Cossanteli, spent the weekend searching for her escaped snake Mortifer. Unfortunately, she didn't find him. But she did come across this little chap - who has decided to make her head his home.
Subject FINAL DAY OF THE WOLF PRINCESS BLOG TOUR ...
ByCathryn Constable
My Writing Day
I have three children and, during term time, I get up at 6.57am. I have a weird thing with always setting the alarm on an 'odd' minute and never on the hour.
The big ones will get themselves sorted but my youngest needs a bit more of a heave and a ho and my husband probably needs the biggest heave-ho of them all. At the moment, they are out of the house just before 8am.
What I like to do then is make a cup of Earl Grey, get dressed and put some lippy on, even though I'm hopeful I won't leave the house. I'll then get a large cup of instant coffee (Blend 37) and get to my desk.
I love my desk. I love being in my study. I love my pinboard. I love being in this room.
I don't need any warm up rituals or to think myself into anything. I just open the file of whatever it is I'm working on and read it over from the beginning of that chapter and just 'go'. I will have got a pretty clear idea in my head of what I'm wanting to write that day and where I need to get to. I know some writers say they don't know what's going to happen from one page to the next and I can see that it might help to feel a little loose and to be aware that you can be surprised. But if I didn't have some idea of where I was going with a story it would be a disaster. I just find it hard to understand how you can know where to put the emphasis in your writing if you're not pretty clear of the overall narrative arc. However, there is always going to be a tension between what you know and what you don't yet know and it is wonderful when a story surprises you. I feel as if I learned so much from writing The Wolf Princess, not the least, what works for me and what I'm really interested in. I try to keep myself intrigued and excited... I have a quote on my pinboard (argh! No idea where I found it... but it's wonderful...) 'Admire the world for never ending on you as you would admire an opponent, without taking your eyes off him, or walking away.' So I try to write with that level of attention.
During term time, with the exception of all the usual domestic faff, I keep at my desk. The time goes very quickly. Of course, there are days when I have to go out, but I do feel increasingly agitated if I spend time away from my desk. I think is because I feel as if I have very little time to write: I've never been particularly good at working when the children are around (i.e. during the holidays, of which there seem to be so many). I was trying to explain this the other night to someone and they thought I was being extremely pretentious. 'Oh we'd all love perfect work conditions, yadda yadda'. He completely missed the point. I can write pretty much anywhere and ideas come all the time (in truth, you don't really ever switch off). But... I just think that you want to be able to start writing without fear of interruption... It's not that I can't write when there are other people in the house, but I write with a different sort of attention when I'm on my own.
Around 3pm I will scoot downstairs and see what I need for supper... if I need something, I'll dive out and get something... if all is well, I'll go back upstairs and keep going until the first key in the door at around 4.30pm.
Then, I really do try and give my time to the children. We'll have supper, I'll watch something with them, they'll start their homework. My husband Charles gets back around 8pm. We do love the telly in our house and the loveliest evenings are when we light a fire and watch some sort of drama. I'm trying to get to bed at a reasonable time so I can read. It doesn't always work...
The Wolf Princess is out now in paperback, eBook and as a special limited edition hardback.
Subject eBooks, PBooks? We ❤ ALL books!
Whilst the digital debate rumbles on as surely as the number 9 Routemaster down Aldwych, we've been busy getting all the great eBooks we have to offer up on the Chicken House website.
You will find a number of great teen titles up there already including:
Cornelia Funke's:
Rachel Ward's:
James Dashner's:
Roderick Gordon & Brian William's:
And we've got more to come soon!
Whilst we crack on with delivering great books across all formats, we'd love to know what you think.
Does the rise of the eBook fill you with dread? Are you a book 'sniffer'? Do love to curl up with a paperback on the sofa, but love the convenience of a digital reader on the train? Would you buy digital and physical copies of the same book, so you can still show off your shelf-candy? Get in touch via twitter @chickenhousebooks (#Digital), or email us email@example.com
Oh, and if you love a great debate check out BBC Radio 4's Front Row Special on the subject.
Happy reading (whatever your format of choice)!
Subject 'LIKE THIS ... BUT NOT THIS ...'
This Mitchell and Webb sketch has long been a favourite in the Chicken House office.
Today, we would like to dedicate it to all authors who have valiantly negotiated their way through the editing process.
We salute you!
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text: Researchers identify amount of exercise needed to lower risk of 5 diseases Author Vanessa Coleman Published 12.08.2016 Higher levels of physical activity can achieve bigger reductions in the risk of five common chronic diseases, but only if people engage in levels far above the recommended minimum exertion, a study has suggested.According to the report, published in the journal BMJ, the greatest benefit comes at 3, 000 to 4, 000 MET minutes a week.If you want to protect yourself from chronic diseases, you need to exercise more.Researchers from the United States collaborated with a team from Australia to comb through the results of 174 studies published between 1980 and 2016.The minimum recommended amount of exercise should be increased, researchers have said after a new study found that more exercise can drastically lower a person's risk of five serious diseases.MET measures express the energy cost of physical activity, which is calculated by the number of calories an activity can burn multiplied by the number of minutes a person is engaged in said activity. "Getting 3,000 to 4,000 MET minutes a week may seem like quite a bit, but it is achievable when you focus on total activity across all domains of life", says study co-author Hmwe Kyu, PhD, acting assistant professor of global health at the University of Washington.Experts believe that if they ask for higher levels of physical activities, the benefit across the world population will be lowering the risk of chronic diseases. That recommendation could be achieved with about 150 minutes per week of brisk walking or 75 minutes per week of running, for example.The World Health Organisation now states people should conduct 600 metabolic equivalent minutes (MET) of physical activity a week. Researchers provided an example of a day's worth of physical activity that can help you achieve your weekly quota: walking or cycling for 25 minutes, running for 20, gardening for 20, vacuuming for 15, and climbing the stairs for 10.A new study has found that regular exercise may help ward off at least five common diseases, demonstrating yet again the importance of regular physical activity for one's health and wellbeing.This can include being more mobile at work, doing more housework and walking or cycling instead of using the vehicle or bus.To determine this new exercise goal, a team of researchers from the USA and Australia took a look at 174 different studies, allowing them to consider multiple health issues and many different types of activities.For colon cancer, heart disease and stroke, the risk fell by more than a quarter.Researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland and the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France, reacted to the findings in an accompanying editorial. Category Health Share this post: a 0 b 0 c 0 d 0 j 0


text:
Acivir Cream
|International Name:
|Marketing Authorization Holder:
|Pack Size:
Golden Cross Pharma Pvt.Ltd
Single Tube
|Aciclovir IP 5% w/w
|5% w/w – 5 g
Aciclovir cream contains a dynamic element of a similar name: aciclovir. It is an antiviral solution that is utilized to treat skin contaminations with the herpes simplex infection, for instance mouth blisters. Aciclovir works by halting the herpes simplex infection from recreating and tainting more cells.
What is Aciclovir cream utilized for?
Aciclovir cream is utilized to treat mouth blisters. Mouth blisters are an exceptionally normal ailment caused by the herpes simplex infection and are described by: Tender, consuming or shivering zones close by the lips that form into gatherings of liquid filled rankles and injuries. The bruises wind up noticeably secured by scabs that, regularly, tumble off after around 10 days. Aciclovir backs off the development of the infection, along these lines supporting the recuperating procedure. It likewise gives here and now alleviation from side effects, for example, tingling and torment. This medication is for topical use on the skin as it were. The cream should be connected meagerly to the influenced zones. Keep away from contact with the eyes, mouth and mucous layers. Utilize the cream just on ordinary skin. Wash your hands altogether subsequent to applying the cream. The herpes simplex infection is exceptionally infectious, so ensure you watch great cleanliness.
Symptoms :-
Temporary consuming, tingling or stinging at the application site;
Dryness or chipping of the skin where the cream is connected.


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Hioy'oy. Iyayiraykere. Merci. Dziękuję. Ameseginalehu. Shukrān. Spasiba. À ringraziavvi. Dĕkuju. Kiitos. Danke. Na gode. Paldies. Obrigado. Tack.
So many ways of saying it but all mean the same – THANK YOU. And all of them express the same – gratitude. They say so much more than their literal meaning. To say "thank you" it's not only to express thankfulness for a favour or a service done to us or be thankful for the time spent together or a gift. It's to express how much the other person is important to us. It's to show we care enough not only to accept the gift but to spend time and reflect on the importance of the giver in our life. We say: "you mean a lot to me and this thing/time/experience will always remind me about you". And we add: "I'm thankful, because I have someone in my life I can say thank you to". Let's not be shy to say those two words in whatever way: in person, in a text message, in a card, on Facebook or on Twitter. Let's not let other people go thinking their gift wasn't important or even worse that we took it for granted.
So today, I say thank you to you all for reading this and all the other post. Every reader counts. I appreciate every minute you spend on this blog. Every thought you spare on it. Every click on the annoying links I am posting all over, because I want to pass you a message. I thank you, because you care enough to read it. And I'll keep thanking everyone all around, because we need to remind each other how important roles we play in each other's lives.


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Reposted from Internet Retailer.
By Andy Narayanan, Vice President of Intelligent Commerce at Sentient Technologies
AI is uniquely able to provide a text-free shopping journey, one that transforms mobile shopping into a wordless visual conversation.
As much time as we spend on our cellphones, we actually don't use them to buy all that much. According to eMarketer, while mobile phones boast about 30% of all retail traffic, they only account for 11% of revenue. We browse on our phones, sure, but when it comes to buying, we actually use our desktops or head to a brick-and-mortar location that carries products we're interested in.
So why is that exactly? For starters, it's simply easier to navigate retail sites on a laptop or desktop. Search is still primarily text-based and, since most of product searches require several iterations (choosing color or brand or just outright searching again when our first attempt misses the mark), a physical keyboard is just easier.
A subtler and more interesting reason is that mobile retail sites haven't actively leveraged what should be their advantage: the device itself. Nowadays, for most people, our phones are on us constantly. We pull them out to settle little disagreements (was Kevin Bacon in that movie?), check the news while we're waiting in line, get movie tickets so we don't have to wait when we get to the theater, and on and on. Most mobile sites don't take advantage of this. In fact, most are just responsive versions of a retailer's browser site.
So if mobile doesn't convert at the rate it should, how exactly can we get it there? How can we turn mobile searchers into buyers? How can we alleviate the shortcomings of mobile while maximizing its inherent advantages? The answer lies in a field that's been exploding over the past few years: artificial intelligence.
Let's start with the shortcoming we mentioned: interface. Searching on mobile simply takes us less time than shopping on an actual computer. There's less screen real estate and no keyboard. Products are just harder to find. But AI is a good solution for this problem. For starters, AI is uniquely able to provide a text-free shopping journey, one that transforms mobile shopping from a clunky, faux-browser experience to a wordless visual conversation. And when you think of the experiences that really sing on mobile, you likely think of social apps like Instagram, endless streams of clickable images and personally relevant information. That's what AI does incredibly well. Here's how it can work:
Instead of going through the typical search experience, all you'd need to do is tap on images of products you like. The AI looks at the images themselves and surfaces similar options based on image alone. Smart AIs understand product facets we typically search for, like color and brand, as well as subtler, more difficult-to-describe characteristics, like fringe, unique patterns and logo placement. Instead of re-searching or clicking tiny text boxes, you'd just tap the next image you're interested in. Each tap successively trains the AI to understand what you want, right then, whether it's red shoes or a plaid hat.
But that's really just the beginning. Because our phones are on us constantly, artificial intelligence is going to be able to contextualize our behavior based on a whole host of important signals. And for it to really fulfill the promise of AI, it's going to be have to feel completely seamless.
For starters, just think about the mobile shopping experience. It's a lot different from shopping on a laptop or desktop. As opposed to an end-to-end experience, mobile is more like a set of micro-transactions in a holistic shopping journey. We rarely fire up the phone, find what we want, then purchase it outright. Because we use our phones differently, the shopping experience is simply, well, different. We might find a product on the way to work and save it for later. We might pull out our phone on a quick break to check details. We might show off what we're thinking about buying to a friend over a drink after work.
These actions are very different from each other. One is discovery, one is refinement, one is comparison. AI is uniquely capable of understanding that context and, importantly, responding with the details and experience the shopper needs right then.
For just a single example, let's focus on refinement. At this point, a shopper has looked through a few products she likes and now wants some extra details on the product in question. Smart AI agents can pick up on all the contextual clues and offer her the details important to her, right then. Maybe she constantly chooses shoes that are at a discount: in that case, the AI can make a point of surfacing bargains, free shipping offers, or similar shoes at an even greater discount. But what if she has an incredibly up-to-date style and doesn't seem too bothered by price? AI can help there, too, showing her the newest inventory from the hippest designers, or offering her a membership for exclusives on new products. Every tap and interaction is a signal that an AI can learn from and, more importantly, leverage so that shoppers can find products they love.
It's important to remember that this won't feel like AI to users. Much like how Google moved to AI-powered search algorithms without fundamentally changing user experience, AI in retail doesn't need to take the form of personal shopping assistants or cutesy chatbots. Instead, it needs to react to user behavior and preferences at every level, learning from what they click, browse, and like, and then showing them products that fit their unique preferences in that unique moment of time.
In other words, the future of retail is full, true personalization. Right now, we're in a world where users are bucketed into cohorts–users like you bought items like this–as opposed to one where our technology actually understands us individually. True personalization knows your patterns but also understands that your likes and dislikes change over time.
For example, AI can understand that when a sneaker shopper is looking at dress shoes, it means something. It might mean a big job interview or a wedding, and it can react to that data in the moment and make the purchasing process easier and better. Maybe it can suggest an outfit to go with the dress shoes. Maybe it can match other signals (like a calendar notification for an upcoming flight) and realize you need the shoes shipped. Or that there are brick-and-mortar locations nearby that match the site or brand that customer is looking at. The list is almost endless. And a lot of it can be enhanced–not hamstrung–by our mobile use.
Which is all to say that AI is coming to retail. In fact, it's already there. Retailers who integrate AI into their mobile sites, who devote real thought to leveraging the signals sent every day, those are the sites that are going to stand out and delight their customers. And all that forms a virtuous circle, where a mobile device and a retail ecosystem actually understand individual users. In a way, it will be a lot like shopping at a favorite store with a particular employee who knows exactly what you want. And those experiences are far, far better than wandering the endless aisle.


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I found fabulous Etsy store, This Old Hen House, through her PIF (pay it forward) listing for some beautiful gift tags. I loved Amanda's idea which only charged the listing fee and shipping for the product and encouraged the buyer to, well, pay it forward! I just knew that I had to interview her for a Take 5.
Tell us about yourself and your shop.
I started my business in October of 2007 fueled by a love of writing and some previous freelance poetry and self-essay work. Every time I sat down to write I was feeling less than inspired when I began to scribble in my ordinary journal and sought out to fix that problem. I've been scrapbooking since the birth of my 5 year old son and creating altered books and other sorts of paper goodies just came naturally to me. And more importantly, its fun and uplifting, as though somehow my journals are also sparking the creativity of the great minds of the world.
I've also been collecting beads ever since I could remember. Much like my cat, I'm attracted to pretty, shiny things. That love hatched my sister shop, TwistThis22501. There, and at my This Old Hen House Etsy shop, I sell affordable, stylish artisan jewelry. Being chic and unique shouldn't cost a fortune, and with my jewelry I hope that everyone can find their girlie sides and flaunt it!
Where would you like your shop to be in 1 year? In 5 years?
Within a year I'd really love to build myself a larger clientele and advertise more. Mainly, though, I want to get myself a bit more organized when it comes to building my businesses and raising 2 rowdy little boys. Twenty-four hours in one day just are not enough! Just as long as the wheels keep turning and I keep on creating new things I'm happy. In five years….wow, its hard to think about what's going on five days from now, let alone years. I just want to keep on being happy and enjoying what I'm doing.
Looking back, if you could do anything differently in starting your business, what would it be?
I think maybe I would have re-thought my name a bit and took the time to talk to talk to other Etsy sellers about the do's and don't's of sucessful selling. It was a lot of trial and error in the beginning. But I think I'm in a nice niche now.
What is a typical day in the office like for you?
It involves a zillion interruptions by a sweet, but needy 1 year old, a bright, but demanding 5 year old, a little white fuzz ball kitty! It's very seldom quiet here! I'm a stay at home mom, with a trillion personal interests and finding the time to devote to all of them gets hard. My workspace is wonderful, and filled with tons of inspirational pictures, quotes, and art. It's a hodgepodge of papers and beads and its a bright and a fun space, perfect for creating.
As a seasoned entrepreneur, what advice or words of wisdom do you have for those that are just starting out?
Trial and error is your best friend. You'll never know how well something will be received unless you try it. Let your creativity flow and don't ever be afraid to try something new.
There is a very fine line between having patience while trying to start a successful business and being an agressive seller and you have to find it and maintain your sanity and sense of self-worth. Its very easy to get discouraged by the number of sales you are making or not making, but as long as you are staying true to what you love and enjoying your time doing it, then you are sucessful. And most importantly, have fun!
For more information on This Old Hen House, check out the shop and the blog!
Filed under: "Take 5" Interviews | Tagged: etsy, interview, this old hen house |


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General Details
Bachelor of music, Diploma of education
Jervis Bay School of Music is a small boutique music school located on the South Coast of NSW. We offer singing, piano & guitar lessons by experienced, post-graduate qualified music teachers. Lessons are run Monday – Saturday in our school located in Woollamia, just a couple minutes drive from Huskisson.
During Lessons students receive concentrated one-on-one instruction on piano/voice/guitar. Lessons include learning technical exercises to develop skills, learning ways to practise effectively at home, and developing performance skills and confidence.
Students are encouraged to help select the music that they enjoy and explore their own musical interests and passions, whether that is performing solo or in a group, song-writing, challenging themselves with music exams, or a combination of the above.
These details were last updated on January 24, 2018


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Apple has released the iOS 3.2.1 software update for its iPad device.
The iOS update is supposed to fix problems that some users have had with their Wi-Fi connectivity.
Many iPad owners complained of weak Wi-Fi signals, slow download speeds and the occasional dropped connection. Some were possibly holding it wrong. Apple Said it was aware of the problem here
In addition to the Wi-Fi problem, the update will fix a bug which prevents the copying and pasting of PDF attachments in Mail, and another that freezes the device's video player. Improvements have been made to the reliability of the tablet's video-out function when using the iPad Dock connector to VGA adapter.
The update also adds Microsoft''s Bing search engine to the search options of the Safari web browser.
Apple announced that Bing would become a secondary search option for the iPad on its Safari Browser at the company's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.
The update will be available for both Wi-Fi only, and Wi-Fi/3G iPads, and can be downloaded directly from iTunes. More information on the iOS 3.2.1 update is available on the Apple discussions page.


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The Wonderful World of the Dead: A Typology of the Posthumous Narrative
For there be divers sorts of death - some wherein the
body remaineth; and in some it vanisheth quite away with the spirit.
In one kind of death the spirit also dieth,
and this has been known to do while yet
the body was in vigor for many years.
Sometimes, as is veritably attested,
it dieth with the body, but after a season
is raised up again in that place
where the body did decay.1
According to many systems of belief, there is a part of the human being which goes on to lead an independent existence even after physical death has set in. This part, which is usually called the soul, is assumed to be conscious and to bear the characteristic traits of the deceased's personality. Since antiquity, this supposed transformation has been used for narrative purposes.2 But even in modern times, when the belief in an afterlife has become less widespread, authors have used it as a convenient fiction for their own ends. However, the ideas of what exactly constitutes death have been somewhat modified over the centuries, as have been those about the soul and the imagined conditions of the afterlife. The smallest common denominator for the declaration of death seems to be the ceasing of the bodily functions, but not necessarily that of consciousness. As a matter of fact, some sort of consciousness - wherever it is to be located - is a prerequisite for this type of narrative, because otherwise there would be nothing to narrate but what happens to the body after death. This consciousness, however, may take on many forms, reaching from a seemingly uninterrupted continuation of the earlier form of existence to an (almost) complete break with it. This is partly correlated with the question of how far the dead are aware of the fact that they are dead. Since the circumstances of the posthumous condition depend largely upon the various kinds of awareness belonging to this condition, the following observations will be structured upon the pattern of the latter. I shall therefore first describe various types of the posthumous experience - ranging from full knowledge and acceptance of death to complete ignorance - and then speculate upon their possible uses. Although I have tried to give historically important examples of the appearance of a particular type, systemisation rather than chronology has been my concern.
Varieties of death
The conscious dead
The traditional account of what happens after death is that the immaterial soul of the deceased detaches itself from the body and goes on a journey to some other place, often characterised as heaven or hell, where it will then dwell forever.
One of the earliest fictional representations of the postmortal life in English appears in a work that is usually seen as a precursor of the novel proper: John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678). Here, we find a visionary account of an after-death experience in the form of a journey which starts in familiar surroundings, but moves into less and less familiar territory until it finally reaches - or at least comes into sight of - a goal, which - when reached - will be the place of fulfillment. The main intention is, of course, to exhort the reader to look at his life and to mend his ways.
It is remarkable, however, that the novel proper hardly ever takes the idea of the afterlife in this form seriously, but rather uses it for satirical or polemical purposes, although this does not exclude a didactic element. Such is the case in Henry Fielding's A Journey from this World to the Next (1743), where in the first part the anonymous narrator, a newly departed soul, relates his adventures on his voyage to 3 This affords much opportunity for satiric swipes at doctors and tourist-guides in the style of a travelogue, since the soul is still at a transitional stage and has not yet become accustomed to its new state. The judge guarding the gates of paradise is Minos, whose criteria for admittance resemble strongly those precepts for human benevolence advocated by Fielding in his other works. The souls who fail to gain admittance are, as a rule, sent back to earth to try again. The narrator, however, gains admittance.
In the second part the narrator relates interviews with several famous persons that he meets inside paradise, and which throw quite a different light upon their characters. The last part of the work is the story of the life of Anne Boleyn, told by herself, in which she appears "more sinned against than sinning" and is admitted into paradise in compensation for what she has suffered. The whole narrative, then, attempts to be a broad satiric mirror for the various walks of life.
It is in this satiric vein, too, that Hawthorne uses the form in "The Celestial Railroad",4 in which the protagonist reenacts Christian's journey in the Pilgrim's Progress, only this time modern advancements in religion speed the traveller along without any trouble - the only drawback being that he will never reach the Celestial City.
An interesting variation of this type of narrative is represented by David Danziger's The Devil in Miss Jones, where a 30 year old catholic virgin called Justine commits suicide, because yet another frustrated boyfriend has left her after six months of a platonic relationship.5 She wakes to find herself in a sort of clearing house between heaven and hell. Since she has led a life free from sin, she would normally go straight to heaven, but of course her suicide is unforgivable. She is, however, given a week's respite on earth in order to really earn hell. Before she is allowed to return, she is given a thorough training in all the varieties of sex, which she then practices with abandon during her week on earth. When she is finally consigned to hell, her punishment consists in being forever encarcerated with a man whose sexual interest she is unable to arouse. The satirical butt of the novel is obviously the catholic religion and its prohibitive attitude towards sex.
Even more bitingly anti-religious is Stanley Elkin's The Living End which could also be called the ultimate posthumous narrative, because it ends with the destruction of creation as we know it. It tells of three men whose deaths are linked through the almost accidental murder of one of them at the hands of the two others and who meet again in hell. They all know that they are dead - but they cannot accept the consequences. The victim, Ellerbee, was the very model of a "good man" who cared more for others than for himself. The greater his surprise, when St. Peter at the pearly gates tells him to go to hell - and hell really is hell in every way. He later meets one of his murderers who died a natural death at the age of almost one hundred. The manifest injustice of this incites Ellerbee to blasphemy which actually gets him God's attention. Asked for an explanation of it all, God tells Ellerbee that the latter did neither honour the Sabbath nor his parents (whom Ellerbee never knew, being an adopted child), that he took God's name in vain, and - worst of all - that he thought, Heaven looked like a theme park.
All ideas of a God who, if not merciful, is at least just, are here put to ridicule. Veneal and cardinal sins alike assure everlasting damnation and punishment. Admission to heaven, on the other hand, depends only on God's whim. At a final great party, God gives a glorified account of his career and then reveals the ultimate motif behind everything he has done: "It was Art! It was always Art. I work by the contrasts and metrics, by beats and the silences. It was all Art. Because it makes a better story is why."6
With artistic aplomb, God has chosen the perfect moment for his disclosure, for it marks the beginning of Doomsday and bodily resurrection. But not for long, since a disillusioned God proceeds to annihilate everything, giving as his reason: "Because I never found My audience."7 This, presumably, is then really the end.
These narratives have in common, that their protagonists are searching for a meaning - if not for their lives, then at least for their deaths. This search is presented to the reader either in a didactic vein, as in The Pilgrim's Progress, or with satirical intentions, as in the other stories. But even Bunyan uses the form to show up vices, and there are certainly also didactic elements in the satirical narratives.
The puzzled dead
The previous examples showed the dead as being fully aware of their state and behaving in the traditionally expected manner - albeit with certain variations. In the following cases, the dead find it much more difficult to understand and to come to terms with their new state. Generally speaking, "real" death only sets in, when it has been accepted as such, because only then there is a sense of closure and a more or less peaceful state can be reached.
Sometimes the dead do not realise for quite a while what has happened to them. Only after they have been confronted with incontrovertible evidence do they accept the fact of death. Such is the case in Ambrose Bierce's "An Inhabitant of Carcossa".8 The anonymous first-person narrator finds himself of a sudden in unknown and completely deserted surroundings, somewhat reminiscent of a former cemetery. He remembers having been ill and believes he has somehow recovered his health, but has lost his way. A lynx and a savage cross his path, buth they don't seem to notice him. Finally, he encounters his own tombstone, and when the sun rises and he does not cast a shadow, he realises that the ruins around him belong to the town of Carcosa, in which he formerly lived.
In Mervyn Peake's "Danse Macabre" there is a husband who notices one night that his dinner suit leaves the wardrobe all by itself and has a clandestine meeting in the woods with his wife's evening dress.9 The next night, husband and wife decide to find out about this and go to bed dressed in their respective clothes. They are lead into the woods, and when the husband returns the next morning, he finds himself and his wife both dead in bed.
The indications that something strange is going on are far more subtle in Muriel Spark's The Hothouse by the East River, where the first hint is conveyed by the present tense in which the story is told throughout, thus indicating the timelessness of the events.10 Another strange feature is Elsa, the main protagonist, whose shadow, as her husband Paul maintains, falls in the wrong direction, i.e. towards the source of light instead of away from it. But the possibility that either or both are insane cannot be ruled out for quite a while, and their friends act strangely too. There are different versions of their common past, which they try to work out. It is finally revealed that they have all been killed by a V2 in London in 1944, but they strenuously try to deny this.
Various features are remarkable in all these stories: the dead person has no direct experience of his or her death, but there are certain things that appear strange - there are starkly improbable events, disorientation, and direct contradictions of physical laws. But only when the evidence becomes incontrovertible is the fact of death acknowledged, and this is then invariably the end. So these narratives tell of a transitory state, which still bears many marks of the previous life, but they keep silent about what happens after.
This transitory state is also the beginning of Alasdair Gray's Lanark, in which the eponymous protagonist finds himself unaccountably in a rather drab city.11 The only thing he remembers is arriving in a train and being given a name and some money. This experience is apparently shared by everyone he meets, as are also certain physical peculiarities, especially an illness called "Dragonhide", which eventually covers the whole body in some hard scaly substance. Lanark escapes through a giant mouth that swallows him entire and wakes up in an underground hospital to find that he has been cured. There he finds out about his past as Duncan Thaw, who killed a girl and then committed suicide. He decides to leave the hospital and becomes involved in a fight between good and evil.
This story is remarkable not only for its detailed working out of the afterlife, which seems to consist mainly of the more unpleasant aspects of the previous existence, but also for apparently giving the protagonist another chance in a new realm: the realisation of death does not entail the end, it is rather a new beginning.
In all these narratives the protagonists at some point become aware of their state, and are thus able to achieve a certain degree of closure, i.e. they acquiesce in their condition and presumably find some sort of convenient arrangement, but there are also those who fail to find out what has happened and therefore are doomed to wander - often literally - in circles.
The ignorant dead
Since only the acknowledgment of death opens the way to escape from eternal repetition, those who cannot make this step - for whatever reasons - are doomed to a hell of their own making.
Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman (1967) comes in the guise of an apologia pro vita sua: the first-person narrator gives an account of his life and doings, beginning with the startling revelation that it was him that committed a particular murder.12 It is less a desire to justify this murder than a wish to explain how it was done that prompts him to his narrative. The reader, however, soon has reason to doubt less the narrator's veracity than his ability to assess the import of what befell him and what he himself is doing, for he neither seems to realise that his mother was a (part-time) prostitute nor that both his parents have died - he rather thinks, they have just gone away. In very much the same vein he devotes his life to the pseudo-philosopher de Selby and strikes up a partnership with the parasitic layabout John Divney with whom he murders old Mathers for his money, only to be killed himself later by a bomb that Divney has planted for him. His death, however, is solely perceived by the reader, but not by the narrator who continues blithely on his way into an ever stranger world and straight into a police station, where he is arraigned for the murder of Mathers - apparently only because he just happens to be there. Among the strange things that happen to him while he awaits his hanging are a visit to a very odd place called "Eternity" and also several conversations with his own soul, which is called Joe and tells him that they will soon go different ways. (What will happen to itself, it cannot say.) After fleeing from his confinement and confronting a mortally frightened John Divney, who reveals that the narrator has been dead for 16 years, he finds himself back where he was just after the bomb killed him - only this time he enters the police-station together with John Divney.
An important feature of The Third Policeman is the anonymity of the narrator: he cannot remember his own name, although he tries out several appellations to see if they fit him. When asked by the police, he says his name is "Nobody", thinking that this is a clever ruse to escape hanging. As a matter of fact, this gets him only deeper into trouble, since the death of "nobody" will be of no import whatever. The nameless narrator has no identity to give up and, consequently, can acquire no new one, as would otherwises be usual after death. Because of this deficiency, he is trapped in an endless repetition of a purposeless existence.
Whereas it is clear in The Third Policeman that the narrator is dead, in some stories by Samuel Beckett the reader is left in doubt as to the exact state of the protagonist. However, we do find the apparently eternal repetition of the same, and there is also a circular movement. This is true for How It Is, which has a setting reminiscent of Dante's Inferno, and in which the protagonist is apparently damned to wander - or rather crawl - in circles forever, while life's necessaries are providentially provided in a sack containing cans of food and a can-opener.13 This certainly sounds like eternal damnation. Still, there is a glimpse of hope in the belief of some unreachable beyond.14. This is also true for The Lost Ones, where the inhabitants of a place that looks very much like hell are not aware of the exact nature of their plight and have a faint hope of escape.15 This escape might be the acquiescence in their death.
Looking over the brink
Some narratives concentrate on the actual moment of death. The dying are usually not conscious of what is happening to them, and, depending on the narrative point of view and the presence or absence of certain signals, the reader may only realise after a while what it is all about. Interestingly, these narratives do not seem to believe in an independent afterlife at all. When bodily death has fully set in, this is the end.
A famous instance of the transition from life to death is given in Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", where a confederate officer in the American civil war is hanged by the Unionists who have caught him in an act of sabotage.16 In his last moments he fantasises a miraculous escape and return home until everything goes black: "Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge."17 Here we find a characeristic change of perspective from the inside view of the dying man to the outside view of the narrator. This also occurs in William Golding's Pincher Martin, where the eponymous protagonist creates almost a whole new life for himself in the last seconds before drowning.
Another instance where the projected afterlife is a decisive improvement on the preceding one and especially upon the circumstances of death is to be found in D.M. Thomas's The White Hotel, where the protagonist, Lisa Erdman, imagines she has been healed of her physical and mental wounds and meets again all those friends she had lost.18
These examples can be called wish-fulfillment fantasies, created by a wish to evade the inevitable and to replace it with something pleasant and gratifying in order not to have to face the fact of death. Almost the opposite could be said about a number of Samuel Beckett's protagonists who not only do not flinch before death, but seem positively to desire it, although the best they can hope for is annihilation. Thus, Malone in the novel Malone Dies tries three times - unsuccessfully - to tell the story of his life, each time in a different version.18 At last, there are only incoherent mumblings which indicate the end of his physical existence. What happens after is possibly told in The Unnamable, where a ruminating consciousness attempts to come to terms with its state, which is possibly death.20 It continuously tries on different past identities that it calls "vice-existers", which are connected with different reminiscences, but nothing ever leads to a conclusive answer, so the point of closure is never reached.
In Beckett's story "The End", the first-person narrator relates the last months of his life, although he does not seem to be aware of his approaching death.21 There are, however, many indications in the story itself that this is just what is going to happen: there is a pervading feeling of utter disorientation and the complete inability of the narrator to make sense of the occurrences. As a matter of fact, sense is not really what he is after, it is more like a fatalistic acceptance of whatever befalls him. In a final vision, he goes to sea in a boat and drills a whole into its bottom:
[...], I swallowed my calmative. [...] The memory came faint and cold of the story I might have told, a story in the likeness of my life, I mean without the courage to end or the strength to go on.22
Characteristically, death is here not a definite event but a continuous process whose beginning and end are hard to specify. The word "calmative" in the quotation above links the story to another one by Beckett which might very well be seen as its continuation. In this story the narrator knows that he has died, but he does not know when this happened, and hardly anything seems to have changed. He wanders about and meets people, but the events are similar to the ones in "The End" in their inconclusiveness. These two stories can thus be seen as mirror-images of each other: both spill over into the realm of the other without there being a strict borderline. This is summed up succinctly in "Texts for Nothing, III", where an anonymous I tries to imagine a body, but this turns out to be impossible: "There is no flesh anywhere, nor any way to die."23 Death in the old sense seems to have been abolished.
The Undead
The borderline between life and death is also indistinct in the case of the Undead, who continue some sort of physical existence. The ceasing of the bodily functions does not necessarily mean a separation of the body and the mind: there are various cases, in which the two continue together, are in fact inseparable and exhibit certain properties that in other circumstances would be thought to pertain to the living. This seems to violate the criterion of death posited above, and indeed these cases have traditionally been labelled "the Undead", such as vampires and zombies. They can be differentiated from the "proper" dead by the fact that their existence is bound to their body: when the latter has been destroyed (in an appropriate way), they cease to exist. I have here also included ghosts, since, albeit not bound to a body, they intrude into the realm of the living.
Vampires suffer the death of their former being, but undergo certain bodily and psychic changes which enable them to lead a different kind of physical and mental existence, one which, however, is dependent upon a continous supply of fresh blood. Their only concern is to maintain their existence, but since their condition is contagious, they potentially eradicate their supply. Before they face extinction through starvation, though, they are usually delivered from their condition through various practices that involve the drastic mutilation of their corpses, as can be seen in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897).
Zombies are the bodies of dead persons which are "reanimated" by somebody else, usually a sorcerer, who uses them for his own ends. They are said to possess tremendous bodily powers, but they have no will - and presumably no consciousness - of their own. An exception here is Windle in Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man.24 He is a sorcerer himself, who after his physical death continues as a Zombie because Death is reported missing. When Death checks back in to work, Windle can at last find his long-desired rest.
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) the parts of various dead bodies are put together and are reanimated to form the monster. The resultant creature has no knowledge of his previous existence(s), but rather resembles a new born child. As to his bodily strength, he shows the characteristics of a zombie. The creature could be said to be a zombie which has escaped its master's control, i.e. it has a will of its own.
A special case might again be provided by Beckett in "Imagination Dead Imagine", where the bodies of a man and a woman lie immovably side by side, but are alive (in an animated state?), according to the narrator.25 It seems that "only" their minds are dead. This would constitute a complete reversal of the traditional pattern, which postulates the death of the body and the continuance of the soul.
Ghosts are related to, yet distinct from the Undead, since on occasion they can be perceived in the material world, but are not of it. They can also be said to acquire new bodily abilities, albeit not material ones, since they are not restricted by physical circumstances. They interact, however, with the world of the living, i.e. they have to manifest themselves somehow, often visually, but also aurally or through direct communication with the mind of the perceiver, often in a dream or in a trancelike state.
Ghosts are usually not very communicative as regards their mode of existence. Sometimes they converse with the living, usually in order to complain of some wrong that has been done to them or that they have done themselves, in consequence of which they are damned to wander the earth until they are redeemed. They often have to perform repetitive tasks, i.e. reenact the decisive moments before their demise or something similar.
Ambrose Bierce's "The Moonlit Road" combines various of these features:26 through the medium Bayrolles, Julia Hetman tells how she appeared as a ghost to her husband, who has presumably murdered her. By means of her appearance she has probably driven him crazy, but apparently she neither understands what happened to her nor what happened to her husband.
Technical afterlives
Certain types of life after death require a physical basis, as we have already seen in the case of vampires and zombies. This does not have to be the actual body of the deceased, but can be a mechanical substitute. Here we are obviously not so much concerned with the soul, but rather with the mind, which need not, however, be fully continuous with its previous state.
In Joseph McElroy's Plus the brain of a fatally ill person has been removed and is now installed as the central computer of a space capsule orbiting the earth. Since the rest of the body has physically died, and since "Imp Plus" has only the dimmest recollection of what happened, this can be seen as an entirely new lease of a completely different life: "Imp Plus" evolves a new identity and even certain outgrowths of his brain, which make him ideally adopted to his new existence.
Researchers in Artificial Intelligence have suggested the possibility that consciousnes - in fact the whole personality - may exist independently of an organic body, because it can be seen as some kind of computer programme. Since this is posited not only for the creation of machine intelligence, but is said to be applicable to humans too, it is only a small step further to envisaging the possibility of transferring a given mind onto a machine. Apparently this is best done at or near the instant of death, when the exact state of the neural activities of the brain is read and copied onto another medium. Whenever this medium is activated, this state is then replicated and consciousness regained for as long as there is technical support. The rest of the time is spent in absolute nothingness.
There are two instances of this in William Gibson's Cyberspace-Trilogy, namely Dixie in Neuromancer and the Finn in Mona Lisa Overdrive.27 Neither of them seems to relish this state very much - Dixie actually asks Chase to erase his personality construct, i.e. to kill him for good, whereas the Finn leads a not very happy existence as a kind of public oracle.28
The idea of "beaming", i.e. the teleporting of matter, especially of humans, is also based on the assumption that a complete description of the physical state is a sufficient basis for reduplication. This is not usually thought of as involving death, but as a matter of fact the "original" physical being is usually destroyed before it materialises in some other place. (This is a matter of convenience, otherwise there would be multiple identical beings.)29 Since there is no actual transfer of matter involved, this process can be said to imply physical death - even repeatedly.30 It is, however, not usually experienced as such by the participants, who may nevertheless be said to lead posthumous lives.
The uses of the posthumous narrative
The tradition of the posthumous narrative suggests that its main use lies in the giving of a new and unexpected perspective upon the events of the former life and the personality of the deceased. It can thus be closely related to satire on the one hand, on the other it can be used for didactic purposes, as a means of exhortation to rectify one's life. Both approaches are facilitated by a clear division between and awareness of the live and the dead state, which through contrast allows reflection and reassessment. The didactic purpose is more difficult to see, however, in those narratives where the protagonists lack this distinctive awareness and therefore are not able to make comparisons - the reader, on the contrary, may be quite aware of the dilemma. This almost unbroken continuity between life and death is invariably shown to lead to unhappiness, because of a feeling of senselessness and of being lost: there is no past and no future, no wherefrom and no whereto, therefore we often encounter the image of the circle from which there is only the faintest - and usually delusive - hope of escape. Apparently there is nothing worse than being condemned to continue in invariably the same way forever - this is traditionally seen as the condition of hell. This could also be an explanation why stories of the Undead have proved so popular in the 20th century: in them, the daunting prospect of an unchanging life without the hope of an end can be studied.
The question is, of course, why the borderline between life and death has been so much blurred in the 20th century. The lack of a belief in a life after death can only be part of the answer, since neither Fielding nor Hawthorne can have believed that the afterlife would resemble their descriptions. It seems rather that death itself has vanished from the horizon, i.e. there is a lack of conviction that their will be an end to one's sublunary existence. Otherwise there would be a point of reference against which to judge one's life. But if this is missing, there is nothing to distinguish life from, no negative to judge a positive, and therefore no possibility of a transcendent view. It is therefore not surprising that in many stories by Samuel Beckett, it is hard, if not impossible to tell whether the protagonists are dead or alive, because they are really neither. It seems, as if contemporary life were seen as almost indistinguishable from death. Paradoxically, since there is no belief in an ultimate redemption anymore, the afterlife becomes a playground for alternative lives. Fictional representations of the afterlife therefore do not only ask the question "What is death?", but also "What is life?". The latter, of course, is a question that is implicitly asked by every novel. At the same time, since every text is of necessity over and finished at some point, the novel also draws attention to the fact that it has its own affinities with death.
1 Ambrose Bierce, The Collected Writings, ed. Clifton Fadiman (New York 1946), 532.
2 A short history of the posthumous narrative and some of its recent uses can be found in Herbert G. Klein, "Grave Matters: Posthumous Narratives in Postmodern Times", in: Anglistentag 1996, Dresden, ed. Uwe Böker/Hans Sauer (Trier 1997), 373-80.
3 Henry Fielding, A Journey from This World to the Next (London 1973).
4 Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from an Old Manse (Boston and New York 1892), 212-34.
5 David Danziger, The Devil in Miss Jones (New York 1973).
6 Stanley Elkin, The Living End (New York 1985), 144.
7 Ibid., 148.
8 Bierce 1946, 532-35.
9 Muriel Spark, The Hothouse by the East River (London/Basingstoke 1973).
10 Mervyn Peake, Peake's Progress. Selected Writings and Drawings of Mervyn Peake, ed. Maeve Gilmore (London 1978), 134-42.
11 Alasdair Gray, Lanark. A Life in 4 Books (London 1991).
12 Flann O'Brien, The Third Policeman (London 1974).
13 Samuel Beckett, How It Is (London 1964).
14 Of course, this story can also be read as some grim parable on human existence.
15 Samuel Beckett, The Lost Ones (London 1972).
16 Ambrose Bierce, The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce, ed. Ernest Jerome Hopkins (Lincoln/London 1984), 305-13.
17 Bierce 1984, 313.
18 D.M. Thomas, The White Hotel (Harmondsworth 1981), 225-40.
19 Samuel Beckett, Molloy - Malone Dies - The Unnamable (London 1959).
20 Beckett 1959.
21 Samuel Beckett, No's Knife. Collected Shorter Prose 1945-1966 (London 1967).
22 Beckett 1967, 95.
23 Beckett 1967, 85.
24 Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man (London 1992).
25 Beckett 1967, 163.
26 Bierce 1946, 417-26.
27 William Gibson, Neuromancer (London 1986).
28 William Gibson, Mona Lisa Overdrive (London 1989), ch. 22.
29 It is possible to argue that the process of "scanning" itself is destructive.
30 One wants to be careful about one's company, though, since beaming may also go desastrously wrong, as shown e.g. in David Cronenberg's film The Fly.


text:
One can only hope that more church pastors follow in the footsteps of Reverend Andy Stanley.
The head of an Atlanta megachurch has rejected his pastor father's hateful views on homosexuality and says the church should be the "safest place on the planet" for gay young people.
Andy Stanley, who has turned North Point Ministries into one the nation's largest churches, said Christians must stop driving gay teens away from the church – saying that politics should not overrule biblical teachings, reported Project Q.


text:
With the development of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone, XMFESCO has provided personnel services for more than 10,000 employees from governmental organizations, foreign enterprises, resident representative offices of foreign enterprises in Xiamen, state-owned enterprises, joint-stock enterprises, private enterprises and individually-owned businesses.
Overseas Chinese News, founded in June, 1956, is a weekly newspaper serving overseas Chinese in more than 80 countries, and residents of Hong Kong, Macao,Taiwan and south Fujian province.
The center serves as a link between enterprises in Xiamen invested by overseas Chinese and local government departments.


text:
|Used Horizontal Saws
|Used Vertical Band Saws
|used original Roll-In Band saw in great shape
|used Grob NS-36-10 bandsaw Not in our shop
|used Grob 4V24 tool room band saw with welder
|used Grob 4V18 bandsaw 18" throat with welder
|used Do-All 1612-0 bandsaw
|used DoAll 20" bandsaw
|used DoAll 36" bandsaw
|used Do-All 2013-V Variable Speed Tool Room Saw
|Used Grob saw blade welders - we have a selection, 1/2" and 1"
bench models and machine mount models
|Circular Saws
|Kasto semi-automatic with 14" blade
|used Automatic Horizontal Band Saws
|used Do-All Horizontal band saw
|used Kasto PBA460AU automatic 18" bandsaw
|Used Roll-In band saw
In our showroom.
Used Kasto V350U semi-automatic circular saw
with 20' roller infeed table
used Grob 4V24 tool room bandsaw
speeds to 5000 fpm, power feed
blade welder
used GROB 4v18 bandsaw
with welder and power feed
Used Grob NS-36-10 band saw with 36" throat
Stock photo - not our machine -
The machine we have available does not have a welder but we have
some used welders that could be added.
The saw is not in our shop yet.
used Do-All 1612-0 Bandsaw
used Do-All Horizontal Band Saw
this machine is in our shop but not yet cleanup and checked out.
actual machine photo
used DoAll 36-2 vertical bandsaw
|Used Do-All 2013-V Variable Speed Band Saw
in our shop, in excellent condition, on casters 575/3/60
|Used 18" Kasto PBA460AU Automatic Band Saw
(stock photos)
18" 460mm round capacity
320 x 500mm rectangular capacity
blade speeds 20 - 130m / min variable speed
minimum cut length 6mm
4.4 Kw main motor
approx weight 3000 kg