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Q Model Steel Buildings
Steel Building Pros Q Model Steel Buildings
Are extremely versatile arch-style buildings and are ideal for storing and protecting livestock, grain or hay, machinery and equipment with plenty of room left over for a workshop.
Q Model steel buildings are trusted by more farmers, truckers and heavy equipment operators to protect their valuable equipment than any other steel buildings.
Quonset style steel buildings are much stronger that I-beam buildings and pole barns. Q Model Style steel buildings are maintenance-free and have no interior beams, trusses or posts. This enables our Q model style steel buildings to offer 100% usable space. This equates to low cost storage for large or tall equipment and vehicle. Q Model Style steel buildings are rafter free, and this means that there is no place for rodents or birds to create nests.
- Able to withstand extremely adverse weather conditions
- Extremely versatile
Common Uses Include:
- Warehousing
- Industrial
- Manufacturing
- Agriculture
- Equipment housing
- Indoor stadium
- Skating rinks
- Livestock housing


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The Shan specialties at Yoma Myanmar bring us back again and again. Before living in Los Angeles, it was a part of almost every visit to the city. The Los Angeles area is blessed with quite a few Burmese restaurants, but so far this is our favorite.
With roots in colonial times when many folks from the subcontinent were working in what is now Myanmar, there are many items that share ancestry with Indian foods, like samusas (above). Like most dishes though, there are unique twists that make the cuisine all its own. Also of Indian descent but not as interesting here is the pae paratha (not pictured).
Shan-style tofu salad (below) is made from yellow chickpea flour, a unique taste ubiquitous in Myanmar. The version here is almost swimming in their lovely sauce mixture.
The laphet thoke (below) is extremely on point here, so lovers of the fermented tea leaf salad dish will not be disappointed. All the right elements of different tastes and textures are there, and the chili peppers on the side make it easy to spice up if that is your preference.
The group here at the restaurant is from Shan State, so don't miss the Shan noodles (below). In addition to the ingredients seen here, it is usually served with a small bowl of chicken broth and can be turned into a more soup-like dish if desired. I usually prefer it dry, but either choice is fine.
Especially perfect for breakfast, the fish noodle soup known as mohinga (below) is also done very well here. The little condiment tray that comes with it should be used liberally, as the soup cries out for squeezes of lime, dashes of cilantro, and plenty of dried red pepper to spice it up.
Fried catfish.
Complimentary coconut dessert.

subset: commoncrawl


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Monday, 24 September 2012
Design wall Monday Sept. 24, 2012
I'm pondering what colour to use for the setting areas that are currently showing as my design wall showing through. Could it be as simple as a beige muslin? This will be a boy's quilt, so it can't be anything pink, or girly. White would show dirt and wear too easily. I have a lot of muslin, so maybe......
And then there is poor neglected Aunt Lucy. I had hoped to get one or two blocks a week done for her, but it didn't happen. Maybe this week.....
I have 2 blocks for her all cut and ready to go, but I never seemed to find the minutes it would take to get them done. There were bigger priorities, like customer quilts to be done, and a quilt of mine to be done for the upcoming quilt show at the end of October. I suspect that is what will be occupying a lot of my time for the next few weeks, and I LOVE it. I have the quilting design for Heartland Star all figured out, except for the borders, so that is part of today's to-do list. There just may be a sneak peak of that quilt a little later today, depending on how long it takes me to find something I like for the borders, feathers of some sort is all I know right now. I'm linking up to Judy's Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.
5 comments:
- Anonymous24 September 2012 at 15:56
Hi Cathy! Your work is always amazing to me. I just don't know how to do such beautiful work. You have a gift! ♥♥♥ReplyDelete
Your square are looking great. Keep at them you look like it might get done soon.ReplyDelete
What Cathy #1 up there said!! You do such gorgeous work. You are *amazing*!! :)ReplyDelete
Wow! I need to learn how to do these blocks! Are you machine piecing them or paper piecing?ReplyDelete
Love the building blocks. With each center so unique...using a muslin background will keep them popping (jmho ;-)). So cute!ReplyDelete
I love reading all your comments, and am grateful for each one. I try very hard to answer them all, but lately I haven't quite been able to answer all of them.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Biography of Alexander McIlwaine Moore
Graduate Record for Alexander McIlwaine Moore
Forename: Alexander McIlwaine
Surname: Moore
Degree Information: MA (1852)
Countries of Association: Ireland
Further information from the University records:
Addison 1727-1897 reads: "Filius natu tertius Alexandri agricolae in parochia de Grey Abbey et comitat. de Down" [Matriculation album 1846].
Alexander McIlwaine Moore
GU Degree: MA, 1852;
University Link: MA (1852) Graduate
Record last updated: 12th Jun 2009
Country Associations
For many of our Irish connections, particularly those prior to 1922, it is not clear which part(s) of the island of Ireland they should be associated with and it is often difficult to find out. If you have more information about any of these connections, please get in touch.


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Key Takeaways:
- A recent article said that to win talent, companies must compete on purpose, authenticity and organizational structure —particularly to attract Millennial talent.
- How exactly does company organization drive culture?
- We'll look at both the physical organization and the operational organization and how they factor in.
This excerpt from a recent NewCo article really struck a chord with me. It said — "A job is just the beginning. To win talent, companies must compete on purpose, authenticity, and with a message that resonates. Millennials are now the largest force in the global economy, and they have a markedly different view of work: purpose and "making a difference in the world" are central in their work-related decisions."
The article goes on to say — "They'd rather work at The Honest Company than P&G, if given a choice — and the best and brightest always have a choice. Members of the next generation want to be at a company where work means more than a paycheck. They believe work can be a calling or an expression of our creativity. And in a world where you can be more creative then ever before Big companies aren't currently organized to enable their workforces in this way (human resources, anyone?), but new companies — even the very largest ones like Google — most definitely are."
How exactly does the organization of a company drive culture to help attract and retain the best talent? Here are some thoughts:
#1. Do Team Members Have Access to the C-Suite?
I think one of the biggest organizational issues as it pertains to company culture is whether or not team members have access to upper management. I believe in a complete open door policy. Accessible should be an understatement. If there is a disconnect here, they culture will reflect it. The best sports teams in history have always had the most accessible coaches in the business. Leaders are here to serve and we should never forget that. I've talked a lot about senior leadership and their role in company culture, analytics, and overall performance of team members.
When team members have access to senior leaders and feel comfortable sharing their ideas and concerns without feeling they will be judged or ridiculed, a collaborative culture ensues. This culture sets the company up for great success, because team members who feel they are heard —and who feel they are truly making an impact— do the best work. Team member engagement is what drives greatness! They're inspired. Feeling inspired is why we do anything well. And, that's a culture everyone wants!
#2. Is the Physical Organization Supportive of Collaboration?
A lot has been said over the past year or so about whether or not the open office design is actually as productive as we've all thought. You've seen it —the sprawling floorplan with beanbags rather than cubicles, ping pong rather than conference tables. And, most of us bought in. It breeds collaboration, they said.
I would challenge all companies to relook their physical organization and layout to determine if it's really driving the culture and chemistry that you want. Certainly there's a "cubicle culture" versus a "open office culture", but is there a happy balance? It will never be a one size fits all answer — and it shouldn't be. A physical organization (maybe an open floor plan with designated quiet areas where team members can go to really focus or get some quiet time) where all the good of the open office marries all the good of the more traditional office?
Closing Remarks
How has the organization of your company impacted your company culture? Is this something that you monitor or adjust with culture in mind? I'd love to continue the conversation, so be sure to share your thoughts with me in the comments.
Personally, I think this is an under-analyzed area of business where we could afford to do some real research, and where we could make a great impact on our business. Business culture is changing at the speed of light and and will continue. We are all experimenting with what will be the best environment for the greatest asset a company can ever have … it's people.


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Free Shipping!
We now ship all items free in the contiguous 48 states of the United StatesWE WILL FIGURE YOUR SHIPPING AND CHARGE YOUR CARD ACCORDINGLY FOR HAWAII, ALASKA, CANADA AND ALL OVERSEAS ORDERS.
- Canada - Call for your shipping options
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A minisymposium is a session of coordinated presentations on a single topic of substantial current interest and importance in mathematics and its applications. It is normally two hours long. Minisymposia organizers should check the conference submissions web page of the conference to which they plan to submit for information on the length and number of talks in each minisymposium.
In conducting the minisymposium, the session organizer should provide an overview of the minisymposium, introduce the speakers, and provide an opportunity for discussion among the speakers and the audience. The organizer may also be the chair and one of the speakers.
Those interested in organizing a minisymposium must submit a proposal by the published deadline. Organizers will select the topics to be addressed, obtain speakers for those topics, decide with each speaker on the title of his/her presentation, and provide other information as needed.
Organizers are especially encouraged to include speakers from more than one country and from underrepresented groups, including women and minorities, whenever appropriate.
SIAM and the conference Organizing Committee will not be able to waive the registration fee for minisymposium organizers and speakers, or reimburse their expenses. Therefore, organizers should make no financial commitments on behalf of SIAM to speakers when organizing their minisymposium.
Recommendations for Selecting Minisymposium Speakers:
The Minisymposium Organizer should provide the following information:
If you wish to organize a minisymposium, please go to the appropriate conference web page listed at our Conference Calendar.
We are a community of 14,000+ computational mathematicians, computer scientists, numerical analysts, engineers, statisticians, physicists, educators, and students from more than 100 countries.
Join other informed readers, keep abreast of news in the applied mathematics community, and get to know your profession better by signing up for our free e-alerts.
Your donation helps us carry out our mission and ensures the health of our discipline, from helping students and early career professionals, to bolstering resources we develop for exchange of information, and more.


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Under the Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) workers and employers share responsibility for occupational health and safety. This concept of an internal responsibility system is based on the principle that workplace parties are in the best position to identify health and safety problems and to develop solutions.
Employers have the most responsibility for ensuring a safe and healthy workplace and must:
⦁ Keep a safe and well-maintained workplace
⦁ Provide hazard information, proper safety equipment, training and competent supervision
⦁ Have worker representation for the health and safety committee
⦁ Follow proper procedures in case of injury
Supervisors have responsibility to provide:
⦁ A safe workplace and assign safe work
⦁ Training and information
⦁ Supervision
Workers have the right to:
⦁ Know about any unsafe conditions or hazardous materials used in the workplace
⦁ Participate in making their work safe
⦁ Refuse unsafe work
Workers also have responsibility to:
⦁ Work safely and not take risks
⦁ Report unsafe conditions
⦁ Wear the right safety equipment for the job
⦁ Ask their employers about concerns regarding health and safety


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We've got just another month or so until summer 2013 is officially in the books. It's been another fantastic summer festival season over here for the Brown Paper Tickets team (thank you!) but its not over yet. Here's a round-up of a few of the last summertime festivals, both indoor and out, for you to enjoy before you have to don a parka and boots while holding an umbrella. Also I realize this post is a bit "Washington-centric." Apologies.
TONIGHT!! Wednesday, August 21
Cooperstown Summer Music Festival: East Coast Chamber Orchestra – Cooperstown, New York
Tonight in Cooperstown experience the self-conducted "organic collective" chamber orchestra that is ECCO. Gifted young string players — soloists, chamber musicians, principals of major American orchestras, and GRAMMY award winners, have played with the symphony orchestras of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston among others.
In 2012 ECCO celebrated its first decade of friendship and discovery with the release of its first commercial recording. It includes Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings in C Major Op. 48," Shostakovich's "Chamber Symphony in C minor, Op. 110a" and the exuberant and surprising "La Follia – Variations for String Orchestra" arranged by ECCO's own Michi Wiancko after Francesco Geminiani's "Concerto Grosso No. 12 in D minor." Tonight at the Cooperstown Summer Music Fest they perform Mozarts "Divertimento in B flat major," among their selections.
Friday, August 23rd
Moonfest 2013 – Lake Leland in Quilcene, Washington
If you follow historic, West Coast Highway 101 all the way north, it comes to an end by looping around the beautiful Olympic National Park, a little northwest and across the water from Seattle. This is the breathtaking location of Moonfest 2013. Definitely a camping out under the stars (or inside a cozy RV) kind of scenario. Catch the Dusty 45s, Blake Noble, as well as a slew of other acts that compliment the large campsite. Roger Fisher from Heart is headlining so bring the kids, keep the dogs on a leash, and swim at your own risk.
Saturday, August 24th
Slack Fest 2013 – Stanwood, Washington
Those familiar with KEXP's awesome weekly country music program "Swingin' Doors" will recognize the voice of DJ Don Slack. What started as a party at the Stanwood Hotel in 2004 has morphed into a party and concert celebrating the spirit and passion Don Slack puts into every show he attends and the bands who inspire it. Grab a cold Rainier and join the crowd gathered around the band playing on "that flatbed truck over there." Shake your hips to the sunny sounds of Country Lips, Moondoggies, and The Comettes just to name a few. Fun is bound to be had. Bring sunscreen.
Friday, August 23rd to Sunday, August 25th
Bluegrass On The Green – Montlake Terrace, Washington
This is an open air festival with bluegrass music by the Northwest's own Northern Departure Bluegrass Band, Kenny and Amanda Smith Band and The Mountain Faith Band on the Nile Shrine Picnic Grounds in Montlake Terrace.
With a wine and beer garden, jam areas, instrument raffle and a full restaurant and bar, this festival runs Friday, August 23rd, Saturday, August 24th and Sunday, August 25th.


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Very interesting concept, but there is no indication of what is a good score. The rules simple say "Gain 1 point for each Patient in the Saved Pile". I feel some brackets such as Poor, Good, Excellent would give the player something to aim for.
After the Disaster: Triage
A downloadable medical disaster game
Save the patients; save the hospital.
1 player • 5-15 minutes • ages 12+
A catastrophic earthquake has struck the city. Save as many patients as you can before the hospital collapses!
After the Disaster: Triage is a solitaire game where you determine who will survive the aftermath of a terrible earthquake. As the disaster coordinator, manage your staff in admitting and healing patients, siphoning diesel for the generator, and keeping the hospital intact during aftershocks. But how will you handle the panicking and dying patients you leave outside?
Each turn begins with handling new issues for the hospital: Survivors who want help. Aftershocks that damage the hospital. A diesel source that could be scavenged. And more. After managing the situation, you'll balance patient survival with keeping the hospital running during the crisis using your remaining action points. Each turn ends with the generator consuming diesel and survivors left outside worsening or taking matters into their own hands. The game ends after the immediate crisis has passed and all patients have been healed or have passed on…or the hospital collapses.
The latest revision is 20180506.
Deluxe Edition
The deluxe edition box contains 54 cards with an embossed texture and UV coating for ease of shuffling and durability, clips for tracking values, a ten-sided die for action points, and printed rules—and a smaller tuck box large enough to travel with the cards and clips. The deluxe edition also includes the print-and-play files.
Core Edition
The core edition tuckbox contains 54 cards with an embossed texture and UV coating for ease of shuffling and durability. You'll need to supply a way to track values such as small binder clips and optionally a way to track action points. The core edition also includes the print-and-play files. Available at DriveThruCards or The Game Crafter.
Print-and-Play Edition
The print-and-play edition includes 54 cards and updated rules for the cards. The cards are bridge-size and are easy to use with either bridge- or poker-sized sleeves. You'll also need to supply a way to track values, such as small binder clips, and optionally a way to track action points, such as a 10-sided die.
Free Edition
After the Disaster: Triage Essentials is completely free to download and free to share! It uses components that are commonly available:
- Two poker decks of 52 cards
- Six six-sided dice
- An optional 10-sided die, pen and paper, or other way to track action points
If you enjoy the free edition, let us know! And consider making a donation to show your support.
Adaptation of Search-and-Rescue Workers Arrive in Ofunato by Matthew Bradley used under CC BY 2.0.
|Physical game
|Studio Tectorum
|Card Game, Survival
|Board Game, Casual, Management, Meaningful Choices, medical, Short, Singleplayer, Turn-based
|Average session
|About a half-hour
|Color-blind friendly, High-contrast
|Homepage, Deluxe Edition, Twitter
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- New Core EditionJun 09, 2018
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Very interesting concept, but there is no indication of what is a good score. The rules simple say "Gain 1 point for each Patient in the Saved Pile". I feel some brackets such as Poor, Good, Excellent would give the player something to aim for.


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Aims and Objectives
Best CBSE School In Hyderabad
Swami Vivekananda's vision of education based on fundamental values is the aim & objective of Hindu Public School. It aims and has an appropriate balance of academics, co-curricular and extra curricular activities with an emphasis on Best CBSE School
- All round personality development of Children
- To inculcate love for our Cultural Heritage,
- To inculcate self-discipline, independence and responsibility to enable a child to take decision on his / her own.
- To develop the habits of Respect for elders, Love for fellow Humans, concern for the needy.
- To create an environment where the child's efforts are appreciated without putting weightage on success or failure.
- To do away with negative and inappropriate practices like – criticism of child's short coming, corporal punishment.
- To develop and maintain positive and healthy environment emphasizing on social relationship among children through membership of varied clubs and team spirit activities.
- To promote value education with emphasis on Nationalism and secular integration.
- To thus promote quality education to achieve academic excellence.


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(Construction of the new, improved
This project has been divided into sections. Navigate
through them using the links at the bottom of the page.
might think making a sturdy, reliable smelting furnace
to be an expensive affair, requiring financial help
from someone like justmilitaryloans.com,
but that's not the case at all! With a little research,
a lot of creativity and a trip or two to Home Depot,
you can save the military loans for something else
and build your own furnace for very little money.
Here's how I created my "new and improved"
a fair bit of help
from Lionel Oliver's book - "The flowerpot crucible
furnace", I went about scrounging for materials
to use.
In the end, an old paint tin was finally put to good
use after having its insides hosed with high pressure
water, and then sliced through with an angle grinder.
The flowerpot shown fits perfectly in the sawn off
Raw materials
to be used for the furnace
A messy tabletop
full of random tools
Two holes are
bored in the "revitalised" paint tin - the
first is for the blower attachment (in order to pump
oxygen through the coals), and the second through
the lid to allow ventilation.
Cutting off
the old handle with a cut off disk
the lid
is the lid with cement poured in. The cement is jabbed
at rather vigorously to ensure no air bubbles are
left in the mix. The vent hole is formed using a piece
of PVC pipe.
cement in the lid and body of the furnace will be
left for four days (that was the longest I could wait...)
to cure and harden.
Prodding the
lid cement and abusing the air bubbles
Cutting off
a segment of steel tube for the blower pipe
While the concrete
sets, the blower device is constructed. For this,
I utilised an old fume extractor originally designed
for sucking up soldering fumes.
Here, a piece
of steel pipe is being cut to attach the blower to
the furnace.
cement has finally set (maybe), and here is the blower
attached to the furnace via a very "ergonomically"
designed air tube made from random foam cups, pvc
pipe and steel tubing. No personal or military loans
needed here! All together this project might have
cost $25 in materials.
The furnace
complete with blower attached
A look inside
the furnace with air distributor
Here is a view
of the body of the furnace. I have to admit I totally
ripped off the idea of the air distributor device
(angle iron) from Lionel Oliver's design, but seeing
as I had a right angle shelving bracket leaning right
on the shed, I just couldn't resist.
The air distributor
works well. In the old "dodgy" furnace,
I didn't have this element and as a result only the
charcoal right next to the tuyere hole was heated
The furnace
happily crackling up with a small fire
Juicy hot
flames rocketing out of the vent hole
The blower works
amazingly well... Intense heat is generated in the
furnace whenever the blower is turned on, whereas
the flames are reduced to mere billowing smoke when
it is off.
I left the PVC
pipe former in place to burn off, which was certainly
easier than hammering it out and risking the integrity
of the furnace lid.
Next - Furnace (part III)
Previous - Furnace (part I)
Back to Penguin's Lab
© Penguin's Lab 2012


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Jamie McLeod is an Environmental Planner with the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
On 8/18/2009 Jamie McLeod gave her justifications for approving the massive 900 Kiely Boulevard high density development (note that she never says that it is what the people of Santa Clara want - she was not governing from a democratic standpoint - but from a Kleptocratic or Aristocratic one):
Thank you, uhm, we've looked at this project now twice and the first time we looked at uhm the EIR and discussed a lot of the traffic impacts and a lot of the issues that were raised tonight and uh personally I think they were issues, they will be issues that are associated with this project but Given that the EIR has been approved uh some of those are uh some of the issues that we have been discussing that are associated with the project are frankly water under the bridge. Uh Because that document has been approved. Uhm, and So now what we're looking at tonight, what I am looking at tonight is the project before us. given some of the uhm the previous the previous approval that's been established and what I'm looking at is a design that has been improved upon from the previous design uhm The other thing I know the density is a very controversial issue but we do have a uh housing shortage in the Bay Area and the South Bay in particular and I know it's difficult when the neighbors are feeling like that's being put upon their shoulders uh they're not many areas in the community where we uh have this opportunity for infill.
Santa Clara, along with San Jose, Mountain View and Sunnyvale continues to change zoning and allow developers to tear down commercial buildings of one height and replace them with commercial buildings of larger heights. They overbuild commercial. And then the politicans like Jamie McLeod tell the people that they have to allow them to degrade their quality of life - make their city more crowded - because there is a housing shortage. The solution is not to build high density residential. It is stop tearing down small commercial buildings and replacing them with larger commercial buildings , and to start tearing down some of the overbuilt commercial buildings. The politicians will be quick to say that they city can't survive with less commercial. And yet, the city once survived beautifully with less commercial buildings.
But uh council member Kornder and I serve as co-chairs on the general plan update steering committee. And we're seeing those pressures on the need for more housing in the area and infill housing is an environmental issue because it does avoid sprawl and people having to commute from other areas and whereas I would love to see some uhm more improvements especially around greenhouse gas issues and I keep raising it but this is gonna become a larger and larger issue as we move forward. Uhm, and so I'd like to see us grappling with this more but the traffic impacts from large commutes is a huge greenhouse uh greenhouse gas issue. So uhm given that it has been improved design uh given that uh we do have the housing demand uhm you know some of the issues again I think are outstanding issues but I think we've lost the opportunity to address them through previous approvals on this project. So uhm ehh with the addition I think that the uhm development management plan that was mentioned is an important one ... we've seen some headaches come up with that before but I think. That will help to address the ongoing issues. So I will be supporting the motion.


text: The proliferation of mobile devices is changing many aspects of our lives, from how we work and communicate to how we learn. In fact, the rise of smart devices such as cellphones and tablets has sparked a mobile learning revolution. And there is ample evidence that mobile platforms support quality eLearning experiences, revealing a plethora of mobile learning benefits. Mobile's exceptional level of pervasiveness increases productivity regardless of where employees are physically located; provides personalized learning and performance support using just-in time, just-in-place dynamic content; and expands talent by helping employees be better at their job to meet the strategic needs of the business.


text:
80 years ITJ!
East–West interface
Europe's largest intermodal terminal is currently under construction in Fényeslitke, in eastern Hungary, almost in sight of the border with Slovakia and Ukraine. ITJ correspondent Claudia Benetti took a closer look at a western gateway to Asia and an eastern gateway to Europe. more
Thinking ahead of developments
Surely board member Maurizio Sartori expected the 40th anniversary of Verona-based Nova Systems to be rather different from what they're experiencing these days. The company has learnt its lessons from the fallout from the pandemic and has, together with its customers,... more
A Pink Ship Across the Oceans
"A woman is like a tea bag. You can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), diplomat, human rights advocate and wife of US president F.D. Roosevelt. more
Three ITJ veterans on the industry, the journal, the...
It would be impolite to divulge personal information here – but none of these experienced colleagues who have edited and sold the ITJ for many decades is much younger than the magazine. Jutta Iten, Eric Derrer and Jean-Claude Zulauf look back with affection. more
Freja riding high
Freja Transport & Logistics Oy of Finland, a member of GPLN, recently handled the transport of components for a flow rider surf machine unit. More than 3,000 m3 of cargo were transported on the road, with some road sections featuring widths of close to 10 m only.... more
Globalisation in our blood
The first edition of the International Transport Journal was published on 15 July 1939 in Basel. Reason enough for us to look back on the early days on the eve of a world war, building the magazine in the economic miracle years, the progressive internationalisation as the years... more
A conference call from Tokyo
International reports have always been at the heart of our journal. Former ITJ correspondent Axel C. Scherrer worked in Japan from 1967 onwards – and provided fascinating impressions from the region. That time was characterised in particular by reports on the former Far Eastern... more
Like a ship circumnavigating the globe
«Everything flows», an insight which dates back to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, certainly applies to the movement of international trade. Maritime centres originated in the Middle East and thence moved to Asia via Europe and the USA. Will the westward transition continue? more
Without captain in the future?
The maritime services company DNV GL has published a study that hazards a forecast of the shipping industry in 2050. By that time, 35,000 teu ships could be plying the world's seas, and liquefied natural gas could have established itself as a ship fuel. The maritime shipping... more
Business class for cargo
A ULD doesn't grumble – in contrast to many an air passenger. The airfreight segment is nevertheless relatively demanding, in comparison with other modes of transport. Glyn Hughes, Iata's new head of cargo, answered our questions shortly after he took office. more


text:
After reading Fingarette's essay "Alcoholism and Self-Deception" in Self-Deception and Self-Understanding, I was eager for more of his unique and interesting perspective on problem drinking in Heavy Drinking: The Myth of Alcoholism as a Disease. In this short and very readable book, Fingarette steadily and easily demolishes the prevailing opinion that alcoholism is a disease in which the alcoholic loses control over his drinking. (The scientific community long ago abandoned this view, but it lives on as dogma through therecovery movement.) Fingarette instead explains problem drinking as the result of choices that elevate drinking into a "central activity" in the drinker's life. He argues that the motivations for the choices that make drinking a core value are as many and varied as are the individuals making them. My only serious objection to the book comes in the final chapter on social policy; Fingarette would seem to be happy to turn this country into a totalitarian state to prevent some people from making stupid choices about alcohol. Despite that flaw, Heavy Drinking presents an impressive and well-reasoned case against the disease model of problem drinking. Similar arguments, I suspect, would apply to any so-called addiction.
Mar 292002


text:
Update on past week, new web home (finally!)
I haven't posted much this week, but a lot's happened in the background. Here's a quick summary, and you can expect me to return to a more normal posting schedule.
The Ubuntu box is back up – I ran a memory test, then rebooted a few times and it started up fine. During the memory test I discovered my RAM is bad, so that's probably the reason for all the startup issues with that computer.
I also had a little trouble getting Remote Desktop working again, until I remembered to check my configuration for Firestarter (the firewall). Sure enough, I had momentarily lost power, so my laptop had a new IP address. I learned how to allow access to a whole range of IP's through firestarter's help site (though it was a little hard to understand). Here's the short version: IP address/netmask. So if you want everything on 192.168.0.x to have access, add 192.168.0.1/255.255.255.0 to Firestarter's "allow" list.
The frequent (brief) losses of power here probably don't help any of my computers, so time to look into a UPS. Any recommendations for home use?
Today I finally got my own domain: ransomedhome.com. It's a little raw right now, but I'll be cleaning it up over the next few weeks, and moving everything there. In fact, I'm already importing my posts from here, and this may be my last post here (so update your bookmarks / feeds!) I will post a few more times to remind everyone of the move…
If you're curious about string theory, or what in the world 10 dimensions mean, here's a really nice graphical demonstration to
confuse you explain everything.
That's it, folks. More to follow soon.


text:
Innovator Spotlight
Airbnb Co-Founder And Boston Native On Tech, Housing And Becoming An EntrepreneurResume
It's hard to imagine a time when entrepreneurship wasn't a cool thing to do in Boston. That was the case not too long ago, says Airbnb co-founder Nate Blecharczyk.
The Boston native says he always knew he was an entrepreneur at heart, but the local innovation scene was very different when he was coming along.
BostonomiX caught up with Blecharczyk when he was in town this fall to speak at his alma mater, Harvard.
(No, he didn't stay at an Airbnb while he was here. He stayed with his parents in West Roxbury).
Here's what Blecharczyk had to say about Airbnb, entrepreneurship and the innovation economy.
How He Got Started In Tech
Blecharczyk started young — at age 12, to be exact. He taught himself how to code by reading books. Then he began posting his work online.
"And at the age of 14 I got a phone call and somebody said, 'I like what I saw. I want to pay you $1,000 to create something similar,'" Blecharczyk said. "I told my dad, 'somebody from the internet wants to pay me $1,000!' And he just laughed and said 'son, nobody from the Internet is going to pay a thousand bucks.' I said, 'Whatever, it's my hobby, I'll do it anyways.' And sure enough, I did get paid."
He also got more coding work, which led Blecharczyk to start a business that he ran throughout high school.
"I actually almost made a million dollars while in high school," Blecharczyk said.
The experience showed him that he could create things that people valued, he added. And he knew then he wanted to be a lifelong entrepreneur.
Where Airbnb Got Its Name
It all started as a way to earn extra cash to pay rent.
It was the summer of 2007 and Blecharczyk was living with two roommates in San Francisco. Suddenly their rent went up 25 percent, he said. His roommates came up with the idea to rent out a room to people who were in town for an international design conference.
"This bedroom had no furniture, but they set up an air bed and instead of calling it a bed and breakfast they called it an air bed and breakfast. So, Airbnb is short for air bed and breakfast," Blecharczyk said.
The roommates, who were designers by training, ended up hosting three designers, attending the conference with them and taking them out around town, according to Blecharczyk. And, they made about $1,000 doing it.
"It was based on that one-off experience to pay the rent that the three of us came together and thought maybe we can do this for other people and other situations," Blecharczyk said.
A 'Quiet Period' For Tech In Boston
Tech was really growing when Blecharczyk was a teenager in the 90s. And he spent a lot of time on a computer in his parents' basement.
But by the time he got to college and was studying computer science, the tech bubble burst.
"As a result of that, enrollment in computer science at Harvard fell in half. And so the next couple of years was actually a really quiet period in Boston and I think in tech in general," Blecharczyk said.
Spending hours on a computer "wasn't particularly cool," he said. Most of his friends were looking towards business school or law school.
"I was probably one of the few self-labeled entrepreneurs. And there wasn't really a community of entrepreneurship on campus or really in Boston for that matter," Blecharczyk said. "That has totally changed since then. It's a much more thriving scene now."
Could Airbnb Have Been Founded In Boston?
Starting Airbnb in San Francisco wasn't a deliberate choice, according to Blecharczyk.
"I happened to be in San Francisco and we happened to try to do this experiment one weekend and it became a company by accident," he said.
Blecharczyk does see advantages to starting a company outside of Silicon Valley. He says there are more opportunities for entrepreneurs to thrive outside of that environment.
"Silicon Valley is super competitive and super expensive for talent, for office space for everything," Blecharczyk said. "And when you're trying to start something up you don't have a lot of cash [and] you need to be scrappy. So, I think you could be a lot scrappier here and you can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond."
Regulation And The Future Of House Sharing
As Airbnb has grown into a company worth billions, so have concerns about its short-term rentals taking up local housing stock. Cambridge has already moved to restrict short-term rentals. And state lawmakers are considering taxing such rentals.
Airbnb does support regulation and efforts to tax its rentals. The key for them is balance, Blecharczyk said. Sixty percent of Airbnb users say they depend on it to pay their rent or mortgage, according to Blecharczyk.
"We have to be careful that we don't have so much regulation that would prevent all of the people who are benefiting from Airbnb to benefit," he said.
Airbnb plans to continue expanding into new markets around the world — and give travelers more features. (Like allowing them to make restaurant reservations through Airbnb.)
"Ultimately what we're trying to do for our customers or our guests is create magical travel experiences," Blecharczyk said. "We're going to be a one-stop shop and platform for the entire trip."
This segment aired on December 29, 2017.


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Unnatural Selection
There's a thriving industry built on the scientific selection of jurors, but the jury is out on just how accurate it is, or whether it gives legal adversaries an edge.
By Matthew Hutson published March 1, 2007 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016
When Strawberry Shortcake strolled into the courtroom, the attorneys thought they had her pegged. Richelle Nice, called for jury duty in Scott Peterson's 2004 murder trial, earned her nickname by coming to court with her hair dyed a different shade of red almost every day. Attorneys on both sides poked and prodded the pool of potential jurors for three weeks, deciding whom to boot from the case for bias. Surprisingly, both sides wanted to keep the multitattooed redhead.
"The prosecutors didn't want her, because she looked more outlaw than the nice straight homeowners with three kids and a picket fence," recalls Howard Varinsky, the jury consultant hired by the (successful) prosecution team. "When they asked her about the tattoos, it was really code for 'How can I trust you, looking the way you look?' " But Varinsky saw "a microexpression of rage" shoot out before she covered it. He decided that was her issue: "You can't tell a book by its cover, and I'm surely not gonna let my father and mother and the whole world think I'm a nutcase." She gave some innocuous answer to the question but Varinsky knew she would never walk Scott Peterson. Ever. And he convinced his guys to keep her on.
Jury consulting has become a big business over the past three decades. Hundreds of firms now rake in several hundred million dollars a year. Many offer "scientific jury selection" services, deploying demographics, statistics, and social psychology to cull potential jurors and engineer the perfect panel of people. But as these gurus aim to extract sure verdicts from parties of unknowns, their grasp on the chemistry of human nature appears to require a working knowledge of alchemy—as in Varinsky's gut-level decision to impanel Strawberry Shortcake. Despite all the money and research poured into predicting and shaping jury decisions, to a large degree the state of the art remains just that: art.
Selection—or the Opposite?
"Almost every case has been won or lost when the jury is sworn," legendary attorney Clarence Darrow once claimed. It may be hyperbole, but people believe it. Turbulence followed the verdicts in the trials involving Rodney King, O.J. Simpson, the nanny Louise Woodward, the hot coffee at McDonald's, and the $253 million Vioxx award. In each of those cases, an outraged public decried the jury's decision.
And all those juries were selected by trial consultants.
O.J.'s lawyers offered no small share of credit to jury consultant Jo-Ellan Dimitrius for the dream team of jurors she assembled. "It was unfortunate that I was personally blamed for letting O.J. walk the streets," Dimitrius told me. "Both sides had the same ability to excuse jurors." (Marcia Clark fired her appointed consultant after two days and ignored his advice.)
"We get thanked [for verdicts] all the time," says Arthur Patterson, a social psychologist and jury consultant at Torrance, California-based DecisonQuest. Of course, it often "happens privately, as the lawyers want to keep their secret weapons hidden."
Can juries really be stacked? Potential jurors fill out questionnaires and are interrogated by the judge or attorneys, a process called "voir dire." If the attorneys feel a potential juror is biased against their side, they "challenge" by asking the judge to excuse him. They can challenge "for cause" by demonstrating bias to the judge; they are also allowed a limited number of peremptory challenges, usually three to ten per side. The juror is removed, no questions asked. (Voir dire and selection can take under an hour, or up to several weeks in high-profile cases.) At this stage, the work of a jury consultant lies in advising attorneys on the strategic use of peremptory strikes—identifying jurors who might cause their client trouble in the deliberation room and eliminating them. "Jury selection" conjures the hand-picking of a perfect panel, but in reality it's a matter of deselection.
Sort of Scientific
Jury selection took its first halting steps toward science in 1972, when seven Vietnam War protesters were charged with conspiracy and put on trial in conservative Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Pretrial polls indicated that 80 percent of potential jurors would vote to convict. Social scientists armed with community surveys explored which backgrounds and attitudes suggested sympathetic jurors (good: women and Democrats; bad: the religious, college graduates, subscribers to Reader's Digest). In the end, the Harrisburg Seven received only one minor conviction, and a field was born.
Until then, attorneys deployed hunches and folklore in striking jurors. A 1990 scholarly survey of all the advice doled out over the decades yielded contradictory recommendations (a smiling juror is good—or bad), wacky info (jurors who crack their knuckles cause trouble), and often offensive declarations (Scots are bad for civil plaintiffs, as "no McTavish ever was lavish"). Few such conclusions have withstood scientific scrutiny.
Today, trial consulting is a whole industry that just begins with jury selection; experts also offer witness preparation, rhetorical coaching, refinement of arguments. In the 2004 ruling requiring insurance companies to treat the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks as two separate occurrences (doubling the payout), DOAR Litigation Consulting guided jury selection, clarified the insurance jargon, crafted an analogy to two hurricanes hitting Florida, created persuasive graphical presentations, and tested every element at their Long Island headquarters, which includes a high-tech mock-up of a full courtroom.
Jury consultants hail from a variety of fields—business, law, marketing, communications, theater, statistics, but especially psychology. About half of all trial consultants are psychologists. Work can begin months before a trial with community surveys. Consultants may cold-call random people from the local phone book and ask them questions about their age, race, gender, religion, profession, and political views. Then they ask about their views on issues pertaining to the case and maybe their reactions to a brief case description. They're looking for correlations between the two sets of answers.
Next they'll pay a small number of people to participate in focus groups, where they actually test parts of their case—particular arguments, pieces of evidence, or witnesses. That furnishes detail on how different types of jurors react. On occasion consultants stage full mock trials with the lawyers and actors and then scrutinize the "jurors" as they deliberate.
Armed with a sense of which issues and which juror characteristics matter most to the trial, consultants draw up juror questionnaires and devise strategies for voir dire. Some question topics are straightforward: family, education, experiences with the justice system. Some are highly detailed: The questionnaire for the 2004 Kobe Bryant rape case asked, "How do you feel about interracial relationships?", "Which of the following best describes your opinion of professional basketball players?", and "Describe your exposure [to this case from each of the following media outlets]." Forms usually run a few pages, but can be much longer in big cases; the questionnaire in the O.J. trial ran 75 pages, with more than 300 questions.
Such (mostly) research-driven techniques lend a certain rigor to the methods of attorneys, who still often rely on antique rules of thumb like the no-knuckle-cracker admonition. A 1991 study in the Journal of Social Behavior and Personality showed that John Q. trial lawyer uses the same "pop" psychology—applying stereotypes based on marital status, occupation, and appearance to predict, say, decisions in rape and murder trials—as your average college sophomore, with about the same success.
Debate Over Demographics
How effectively do demographics predict jurors' responses? They're "barely important," Dimitrius says. "[But] that's what lawyers still learn in law school: You can't have any males on a rape case, for instance. Ridiculous stuff. Very rarely will we find a demographic that's a factor." The O.J. case was an exception. Of the final 12 jurors, eight were black women, and only two had college degrees. Dimitrius wasn't surprised when the panel sympathized with O.J., considered prosecuting attorney Marcia Clark a "bitch," and ignored the DNA evidence.
Much more predictive are juror personalities (during voir dire do they appear stern? compassionate?), experiences (have they been the victim of a violent crime?), and attitudes (how do they feel about large corporations?). "I'm matching our case with the juror's life experience or value system," says Texas consultant Robert Hirschhorn, who's worked on the trials of Ken Lay, Terry Nichols, and William Kennedy Smith. In a breach of contract case, he wants people with "a real strong sense of right and wrong, black and white—the kind of people who say, 'a deal's a deal.' "
But even such beefed-up juror profiles can lead attorneys astray. When psychologist Robert Bothwell asked 10 mock juries to look at the Kobe Bryant case, he found that people with a healthy respect for authority, who might be expected to punish the defendant, actually blamed the victim. "Some may want to blame Kobe and say it must be rape because a normal person wouldn't do this," one jury consultant told the press. "Others might say, 'Look at her, she asked for it.' This trial has layers upon layers of issues."
Yet one more factor wins attention in the selection process: Consultants have to consider how each juror will behave in a room with the others. On a first vote before deliberation begins, jurors rarely agree. That's why juror qualities such as leadership potential (check posture and managerial experience), need for cohesion (is he a suck-up during voir dire?), and resistance to social pressure (count the piercings) matter. Consultant Hirschhorn takes interpersonal dynamics seriously. "If there's somebody I'm on the fence about and I think a couple of the other jurors will bond with and bring that person along, I'll keep him on," he says. "I look for whether it's an intellectual relationship, whether they have common interests, common goals, common life experiences."
Dimitrius recalls a 2006 case where personality, life experiences, and jury dynamics all counted. When the city of Anaheim sued its baseball team for changing its name to the Los Angeles Angels, Dimitrius liked one particular juror: "I characterized her as a follower in everyday life except in regard to this one simple issue," she says. The juror's husband and sons, all huge fans, basically disowned the team after the name change. "No way would this woman who was otherwise very low key and nonconfrontational have been able to go home and say, 'Honey, boys, guess what, I voted in favor of the team.' " Post-trial comments of jurors validated Dimitrius: The woman held out against the Angels.
But good luck building a picture of the jury as an organism when you can't even X-ray the individual organs. It can be tough just to get good data on jurors. In many jurisdictions, jury questionnaires and voir dire are severely restricted. According to Richard Seltzer, a political scientist at Howard University, voir dire in many cases in D.C. is under an hour. "What can you learn in under an hour from 45 people in the panel? Less than half say more than a sentence."
And when they do talk, they're frequently unrevealing. Seltzer conducted a study in which nearly 30 percent of jurors who denied before trial that they had witnessed a crime or that they knew any police officers revealed afterward that in fact they had. And that's relatively innocuous information. No one wants to sit among dozens of strangers and answer personal questions about sexual or criminal experience, financial history, health, and drug use.
Then there are the dreaded "stealth" jurors—the ones looking to get on Oprah or nab a book deal. There aren't many, says Patterson, but "it can be disastrous if there is even one on a jury." The classic is the juror looking for money and publicity, but others will lie their way onto a jury to advance an agenda or influence public policy. It's difficult even for the pros to smoke them out. Patterson recalls a case against a Japanese company. Only after extended questioning did one potential juror, who'd been swearing impartiality up and down, reveal that his father had been killed in a Japanese POW camp during WWII and that he really had it out for the Japanese.
The Limits of Science, or Sometimes It's Just Hemorrhoids
"Basically, jury consulting is applied psychology," says Thomas Diamante, a jury consultant at DOAR. "We'll read studies from The Journal of Applied Psychology or Law and Human Behavior. We are practitioners but pretty much everyone here could flip and become an academic."
Hirschhorn has no such aspirations. The consultant, who charges $8,500 per day, disdains academic papers. "I don't have time to read articles about the theory of war—I'm in the war," he says. "There's a lot of jury consultants out there who try to pitch this as a science, and I am adamantly opposed to that. I've got to get into the heart and soul of that juror to figure out if they're going to buy what we're selling."
Consultants can build an image of their perfect juror (or the juror from hell), but then real people show up. When no one fits the prototype, "that's when you have to rely on your instinct and your ability to evaluate how people respond, what you hear in their voice, who they're interacting with during breaks," Dimitrius explains. "To me that is the art."
In the school of reading nonverbal behavior, Dimitrius is an acknowledged master, along with Varinsky and Hirschhorn. They say their skills come partially from natural talent but mostly from extensive real-world experience, especially in courtrooms. Dimitrius has a Ph.D. in criminology, Varinsky was a psychotherapist, Hirschhorn a seasoned trial lawyer. Still, there are consultants who regard body language "a waste of time," on par with handwriting analysis.
Consultants must pay some attention to jurors' nonverbal signals during voir dire, says Kenneth Broda Bahm, president of the American Society of Trial Consultants, because occasionally there is clear feedback—a juror frowns, nods in agreement, or almost raises a hand. But he counsels against "a reliance on such old saws as 'folks who fold their arms in front of them are defensive' or 'those who sit up straight are authoritarian.' "
Patterson recalls a case in which a man sat in the jury box wearing greasy overalls. As soon as Patterson remarked to the lawyer next to him that the man had no respect for the court, the man raised his hand and apologized to the judge for his appearance—he'd worked a night shift at the plant and skipped changing to avoid being late. In another case, a potential juror squirmed in his seat during voir dire. Patterson told the lawyer that the man was anxious and offended by the questions. A minute later the man asked the judge for a break to attend to his hemorrhoids.
A Balance of Biases?
What ever happened to a jury of one's peers, randomly selected—a cross-section of the culture? Ironic that a practice pioneered for social justice—to protect the Harrisburg Seven from a biased jury—is often a tool for wealthy clients and large corporations to stack the panel. Consultants deny their practices tamper with justice. "Jurors come in with opinions," Hirschhorn says. "And my client's not starting out as the favorite. What I try to do is get us back to even."
But the opacity of the peremptory strikes—attorneys can boot jurors seemingly on a whim—raises suspicion. How can consultants claim to be composing a fairer jury when they don't reveal their reasons for culling jurors? The Supreme Court has banned deselecting jurors based on race or gender, but the laws are rarely enforced, partly because violations are hard to prove.
Attorneys maintain that peremptory strikes are necessary because judges don't excuse jurors easily, even when attorneys cite specific conflicts. And when a particular bias comes up—say, a doctor is on trial and you've personally experienced medical malpractice—judges usually just remind you of the law and ask if you can keep an open mind. Jurors rarely say no.
"Judges are not psychologists," Patterson notes. "They do not understand the depth to which biases or pre-existing attitudes influence jurors' ability to be fair and impartial." Consistent research over the years has shown that biases persist despite efforts to ignore them. Less evidence is needed to support a conclusion you're already leaning toward. And opposing evidence can even be spun in your head to go the other direction. Studies have also shown that jurors are terrible at discounting pretrial publicity and inadmissible evidence, despite admonition from judges. (Go ahead and try not to think of an elephant.)
"Most people really think they can set a bias aside," Patterson adds. "A certain percentage hope they can and say it to please the court—no one wants to stand up in court and say 'I'm a biased idiot.' And a small percentage are lying flat out." Knowing that they have to work with jurors loaded with preconceptions, and believing that judges aren't thorough in their expulsion of biased individuals, attorneys feel comfortable using every method available to swing the system in their direction.
Saved from Extremes?
Does scientific jury selection even work? Real-world success rates are impossible to measure. A true controlled study would require two parallel juries, one selected at random, one professionally culled. Demographics and personality indicators improve the ability to predict a juror's decision only by 10 to 15 percent on average. So conclude psychologists Joel Lieberman and Bruce Sales from a literature review in their 2006 book Scientific Jury Selection, the only academic volume dedicated to the subject. In another review of studies, Howard University's Seltzer found that information gleaned from juror surveys could account for only 10 to 26 percent of their behavior. "In some situations attorneys can improve their jury by maybe one juror," Seltzer says. "Maybe sometimes more if they're lucky."
Scientific jury selection may be best at identifying the most extreme jurors, those most likely to drive the deliberation in a particular direction. One adamant juror in a group of 12 could create a runaway jury that pumps up the award in a civil case. In criminal cases, just one reluctant panelist can hang the whole jury.
But jurors do not make decisions alone. "There's a kind of organized buzz," says Shari Diamond, a psychologist and law professor at Northwestern University, "with looping back and repeats and corrections. It's a complicated process." DOAR's Diamante respects the unpredictability of juries despite jury selection. "How can you possibly make sure there's a certain type of outcome given the complexity of the information on one side, the complexity of the information on the other side, and then the human dynamics involved in the jury? If you can do that, when you're done let's go to Atlantic City."
If scientific jury selection is just a crapshoot, why is the industry thriving? Even when attorneys do know the social-science research showing the relative ineffectiveness of scientific jury selection—and the power of evidence—they are still willing to hire consultants for big-money civil cases. Purchasing even a small edge can prevent the aggravating post-trial "if only" game. And attorneys might have faith that their consultant bucks the trend; there's always the hope that a particular consultant is a jury-selection wizard.
"Nobody really has a crystal ball," Varinsky confides. "Would I have bet my life on Strawberry Shortcake? I would have come close to it. I was that certain of what I saw. But would I really have put my life on the line? No. There's always that unknown of human unpredictability." Fortunately, he didn't have to wager his life. He bet Scott Peterson's instead.


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Democratic Senator Tom Harkin — one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act — calls Tuesday's opening of the state-level health insurance exchanges a success. Critics point to computer glitches in yesterday's debut, including traffic overload that prevented many from even logging in to the system.
"Some of my Republican friends were saying, 'See, we told you it wasn't ready. The websites aren't working right.' Now, if very few people had signed up, they'd have said, 'See, we told you. No one's going to sign up for it.' They're trying to have it both ways," Harkin says. "I mean, people, 2.8 million Americans in the first day going on www.healthcare.gov to get this information and, again, to sign up."
Harkin calls Tuesday's opening of the state exchanges "a remarkable day in the history of our country."
"We are now going to have affordable health care insurance for every American that can't be taken away if you get sick. They can't deny it to a family because somebody had a pre-existing condition," Harkin says. "…We'll have a whole new suite of preventative care measures and wellness programs to keep people healthy and to prevent illness in the first place."
Harkin, as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, was a leader in drafting the parts of the law aimed at disease prevention. Harkin made his comments during a speech on the Senate floor late Tuesday afternoon.


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By conducting imaging studies on volunteers under general anesthesia, researchers are developing a deeper understanding of how different areas of the brain are affected as individuals lose and regain consciousness. NPR's Fresh Air program reports on the ongoing research:
So far, researchers have learned that different drugs create different patterns in the brain, says [Emery Brown, MD, PhD, co-author of a previous study describing what researchers know and don't know about anesthesia.] For example, propofol - one of the most widely-used anesthetics - is a very potent drug and initially puts the brain into a state of excitation.
"It doesn't really cause a state of sedation or anesthesia [initially,]" says Brown. "Then what actually see next is the brain start to slow. [So first you see] a period where the brain is active and then [when you give] a higher dose, the brain starts to slow."
In contrast, the drug ketamine - which is used in conjunction with anesthesia to make certain drugs work better - puts the brain into a state of excitation even at higher doses.
Researchers say that better understanding the complex behavioral state of anesthesia could lead to improved treatments for pain, depression and sleep disorders.


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What Not To Wear to the Tennis
Wimbledon, the Roland Garros, The Australian Open or even your local tennis club are all sure to offer plenty of excitement and intrigue over the course of the year. If you're lucky enough to attend one of the Grand Slam tournaments that's great, but even if you're going to your local club, there are some dress code rules for spectators that should always be observed. These may be written or unwritten, but they are often there!
Let's take a look at courtside fashion don't so that you don't make the ultimate faux pas.
Big hats
Wearing a hat to the tennis is completely acceptable, as you may well be spending long hours in the sun, but you don't need to wear a fascinator or enormously tall hat that will distract anyone sitting behind you. It's not a horse race! You also don't want to obstruct any ones view with your head gear, so stick to classic sun hats, rather than extravagant hat that may be more at home at the Royal Ascot or Kentucky Derby.
Short skirts
A shortish skirt is fine, but remember that you will be sitting down. And when you sit down, a short skirt invariably rides up. Choose a knee length skirt to preserve your modesty ad avoid flashing those on court. You also may unwittingly flash a camera, and that's not ideal!
Flip Flops
This goes for both sexes. Unless the tennis match you are going to watch is played at an incredibly casual venue, steer clear of flip flops (or beach attire in general really). Tennis is a sport that's associated with charm and elegance, and flip flops lack both of these things. If you want to don your flops, rather stay home and enjoy a bit of Australian sports betting than heading down to the Australian Open.
Mobile Phones
We don't mean that you shouldn't take your phone with you, but whatever you do, put it on silent! You also shouldn't hold conversations on it while watching tennis, not should you send your time checking it. Mobile phones can cause major distractions and if yours rings you may well become a sporting pariah, or even asked to leave the court.
A Vest
For the men (and the women too, I guess) a vest is not really suitable spectator attire. Again, tennis courts usually require some sort of dress code, and vests won't meet this. Some of the more exclusive tennis courts like Wimbledon demand that a collared shirt or Polo shirt is worn when watching games, and you need to know this is you are planning on going.
Which leads me to…
Check The Dress Code
Some tennis courts or venues have very set dress codes. These may be clearly explained, or they may be the norm after several years of hosting events. Before you go and watch a tennis match, make sure that you know all about the dress code so that you can fit in and nr make a sporting faux pas.


text: Feature ArticlesEvidence-Based Practice, Step by Step: Critical Appraisal of the Evidence Part IIIFineout-Overholt, Ellen PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN; Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek PhD, RN, CPNP/PMHNP, FNAP, FAAN; Stillwell, Susan B. DNP, RN, CNE; Williamson, Kathleen M. PhD, RN Author Information Ellen Fineout-Overholt is clinical professor and director of the Center for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice at Arizona State University in Phoenix, where Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk is dean and distinguished foundation professor of nursing, Susan B. Stillwell is clinical associate professor and program coordinator of the Nurse Educator Evidence-Based Practice Mentorship Program, and Kathleen M. Williamson is associate director of the Center for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice. Contact author: Ellen Fineout-Overholt, [email protected]. AJN, American Journal of Nursing 110(11):p 43-51, November 2010. | DOI: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000390523.99066.b5 Free SDC Metrics AbstractIn Brief The process of synthesis: seeing similarities and differences across the body of evidence. This is the seventh article in a series from the Arizona State University College of Nursing and Health Innovation's Center for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a problem-solving approach to the delivery of health care that integrates the best evidence from studies and patient care data with clinician expertise and patient preferences and values. When delivered in a context of caring and in a supportive organizational culture, the highest quality of care and best patient outcomes can be achieved. The purpose of this series is to give nurses the knowledge and skills they need to implement EBP consistently, one step at a time. Articles will appear every two months to allow you time to incorporate information as you work toward implementing EBP at your institution. Also, we've scheduled "Chat with the Authors" calls every few months to provide a direct line to the experts to help you resolve questions. See details below. In their seventh article on implementing evidence-based practice, the authors begin the process of evaluation and synthesis of the evidence. Box: Need Help with Evidence-Based Practice? Chat with the Authors on November 16!In September's evidence-based practice (EBP) article, Rebecca R., our hypothetical staff nurse, Carlos A., her hospital's expert EBP mentor, and Chen M., Rebecca's nurse colleague, rapidly critically appraised the 15 articles they found to answer their clinical question—"In hospitalized adults (P), how does a rapid response team (I) compared with no rapid response team (C) affect the number of cardiac arrests (O) and unplanned admissions to the ICU (O) during a three-month period (T)?"—and determined that they were all "keepers." The team now begins the process of evaluation and synthesis of the articles to see what the evidence says about initiating a rapid response team (RRT) in their hospital. Carlos reminds them that evaluation and synthesis are synergistic processes and don't necessarily happen one after the other. Nevertheless, to help them learn, he will guide them through the EBP process one step at a time.Table 1: Final Evaluation TableSTARTING THE EVALUATION Rebecca, Carlos, and Chen begin to work with the evaluation table they created earlier in this process when they found and filled in the essential elements of the 15 studies and projects (see "Critical Appraisal of the Evidence: Part I," July). Now each takes a stack of the "keeper" studies and systematically begins adding to the table any remaining data that best reflect the study elements pertaining to the group's clinical question (see Table 1; for the entire table with all 15 articles, go to https://links.lww.com/AJN/A17). They had agreed that a "Notes" section within the "Appraisal: Worth to Practice" column would be a good place to record the nuances of an article, their impressions of it, as well as any tips—such as what worked in calling an RRT—that could be used later when they write up their ideas for initiating an RRT at their hospital, if the evidence points in that direction. Chen remarks that although she thought their initial table contained a lot of information, this final version is more thorough by far. She appreciates the opportunity to go back and confirm her original understanding of the study essentials. The team members discuss the evolving patterns as they complete the table. The three systematic reviews, which are higher-level evidence, seem to have an inherent bias in that they included only studies with control groups. In general, these studies weren't in favor of initiating an RRT. Carlos asks Rebecca and Chen whether, now that they've appraised all the evidence about RRTs, they're confident in their decision to include all the studies and projects (including the lower-level evidence) among the "keepers." The nurses reply with an emphatic affirmative! They tell Carlos that the projects and descriptive studies were what brought the issue to life for them. They realize that the higher-level evidence is somewhat in conflict with the lower-level evidence, but they're most interested in the conclusions that can be drawn from considering the entire body of evidence. Rebecca and Chen admit they have issues with the systematic reviews, all of which include the MERIT study.1-4 In particular, they discuss how the authors of the systematic reviews made sure to report the MERIT study's finding that the RRT had no effect, but didn't emphasize the MERIT study authors' discussion about how their study methods may have influenced the reliability of the findings (for more, see "Critical Appraisal of the Evidence: Part II," September). Carlos says that this is an excellent observation. He also reminds the team that clinicians may read a systematic review for the conclusion and never consider the original studies. He encourages Rebecca and Chen in their efforts to appraise the MERIT study and comments on how well they're putting the pieces of the evidence puzzle together. The nurses are excited that they're able to use their new knowledge to shed light on the study. They discuss with Carlos how the interpretation of the MERIT study has perhaps contributed to a misunderstanding of the impact of RRTs. Comparing the evidence. As the team enters the lower-level evidence into the evaluation table, they note that it's challenging to compare the project reports with studies that have clearly described methodology, measurement, analysis, and findings. Chen remarks that she wishes researchers and clinicians would write study and project reports similarly. Although each of the studies has a process or method determining how it was conducted, as well as how outcomes were measured, data were analyzed, and results interpreted, comparing the studies as they're currently written adds another layer of complexity to the evaluation. Carlos says that while it would be great to have studies and projects written in a similar format so they're easier to compare, that's unlikely to happen. But he tells the team not to lose all hope, as a format has been developed for reporting quality improvement initiatives called the SQUIRE Guidelines; however, they aren't ideal. The team looks up the guidelines online (www.squire-statement.org) and finds that the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) as well as a good number of journals have encouraged their use. When they review the actual guidelines, the team notices that they seem to be focused on research; for example, they require a research question and refer to the study of an intervention, whereas EBP projects have PICOT questions and apply evidence to practice. The team discusses that these guidelines can be confusing to the clinicians authoring the reports on their projects. In addition, they note that there's no mention of the synthesis of the body of evidence that should drive an evidence-based project. While the SQUIRE Guidelines are a step in the right direction for the future, Carlos, Rebecca, and Chen conclude that, for now, they'll need to learn to read these studies as they find them—looking carefully for the details that inform their clinical question. Once the data have been entered into the table, Carlos suggests that they take each column, one by one, and note the similarities and differences across the studies and projects. After they've briefly looked over the columns, he asks the team which ones they think they should focus on to answer their question. Rebecca and Chen choose "Design/Method," "Sample/Setting," "Findings," and "Appraisal: Worth to Practice" (see Table 1) as the initial ones to consider. Carlos agrees that these are the columns in which they're most likely to find the most pertinent information for their synthesis. SYNTHESIZING: MAKING DECISIONS BASED ON THE EVIDENCE Design/Method. The team starts with the "Design/Method" column because Carlos reminds them that it's important to note each study's level of evidence. He suggests that they take this information and create a synthesis table (one in which data is extracted from the evaluation table to better see the similarities and differences between studies) (see Table 21-15). The synthesis table makes it clear that there is less higher-level and more lower-level evidence, which will impact the reliability of the overall findings. As the team noted, the higher-level evidence is not without methodological issues, which will increase the challenge of coming to a conclusion about the impact of an RRT on the outcomes. Sample/Setting. In reviewing the "Sample/Setting" column, the group notes that the number of hospital beds ranged from 218 to 662 across the studies. There were several types of hospitals represented (4 teaching, 4 community, 4 no mention, 2 acute care hospitals, and 1 public hospital). The evidence they've collected seems applicable, since their hospital is a community hospital. Findings. To help the team better discuss the evidence, Carlos suggests that they refer to all projects or studies as "the body of evidence." They don't want to get confused by calling them all studies, as they aren't, but at the same time continually referring to "studies and projects" is cumbersome. He goes on to say that, as part of the synthesis process, it's important for the group to determine the overall impact of the intervention across the body of evidence. He helps them create a second synthesis table containing the findings of each study or project (see Table 31-15). As they look over the results, Rebecca and Chen note that RRTs reduce code rates, particularly outside the ICU, whereas unplanned ICU admissions (UICUA) don't seem to be as affected by them. However, 10 of the 15 studies and projects reviewed didn't evaluate this outcome, so it may not be fair to write it off just yet. The EBP team can tell from reading the evidence that researchers consider the impact of an RRT on hospital-wide mortality rates (HMR) as the more important outcome; however, the group remains unconvinced that this outcome is the best for evaluating the purpose of an RRT, which, according to the IHI, is early intervention in patients who are unstable or at risk for cardiac or respiratory arrest.16 That said, of the 11 studies and projects that evaluated mortality, more than half found that an RRT reduced it. Carlos reminds the group that four of those six articles are level-VI evidence and that some weren't research. The findings produced at this level of evidence are typically less reliable than those at higher levels of evidence; however, Carlos notes that two articles having level-VI evidence, a study and a project, had statistically significant (less likely to occur by chance, P < 0.05) reductions in HMR, which increases the reliability of the results. Chen asks, since four level-VI reports documented that an RRT reduces HMR, should they put more confidence in findings that occur more than once? Carlos replies that it's not the number of studies or projects that determines the reliability of their findings, but the uniformity and quality of their methods. He recites something he heard in his Expert EBP Mentor program that helped to clarify the concept of making decisions based on the evidence: the level of the evidence (the design) plus the quality of the evidence (the validity of the methods) equals the strength of the evidence, which is what leads clinicians to act in confidence and apply the evidence (or not) to their practice and expect similar findings (outcomes). In terms of making a decision about whether or not to initiate an RRT, Carlos says that their evidence stacks up: first, the MERIT study's results are questionable because of problems with the study methods, and this affects the reliability of the three systematic reviews as well as the MERIT study itself; second, the reasonably conducted lower-level studies/projects, with their statistically significant findings, are persuasive. Therefore, the team begins to consider the possibility that initiating an RRT may reduce code rates outside the ICU (CRO) and may impact non-ICU mortality; both are outcomes they would like to address. The evidence doesn't provide equally promising results for UICUA, but the team agrees to include it in the outcomes for their RRT project because it wasn't evaluated in most of the articles they appraised. As the EBP team continues to discusses probable outcomes, Rebecca points to one study's data in the "Findings" column that shows a financial return on investment for an RRT.9 Carlos remarks to the group that this is only one study, and that they'll need to make sure to collect data on the costs of their RRT as well as the cost implications of the outcomes. They determine that the important outcomes to measure are: CRO, non-ICU mortality (excluding patients with do not resuscitate [DNR] orders), UICUA, and cost. Appraisal: Worth to Practice. As the team discusses their synthesis and the decision they'll make based on the evidence, Rebecca raises a question that's been on her mind. She reminds them that in the "Appraisal: Worth to Practice" column, teaching was identified as an important factor in initiating an RRT and expresses concern that their hospital is not an academic medical center. Chen reminds her that even though theirs is not a designated teaching hospital with residents on staff 24 hours a day, it has a culture of teaching that should enhance the success of an RRT. She adds that she's already hearing a buzz of excitement about their project, that their colleagues across all disciplines have been eager to hear the results of their review of the evidence. In addition, Carlos says that many resources in their hospital will be available to help them get started with their project and reminds them of their hospital administrators' commitment to support the team.Table 2: The 15 Studies: Levels and Types of EvidenceTable 3: Effect of the Rapid Response Team on OutcomesACTING ON THE EVIDENCE As they consider the synthesis of the evidence, the team agrees that an RRT is a valuable intervention to initiate. They decide to take the criteria for activating an RRT from several successful studies/projects and put them into a synthesis table to better see their major similarities (see Table 44,8,9,13,15). From this combined list, they choose the criteria for initiating an RRT consult that they'll use in their project (see Table 5). The team also begins discussing the ideal make up for their RRT. Again, they go back to the evaluation table and look over the "Major Variables Studied" column, noting that the composition of the RRT varied among the studies/projects. Some RRTs had active physician participation (n = 6), some had designated physician consultation on an as-needed basis (n = 2), and some were nurse-led teams (n = 4). Most RRTs also had a respiratory therapist (RT). All RRT members had expertise in intensive care and many were certified in advanced cardiac life support (ACLS). They agree that their team will be comprised of ACLS-certified members. It will be led by an acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP) credentialed for advanced procedures, such as central line insertion. Members will include an ICU RN and an RT who can intubate. They also discuss having physicians willing to be called when needed. Although no studies or projects had a chaplain on their RRT, Chen says that it would make sense in their hospital. Carlos, who's been on staff the longest of the three, says that interdisciplinary collaboration has been a mainstay of their organization. A physician, ACNP, ICU RN, RT, and chaplain are logical choices for their RRT. As the team ponders the evidence, they begin to discuss the next step, which is to develop ideas for writing their project implementation plan (also called a protocol). Included in this protocol will be an educational plan to let those involved in the project know information such as the evidence that led to the project, how to call an RRT, and outcome measures that will indicate whether or not the implementation of the evidence was successful. They'll also need an evaluation plan. From reviewing the studies and projects, they also realize that it's important to focus their plan on evidence implementation, including carefully evaluating both the process of implementation and project outcomes. Be sure to join the EBP team in the next installment of this series as they develop their implementation plan for initiating an RRT in their hospital, including the submission of their project proposal to the ethics review board.Table 4: Defined Criteria for Initiating an RRT ConsultTable 5: Defined Criteria for Initiating an RRT Consult at Our HospitalREFERENCES 1. Chan PS, et al. (2010). Rapid response teams: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med 2010;170(1):18-26. Cited Here 2. McGaughey J, et al. Outreach and early warning systems (EWS) for the prevention of intensive care admission and death of critically ill adult patients on general hospital wards. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007;3:CD005529. Cited Here 3. Winters BD, et al. Rapid response systems: a systematic review. Crit Care Med 2007;35(5):1238-43. Cited Here 4. Hillman K, et al. Introduction of the medical emergency team (MET) system: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2005;365(9477):2091-7. Cited Here 5. Sharek PJ, et al. Effect of a rapid response team on hospital-wide mortality and code rates outside the ICU in a children's hospital. JAMA 2007;298(19):2267-74. Cited Here 6. Chan PS, et al. Hospital-wide code rates and mortality before and after implementation of a rapid response team. JAMA 2008;300(21):2506-13. Cited Here 7. DeVita MA, et al. Use of medical emergency team responses to reduce hospital cardiopulmonary arrests. Qual Saf Health Care 2004;13(4):251-4. Cited Here 8. Mailey J, et al. Reducing hospital standardized mortality rate with early interventions. J Trauma Nurs 2006;13(4):178-82. Cited Here 9. Dacey MJ, et al. The effect of a rapid response team on major clinical outcome measures in a community hospital. Crit Care Med 2007;35(9):2076-82. Cited Here 10. McFarlan SJ, Hensley S. Implementation and outcomes of a rapid response team. J Nurs Care Qual 2007;22(4):307-13. Cited Here 11. Offner PJ, et al. Implementation of a rapid response team decreases cardiac arrest outside the intensive care unit. J Trauma 2007;62(5):1223-8. Cited Here 12. Bertaut Y, et al. Implementing a rapid-response team using a nurse-to-nurse consult approach. J Vasc Nurs 2008;26(2):37-42. Cited Here 13. Benson L, et al. Using an advanced practice nursing model for a rapid response team. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2008;34(12):743-7. Cited Here 14. Hatler C, et al. Implementing a rapid response team to decrease emergencies. Medsurg Nurs 2009;18(2):84-90,126. Cited Here 15. Bader MK, et al. Rescue me: saving the vulnerable non-ICU patient population. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2009;35(4):199-205. Cited Here 16. Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Establish a rapid response team. n.d.http://www.ihi.org/IHI/topics/criticalcare/intensivecare/changes/establisharapidresponseteam.htm. Cited Here Supplemental Digital Content AJN_110_11_2010_10_12_AJN_0_SDC1.pdf; [PDF] (229 KB) © 2010 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.View full article text


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Instagram Debuts Advertising API
Image and video-sharing platform Instagram has finally opened up to smaller businesses to take advantage of paid advertising space, finally letting them tap into the full market potential of the 300 million+ active monthly users on the service. The move will allow brands of all sizes to create scheduled & targeted content to share, helping it…Read More
Facebook's Ad Targeting Bias & How Canadians can Survive
Facebook ads are one of our favorite ways to generate additional leads and brand awareness for your business. Unfortunately relative to our neighbors to the south, Canadians are left with fewer targeting options to narrow down their geographic targeting. This post will address these issues & provide Canadians with tips on how to survive in…Read More
What are Facebook Ad Sets?
Keeping Facebook ad campaigns organized has long been an issue so on March 4th Facebook is introducing Ad Sets to help make your life a little bit easier. Ad Sets will be equivalent to Ad Groups on other networks like Google and Yahoo/Bing and are a sub division of Campaigns. Here's how a Facebook Campaign…Read More


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Profile/Madera #polarsessions Part #1
Over the weekend, Profile Racing and Madera's Mark Mulville, Grant Castelluzzo, Mike Hinkens, Jeff Dowhen and Matt Coplon made a stop at Bluff Valley Campground's Over the Top skatepark during their 2014 Polar Sessions trip between Wisconsin and Minnesota! This is a quick look at some of the riding along with some bonus clips of QBMX's Glenn Dussl and BV local, Rahlin Rigsby! Nothing short of good times, that's for sure!
Filmed and edited by Kurt Hohberger
Camera: GoPro Hero 3 Black+
Song: The Passion Hifi – Sleeping G


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What are Life Basics?
By glblguy
What I call Life Basics are the following:
- Housing or shelter
- Food
- Clothing
- Transportation
These are the items or expenses that above all others, must get paid first. Life Basics are used in the following scenarios:
- When you have an income that varies from month to month. In your budget, you pay your Life Basic expenses first, then other expenses.
- When you are faced with a major financial crisis and can only pay some of your expenses and bills and not all of them.
Let me give you an example. You go to work one day, only to find that you have been laid off. You have little or no savings, and received only a small severance (if any at all).
Over the next few weeks, you still haven't found a job and your bills are due, but you don't have the money to pay them all. You pay housing, food, clothing, and transportation first. Credit card bills or other miscellaneous bills can wait
How crazy would it be to pay your credit card bill, but lose your house or worse, pay your credit card company but not be able to feed yourself or your family?
Life Basics are those items critical to your survival and should


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Thursday, February 21, 2013
Production Started!
I want to say thank you to all the beautiful and generous women who have viewed, left comments, and followed my blog over the past few weeks! What an amazing response to the Grow Your Blog Party! I still haven't made my way through the whole list of blogs yet! As promised, I am sending each of my new friends a pair of earrings! I have just started production on them and will hopefully have them shipped by next week!
Check out these gorgeous earrings! They were made by my new friend, Tanya, who writes an equally gorgeous blog titled, BeadandNeedle. She was very generous and offered me an earring exchange, and boy did I ever get lucky! I am just awed by the wonderful, creative people that have crossed my path in the past few months. All is good....
Until next time, create something beautiful!
11 comments:
Wonderful and creative people have crossed my path, too...count yourself among them! Happy Thursday - TanyaReplyDelete
It will be fun to see the earrings you create! Still can't believe how generous you are to be offering them to us! The GYB party was SUCH a positive experience for me, meeting some wonderful, talented and kind friends!!ReplyDelete
I have to concur with you about how awesome Tanya is. I also just 'met' her through the GYB party, yet I feel like we're now old pals for life. I was gifted with some of those same beautiful hand-dyed lucite flowers that her friend makes...aren't they fascinating!? The earrings she sent you are really pretty. She's so generous...
As are YOU! Good luck with your big earring production!! Take care, and I'll be coming back to visit often.
OK, you girls are making me blush...I can't take credit for anything other than throwing them together - my friend, Heather French (French Roses for those of you who might quilt, too) hand dyes the flowers - she can be reached through her Facebook page under the name Vintage Meadow Artworks(as well as having more photos there) - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vintage-Meadow-Artworks/158632817536906#!/pages/Vintage-Meadow-Artworks/158632817536906Delete
Rock on!
The earrings are so pretty!ReplyDelete
I think it is such a sweet and thoughtful gesture you are giving as a gift..I adore your header!ReplyDelete
Happy weekend, Rachel.
I really enjoyed the blog party too, and have met many creative people, including you-when you offered to make me a pair of ear rings I couldn't believe you would do that for all your new followers-so I don't think I replied back to you.ReplyDelete
I love your exchange-very pretty-
I can't wait to see what you send. I love earrings and you make such beautiful jewelry. So generous of you. Thank you.ReplyDelete
I am still enjoying the GYBP...I am glad I found you there. Your badge is up on my blog! Can hardly wait to see your lovely creation for moi!!!ReplyDelete
Thank you! Have a great day! AND THINK SPRING...IT'S 20 degrees here and flurries...ENOUGH ALREADY!
Looking forward to receiving a pair of your beautiful earrings! Thanks so much for sending them to so many... truly a generous offer! I hope you're making headway on the list!ReplyDelete
Hello Rachel,ReplyDelete
Well I am flabbergasted! I just opened a package from you with a pair of sweet earrings in them! I could not remember why someone was sending me earrings...and then I remembered that during the blog hop I met a lovely blogger who said she was going to make earrings for everyone who commented. I must say, I thought you were very generous, and very brave! And now you have done it. Well that must feel really good! I know I feel good : )
Thank you so much for your very kind gift. I make jewelry too, and love visiting your blog to see your beautiful creations. Did you make the bezels in my earrings as well?
Thank you again for your sweet generosity.
Stunning work! I love all your bits and pieces here.Those earrings at the top look fab!ReplyDelete
Popping by from 2bagsfull blog party after changing my blog and profile, :). Revisiting everyone is lovely!
Look forward to reading more of your lovely posts.
Rachel xoxoxox http://gentlewanderings.blogspot.co.uk/


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For Pastor Raymond Koh's family and friends, 1,000 days and counting
17th Nov 2020
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — The despair felt by the family and friends of Pastor Raymond Koh is matched only by their frustration with the slow pace of government investigations nearly five months after the Home Ministry assembled a special task force into his forced disappearance.
At a remembrance event here last night, Koh's wife Susanna Liew, said that despite the government announcement, the family remain in the dark about the progress of investigations.
Since September, Liew said the authorities have only visited her and her three children — Esther, Elizabeth and Jonathan — to ask the same questions asked before there was any real breakthrough in the case.
"I told them the questions are irrelevant. You should investigate his enemies, the one who sent Raymond two bullets in 2011, the one who sent me a white powder supposedly containing anthrax and a grave note telling they will kill us.
"The question is that after 1,000 days what has the police show for their investigation? Nothing," she said at the event to remember Koh at a hotel here last night attended by some 100 people.
Liew looked calm, but her eyes shone with the determination to keep fighting for answers not only for her husband, but for others like activist Amri Che Mat as well as Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife, Ruth, who all disappeared in the span of three months of each other.
Koh was taken in broad daylight by a group of unknown men who surrounded his car on a public road in Petaling Jaya, Selangor on February 13, 2017.
Last April, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) announced that the Special Branch, the special police intelligence team from Bukit Aman, was involved in the abduction of pastor Raymond Koh, similar to that of Amri.
Also present was Perlis PKR chairman and Amri's friend Mohamad Faisol Abdul Rahman who represented their NGO Perlis Hope, as well as former ambassador Datuk Dennis Ignatius.
In July, Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin launched a seven-member task force headed by former High Court Judge Datuk Abd Rahim Uda to investigate the disappearances of Koh and Amri.
Faisol, who spoke for Amri's family, recounted the frustration of the latter's family as his friend's mother wondered whether her son was still alive or dead.
He hoped the task force would provide them with some answers.
"We still hope that the task force will be able to solve this matter. Maybe the report will be out in December or January. We hope the report brings good news for us," Faisol said.
Ignatius called upon the current PH leaders to stand up and demand that the case to be solved.
He said it is hypocritical that Malaysian leaders most of them are prominent human rights advocates themselves are condemning the atrocities against the minorities in other countries when there are still forced disappearances in this country.
"It is shocking as well that so many of the politicians who were once outspoken advocate for justice and human rights activists who were so vocal when they were in the Opposition now sit silently in the government benches.
"Where are their voices when it is most needed? Why do they looked the other way and pretend they didn't notice that Pastor Koh is still missing 1,000 days after he was booked up?" he asked.
Former judge and Suhakam commissioner Datuk Mah Weng Kwai, who chaired the extensive public inquiry, was also present at last night's event together with Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh; Subang MP Wong Chen; Malaysian Bar vice-president Roger Chan; prominent lawyer Datuk Gurdial Singh; and Datuk Jerald Gomez who represented Koh's family in the inquiry.