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Mayor Michael Bloomberg's report card for public schools, and his plan to shrink gifted and talented programs, threaten to erode hard-won confidence in the school system. And that is a resource that he--or his successor--can't afford to squander.
The gifted and talented programs--which create special classes for students who demonstrate unusual ability on standardized tests--have always been vulnerable to the charge of elitism. In practice, though, they had one useful function: working class and middle class parents, black and white, could rely on them to provide a quality education in otherwise substandard neighborhood schools.
That made them lifesavers for black families whose children would otherwise suffer an inadequate education. It also kept in the system some white families that might otherwise have abandoned public schools for private or parochial eduction.
By raising the bar for admissions to gifted and talented programs, thereby reducing the number of students and programs both, Bloomberg hopes to make them preserves for the truly gifted. That's a laudable goal in the abstract. In practice his actions threaten to weaken an admittedly imperfect solution that helped parents with limited options and cemented the loyalty of even more.
Equally troubling is the mayor's report card system. Reducing the performance of whole schools to a letter grade is simplistic, capricious and incapable of grasping what makes a school great.
The grading program makes a laudable effort to recognize those schools that make real improvements in students' learning. However, it penalizes schools that show a modest slip in test scores out of proportion to what the numbers indicate. My own daughter's middle school, the excellent Salk School of Science, received a C because its test scores slipped from spectacular to merely stellar.
Accurate evaluation of schools is something everyone needs, but this kind of flawed grading shakes confidence in public schools unnecessarily. And that is something that any mayor must build if he or she is to win elections and strengthen our educational system.
Curiously, Blloombeg's actions show that he has not learned a lesson from New York's recent political history that any mayor ignores at his peril.
Since the Sixties, some historians have critiqued liberal mayors--particularly John Lindsay and David Dinkins--as men who ran administrations that were coalitions of the rich and poor against the vast middle.
There is much wrong with this analysis, but it does remind us that the strongest mayors are those who can plausibly represent a broad majority of the city's people. Similarly, the best and strongest public programs are those that serve all Americans and not just the poor. (Consider the difference between support for welfare and support for Social Security.)
New York's public schools need the broadest range of students and parents possible. They also need mayoral leadership that is firm, fair and confident. On all of these counts, Mayor Bloomberg has a lot to learn. For this marking period, he gets a C.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Grading the Mayor
Posted by Rob Snyder at 7:29 PM
1 comment:
I feel bad for the principals whose work is devalued. The savvy, middle class parents whose schools got an unfair bad grade may be able to fight back, but what about the poor and working class parents who don't have access to the press to air their complaints? My daughter's school, the Salk School of Science, got a C and a parent was quoted on the front page of the New York Times saying how ridiculous it was. At the same time, one of my favorite schools in the Bronx, PS 179, got a completely undeserved F, and who will defend the principal there?
- November 14, 2007 at 8:17 PM
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Managed Server Hosting vs Unmanaged: Make an Informed Choice
by etechsupport
All the vital functions of your business including email, e-commerce, and website are maintained by your servers. Your web hosting experience can be enhanced depending on the server solution you choose. Managed and unmanaged are the types of dedicated hosting options offered to businesses. You can make an informed decision by understanding the pros and cons of both types.
What is a managed server?
You are can benefit from the technical expertise provided by managed services. Managed server hosting companies offer a control panel to help you deal with some of the basic tasks, installing and managing software, as well as troubleshoot issues. If you choose a managed server, the configuration, as well as software installation, will be done by the provider. All of the maintenance will also be taken care of. Support is one of the most important features of the managed dedicated server. Any problems with your server will be resolved by the vendor.
What is unmanaged server hosting?
Unmanaged servers, on the other hand, do not deal with upgrades, performance, management, and server health maintenance. All of this is your responsibility. Companies that own departments of information technology are advised to choose managed servers. Keeping your server functional falls on your and your team's shoulders. The web hosting company will merely set the server up for you. You can choose to go the unmanaged way if you're confident in your and your team's skill.
You do retain a web host in unmanaged hosting. However, the key part is the initial setup. The web host retains the responsibility to provide the hardware and ensure an internet connection for your company and website. If you solicit hosting accounts on an ad hoc basis to fix your issues, the cost will be high.
Pros of Managed servers
The benefits of dedicated server options should be taken into consideration while choosing your hosting solution. Support is the main focus for managed solutions. To guarantee uptime for your business and its vital functions, managed servers are the most affordable option. The provider rents his hardware to the client. In case of a problem, the provider is responsible to diagnose and take care of the problem.
Managed server's main benefits include:
Initial Setup
Your provider needs to install the proper software and operating systems, as well as configure the hardware. Optimum server configuration means your applications are secure and run without a hitch.
The support your business receives on a daily basis is one of the key benefits. The team is on standby to provide you with all the help you need at a moment's notice. 24/7/365 availability is what you should look for in your provider.
Backup and storage
Your managed service provider ensures that you have uninterrupted access to the data on your server. A business can tank due to loss of data. Hence, information backup and secure storage is an essential element.
Disaster recovery
Your service provider should be able to reinstate your system with negligent downtime in case of a disaster or hack. Managed server solutions depend on data centers located at several locations along with steady data backup to ensure the safety of your information. The perfect hosting provider ensures uninterrupted customer and service retention.
Server monitoring
One of the main functions of hosted web services is implementing software and tools for server monitoring. It is important to keep access, data, and communication completely functional at all times. There is continuous monitoring by managed services to find irregularities and fix them before they turn into a major problem.
You need to ensure the protection of your company by keeping a tab on activity and access as well as having an up-to-date solution, in case of a DDoS attack- distributed denial of services or a system infiltration attack. Implementing DDoS prevention can avoid loss of money and put your mind to rest.
Your service provider will ensure your software is updated and security patches are up to date on your dedicated servers.
The growing needs of your organization can be accommodated by a compatible service provider that helps your company acquire the required dedicated hosting. According to the season, there can be an increase or decrease in demand. Your server should be able to adjust to this up and down. Your host provider should be able to scale according to your needs and provide additional resources whenever required.
IT cost savings
You do not have to spend on IT services when you have managed dedicated servers.
The usual expenditure to hire technological professionals includes training, recruiting, hiring as well as supporting the whole team. Salaries and benefits are huge expenses, plus having ample of employees available 24/7 to maintain and monitor the servers.
You can cut down on your employee cost by a huge amount if you outsource your IT requirements to managed dedicated servers. It is an affordable option that includes receiving high performance without investing huge amounts yourself.
Control When You Need It
Managed hosting helps you gain access to a console for administrative purposes. The main areas of your application or website are aided by these tools. You can remove or add users, including new email addresses, and many such important functions.
Functionality, access, and content management are all provided by these web-based interfaces. It is vital to have these tools at your disposal to manage your website and its various functions, such as e-commerce, blogs, content management, and all the forward-facing elements of your business.
The majority of managed providers dispense these core services as part of their administrative functions.
When do you need managed server hosting?
The most affordable option is unmanaged hosting as there is no requirement to sign a contract for support. Here are some of the situations that can help you test if the provider can provide the resources and skills needed to take care of various issues you might encounter.
- Your server is being hacked.
- There is corruption of data and it is rendered unusable.
- Your site is inaccessible by customers.
- Your server's physical location is compromised by natural disasters such as fire or flood, which makes accessibility or using the data extremely difficult or downright impossible.
- You need your server rebooted.
- The software requires an update or patch.
- The huge amount of traffic is taking its toll on your server, resulting in poor performance and slowing down.
The best choice in certain situations is a hosting solution. There is a technical team available at your disposal 24/7/365 to take care of a software upgrade or system error. A dedicated server including a team of professional experts can help resolve your issues using their skill and experience
Managed web hosting solution is more compatible with the following situations.
Formerly shared space
In case your organization has used other shared server or public cloud previously, but has a requirement for hardware of its own, managed hosting is the way to go.
Server reliance
A single tenant structure is highly compatible with businesses relying on websites, ecommerce as well as public access to information and data.
Limited or non-existent IT staff
Managed hosting solution is a dream come true for companies with limited or no IT staff. You can focus on the growth of your company when your server management and fanatical support are provided by experts from an external organization.
Your business can be completely transformed with the implementation of the right server solution. Your organization can focus on the work that brings in revenue like providing the best quality of services and products, when you know the security and support are competently taken care of. Managed and unmanaged servers, both have their pros and cons. The essential factor is its compatibility with the needs of your business. Hopefully, this article will aid you in making an informed decision.
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Having your site hacked is a hassle and can really damage your reputation. Believe it or not hacking attempts are much more common than most people realize, even for smaller businesses or sites that do not perform financial transactions. Hackers often utilize complex scripts and tools that seek out and exploit security vulnerabilities online, meaning your business doesn't have to be specifically targeted to become the victim of a hacking attempt.
All our designs are built on a powerful framework that is backed by a network of developers and consistently being updated to reflect industry best practices and the latest security trends. Choose any of our fully supported hosting plans to ensure your website is always kept up to date with the latest patches and updates.
Even when you do everything right, there can still be times when things go wrong. That's why everything we host is regularly backed up to ensure you can recover quickly and experience as little downtime as possible in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.


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Do your children love THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR? It's a trick question: if they have experienced Eric Carle's delightful rumination on eating, growing, and transformation then the answer is most assuredly yes. On the off chance that your chicks are unfamiliar with this loving work, then they will certainly swoon with glee over the current revival of Jonathan Rockefeller's eponymous stage production playing Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre 2. Filled with cleverly designed and beautifully painted working puppets, CATERPILLAR and three companion pieces from Carle's oeuvre - BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR; THE LONELY FIREFLY; and 10 LITTLE RUBBER DUCKS - make for a wonderful hour of imaginatively rendered family entertainment. While hewing comfortably to the plot laid out by the books, the magic of how these stories are brought to life by its trio of wonderful actors keeps the proceedings lively and engaging. For the performance that I reviewed, these delightful performers included Vicki Oceguera, Leanne Brunn, and Emmanuel Elpenord with able backstage assistance from Peter Brown who helped keep the show running seamlessly - and invisibly - from behind the scenes.
It is a testament to this crew that what could have been cloyingly condescending came out as fun and edifying. Each performer struck a marvelously unique dynamic in this well calibrated kaleidoscope of gentle lights and cooing sounds. Ms. Oceguera, a bemused pixie of a performer, represented the delight that a child exudes in discovering something new. In her hands, the puppets let loose a light wave of exuberance before giving voice to their latest adventure. Ms. Brunn performed with smiling precocious sophistication, especially as the purple cat in BROWN BEAR. Her characters were eager to explore though calm and precise as they did so. One got the impression that she was that kid who was ready to wear her mother's high heels to the sandbox, which was doubly enjoyable because the little kid inside was still present in everything she did. Mr. Elpenord tied the proceedings together with an air of soothing authority and technical wizardry. When his dog ran or fireflies flew, there was a masterful level of specificity on display that approximated the living and breathing animal within each puppet. Coupled with his grownup persona - particularly during his fantastic narration of CATERPILLAR - one had the feeling that no matter what happened, all would be safe. Watching him work, one imagined the next generation of puppeteers being born from inspiration at his artistry.
Surrounded by an audience of enchanted children - and their grownups - it was easy to get swept up in this bounty of fun. Pleasantly, even with encouraged participatory recitation and moments of call and response, the energy levels never got out of hand. Too often splendid moments like this grow manic and oppressive; happily, these performers led us through each story to a place that felt open from exploration. This production bills itself as "friendly for children with autism". As the godfather of a young girl with autism who suffers from extreme anxiety, I absolutely agree. The mood is well balanced between calming light effects, pleasant sound levels, wonderfully honest performances, and beautifully rendered puppets that put one in mind of Chagall. Whether you have a child or are a child at heart, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR SHOW is a fabulous work of art that should be experienced by all.
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR SHOW continues through February 28th, 2018 at Daryl Roth Theatre 2 at Union Square.
For tickets or more information call 1-800-982-2787 or visit hungrycaterpillarshow.com
The Performance Schedule runs Thursday through Sunday:
Thursday at 10am; Friday at 10am & 12pm;
Saturday at 10am, 12pm, 2pm & 4pm; Sunday 10pm & 12pm
|Alice in Wonderland
The Players Theatre (9/30-11/05)
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Welcome to Global-Travelling.com
Plans for the future
Some facts
Who are we ?
How do we publish ?
What's the equipment ?
Plans for the future
Who serves us ?
Your opinion
Contact us
Central America
East Europe
North America
South America
WEB resources
Time zones
Currency converter
World maps
Mexico summer 2004
The summer of 2004 we will travel a little bit in US and most of the time in Mexico.
Read more >>
East Europe summer 2003
The summer of 2003 we will travel in East Europe, and its just days before our departure. *ss*
Read more >>
Totally change of plans - Central America for 2002
We have completely shifted focus for the summerplans of 2002. We want to visit Central America, and three countries have been picked: Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
Read more >>
Kenya in summer 2002 ?
We are currently discussing wether Kenya and the surroundings would be a nice target for the holiday next year.
Read more >>
Or maybe Nepal and a trekking to basecamp Everest
A trekking tour in the wild nature with Mnt. Everest as the magical background together with Lhotse, is something that is very appealing.
Read more >>
Dispatches from Asia
Dispatches from Central America
Dispatches from East Europe
Dispatches from North America
Dispatches from South-America
Contact us
2004-07-08 03:52:00
Progreso, Uxmal and Kaba
2004-07-05 00:31:00
Chichén Itzá
2004-07-03 00:55:00
Playa del Carmen - Basecamp
2004-06-27 00:40:00
The City of Atlanta
2004-06-22 15:29:00
New Orleans - Party town.
2004-06-09 20:20:00
Mexico summer 2004
2003-07-13 11:23:00
Dubrovnik - The pearl of the Adriatic
2003-07-07 20:40:00
Hvar Island
2003-07-07 20:38:00
Split - The Adriatic coast
2003-07-07 20:37:00
Zagreb - The capital of Croatia
2003-07-07 20:34:00
Budapest - The capital of Hungary
2003-07-02 19:01:00
Bratislava - a beautiful city
2003-07-02 18:55:00
Oswiecim - Auschwitz and Birkenau
2003-06-25 00:22:00
Wieliczka - Saltmine
2003-06-25 00:19:00
Then Krakow


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Interview by Miriam C.
Sanguine are slowly making a name for themselves. Coming from Exeter, UK, the alternative metal/rock band have just released via OMN Label Services their second album "Black Sheep". So, we have inquired a little and we have asked a few question to the banshee herself , (mind yourself, this word comes directly from Sanguine's drummer Matt Feld) miss Tarin Kerrey, where she kindly explained us how Daniel Flores and Jesper Stromblad agreed to work with them on "Black Sheep" and many many other stuff including Tarin's collaboration with Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith. OK, no more spoilers, take 5 minutes and keep read this exciting interview.
Hi Tarin, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine. How are you?
Fine thank you! Thanks for having me.
Would you like to introduce Sanguine with some biographical hints to our readers?
We are pretty heavy band, but we're eclectic in style…there is a mix of screaming and singing in our songs…mostly guitar led with banging riffs, but we're not directly comparable to anyone. We've been labelled plenty of things from schizophrenic, alt-punk, industrial rock….we just use the label alt-metal/rock because that's the only label that fits us! I suppose if I was forced to say who we are like I suppose that we'd have to say somewhere between Evanescence and Arch Enemy but we are not gothic. I started the band back in university, we started out trying to be a prog band as we all loved Tool…but we just found our own style, we didn't sound anything like Tool, haha! So we didn't force it, our style naturally formed…it's definitely dark but with a tongue in cheek attitude. Sanguine encompasses all our influences from bands like Tool to Slipknot, Sick of It All to Pearl Jam…we love so many bands, I think that shows in our music.
"Black Sheep" is your second album, that comes after your self-titled debut album released back in 2009. What you can tell us about its genesis, in particular referring to the lyrics?
We released our first EP back in 2009 "Live Consume Drive", this featured some crazy songs and gave us our schizophrenic reputation with tracks like "Live, Consume, Drive", "Simplify", "Territory". These were pretty heavy songs, with loads of energy…if anyone wants to check it out look up the video for "Live, Consume, Drive" as it features Nick (our guitarist) dressed up as a game-show host/devil…it's hilarious! The EP was well received, so we followed it up with a self-titled album in 2012 which includes the EP tracks and a collection of other songs. We had no money and so we knew we had to fund a record in order to our music out there and get heard… so the album was a collection of self-recorded songs, it was very DIY.
After releasing the first record in 2012 we gained support, we knew that we were liked, we had fans, people were really behind the project but no one knew where to put us because we were so different. One night we'd be playing with black metal bands the next night we'd be playing with pop-rock bands. We knew we had something unique, something record labels didn't understand but the people did! We were different, hence the name of the second album "Black Sheep": when writing this album we felt like the black sheep of the music industry, we didn't fit in but we were definitely loved by the people. Originally I wrote the lyrics for the song "Black Sheep" about my family and feeling like the black sheep of the family as I had a pretty tough childhood. As the band were discussing album titles I think we all identified with that feeling of not quite fitting in so the name "Black Sheep" was put forward as the title of the next album. Sanguine is definitely unique and we wear our black sheep label with pride!
Back in 2012, you're invited by Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and Skith's Mikee Goodman side project Primal Rock Rebellion as backing vocalist, what you can recall about that experience and which is the memory that you are fond of?
Mikee Goodman helped us with the vocal production of the first album and we became good friends during the process. Mikee was working with Adrian at the same time, he loved my voice and wanted to put me forward to be considered for backing vocals for the Primal Rock Rebellion project. I didn't think I stood a chance as there were some pretty big-names already on the list! When I got the call I thought Mikee was pulling my leg, I couldn't believe it. It was such an amazing experience, I suppose the highlight of the whole process was spending a whole day recording in Adrian's house! I got to meet his family, seeing his countless gold records hanging on the walls. To top it off Adrian is the nicest guy you'll ever meet – he doesn't act like a rock star, he's very down to earth and man, he can play!
For "Black Sheep" you're assisted by the producers Daniel Flores and Jesper Strömblad. How was this collaboration born?
After the first record, our managers got a call from Jesper & Daniel's manager, asking if we were interested in exploring writing and recording together. We were looking for someone to record our next album with so we were absolutely blown-away by the fact that Jesper and Daniel were interested! Of course we jumped at the offer and flew to Sweden to test out the partnership.
When we arrived in Gothenburg, Jesper met us straight away and we spent a whole day exchanging ideas, various riffs, bits of songs. We showed him what we had written so far for the album: he loved "Breathe Out" so we agreed to work with him on that track and then we fell in-love with one of his riffs – this turned into the song "Empty". With the exchange of ideas flowing we hit the In Flames Studio the very next day and started laying down stuff with Daniel and Jesper. At the end of the writing sessions "Breathe Out" and "Empty" were nearly complete, we knew we wanted to record the rest of the album with these guys!
Also I'm curious to know in which way both Daniel and Jesper helped you to develop and improve your sound? In particular, did they give any specific advice to follow?
Jesper taught us how to layer guitars: the guy is an absolute master at guitars whereas Daniel knew how to do orchestral arrangements, as a producer he had loads of energy and we really hit it off. This was the first time we had recorded a dedicated studio album as everything we had done previously was all DIY, being able to work in a professional studio with professional musicians and talented producers rubs off on you, you absorb everything you can. We were like sponges – we worked hard to create the right sounds for the record and I think it shows.
If you could draw a parallel between "Sanguine" and "Black Sheep", how do you think your approach has changed since your debut?
"Black Sheep" is the first time we have recorded in a professional level studio and it shows instead the self-titled album was a collection of very polished demos, you've got to remember we were a very DIY project back then! Since then as our reputation grew our opportunities also grew, "Black Sheep" is a product of an album which we spent a year producing. From the writing session with Jesper and Daniel in Gothenburg, we went back home to the UK and wrote a lot of songs for the rest of the album, then we flew back to Stockholm to finish recording the rest of the album – we worked really hard to make "Black Sheep" "all killer no filler"! We wanted "Black Sheep" to be a proper thought-out album, originally I think we wrote over 30 tracks, we attempted to record 15 tracks and then we refine our choices down to just 10 tracks, we wanted every song on "Black Sheep" to count, we wanted each track to be a song you could fall in love with.
Instead, would you like to spend a couple of words about "Black Sheep"'s cover album?
Yeah, the album artwork is pretty personal, it's a hand-carved sheep skull carved by our guitarist Nick Magee! Now, there aren't many bands who can say that?! It's pretty exceptional, he just turned his hand to carving bone one day, he wanted to carve a skull so he managed to find a corpse of a dead sheep from Dartmoor (moorlands). Honestly, Nick is pretty motivated if he wants to do something there is no stopping him! He found the sheep skull and just started carving, it was completely un-prompted – when looking for ideas for the album cover it fitted perfectly! I hope that people appreciate the effort Nick put into it, we certain did! The sheep skull has become our symbol for the album.
What are your next tour plans? Where your fans can catch you in the next days? Do you have any plans for a full EU tour?
We're just booking in tours as we speak! It's going to be exciting, we'll be hitting UK, Europe and festivals, hope to get to Japan by next year, so much going on and we can't wait to get on the road. So, watch this space because we might be heading to a town near you very soon!
So, Tarin, it's time for your parting words – I really thank you for your time – please greet freely our readers and your fans. Thanks again!
Thanks for the support and a special thanks to our fans… we'll see you in the pit!
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- DALI VAN GOGH drops new single - July 3, 2023


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We introduced small businesses on our previous post and now we want to share with you one of Dubai small groups! There is something special about this group and we would hope you all feel the warmth of this article, because we have had the HONOR of interviewing the young ladies who brought this initiate as a part of change in today's' world.
The group is called Random Acts of Kindness (RAK), the name says it all. We don't want to reveal too much because what came about as two college friends wanting to make people smile and spread kindness is now a series of events to promote kindness, spread smiles and their vision. So without further ado, we interviewed Chandni and Sonia (The founders and masterminds behind this unique, commendable group).
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm Chandni. I'm 22 and i love that I'm writing this out right now. I'm passionate about people and change and a better world. I'm still trying to figure a way to sustain myself, my current attempts being a part time job at a software company coupled with acupressure training on my days off.
I'm Sonia and I'm still 21! I have a job that i quite love at an events company. My greatest joy is this initiative we have going. I'm super excited about all the possibilities and am particularly keen on how kindness can be incorporated into education.
How did Random Acts of kindness start and Why?
It's an amazing story! We attended the same college in Bangalore but weren't the closest of friends. After returning, Sonia reached out to me (Chandni) telling me she wanted help with an idea she had for the city. I sat and listened to her recite my plans to me in amazement of the way these things work.
Both of us have always felt a connection to the bigger picture and to all the people around us. We believe this lay dormant in us for a long time until it was fueled by our experiences volunteering with NGO's in India. The opportunity to actually work to add value to people's lives brought us to the realization that this would always be important to us.
Kindness is universal. It isn't cause specific. We are rooted in the belief that kindness driven by empathy can indeed make this world a better place!
Our shared belief propelled by the energy of finding each other to mirror our dreams is how it all started 🙂
What gives you the motivation to carry on?
We can't quite explain the feeling after each of the events we've had. It's satisfying in this extremely heart-felt way. When asked what we can imagine wanting to do every day of our lives, this comes to our minds immediately. Forgive me for sounding cheesy but it's blissful.
We've sustained ourselves for a year now (we can't quite believe it) through the generosity and kind spirit of the people we have met along the way. Meeting new people under the agenda of connecting to kindness is a wonderful feeling. It creates a space for openness and comfort and it's easy to be oneself. The relationships forged this way are priceless. These are gifts we are extremely grateful and our source of motivation.
Have you ever faced any negative or challenging situations? How did you overcome them? (If any)
Well, one challenge we have faced so far is the time constraint. We would love to give this all of our time but there are the practicalities of living in this world that need to be taken care of too. However it's hasn't reached a stressful point so far.
The other challenge is the lack of understanding from people close to us. An initiative like this isn't going to take you places in the rational sense of things. So sometimes our commitment to it isn't comprehended by some people whose opinions matter to us.
How would you describe the overall reaction from people to your events, Acts and Organization as a whole?
It's safe to say that people leave each of our events feeling extremely good and also quite moved by the positive space and joyful experiences. People get to experience what connecting with strangers through kindness feels like and find it relatively easier to be themselves even around people they don't quite know. We've found that these events bring out our good nature.
We've come this far as an organization largely because of the support of amazing people a lot of whom we found along the way. Their connection to the power of kindness and their enthusiasm and willingness to help is a testimony to the goodness and an inspiration to keep it going.
How can people get involved?
People can send us a request to be a member on our Facebook group "Random Acts of Kindness – Dubai", we will send them a message and accept their request. Alternatively, they can email us on our id: [email protected] and wait to hear back from us!
If a company or sponsor wants to contribute what is the process? How do you get all the financial support for your events?
So far, our events have been successfully possible through people's support and generosity. For example, to hold our events/kindness drives, we have been offered free space or we use public spaces like parks and more often than not, we get voluntary help from members of RAK that support the event. We believe that that is the beauty of what we do – it is all co-created with other human beings who share the same beliefs of giving. We haven't yet felt a need to turn this into an organization that needs monetary funding. However, we have recently started to consider it and may do so in the near future.
What kind of things you have done so far?
So far we've had:
– Kindness Stall at the Dubai Flea Market ( Sep 2013 and Sep 2014).
– Meals for Workers – We get together, cook and pack a hot meal and go out distribute these meals to people working outdoors. We've had three of these mornings so far.
– Kindness drives – We've walked around with boards carrying positive messages and managed to get tons of smiles and a bunch of high fives from strangers.
– Letters to strangers – We've got together to write inspiring letters to strangers to uplift them.
– Joy of Giving – We celebrated Christmas last year with a week full of kindness activities and drives.
Mind blowing right? The girls passion and smiles not only come through in this interview but the constant (I kid you not, its 24/7) smile on Chandini's face and the heart felt sincerity one senses from Sonia's drive is unexplainable. We have attended the Dubai Flee Market event and hope to support many more. We would like to encourage our readers, old or young, get involved and let's spread the harmony of kindness and happiness together.
We would like to leave you with a few quotes from the girls' reflections and as they put it themselves; "we wrote to our hearts content."
Dubai Flee Market Kindness Stall:
"In the last few months I've had more than one day at the end of which I was certain my life could never be the same again."
"People have funny serious expressions when they are walking around and then they have this really nice pleasant change in expression when someone calls out to them especially in a sing song voice haha. It was really nice to see!"
"I don't think there were a large number of people who did not connect with what we were trying to do."
"It was so heart-warming when people hugged me!"
"And then there was this man who didn't understand English and i don't know how but i managed to get it through to him that these were free gifts and he burst into laughter which sent me into giggles too ! And we didn't even speak the same language."
Christmas and the joy of giving
"On Saturday we spent the evening at Dubai Mall being kind. We had planned a bunch of random acts of kindness. We were 11 friends and we'd divided ourselves into 3 smaller groups and each group had a bunch of Christmas cards, candy and chocolates to give out."
"I watched friends who had never done anything like this reach out with such warmth to strangers around them. It was heart-warming."
So to conclude, Words cannot describe their initiative enough, this article is mere crumbs of their success, hard work and admirable passion!


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For those wanderers that are wanting to stay near the authentic center of Smithfield, Travelocity offers several local options that are sure to please. Within a 6-mile (10-kilometer) radius of Smithfield, you will find 3 modern long and short-stay accommodation options.
When you want to stay a short distance from the center of Smithfield, the Smithfield Station is a great Travelocity-listed hotel.
The Parkside Williamsburg Resort is situated 17 miles (27 kilometers) from the central part of Smithfield. On the other hand, the Kingsmill Resort can be found approximately 16 miles (26 kilometers) away. Another option is to make a booking at the Colonial Gardens Bed & Breakfast or the Wedmore Place.
The greater Coastal Virginia region is well worth seeing for yourself too. Check out Coastal Virginia's history museums. Those who love nature should also take the time to admire the region's beaches and coastal plains. Popular activities in this area of United States of America include hiking.
Are you looking for activities? Spend a few hours visiting Chesapeake City Park and Chesapeake Golf Club, which you'll find in Chesapeake, 25 miles (42 kilometers) to the southeast of Smithfield. The Comfort Inn & Suites Chesapeake and Econo Lodge Chesapeake are just some examples of the convenient lodging alternatives in Chesapeake. 16 miles (25 kilometers) south of Smithfield, you'll reach Suffolk, which features the Hilton Garden Inn Suffolk Riverfront and Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Suffolk. If you stay in Suffolk, don't miss the Planters Peanut Center and Suffolk Visitor Center.
Before leaving Norfolk - Virginia Beach, you should certainly ensure you catch an exciting game of sport. Stop by Richmond International Raceway, to the northwest of Smithfield. Book a hotel right by the sporting action at the Best Western Plus Glen Allen Inn or the Sleep Inn Richmond.
If you are traveling through Newport News - Williamsburg International Airport, you might like to book a room at Hampton Inn & Suites Newport News, or Hilton Garden Inn Newport News, which are both a short distance away.
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When you buy a spa, you don't have to spend a fortune, you can find a good collaborator who offers you the perfect solution with a minimal investment.
We choose an inflatable spa
An inflatable spa is easier to handle. Just choose the one that comes with a good material of manufacture. It will be easier to move the inflatable spa in or out of the house. For the other models, you can have a very nice second hand spa.
The second-hand spa
There are some spa shops that have a department for used spas. The idea is to encourage people to exchange their old spa for a more modern model. And it works, since used spas have been overhauled by technicians before being put on the sales shelves. So, there's no worry about component failures. Nevertheless, even a used hot tubs for sale comes with its own criteria for its purchase.
Essential points to define your used hot tub
- Determine the number of seats in the hot tub;
- Test the hot tub and check the chairs;
- Check nozzle locations;
- Check the quality of the raw material used to manufacture the spa;
- Check in detail the proposed programs;
- Take a look at the various pipes and see if there are any leaks;
- Check the drainage system;
- And finally, the price of the used spa.
Other ways to buy a spa
In some stores you also have the possibility to make a deposit sale. You deposit your old machine at the depot, and you wait for the expertise of the technicians for its evaluation. The store offers you a price, that if the product is sold, you can get the money back, or add a few hundred euros to get a new one with more options.
For the price, there is still a basic figure of between 3,000 and 5,000 euros for an average, well-installed spa.


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The Édouard Mendy transfer saga that wasn't supposed to ever become a transfer saga continues.
The current/latest/last? complications stem from Rennes' reported desire to include Fikayo Tomori (on loan) in return for their goalkeeper. Their interest in the 22-year old centre back dates back to August 7th, more than two weeks before Chelsea's own enquiry over Mendy's availability.
Even though Mendy's agent, Djily Dieng said that the two teams had found an agreement a couple days ago, the latest report from L'Équipe (via Get French Football News) claims that Rennes are still trying to insert Tomori into the equation, and thus preventing the deal from getting finalized. Mendy has had his bags packed for a while now, but has not flown to London and has in fact returned to training with Rennes.
Adding Tomori into the deal may not sound like a big deal, but the defender is also on the shortlist at Everton, whose need for a centre back, as evidenced by Carlo Ancelotti's raised eyebrows, is palpable. Not only may that be a better fit, Tomori himself might prefer to stay in England.
In the end, this deal will probably still happen, and happen closer to the €20m initial fee. The transfer window is still open for a few more weeks, though the sooner we get it done, the better.


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The story of Puss in Boots was written in 1697 by Charles Perrault. It was known in Italian as Il gatto con gli stivali or in French as Le Maître Chat, ou Le Chat Botté (Master Cat, The Booted Cat). In English it became Puss in Boots. They say that the cat in the story used lies and deceit to make advances for his master, but I don't see where he hurt anyone in the process.
The tale opens with the third and youngest son of a miller receiving his inheritance—a cat. At first, the youngest son laments, as the eldest brother gains the mill, and the middle brother gets the mules. The feline is no ordinary cat, however, but one who requests and receives a pair of boots. Determined to make his master's fortune, the cat bags a rabbit in the forest and presents it to the king as a gift from his master, the fictional Marquis of Carabas. The cat continues making gifts of game to the king for several months.
One day, the king decided that he wanted his daughter to marry the cat's master. The cat persuades his master to remove his clothes and enter the river. The cat disposes of his masters clothing beneath a rock. As the royal coach nears, the cat begins calling for help in great distress. When the king stops to investigate, the cat tells him that his master the Marquis has been bathing in the river and robbed of his clothing. The king has the young man brought from the river, dressed in a splendid suit of clothes, and seated in the coach with his daughter, who falls in love with him at once.
The cat hurries ahead of the coach, ordering the country folk along the road to tell the king that the land belongs to the "Marquis of Carabas", saying that if they do not he will cut them into mincemeat. The cat then happens upon a castle inhabited by an ogre who is capable of transforming himself into a number of creatures. The ogre displays his ability by changing into a lion, frightening the cat, who then tricks the ogre into changing into a mouse. The cat then pounces upon the mouse and devours it. The king arrives at the castle that formerly belonged to the ogre, and, impressed with the bogus Marquis and his estate, gives the lad the princess in marriage. Thereafter, the cat enjoys life as a great lord who runs after mice only for his own amusement. – Wikipedia
(Click to see full-sized)
The story of Puss in Boots has stood the test of time, and is still popular today. The story has had many variations written since the original, and the Puss in Books character has made appearances in movies, plays, and other stories. He has even been the star of his own movie.
Here are some pictures of more modern-day pusses in boots. Which one is your favorite?
Do you think you'll need your rain boots today? It looks a little cloudy outside!
I'm all warm and cozy in here!
Grrrrrr! This is MY boot and no one had better get near it!
Two-by-two with eyes of blue.
Kittehz definitely like to get into boots, shoes, and slippers. What is your cat's favorite thing to get into?


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I find immense satisfaction in putting music to picture. It's a puzzle to be solved from a technical aspect, but romantically, it's bringing picture to life, and that buzz is what I'm always chasing.
I've been lucky enough to work on some great projects, including some wonderfully shot, award winning short films, and more recently the documentary Billion Dollar Bully. If you have a project that you'd like to talk to me about, I'd love to hear from you.


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Introduction: Fruits Best Friend | Fruit Dip
I have the best fruit dip recipe that will make any fruit tray a hit at your next party! Also, it is so simple with only two ingredients and so yummy you will never serve fruit without it.
8 oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)
7 oz Marshmallow Creme
Mix both ingredients together
BOOM! It's that easy!
My favorite fruit to serve with this is strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Mellon's also taste great with the dip.
Now go on, try it and watch your guest crowd the fruit tray.
TIP: This will go fast. Make a lot. :)
Want to see how easy this is made? Watch the video.
Participated in the
Snacks Contest 2016


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Silver Terrace lies in the southeastern district of San Francisco, a smaller enclave tucked into the western portion of the expansive Bayview neighborhood.
Silver Terrace is an often-overlooked neighborhood hidden by the more expansive Bayview and overshadowed by larger neighboring areas. But once discovered, Silver Terrace has a lot to offer residents looking for a residential neighborhood with a city vibe.
Both renters and homeowners inhabit the homes here. The streets are heavy with single-family abodes, with a smattering of multi-unit residences. The location of Silver Terrace boasts extremely easy access to two freeways that hug its north and southwestern borders, Highway 101 and I-280.
There are two mini parks in Silver Terrace along Palou Avenue along with Silver Terrace Playground, a neighborhood park that features a turf field, sport courts, a baseball diamond, and variety of play equipment. Similar to its surrounding neighbor, the Bayview, residents here enjoy an active role in the Quesada Gardens Initiative, focusing on building a sustainable community that starts with empowering locals to define their environment and to connect with one another in the process.
With no large commercial hubs, residents enjoy the small storefronts and restaurants within the neighborhood and can travel to nearby regions such as Bernal Heights to further explore epicurean adventures and fill shopping needs. One amenity within its borders is a City College of San Francisco campus located along Newcomb Avenue. It features a One Stop Service Center that provides assistance with admissions and enrollment, new student counseling, financial aid, and tutoring services.
Browse Development Opportunity Reports for properties in Silver Terrace neighborhood (2,263 properties in total)


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Our Services
Diagnostic services offered and/or directly interpreted by Dr. Alluri include:
Comprehensive neurological examination the neurological examination tells us the location of disease and allows us to focus our diagnostic testing to a specific area of the nervous system. Neurological examination includes physical examination and testing various functions of nervous system. In addition to a routine physical assessment, the neurological examination should evaluate mental status, motor system, sensory perception, deep tendon reflex, cranial nerve function.
EMG (electromyography).Electromyogram (EMG) measures the electrical activity of muscles at rest and during contraction (activity). Electromyography is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph, which produce a result as electromyogram. An EMG is done to find diseases that damage muscle tissue, nerves, or the junctions between nerve and muscle, the causes of weakness, paralysis, muscle twitching etc.
A nerve conduction study (NCS) is a test commonly used to evaluate the ability of electrical conduction, of the motor and sensory nerves in human.A nerve conduction study is done to measure how well and how fast the nerves can send electrical signals and to find damage in the peripheral nervous system, which includes all the nerves that lead away from the brain and spinal cord and the smaller nerves that branch out from those nerves. This test is often used to help find nerve problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome or Guillain-Barré syndrome. Nerve conduction velocity (NCV) is a common measurement made during this test.
Electroencephalography (EEG) is a measure of brain waves. It refers to the recording of the brain's spontaneous electrical activity over a short period of time, recorded from multiple electrodes placed on the scalp. It is a readily available test that provides evidence of how the brain functions over time. The EEG is used in the evaluation of brain disorders, especially the activity in the brain during a seizure. It also is used to evaluate people who are having problems such as confusion, coma, tumors, long-term difficulties with memory, weakness in specific parts of the body which are associated with brain function.
Videonystagmography (VNG) is a series of tests used to determine the causes of dizziness, vertigo, gait abnormalities and balance disorders. VNG is a complete diagnostic system for recording, analyzing and reporting involuntary eye movements, called nystagmus, using video imaging technology.VNG is a test used to determine whether or not dizziness may be due to inner ear disease.
Ultrasonography/ Doppler studies: is a non invasive diagnostic procedure that changes sound waves into an image that can be viewed on a monitor.The purpose ultrasonography is to detect the direction, velocity, and turbulence of blood flow. It is frequently used to detect problems with heart valves or to measure blood flow through the arteries. Early diagnosis help in the prevention of major neurological problems such as stroke.
Carotid Ultrasound Examination: Carotid ultrasound is a non-invasive diagnostic examination used to evaluate the condition of the major arteries in the neck. These arteries, called the Carotid arteries supply the brain with blood. Various abnormalities can be detected by carotid ultrasound. These abnormalities can be mild, such as hardening of the wall of the carotid arteries, to severe such as large plaques that obstruct the blood flow. During the examination, an ultrasound transducer will be placed on an area of the neck over the arteries, producing an image displayed on a video screen. This test will take approximately 30 minutes, and is completely painless.
Echocardiogram: is a noninvasive diagnostic ultrasound examination to evaluate the heart chambers, valves, and function. It is done by placing an ultrasound transducer over the chest. The test uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart. The image generated is detailed than a plain x-ray image and involves no radiation exposure. Further no preparation time is necessary of this examination.
Computerized memory testing allows formal and objective way to evaluate patients with reduced concentration, memory loss and/or poor job performance.


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Theatre with an accessible bathroom.
- When did you visit: 1
- Review Type: Physical
- Cost:
- Length of visit:
Review Listing
Theatre with an accessible bathroom.
The Suzanne Roberts Theatre is a theatre on Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts. The theater opened in October 2007 and is home to the Philadelphia Theatre Company. The theater was designed by KieranTimberlake, using the principles of Universal design.


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A day after Chrissy Teigen shared the sweet way she's honoring her late son's memory, John Legend revealed that he, too, had Jack's name tattooed on his arm.
The tattoo on Legend's right wrist spells out Jack's name in all lower-case letters in a delicate cursive script.
The ink was done by celebrity tattoo artist Winter Stone, real name Daniel Winter, who is based in Hollywood.
Stone shared the couple's matching tattoos in a series of black and white photographs on Monday, writing "JACK… My heart is with you, sending you all the love!"
Teigen and Legend first revealed they were expecting their third child in the music video for "Wild," which premiered on August 13.
The two remained open about the pregnancy, even disclosing all the complications Teigen tried to overcome. Sadly, the Cravings author made the heartbreaking announcement on September 10 that nothing could be done to save the baby. She was 20 weeks along.
"We were never able to stop the bleeding and give our baby the fluids he needed, despite bags and bags of blood transfusions. It just wasn't enough," she wrote at the time. "To our Jack – I'm so sorry that the first few moments of your life were met with so many complications, that we couldn't give you the home you needed to survive. We will always love you."
Teigen later opened up about why she spoke so openly about her pregnancy loss in an op-ed for Medium, confessing on Instagram, "I wrote this piece for Medium with hopes that I can somehow move on but as soon as I posted it, tears flew out because it felt so….final."
She and Legend share two children together, four-year-old Luna and two-year-old Miles.
By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


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- Apple Pencil
- Why Good Employees Quit
- The Black Widow Spider
- What Has Society Become?
- De-Stress To Prevent Future Illness
- Scientifically Proven Ways To Make You Smarter
- Rules For A Startup From Notorious Billionaire
- Terrible Secrets Of Pharmaceutical Companies
- Leaders Cannot Afford To Overlook Insolence
- The Art of: No
- Clients: You Don't Need All Of Them
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- Management Myths
Dangers Of Winning The Lottery
- Updated: June 11, 2015
Hitting the jackpot is every person's dream. Imagine the things you can do and the things you can buy with all the money. Which is why, despite all the odds against winning the jackpot, many will still line up and bet their luckiest numbers for a chance to win millions of dollars.
After all, even if mathematicians calculate that the odds of winning can be as low as one in 171 million, you know that someone is bound to win sooner or later. So why can't you be that one?
Lottery is far more dangerous than people realize. The lottery is more than a distraction, it's an opiate for our senses. The lottery can numb people into believing that since you have a chance to become wealthy by simply spending a dollar on a ticket, then you can achieve the American dream without putting in the hard work and dedication.
Despite the astronomical odds of winning the lottery, it is sold to us by the states as a realistic way of attaining dreams of a better life.
Nearly one third of multi-million dollar jackpot winners eventually declare bankruptcy. Some end up worse. There have been many lottery stories where lottery winners have suffered great loss and other casualties.
Not knowing who you can trust; loss of friendship; families broken apart; always looking over your shoulder for the fear of someone doing you harm. In almost all cases, the responses of lottery winners were the same. "I wish I wouldn't have ever won."
See real stories of tragedy among lottery winners


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The last two rounds of redrawing legislative and congressional boundaries in Kansas proved especially contentious. In 2012, the job fell to federal judges when lawmakers couldn't agree. Is there a less contentious way to do redistricting than letting legislators choose their own constituencies? Or is the process simply partisan by nature?
It sounds straightforward: Every 10 years, after the federal census, Kansas lawmakers redraw the state's political boundaries to balance out changes in population
In practice, however, it's been a fraught process.
Members of the Legislature are responsible for redrawing the boundaries for U.S. representatives, the State Board of Education and the borders for their own House and Senate districts. The governor gets a say with a signature or veto, as with any other bill, and the Kansas Supreme Court is asked to review state legislative district maps too.
For the last two rounds, the process has gotten ugly. Redistricting after the 2000 Census was so bitter that state lawmakers narrowly avoided having a panel of three federal judges draw the state's maps – a fate they couldn't escape 10 years later.
Increased political divisiveness, a population that's becoming more urban and less rural, and technological advances that make it easier to gerrymander districts have greatly raised the stakes.
With a history of tying the Sunflower State in knots, the 2021-22 redistricting process began in earnest with a series of 14 town hall meetings in five days this August. A few days after the tour, the U.S. Census Bureau released new population data showing 80 of the state's 105 counties had lost population.
Among the implications of the data: Johnson County and Wichita will gain political clout in the Legislature at the expense of rural Kansas, and the 3rd Congressional District will have to be redrawn to account for Johnson and Wyandotte counties being too big to be wholly contained in one district.
Republican leaders in the House say they'll continue to seek public input in the map drawing process, but partisan dividing lines had taken shape prior to the town halls. Democrats saw the compressed timeframe as evidence of an untrustworthy process aimed at producing maps that will cost Rep. Sharice Davids her seat in Congress and bolster the Republican super-majority in the Kansas Legislature in 2022. Republicans see a Democratic Party that is politicizing the redistricting process with the public to pressure lawmakers into passing maps friendly to the left.
Meanwhile, groups representing the state's African American and Latino communities worry that the process could "disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Kansans and undermine their faith in those who will be elected to represent them," the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission and the Kansas African American Affairs Commission said in a rare joint statement.
The stage is set for a messy and increasingly partisan redistricting battle over the next few months. But does reapportionment have to be this way? Kansas' method to draw maps isn't unusual. It's highly politicized almost everywhere. But a handful of states think they have found less contentious ways, including the establishment of independent and nonpartisan commissions that draw district lines.
Such commissions have been floated as an answer for stabilizing democracy. Gov. Laura Kelly expressed her support last year, and Kansas Democrats filed legislation to establish a commission, but the effort was largely symbolic.
The proposal was a non-starter in the Legislature, where Republicans would be sacrificing their own power to hand it over to an unelected commission. Furthermore, Republican operatives in the state have long translated "nonpartisan" as a code word for letting Democrats muscle in on the process.
Of the nine states that use commissions made up of independent and nonpartisan members to draw legislative districts, six of them went for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. But it's hard to discern a political pattern on a list that features Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado (which has separate commissions for its House and Senate), Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Montana and Washington.
A few other states have what are called politician redistricting committees that draw electoral maps.
These commissions aren't especially independent because politicians can be appointed to serve, but there is a degree of separation from lawmakers being able to effectively choose their own constituencies.
Iowa has gone its own way. There, nonpartisan legislative staff develop maps without political or election data and work with a five-person advisory commission. Legislators still get to weigh in with an up-or-down vote.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Iowa lawmakers have approved at least some version of nonpartisan staff-drawn maps every decade since 1980.
Still, that's only 15 of the 50 states with nontraditional mechanisms in place. With so few states using them, are nonpartisan commissions really all they're cracked up to be?
Yurij Rudensky, an expert on redistricting with the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank generally seen as left-leaning, says the answer is unequivocally yes.
"The thing about something like redistricting is, ultimately, the way that people should think about it is not … Democrats versus Republicans or moderates versus more hardline conservatives or hardline liberals, but more between political interests versus public interests," he says.
Where independent commissions can succeed is by taking away the ability of lawmakers and parties to chart their own futures.
The prime example of success with independent redistricting, Rudensky says, has been California. The 14-member commission there makes sure the varying interests of Californians are adequately addressed by taking its show on the road.
"The commissioners sort of decided that they would listen to the people, and that their primary instructions would come from regular Californians. … They held extensive hearings across the state in conservative areas and in liberal areas, and they let that guide the process," he says. "What people informed the commission about was why their community should not be split up in ways that would prevent that community from having a voice in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C."
The will of the people is the guiding light for redistricting in California and in the other states that use an independent commission model, Rudensky says. And that's the way it should be if the public truly wants the process to be fair.
"They weren't protecting incumbents, they weren't trying to ensure that X number of Democrats and Y number of Republicans were in the Legislature or in the congressional delegation, they just went out there," he says. "They wanted to give people representation and to make sure that the people could vote out leadership that they didn't feel like was reflecting their views."
It's also easy to see that California's model worked as intended, Rudensky says. In 2018, the state saw more of a blue wave, in line with national voter trends, while in 2020, it saw the election of more Republicans to Congress – especially in the House, which was a trend seen nationwide.
A 2012 analysis from the Pew Charitable Trusts found that the states with independent commissions drew more compact and contiguous districts at the local and state levels than those where legislators control the process – a telltale sign of gerrymandering avoidance.
Yet that analysis also revealed one of the more prominent arguments against independent commissions: They don't succeed in tamping partisan rancor. In Colorado, for example, a commission member who was appointed as an independent member triggered an uproar after being seen at a 2012 fundraiser for President Barack Obama.
Bob Loevy, a professor emeritus of political science at Colorado College, served as a Republican member of the state's reapportionment commission in 2011-12. He later published a 104-page analysis of the group's processes, and concluded that even though the commission was purported to be independent, its product was riddled with gerrymandering because Democrats had a one-member edge in commission voting. (The group's chairman, Loevy says, functioned as a Democrat.)
Loevy says it's to be expected that Democrats would take advantage of the situation. If one party doesn't gerrymander districts for itself, the other will, he says.
Colorado overwhelmingly approved changes in 2018 that could address some of the issues raised by Loevy. Half of the members of the state's two commissions are to be chosen randomly and half by judges, not politicians. Previously, the Legislature and the governor appointed a majority of the members.
Furthermore, eight of the 12 members on each commission, including at least two unaffiliated members, will need to vote in favor of a new map for it to be approved. Under the old commission system, it took a simple majority.
Colorado's reforms will be closely watched to see if it's actually possible to make redistricting less politically partisan. But the proceedings are off to a contentious start that included a complaint about improper partisan lobbying.
Advocates of the commissions say eliminating partisanship isn't the primary objective. It's taking control away from legislators, who have a personal stake in the outcome of those new electoral boundaries.
(Interestingly enough, some Democrats are starting to regret their support for independent redistricting commissions, especially in increasingly blue states like Colorado because they're leading to maps that could water down Democrat power.)
The idea of an independent, nonpartisan commission to draw Kansas' maps isn't a novel one.
It gained popularity in some Republican circles after the bitterness of the 2001-2002 redistricting cycle that nearly required court intervention and left elected officials embarrassed, according to news reports.
Republican Derek Schmidt – then a senator, now Kansas' attorney general – proposed the idea of a semi-independent commission to draw the state's electoral districts in 2003. It would've comprised seven members appointed by the governor, chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, chief judge of the Kansas Court of Appeals, the state Senate president and minority leader, and the House speaker and minority leader.
News reports from the time show that Schmidt's proposal gained traction but fell well short of the two-thirds majority required to put the issue to voters as an amendment to the state's constitution. Schmidt and a bipartisan group of legislative leaders tried again in 2009 to adjust the process. Under that proposal, the Legislative Research Department would have used census data and other criteria to redraw districts, and then a five-member commission would have been appointed to resolve questions raised by researchers. Two members would be Democrats and two would be Republicans, with the fifth commissioner chosen by the other four.
The 2009 iteration of a redistricting commission, which had bipartisan support in the Senate and the backing of the House minority leader, also failed to advance.
Mike O'Neal, a Republican who served in the House for nearly 30 years representing Hutchinson, was the chairman of his chamber's redistricting efforts in both 2002 and 2012. He remains opposed to the concept of independent redistricting commissions.
"I just think redistricting is uniquely a process that needs to involve lawmakers, and I've never seen an 'independent redistricting commission' that was independent," he says. "They are appointed with political appointments, and they all tend to have their own agendas."
O'Neal dismissed one of the main arguments for independent commissions – that legislators shouldn't have such a powerful role in something they have a personal stake in – by saying that no one can truly be unbiased.
"No commission … is going to be free of their own personal biases. I think the process has worked very well and I think it's poised to work well again, if you've got lawmakers who are committed to being fair and trying to get maps that have the greatest chance of passing," O'Neal says. "No one knows their districts any better than those 165 lawmakers. They are far better able to know the communities of interest, and the nuances of their districts and natural boundaries … than a nonpartisan commission."
Eighteen years after starting the conversation, Schmidt, who as attorney general bears the responsibility for petitioning the Kansas Supreme Court to determine the validity of new state-level maps, says through a spokesman that forming a nonpartisan redistricting commission isn't feasible for the upcoming round of redistricting.
"Article 10 of the Kansas Constitution requires the Legislature, not a commission, to reapportion legislative districts," spokesman John Milburn says. "It is too late in the current redistricting cycle to change that constitutional process."
Milburn wouldn't say whether Schmidt still supports the idea of a redistricting commission or other alternatives to reduce partisan gamesmanship.
Kansas' last round of redistricting, like in 2002, was a bitter legislative battle that stretched over a year after the state received census data in March 2011, reaching a conclusion in June 2012.
The Legislature adjourned in May 2012 with no agreement on legislative and congressional districts, throwing the matter to the U.S. District Court for Kansas. A month later, a three-judge panel issued the new maps while criticizing what legislators a decade earlier had narrowly approved.
In its ruling, the panel said it "tried to restore compact, contiguous districts where possible" and said it was "pushing a reset button" on redistricting in Kansas. That approach carried some significant side effects. For instance, the court's maps placed 46 Kansas House members – nearly 37% of that governing body – into districts that generated multi-incumbent races in the next election cycle.
The debate over redistricting in 2012 was driven less by partisanship and more by intraparty warfare between moderate Republicans in control of the Senate and conservatives who wanted to unseat them. The effort proved largely successful, and conservative Republicans easily control both the House and Senate today.
All told, Schmidt's office doesn't see this round of redistricting looking anything like the last one.
"In 2012, the Legislature failed to perform its constitutional duty to redistrict, and a federal court had to step in, burdening Kansas taxpayers with almost $400,000 in legal costs," Milburn says. "AG Schmidt is optimistic this time the Legislature will get the job done, and he is prepared to present the Legislature's work to the Kansas Supreme Court for approval as the constitution provides."
In years past, key Republican officials have been vocally opposed to implementing a redistricting commission. Mike Kuckelman, chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, said earlier this year that legislators should just follow the laws that are on the books.
"If there should be an independent commission, there should be legislation to that effect," he adds. "But otherwise, follow the statute and get the redistricting done according to statute."
Kansas isn't known as a state with a history of pervasive gerrymandering. But one current Republican desire became clear last October when then-Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, told a group of Republican activists that having a Republican supermajority during redistricting could make it difficult for Davids, Kansas' only Democrat at the federal level, to hold her seat.
"I guarantee you we can draw four Republican congressional maps," Wagle said. "But we can't do it unless we have a two-thirds majority in the Senate and House."
Kelly immediately highlighted Wagle's comments as proof of the need for Kansas to institute an independent commission to draw new maps for the Sunflower State every 10 years.
Republicans have wide latitude to do as they wish, though. The veto-proof GOP majority Wagle envisioned came to pass as Kansas Republicans gained several seats in the House and Senate, hemming in any leverage the state's Democrats might have in the process.
The results of last year's congressional elections, in which Democrats managed to hold on to their House majority by just five seats, have drawn enormous national attention to districts like Davids'. It's possible that Republicans could pick up six seats next year and flip control solely through the use of the gerrymander. But concerns over gerrymandering aren't limited to Republicans, as the situation in places such as New York shows.
Kelly, as governor, will get the chance to sign or veto any redistricting bill. She declined to answer specific questions about the redistricting process but has reiterated her support for a nonpartisan redistricting commission.
State Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat who switched her party affiliation from Republican in 2018, says an independent commission does still have support among members of the Legislature. But there has not been the required two-thirds support needed to pose the question to voters – the same issue that Schmidt, who is running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination to oppose Kelly in 2022, ran into when he tried to establish a commission during his Senate days.
Clayton, who has served in the Legislature since 2013, didn't mince words about why even the best-intentioned legislators shouldn't pick their own constituencies.
"There's a lot of moral ambiguity with redistricting when legislators do it, because I can try to be … as fair and honest (as I can) and follow the standards, but at the end of the day, of course I'm going to have a bias. Of course I know how I want those maps to look," she says.
"Because of that implicit legislator bias, it's morally gray," she adds. "No, it should not be in the hands of the people who benefit from it. That's pretty messed up."
Republican leaders such as House Speaker Ron Ryckman of Olathe continue to stress that additional public input will be sought and will remain important to the process. But there's a sense among other legislative leaders that it doesn't really matter what Republicans do.
"They're (Democrats are) gonna sue no matter what the map comes out," Senate President Ty Masterson told The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Furthermore, as Washburn University political scientist Bob Beatty has pointed out, regardless of how much opportunity the public is given to weigh in, that input isn't binding.
"Let's keep in mind that in a partisan redistricting process, you can have all the input in the world, but at the end of the day, one party can simply do whatever they want," Beatty told Topeka's KSNT-TV.
There's still a possibility that lawmakers might find some compromise that lets the GOP exercise its power over the process without leaving Democrats hamstrung and headed to court.
But the current trajectory doesn't make it look very likely.
In a Statehouse environment where both political power and democratic fairness are on the line with redistricting, it remains to be seen to what extent the two can ever be balanced, if at all.
"If we act like adults, and don't act power hungry or weird and just get the work done – which is what the people want us to do – then yeah I think we could avoid it," Clayton says. "But you know, it all kind of depends. It's the Kansas Legislature, and in the Kansas Legislature, there are no fair fights."
But what would Democrats say if they had more power over the process? For people like Loevy, the Colorado redistricting commissioner, concerns about gerrymandering are just as much about partisan gamesmanship as gerrymandering itself.
"In a redistricting struggle, both political parties continually argue they are being treated unfairly by the other side. It is a conscious and purposeful strategy," he writes in his analysis. "Always contend your side is losing. Pretend your political party is losing badly, and maybe things will go better for your party in future negotiations or court cases."
- To what extent do you think redistricting is a trustworthy process in Kansas? What factors do you think build or reduce trust in the process?
- What do political parties risk when they give up control to a nonpartisan redistricting committee? How might interpretations of what's being given up differ among various factions?
- In your view, what would "fair" redistricting look like?
Want to see how challenging reapportionment can be? Think you can do better than state lawmakers at redrawing the state's political boundaries?
According to Stateline, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news service of the Pew Charitable Trusts, at least a dozen states are giving residents access to the software and web tolls necessary to map out how they'd like to be represented. Some states are even legally obligated to consider maps submitted by the public.
Kansas isn't one of those states on either score. It's one of 25 states where public input isn't required during the redistricting process. (Lawmakers are still soliciting public input regardless.)
But there are several online tools out there that you could use to draw your own versions of what the congressional and state Legislature's boundaries should look like after the 2020 Census. They include Dave's Redistricting and DistrictR.org.
If you're interested in the redistricting process, drawing a map might provide insights on the competing values lawmakers wrestle with as they go about their work. And there's no reason you can't share your work with state lawmakers.
But be forewarned. Drawing a map might be the easy part. It's getting enough people to agree on the boundaries that makes redistricting a leadership challenge.
A version of this article appears in the Fall 2021 issue of The Journal, a publication of the Kansas Leadership Center. To learn more about KLC, visit http://kansasleadershipcenter.org. Order your copy of the magazine at the KLC Store or subscribe to the print edition.
Sign up for email updates about The Journal's content.


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by Kris Tronerud
Black Rose Mansion • Directed by Kinji Fukasaku • Shochiku Studios • 1969
Exactly 30 years ago, I found myself crouched down in a neighborhood theater to watch what was being openly marketed as a Star Wars ripoff with my ten year old son, frankly not expecting a whole lot beyond an amusing Saturday afternoon hangout with the kid. What I got was an intensely colorful, surprisingly heartfelt sci-fi saga that straddled the line between Space Opera and Fairy Tale a lot more fully than did Star Wars, and whose fanciful, if not exactly realistic special effects achieved a palpable sense of childhood wonder on about a zillionth of George Lucas' budget. Starring Vic Morrow(!) and Sonny Chiba, Message from Space had believable, well drawn characters, and was alternately thrilling, funny, touching, scary and goofy, in about equal proportions. Welcome to the world of Kinji Fukasaku.
Kinji Fukasaku made every kind of picture in his long and productive career, from traditional samurai tales (Shogun's Assassin and the enormously entertaining medieval fairy tale version of Magnificent Seven, Tale of the Eight Samurai) to the bitter yakuza films which cemented his reputation in Japan and abroad (Street Mobster, the immensely popular 5-part Yakuza Papers, and his crime saga masterpiece Graveyard of Honor), to florid melodramas like Mansion; with several international American cast hits (the candy-colored Italian style space opera The Green Slime, the big budget disaster movie Virus and the Japanese scenes in the underrated WWII docudrama Tora Tora Tora) along the way. He finally reached international star status with his last complete film, the brilliant, bitter teen age holocaust Battle Royale, but Fukasaku first made a name for himself with the Drifting Detective series of crime programmers, starring a young and up-and-coming Sonny Chiba, who, despite his sudden international fame in the Street Fighter series, remained a recurring Fukasaku player throughout his career. He first attracted serious critical attention with a thoroughly unique little number called Black Lizard, a psychedelic/pop-art/anime-style spy caper flick that starred Japan's legendary female impersonator Akihiro Maruyama as a sultry master thief leaving a trail of larceny and brokenhearted (not to mention mostly dead) admirers behind her. The film's brazen originality, humor, extravagant visual style and high-concept pedigree (it was based on author and radical gay militarist Yukio Mishima's adaptation of a short story by classic mystery novelist Edogawa Rampo) made it a huge popular success, and Fukasaku a hot property. Shikoku Studios (who had lured Fukasaku away from rival Toei for Lizard) were anxious to repeat its success with another vehicle for Maruyama in a female role, but equally interested in being recognized as sophisticated, modern studio. Settling on Studio boss Akira Oda's love of the old fashioned melodramas that had made Shochiku's fortunes, and painted in a gorgeous widescreen big budget 60's look, Black Rose Mansion tells the story of the arrival of mysterious, spellbinding and ageless beauty Ryuko (Maruyama) at a secluded and exclusive men's club retreat, the Black Rose Mansion. Herself bearing an ever-present black rose which she swears is real, and will turn red when she truly falls in love, Ryuko immediately wins over the vaguely unhappy middle aged owner, successful (and married) tycoon Kyohei (Eitarô Ozawa) and his clientele, becoming a nightly attraction known for arriving at precisely 8, singing her torch songs, and leaving at exactly 11. This cozy setup has a drawback however: Ryuko brings a bit of baggage with her, namely a seemingly endless supply of ex-lovers and husbands, all of whom have an unfortunate tendency to track her down at the club and get crazy on everyone's ass. When two rejected suitors show up at once and kill each other simultaneously at her feet, Kyohei professes his love and offers to be her protector/lover. Against her better judgment, she accepts, but when Kyohei's brooding, hunky son Wataru (played with a beautiful James Dean intensity by future TV star Masakazu Tamura) comes home in prodigal disgrace and falls for the terminally fickle Ryuko, he joins in an ill-advised quick rich scheme proposed by a low-life criminal friend so that he can afford to steal her from his father…
Before the arrival of Takashi Miike, no director was ever so completely unconcerned with adhering to his audience's expectations than Kinji Fukasaku, (it seems fitting that Miike lovingly remade Graveyard of Honor in 2002) and his films are often jolting in their willingness to veer from high drama to comedy to a bizarre surrealistic zaniness, and astonishing in how often, and how well, it worked. On the surface, the plot reads like a 50's Douglas Sirk melodrama, and often plays like one. And a very good one at that, as the acting and direction of the many scenes of quiet reflective family drama that form the core of this crazy quilt concoction, are superb, with standout performances from stage star Ozawa as Kyohei, and Ayako Hosho as his quietly bitter wife, who has a past every bit as destructive as her husband's present. Ryuki, a larger than life figure, serves as much as a catalyst for the reconnection (however hurtful and chaotic) of Kyohei's family as she does as femme fatale, and the knowing dialogue and introspection of these scenes leaves us unsuspecting prey for… Sudden crimson-tinted scenes of S&M, murder and assorted sexual mayhem (Ryuko has lead a flashback-ready life), not to mention a sexy, sultry heroine played with an absolutely straight face by a Man who, in a throaty but distinctly feminine warble, delivers the numerous and delirious Marlene Dietrich-meets-Carmen Miranda musical numbers which punctuate Mansion with clocklike regularity. As in Lizard, Mansion's characters unquestioningly accept Murayama/Ryuko as a woman, nor is there even a hint of ironic homosexual undertone in the telling of its story. While Fukasaku mast have understood the frisson this casting would cause with international audiences, the presence of this mainstream star in a female role has direct roots in traditional Noh and Kabuki theater, whose spookily beautiful heroines (often played by established male actors) are reflected in Ryuko's otherworldly persona. Murayami's performance as a woman who is, despite her preposterously unrepentant treachery, truly acting out of an unswerving belief in the possibility of true love is, (in contrast to the rest of the cast), a theatrical, stylized, force of nature tour-de-force that demands to be, and is, accepted on its own terms. But it is Ozawa's complex and powerful Kyohei who draws all the threads together as the family patriarch; who even in cuckoldry, maintains his dignity, strength, and love for his unruly family, which is rapidly disintegrating at Ryuko's hands, and provides Mansion, in the midst of all its gleeful insanity, with moments of near tragic dimension.
Despite the fact that Fukasaku adopted a distinctly different visual look and directorial tone for each of his primary groups of films, there are unmistakable undercurrents that nonetheless make all of his major works the distinct and recognizable work of a genuine auteur. One element, also derived from Noh drama, is the vast cast of colorful, beautifully realized, unpredictable and memorable characters that populate each of his films (a characteristic shared also by the Toei Yakuza cycle). Another is Fukasaku's deeply moral refusal to judge his characters, encouraging us to like even the most unlikable of them beyond the point that we can dismiss them, therefore forcing us to confront what they say about us. Key also is Fukasaku's imbuing of each film with a different, but always emotional and gripping visual beauty that weaves all their seemingly disparate parts into the deeply memorable films that form the life work of this highly original and affecting filmmaker; who is, just now finally being properly recognized for his most unusual and irreplaceable contribution to world film: works like Battle Royale, Graveyard of Honor, and Black Rose Mansion, that arouse, amuse, outrage, and move us, with their unmistakable humanity.
All this and Green Slime too… that's Fukasaku.


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What makes a perfect Glastonbury outfit? A mix of statement dressing, comfort and a nod to good times. Which is why the marine pilot Josh Clerk's look is this year's festival fashion winner.
Cap, sunglasses
With relentless sun, Glasto-goers need their accessories to work hard this year. The cap and sunglasses tick all the boxes here, with the shades adding steampunk vibes.
Matching leopard print
Co-ords (two items in matching prints) are a thing for men at Glastonbury. The slightly mismatched leopard here makes it feel a bit cooler and a bit less contrived.
Forget the drainpipes of Love Island, the skintight trouser trend was taken to the next level at Glastonbury this year: men in leggings, particularly printed ones, have been a frequent sight.
Trainers and socks
A white sports sock could be a bold move at a muddy Glastonbury, but not in 29C heat. These socks celebrate that dry ground. See also: lots of sandals and even pedicured toes.
A five-day party in the sun requires that classic summer accessory: an ice-cold beer.


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The Poor Man's GoPro. Just use the camera you already own.
Periscope Case allows the use of your smartphone for action photography. The case snaps to your phone and straps to just about anything. Us the mirrors to change the angle of your camera allowing it to be at a convenient angle. For us casual action photographers, there's no need to fork out for a GoPro. Just use what you already own.
Mockup.io the intuitive tool to visualize and collaborate on mobile app design with the team and clients.


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Just as she had with Ryder, Grammie B quilted an amazing baby blanket for Taggart. Ryder thought it was funny that Tagg could not move much once placed on his tummy; so he decided to cheer him on and demonstrate how to puch himself up.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tummy Time on Quilt
Posted by The Hutton Family at 12:32 PM
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Dr Oonagh Murphy becomes a Museums Association Transformer
Transformers: Influence is a Museums Association professional development and advocacy network for people who believe in the social power of museums and who want to learn more about developing active partnerships within their communities, with the ambition of affecting the museum sector more widely. After a competitive application process, Dr Murphy has been invited to participate in this network alongside staff from Tate, V&A, Courtauld Institute, Historic Royal Palaces and the National Trust.
Participants on this scheme will come away with ideas and practical tools to develop their own practice and how to initiate steps towards change. Dr Murphy will channel her learning's from this into her research, teaching and consultancy work.
Dr Murphy is Convenor of the MA in Visual Arts Management and Curating, and also teaches professional practice on the Art History and Visual Culture BA at Richmond.


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