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dumb type
Melbourne International Arts Festival
18 October 2006
the Arts Centre , Playhouse
Voyage is certainly a trip. Fly, float, dive, swim, drown and climb through dumb type's bizarre and beautiful world.
In late 2001 the dumb type artists independently developed pieces without any theme or concept. By working with unlimited freedom, they found a commonality. The result is Voyage. Travel and journey may be a comman narrative theme, but this voyage is far from ordinary.
dumb type don't comment or narrate. They simply let powerful images speak for themsleves. The audience can chose to interpret deep meaning into each moment or simply sit back and enjoy the ride.
The images combine low tech with complex multi-media art. Two men sweeping white rocks around the stage take us deep into a cave, while giant projections take us flying through a performace poem about wishes. Projections are given depth by using the simple effect of a reflective floor.
The opening piece is the most striking of the show. A single pale dancer repeats very linear shapes among three giant spheres. The lighting changes on each sphere are stunning. The same dancer concludes the evening by repeating the same movements in front of the very complicated images of a radar screen. She gives a sense of narrative arc to the show. The world she journeys through has changed from simple, natural and symbolic to complex, technical and detailed – but she remains as she was.
Voyage is also filled with cheeky humour. I felt that the opening night audience were too scared to laugh - in case it wasn't meant to be funny. Airline hosties in bright coloured berets and bright coloured knickers are funny in any context.
This show isn't for everyone's taste. A gentleman sitting behind me steadfastly refused to clap during the ovation. It is nonetheless, a work that firmly belongs in an international arts festival. Voyage is something we normally wouldn't see in Australia and a style of practice that wouldn't be conceived here.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.


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It may be constitutive of our enduring appetite for tragedies that bitter truths are best metabolized by witnessing them being feigned -- demonstrated in some sort of ceremonial form. Take the canonical example of Hamlet, where the revelatory vehicle is twice theatrical -- it is the play-within-a-play which shatters Claudius's mask. An episode which is tellingly prefaced by a 'dumb show', a hyperbolic pantomime:
Anon comes in a fellow, takes off [the King's] crown, kisses it, and pours poison in the King's ears, and exit. The Queen returns; finds the King dead, and makes passionate action. The Poisoner, with some two or three Mutes, comes in again, seeming to lament with her. The dead body is carried away. The Poisoner wooes the Queen with gifts: she seems loath and unwilling awhile, but in the end accepts his love.
This unambiguous display exposes not only the exceptional pretense of the perpetrator, but also, and perhaps more importantly, the unexceptional complicities and weaknesses that constitute the deeper moral substance of the tragedy. That 'normal' human frailties can spiral into ethical disaster is not only a lesson in history, but also one in the natural history of our species. And if this is part of what we are, perhaps constant dramatizations are needed.
David Healy's Pharmageddon is such a reminder; it provides, in clear prose, a stage and adequate lighting so that we may come face to face with those who, quite literally, poison us while claiming our admiration. The book exposes the domination of current medicine by pharmaceutical corporations, and the derailment of a scientific enterprise which allowed itself be captured by marketing imperatives. These are not novel worries, but, in unmasking the usual villains, Healy also illuminates the countless seemingly reasonable compromises which continue to render medicine vulnerable to disfigurement and hijacking. They are the more ominous presence in this play -- the self-indulgence of too many doctors, the naivety of some patient groups, the carelessness of numerous regulators, the irresponsibility of most ghost writers, the numbness of the general public.
That Healy manages to anatomize the progressing undoing of medical care -- and of the 'art' of medicine -- as the result, in part, of a hellish aggregate of 'normal' intentions and actions is perhaps the main merit of his book. It is, in any case, one of the more subtle threads of a volume in which subtlety isn't otherwise a priority. Pharmageddon is fundamentally a diatribe. It belongs, more specifically, with a number of other recent books aimed at convincing a lay audience that the colonization of all areas of life (healthcare and medical science in this case) by corporate interests and their ideological vehicles has appalling effects.( Other examples: Marcia Angell – The Truth about Drug Companies, Jerome Kassirer – On the Take, Edward Shorter – How everyone became depressed, Jeremy Greene – Prescribing by Numbers.) Like all such diatribes, Healy's assumes a tint of theatricality (beginning with its title), but this is not to say that this plea is not legitimate or, indeed, timely. It is to say, simply, that its dramatic overtone, even if pragmatically understandable, adds little to the overall argumentative solidity of the book. On the contrary, it might erode the feeling of urgency that Healy wants to instill, especially in a skeptical reader. It is as if Healy, like Hamlet, feels that truth needs to be staged for it to produce effects.
A somewhat more worrying imbalance in Pharmageddon is that it proposes to make a point about the current state of affairs in medical care in general, while it remains significantly dependent on a discussion of psychopharmacology. This is only natural, given Healy's previous work in that field, and the fact that this area of healthcare and medical science is particularly fragile. The tension remains, however, since arguably psychiatry does not provide the best metric for the medical universe. There certainly are regions of medicine of greater scientific and professional solidity. The cost of its wide scope is that Pharmageddon lacks the steady traction Healy's writing had in, say, The Creation of Psychopharmacology (2002). This does not invalidate the claims made in the current book, but the more ambitious of them (those that refer to the state of all medicine) would require further evidence to be clearly adjudicated.
With these weaknesses noted -- they are to a certain extent inherent in the decision to write a militant volume targeting a non-expert readership -- Pharmageddon succeeds in presenting a very powerful argument for rethinking the medical world and its pharmaceutical shadow. Healy's agenda is well set and comprehensive; he is not content to expose the exuberant and lucrative administration of poorly tested toxins to ever larger segments of the population, but dwells also on the toxic social and cultural context which has made this collective moral failure possible. The cultural critic is an important and welcome voice in this book.
Pharmageddon is divided into nine sections built on specific focus rather than separate themes. The core thematic threads are introduced from the very beginning and they run throughout the book, so, to avoid redundancy, it is best to refer in the following to these fundamental ideas as they take center stage in the text. The initial emphasis (Introduction, chapters 1 and 2) is on the history and impact of importing the logic of marketing into the medical world; the focus then moves (chapters 3 - 6) on the idea that the science of medicine itself faces bankruptcy -- concepts such as evidence and knowledge are brought into question by the practice of privately producing medical research at an industrial scale; finally (chapters 7 and 8), Healy highlights the larger implications and the moral scandal of doing away with the ethos of caring.
This thematic repertoire suggests a reading of Pharmageddon as an effort at recovery -- a perspective abundantly vindicated as one goes through the book. Medicine faces not only a dubious transformation; it faces loss in the form of induced amnesia. If only the medical world remembered the better moments of its own ongoing self-reflection. Revealingly, early in the book, Healy refers to past warnings of which his own are the echo. The reader is introduced to characters such as Dr. Alfred Worcester, an eminent early geriatrician who saw it intellectually acceptable to wonder whether the primacy of diagnosis and its technicalities would erode doctors' 'traditional knowledge of human nature' (Worcester quoted by Healy, p.3). Few in the profession today will find such worries respectable, and it makes sense to ask, with Healy, why. Are we simply past such childish scruples?
Another distant voice invoked by Healy belongs to Philippe Pinel, the man who, in the wake of the French Revolution, liberated the mad from their chains and gave a decisive impulse to what would be later called 'moral treatment'. Discussing, in the first pages of his 1800 treaty (Traité médico-philosophique sur l'aliénation mentale ou la manie – dated year IX of the French Republican calendar (http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k432033/f6.image.r=art.langEN).), 'the favorable circumstances of [his] study of mania' at the hospice of Bicêtre, Pinel noted that the turmoil of the revolutionary years had been conducive to mental breakdowns (therefore to numerous admissions), and that this had been somewhat compensated by the contribution of an experienced concierge who had helped maintain an orderly life in the asylum. Pinel claimed that such observations had more weight than 'frivolous attempts to use novel cures' ('le frivole essay qu'on peut faire de nouveaux remèdes' (Pinel 1800, p.9)), and he emphasized that in the case of 'mania', as with other illnesses, '[i]t is an art of no little importance to administer medicines properly: but it is an art of much greater and more difficult acquisition to know when to suspend or altogether to omit them.' (Translators' Preface to the second edition of Pinel's treatise, p. xiii. In the original : 'car dans la manie, comme dans beaucoup d'autres maladies, s'il y a un art de bien administrer les médicaments, il y a un art encore plus grand de savoir quelque fois s'en passer.' (Pinel 1800, p.10)). Above all, a doctor should not harm by being overconfident in the power of his tools; reflective refrain, mustering the strength to do nothing when nothing useful can be done, is a prime medical virtue. This view of medicine informs Healy's book too (In 2008, Healy, together with Louis Charland and Gordon Hickish, translated the second, 1809, edition of Pinel's treatise. The translators begin their Preface to that volume by suggesting that the (inexact) quote from Pinel's 1800 treatise referred to above was the impetus for making the book available to English-speaking audiences.), and it is characteristic of the commitments from which his attack on the current state of affairs in medical care stems.
The first and main target of this offensive is pharmaceutical marketing. As elsewhere in our culture, it is easy in medicine to rationalize what one does according to a narrative of progress. Surely we have come far from the medical world of, say, the 19th century, when many made fortunes by selling false hope and often poison in the form of proprietary drugs advertised as miracle cures. (See for example the ad sections of late 19th – early 20th century US newspapers archived at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ ) Healy argues that our own technologically superior and bureaucratized medical reality stands in far more ambiguous relations to the mistakes of past times than one might have hoped. The emergence of marketing was associated with the commercial zeal of the proprietary cures manufacturers; now marketing, reaching an aggressive maturity, has come back to haunt medicine. The most dramatic effect is the transformation of the self-conception of medicine -- from an art of healing familiar with human suffering and even 'human helplessness' (p.16) to a service industry clothed in a rhetoric of science and technical expertise.
This contrast should not be read as absolute or as recommending a rejection of science in favor of some mythical, unspoiled past. It is lucidity that has been lost, not romantic innocence. The culprit is not primarily medical science, but it being hijacked for profit. The pharmaceutical marketers of today, as those in the past, have been able to capitalize on the very means society has designed to protect itself against frauds. For example, intellectual property rights -- say, patents on new drugs -- should stimulate genuine innovation, and the fact that we collectively recognize brands should help screening for fakes and inferior products. More to the point, the fact that we filter the consumption of some drugs via prescriptions issued by qualified doctors should reduce the risk of poisoning large numbers of people with 'miracles cures'. In reality, Healy argues, these arrangements have been captured and used by pharmaceutical marketers as vehicles for generating disproportionate profits and undeserved prestige.
Instead of promoting innovation, patents have often oriented pharmaceutical research towards producing derivative drugs -- versions of existing compounds with minor chemical changes. The cost is a fraction of what research for a novel compound would involve, but patents (therefore monopolies, therefore profits) can be thus extended indefinitely. The novelty resides in the way such compounds are sold, not in the science behind them. According to Healy, often enough nowadays disease concepts are introduced, popularized, or semantically redesigned essentially as marketing instruments -- in order to boost the sales of a specific drug or class of drugs, even when those compounds do not signal any change in our understanding of pathology. What gets branded and sold is essentially an illness; the branded drug fits naturally in the manufactured profile of the disease entity -- it usually promises a rosy lifestyle with that disease, not its eradication.
Take the example of Depakote, introduced by Abbott Laboratories as a 'mood stabilizer' and not as just another sedative. 'The beauty of the term mood stabilizer -- Healy notes -- is that it had no precise meaning.' (p.36) But this is precisely why it worked commercially. Who wouldn't be in need of some 'mood stabilization'? To be less fluctuating emotionally becomes a lifestyle choice, and, according to Healy, medicine is increasingly dragged in the direction of representing itself as a provider of such services. As a consequence, the category of the patient is in the process of losing its medical meaning, designating in its stead an ever expanding pool of consumers encouraged to manage health risks and enhance their biological and psychological functioning by ingesting branded chemicals. To be ill becomes synonymous with not being 'on' a certain medicine. This explains the inflation of certain, often subclinical, diagnoses (e.g. moderately-high cholesterol, osteopenia, mild depression (On this example, see also Edward Shorter's How Everyone Became Depressed.)) beyond reasonable epidemiological proportions.
Doctors are supposed to act as gatekeepers between the ambitions of pharmaceutical marketing and public consumption of drugs, but Healy thinks this does not help, even if the introduction of prescriptions was a reaction to irresponsible marketing of medicines directly to consumers. In this case too we have arrived at what Healy calls 'a conspiracy of goodwill' (p.95) -- admirable intentions turned upside down by systemic forces inherent in the way our societies have come to work. The prescription-only status of many drugs has made doctors the target of pharmaceutical marketing, a situation, Healy claims, they are not vaccinated against by their professional upbringing. Some resist, but many, out of naivety, arrogance, or cynicism, have begun to act as sales agents. Individual cases and motives range from corruption and unambiguous conflict of interest (paid-for professional events in exotic locations, conference tours, speaking fees and stock options etc.) to falling victim to marketing dressed as science (partial or falsified data published as solid research often in authoritative venues, sometimes by medical celebrities etc.). The most aggravating situations are those in which medical academics -- people who clearly should know better -- sell out to those who mock medical science.
Healy traces the symptomatic phenomenon of the blockbuster drug -- those medicines that bring in at least $ 1 billion per year -- in part to the success of marketers in transforming the uses of patents and prescription status. While his argument is strong, especially in those cases where enormous profits are associated with minor benefits for patients and even proven adverse effects (as with the likes of Paxil), it is less clear what could be done to solve these problems. Doing away with patents and prescriptions, as Healy seems to advise at points, would be of little help in a context in which direct-to-consumer marketing and the manipulation of consumer groups are at least as damaging as recruiting doctors to act as a sales force. What measures one could take to restore medicine to its original mission of being life-saving truly is a discouraging question. Healy does not ignore its larger implications, but his agenda for change is not always convincing or consistent. To return to the example of prescriptions, even if this barrier does not function as intended, a playing field with no barriers of this kind will probably be even less leveled than it currently is. Doctors still have some bargaining power in their dealings with the marketers and hopefully some will use that for the benefit of their patients. Perhaps we should do our best to reinforce legitimate scientific and medical authority wherever we can find it, instead of institutionalizing distrust of all authority. Isn't one, in recommending that attention should be paid to Healy's case, doing precisely the former?
The rejection of a medicine rebuilt on marketing priorities and newspeak does not amount simply to a de-humanization argument of the sort that rapidly degenerates into antiscientific ramble. Medicine faces disfiguration precisely because pharmaceutical marketing has become adept at manufacturing the appearance of science. Scientific authority -- the prestige of the white coat -- is an asset to be captured and reenrolled as money-making rhetorical machinery. 'From the point of marketing, -- Healy observes -- the advantage of the medical sciences is not that they might lead to better drugs but rather that they provide concepts and languages for marketers to use.' (p.58) Medical concepts selectively repackaged as selling propositions have the advantage of emanating, at least for a while, an aura of objective respectability. Have people talk about their serotonin and cholesterol levels -- as they used to talk about their childhood traumas not so long ago -- and they will be likely to buy the associated product. Profit via what Healy aptly calls 'capturing understanding' (p.60).
This erosion of medical science goes, however, beyond losing control over its proprietary language. We arrive at the second important direction of attack developed in Pharmageddon. Healy thinks that medical research itself is undergoing a disquieting transformation. This is driven both by internal forces -- ideas about what science amounts to -- and by the already mentioned influence of the market. Internally, medicine has been (re)modeling itself on a certain ideal of scientific objectivity. Evidence should be the ultimate basis of all decisions a doctor makes. Vocation, experience, intuition, empathy, wisdom may matter, and historically they have been treasured, but for the modern doctor solely evidence should be decisive. Indeed, increasingly this doctor will be forced to follow the evidence, as it gets institutionalized in treatment guidelines. Ideally, this limits the errors stemming from individual hunches, biases, inattention, or ignorance. That it also transforms doctors into medical apparatchiks focused on procedures may be an acceptable cost. Healy, predictably, disagrees.
This procedural model of medicine is flawed, Healy claims, since it rests on a flawed conception of what evidence is, and of how it is produced and managed. The core chapters of Pharmageddon present a case for skepticism about the fundamental elements of evidence-based medicine: the idea that statistical significance is decisive in adjudicating claims, and that corresponding experimental tools, essentially the randomized controlled trial, are the best one could do to determine which treatments work and which do not; the idea that data thus produced are adequately scrutinized in the peer review process, and that professional peer-reviewed publications deliver unbiased, authoritative information; the idea that all scientific data, published and unpublished, are in principle accessible, and that authors are intellectually committed to what gets published under their names; the idea that good science -- convincing evidence -- speaks for itself and cannot be curbed by external forces (say, political or commercial). Since such tenets seem basic for any scientific enterprise, it is important to understand the substance and limits of Healy's doubts.
For one thing, Healy does not dispute medicine's footing in scientific findings, but what counts as medical knowledge. What comes into question, specifically, is a certain cult of numbers. Stats and measurements sometimes 'hypnotize doctors' (p.75) due to the glimpse of 'seductive possibilities of control' (p.168); they achieved such a prestige as to trump both common sense and clinical judgment. Moreover, it is often the case that doctors do not pay attention or simply do not understand the math behind many statistical proofs that a drug works, or that it works better than other, older and cheaper, compounds. To complicate clinical decisions even further, statistical tests often aim at deciding ambiguous cases -- when it is not immediately clear whether a treatment works, or worse, when biological mechanisms are not understood and one is blindly testing for correlations. After all, no sophisticated math is needed to prove that aspirin, insulin, and penicillin are effective. One forgets that quantification is an instrument of research, not a replacement for scientific reasoning.
None of these difficulties should suggest that medical research can proceed without rigorous testing. Perhaps Healy should stress this more clearly. The difficulty is to determine the proper role of results that often hover on the border of statistical significance. Rigor in determining these numbers should not be seen as a ground for being confident about their interpretation. Healy's point that good numbers by themselves are not synonymous with good science stands.
It is not clear, however, how one should manage the skeptical element in Healy's argument. No one should expect that all treatments will be 'unambiguously effective' (p.78). And Healy abuses the suggestion that often older treatments are more effective than recent ones backed by ambiguous results. Problematic ambiguities are in medicine to stay, and marginal benefits might be all the benefits available to some patients. It makes sense to explore them, and large scale experiments resulting in statistical observations seem the only way to do it. Mentioning clinical judgment and doctors' discretion, as Healy does, changes the subject and obscures the fact that there are no easy answers for the all too human tendency to do away with doubt and to act under an 'illusory certainty' (p.77). Both the controlled trial and the doctor's wisdom can be fetishized.
What seems more helpful in Healy's observations is the point that with drug testing too we face a strange reversal. Tests, e.g. randomized controlled trials, Healy notes, 'began as means to control therapeutic enthusiasm' (p.81). They were put in place to counter the tendency to overmedicate -- to throw at a disease the chemicals at one's disposal with insufficient discernment. In testing, one started by assuming that a treatment does not work, and one raised a statistical bar so as to select truly effective compounds. While the exoskeleton of this rationale survives, Healy argues that its substance has melted away. The reversal consists in running tests in order to prove that a drug has some therapeutic effect. Now, it matters if what one tries to find is success rather than failure, especially since nowadays drug manufactures -- those who stand to gain from proving success -- are also those who pay for, and manage the testing process. No wonder then that controlled trials, which ideally should limit action (i.e. medication) à la Pinel, have become 'technologies that mandate action' (p.90).
At this point the focus moves from doctors playing the sorcerer's apprentice under the cover of fragile scientific rationales, to the issue of being deliberately misled by elaborate simulacra that pass as science. The question of what counts as science turns out to be related to the paradoxical one of who owns science. As suggested above, Healy insists on the toxic effects of most testing of new medicines now being run by the companies that manufacture those drugs, a situation which erodes public control over the data thus produced. This is an arrangement that should have saved public resources while freeing innovation from the chains of bureaucracy. Instead, according to Healy, it has resulted in systemic corruption.
The problems start with data gathering and extend to the publication of results and the elaboration of guidelines. Healy documents situations in which patients have been excluded from trials or had their symptoms misclassified to make a drug look good; situations in which results of 'unsuccessful' tests have been hidden; situations in which only part of the data has been published or the raw data have been buried under legal barriers. And the problems extend to what gets published. A significant proportion of articles describing test findings, Healy claims, are now ghost-written, indeed there are companies specialized in ghost-writing 'research' papers. These are not research companies, but public relation firms, and the writing process has little resemblance with true science -- papers are sometimes written before tests are concluded, then delivered to those, sometimes medical celebrities, who sign them, finally rushed through the review process and published in (friendly) prestigious journals.
What remains, in such conditions, of the hard-won epistemic authority of science? In Healy's words, mere 'statistical decoration' (p.117) for what in fact is a 'new anecdotalism' (p.94). If one cannot distinguish between the academic paper and the advertising copy, between the salesperson and the professor of medicine, then perhaps suspension of judgment is the best one can do. But this is obviously to push one's case to absurd limits. The point is that we are confronted with possibly dangerous fakes, cases like that of study 329 (data were doctored by SmithKline to show that the antidepressant Paxil was safe for children), not that all distinction between science and simulacrum has been lost. We face a harder task of discernment than before because of how we designed our peculiar modernity, confounding goals and means: science with quantification, effective social action with standardization and privatization, good medicine with client-friendly service provision.
This misshapen horizon affects all areas of public life. One dramatic example that almost suggests itself, and which Healy does not miss, is education (pp. 191, 237). But the impact on the medical world is probably the most disturbing, since it has injected a poisonous fog in our ability to deal with illness and death -- our own and others'. In one of the best passages of his book, Healy reminds his reader that
[R]eal disease is not something we consume. Like death, albeit slower, it consumes us. [...] We make our accommodations with disease as best we can, and since the time of Philippe Pinel that accommodation has involved a medical realization that sometimes the greatest wisdom is do nothing other than have the medical team and patient endure together. (pp. 190-91)
This latter idea -- that there is a medical duty of enduring together, of care in a demanding sense of the word -- is at the root of the third and last core criticism put forward by Healy. The accusation is that care is a duty actively ignored in modern medicine. Doctors are encouraged to act like technical personnel maintaining biological machinery by pumping chemicals into it according to guidelines they themselves do not control. Patients should be smiled at during this process, but what they say beyond checklist symptom registration should not concern a doctor. This is, of course, a negative ideal rather than a description of clinical reality, which continues to be a mixed story. But the tendency to marginalize cost-ineffective, time-consuming, emotionally-taxing care is hard to dispute.
In a recent piece in the NY Review of Books (On Breaking One's Neck (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/feb/06/on-breaking-ones-neck/).), doctor Arnold Relman, who is in his 90s, describes the life-saving treatment he received at the Massachusetts General Hospital after falling and fracturing three vertebrae in his neck in June 2013. The doctors at MGH did wonders, but, Relman observes, this did not seem to be about the person being saved:
Attention to the masses of data generated by laboratory and imaging studies has shifted their focus away from the patient. Doctors now spend more time with their computers than at the bedside. [...] Reading the physicians' notes in the MGH and Spaulding records, I found only a few brief descriptions of how I felt or looked, but there were copious reports of the data from tests and monitoring devices.
Should it matter, since Relman's life was saved? The real issue here is not the somewhat trivial-because-permanent threat of us becoming 'new barbarians' (Healy p. 264). As Relman confesses, he as a doctor had missed what he as a patient painfully discovered: the enormous difference made by being heard. It is not only that relating to a patient can be healing or at least comforting; patients can voice clinically relevant information, and that information can be missed if the only person actually seeing and speaking to them is, if they are lucky, a nurse. The problem of dismantling the traditional relation between doctor and patient concerns then not only the ethical standing of a human being, but also, more narrowly, medical deontology.
Traditionally, medicine crisscrossed the classical distinction between scientific knowledge and craft or art. The latter element, fundamental for the doctors' ability to care for their patients, gave medicine its character and balance --science and art, universal and intimate. No worthwhile notion of medicine would survive the loss of this ambiguity; the idea that it could is poison poured into our ears, and whatever his overstatements Healy is right about that. We should not be wooed.
Pharmageddon might not be the most cerebral manner of describing what lays ahead, but, if there is a suitable meaning to the term, it consists in contemplating the possibility of 'calming' such fundamental worries as those related to being vulnerable and eventually dying -- abandoning oneself to the care and kindness of strangers -- by taking a pill. Drugs, Healy notes, 'are chemicals used for a social purpose -- to treat conditions that we define as diseases' (p. 240). The nightmarish thought is that we might end up, if 'disease mongering' (p. 113) is not tempered, by curing ourselves not of illness or death, but of what makes our existence characteristically human.
© 2014 George Tudorie
George Tudorie is a PhD student in philosophy, Central European University, Budapest; and teaching assistant, College of Communication and PR, Bucharest.
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Social Education and Counselling
What will you learn?
The aim of the Social Education and Counselling Bachelor's study programme is to prepare future graduates to work directly with clients as well as to undertake follow-up Master's studies in the same study programme or in related programmes. The specificity of this programme is that the graduate is able to use basic principles of counselling in direct pedagogical or social work, is aware of the limits of his/her expertise while being able to cooperate effectively with other professionals.
Attainment of this goal is facilitated by the structure of the study plan. In the course of the study, students gain a broad theoretical background, i.e. knowledge of pedagogy, psychology, sociology, social work and social policy. An integral part of the programme is methodological preparation, which aims to cultivate analytical and critical thinking and to teach students to orient themselves in the findings of various types of research studies in the humanities. Students acquire this set of knowledge and skills through compulsory courses, which can be deepened or expanded by enrolling in selective courses. The composition of selective courses guarantees that each student gains a specific range of professional skills or competencies according to their preferences. A wide range of selective courses together with other mechanisms (e.g., creating an individual plan of practice, choosing the topic of the minor paper and then of the Bachelor's thesis according to the student's preferences, the possibility of partial participation in the projects of the Department of Educational Sciences) create the conditions for gradual building of a professional profile of each student.
Practical training
Students are required to undertake an internship (the title of the course is Practical training) in a total of 240 hours (90–100 hours internship in the selected facility, 140–150 hours of working on the assignments and their reflection). Internship in a selected facility is continuous and lasts for at least 3 weeks; students choose the facility on their own. It is possible to enrol for the internship in the fourth or sixth semester of study (spring), with the possibility to plan its completion for the extended examination period.
In addition to the compulsory internship, students can at any time in the course of the study enrol for the selective course Practice (individual plan). This internship (120 hours) is based on an individual plan that is prepared with each student prior to starting in the facility, based on the student's professional interest. Students select the institution for the internship according to their preferences.
The Department of Educational Sciences of the Faculty of Arts has established long-term collaboration with numerous institutions where students can do the internship.
Further information
Study information is published on the website of the Department of Educational Sciences of the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University http://pedagogika.phil.muni.cz/
Up-to-date and more detailed information on each course is published in https://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf3/
Career opportunities
The study programme will allow graduates to find jobs in the state administration and self-government, in the offices and organizations falling under the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Interior or the Ministry of Justice. Graduates have excellent chances to find employment in the non-profit sector, specifically in organizations that integrate pedagogical, social and counselling work within the range of social services they provide according to the needs of client target groups.
An example of your study plan:
Single-subject studies
Combined studies
Follow-up studies
Graduates of the Bachelor's study programme Social Education and Counselling may continue in Master's studies in the same programme, or Andragogy study programme, or the Education study programme directly at the Department of Educational Sciences of the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University.
When the admission conditions have been met, graduates may continue to pursue a Master's degree study in the same or related fields not only at MU but also at other universities.
Study information
|Provided by
|Faculty of Arts
|Type of studies
|Study options
|single-subject studies
|single-subject studies with specialization
|major/minor studies
|Standard length of studies
|3 years
|Language of instruction
Do you have any questions?
Send us an e-mail
doc. PhDr. Petr Hlaďo, Ph.D.


text:
Going around my local shops yesterday, I noticed the following sign outside my butcher's:
"fresh" chicken legs
I don't quite understand what they wanted to achieve here with these inverted commas. When they don't introduce a quote, inverted commas are generally used to indicate that a word is intended to mean something slightly different from what it actually does mean.
For example,
Janine "accidentally" killed Barry.
Although she claims she didn't mean to push him off a cliff, the fact that she ran down to laugh at him as he laid dying and didn't call for an ambulance suggests that it might not have been a complete accident.
I like the way Lynne Truss explains this use of inverted commas in Eats Shoots and Leaves. In a newspaper, for example, they, "are understood by readers to mean that there is some authority for this story; perhaps even a quotable source, but that the newspaper itself won't yet state it as fact. ( ) "PIZZAS" in inverted commas suggests these might be pizzas, but nobody's promising anything, and if they turn out to be cardboard with a bit of cheese on top, you can't say you weren't warned."
Needless to say, there were no "fresh" chicken legs on the menu last night.
Inverted commas
Going around my local shops yesterday, I noticed the following sign outside my butcher's:
2 Comments
I have wondered the same thing many times. Then I once read an article that said that what appear to us to be quotation marks are actually called "flashes" by sign painters who use them simply to set off words, much the way someone writing plain text email messages might use asterisks to denote *words in italitcs.*
However, I can't find any backup on the web for these so-called "flashes."
Comments are closed.


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Please follow these instructions if the editing toolbar (which allows italics) is missing:
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3. Submit your assignment.
4. When the screen appears with your submission on screen, immediately click on the "Edit my submission button."
5. The editing toolbar should be there.
6. Select the text that you would like to be displayed in italics and click on italicized "I" to italicize the text.
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The teenagers were headed back from Big Bear down Highway 18 when they apparently took a wrong turn onto a road that hadn't been plowed. It was very dangerous, they got stuck, and they had to spend the night in their car freezing. There was no cell phone service so they couldn't get through to their parents. The teens' parents were worried sick.
But finally, late Monday afternoon, ABC7 was there when they were brought home safe and sound. It was a very happy reunion.
For the families of five Whittier teenagers lost overnight, they really wanted to see a reunion as soon as possible, a conclusion to a night and day filled with worry and heartache.
The five guys were on their way back from a day of snowboarding in Big Bear, but when they never arrived Sunday night, parents feared the worst.
"I mean, terrible things, that our boys are lost and we may never get them back," said parent Cindi Escamilla. "It's the best Christmas present ever to get them back. I'm just so thankful."
Turns out they got stuck not far from home. Apparently they took a wrong turn onto Highway 173 onto a stretch of unplowed, unsafe road north of Lake Arrowhead.
One of the teens, Erik Escamilla, was asked if the group had seen a warning sign on the road.
"That is was unplowed? Yeah, it looked good until we hit the unplowed part and we got stuck," said Erik.
And Monday, even a Sheriff's deputy even got stuck trying to help get them out. The fire department had to bring in a snow loader to do the trick. All in all, though, they say the boys did exactly all the right things.
"They did an outstanding job," said San Bernardino Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Mark Pebbles. "As you know, they were there overnight. They had food, they had water, they had warm clothing. When they became stuck last night they made the very smart decision to stay with the vehicle. They had enough fuel, they were able to run their heater and stay warm and they were very smart. They were thinking."
And because they were thinking, their parents didn't have to think bad thoughts anymore. This was a happy ending to a story that might have been much worse.
"We are just so blessed, so blessed," said Cindi Escamilla. "I mean, the things that went through our head, I don't want to think about anymore because they're home safe."
And with very foggy conditions Monday evening, the real hazard for drivers is visibility, because although the roads are pretty clear, it's hard to see through the fog.
Not a lot of snow on the roads since they've been plowed. Temperatures were right around freezing Monday evening, but not a lot of ice on the roads.
As of Monday afternoon, it was a no-chain condition in the mountains, but the CHP says all drivers should have chains with them, since conditions can change very quickly.
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Page 552 Distance 92 miles North of Sydney Mail closes at General Post Office Monday, Friday 5.30 pm. Mail arrives at Post Town Tuesday, Saturday 3.30 pm. Mail leaves for Sydney Saturday, Tuesday 3.45 pm. Mail arrives at Sydney Monday, Wednesday evenings. Route Steam Newcastle, boat Tomago, 10m. William Town. SURNAME CHRISTIAN OCCUPATION ADDRESS BOYCE John farmer William Town BOYCE Valentine farmer William Town BUCHANNAN William bootmaker William Town CAMPBELL Robert farmer William Town COX James farmer Long Bight COX John farmer Long Bight COX Joseph farmer Long Bight CREGAN David teacher William Town DAWSON Joseph --- William Town DAWSON William farmer William Town GOULD Patrick teacher Tobimbo HOLMES Thomas teacher Parading Ground KERNAN John farmer Tobimbo LAVIS John farmer Parading Ground LEWIS Joseph farmer William Town LOGAN Thomas farmer Parading Ground MAHER William farmer William Town MORTIMER Alfred farmer Parading Ground MOXEY Richard farmer William Town MYERS Richard road overseer Saltash MCDERMOTT William farmer Tobimbo MCLEAN Hector farmer William Town MCLEAN Neil farmer William Town PITT John farmer William Town PRIESTLY George farmer Long Bight RUSSEL Joseph farmer Parading Ground SANDEMAN George farmer Tobimbo SANDEMAN James farmer Tobimbo SANDEMAN John farmer Tobimbo SANSOM George farmer Sand Hills SANSOM William farmer William Town SHEARMAN David farmer Long Bight SHEARMAN George --- Long Bight SLADE Henry farmer William Town SLADE John farmer Parading Ground SUTTON David farmer Tobimbo WEST Anthony farmer Long Bight WEST John farmer Sand Hills WHITE Joseph farmer William Town
Greville 1872The list you are currently browsing is from the Greville Postal Directory (NSW) from 1872. For more information click here


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Friedrichshafen, Germany. With its Intelligent Dynamic Driving Chassis (IDDC), ZF offers a versatile platform for autonomous electric vehicles. As well as being a good example of supporting ZF's zero emissions philosophy, IDDC also embodies ZF's vision, meaning that it can enable vehicles to 'see, think and act'. This is achieved using environmental sensors, intelligent control units and connected mechanical systems. With IDDC, a "Skateboard" forms the basis of Rinspeed's latest urban mobility concept, Snap. It integrates hardware and software within the driving platform ("Skateboard") and can be flexibly detached from the passenger cabin ("Pod").
"Urban transport of tomorrow will be emission-free locally, will move autonomously and will adapt to the most varied requirements with great flexibility. Our IDDC delivers the necessary technological and functional requirements required for this to the table today," says Torsten Gollewski, Head of Advanced Engineering at ZF.
The IDDC is all-electric with excellent maneuverability, and can navigate its way through the city without a human driver and, in theory, even without a passenger cabin. This is ideal for vehicle concepts like the Rinspeed Snap, where the driving chassis from ZF is intended to be used 24/7 in continuous operation. In contrast, superstructures called "Pods" – mobile or stationary cabins for people or goods without a steering wheel – are constantly being changed, according to current requirements.
mSTARS: Axle, drive and steering system in one
A core element of the IDDC is the mSTARS modular rear axle system (modular Semi-Trailing Arm Rear Suspension). The Active Kinematics Control (AKC) rear axle steering is integrated here: ZF raised its maximum steering angle to 14 degrees for the Rinspeed Snap. The electric motor and power electronics are positioned inside the axle to drive the vehicle efficiently. In contrast to the usual electric axle drive, which has 150 kW of output, Snap has a smaller output of 50 kW. It is systematically designed to achieve maximum distance, relatively low speeds and withstand endurance stress for urban car sharing.
EasyTurn: Front wheel turning radius is unique
The front axle of the IDDC is equally innovative. The system, called EasyTurn, enables an expansive steering angle of up to 75 degrees, which it achieves via interaction with ZF's modified electric power steering. Classic solutions allow a maximum angle of 50 degrees. Therefore, thanks to the AKC on the rear axle, the Rinspeed Snap can nearly pirouette on the spot, which is a huge advantage in terms of agility in crowded city centers. Like the other components in the IDDC, the integrated brake control (IBC) from ZF is electrically driven in the Snap conceptThis technology is also one of the prerequisites for automated and autonomous driving.
Sensor technology: Monitoring the vehicle's surroundings
ZF has integrated hardware and software into the chassis so that the IDDC can detect its surroundings even without the "Pod". ZF has provided a sensor cluster which d is configured for autonomous driving in cities. It consists of radar systems, LIDAR technology, which ZF developed jointly with Ibeo Automotive Systems, and camera systems. This enables 360-degree environmental detection for both long-range and short-range applications at virtually all typical city speeds and in all light and weather conditions.
ZF ProAI: Artificial intelligence for autonomous driving
In the future, data from all components, systems and sensors in the IDDC as well as from car-to-x communication will all be analyzed and processed together on a central supercomputer called ZF ProAI, developed in cooperation with NVIDIA. The computer will process data in real time and will use it to help instruct the actuators. ZF ProAI will control all longitudinal and lateral control functions and, if applicable, vertical control functions as well. The high-performance control box will also utilize artificial intelligence and deep learning capabilities, which are additional key factors for ensuring the advanced development of autonomous driving.
You can find video footage and additional press photos on the Rinspeed .


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To earn D.P. Hearts, all you have to do is register for a DPDough.com account. No special opt-ins. No weird enrollment hoops to jump through. Just sign up for an account when you order online. It's that easy.
Once you have an account, you will automatically earn 1 D.P. Heart for every 1 dollar that you spend online using that account. As soon as you have 25 D.P. Hearts, you can start redeeming them for free stuff.
This works out to earning about 10 cents towards future orders for every dollar you spend. Pretty sweet deal, huh?
When you show your hunger some love by ordering D.P. Dough online, that shows us love, then we show you love with D.P. Hearts. It's a big warm, fresh-baked, circle of calzone love.
D.P. Hearts are awarded on DPDough.com online ordering purchases only. D.P. Hearts are not earned for taxes, delivery charges, driver tips, or discounted food.


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Lower tourist levels mean fewer crowds, better beaches and a more chilled-out vibe – but also fewer accommodation options. The places you'll find on Airbnb however are pretty good. Search under Manly, Mosman and Kirribilli.
Thai food to Australia is what Indian cuisine is to the UK, and at the shorefront suburb of Kirribilli, found as you step off the north end of Harbour Bridge, you'll find some of the best. Join the queue at Stir Crazy, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant doing the best stir-fry in the north, before ducking next door to the Bottle-O (that's an off-licence to you) for an inexpensive white. Or go for a spin on Luna Park's ferris wheel, return for afternoon fish and chips by the harbour and take in a clever matinee performance at waterfront secret the Ensemble Theatre.
There is one other secret worth mentioning here, if you happen to like luxury goods, that is. Thanks to the area's wealth there are some seriously amazing wardrobes round these parts, and the young women they belong to are (mostly) too sensible to throw away their clothes (it's those conservative British roots.) On the second Sunday of each month however you can shop their stalls at Kirribilli's Art, Design & Fashion Market, where second- hand Chanels and the odd pair of still-in-box Givenchys are found alongside the usual market bric-a-brac.
Most visitors then head north to hit Manly. From the CBD, the fastest route here is via the iconic Number 1 Ferry, but the best part of Manly isn't Manly itself – it's the beach next door. Travellers voted Shelly Beach the best in the state last year, which is saying something, and despite being just eight minutes' walk from her famous big sister, this intimate pocket of sand is everything Manly isn't. There are no shops here, aside from a sandy-floored kiosk and ridiculously photogenic restaurant, The Boathouse. No surf either, although the snorkelling is fantastic. Manly is a cosmopolitan haven for fancy organic grocers and artisanal beer, but Shelly is about fish and chips on the sand. But you shouldn't have to choose between the two. So visit both. Bring a swimsuit.
Stir Crazy
Luna Park
Ensemble Theatre
Kirribilli Art, Design & Fashion Market
Shelly Beach
The Boathouse
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Prairie Girl bakery has been a hot spot with the gals in my office for some time now. I'd heard that they made great gluten-free cupcakes, but had yet to make the trek to one of their downtown locations to give them a try. A couple of weeks ago we had an office celebration... and imagine my delight when I found this box beside the larger offering of gluten-laden cupcakes. There are 3 gluten-free gals in our office, and someone had gone out of their way to make sure we were part of the festivities.
I tried a chocolate one - and ate two of the vanilla ones pictured in the box above. About 50% of these cupcakes are icing - the good kind. Quality. I've posted a link to the Prairie Girl website HERE so that you can learn more about where to get your hands on some. If you want to jump on the cupcake crazed bandwagon... this is the way to go.


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Inter-city bus fare hiked
Times National Desk - January 20th, 2013
The government on Sunday increased inter-district bus fares, 13 days into the hike in fuel prices.
Bus passengers will have to pay now an additional 10 paisa per kilometre, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader told newsmen after a bus fare-related meeting at his ministry. The revised fare would come into effect from Tuesday.
However, the Dhaka and Chittagong city dwellers would not have to count the extra charge, the minister added.
The inter-city passengers now pay Tk 1.35 for per kilometre which will be Tk 1.45 from Tuesday.
On January 3, the government increased prices of diesel and kerosene by Tk 7 a litre, and octane and petrol by Tk 5 a litre to reduce its subsidy burden. The price of diesel and kerosene has been raised to Tk 68 a litre, and the prices of octane and petrol have been increased to Tk 99 and Tk 96 a litre.


text: A true whole plant, full spectrum extract often referred to as the best on the market. UnCanna Full Spectrum products are considered the top of the line due to containing all of the naturally occurring cannabinoids, vitamins, minerals, terpenes, and flavinoids that are commonly found in high quality hemp strains. These compounds work together in synergy, for your benefit, a process commonly referred to as the "Entourage Effect". UnCanna Full Spectrum products contain up to .3% THC, so this is NOT a recommended product for those who have concerns over urinalyses testing for THC. Excellent QA/QC ensures GC/MS lab analyses consistently show all cannabinoid content, and that our products are free of heavy metals and pesticides.


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VersionStore.gr is the web presence of a successful Hellenic company specialising in IT support. Based in the CodeIgniter framework the site features a custom build CRM integrated with the shop's backend management system and inventory.
VersionStore.gr is the web presence of a successful Hellenic company specialising in IT support. Based in the CodeIgniter framework the site features a custom build CRM integrated with the shop's backend management system and inventory.
Cambridge Motion Ltd is a web agency that provides a full range of website designs and online media services: Portals, E-Commerce, SEO, Online Cart Stores and Logo Design for small to medium size businesses.
PixelGeek is a WordPress theme featuring all the latest web technologies. It comes with custom plugins for displaying recent posts and the latest tweets. Sporting a fresh and responsive design it also comes with an extra section for portfolio showcase.
Foodlove.gr is a personal blog for greek recipes. It is based on WordPress with a number of custom made plugins to make recipe publishing easier. It follows the concept of a blog with a tasty and responsive design that fits every screen resolution.
IZAR is an Australian e-shop with handcrafted jewellery made with Swarovski Elements. Unique pieces of jewellery with an artistic web design converted in a theme for OpenCart.
Vetnikos.gr is the online presence of a greek veterinary clinic and pet store. The core of the project was based on OpenCart platform with significant customisations on the graphical and functional interface.
The official website of Ida Maree, an amazing Australian singer. The project was a custom script in PHP with focus on dynamic parts related to new and events. The simple and functional design ensures the visitors focuses 100% on Ida's info.
Central System Solutions is a B2B IT integrator. The site is based on custom PHP coding with a Nivo slider for the homepage slideshow.
Macland.gr is a blog for all things related to Apple Inc. The core of the website is based on ExpressionEngine with significant customisations. The most challenging feature was to make a dynamic Q & A section where people would request support.
PetPet is a pet store working 100% through the internet. The core of the project was based on ExpressionEngine with heavy customisation for a user interactive community. Custom development for a module in ExpressionEngine was required the shopping cart implementation. Besides the front end design, PetPet has a unique administration panel acting as a CRM and PoS.


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Have you ever made your own enchilada sauce? It's easier than you might think, and oh-so-worth it! Here's our favorite 10 Minute Homemade Enchilada Sauce.
Mexican food is a staple in our house. It's easy, most of the time, often made with fresh ingredients and vibrant, tangy spices. The guys in my house can never get enough.
And while there are many of Mexican recipes we love, a favorite is enchiladas. They're easily made ahead, popped into the oven at just the right time, and a perfect candidate for leftover chicken, beef, pork or even just veggies and cheese.
On to the enchilada sauce.
Have you ever been halfway into a recipe and realized you were missing an important ingredient? That was me.
The important ingredient? Enchilada sauce.
A busy night awaited and running to the store was out of the question. There was no other choice. I had to make my own. And oh-my-goodness, except on rare occasions, I've never gone back.
It's too easy to make and you can never, ever get this taste in a can.
10 minutes? Yes. really.
Serve with your favorite enchilada recipe.
10 Minute Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Have you ever made your own enchilada sauce? It's easier than you might think, and oh-so-worth it! Here's our favorite 10 Minute Homemade Enchilada Sauce.
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Cook
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
15-oz can chicken broth
Measure all of the dry ingredients into a small bowl before you begin (flour, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, garlic powder, oregano, and salt). Open both the chicken broth and tomato sauce so they're ready to pour in.
In a medium size saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil. Once hot, add the flour mixture. Whisk constantly for about 1 minute, until the color deepens, and the spices and cook until it becomes fragrant. Whisk the tomato paste and tomato sauce into the flour mixture, then slowly whisk in the chicken broth, stirring until any lumps have been removed.
Increase the heat to medium high and bring the sauce to a simmer, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Whisk as needed and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Keywords: Homemade Enchilada Sauce
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4.9 out of 5.0 based on 66 reviews
Up to 4 instant quotes from Chartered Surveyors
Aspire Surveyors Ltd is an independent firm of Chartered Surveyors covering the Manchester area.
We are regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
We are a local company with an extensive knowledge of Manchester and the surrounding towns, and we have great experience in providing HomeBuyer Reports and valuations to clients in this area.
Aspire Surveyors Ltd is one of the leading firms of surveyors and valuers in Manchester, so you can be assured of a survey that is completed by skilled professionals.
If you are buying a home in Manchester, we can complete the RICS HomeBuyer Report to ensure you are fully informed about the condition of the home you are buying. Our HomeBuyer Report is produced in the standard RICS format and is designed as a value for money package for home buyers purchasing a property of conventional construction and in general good condition.
The HomeBuyer Report will cover areas such as the condition of structural aspects of your property, including the roof, doors, ceilings and internal walls, services such as electrical and gas installation, and external areas of your building.
If there are any issues which are significant or urgent, or may affect the safety of the site, we will report on these. We will also discuss any matters which may affect your decision to continue with your purchase.
Our commitment is to our clients and we always aim to offer the best customer service, whilst keeping our costs competitive and house surveys efficient. We offer affordable prices for an expert, professional service from fully trained surveyors.
Aspire Surveyors Ltd is a member of the RICS. We always comply with their professional regulations and codes of conduct, so you can be confident that our surveying services are of an expert, quality standard.
Aspire Surveyors Ltd
Average service quality
Average value for money
Service quality
Value for money
Alex on 28 Jan 2020
Excellent communication and survey was carried out and reported and sent back to us within 28 hours. Absolutely fantastic service. Would 100% recommend.
Cash on 9 Jan 2020
Excellent all round
Jamie on 19 Nov 2019
They were quick to communicate before, and after the survey was complete. I had the report in my mailbox within 2 working days of the survey being complete. Very satisfied, and would recommend to others.
Jo on 12 Jun 2019
Extremely pleased with the service, very quick to quote and a competitive price. Brendan provided a very thorough report in an efficient amount of time. Would definitely use them again.
Fantastic service! on 8 Jun 2019
From the initial phone call to the final report, I was really impressed with the service. Brendon was responsive, helpful and very professional with a really nice manner. I needed a Homebuyers survey done at short notice for my mum. Brendon managed to fit us in and did the survey as on the day I wanted. The survey was done on time as promised. My mum met Brendon on the day and found him really helpful, even spotting a leak within the house that she was not aware of. The report arrived in my inbox a day later. The report itself was detailed and informative. The service was second to none. Really impressed!
MancAnt on 20 Feb 2019
Aspire were very professional and efficient in their business. They carried out the survey on the date given to us and we recieved the report within 48hrs. It was very quick and the report was easy to understand. Any time I needed to correspond with them, I did not need to chase them, an email was sent and the reply was back within a few hours. Overall very good service.
Maddie on 17 Feb 2019
I am very impressed with the company! Brendan was very quick to respond to my email enquires and the survey was booked within reasonable time frame. It was done in Friday and I have received a full detailed report on Sunday! Would recommend
Am on 5 Sep 2018
Hutchy on 24 Aug 2018
Very good service
Chart on 2 Aug 2018
Absolutely perfect. Brendan was happy to accommodate our needs as we needed to get things sorted quickly, the report was clear and easy to understand. Couldn't be happier with the service and would wholeheartedly recommend them.
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14B Chequer Street
St Albans
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Lost Continent
None; has Express Pass access.
Two sentence insider summary
This walk-through indoor attraction — mixing live action with tons of special effects — draws you into the ancient Temple of Poseidon where you join an archeological expedition. Before you know it you are caught in a battle between Poseidon, God of the sea, and Lord Darkenon, his mortal enemy.
Poseidon's Fury at Universal's Islands of Adventure.
Fear factor
2 out of 5. Lots of special effects but no motion.
Wait times
During Universal's busiest times, this attraction may have a wait time as long as 45 minutes.
Current Opening schedule
What you wish you knew before you experienced it
Ask the attraction attendant at the front if the water tunnel is working. It is by far the coolest element in the show, and if it is not working then don't feel bad about skipping this one.
OI fun fact
The live show uses over 200 individual flame effects.
Poseidon's Fury – photo gallery
Poseidon's Fury – real guest reviews
Submit your review
This attraction is great! It feels like a real adventure.
This was the most boring and cheesy attraction at Islands Of Adventure. It needs to be replaced.
I've done this several times with kids over the years and it's been a big disappointment every time. Be prepared to stand, wait, stand, wait, stand, wait .. then stand some more. Kids get bored, older adults need analgesics, younger adults are ready to hit the bar.
To start, my favorite aspect about major theme parks is the immersion factor- the scenery outside, ambiance of the queue, décor on the inside, etc. I give Poseidon's Fury three stars for this alone. It really gives the impression of an old world temple in ruins. Once inside, it really gives the impression you are part of an excavation crew.That being said, the other two stars were lost because of how cheesy the acting and "main event" are. Without spoiling anything, it needs to be brought to 2016. Don't get me wrong, the effects are great. The acting, not so much.I would go through this once if you have never been before. After, just wait for it to be updated/replaced.
We hadn't been to this show in years and could remember about 95% of how it went except for the cool water tunnel. So we revisited and I clearly remembered why we hadn't been there in so long. If you have younger kids they might enjoy some aspects of the show but for adults it might not be entertaining. It has great possibilities if they would update the cheesy video the goes along with the storyline. Also, it's standing room only. So if you have a long wait in line don't expect to sit down for the show once you get inside. You do get a break from the hot sun, though.
Poseidon's Fury – map
Click any marker to display the attraction or venue name. To scroll or zoom, use the controls on the top-left of the map. You may also switch to different map views by using the buttons on the top-right of the map.
View OI's map of Universal's Islands of Adventure.


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Recent Posts
New Products added to A+ Puzzles, Etc.!
Posted on
You can go to our home page and scroll to the bottom to see the newest 10 jigsaw puzzles that have been added.
We have some Autumn puzzles that have been added like the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle "Autumn Tranquility":
We also had some Halloween jigsaw puzzles that were added like the 500 piece "Trick or Treat":
There are others as well that you may want to see on our home page at www.apluspuzzlesetc.com. In addition, we will be adding more puzzles over the coming days and weeks, so be sure to periodically check our home page and scroll to the bottom for the new products that have been added. Some of these newer puzzles will have the upcoming Holiday Themes including turkey puzzles for Thanksgiving and many more Christmas jigsaw puzzles.


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PilotFAR enables you to quickly locate the information you need. The main screen lists sections by part. Tapping a section takes you to the section entry, and from there you can view the text of the entry, and move forward and backward through the regulations. Enter a search-filter to narrow the main index to topics containing the term or terms your looking for. When you access a filtered section those terms will be highlighted for you. Version 1.2 updated FAR data, added new page up/down controls, and new zooming capability.Note: The "Download Now" link directs you to the iTunes App Store, where you must continue the download process. You must have iTunes installed in order to open the link, and you must have an active iTunes account to download the application. This download may not be available in some countries.
|File Size
|Operating System
|iPhone OS 2.x Mobile
|System Requirements
|Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch, Requires iPhone 2.0 Software update.


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Local MP plugs private sewer transfer
Carshalton and Wallington MP Tom Brake is alerting local residents to the fact that, from 1st October, the ownership of all private sewers in England and Wales will transfer to water companies. The changes are good news for people with private sewers, as for a small increase in bills of between £3 to £14 per year, Thames Water will take on responsibility for their maintenance and repair.
Tom said: "These changes will provide peace of mind for thousands of people in Sutton with private sewers. In many cases homeowners do not realise that they own one until a problem arises and they need to fix it out of their own pocket at great expense."
He added, "Unfortunately, for those without a private sewer, it will mean an unwelcome small increase in their bills."
Though most sewers are public, Government figures estimate that there are about 125,000km of private sewers across the country and that 50% of all properties in England and Wales are connected to one.
As a result of the changes, the sewer network operated by Thames Water will increase from 67,000km to 107,000km. The company are predicting a five-fold increase in blockage call outs.
Tom added: "Many homeowners will find that after 1st October they may be insured for something that may not be their responsibility, and so I would urge Sutton residents to ensure that they are not being charged unnecessarily."
For more information about the transfer of private sewers, contact Thames Water's 24 hour Customer Centre on 08459200800 or visit www.water.org.uk/home/policy/private-sewers-transfer.


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Hope NYC VI: Ben Rader
Wednesday, August 23 2017
During the coming months, we'll be highlighting our fighters in training for the upcoming Hope NYC in New York City on November 16th. They've committed to four months of fundraising and training in preparation to get in the ring and literally fight for a cure. Whether they've had first hand experience, their father has passed or their friend has put up a victory against the disease – they've all got a story to tell and they've all got a reason to fight. Below you'll hear from Ben Rader, fighting out of Church Street Boxing Gym in New York City.
Where are you from?
Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Where'd you go to college?
Wesleyan University
Did you play any sports growing up?
What do you do for work?
Why boxing? Did you ever picture yourself fighting?
No clue. A friend recommended it as good conditioning, I started taking classes with my oldest son, he embarrassed me sparring and then I was suddenly driven to get better at it.
Why on earth did you sign up to fight??
My mom died of cancer in 2012 and I'm searching for positive ways to work through that and make a difference for people affected by cancer.
You're stepping in the ring to literally fight for a cure - where are you drawing your inspiration from? How has cancer affected you?
My mom is a huge inspiration. Not only did she help me with homework every single night of my high school career but she worked really hard for peace and social justice in or society. She wanted it and fought for it and spoke true to power to anybody that stood in her way. Although she'd totally freak out if she knew I was boxing, my mom was a fighter - in the truest sense of the word.
What is going to be the most difficult thing to give up during your training? (beer, cheeseburgers, time spent watching TV?)
Time hanging out with my family and friends.
When you're not throwing punches and training -- what other hobbies/interests do you have?
I write music and am in a rock band. Board member of an Africa environmental foundation. Pro bono legal services for immigrants, veterans and homeless people.
Who do you think is the most excited to watch you get punched in the face come fight night?
Maybe Andrew of Haymakers for Hope. Way back when we both worked at Goldman, I was the lawyer who held him up from starting H4H with my pesky legal questions. He definitely won that fight. It all comes full circle.
Be sure to check out his fundraising page here and wish him luck! Best of luck, Ben!


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Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful Summer. Instead of a post about one subject today, I wanted to share a variety of smaller projects going on over here:
* I have been chipping away at our large home painting project. I took a rainy weekend to finish the upstairs hallway:
I am so happy with the Wickham Gray!
* For those readers that wrote and wondered what was happening with the new home design I was working on last winter:
Well, the homeowner seems to have run out of money, (and he is an accountant!). He had stopped all construction in March. I feel bad for him and to be honest I was very disappointed for myself. But I do believe that things always happen for a reason.
* I am happy I just started working on a new office complex building for a growing construction company:So excited! I have some great ideas and I will definitely keep you updated!
* One reason I have really fallen behind in writing posts and my newsletter is because my Dad has not been well. My strong, healthy, always- take- charge Dad has been in and out of the hospital the last few months with all kinds of medical problems. I am worried and I feel so helpless. Here is a picture we took when my sisters and I visited my parents last month:
Please send good thoughts and prayers. Thank you!
* Look at my before and after beautiful stool I finished for the kitchen:
Are you still wanting to try painting that piece of furniture but confused on which color to use? I am going to give you some great color ideas in this month's newsletter at the end of the month.
* So excited to finally receive my two backordered accent chairs:
Aren't they beautiful? Now just waiting for my new coffee table!
* I also hosted a wine/beer tasting fund raiser for our local animal shelter in July. We raised almost $1000.00 for a few hours of work! I was pretty happy with the event.
And that about sums it up as to what I have been up to lately. Later this week I am going to share with you the before and after photos of an online kitchen redesign. Came out beautifully! What have you all been up to lately?


text: National Class One Performer, an exponent of the Yuan School. Her representative repertoire includes The Dream of the Red Mansions. The Romance of the West Chamber and Meilong Town etc . She has been awarded the Outstanding Performance Award at the Chinese Theatre Festival and the Honorary Award at the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai Young Artists in the Television Performance Contest.


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Have you ever wondered which are the highest earning movies of all time? Can you guess eight of such movies? Well, this is exactly the list we have come up with. These are the highest earning movies of all time. Check the whole list only on Wheebuzz.
8. Furious 7 (2015) – $1.52 billion
One of the greatest franchise Fast and Furious released this movie which became the highest earning movie of the franchise as well as one of the highest earning movies in general. Directed by James Wan, it made a box office collection of whopping 1.52 billion US Dollars. Starring some of the finest and most popular stars from the Hollywood film industry such as Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and others, it was sure to make a mark.
7. Avengers (2012) – $1.52 billion
A great adrenaline rushing movie with a huge set of popularity and script, Avengers of the year 2012 is a rollercoaster ride of breathtaking events. Salute to story writer and the director, this movie successfully pinched people's hearts and became the seventh highest earning movie of all time.
6. Jurrasic World (2018) – $1.67 billion
Jurrasic World, when released made sure that time only that it is going to be not only one of the highest earning movie but also one of the greatest movies of all time as well. So, this was the level of populariity and critic attention. The sci-fi action flick starred some of the most popular stars like Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Jeff Goldblum, who has been in Jurrasic series since the Jurrasic Part time, and many other stars.
5. Avengers : Infinity War (2018) – $2.05 billion
A yet another movie from the Avengers, and as expected, one of the most popular, highest earning and people's favourite as well. Thanos remains something epic for the movie lovers form all around the world. Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, this becomes the fifth highest earning movie.
4. Star Wars : The Force Awakens (2015) – $2.07 billion
Star wars is an amazing movie. It is the fourth highest earning movie of all time. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver and other beautifies the script.
3. Titanic (1997) – $2.19 billion
Titanic is a 1997 year movie which became one of the greatest movies of all time. It was a drama movie which mad Leonardo DiCaprio one of the greatest stars of that time. There was no doubt about the fact that the Leonardo and Kate starring movie would become one of he highest earning movie of all time.
2. Avengers : Endgame (2019) – $2.69 billion
Directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, this movie broke almost all records of popularity and became the second highest earning movie of all time. It is certainly a big big name when it comes to the greatest movies of all time.
1. Avatar (2009)
And, finally the movie that was awaited from so long, making the biggest name in the highest earning movies history is the 2009 superbly popular movie Avatar. Based on a unique subject, this movie has become the highest earning movie of all time. It was directed by James Cameron.


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Faldo Design Website Gets New Look
Here at Faldo Design, we are proud to launch our new website. Our Windsor, England-based team, headed by six-time Major Champion Sir Nick Faldo, is an award-winning international golf course design firm and leading golf architectural practice.
The new site allows us to showcase our full portfolio of work on unique courses on 5 continents and in 25 different countries. Our portfolio reflects the awareness of course conditions, strategic intelligence and love for the game that Sir Nick Faldo displayed during his successful playing career.
The Faldo Design team has broad experience in both conceptual planning and the detailed design of a wide range of golf course developments, including full re-vision of existing courses and golf resort master planning. We are selective in the projects we choose because we are genuinely driven by a passion for designing quality golf courses and the ability to closely partner with our clients.
Our new site features include a course gallery and information about all Faldo Design brand engagement options. We invite you to explore our new site to learn more about Sir Nick Faldo, our team, and the latest news from our firm.


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Larsson & Jennings
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A modern Swiss watchmaker with the heritage design inspiration of London, born of two cities Larsson & Jennings marries two disparate style identities in perfect harmony. Creating contemporary timepieces for the subtle yet stylish dresser, Larsson & Jennings uses finely tuned materials from Italian-sourced leather to Swiss-made mechanics to build the ultimate aesthetically functional collection.
Shop Larsson & Jennings at MyBag today, with free UK delivery available.
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Нишики (錦, Nishiki) ― Полукровка клана Фума, которая проникла в тюрьму, чтобы отомстить убийце своего клана, но была убеждена Сорамару отказаться от такого образа жизни.
Внешность Править
Being a "half baked", Nishiki's left half is Fuuma, having white hair and violet eyes, while her half is normal, dark hair and dark eyes.
She is first seen wearing a wig with short, pink hair that conceals her purple eye. She also wears a prison guard uniform.
Later, she wears ninja gear, which includes a sleeveless black and purple tunic, arm guards, and thigh high boots.
After she is taken in by the Kumo, Nishiki wears a traditional, Japanese shrine maiden outfit. It consists of red pants and a white shirt.
Личность Править
She is a serious, quiet young person. She initially believed taking revenge on the man she believed killed the Fuuma clan would make amends for being half baked but when she failed and Soramaru convinced her revenge wasn't the answer, she grew loyal to him. In fact, despite being half baked she was still loyal to her clan but when confronted by Sousei to hand over Soramaru, she ultimately chose to save Soramaru and return him to his original self by killing the Orochi, proving how much he means to her.
She is very dutiful and has a one track mind, doing everything she can to complete her tasks. Unfortunately since she is only skilled at fighting she is terrible at housework. She wishes to be stronger to protect Soramaru and cries when she is praised by him or he acts nice to her. It is heavily implied her feelings are romantic, as she has blushed when he comes close to her on occasion. She tends to be obedient to those she is loyal to and hates not being of service to them. She also tends not to speak much and is rather reserved around others.
Despite seeming gentle, Nishiki has proven herself to be a remarkable fighter. She has no issues with killing if it means she can protect Soramaru and his family, as seen in the Gaiden.
Прошлое Править
Сюжет Править
Настоящее Править
Способности Править
Отношения Править
Сорамару Кумо Править
Nishiki has feelings for Soramaru and is very protective of him. In one instance she pulled out a kunai against Sousei Abeno when he visited Soramaru. Nishiki first met Soramaru when he infiltrated Gokumonjou prison. There he told her to smile,forget her past, and live her own life. After the prison riot was quelled she tracked down Soramaru and asks him to give her purpose he told her to live her own life once again.


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One of SMMA's most recent projects with Brown involved work on their Engineering and Research Center, a newly constructed building that accommodates both a Mass Spectrometry Lab and Laser Lab. By working with principal investigators and facilities management, the project has become the first phase of several fit-outs that will occur as new faculty are hired to occupy the building.
To keep up with new staff and coinciding research demands, the labs were designed as flexible environments; sinks could be pushed to the outside walls, ceilings were eliminated to allow easy access to utilities, and moveable lab casework on casters were fed from overhead service panels through plug and play utilities.


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San Rafael Police Association
Welcome to the San Rafael Police Association website. The San Rafael Police Association is a group of 75 members representing police officers, supervisors and professional staff. Our mission is to support our members, and members of the community of San Rafael. To that end we support a number of community based organizations, the majority of which focus on our youth. Our broader mission includes supporting legislation and initiatives that promote public safety and support our brothers and sisters in the greater law enforcement community. We are proud to be your community partners and appreciate the ongoing support we receive from the residents of San Rafael. We look forward to working with you to keep San Rafael a thriving community focused on families.
Meet the Board
Zachary Brickell
My name is Zach Brickell and I have worked for the the San Rafael Police Department for three years. I have worked patrol and street operations. I am currently a K9 handler with canine Achilles and a member of the SWAT team. This is my first time time serving on the San Rafael Police Association Board. My hope is for the San Rafael Police Association to be very involved in the community we serve and to continue to give back to the citizens of this great city.
Cynthia Morgan
Cynthia Morgan grew up in military family and has lived all over the world. She has lived all over the United States, England and Japan. She started her career at San Rafael Police department in 2016. She is a Records Specialist/Call Taker, and a member of the Crime Scene Investigator Unit.
Aaron Piombo
Raul Aguilar
Christopher Fuller
Chris Fuller grew up in Sacramento, CA. and attended the University of California, Davis where he graduated with BA in Psychology. In 2011, Chris was hired by the Sacramento Police Department and attended the Sacramento Police Academy. In 2012, Chris was hired as an officer with the San Rafael Police Department and has worked with SRPD for approximately four years. Chris is currently the Sex Crimes Detective in the San Rafael Investigations unit. Chris is in his second year as a board member on the San Rafael Police Association.
Beth Minka
Beth has been with the San Rafael Police Department since May of 1994 as the Administrative Technician. She manages the Financial aspects of the Police Departments' Business Office which include Payroll, Personnel , Accts Payable/Receivable in addition to a host of other duties. In 2011, and again in 2013, she was elected to serve two year terms as Treasurer and is currently holding that position.
Alex Holm
Alex Holm started at San Rafael Police Department as a Cadet in 2003. He is currently a Sergeant in the Patrol Division. He has worked as a patrol officer, footbeat officer, and a detective. Alex also maintains the San Rafael Police Department website, and is part of the crime scene investigation team, and major accident investigation team. He has been on the San Rafael Police Assocation board since 2012.
Community Involvement
In honor and recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the San Rafael Police Department and San Rafael Parking Services will be participating in the Pink Patch Project San Rafael. This project is a quickly growing law enforcement public awareness campaign that has taken hold in Southern California, specifically Los Angeles County. The San Rafael Police Association is leading the effort to raise awareness about breast cancer. For the month of October, patrol and field personnel will wear pink and black uniform patches, in lieu of standard issued patches, to show their support for breast cancer awareness.
Several community partners have joined in support of this program, including Zero Breast Cancer of Marin, the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, Kaiser Permanente, and Alex's Dry Cleaning.
The commemorative pink patches are available for purchase online through the San Rafael Police Association, and at the San Rafael Police Department Main Office, during business hours only, for $10 each (cash or check). The proceeds of patch sales will go to Zero Breast Cancer Marin, a local not-for-profit organization, with a mission to help individuals and communities understand scientific research on environmental risk factors and lifestyle variables that influence breast cancers. They promote disease prevention through targeted communication of evidence-based recommendations that support health and wellness at key stages of life.
Click here to get your pink patch today!
Your donations are greatly appreciated! To make a donation, please use the form below.
Mailing Address:
San Rafael, CA 94915


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Our Service
For more than 20 years, when homeowners have needed a professional tree service in Northern NJ they have turned to Trusted Tree Services in Wayne NJ. Our team offers a broad range of tree care services in Passaic County NJ, Bergen County NJ, Morris County NJ, Essex County NJ and surrounding communities.
Tree Cutting Service In Skylands NJ
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Tree Removal Skylands NJ
Unfortunately, at Trusted Tree Services we see a lot of mistakes homeowners make when it comes to tree service in Passaic County NJ. You might be surprised how many homeowners believe tree service to be a do it yourself task. Many homeowners mistakenly believe they can perform this kind of tree removal on their own and are sorely misguided. The results of such actions vary from personal injury to endangering the structural integrity of your house. Another variable to consider is the fact that you'll also be liable for damage to your neighbors property. Save yourself the stress, since this is something no homeowner wants to discover that they're faced with. The skilled tree removal experts we employ will have the ability to ensure your personal safety while saving you time as well as money. Having the knowledge that your trees are getting the proper attention and care will go a long way towards putting your mind at ease. Trusted Tree Service is one of the leading choices for a tree removal company in Skylands NJ. We offer a competitive tree removal cost and are fully insured and licensed for your safety.
Tree Service Skylands NJ
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Tree Service Company Passaic County NJ
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Tree Cutting Passaic County NJ
We supply a wide variety of kinds of tree service, including tree pruning, as a top choice for a tree removal contractor in Skylands NJ. Regular tree pruning supplies many different benefits, which includes preserving the long term health of your trees and making sure they always look their best. Taking advantage of tree pruning offers a wide selection of other benefits. Making sure your trees have an extended life span, keeping the crown of the tree healthy and strengthening the tree structure to be more resilient against wind, storms and ice are several examples. Investing in ongoing tree pruning today is going to mean less need for tree removal later, which in turn is going to mean a reduce long term tree removal cost for your property. Tree pruning is simply part of a custom-made tree service plan from Trusted Tree Services. To take advantage of tree pruning from a trusted tree removal service in Skylands NJ, all you must do is get in touch with one of our specialists right away and we will send someone to perform a thorough assessment of your property.
Tree Removal Contractor Skylands NJ
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Tree Cutting Service Passaic County NJ
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Call Trusted Tree Service for a free, no-obligation consultation today!
SeThey removed 11 overgrown shrubs, shredding them on site. These shrubs were approximately 10-15 ft. tall. The process went very smoothly and in a orderly fashion. Care was taken when removing the shrubs not to interfere with power lines on property, etc. The clean up afterwards was quick and efficient, removing all branches and debris.
Mr. G., Pompton Plains, NJ
The crew that took down my massive tree worked like a well oiled machine. The day they took down that monster was not a nice day. They worked thru the pouring rain without complaint. In my estimation you could not find a more diligent crew.
If you need tree work done, these are the guys and gal you want to work for you.
The tree top guy was awesome (nerves of steel) and the crane operator was an artist, he really knows what he is doing. This is definitely the A team.
Mr. B., Wayne, NJ
I'm letting you know that I was extremely pleased with the job that was done by your company.
The service men that came were very pleasant and very good at what they were doing.
They took precautions with the surrounding area to make sure nothing would be damaged.
They came the time they said they would come and the job was done in a timely fashion.
An extremely professional group of people.
I would highly recommend your services to anyone looking for a good dependable tree service