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Campfire Cooking, Part II: How to Clean Cast Iron Without Using an Iron Fist
If you missed Part I of our series on Campfire Cooking, check it out here.The path to flavored perfection
Whether it was Johnny Appleseed's preferred hat, or Paul Bunyan's choice skillet, cast iron has been searing, stewing and braising strong for ages. Two thousand years since its glorious birth, this staple has held its own against bacon, beef and bratwurst.
Knowing that the world depends on us for envy-inducing cooking gifts for men, we couldn't escape the heat that cast iron brings to the party. So when we introduced our Dutch Oven Kit, we were ready for the delicious lashback. From hash browns to cornbread, ribs to apple pies, the adaptability of this cookware is unsurpassed. Heck, we even cooked up a spicy, sticky jambalaya using our Dutch Oven.
Dealing with the crispy remains
The thing is, just like Babe the Blue Ox, this glorious cooking tool needs a good cleaning after a day of hard work. Just ask Mr. Bunyan. Though it's capable and handy enough for daily use, you'll find some of your favorite dishes may leave a little residue. And as much as we'd all sell one of our limbs for crispy bacon particles, we need to respect that every dish needs a clean slate to be cooked right. After all, peach cobbler is delicious; but I prefer mine without leftover shrimp from the Jambalaya. So here are a few tricks and tips to get your cast iron clean as a whistle. And feel free to whistle while you clean.
Casting away the unclean
The one thing about cast iron dutch oven care, is that you don't want the pan to lose its seasoning. "Seasoning" is a word you'll hear a lot around cast iron cooking, and it basically means the built up layer of oil that sears into the pan over time. It doesn't exactly add a specific flavor or taste to dishes, but it helps protect the pan. The heating and reapplication of oil creates a film-like layer over the surface, which helps food to not stick. Pretty cool, right? We think so, too. And what makes it special is that the more it's used, the more non-stick it becomes.
Now, even though it does become more and more non-stick over time, we have to remember this isn't a pan with technologically savvy coating that makes a fried egg slide onto a plate easily. Cast iron has character. That charm is built up slowly, and the pan will need to be cleaned after use—unless the crumbly peach Jambalaya cobbler sounds like something you'd like to try.
Cleaning Method #1: Let's play nice
The most simple way to clean cast iron is just regular ol' water. That's right, just the run-of-the-mill cleaning agent that's been used since earth began. Now, if you don't have access to a shallow river bed, which was the common choice of the Vikings, just throw the pan under some warm running water. Using a sponge or dishrag, wipe away any food remains. Don't soak the pan, as that could cause it to rust. But this should do the trick for light cleaning.
Cleaning Method #2: Don't get too rough
As much as we'd all love to have the cleaning be that easy, there are times when the caramelized onions come at a price. If your dish left pieces of fish guts stuck to the bottom of your treasured cast iron Dutch oven or skillet, you might need something more heavy duty to remove the residue. By using a mixture of warm water and coarse sea salt—a thick, abrasive paste can be conjured up to combat the grime.
Cleaning Method #3: This means war
If a coarse paste doesn't do the trick, a steel wool or scrubbing pad can be used to scrub. Don't use too much pressure though, as over-scrubbing can cause the pan to lose its non-stick layer. In fact, just be smart and make use of the chainmail scrubber we included in the Dutch Oven Kit.
Keeping that seasoning well seasoned
After using these simple tricks, your cast iron cookery should be good as new. Don't think the process is done just yet though. After cleaning, it's really important to oil the pan to keep that seasoning intact. The easiest way to do this is to preheat your oven to 325°F, lightly apply some cast iron conditioner or bacon grease (for the faithful pork lovers) and bake for an hour. We'd suggest putting the pan upside down in the oven and throwing down a sheet of aluminum foil beneath to catch the drippings.
In cast iron conclusion
So here we are, the pan is back to clean and someone's ready to craft another stellar dish. Of all the tools a master chef can have at his disposal, none is more versatile than the almighty cast iron. It not only sears meats to perfection, but it'll also sear a memory that you cared enough to give him the metal cookery he deserves. From camping to backyard shindigs, our Dutch Oven Kit will provide just the right amount of manliness to keep him on his toes, and in the meantime, keep you fed, happy and the reigning champ of gift giving.


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In recent years, many small- and medium-sized firms have joined formal strategic networks in an effort to enhance firm performance. We set out to examine how altruistic behavior by these firms affected their performance at different levels of altruistic norms within their network. Using a multi-level analytic approach and data from a population of Swedish strategic networks, we found significant cross-level moderating effects that explained variance in firm-level performance. The results showed that firms participating in strategic networks benefit more from being altruistic when other network members generally display high levels of altruism. Apparently, altruistic behaviors are rewarded relative to a general network norm. The potential to perform well thus depends on aligning a firm's altruistic behavior with the general level of altruism in its network.
Despite the possibility of burnout resulting from dynamics in firms' upper echelons, little if any work has focused on chief executive officer's (CEO's) burnout and firm performance. Drawing on managerial discretion theory, this article analyzes the influence of CEO burnout on firm performance and the moderating roles of the individual (CEO locus of control), structural power (CEO duality and CEO tenure), and organizational characteristics (size, age, and resource availability) related to managerial discretion. Using a sample of 156 CEOs in Swedish firms, we find a negative association between CEOs who report higher burnout and firm performance. Our results confirm that CEO duality and resource availability ameliorate and firm size exacerbates the negative association between CEO burnout and firm performance. Contrary to our expectations, CEO locus of control, CEO tenure, and firm age do not influence this relationship. We discuss the implications of our research for upper echelons theory and strategic leadership theory.
Föreliggande rapport utgör en framåtriktad analys av de regionala förutsättningar som rapporterats inom projektet Regional förnyelse, som finansierats av Länsstyrelsen i Norrbottens län och Luleå tekniska universitet (LTU). Utifrån de studier och rapporter som bidragit till en ökad förståelse kring länets möjligheter och utmaningar resonerar vi i den här studien om möjliga framtidsscenarier för Norrbotten. Vår målsättning är inte att förutspå den regionala utvecklingen utan att i stället lyfta fram ett antal scenarier som det regionala utvecklingsarbetet kan leda till. Syftet blir att skapa ett diskussionsunderlag som kan vara till nytta för framtida utveckling av regionala strategier såsom exempelvis den regionala utvecklingsstrategin och den regionala innovationsstrategin. Regionala strategierDen regionala utvecklingsstrategin ingår i EU:s och Sveriges strategier för hållbar tillväxt och är styrande för de mer operativa programmen i länet. Strategin binder samman planeringsprocesser som har betydelse för en hållbar tillväxt och kan därigenom underlätta samverkan inom och mellan länen. Strategin utgör och ett strategiskt underlag i förhandlingar mellan länet och regeringen och även vid överläggningar på EU-nivå.Den regionala analysen av Norrbottens förutsättningar för utveckling och potential för tillväxt resulterade i fem strategiska områden där ett antal prioriterade åtgärder anges. De största utmaningarna är den demografiska utvecklingen och den framtida kompetensförsörjningen. Avgörande för regionens tillväxt är att det finns arbetskraft och kompetens som matchar arbetslivets behov. Med en allt äldre befolkning ökar försörjningsbördan och det blir allt svårare att upprätthålla välfärden med minskade skatteunderlag.Regionala analyserEtt flertal rapporter och studier har författats inom ramarna för projektet Regional förnyelse. Näringslivsanalyser och analyser av internationell handel stödjer att det finns goda förutsättningar för tillväxt inom länets företag. Företagarna beskriver kompetensförsörjning som en av de största utmaningarna för att uppnå planerad tillväxttakt. Regionala scenarierUtifrån de regionala analyserna har fem scenarier, i form av framtidsbilder, målats upp. Avsikten med scenarierna är att beskriva hur regionala insatser och utveckling kan skapa alternativa framtider för Norrbotten. Avsikten med scenarierna är således inte att förutspå regionens framtida utveckling utan snarare peka på hur olika typer av regional utveckling kan skapa olika förutsättningar. De scenarios som diskuteras i denna rapport är:— Scenario I: Basindustriregionen— Scenario II: Kunskap, kreativitet och kommunikation som regional drivkraft— Scenario III: Förändrat globalt klimat med nya möjligheter— Scenario IV: Smart specialisering baserad på relaterad variation— Scenario V: Diversifiering efter en nationell genomsnittsmodell
The key research objective of this paper is to analyse industrial specialisation by developing innovative networks linked to the region. Institutional and entrepreneurial innovation systems, smart specialisation and a network based research framework for entrepreneurship are used as conceptual foundations in the paper. Based on theoretical elaborations our analyses illustrate how certain interventions have stimulated regional development and innovation in two specific Scandinavian regions. Our results highlight that both regions have gone from interventions fostering flexible specialization, with the motive of staying resilient and competitive over time, to an approach based on smart specialization with a focus on one or a limited number of strong industries.
This study examines the influence of network capability (the ability to use external relationships), information and communications technology (ICT) capability (the ability to strategically use ICT for business purposes), and financial slack (unused and uncommitted financial resources) on the innovation performance of small firms. This extends the current resource-based view and small firm innovation management literatures by proposing the direct and interactive effects of organizational capabilities and financial slack. The results of regression analysis based on survey data from technology-based Swedish small firms show that the three-way interaction involving network capability, ICT capability, and financial slack influences innovation performance.
Studies on Product–Service Systems (PSS) are emerging as a growing body of literature driven by the desire to combine economic prosperity and sustainable resource management. However, knowledge about how companies can adopt and implement PSS has remained limited. In this study, a systematic literature review is conducted related to understanding implementation of PSS business models and five sets of tactical practices. Based on an in-depth analysis of 67 articles, it was found that PSS is increasing rapidly as a research field, which is spread across a variety of disciplines and research domains. More specifically, research findings were accumulated from the field to present a framework supporting the implementation of well-established categories of PSS business models, that is, product-oriented, use-oriented, and result-oriented business models. Each business model category is linked to five operational-level tactics that ensure the model can be implemented successfully and subsequently generates value. These tactical sets include 1) contracts, 2) marketing, 3) networks, 4) product and service design, and 5) sustainability operational practices. This study concludes by proposing suggestions for future research.
Product- Service Systems (PSS) and business model share the emphasis on value creation. Still PSS literature uses the term business models vaguely without being clearly understood. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to develop a framework that structures and integrates the various ways the term business model is used in PSS literature by pointing out the connection to strategy and tactics. This is done by conducting a systematic literature review. The findings are aggregated in a framework that proposes that a business model is chosen based on the strategy and that tactics are the residual choice after the business model is chosen. Four tactical sets, contract, marketing, network and product design, have been identified from the literature to be most relevant for PSS business models. The analysis of the tactics relates them to the PSS categories.
With growing public and private support of networks of small and medium-sized firms, many networks rely on network boards to ensure effective governance. By integrating agency and embeddedness reasoning, this article argues that network board composition aimed at effective monitoring may be at the cost of lost ability to strategize. In this study, longitudinal data of Swedish government-supported innovation networks demonstrate that network innovation improves as network board size increases, but that returns to such increases diminish when boards become overly large. Similarly, network board independence is beneficial up to a certain threshold, after which further increases in independence become detrimental. The study clarifies how agency and embeddedness theory can be combined to explain boards' abilities to combine monitoring and strategizing at the network level in increasing the levels of network innovation
This study suggests that stressors can be productive for self-efficacy and that the influence of stressors on self-efficacy is nonlinear. Analyses were conducted with ordinary least squares regression on a dataset covering responses from 311 deans in Swedish secondary schools. Results support the hypothesized U-shape relationship between role conflict and self-efficacy and the inverted U-shape relationship between role ambiguity and self-efficacy. Thus, findings offer evidence for nonlinear effects of stressors on the level of incumbents' self-efficacy. This research has implications for further research focused on the association between role stressors and self-efficacy.
Principal TopicThe role and influence of board composition on firm performance and development has been extensively debated over the last decades. In 1984, Hambrick and Mason published their seminal work introducing the perspective of upper echelons. This perspective suggests that the demographic characteristics of firm boards may exert influence over firm performance since the demographics are associated with many cognitive bases, values, and perceptions thatguide and direct board members decision-making and functions. Several studies have found empirical results supporting these arguments and have further developed the conceptual reasoning for a relationship between upper echelon characteristics and firm performance. However, the wide array of theoretical underpinnings and perspectives combined with diverse empirical evidence has presented further questions over time in relation to how board composition influences firm performance and entrepreneurial levels in firms.In an attempt to address these questions, we model and test the relationship between board composition and firm performance and entrepreneurial levels. We propose a set of hypotheses that suggest that board composition can influence the potential of the boards to support effective monitoring and that composition also have influence of the human and relational capital of the boards. Overall, we suggest that board monitoring and board capital mediates the relationship between board composition and firm performance.MethodThe hypotheses were tested in a three year longitudinal data set including full responses from a sample of 296 firms drawn from a population of Swedish firms. In total were 1167 firms surveyed in the study and approximate 25% responded with completed surveys for the time period. A structural equation modeling approach including mediation models and control for lagged effects were adopted to perform tests.In the light of previous findings, we examine the relationship of both subjective and objective measures of firm performance and we also include longitudinal data to account for potential lagged effects. Besides examining board composition influence over traditional measures of performance, we examine how board composition influences firm levels of entrepreneurial orientation and innovation as well.In doing this we include a set of competing models where board composition variables are hypothesized to influence firm performance and entrepreneurial levels through board functions as board monitoring and board capital. Nested model tests are adopted to determine mediation and to decide how competing models and theories work in predicting firm performance through board composition.Results and ImplicationsResults indicate that board composition exerts influences over both firm performance and entrepreneurial levels in the studied firms. Overall, board composition both influences the firms' ability to exert effective monitoring and contribute with human and relational capital to the firm that in turn are vital areas for the firms in order to perform well. The study has implications for entrepreneurship as it shows the importance of board composition upon firm performance and entrepreneurial levels. The study also contributes to current debates in upper echelon literature by including models of how the relationship between board composition and firm performance is mediated by board functions in terms of board monitoring and board capital. The study includes competing models and tests arguments from alternative theories when examining the role of board composition.
Scholarly studies, as well as policy makers, have for a long time put entrepreneurs as of great importance for bringing growth and occupation to society. Most studies have subsequently researched success and the road to success (i.e. positive consequences of entrepreneurship) by studying a host of factors related to strategy formulation, influence of environment, growth intentions, motivation, together with competence and experience levels among entrepreneurs. Still, we know that the success is often not obtained without sacrifices and strong commitment. Many entrepreneurs can witness that the road to success is not without obstacles and that establishing a new venture can be extremely hard work. Signs of to large sacrifices would be burn-out syndromes, tension, depression, extensive conflicts between work and family, and increasing sick leave. It is not that surprising that these issues have not received so much attention thus far in entrepreneurship studies. Despite this, we know that the costs for disablement and other negative consequences can be high. There are a number of stakeholders (for instance, employees, investors, banks, and society) besides the entrepreneurs that can suffer significantly if the entrepreneurs make too large a sacrifice or fail to establish and organise a venture around a spotted opportunity. As a response, this special issue invites studies focusing on the existence of threats and pressures in entrepreneurial life, focusing on tensions and darker sides related to opportunity recognition and exploitation. While doing so, the special issue does not exclude positive consequences. On the contrary, studies aiming to reveal the tensions between positive and negative consequences of entrepreneurship are strongly encouraged.
An increasing number of firms participate in inter-firm networks to improve their innovation, renewal, and venturing; efforts that can be termed 'corporate entrepreneurship'. This article contributes to the literature by developing and testing explanations for how partner fit (that is, complementary capabilities and organizational compatibilities) influences networking firms' corporate entrepreneurship. Using survey data on SMEs engaged in strategic networks with multiple partners, we found support for an argument suggesting that partner fit requires mediating variables to unleash the potential synergies of partner fit for corporate entrepreneurship. Specifically, our results suggest partner fit triggers resource leverage through processes of both combining resources and accumulating resources from interaction with network partners. Thus, a positive indirect relationship between partner fit and corporate entrepreneurship is present.
Many incumbent corporations make equity investments in young technological start-ups to enhance their innovation effectiveness, and the great majority syndicate at least some of their investments with other incumbents. While syndication is generally held to benefit incumbent corporations, this study demonstrates that it may also be detrimental to corporate innovation, by elaborating the notion of an information exchange paradox - essentially, that information exchanges within CVC networks must, somehow, be both open and closed at the same time. Corporations must try to appropriate the knowledge championed by their investees and fellow-investors, but also protect their own know-how from leaking to competitors. Unlike prior CVC research, we demonstrate that knowledge sharing in open innovation forums may be counterproductive. Using a unique data set of the investment decisions made by 163 corporations over four years we show that, for some, participating in syndicate networks may involve losses that outweigh their gains. Our analysis establishes two key findings. First, corporations need to consider the trade-off between the number of ventures they support and the position they take in their syndication networks. The best strategies appear to be maximizing isolationist (supporting many ventures but staying away from the network centre) or minimizing centralist (supporting few ventures, but occupying a central network position) - the other two options (maximizing centralist and minimizing isolationist strategies) are far less effective in converting CVC investments into corporate innovation. Second, this picture is particularly applicable to highly concentrated industries dominated by several powerful incumbents: in fragmented industries these strategy differences are far less pronounced, so the choice of CVC syndication strategy will depend on other considerations. This supports a contingency view of syndication, implying that ensuring incumbent corporations really benefit from equity investments in start-ups is a not a trivial task for their managers
This article examines whether managers' performance in new businesses improves when they are exposed to role stressors. In a 3-year longitudinal survey, we drew on the challenge-hindrance framework and Karasek's (1979) job demand-control model to acknowledge direct and interaction effects of role stressors (i.e., role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload) on positive affect. In addition to finding support for such influences, our results support that positive affect facilitates performance, thus suggesting that role stressors can be indirectly positive for performance. This study encourages research to go beyond the traditional stressor-strain perspective, to incorporate positive affect in role-stress models, and pay more attention to interaction effects between role stressors
Innovation has been widely recognized as the key strategic activity for growth and success of small firms. However, small firms due to internal barriers (e.g. financial and human resources) and external barriers (e.g. external environment) are obstructed in developing innovation. Thus, it is critical to increase the understanding of how small firms can attain innovation. One perspective in the literature is the resource-based view of the firm. In this perspective it is generally proposed that a firms potential to be innovative lies in its ability to utilize different organizational capabilities. We follow this logic and propose two externally oriented capabilities that promote (Network capability) and facilitate (Information and communication technology capability) social networking practices. We argue these capabilities to be of importance especially in a small firm context and we hypothesize that their individual and joint effects on innovation are positive. We further acknowledge recent developments in the literature which suggest that capabilities are dependent on firm internal conditions such as flexibility and production. We therefore also include organizational slack and consider a three-way interaction effect between slack and the two proposed capabilities. Our basic argument is that capabilities will pay off for innovation when firms have slack resources. We also test howincreases in innovation influences firm performance. As such we suggest that innovation has a mediating role between capabilities and performance. We test the hypotheses based on a two year longitudinal dataset of Swedish technology-based small firms (less than 50 employees). In total 291 full responses were included out of the originally 1471 firms surveyed, for a response rate of 20%. Main analyses are lagged regression with control for the dependent variables influence at t-1. Results show innovativeness to be positively and significantly related to performance, even when performing controls for previous years of performance. We find a significant three-way interaction effect between the two suggested capabilities and slack on innovation, and support that innovation mediates the influence between capabilities and performance. As such, we find evidence that externally oriented capabilities in conjuncture with organizational slack are important for the level of firm innovation, and that their influence on renewal through innovation also help determine future performance.
Although the current state of role stress research has to a large extent determined significant consequences, we highlight that the field do not acknowledge the complexity of role relationships, especially occasions of reverse causality. In opening a dialogue, we discuss the possibility to an extension of the stressor-strain paradigm, that is the dominant perspective in role stress research, from explaining linear causal chains of detrimental consequences of role stress to instead researching reversed causality relationships with alternatives theories. Although we concur with previous findings, we elaborate upon the fact that what have long been indicated as important consequences of role stress may also be antecedents to role stress. This paper examines theoretical implications of questioning causality, review typical causal role stress models and outline some method implications for using a cross-lagged design for researching reversed causality of the current role stress consequences
We propose arguments supporting regional innovation to be dependent upon the simultaneous influence of movement of citizens and the industry structure within the region. Our hypotheses state that regions with a high industry concentration gain relatively more from individuals moving in respectively out from the region compared to regions with a low industry concentration. We tested our model and hypotheses on a four year longitudinal data from official registers on the complete population of 290 Swedish municipalities. Results support that regions with a high industry concentration gain innovation activity from increases in both in- and outflows of citizens from the region. Results on regions with a low industry concentration are inconclusive but indicate, in support of our arguments, that such regions gain relatively more from stability (i.e., low movement) in the region.
In this paper we illustrate that much of the traditional role stress research has related to quite static roles in role taking systems where effects of role stress typically have been viewed as detrimental (i.e., the stressor-strain perspective). We suggest a brighter picture in that role stress can have positive consequences when roles are constructed to have enough flexibility, freedom and creativity to allow for pertinent coping alternatives. In relation to this perspective, we present three approaches for examining the nature of stress and for evaluating whether role stress can have positive consequences given certain role characteristics.
A common argument for why some regions perform relatively worse in developing innovations is that they lack sufficient critical mass to compete relative other regions in the development of knowledge-economy innovations and business models. In this study we examine the relationship between population size and regional innovation and also influence from regional contingencies. We test hypotheses using data from official registers related to a population of Swedish municipalities (n=290) over a five year period. We adopted a lagged hierarchical regression technique with a population-averaged negative binomial estimation model where we controlled for the dependent variable at t-1. Results support a non-linear, inverted u-shape, relationship between critical mass and regional innovation. Further, results also suggest that the regional level of education support can mitigate the negative effects of a too large population.
This article examines the effects of network board capital (i.e., human capital and relational capital) on total, radical and incremental network innovative performance. Results from a five-year longitudinal study of network boards in 53 strategic networks suggest that a network board's diversity, education level, and interlocking directorates with other such networks affect network innovative performance. The degree of board diversity and interlocking directorates primarily influence incremental innovation, whereas education level influences radical innovation. The study finds that a network board's diversity of expertise and education level are important for improving all components of innovative performance (total, radical and incremental) in smaller networks. Managerial implications of these findings are discussed.
Although the current state of role stress research has to a large extent determined significant consequences, we highlight that the field do not acknowledge the complexity of role relationships, especially occasions of reverse causality. In opening a dialogue, we discuss the possibility to an extension of the stressor-strain paradigm, that is the dominant perspective in role stress research, from explaining linear causal chains of detrimental consequences of role stress to instead researching reversed causality relationships with alternatives theories. Although we concur with previous findings, we elaborate upon the fact that what have long been indicated as important consequences of role stress may also be antecedents to role stress. This paper examines theoretical implications of questioning causality, review typical causal role stress models and outline some method implications for using a cross-lagged design for researching reversed causality of the current role stress consequences.
The nature of the relationship between immersion and gameplay experience is investigated, focusing primarily on the literature related to flow. In particular, this paper proposes that immersion and gameplay experience are conceptually different, but empirically positively related through mechanisms related to flow. Furthermore, this study examines gamers' characteristics to determine the influence between immersion and gameplay experiences. The study involves 48 observations in one game setting. Regression analyses including tests for moderation and simple slope analysis are used to reveal gamers' age, experience, and understanding of the game, which moderate the relationship between immersion and gameplay experience. The results suggest that immersion is more positive for gameplay experience when the gamer lacks experience and understanding of the game as well as when the gamer is relatively older. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed at length in the paper.
In this paper we extend previous research by combining network structural and network process approaches. Specifically, in a six-year, three-wave study of 41 firms in two strategic networks, we found that the interaction between generalized reciprocity among a focal firm's partners and network tie intensity and betweenness centrality improved firm performance. No influences were observed for the interaction involving degree centrality and generalized reciprocity. Our research suggests that managers in strategic networks may need to consider the balance between relationship-extensive and relationship-intensive strategies
This study applies Hobfoll's notion of loss spirals to argue for a reciprocal relationship between role stress and 2 of its most commonly studied consequences: exhaustion and satisfaction. By means of structural equation modeling and a cross-lagged design of 116 business managers, the researchers found support for a relationship between role stress and exhaustion. They also found that satisfaction influences role stress, a relationship that the existing literature has not examined. The study contributes a more complex understanding of the relationship between role stress and its modeled outcomes than has been achieved previously.

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Home-Start Family Services Australia is committed to establishing and supporting Home-Start schemes throughout Australia, and believes in supporting families at an early stage to give children the best start in life
Home-Start is a Voluntary Home Service in which volunteers offer regular support, friendship and practical help to families with at least one child under 5 where the parents are experiencing difficulty in their parenting roles or are under stress.
Home-Start began in the UK in 1973 with the simple idea that parents and grandparents have a wealth of experience, knowledge and skills that would be of benefit to parents with young children, who are facing difficulties. There are now 356 Home-Start schemes throughout Britain and 520 schemes world wide. The first Home-Start scheme in Australia was established in 1989 in Newcastle and has been operating with resounding success ever since. There are currently 19 funded Home-Start schemes in Australia.
Comprehensive preparation of volunteers and continuing support from a paid coordinator enables the Home-Start volunteer to become a significant source of support to parents and their children. Home-Start volunteers can reassure parents by helping them to build on their strengths, enhance their parenting skills and find pleasure in family life. They can also help isolated families to make friends, use community resources and help prevent family breakdown. Home-Start employs a paid coordinator to recruit, train, supervise and support volunteers and link them with a family whom they visit weekly in the families own home. Volunteers who are usually parents themselves must attend a 10 week training program, and undergo a screening process before being linked with a family. The Community Solutions Evaluation (1995) of Home-Start Schemes in Australia reported that the model had a number of best practice elements for prevention by early intervention. These elements include:
Documented outcomes for families involved in Home-Start include:
If you would like more information about receiving support, becoming a volunteer, referral, starting a Home-Start Program in your area, or you would like to make a donation to help Home-Start continue it's work with families and children, please call or email your local Home-Start scheme, or call our National office: Phone: 02 49529488 or Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Home-Start Australia is a member of Home-Start Worldwide network.
In recognition of the powerful contribution to the community and the high standard of support Home-Start volunteers offer to children and their families Home-Start has received two awards. Home-Start was highly commended in the inaugural National Child Abuse Prevention Awards presented by the National Child Protection Council, and also received a merit award from the National Institute of Criminology for The Prevention of Violence to Women.
Home-Start has found best practice in voluntary home visiting is based on the cornerstones of social capital. Putnam (1993) notes that "…one of the major indicators of good social capital is the density of the civil society i.e. the involvement of people in voluntary organisations". Home-Start volunteers are linchpins of society connecting the family and the wider community together thus creating capacity building not only within the family but the community as a whole.
Areas where Home-Start operates:
Click here for National Office Contact Details - Newcastle, NSW
NSW: Victoria:
Subpages (20): [Untitled] Aims and Objectives Bendigo Cowra/Canowindra/Weddin East Lake Macquarie Find your local Home-Start program Forster Tuncurry Goulburn Gundagai Home-Start National Team Home-Start Riverina Carrathool Home-Start Riverina - Hay/Murrumbidgee Home-Start-Southern Tablelands kempsey/macleay Mission, Vision and Core Belief newcastle Our Supporters The Home-Start Approach Tumut Tumbarumba Gundagai Wingecarribee


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Saturday 10 to Sunday 11 November 2018
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent's Park Road, London NW1 7AY
Folk song, the everyday music of the common people as passed from generation to generation, has been highly debated ever since the first attempts by early collectors to define it. It has been performed, collected, researched, and unpicked, and the defining qualities which make it unique continue to stimulate current debate and approaches to collecting.
This conference seeks to present the latest research in folk song in all its possible contexts and forms, and we are inviting contributions on topics associated with traditional song and performance in both historic and contemporary settings which may include (but are not limited to):
Papers should be 20 minutes long (+10 minutes for questions and discussion). AV facilities will be available. A1 sized poster presentations are also welcome.
We are particularly keen to encourage students and newcomers to talk about their research interests and findings.
Closing date for submissions: 22 July 2018
Organised by


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Maryanne from Sew Together shows how to create this cute flat-bottomed zippered pouch. The flat bottom lets the pouch stand up on its own, and creates space to hold bulkier items. Her tutorial shows how to draft the pattern and sew it up. Get the tute.
[photo from Sew Together]
[via One Pretty Thing]


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My new book, Building Dashboards with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 and Excel 2013 has been announced! It's now available for preorder at http://www.packtpub.com/building-dashboards-with-microsoft-dynamics-gp-2013-and-excel-2013/book
If you want to be notified when it's out, please sign up here. If you're interested in this topic, be sure to attend the dashboard session that Jared Hall and I are doing at Convergence 2013. Hit this link and search for Mark Polino under the speaker name.


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Potlatch, ID New Shooter Clinic May 18th- DEPOSIT ONLY
per item
This is a non-refundable deposit for the May 18th clinic in Potlatch, ID at McKanna Ranch. The balance of $125 is due on or before the date of the clinic. Total for the clinic is $200. You will receive an invoice to pay the balance before the clinic or you may pay at the clinic. In the event that you can't make the clinic, your deposit is transferable to another clinic or lesson only, and NOT towards any product(s).
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Nashville, Tenn. - To close out their exhibition schedule, the Tennessee State University Tigers picked up an 81-65 win over Carson-Newman on Monday night inside the Gentry Center.
The Tigers shot 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field, including 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from the outside while hitting 20-of-34 (58.8 percent) from the free-throw line.
Four players finished in double figures with Jacquan Nobles and Kenny Moore leading with 17 points apiece. Nobles shot 6-of-18 overall, hitting 4-of-11 from behind the arc. Moore hit 7-of-10 from the field and was 3-of-3 from the charity stripe while pulling in three rebounds.
Patrick Miller once again picked up most of his scoring from the free-throw line making 10-of-16, while hitting 2-of-5 from the floor for 14 points. Michael Green produced 11 points from 4-of-5 shooting while adding seven rebounds and two blocks.
Robert Covington tied a game-high, eight rebounds to match eight points on the night with two blocks and Wil Peters served a game-high six assists chipping in seven points.
The Tigers led at the half, 38-36, but put the game out of reach using a 17-9 run to open the second. The Tigers' lead was cut to nine points, 58-49, at the 11:04 mark. However, they extended the advantage back to double figures from there on out with a 15-5 run to seal the win.
The Eagles shot 35.7 percent from the floor, 56.3 percent from the line, with Antonio Sullivan netting a game-high 18 points (7-of-11) with six boards. John Holleman scored 12 points (4-of-8) and was 4-of-4 from the charity line. Kevin Hare led the Eagles on the boards with eight and Bradley Turner added nine points.
The Tigers will open the regular season in Starksville, Miss. when they play SEC opponent Mississippi State on Friday, Nov. 12. Tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.


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1. Re: Histogram troubles (level of detail vs aggregation)Jonathan Drummey Jun 12, 2012 4:55 AM (in response to Jason Scarlett)
Hi Jason,
I was looking at some of those same forum posts in the last few days as I was trying to prepare a similar kind of view of hospital readmissions data. After trying to get the table calculations to work properly, and thinking I figured out why they won't work, the easier thing for me ended up being exporting the data from the worksheet and using my equivalent of your Census bin (Y) and and sum(avg count) (X) fields to then generate the Pareto chart. I wanted to do a writeup of this, and solicit more input from other Tableau experts, and since you'd already posted I decided to use your data instead. Here's a pic of where I got:
The goal is to have a percent of total running sum over a set of data where the numbers being summed are a table calculation [Census bin] and the dimension is a calculated field [sum(avg count)].
Complicating factors are two dimensions that are required to be in the overall level of detail for the view: [Inst #] (which has only one value), and [Date].
Normally, to generate the percent of total running sum, we'd set the addressing aka Compute Using to [sum(avg count)] and be all set. However, [sum(avg count)] is a calculated field. We can use calculated fields like [sum(avg count)] for partitioning table calculations (by unchecking the "Ignore in Table Calculations" option on green pill, they can't be used for addressing. The only ways to get those fields to be used for addressing is to use Tableau's "visual addressing" options of Table (Across),Table (Down). These options are totally dependent on the set up of the pills in the view.
Where this breaks is in cases where we don't want all the fields on the Rows or Columns shelves, for example in this case we ultimately want Date in the Level of Detail. When we move Date to the Level of Detail, the Table (Across), etc. fail to return the desired results and there is no way that I know of to get the addressing to properly work. Hopefully Richard Leeke or Joe Mako can jump in with some ideas.
That said, I got most of the way there, here's what I did. There are almost certainly some optimizations that can occur in here, I haven't tried to do more in order in order to show how things are working so far.
1. Created a Census bin for RS field with the formula:
WINDOW_COUNT([sum(avg count)])
This is to ensure we have every row available to other calculations, whereas the Census bin field implements the IF FIRST()==0 technique to reduce results. The Compute Using is set to Date.
2. Created the RS Census bin field with the formula:
PREVIOUS_VALUE(LOOKUP([Census bin for RS],0))
+LOOKUP(IF LOOKUP([Census bin for RS],0) != LOOKUP([Census bin for RS],-1) THEN
LOOKUP([Census bin for RS],0)
This uses the PREVIOUS_VALUE table calc to iterate over the Census bin for RS field, the IF LOOKUP() part is used to detect when there's a new value for Census bin for RS and then adds that to the result. This uses a nested Compute Using where RS Census bin is Table(Down) and Census bin for RS is set to Date.
3. Created the Percent of Total Census Bin field with the formula:
[RS Census bin]/WINDOW_SUM([Census bin])
With the Compute Using set properly, this generates the % of total. The nested Compute Using is:
Percent of Total Census Bin: Table(Down)
Census bin: Date
RS Census bin: Table(Down)
Census bin for RS: Date
We can see all that in action for the "workout crosstab" worksheet and delivering expected results. See the "trial view" worksheet for the chart.
Normally, what I do prior to moving from the crosstab view to a chart is to explicitly set the addressing and partitioning of the table calculations so they don't change when I drag pills around in the view. However, as noted, when we do this here they break. For example, if you drag the blue Date pill from Columns to the Level of Detail Shelf, Percent of Total calc returns 100% for all Columns.
Because Table(Down)/Table(Across) is what we need to get the Percent of Total calcs to work in this case, I did some hack-y things to the worksheet:
- Used the Swap Columns/Rows to move all the discrete and continuous values at once.Tableau automatically shifts the Table(Down) used in the workout crosstab worksheet to Table(Across).
- Created an INDEX() calculated field called Index, put that on the Filter Shelf, and set the Compute Using to Pane(Across), then selected only for 1 in the Filter. This takes all the extra rows from Date that are needed to generate totals down to 1 row while preserving other calcs, since filters on table calcs are applied after most all other calculations are complete.
- Unchecked "Show Header" for both the [Date] and [Inst #] fields on the Columns Shelf.
- Rotated the text label for [sum(avg count)]. I don't know how to push that heading back to the bottom of the view other than to move [Date] and [Inst #] off of Columns, however in the case of [Date] that breaks the Percent of Total calculation.
- Set up a dual axis and changed the Mark Type for the Percent of Total Census Bin to Line. It doesn't actually show a line because the Path would need to be defined, that would take some extra jumping through hoops to get to, and even then I'm not totally sure it's possible given the discrete values on Columns.
If I were going to use this particular non-ideal view in practice, I'd probably set up a dashboard with this view and a similar view that didn't actually have data shown, but just the [sum(avg count)] header at the bottom of this. At that point, then we could remove the gridlines and have a more legible view.
Census Forum Post jtd edit.twbx.zip 181.1 KB
2. Re: Histogram troubles (level of detail vs aggregation)Jason Scarlett Jun 12, 2012 12:16 PM (in response to Jonathan Drummey)
Great stuff.
A quick comment:
1. I changed the [RS Census bin] calculation to be dependent upon a change in the [sum(avg count)] instead of the [Census bin for RS] which may occasionally be identical from one pane to the next.
PREVIOUS_VALUE(LOOKUP([Census bin for RS],0))
+LOOKUP(IF LOOKUP([sum(avg count)],0) != LOOKUP([sum(avg count)],-1) THEN
LOOKUP([Census bin for RS],0)
More comments and feedback to come in the next few days (still trying to get there to be exactly 20 bins).
3. Re: Histogram troubles (level of detail vs aggregation)Richard Leeke Jun 12, 2012 12:22 PM (in response to Jonathan Drummey)
I had a bit of a look at this last night, reached exactly the same point about table calcs only being available for partitioning and not addressing, vaguely considered the possibility of using PREVIOUS_VALUE() to roll-my-own running sum in the way that you have here but gave up at that point.
So sorry, nothing to add, Jonathan - you've definitely pulled well ahead of me on your table calc understanding, I think. You'll be snapping at Joe's heels next. ;-)
4. Re: Histogram troubles (level of detail vs aggregation)Joe Mako Jun 12, 2012 4:00 PM (in response to Jason Scarlett)
You can use use a few table calcs to accomplish what you are looking for, as in the attached.
Bin Size (for calculating the size of each bin):
Avg Count (bin) (the discreet pill that will be creating the Cells):
(INT((SUM([AVG_COUNT])-WINDOW_MIN(SUM([AVG_COUNT])))/[Bin Size]) -IIF(SUM([AVG_COUNT])=WINDOW_MAX(SUM([AVG_COUNT])),1,0)) *[Bin Size]+WINDOW_MIN(SUM([AVG_COUNT]))
Census bin (the value for the Bar marks):
IF LOOKUP([Avg Count (bin)],-1)=[Avg Count (bin)] THEN PREVIOUS_VALUE(0)+1 ELSE 1 END
Running Percent of Total (the value for the Line mark):
Last Mark in bin (the filter to show only the last mark in each Cell):
ZN(LOOKUP([Avg Count (bin)],1))<>[Avg Count (bin)]
A discrete exact date pill for Date is on the Level of Detail shelf and sorted ascending on the sum of AVG_COUNT, this pill is used as the Compute using for all table calc pills. Depending on your actual situation with multiple "Inst #" values, the compute using settings or formulas may need to be adjusted to fit your business logic.
There are likely other routes to achieve this same result that may be a better fit depending on your constraints (I also suspect there is a more optimal way to write some of these formulas).
5. Re: Histogram troubles (level of detail vs aggregation)Jonathan Drummey Jun 13, 2012 7:16 AM (in response to Joe Mako)
@Jason: Sorry about that, I had a bit of confusion at one point and missed that sum(avg count) when I was cleaning it up.
@Richard: Thanks for the compliment! Thought I still have a bunch to learn, Joe's post expanded my mind (again). I'm attending his training in a couple of weeks and very much looking forward to it!
@Joe: Awesome work, the idea of building the whole view (columns *and* rows) out of table calcs hadn't occurred to me, I'd always been thinking about partitioning and getting stuck there. I'm going to have to play with it some to take it in. Thanks for posting!
6. Re: Histogram troubles (level of detail vs aggregation)Jason Scarlett Jun 15, 2012 5:58 AM (in response to Joe Mako)
This looks great.
I'll report back on anything I find when I apply this method to 100+ sites and 100 million records.


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|James Best (1926-2015)
If I'm going to be confused with someone, I'm glad it was Mr. Best. From all accounts, he was a fine human being.
|James Best (1926-2015)
My husband and I always watched dukes of Hazzard. We will always miss. James best. We liked james
Our condolences go out to the family of James best.
Since rely. From. Charles and patty. Robertson.
Like other people, I thought maybe he was related. In any event, I'm sorry to see he has passed away.ReplyDelete


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A LOT of people LIKE Will Ferrell.
I'm not kidding. All you have to do is go on Facebook and you'll see that over six MILLION people LIKE him. In fact, 6,958,686.
Meanwhile, only 1,696 people like me.
Over the weekend, I conducted an experiment. I asked people to help me get six million new LIKES on my Facebook page. I got a LOT of comments, and a bunch of people (17 in fact) even shared my post and asked their friends to like my page; 21 of them actually did, and I'm so very grateful. (Now they just need to go out and buy every one of my books. Thanks!!!)
Is 6,000,000 LIKES too lofty a goal? When Will set up his Facebook Page, did he ponder getting nearly seven million LIKES? Is he ultimately shooting for ten million? Should that be my goal, or should I shoot for a more reasonable goal, like ... maybe 1,700?
Let's face it, my Lorraine Bartlett name is the least known of my three (that you know of) writing names. Then again, my L.L. Bartlett FB page only has 924 Likes. (I don't think most of my Jeff readers are on Facebook.) In contrast, my Lorna Page has 2,348 Likes. (Lorna has a LOT more readers on Facebook.)
Why do I even CARE how many Facebook LIKES I have? Is it because I was never popular in school? Is it because my best friends don't even live near me so we can go and have lunch or share of cup of coffee? Why do we humans strive to be LIKED.
I don't know, but it seems to be a need we all have.
So, if you're so included, and you think you might LIKE me, here's the chance. Click the links below.
Thank you!
Lorraine on Facebook | L.L. on Facebook | Lorna on Facebook | Jeff Resnick Mysteries on Facebook
If you liked any (or all) of my pages, feel free to have a slice of virtual cake. (No calories!) If you didn't ... well, just wipe the virtual frosting from around your mouth and nobody will know.


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Here and there in the time-travelling narrative, we confront the Khairlanji syndrome. In May 2008, a dalit man was hacked to death for daring to dig a well on his own small property. Earlier in Jan 2008, after decades of fighting for water, dalits earned the right to use a village pond. But caste Hindus — in a uniquely Indian way of saying eat shit — fouled the same pond by channelling the village sewer to it. In November 2007, two dalit women, new mothers, were physically assaulted before eviction from a government hospital. They died soon after.
Horrific regardless, these stories also outdo Ambedkar's humiliations, not least because they date within the last five years, or 60 years into free India's alleged ban on untouchability. Led by Ambedkar's force, the ban along with the enactment of protection of dalits and tribals (India's indigenous people) under the Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA) was enacted by the Indian Constitution in 1947.
Since Ambedkar is more or less a messiah among dalits, today totaling between 165 to 170 million, or about 17% of India's population, Bhimayana fawning over him would have been more than okay. Instead, the revival of the hero, who is typically under-acknowledged in mainstream textbooks and popular media, takes place through factual reference and energetic prose. The litany of humiliations is compelling because the writing is talky, the pitch even. Little Bhim's acumen for unwitting irony mixes nicely with Ambedkar's calm eye, cut with the man and woman's dialogue. Include the steady tide of harsh news clippings flowing through the narrative and you have an all too necessary social history boot-camp.
If sections of the text keep your heart pumping, the graphic patois slows the looking, giving reason to sort out why a stick that beats is sighted like a panopticon, or why a water pump seems to want to burst into tears. We can guess that the stick with eyes, a striking theme, is the social CCTV monitoring untouchable life, and the personified water pump is unhappy at Bhim left thirsty at school.
Overall, the drawing is formally busy. Dots, speckles, and mesh-like lines power the images, mainly done in black with the occasional color spread. But the images are always focused, tweaking the plot, making a comment, or leading the eye to wander into intended asides. Some pages insistently evoke Ambedkar's mental convolutions when confronted by social prejudice, like where he's on a train headed to Baroda. His groomed person, well-spoken manner, and general sophistication disguise his untouchability.
The entire journey, rendered as a live, swirling thing, becomes a game of hide and seek wherein Ambedkar must keep up with the false assumptions of his train companions to ensure the journey goes smoothly.
Many images are set within quasi-panels distinct from the traditional sequence of the sequential panel frame. You might say they have a mind of their own, perhaps even hinting at Ambedkar's own brand of nous, but the styling is collaborative. Where the tempo and method of the telling the story is largely novelistic, the artistic approach is typically Gond, which is a graphic shorthand for legends and genealogies produced in solo illustrations.
Now, Bhimayana is neither a compilation of single-sheet pictures nor a straight out linear narrative. There's oodles of plot and loads of elaborate scenes, but there's also heaps of asides, iconic freezes, and historical digressions to warrant chucking the sequential panel frame for something fresher. Like the Gond digna perhaps, a double-edged frame containing allusions to grass and grain, running and whirling water, and paling reeds.
In the book, digna take the shape of broken circles, fan-like insets, and natural forms like fish and hilltops. They let you savour images in bits and pieces and only sometimes link in clear sequence. When they appear to push against one another it's a signal. The story is on the move again, as in the opening spread of Water.
Pintsize Bhim knows all about the dos and don'ts of his station. A split perspective page quickly prospers into multiple digna. The bumpy pace of Bhim's questions about caste inequality shines through half-arc digna roughly intersecting. Over time, the digna trail sinuously, run jaggedly, or press symmetry on a page. But all over, the reading order, mildly headachy, maps the trespass of an untouchable's life. His life was no walk in the park. Neither is reading about it.
We get to feel for Bhim in other ways too.
A personified blackboard spells out Bhim's thirst and the fish shape on his side turns dehydration into tangible cargo. The fish motif, as both desire and injustice, repeats wherever untouchables are shown struggling to access to water. Mingled everywhere are polarised speech balloons.
Bird shaped ones are for reason and good people. That would be Ambedkar and his social set. The scorpion stinger shaped ones are reserved for irrationality and bad folks. These are people who subject untouchables to humiliations. Everywhere they appear, the scorpion stinger inflects the atmosphere with contempt. This we might understand was the very air untouchables breathed.
Still, Bhim is not without some ecstasies. The first explicit visualisation of this inner landscape is the image of a train with sprightly whiskers straddling two forest-filled digna. This marks the beginning of episodes in which four children, including Bhim, are on their very first outing 'abroad' to the city. No wonder the train evokes the spring and coil of a fantastical feline-reptile. Quaint lines, possibly the text's only moment of poetic weakness, headline this page. Black ink sings the fresh green of trees. Yet nowhere is the implicit assumption that we all share a common sea of feeling. One is given an image to contemplate and the writing overlaps Bhim's feeling but does not reveal what he feels. It does not dilute the status quo of an untouchable's exile from ordinary dignity.
Though vivid and engaging in its details, the drawing is equally standoffish about pouring out its heart. It's got none of the routine sensuality that one might expect from a story filled with pathos. Figures and faces especially are marionette-like, or at any rate generic. Some wear functional insignia. Ambedkar is marked with glasses. Muslims have little beards. Brahmins have puny tufts of hair poking out from shaved heads. Characters neither smile nor frown. Shiftless pupils pin bovinely sedate faces. And everyone looks like they've had a ball with the eyeliner, so every face is equally striking, or nondescript.
Instead, the main prompt for mood and feeling is gesture, icon, and (oddly) chin contour. For instance, Ambedkar's speech at the Mahad satyagraha bursts out as fresh blue water through loudspeakers in the shape of spouts. The murder of a dalit farmer for digging his own well magnifies in the menace of a giant floating hand plough. Elsewhere, the sadness of Bhim's aunt, who waves goodbye to him and his cousins, graduates across her mercurial chin. It goes from plump to soft, then drawn in and pointed, all this on an otherwise impassive face.
To hint at and not elaborate is typical in Gond art. In Bhimayana, it translates as art that doesn't give a toss. The book doesn't coddle the expectation that awful narratives should make you 'feel'. It seems more interested in stunning reality checks. That might explain why the preface's dialogue is dourly upfront about a basic equation: Stating that affirmative action isn't fair is claiming that Khairlanji and its innumerable cousins are. It might also explain why this is the narrative's one and only reference to affirmative action.
Reservation or affirmative action for dalits in public education and jobs has been around since 1943, though the semblance of proper implementation didn't happen until the mid-1960s. Since then, many upgrades to strengthen the resolution tacitly confess the state's failure in proper application. To this, some would say, serves the dalits right. Anti-reservationists, who number in rabid hordes and behave accordingly, claim that quotas lower the quality of education and government service. Their argument is predictably racist: "Dalits genetically lack merit."
Elsewhere, Anand Teltumbde, dalit activist and author of Khairlanji (2008), while absolutely in favour of the quota system describes it as "a graveyard of dalit aspirations." This is why urban dalits, aching for a leg-up into mainstream society, have been teaming with right-wing Hindu groups, the old foes of dalit emancipation. This new alliance is bad news for the 89% of dalits who are rural, half of whom are landless, only some of whom farm, the rest of whom are unemployed artisans. Most dalits are looking for better primary, not higher, education, sanitation, vocational training for non-farm work, and improved land distribution. Instead, the state has displaced dalits and forced migrations to appropriate their land for mega-projects and global investors, making rural dalits among the country's poorest, who Human Rights Watch slot with most pervasively degraded people in the world.
This might explain Bhimayana's eagerness to bed, not the reservation issue, but the Khairlanji syndrome, which forces one to consider Ambedkar's utopian oomph in light of atrocities against dalits, such as being coerced to eat each other's excreta (in the southern state of Kerala in 2003), as if the Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA) simply doesn't exist. Indeed, Ambedkar was a radical, a believer in socialist reforms like better land distribution, which few dalit leaders now broach for fear of being labelled communists, unquestionably the dirtiest word in India's mad race towards privatisation. To its credit, the book repeatedly underscores his radicalism and its potential to change dalit life without watering down dalit desperation.
It tells us that dalits are perhaps as, and sometimes more, vulnerable than in Ambedkar's time. Its biographical encomium, however ridden with human corruption and social depravity, doubles not so much as an elegy but as a serious wake-up call. Like the voice of reason, the dialogue between the socially-conscious woman and the blinkered man, another homage to Ambedkar's fight against patriarchy, refreshes the alarm at regular intervals—that one person's givens are another's death-wish.
To be published in French, Korean, Spanish, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada. Already available in Malayalam. Worldwide English edition to appear through Tate Publishing.


text:
"Fake it until you make it" is a popular saying about attitude these days, and it's true. This weekend, I wasn't in the right place to be hosting 21 third graders for a two-hour Halloween party, but somehow, when the guests showed up, we were ready and put on a happy show.
By the time we finished, I heard a kid gush, "That was the most fun I've ever had in my life!" What had we done? We'd sung stupid songs, made up Halloween fairy tales and played freeze tag, eaten cupcakes and spider Oreos, and run back and forth from the front yard to the back six times while trying to find prizes in a scavenger hunt. By the end, I'd forgotten how I "wasn't up" for this when we started the day.
This lesson came home again the next morning when we went to a different church for Mass owing to when we woke up. They had a full band with drums and electric guitar. My three-year-old put her hands over her ears. "It's too loud." she said. Being Mommy, I put on the brave face and sang along even as inside, my head begged, "Dial back the amp please."
I found my mind wandering, wondering if I'd have to grow to love this sort of arrangement for Mass as part of purgatory, especially when they sang a little "Go listen to the Gospel Children." round as the priest dismissed those 9 and under to participate in a children's liturgy/homily.
It soured me until I saw the family in front of us, a mother, father and two girls, one of whom had a severe handicapping condition, but she was singing. She liked it. The music reached in and pulled her into the Mass in a joyous way I'd never manage. So I again resolved to fake it until I made it, and by the time we went up for the Eucharist, that sour part in me had evaporated.
Works without faith are meaningless, and faith without works, dead. In either case, what is called for is that we hear the invitation to go and work in the vineyard and say yes, or get invited to the wedding and come prepared. Our will and our actions must be united in action, united in Christ, if we would be counted as His friends. If we come, if we act, even with all our false starts and failures, His grace will make up all that is lacking in us, and make us not lack.
Here's hoping your week is filled with moments of being filled and of recognizing that when you will it, the emotions eventually follow. Happy Small Success Thursday.
Copyright 2014, Sherry Antonetti


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The Australian dollar is trading higher today, making a run for the US77c mark before pulling back after strong local data released earlier today.
At 3.09pm (GMT) the Aussie dollar was trading at US76.54c after reaching a high of US76.98c earlier in the day.
The Latest National Australia Bank (NAB) business conditions survey hit the market today at 16, well up on last month's figure of 10 and marks the highest number since November 2007.
The news according to some analysts may catch the Reserve Bank of Australia's attention and a rate hike, not cut may now be on the table,
"Consumers expect higher inflation in the period ahead, and on the back of the latest business results it seems that the consumers surveyed are on the money," noted Craig James, chief economist at Commsec
"The balance has shifted from rate cuts to rate hikes. One swallow does not a summer make, but clearly each data reading needs to be carefully watched from here," he added.
According to historical data, the Australian dollar should be higher than its current position due to the remarkable recovery in the Iron ore price which the Aussie dollar usually follows in tandem but is notably lacking behind.
The reasoning behind this according to JP Morgan chief economist and currency strategist Sally Auld, is that most of the profits generated from iron ore and other commodities are now leaving the country, whereas during the recent mining boom it were being invested in developing more mines,
"When we were in the middle of the mining investment boom, revenue flows were reinvested in Australia into building more mines and employing more people. That was positive for the local economy – it grew above trend and the RBA raised interest rates, which was positive for the currency. She said
"This time revenues are not being redeployed. They're going offshore." She added.
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text:
A Safe Diet For Your DogMarch 18, 2016 | FurTimes
Dogs are known as man's best friend. If you want to keep your best friend around and healthy for a long time to come you need to put him on the right diet. If your dog is on the wrong diet he may suffer from certain medical problems. Read More
Keeping Your Dog's Fur HealthyMarch 17, 2016 | FurTimes
A dog's hair is a clear indicator of her state of health. It is very important to brush your dog's hair regularly to avoid it from getting matted and also to detect any abnormalities in her fur or skin. Read More


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EC thinking on privacy definitely on the move…
Malcolm Crompton | February 16, 2010
The European Commission (EC) and its partners hosted a conference on "Trust in the Information Society" in Spain 10-11 February where the winds of change became even more apparent.
This was a conference organised under the huge Framework Program 7 (FP 7) research stream funded by the European Commission. FP 7 has a very impressive research component on ICT Trust and Security Research under its ICT Challenge 1: Pervasive and Trustworthy Network and Service Infrastructures.
My previous blog, Ahead of the curve? New thinking on privacy, both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, laid out some emerging indicators that fresh thinking is emerging on what is privacy & how it should be regulated.
The European side of the Atlantic lifted the petticoat a little more at "Trust in the Information Society" in Spain 10-11 February. The winds of change became even more apparent. I believe that PPTs and/or videos of sessions will be put on that website.
To start the Conference, an old friend of Global Access Partners, from the 2003 Virtual Opportunity Congress on Security & Risk, George Metakides, presented the very impressive RISEPTIS report prepared by the Advisory Board he had chaired. One of his most remarkable comments was to the effect that a report such as this simply wouldn't have been commissioned five years ago, let alone the nuance of content it contains about trust, identity management and privacy. He also noted how issues such as trust, privacy and identity management were rapidly rising to the top of the leadership agenda.
His remarks set the tone of the conference.
While there were many other highlights, one of the other talks should be noted: the remarks of Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor. Peter is a particularly wise and nuanced diplomat: you listen to his remarks and parse every sentence for the meaning he has intentionally put there.
In particular, Peter emphasised three emerging themes and their significance:
• Privacy by design
• Accountability
• The rise of privacy to the top of the leadership agenda
The last of these first. He noted that the renewed emphasis on rights among the Commissioners just appointed for the next five years. Even titles will change: the Justice and Home Affairs Directorate will be re-titled and have 'rights' included. He also noted that in her confirmation hearing before the European Parliament, the new Commissioner for that Directorate, Viviane Reding didn't just include privacy as a priority. She listed it as her top priority. And she has form: for the last five years she headed the Information Society & Media Directorate with an increasing emphasis on privacy, including as demonstrated through the themes of FP 7.
Peter sees the future as based on implementing stronger incentives to do the right thing by privacy: commercial reality will contribute to this but he pointed out that regulatory incentive was just as important. Globalisation and global data flows will also be very important – he thought there was a growing consensus that countries will legislate along lines of the Madrid declaration, while also recognising a need to recognise local approaches.
He emphasised that "law should not legislate on technology". Instead the emphasis should be on privacy by design; ie privacy should be integrated in all thinking from the very beginning. He recognised that this is not new thinking. The difference will be that privacy by design will be 'operationalised' a great deal more in the future. He would like to see this trend include more 'privacy by default' settings, with some not very subtle reference to social networking sites.
The way he saw developments such as privacy by design becoming more deeply embedded was important. Instead of 'legislating on technology', this change will be driven by incentives to do so. The incentives will come from government and legislation as well as the emerging commercial reality of evolving market place demand.
As part of this, Peter strongly endorses the importance of ensuring effective accountability and drew attention to the Accountability Project being facilitated by the data protection of France, the Commission Nationale d'Informatique et Libertés, France (CNIL). He pointed out that it meant really getting privacy right: not just seeking compliance with privacy law but demonstrating that 'all measures have been taken to ensure that compliance will be a result'. Hence we will see the emergence of Privacy Impact Assessment and other 'assurance services'; some pro-active, some reactive. PIAs are an example of the former: data breach notification is an example of the latter. Stronger sanctions & allocation of liability will be part of the incentive framework.
It was in this way that he saw developers being drawn into the privacy framework, along with all the other actors in the sequence from first thinking to getting an offering to the market.
Peter also thought that the rights of the citizen would not change much. Rather, he thought the emphasis would be on easier access to exercising existing rights.
Another component of the future will be much tighter cooperation between the US and EU authorities. Indeed, in his conclusion, one of Peter's reinforcing remarks was that trust in the information society will depend on whether the authorities can cooperate effectively (and implying that they had a long way to go).
On another tack, one of the themes of the Congress was the importance of international research cooperation beyond Europe. Go to the Publications page of www.iispartners.com for the paper & PPT that I presented as part of the panel on this topic.
At the very beginning of the conference, Mario Campolargo, Director of Emerging Technologies and Infrastructures, European Commission and then George Metakides also set the tone of the Conference in a more personal way in their opening remarks. He informed us that Jacques Bus, Head of Unit Trust & Security in the Information Society & Media Directorate-General and inspiration for the Conference, would be retiring in a month.
In a very subtle way, this turned the Conference into a celebration of the remarkable influence Jacques has had on the direction of ICT research in Europe, especially on questions of trust, reliability and privacy. I first met Jacques in 2004 the day after I finished as Privacy Commissioner and he has been a true friend and inspiration ever since.
The EC will miss Jacques, but he isn't disappearing into the sunset just yet. Now Jacques will be coordinating and influencing research through a number of other positions and projects he will take up. We all joyfully wished him well.
While there was no formal 'resolution' from the conference, an informal conclusion has now been written by the EC and posted on the conference website here>>
Malcolm Crompton is Managing Director of Information Integrity Solutions (IIS), a globally connected company that works with public sector and private sector organisations to help them build customer trust through respect for the customer and their personal information. He was also foundation President of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, Australia New Zealand, www.iappANZ.org.
Malcolm Crompton is the Founder and Lead Privacy Advisor of Information Integrity Solutions (IIS), a company that works with public and private sector organisations to build trust with customers through protecting their personal information.


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The lyrics from the song Once in a Lifetime from the Talking Heads plays in my head sometimes:
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack/ And you may find yourself in another part of the world/ And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile/ And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife/ And you may ask yourself, "Well… how did I get here?"
There have been quite a few periods of drastic change in my life. You look up, the dust has settled, and you wonder, where does this leave me? Where do I go now? What are my new, and bigger dreams? Whether you got knocked down or just achieved your biggest goals life calls for orienteering.
The definition of orienteering is, "using navigational skills, a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed." That sounds very much like modern life to me! One technique that I use for figuring out my truth is by drawing a personal map. All it takes is pens, pencils, paper and ten minutes to relax and get into the flow. The reason why it works is that we are primarily visual people and by using the symbols, colors, and shapes that come to us most readily we can communicate our subconscious desires and thoughts. Most of us have been drawing to communicate with others since we were children. Most of us stopped drawing when we learned to write and found that our written language explained the more complicated thoughts we had as we got older. Our drawings were suddenly "bad" or "childlike" or "unprofessional." So we quit drawing and instead wrote compositions – nothing wrong with that, but I am asking you to go back and feel comfortable with stick figures, colors and drawing whatever comes to mind.
In my drawings, it is interesting how I started to forge my own personal iconography. Checkerboards mean being forced to make too many decisions. The wind and clouds were about fate and questioning fortune. Paths always pointed to where I was on my journey, what was behind me and in front of me. Water and the color blue was often about emotion and feelings I didn't understand yet.
Below are all the resources you need to draw your own personal map. I really hope you try it and please feel free to share your maps with me via our Facebook Group!
Resources and How-tos on Personal Mapping:
Original Personal Mapping Post
Revisiting Personal Mapping, Peter Turchi Quote


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"The 9 Challenges to Scheduling Your Job Shop and Why Your Schedule is Dead on Arrival"
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Since you were interested in this special job shop scheduling report, you may also be interested in this article: job shop scheduling problems.


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Stand up for facts and support PolitiFact.
Now is your chance to go on the record as supporting trusted, factual information by joining PolitiFact's Truth Squad. Contributions or gifts to PolitiFact, which is part of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Poynter Institute, are tax deductible.
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Are some things in Washington sequester-proof?
We're not talking about Social Security checks or military pay, which were specifically exempt from the budget plan that otherwise takes a blunt cleaver to government spending.
We're talking about the more frivolous stuff, the projects one might think would drop down a few notches on the "vital spending" list.
Weeks into the sequester no one thought would happen, claims are flying about what's being funded (food on Mars) in light of what's not (White House tours).
Here's PolitiFact's roundup:
A menu for 'when we colonize Mars': Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made fun of a number of scientific research projects funded by the federal government, suggesting that they were a waste of taxpayer money. He described, for example, a Hawaiian study "to develop a menu for when we colonize Mars." "Colonize" was an exaggeration, but he was generally right — the project is a broader look at how astronauts would eat on the planet. We rated his claim Mostly True.
ObamaPhones: U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican, said Obama's "spending $2.2 billion to give away 'ObamaPhones.' " That's about how much the federal government spent in 2012 for a program called Lifeline, which helps low-income citizens pay for telephone service. But it's not correct to attribute it to Obama. Meanwhile, the money comes from phone fees, so it wouldn't be possible to prevent other cuts by halting the phone program. We rated his statement Mostly False.
Air Force fantasy football league: Headlines across the blogosphere and shared via social media suggested the Air Force wanted taxpayers to fund a fantasy football league. But the evidence was a "request for information," not a final decision to fund anything. Meanwhile, any money at stake wouldn't have come from taxpayers, but "nonappropriated funds" generated by Air Force clubs and other activities designed to boost morale. We rated the claim False.
Seniors and World of Warcraft: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the federal government spent $1.2 million "paying seniors to play World of Warcraft," a popular fantasy game. His facts are all messed up, though. He's referring to a federal grant for a study to determine whether computer games can slow mental decline in the elderly. But the grant application never mentioned WoW and participants in the federally funded study did not play that game. Some in a small pilot study did. Cantor's statement ridiculously suggested that Washington is sponsoring a geriatric gaming club. We rated his claim Pants on Fire.
Duck penis research: Finally, we looked into some tweets claiming the government funded a study examining duck penis length. Actually, the study at issue is a scientific dive into the unique sexual behaviors of ducks and the evolutionary consequences. It received almost $400,000 from the National Science Foundation, through the stimulus package. It's dubious to tie the sequester -- which curbs future spending -- to a nearly four-year-old project. But otherwise the duck sex claim holds up. The rating: Mostly True.
Our Sources
See related fact-checks.


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Ornette Coleman Quartet: This Is Our Music (1960)
Track list:
01. Blues Connotation
02. Beauty Is A Rare Thing
03. Kaleidoscope
04. Embraceable You
05. Poise
06. Humpty Dumpty
07. Folk Tale
Ornette Coleman – alto sax
Donald Cherry – pocket trumpet, cornet
Charlie Haden – bass
Ed Blackwell – drums
Released: February, 1961
Label: Atlantic LP 1353
Atlantic CD 1353
Recorded at Atlantic Studios, New York City:
#01,03: July 19, 1960
#04,06: July 26, 1960
#02,05,07: August 02, 1960
Engineer: Tom Dowd, Phil Iehle
Producer/supervision: Nesubi Ertegun
Liner notes: Ornette Coleman
Cover Photography: Lee Friedlander
Cover Design: Loring Eutemey
This Is Our Music is the fifth album by saxophonist Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1960 and released on Atlantic Records in 1961, his third for the label.
It is the first with drummer Ed Blackwell replacing his predecessor Billy Higgins in the Coleman Quartet, and is the only Atlantic album by Coleman to include a standard, in this case a version of "Embraceable You" by George and Ira Gershwin.
Two recording sessions for the album took place in July and one in August of 1960 at Atlantic Studios in New York City.
The seven selections for this album were culled from 23 masters recorded over the three sessions.
The 16 out-takes from the two July sessions would later appear on the 1970s compilations The Art of the Improvisers, Twins, and To Whom Who Keeps A Record, along with the 1993 box set Beauty Is A Rare Thing, named for a track on this album.


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Nokia has once again talked up its mobile mapping service, now claiming that it beats Google's offering hands down.
Niklas Savander, executive VP of markets for Nokia stated that elements like side-loading of maps rather than streaming over 3G make its Ovi Maps a far more attractive platforms for users:
"Nokia, not Google, is the leader in mobile navigation. We lead the market in terms of functionality and reach."
Less data
"Ovi Maps, unlike Google, offers pedestrian navigation, as well as the best line to take on the Underground, plus on Ovi Maps you don't need to be connected.
"Thanks to this, Ovi Maps is far les data hungry than Google's service, because we're optimised for mobile use.
"This is a space we intend to own."
Nokia isn't quite accurate in this statement though - Google recently introduced walking sat nav directions for Android phones, although still has yet to incorporate public transport alternatives fully into its Google Maps services.


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To that long line of classical Reformed theologians belongs Louis Berkhof (1853-1957), professor for almost forty years at Calvin Theological Seminary. His internationally renowned Systematic Theology is valued as a highly useful single-volume theology textbook. It has become a standard work both for training and for examining ministerial candidates among Reformed and Presbyterian denominations throughout the world.
Some today are saying publicly (and privately), wherever such a narrative may be useful, that "Louis Berkhof taught Two Kingdoms theology, too."
Well, if what you read below defines that theology accurately, then there really exists no genuine debate. And the churches need not have been agitated by what has been presented as a "recovery" of something allegedly lost.
See what you think.
Since the Roman Catholics insist indiscriminately on the identification of the Kingdom of God and the Church, their Church claims power and jurisdiction over every domain of life, such as science and art, commerce and industry, as well as social and political organizations. This is an altogether mistaken conception. It is also a mistake to maintain, as some Reformed Christians do, in virtue of an erroneous conception of the Church as an organism, that Christian school societies, voluntary organizations of younger or older people for the study of Christian principles and their application in life, Christian labor unions, and Christian political organizations, are manifestations of the Church as an organism, for this again brings them under the domain of the visible Church and under the direct control of its officers. Naturally, this does not mean that the Church has no responsibility with respect to such organizations. It does mean, however, that they are manifestations of the Kingdom of God, in which groups of Christians seek to apply the principles of the Kingdom to every domain of life. The visible Church and the Kingdom, too, may be identified to a certain extent. The visible Church may certainly be said to belong to the Kingdom, to be a part of the Kingdom, and even to be the most important visible embodiment of the forces of the Kingdom. . . . In so far as the visible Church is instrumental in the establishment and extension of the Kingdom, it is, of course, subordinate to this as a means to an end. The Kingdom may be said to be a broader concept than the Church, because it aims at nothing less that the complete control of all the manifestations of life. It represents the dominion of God in every sphere of human endeavor.
From Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1941), pp. 569-570.
Berkhof's point about the activity of the church as organism necessarily coming under the domain of the visible church is debatable.
Nevertheless, if this is what people mean when they claim that Louis Berkhof taught "Two Kingdoms theology," then all could rejoice and be glad.
For the unwary reader, were the preceding sentence written in Greek, it would be a "contrary to fact condition," of the sort: "If pigs had wings, then they could fly."


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So much for my lovely Saturday posts, about my works in progress…Life doesn't seem to want to play that way. But at the same time, I don't really have any excuse why I didn't post the last two Saturdays. I was not really busy as such, but I got sucked into the world of designing a knitted piece. I am not anywhere near being able to show anything off for it, because I still have so much to figure out myself, but I have an idea and that is already a big step further than I have come before.
Our household for some reason cannot shake the sickness these last few weeks. While we are all better than the week before last, it seems that Liana just picks the most inconvenient moment, to decide that she is in fact still sick. Most of the time, this happens in the middle of the night, preferably just at a time that doesn't allow me to fall back asleep before getting up at the ungodly hour that my alarms rings at the moment. Then I can only look on with jealousy how Stephen and Liana cuddle back into bed, and I have to go out into the cold morning, with the rest of our town likely only waking up 3 hours later.
Because I work for an international company, as part of a US based team, my work schedule depends on the time in our US office, rather than the local time here. Unfortunately in Spring, the clocks are turned backwards 3 weeks earlier in the US than they are in Ireland. (I am saying "the US" but have to admit I'm not even sure if the entire country switches the same day. Maybe there is parts that don't change time at all?) That in itself would not be a problem, if it weren't for the fact, that my normal working hours start at 6am. With the new time difference between the offices, until the end of March, I have to start my shift at 5am, which means I get out of my bed at 4am.
For the 10 years, before Liana was born, I was overwhelmingly more likely to see 4am by staying up, instead of getting out of bed at that time. And I am pretty sure that there have been a lot of times that I stayed awake that late. Through my teenage years, I was definitely a nightowl, sleeping as much of the day as I could and then staying up as long as I could. Even once I started my work life during college, i had a job working nights, where I'd finish around 6-7am.
Somebody needs to invent time travel, just so I could see my own face when I tell my younger self the hours I work now and how much I actually enjoy them. Nothing beats coming home early and having free time to spend playing with Liana or whatever other tasks are accumulating at home. To be quite honest as well, I sometimes feel like I am still half asleep the first few hours at work, and once my brain fully wakes up, a good portion of the day is already over.
For good news I can announce that I am finished with the first half of my C25K Challenge. You can always follow up on my current status here. There have been some injury delays, and there were days when I couldn't face running due to being sick, but I made up those days and I am now all caught up. The next big challenge is going to be Friday, I have to run 20 minutes, without any walking in between. Right now I feel like there is no way I am ever going to be able to do that, but I am getting support from my friend, who trains for her marathon. She will run with me and try her best to motivate me.