text:
I get asked many questions about fat. I have also found that there is a lot of misunderstandings and confusion about this topic, and will address the questions I am asked about fat in this article. I hope you find it helpful!
Question # 1: Why do we store fat?
Most people nowadays dread storing fat and seem to be constantly in battle with the fat that they have stored. Since our bodies have the ability to store fat, it seems logical that there must be a good reason for this. The body doesn't do anything without a good reason!
So, what exactly does fat do in the body?
- Fat insulates and protects our vital organs,
- Fat acts as a messenger that helps proteins work in the body,
- Fat starts chemical reactions that help control growth, immune function, reproduction and other aspects of basic metabolism.
- The cycle of making, breaking, storing and mobilizing fats is at the core of how humans and all animals regulate their energy.
- Fats help the body stockpile certain nutrients as well. The so-called "fat-soluble" vitamins—A, D, E and K—are stored in the liver and in fatty tissues.
So, next time you want to start a war with your fat, remember that you need some stored fat for your body to function properly! How much fat do you need? That is the topic of my next answer!
Fun facts about fat:
- It's common knowledge that too much cholesterol and other fats can lead to disease, and that a healthy diet involves watching how much fatty food we eat. However, did you know our bodies need a certain amount of fat to function—and we can't make it from scratch?
- According to Professor Will Lassek of the University of Pittsburgh, the fats in women's buttocks and thighs are high in a chemical called docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA. DHA is essential for the growth and functional development of the brain in infants. Thigh and buttock fat therefore makes clever babies!
Question # 2: How much fat do we need?
Now that we have established that a certain percentage of fat in our bodies is essential, the next question is – "how much fat do we need to be healthy?" The following table is a good indication of the healthy fat % ranges in men and women:
The effects of too low fat % in our bodies can result in the following adverse effects:
- Osteoporosis, or fragile bones
- Dehydration
- Lowered immune system
- Loss of reproductive function
- Heart function impact
- Organ shrinkage
- Loss of muscle tissue
- Digestive problems
- Nervous system damage
- Death
The effect of too high fat% is equally detrimental, and can have the following adverse effects:
- arthritis
- gallstones
- heart disease
- high blood pressure
- liver disease
- osteoporosis, or fragile bones
- sleep apnoea, snoring
- type 2 diabetes
- Cancer risk increased
- Death
It should be noted that fat % is not always directly linked to weight. A person can be heavy and have a low fat %, such as is often the case in bodybuilders. A person can also be light and have a high fat %.
Question # 3: What determines how much fat we store? Can Evolution and Genetics both contribute to this?
It seems that storing fat is an evolutionary strength. I have found some interesting snippets about this which I would like to share with you:
"In spite of the bad press, stored fat is actually a really wonderful thing. Without the capacity to store energy in the form of fat, we would have been unlikely to survive through millions of years of evolution and we would certainly look very different to the way we look today. We needed the capacity to store energy to survive periods of famine, and fat is a very sensible way to do this.
Excess stored fat is a particularly difficult problem to solve in part because we have evolved such sophisticated processes to protect fat stores once we have them.
One of the best-characterised physiological systems involves leptin, a protein secreted by our fat stores (adipose tissue) – that tells the brain that there is plenty of energy available stored in the form of fat.
As we store more and more fat the leptin level in our blood will increase in proportion to the increase in stored fat. Our brains get used to this higher level of leptin, so administering more leptin over and above this higher level of leptin does not seem to help. Instead, it is when leptin levels fall that leptin becomes a very important signal. When we try to lose weight, there is a disproportionately large fall in circulating leptin in spite of only modest fat loss.
A fall in leptin is an attempt to defend fat stores with leptin functioning as the signal to the brain in a negative feedback loop that maintains the stability of fat mass. A fall in leptin is associated with increased sensations of hunger and an increase in "reward-related" behaviours.
Reduced leptin is also a trigger for depressive symptoms in animals. So, when we try to lose weight, our fat tissue sends signals to the brain to try to resist any further loss of fat; we feel hungry, we seek rewards, and we might feel a little down or depressed."
– Dylan Thomson, University of Bath, http://theconversation.com/stored-fat-is-a-feat-of-evolution-and-your-body-will-fight-to-keep-it-52468
A question I get often is also – is it in your genetics? Does it mean no matter what you do, you can not really influence the shape of your body? Unfortunately, it is true that your genetics can play a role in how much fat you do or don't store.
- Inherited metabolic disorders, where certain enzymes in the body are not present or not functioning, require medical intervention and are present from birth.
When is genetics a significant contributor?
- Genes are probably a significant contributor to your obesity if you have most or all of the following characteristics:
- You have been overweight for much of your life.
- One or both of your parents or several other blood relatives are significantly overweight. If both of your parents have obesity, your likelihood of developing obesity is as high as 80%.
- You can't lose weight even when you increase your physical activity and stick to a low-calorie diet for many months.
When is genetics a low contributor?
- Genes are probably a lower contributor for you if you have most or all of the following characteristics:
- You are strongly influenced by the availability of food.
- You are moderately overweight, but you can lose weight when you follow a reasonable diet and exercise program.
- You regain lost weight during the holiday season, after changing your eating or exercise habits, or at times when you experience psychological or social problems.
- These circumstances suggest that you have a genetic predisposition to be heavy, but it's not so great that you can't overcome it with some effort.
Ref: http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/why-people-become-overweight
Does this mean that your fitness journey is futile and you may as well go back to living on the couch with snacks?
Absolutely not!
Does it mean it might be harder and you will need to train smarter?
Yes, most likely! But it will be worth it!
Some of my next tips will deal with strategies for how we can overcome these challenges. Watch this space!
Question #4: The impact of hormones on your body i.t.o. weight loss/gain
It is a good idea, if you struggle with weight loss/gain, to have your hormone levels tested. Sometimes, you may have a hormonal imbalance you are not aware of, and this may be behind your struggles with weight.
|Impact on weight loss/gain
|Too Little
|Too Much
|Tucked away behind the stomach is an organ called the pancreas — the pancreas creates insulin. Insulin production is regulated based on blood sugar levels and other hormones in the body. In a healthy individual, insulin production and release is a tightly regulated process, allowing the body to balance its metabolic needs
|Diabetes occurs when the body either does not secrete enough insulin or when the body no longer uses the insulin it secretes effectively. Symptoms include tiredness, increased urination and thirst, and problems with vision, and fainting.
|Too much insulin causes the body's cells to take too much glucose from the blood, leading to a low blood sugar episode. Low blood sugar can cause confusion, dizziness and fainting. Because nerve cells rely entirely on glucose for energy, low blood sugar can also trigger a nervous system response.
|Because most bodily cells have cortisol receptors, it affects many different functions in the body. Cortisol can help control blood sugar levels, regulate metabolism, help reduce inflammation and assist with memory formulation. It has a controlling effect on salt and water balance and helps control blood pressure. In women, cortisol also supports the developing foetus during pregnancy.
|Low cortisol levels can cause a condition known as Addison's disease. While rare, Addison's disease is an autoimmune disease that causes damage to the adrenal glands. Symptoms may start slowly, but they can be quite serious. Patients with Addison's disease can experience fatigue, muscle loss, weight loss, mood swings and changes to the skin.
|Cushing's Syndrome: Individuals with Cushing's syndrome will experience rapid weight gain in the face, abdomen and chest. High cortisol levels can also contribute to changes in a woman's libido and menstrual cycle, even without the presence of Cushing's disease. Anxiety and depression may also be linked to high cortisol levels.
(Dopamine, Adrenaline)
|Adrenalines relax gut smooth muscle, cause breakdown of fat, and cause amylase secretion from salivary glands. On nerve endings, they increase transmitter release. β2-adrenoceptors are on smooth muscle, including blood vessels, bronchioles, uterus, bladder, and the iris, where they mediate relaxation. They cause tremor in skeletal muscle (shivering) and the breakdown of glycogen in the liver to release glucose into the blood, and decrease histamine release from mast cells. Dopamine ("feel-good hormone) relates to movement co-ordination, to thought, feeling, and behaviour, and to the control of hormone release from the anterior pituitary gland.
|Too little adrenaline rarely occurs, but if it did it would limit the body's ability to respond properly in stressful situations.
Too little dopamine in the motor areas of the brain are responsible for Parkinson's disease
|Too much Adrenaline causes a release of glucose, which a fight-or-flight response would use. When no danger is present, that extra energy has no use, and this can leave the person feeling restless and irritable. Excessively high levels of the hormone due to stress without real danger can cause heart damage, insomnia and a jittery, nervous feeling.
A high level of the neurotransmitter dopamine can cause problems with mood, memory, focus and. It is believed, there is a link to Schizophrenia
|Oestrogen is produced primarily in the ovaries, the organ that produces the woman's eggs. Adrenal glands also make some oestrogen, which is why men will have oestrogen in small amounts. Fat also creates oestrogen.
|Women who have low oestrogen levels may have a lessening of menstruation. They may also experience symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, insomnia and low libido. Mood swings and dry skin are also a problem.
|High oestrogen levels can cause weight gain and menstrual changes, as well as a worsening of PMS symptoms. Cysts in the breasts and fibroids in the uterus can also happen.
|Fertility and menstruation are largely controlled by hormones, and one of these hormones is progesterone.
|Women who have low levels of progesterone will have abnormal menstrual cycles or may struggle to conceive or maintain a pregnancy. Low progesterone levels can cause too-high levels of oestrogen, which can decrease sex drive, contribute to weight gain, or cause gallbladder problems.
|High levels of Progesterone can result in tenderness in the breasts, Rapidly changing moods, Anxiousness, Feeling depressed, Being bloated, Lack of sex drive, Greasy skin and acne breakouts, Gaining weight, Suddenly feeling hot, Urinary tract infections, Inability to hold urine, The onset of headaches.
|Testosterone is the main male sex hormone, but in women, the ovaries and adrenal glands produce testosterone. Women's total testosterone levels are about a tenth to a twentieth of men's levels.
|Fatigue and Exhaustion, Weight Gain & Difficulty Losing Weight, Decreased Interest in Sex, Mood Swings, Depression, Anxiety, Difficulty Concentrating.
|Some women with high testosterone levels develop frontal balding. Other possible effects include acne, increased muscle mass, deepening of voice. High levels of testosterone can also lead to infertility and are commonly seen in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Excessive or thinning hair.
Ref: http://www.hormone.org/hormones-and-health
Question 5: What is cellulite? Is it true that cellulite can only be reduced through massage and surgery?
Cellulite is a condition in which the skin has a dimpled, lumpy appearance. It usually affects the buttocks and thighs but can also occur in other areas. Cellulite occurs when fat deposits push through the connective tissue beneath the skin.
Cellulite can affect both men and women, but it is more common in females, due to the different distributions of fat, muscle, and connective tissue.
The exact cause of cellulite is unknown, but it appears to result from an interaction between the connective tissue in the dermatological layer that lies below the surface of the skin, and the layer of fat that is just below it.
In women, the fat cells and connective tissue in this layer are arranged vertically. If the fat cells protrude into the layer of skin, this gives the appearance of cellulite. In men, the tissue has a criss-cross structure, which may explain why are less likely to have cellulite than women.
Some other factors appear to be linked to the chance of having cellulite.
Hormones likely play an important role in cellulite development. Estrogen, insulin, noradrenaline, thyroid hormones, and prolactin are part of the cellulite production process.
One theory is that as estrogen in women decreases in the approach to menopause, blood flow to the connective tissue under the skin also decreases.
Lower circulation means less oxygen in the area, resulting in lower collagen production. Fat cells also enlarge as estrogen levels fall.
These factors combine to makes the fat deposits more visible. As the fat under the skin protrudes through weakening connective tissue, the familiar dimpling effect results.
Age also causes the skin to becomes less elastic, thinner, and more likely to sag. This increases the chance of cellulite developing.
Genetics – Certain genes are required for cellulite development. Genetic factors can be linked to a person's speed of metabolism, distribution of fat under the skin, ethnicity, and circulatory levels. These can affect the chance of cellulite developing.
Dietary and lifestyle factors – people who eat too much fat, carbohydrates, and salt and too little fiber are likely to have greater amounts of cellulite. It may also be more prevalent in smokers, those who do not exercise, and those who sit or stand in one position for long periods of time. Wearing underwear with tight elastic across the buttocks can limit blood flow, and this may contribute to the formation of cellulite.
Several therapies have been suggested for removing cellulite, but none have yet been confirmed by scientific research. For this reason, any promise to get rid of cellulite should be approached with caution.
Liposuction and dieting do not remove cellulite because it does not affect the structure of the connective tissue. Having less weight does not mean you will reduce cellulite, if you have not improved the muscle structure and reduced the body fat %.
Reducing fat intake will mean having less fat to push through the connective tissue. Therefore, it is my experience that eating a healthy, balanced diet and exercising may over time reduce the appearance of cellulite. Thus far, the healthy eating and exercise strategy works best. 🙂
Question #6: What is best for fat loss, changing eating habits or doing exercise?
My answer is BOTH. Unfortunately this question really does not have a simple answer. We have all seen the memes that say "Abs are made 80% in the kitchen and 20% in the gym". Personally, I believe this needs to be changed to 100% in the kitchen and 100% in the gym. I would also like to add a dimension and say we need a 100% of working on our mindset too. Yes, that is 300%. It is not about dividing ourselves into little pieces and giving little bits of ourselves to certain activities though. It is about making a 100% commitment to take better care of ourselves, isn't it?
I believe that living a healthier life is about much more than simply losing weight. What we really need to lose is the mindset that got us into the unhealthy situation in the first place. Does this make sense to you? I hope it does!
This journey involves more than changing eating habits, or doing exercise. Your journey requires an honest assessment of how you feel about yourself and what you need to do to provide yourself with better care. This is what a coach helps you with and why I identify with being a coach rather than a personal trainer. There is no app that can help you with this and no impersonal online training plan will provide the correct guidance. I like to enlist the help of professional partners here too. Investigate the services of Arpeggio Consulting and Xen and the Art of Mindful Eating.
Now back to the original question after establishing that how you feel about yourself is the most important factor – what is then more important, eating right or exercising?
I will leave you with the following snippets about eating and exercise which supports my opinion that both are equally important, and that it is not so much about the "what" but the "how":
- All calories are NOT equal once the body starts to process what you've eaten. Some foods, such a proteins, require more energy to store and process than others, such as sugars and refined starches. About 30% of the calories in the protein will be spent on digesting it, because the metabolic pathway requires energy. Not only that, but the foods we eat can directly affect the hormones that regulate when and how much we eat and how we utilize these calories. Bottom Line: Saying that weight gain is caused by excess calories is true, but meaningless unless we understand where the calories come from.
- Why calorie reduction (dieting) doesn't work in the long term: Whereas people on low-fat diets must be calorie restricted in order to lose weight, people eating low-carb (and high fat and protein) can usually eat until they feel satisfied and still lose weight. If you were to cut calorie intake by 10%, it would only work for some time until your metabolic rate would adapt and you would stop losing. Then you would have to cut calories again, then again… The body tries desperately to maintain its fat mass. This is called the body fat set-point and is regulated by the hypothalamus. If you don't change your diet, only the amount of foods you eat, then your set point won't change. Bottom Line:The body tries to resist changes in body fat levels by increasing hunger and reducing calorific expenditure. What is needed is to change the body fat set-point over time.
- All Cardio is not equal, studies have found that High Intensity Interval Training is most effective at burning fat, but what is it about HIIT cardio training that sends bodyfat to the great beyond? There are actually several reasons, but the first and perhaps most important involves its effect on your metabolism. HIIT enhances the metabolic machinery in muscle cells that promotes fat-burning and blunts fat production. Since HIIT is tougher on the body, it requires more energy (read: calories) to repair itself afterward. Studies have found that test subjects in a HIIT program also burned nearly 100 more calories per day during the 24 hours after exercise. You can additionally vary HIIT training to prevent the body from adapting and becoming resistant to change.
- What about building muscle? HIIT is also good news for those who struggle to hold on to muscle mass. Short, hard bursts of cardio will help you preserve your hard-earned muscle mass as opposed to those long slow cardio sessions which frustrate athletes who are working hard for muscle gains.
Ref: http://www.innerbody.com/nutrition/understanding-calories
Ref: http://www.simplyshredded.com/fit-with-hiit-science-is-dropping-the-hammer-on-endless-bouts-of-steady-state-cardio.html


text:
The Norfolk paper reports here ("Chesapeake teenager pleads guilty to killing his father," 10/18/04) and the AP reports here that an 18 year-old entered a conditional plea of guilty today in Chesapeake Circuit Court to first-degree murder in connection with the death of his father.
The conditional plea will allow the defendant to appeal the trial court's ruling that the defense would not be allowed to use evidence that he was the victim of sexual abuse.
The AP article notes that after the father was killed, the defendant eventually headed to the western part of the state:
"The slaying was discovered after hikers on the Appalachian Trail in southwestern Virginia found a confession note in a backpack on May 8, 2003. The note had been left in a shelter and was signed with the name Shane Cubbage, according to authorities.
The note's author described how he had killed his father in Chesapeake and escaped to the mountains near Roanoke, according to court records."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight/Quotes
Jump to navigation Jump to search
"Somewhere in that sea of bull hormones is the sweet, wonderful girl I married. The woman who, instead of swatting a fly, would give it a bath and send it on its way. I'd sure like to go home and have Jiffy Pop with her."—Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
"I know what your heart is like. I felt it. Your heart is full of life, Bloom. Your heart is so pure in good. That saved me. You didn't let me go and I'm not gonna let you go so you have to this, Bloom. You have to break free, you have to come back because I love you."—Sky, Winx Club
"Claus...You're not Porky's robot!...You're our son!"—Hinawa, Mother 3
"You have to wake up, Mao! I'm risking my life to stop you!"—Almaz, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
"Your thoughts betray you, Father. I feel the good in you... the conflict."—Luke Skywalker, Return of the Jedi


text:
New offering furthers strengthen Wolters Kluwer's Intellectual Property solutions and gives customers access to new specialized research tools and content
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. today announced plans to bolster its market-leading intellectual property content and workflow solutions through a strategic alliance with ktMINE, a growing IP data and information services firm.
The collaboration with ktMINE provides additional capabilities aligned with customer needs. From within Wolters Kluwer's premier research and workflow solution Cheetah™, users can access IP content relevant to negotiating royalty rates, licensing agreements, patent, trademark, mergers and acquisitions deal data and detailed agreement summaries from public sources including the Securities and Exchange Commission, foreign security filings and the web.
"This move is another key step in our efforts to seamlessly integrate our world-class content directly into the workflow stream, and to provide IP professionals with valuable access to royalty rates, license agreement offerings, patent, trademark and mergers and acquisitions deal data that cannot be found anywhere else," said Susan Gruesser, Product Line Director for Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
David R. Jarczyk, President and CEO of ktMINE, explained, "While legal professionals are seeing an influx in Intellectual Property work and pressure to improve efficiency, we are thrilled to offer through Wolters Kluwer our IP research and analytics capabilities to enable professionals to make better decisions and better advise their clients."
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2016 annual revenues of €4.3 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide.


text:
Let your mornings start on a fresh note as you sip tea or coffee in this trendy and vibrant mug. Adorned with desi motifs, this ceramic mug is sure to be a chic addition to your collection of mugs.
Note: This is courier products and will deliver 3 to 5 working days.


text:
A kids rock tumbler is one of those cool toys just about every kid wants at some point in their childhood, whether its little boys wanting to polishing rocks found at the local creek or for little girls wanting to make their own jewelry from beautiful non–precious stones and glass. Now some would find it offensive calling a rock tumbler a toy but those are the people that know the true value and magic these machines possess, that of recreating something that takes year to happen in nature. Now maybe you're looking for a rock tumbler for yourself or as a gift for that special child in your life either way this article can help. In the following paragraphs you find all the information you will need to help educate yourself about rock tumblers including what types there are, exactly how they work, how much you can expect to pay for one and some good examples of which ones you should buy.
How Does a Rock Tumbler Work?
The first thing you should do when you buy your rock tumbler is read the instructions because all tumblers are a little different. What you will learn is the correct way to load your particular tumbler or polisher. The main thing you will learn is how much of each material you will add to your tumbler. The materials consist of the rocks you want polished, some type of grit that will help do the grinding or polishing and some water. This material will be added to the bowl or barrel of the tumbler the lid will be put on tight and the machine will be turned on. This is when the magic starts as well as the waiting because your typical cycle for a tumbler is no less than two weeks and can be up to a month. Anyways, the contents of the barrel will begin to move around bumping, sliding and rolling into one another. As they do this they slowly begin to polish by having all the jagged edges removed. Polishing is done it steps kind of like sanding with sandpaper. First you use a course grit to do most of the work and then slowly move to a finer and finer grit with the last grit being the polishing grit. Now to go into much more detail you need to know about the different types of rock tumblers.
Amazon Price: $105.47 $99.95 Buy Now
(price as of Dec 8, 2016)
Types of Rock Tumblers for Kids
When it comes to kid's rock tumbles or tumblers in general there are two types rotary and vibratory. Rotary tumblers are the type of tumblers most people picture when they think of rock tumblers or rock polishers. This type of tumbler is very basic in design consisting of a small barrel attached to a small motor. When you plug the machine in and turn it on the small motor starts turning so does the barrel. Then as the barrel turns the rocks, sanding or polishing grit and water begin to roll around in the barrel smoothing all the edges of the rocks. The finished product is nice rounded polished rocks.
Amazon Price: $137.35 Buy Now
(price as of Dec 8, 2016)
Now a vibratory tumbler is a little different, it is loaded the same as a rotary but the way it works is by vibrating the contents of its bowl. This vibrating action doesn't allow the rocks to roll around they simply slide back and forth against each other. Because of this the finished product is not round like the rocks from a rotary type instead they hold there basic shape only now they are polished. Think of them as just being cleaned of their dirt and grime. One other difference you should know about the two types is that the vibratory takes about half the time as the rotary to do its work mainly because it is only polishing not reshaping.
What Is The Best Type of Rock Polisher for Kids?
When it comes to deciding which type to get that is pretty simple, you will probably want to buy a rotary type. The reason for this is they make the biggest changes to the rocks so there are more options as far as what to do with the finished product. Typically a hobbyist will have both types of tumblers. They will use the rotary for shaping and doing most of the grinding then use the vibratory tumbler to do the final polish. By doing it this way it saves them a lot of time but people who do this are processing batch after batch not just one here and there for fun. Really a better question is to ask should I buy a kids rock tumbler or a hobbyist tumbler. The only real difference is the quality of machine you are buying. Most rock tumblers for kids are cost about $50 but only last a few batches were a hobbyist tumbler is much more durable lasting years and costing as little as $100. The easiest way to decide is to think about your child, will they do this once for fun or is there a chance they will love it and want to do it over and over? If you think there is chance they will love it no matter how small go ahead and get the hobbyist tumbler it will be cheaper in the long run.
The Best Kids Rock Tumblers for Sale
Now that you know just about everything you need to know about rock tumblers here are a couple worth buying. The first is what would be considered a kid's tumbler the Classic Crafts Rock Tumbler Classic. It comes as a kit with everything needed for your very first rock polishing. Included with the rock tumbling machine are rough semi precious stones, grit, polish, jewelry settings and glue. The barrel will hold two cups worth of material and sit on top of a 10" x 6" plastic base with motor. Also included are all the instructions you will need to get going as well as an order form for gold tinted accessories.
Amazon Price: $49.99 $29.31 Buy Now
(price as of Dec 8, 2016)
Thumler's A-R1 Rock Tumbler and Accessories is a good example of an inexpensive hobbyist tumbler, this and all other Thumler's Tumblers are made in the USA and also used by many schools and laboratories. It also comes as a kit with everything needed for your first batch of polished stones. In this kit you will receive the 110v one quart 4 ¼" x 4" rubber barrel that can hold up to three pounds of rocks, four grades of grinding and polishing grit, one pound of rocks, jewelry finding and the instruction book "A Guide for Rock Polishers".
Amazon Price: $117.49 Buy Now
(price as of Dec 8, 2016)
One final topic should be addressed before the end of this article and that is the amount of sound that is made by rock tumblers of any type in short they can be very loud. So if you plan to buy one of these terrific machine you should at least be prepared for this. The best option is the use the tumbler in a garage or shed so that the noise is not bothersome. But if you have no choice but to run it in your home you can place the tumbler in a large cooler which will muffle much of the noise produced. I hope you and your kids enjoy their new rock tumbler and who knows maybe it will become a life long hobby or profession.


text:
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
...okay, what else is new?
There's simply been too much good stuff going on lately for me to catch up with it all! This tends to happen this time of year with the Brighton Festival, but I've also been to a couple of other cool things in London I'd love to post about. (Just as soon as they invent more hours in the day...)
Of course this also means that when I'm finally able to write about it then it'll be late. But then you're surely used to that round here!
Posted by Gavin Burrows at 22:45
Labels: Admin Announcements, Excuses
2 comments:
RUN, Gavin! You only have seventeen hours to review The Rebel Flesh before the second half airs!ReplyDelete
Too late! I haven't even seen the second episode yet as I was at the Alternative Press Festival in London and didn't get back till late! When I watch it I'll decide whether to add it to my overlong backlog of stuff to review or just move on.ReplyDelete
(Probably watch it soon, though, because until then I'll have to avoid all internet references to it.)
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Our lab group has published a small flurry of papers in the last two years, through which we highlight problems in the way that phenotype data are represented (visually and textually) in descriptive taxonomy and comparative morphology. I should probably make time to write these ideas up as blog posts, as I feel pretty strongly that the issues – if not our lab's solutions – warrant deeper discussion. The two most recent and maybe most approachable syntheses are:
- Deans AR, Mikó I, Wipfler B, Friedrich F (2012) Evolutionary phenomics and the emerging enlightenment of arthropod systematics. Invertebrate Systematics 26: 323–330. doi: 10.1071/IS12063
- Deans AR, Yoder MJ, Balhoff JP (2012) Time to change how we describe biodiversity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 27 (2): 78-84. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2011.11.007
The latest installation, which yields real world examples of semantic phenotype annotations, in the context of descriptive taxonomy (see our TREE opinion) came out today in ZooKeys:
- Mullins PL, Kawada R, Balhoff JP, Deans AR (2012) A revision of Evaniscus (Hymenoptera, Evaniidae) using ontology-based semantic phenotype annotation. ZooKeys 223: 1–38, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.223.3572
One thing we attempted to do in this paper is layer semantic phenotype annotations (composed in OWL, linked to relevant phenotype ontologies; see Deans et al. 2012) on top of our natural language character descriptions. The end result should be a more explicit textual representation of the phenotype represented in the character. For example, taxonomists, including us, are obsessed with measuring body parts. In this paper we measured the diameter of the lateral ocellus (LOD, for short) and compared it to the shortest distance between the lateral ocellus and the compound eye (OOL, for short):
The ratio of these measurements in Evaniscus wasps is diagnostic at the species level. But how do we represent these data in a species description? Maybe something like "ocellar ocular line length as long or longer than lateral ocellus diameter" or maybe "OOL ≥ LOD" or maybe even as a character and its state "ocellar ocular line length vs. lateral ocellus diameter: as long or longer". Or someone could be even more verbose and describe the character as "the shortest distance between the lateral ocellus and the margin of the compound eye equal to or perhaps shorter than the diameter of said ocellus".
You see where I'm going. There are many different ways to represent this phenotype using prosaic natural language. Human readers probably would interpret most of these variations correctly and understand the character. But what happens when we pool all species descriptions for Hymenoptera (>145,000 described species) or, even better, for Insecta (>1,000,000 described species). Can humans read all these descriptions—composed by thousands of taxonomists with different backgrounds, preferences, eccentricities, or even different languages—and interpret the characters correctly? Almost definitely not. Yet data about ocellus size are potentially relevant to many scientific endeavors. Maybe I found an ocellus mutation in Drosophila melanogaster and want to know how common the phenotype is in nature. Or maybe I have a hypothesis about ocellus size (these structures are relatively larger in temperate insects, where light patterns vary greatly, according to season) that requires massive amounts of standardized phenotype annotations (connected to distribution data) for a proper test.
So, can we represent complex phenotypes using rigorous concepts and a standard syntax, like we do with DNA (i.e., IUPAC nucleotide symbols)? Our working—let's call it draft—solution is to represent the phenotype in OWL, using multiple phenotype-relevant ontologies. The ocellus character state mentioned above looks like this and is applied to the specimen examined:
has_part some (ocular ocellar line and (is bearer of some (length and ((increased_in_magnitude_relative_to some (length and (inheres in some lateral ocellus))) or (similar_in_magnitude_relative_to some (length and (inheres in some lateral ocellus)))))))
Looks weird perhaps, but the goal is to write these annotations in a way that makes them understandable/retrievable by computers. These annotations would appear in addition to natural language prose in our new model for descriptive taxonomy. I'll write a bit more about the approach after our next paper is finished, as we have a fair bit of discussion about advantages, limitations, and real utility (e.g., we do some basic queries across a larger species description data set).


text:
Published in:
Wayward governance : illegality and its control in the public sector / P N Grabosky
Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1989
(Australian studies in law, crime and justice series); pp. 113-128
Secrecy in government is fundamentally anti-democratic, perpetuating bureaucratic errors.
William O. Douglas, 1898-1980
Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States
To be afraid of ideas, any idea, is to be unfit for self-government.
Alexander Meiklejohn, 1872-1964
American Educator and Legal Philosopher
Citizens of South Australia have been known to take pride in the fact that theirs is the only state in the Australian federation which did not originate as a penal colony. Unlike their counterparts in the east, the people of Adelaide have a reputation for civility and tolerance. The reputation is not entirely deserved, however, as some aspects of life in the City of Churches have had more sinister overtones.
Involvement of South Australian Police in political surveillance dates to the First World War. Three officers were seconded to Military Intelligence to infiltrate the German immigrant community of Melbourne. In the immediate postwar years, detectives were assigned to monitor trade union activity in mining communities and to report on political speakers in Adelaide's Botanic Gardens (Cain 1983, p. 143 and pp. 178-82).
In 1939, following discussions with other state police forces and the Department of Defence, the South Australian Police Department set up an 'intelligence branch'. The purpose of the new branch was to identify persons of 'potential enemy nationality' or 'Members of hostile Associations who might obstruct the National War Effort.' (Huie 1967, p. 80).
The Intelligence Branch ceased to exist in 1945 when the war ended and when responsibilities for alien registration were assumed by the Australian Department of Immigration. In 1947, the Commissioner of Police established a 'Subversive Section' to collect and record information on persons engaged in or suspected of 'subversive' activities. The primary attentions of the section were devoted to members of the Communist Party of Australia.
Similar sections existed in the police departments of other states and at a 1949 conference of police commissioners, it was agreed that each be known as 'Special Branch'. The South Australian Special Branch thus began its institutional life. It was not a large Organisation; in 1977 it consisted of only five officers. Special Branch officers kept a low profile in the bowels of police headquarters. Assignment to the branch was not regarded as particularly prestigious; those officers with ambitions of rising to the rank of inspector and above would have been well advised to avoid a Special Branch posting.
What Special Branch did was collect information about various individuals and groups in South Australia. Whilst their guidelines were not explicit, Special Branch officers were concerned with Communist and related organisations, and other activities which they regarded as extremist or subversive. Although it relied primarily on newspaper accounts, Special Branch also received information from police in the course of normal duties, and engaged agents who infiltrated target groups and reported back to Special Branch. Special Branch was the primary point of liaison between the South Australian Police and ASIO, the federal government's counter intelligence Organisation.
By 1977, the amount of information which Special Branch had amassed was considerable. It held about 3,000 separate dossiers and over 40,000 index cards. Individual persons were the subject of some 28,500 cards. Aside from the existence and scope of such a surveillance system, its most significant characteristic was its political bias. There were extensive files on Labor Party parliamentarians including some evidence that, from time to time, they were under physical surveillance at public meetings. All but two of the state and federal Labor parliamentarians were in Special Branch files; the proportion of Liberal parliamentarians who were the subject of files was much less than half.
Files were kept on the leaders of the trade union movement and on individual unions. There were cards on judges, magistrates, and at least one former governor of South Australia. Even religious leaders were under surveillance:
Clergymen of the main denominations 'come under notice' and were indexed. Some have special files. Most, if not all, of the activity was peaceful and non-subversive. Even prayer meetings for peace were watched and recorded (South Australia 1977, p. 12).
The Council for Civil Liberties and its members, never among the most favoured citizens of South Australia in the eyes of the police, were all on file.
Long before the Council was formed, the public utterances of many prominent persons who advocated any form of civil rights or liberties were indexed (South Australia 1977, p. 13).
Other causes whose exponents had aroused sufficient suspicion within Special Branch to warrant systematic attention included women's liberation, the anti-apartheid movement, and a group favouring reform of South Australia's divorce laws. Materials on conservatives and their causes, not to mention right-wing extremists, was relatively rare.
Among the most fundamental values of a liberal society are freedom of expression and freedom of association. The uninhibited exchange of ideas is a hallmark of democratic political life. Thought and discussion of public issues may be suppressed explicitly, through censorship or outright prohibitions of public assembly. But the exercise of democratic political freedom may also be inhibited more subtly. The mere possibility that one's movements and utterances are or might become the subject of police attention may suffice to discourage a person from exercising his or her rights and responsibilities as the citizen of a democratic society.
A healthy democracy requires that the expression of contending viewpoints be encouraged. But under a system of state surveillance the costs of dissenting may be such that some citizens will exclude themselves from public life. The uncertainty over whether or not one is under surveillance may erode the sense of self and sense of autonomy which are requisites of active citizenship. In a society where surveillance is undertaken on any significant scale, a climate of suspicion is created. Trust, a central element of the social fabric, is weakened.
Clandestine surveillance and records thereof pose other threats as well. Malicious accusation or merely erroneous recording practices may result in false information being kept on a person. Secret files and their keepers are not accountable; they are not accessible to their subjects for review and possible correction.
In South Australia, these risks were not merely hypothetical. In the words of the judge who first reviewed the Special Branch files:
Material which I know to be inaccurate, and sometimes scandalously inaccurate, appears in some dossiers and on some cards. Some of this information appears to have been used in 'vetting' procedures (South Australia, 1977, p. 7). 1 have seen a number of cards where information, patently false to my own knowledge, has been used to the attempted disadvantage of certain persons (South Australia 1977, p. 55).
A familiar refrain of police commissioners past and present is their professed chronic shortage of personnel. Moreover, one of the more onerous aspects of the policeman's lot is paperwork.
Small irony, then, that not inconsiderable resources were devoted to political surveillance and the maintenance of records arising therefrom. The costs in question were not merely those relating to the five officers serving in Special Branch. Indeed, it appears they relied for their intelligence material on many of their brethren on patrol. A portion of the material was based on physical surveillance by informers and notes of meetings:
From 1953-1954 onwards the ordinary police (at the request of Special Branch on behalf of ASIO) gave reports on persons buying 'The Tribune' in suburbs and towns from one end of the State to the other. Police also kept watch on all meetings of communists at factory gates, at street corners and near polling booths. Police were also attending various meetings in industrial country towns where communists were expected to show up but did not. Reports on these meetings resulted in many innocent persons being watched and being clumsily and adversely reported upon (South Australia 1977, p. 55).
There seems little doubt that the difficulties involving the South Australian Special Branch arose from lack of proper supervision by senior officers in the Department. The unit was small and kept a low profile, to say the least. Organisationally, it was attached to the Criminal Investigation Branch. For those heading the CIB, faced with a regular supply of unsolved crimes to investigate, suspects to apprehend, and cases to prepare for prosecution, it was convenient to ignore Special Branch. Indeed, the senior officers of CIB traditionally left Special Branch and its affairs to the Commissioner of Police personally. In turn, Commissioners were inclined to allow the Sergeant in charge of Special Branch to manage its affairs without supervision:
The Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner both said that they had never made a physical search of the large quantity of files and cards, that they rarely even visited Special Branch and that they relied upon information supplied by staff (South Australia 1977, p. 67).
This excessive degree of delegation was to prove more than embarrassing. Lack of supervision by senior police was one matter. Lack of accountability was another:
Identification Of the enemies of the states is one of the highest functions of responsible government and should not be delegated, without ministerial supervision, to a police or other force (South Australia 1977, p. 61).
But ministerial supervision was not easy to achieve. As it happened, the South Australian Police concealed the extent of political surveillance in which its officers were engaged on at least three different occasions between 1970 and 1977. The circumstances were to culminate in the dismissal of a police commissioner.
Australia's constitutional arrangements placed the activities of state police special branches beyond the purview of the federal minister responsible for ASIO (the Attorney-General of Australia). At the same time, neither Special Branch officers nor the Commissioner of Police at the time considered themselves to be responsible to the state government on many matters under Special Branch purview. In the words of the then Commissioner of Police, Harold Sainsbury:
As I see it the duty of the police is solely to the law. It is to the Crown and not to any politically elected government or to any politician or to anyone else for that matter (quoted in South Australia 1978, P. 19).
Events proved this contention to be both politically unwise and legally incorrect. Indeed, the constitutional status of the South Australian police had only recently been formalised, in the aftermath of a royal commission arising from anti-war protests in the early 1970s (Waller 1980).
The initial criteria by which individuals and activities were selected for attention by Special Branch were themselves vague. ASIO, itself an Organisation with no dearth of problems (Australia, 1977) provided inadequate guidelines and training to special branches. There was no in-house training in the South Australian Special Branch beyond that flowing from day-to-day routine. As years wore on, Special Branch activities acquired a momentum of their own, as did those of the Vice Squad*, reflecting adversely on the managerial competence of successive South Australian police commissioners.
Once embarked on a course, bureaucracies, even bureaucracies as small as Special Branch, develop the impulse to perpetuate and justify their existence. Where tangible threats to national security no longer exist, less tangible threats may be perceived (or even invented). Stated another more general way, bureaucracies will find work to occupy their energies, even where none may naturally exist.
In other respects, however, the Special Branch was less adaptable. The inherent conservatism and insularity of police in general was perhaps even greater within Special Branch than in the rest of the Department. In any event, the sweeping scope of Special Branch records revealed an inability, if not an unwillingness, to distinguish between dissent and subversion. It was also suggested that the excessive zeal of Special Branch may have arisen in part from American cultural imperialism. Few Australians experienced at first hand the chilling years of the McCarthy era in the United States when careers and even lives were ruined by the mere suggestion of leftist sympathies. But then, as now, the American interpretation of reality is often embraced uncritically by Australian authorities:
We have imported many ideas and practices from the United States, usually in a diluted form and usually late enough to avoid what have been discovered to be their worst features. Practices relating to security measures to counter subversion are no exception. I found that most of the FBI's ideas about 'subversion' security risks and information gathering have percolated down to Special Branch, no doubt through ASIO training and influence (Australia 1977, p. 38).
Ironically, some of the more constructive aspects of American institutions had been ignored. By the late 1970s the FBI had developed written guidelines regarding the investigation of domestic security cases:
Under no circumstances is an investigation (to be) conducted of an individual on the basis that such individual supports unpopular causes or opposes government policies (quoted in South Australia 1977, p. 39).
Public awareness of Special Branch and its activities grew very slowly. In October 1970 the South Australian state council of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) called upon the government to state whether such a branch existed, and whether it undertook surveillance of trade unions and political parties. In a telephone inquiry to Commissioner Salisbury, the Premier, Don Dunstan, was advised that Special Branch did exist, but that it was a small operation concerned with information relating to politically motivated violence.
In mid-1975, the South Australian government was approached by Mr Justice Hope, who at the time held a Royal Commission to enquire into Australia's security and intelligence activities. On behalf of the Royal Commissioner, the South Australian Premier's Department requested an outline of Special Branch activities. An outline was provided on 30 June 1975 and was subsequently found to be inadequate by the Royal Commissioner. Additional information was requested in August and September. The Police Commissioner's response again omitted reference to surveillance of political and trade union activities.
In May 1976 the state council of the ALP and one of the party sub-branches made inquiries of the Chief Secretary (the South Australian minister responsible for police) regarding Special Branch activities in general. The Deputy Commissioner of Police replied in general terms that:
the Special Branch specializes in subversive activities that could lead to crimes against the State (quoted in South Australia 1978, p. 79).
This vague response was then communicated to the Acting State Secretary of the ALP.
Over a year later, in September 1977, the Adelaide Bureau Chief of The Australian newspaper submitted a list of questions to the Premier's office regarding political surveillance and dossiers on unconvicted people. Before a response was forthcoming, the journalist, Peter Ward, who had formerly been an executive assistant to Premier Dunstan, published an article headed 'Exposed . . . the Secret Police Dossiers on Demonstrations' (Terry & Ward 1977).
The article implied that the Premier had been reluctant to act on the existence of secret police. When no response was forthcoming to Ward, he brought his article to the attention of Mr Robin Millhouse, M.P., the lone Australian Democrat member of the South Australian House of Assembly.
Millhouse placed his own questions on notice. The reply given on 1 November 1977 revealed that the police did keep records on persons who had not been charged or convicted of crime, but was otherwise vague. There followed another article in The Australian which criticised Dunstan's alleged failure 'to ensure that such surveillance of political dissenters and political terrorists as is necessary is conducted under the right kind of supervision, with the correct degree of care' (Ward 1977).
Such pressure from press and Parliament moved the government to act quickly. State Cabinet met in the absence of Premier Dunstan, who was overseas, and decided to hold a judicial inquiry into Special Branch.
The inquiry was conducted by Mr Acting Justice J.M. White of the South Australian Supreme Court. His terms of reference actually specified the criteria by which information should thereafter be retained on file:
No records, or other material, shall be kept by the Police Commissioner, or any person under his control as Commissioner, with respect to any person unless:
- That record or material, either alone or with other existing records or material, contains matters which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that that person, or some other person, has committed an offence, or
- That record or material, either alone or with other existing records or material, contains matters which formed the whole or part of the facts with respect to which that person has been charged with an offence in respect of which proceedings have not been dismissed or withdrawn, or
- That record or material, either alone or with other existing records or material, contains matters which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that that person may do any act or thing which would overthrow, or tend to overthrow, by force or violence, the established Government of South Australia or of the Commonwealth of Australia, or may commit or incite the commission of acts of violence against any person or persons (quoted in South Australia 1977, p. 57).
The terms also enabled Mr Acting Justice White to require the Commissioner of Police to examine records to ensure compliance with the above criteria, and to certify formally that they were in fact in compliance. The judge was further empowered to conduct random checks to ensure the accuracy of the Commissioner's certification, and to report annually to the government on continued compliance.
The White Report was submitted to the Premier on 21 December 1977. As indicated by the extracts cited above, it was extremely critical of Special Branch, its activities, and its management. The Report concluded that a 'great mass of irrelevant material (often potentially harmful, sometimes actually harmful) has accumulated' (South Australia 1977, p. 71).
Moreover, the Report noted that the Commissioner of Police had failed to inform the government fully about the existence of sensitive files on matters relating to politics, trade unions and other affairs.
When Dunstan confronted Salisbury with the White Report, he expressed his extreme displeasure and concluded that Salisbury had misled him and that he in turn had misled the public. Salisbury conceded that some of his answers 'may have been pulled a little' (Cockburn 1979, p. 2t) but maintained that the White Report was an over-reaction to the situation.
When Dunstan expressed the intention of publishing the Report, Salisbury expressed alarm and suggested that the effect would be 'volcanic' (Cockburn 1979, p. 21).
On 16 January 1978 Cabinet decided that the White Report be published immediately, that the Premier ask for the Police Commissioner's resignation, and that if this was not forthcoming the Commissioner should be dismissed from office. Salisbury refused to yield, and the notice of dismissal was delivered to him on 17 January.
The matter was far from concluded, however. Salisbury was a popular man, both within the police department and among Adelaide's conservative establishment. The Liberal Opposition questioned the rigour of the White Report and the legality of the dismissal. Liberal members reaffirmed their faith in Salisbury's integrity and hinted that the government had something to hide.
The Premier continued to reaffirm the principles of responsible government and argued that he had clearly been misled by the former Commissioner of Police.
The Opposition, which controlled the state's upper house, was inclined to convene a select committee of inquiry. The government acted instead, and appointed a Royal Commission on 10 February 1978. At the end of May, the Royal Commissioner, Justice Roma Mitchell of the South Australian Supreme Court, presented her report.
In firmly dismissing the former Commissioner's contention that he owed a duty to the Crown and not to any elected government, Justice Mitchell said:
That statement..... suggests an absence of understanding of the constitutional system of South Australia or, for that matter, of the United Kingdom (South Australia 1978, p. 19).
She concluded that the former police commissioner had indeed misled the government, that the government's decision to dismiss him was indeed justifiable in the circumstances. Justice Mitchell further concluded that the Police Regulation Act 1952 (SA) be amended to provide for explicit grounds for a Commissioner's dismissal by the Governor. She recommended against any parliamentary involvement in a Commissioner's removal from office.
In the immediate aftermath of the dismissal of the Police Commissioner, the Dunstan government issued a set of instructions pursuant to the Police Regulation Act. These sought clearly to limit the conditions under which Special Branch could collect and retain information to those circumstances involving security, narrowly defined. Specifically, they required that the information, either alone or with other existing materials, give rise to a reasonable suspicion that an offence relevant to security has been committed, that a person might commit or incite the commission to acts of violence, or that a person might act to overthrow the federal or state government. They provided for the review of Special Branch files under the supervision of Mr Acting Justice White, and for the destruction of those materials which did not conform to the newly specified criteria. In addition, the new instructions required that approval of the responsible state minister be obtained before any Special Branch information be disclosed, and that:
Special Branch shall cease recruiting, paying, servicing or otherwise acting as intermediary for agents of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation or any other Organisation, and shall act in all respects only as a branch of the SA Police force... (South Australian Government Gazette, 18 January 1978, pp. 287-8).
Salisbury retired to England, with the $160,000 he would have earned had he served the remainder of his term as Commissioner. Premier Dunstan resigned from Parliament on grounds of ill-health in February 1979 and by the end of the year a Liberal government was in power in South Australia for the first time in nearly a decade. In November 1980 the Tonkin government replaced the 1978 instructions with a new set which removed the express requirement for ministerial approval before information from Special Branch Files could be disclosed. In addition, it relaxed constraints on discretionary decision-making by Special Branch officers and did not specify how incorrect, obsolete, or irrelevant data might be corrected or destroyed. New procedures for independent auditing of files failed to require specifically that the actual 'hands-on' audit be performed by the independent auditor; rather, the auditing task was limited to assurance that the responsible police officers had performed certain functions (South Australian Government Gazette, 20 November 1980, pp. 1926-7).
Another change was necessitated by the unwillingness of the state's Chief Justice to make a member of the judiciary available for the ongoing auditing of Special Branch files. Noting that Special Branch was a part of executive government and that its activities were very much the subject of partisan political controversy, the Chief Justice maintained that principles of separation of powers and judicial independence precluded ongoing judicial oversight of its operations. As alternative, the government appointed a retired Supreme Court judge, the Honourable David Hogarth, Q.C. as auditors
Labor returned to power in Adelaide in November 1982, and set about rectifying what were perceived to be inadequacies in the previous government's policy.
Appropriately, it chose the year 1984 in which to abolish Special Branch, replacing it with an Operations Intelligence Section. The nature of information which this new body could gather and record was defined precisely to exclude non-violent activity and peaceful dissent. The new regulations imposed strict conditions on the disclosure of information, and contained provisions to ensure that the new unit would remain accountable. The Police Commissioner is required to report to the responsible minister twice yearly regarding the unit's activities, and an auditor, independent of both the police and the public service, reports annually to the Governor. This role continued to be performed by Mr Hogarth Q.C.
Similar reorganisations had taken place following the abolition of special branches in Victoria and Western Australia. But elsewhere in Australia, governments have been reluctant to change the modus operandi of their security surveillance bodies. Little is known of the Queensland Special Branch. In New South Wales, however, Special Branch continues to be the subject of more scrutiny and criticism than it no doubt would prefer to receive (Molomby 1986).
*Dr George Duncan, Adelaide University law lecturer, drowned in the River Torrens in 1973. Years later former officers of the South Australian Vice Squad were charged with manslaughter over the incident. They were eventually acquitted.
- Australia 1977, Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security, Reports, (Royal Commissioner, Mr Justice Hope), Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
- Cain, Frank 1983, The Origins of Political Surveillance in Australia, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
- Cockburn, Stewart 1979, The Salisbury Affair, Sun Books, Melbourne.
- Huie, R. 1967, 'Functions of Special Branch' Internal Memorandum South Australian Police Department, Reprinted in South Australia 1977, Special Branch Security Records Premier's Department, Adelaide 1977, pp 78-86.
- Molomby, Tom 1986, Spies, Bombs and the Path of Bliss, Potoroo Press, Sydney.
- South Australia 1977, Special Branch Security Records: Initial Report, (Report of Mr Acting Justice J.M. White), Premier's Department, Adelaide.
- South Australia 1978, Royal Commission 1978: Report on the Dismissal of Harold Hubert Salisbury, (Royal Commissioner, Justice Roma Mitchell), Government Printer, Adelaide.
- South Australian Govemment Gazette 18 January 1978, pp. 287-8.
- ibid. 20 November 1980, pp. 1926-7.
- Terry, P. & Ward, P. 1977, 'Exposed... The Secret Police Dossiers on Demonstrations', The Australian, 3 September.
- Waller, Louis 1980, 'The Police, The Premier, and Parliament : Governmental Control of the Police', Monash Law Review, 6, 249-67.
- Ward, Peter 1977, 'Secret Police Files a Nettle for Dunstan to Grasp', The Australian, 3 November.


text:
St. Claire Regional serves as a 159-bed regional referral center and is the largest rural hospital in northeastern Kentucky. Sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame in Covington, Ky., SCR is a Catholic, not-for-profit hospital. SCR is the second-largest employer in the region with over 1,400 staff.
The medical center is an established training site for the University of Kentucky College of Medicine's physician residency programs. Additionally, SCR's medical staff is comprised of over 100 Physicians and surgeons, representing 31 medical and surgical specialties.
In addition to the main campus in Morehead, St. Claire Regional's operations consist of:
Click here to find a physician or specialist at St. Claire Regional Medical Center.
Morehead and Rowan County also offer:
home |
about us |
contact us |
join us |
site map |
member news
© Copyright 2008-2011. Morehead Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved.
150 East First Street | Morehead, KY 40351 | Tel (606) 784-6221 | Fax (606) 783-1373 | Email


text:
New: R. Kelly - "Share My Love"
Just in time for Valentine's Day, R. Kelly has released "Share My Love," the disco-flavored first single from his forthcoming album, Write Me Back; the follow-up to 2010's great Love Letter album. No word on when Write Me Back is out, but we do know that "Share My Love" will be released to digital retailers on February 14th. Stream it below:
Oh, Kells.


text:
Woot, woot, I'm up for Visible Image and created an art journal page using the Destination Unknown stamp set. This is definitely one of my favorites, mainly because I really like the font of the sentiments. But, in just a few days, Visible Image is releasing some new stamps and they are going to be amazing – so stay tuned for that.
Till then, here is my art journal page. I started by painting a pink and purple all over the page and blended it in with white acrylic paint. I went back and forth a couple of times, till I had the effect that I wanted.
As a first layer for the background I added some light grey dots through the Cosmic Skies stencil. I then added a few more dots in white with the other end of my brush.
Now the "decorating" began. I stamped a few of the circles from the Universal set all over the page and added a few arrows to the left and right. Then I stamped the bigger paper ship and added a few waves underneath using a black watercolor pen. A smaller ship was needed for the background. I added a few more hand drawn bubbles and colored them all in with a grey and white Gelato. At the end I added a few scribbly lines (literally just gibberish 😉 ) and was done with my page.
I enjoy the idea of heading out and not knowing where to go. Most of the time I feel similar with my art. I start a page and don't know where it will end. That's probably why this particular stamp set speaks to me on so many levels 😀
I hope your year is going to be amazing, knowing the journey or not.


text:
La'man'ain is the indigenous name for Lamanai, which means "submerged crocodile". This majestic Mayan city was settled sometime around 1500 BC and abandoned in the post classic 1800 AD.
The tour features a boat tour up the historic New River all the way to the ancient Mayan city of Lamanai. On days when Mother Nature is good to us, you will have the opportunity to see the Morlet and American Crocodiles, nocturnal Proboscis insect feeding bats, green and spiny tail iguanas, and an array of orchids and birds all thriving in their natural habitat.
The Belizean sun is unforgiving so be sure to keep your body hydrated throughout the tour. The rain in this part of the country is unpredictable and can come quite suddenly. Keep a waterproof bag handy for your camera and other important items. Your tour guide comes from a family that has been operating this tour for the last 15 years.
Tours to Lamanai are conducted by Lamanai River Tours.


text:
WAHO and AFENET signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding
The West African Health Organization (WAHO) and the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) have taken their collaboration a step further by signing a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 23 January 2019 at WAHO's Headquarters in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
The Director General of WAHO, Prof Stanley Okolo initialed for WAHO whilst the Executive Director, Dr Chima Ohuabunwo represented AFENET.
The two parties agreed to cooperate in seven (7) areas of activity. These are:
- Human Resources for Health focusing on Public health workforce development in West African countries
- Epidemic and other public health emergency preparedness and response in West African countries
- Disease control
- Health information and research for health
- Epidemiological technical assistance including surveys and assessments
- Documentation and dissemination – conference, reports
- Advancing "ONE HEALTH" collaboration and implementation
WAHO and AFENET also agreed to develop a joint detailed workplan to guide the implementation of specific activities within the identified areas of interest.
The African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) is a Network of public health training institutions in Africa that seeks to strengthen manpower to enhance health systems on the continent. AFENET is a not-for-profit organization which works closely with Ministries of Health in member countries to develop sustainable programs and capacity to strengthen field epidemiology and ensure healthier lives for Africans. It was established in 2005 and has its Headquarters in Kampala, Uganda.
AFENET operates in 31 African countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guiné-Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.


text:
Washington Post's Ann Hornaday reviews "'Windfall" documentary about the local conflicts engendered by a wind project in Meredith, N.Y.
Faucets don't spit fire in "Windfall," making its local premiere Saturday at the Environmental Film Festival. But incendiary water may be the only side effect not associated with wind power in Laura Israel's absorbing, sobering documentary about the lures and perils of green technology…
via Ann Hornaday reviews 'Windfall' – The Washington Post.
Filed under: New York Wind Projects, Wind leases and easements, Zoning, Siting, Permitting for Wind | Tagged: documentary, Hornaday, Laura Israel, Windfall | Leave a comment »


text:
In his role of making strategic planning decisions for London, the Mayor may occasionally take over an application, therefore becoming the local planning authority. He must then hold a public hearing before deciding whether or not to grant planning permission.
In this instance, the Mayor took over the application for the redevelopment of City Forum 250 City Road.


text:
Ambassadors Music Institute (so called as its participants are called to be "ambassadors" of Jesus) has always had a special place in my heart. Located in middle-class Croix-des-Bouquets, its student population nonetheless is overwhelmingly composed of students accepted despite the fact their families can't afford tuition. If only US music schools could match that commitment to access regardless of economic circumstances! In fact, about one third of the students don't have families, or at least don't live with them, as they come from a nearby orphanage. Two years ago, I spent two weeks staying at the orphanage, and I was very moved by the care their dedicated staff provided, headed by Pastor Lucien Almanord. I was also struck by the way the teens carried themselves with self-discipline, dignity, and self-respect. That's a hard combination to find among teens in any country under any circumstances. And the young ones are so darn cute - I carry them in my heart. The orphanage and the school are both connected to the Body of Christ church, which is like a Pentecostal church with a few theological differences. I love the style of worship there that focuses on the heart and not just the head. I wish I had had more time to spend teaching my friend Edline, a young woman from the orphanage who, after receiving a violin last summer, spent the year teaching herself all of Suzuki Violin Book 1! Bravissima, Edline! I'm sure I could not have accomplished that feat, let alone with such musicianship.
Speaking of incredibly talented young women, BLUME's president Janet Anthony (and my former cello teacher) managed to track down the young composer Sabrina C. D. Jean-Louis for me so she could sign a contract so I can record her work through Crossing Borders Music Collective. Sabrina is a largely self-taught composer and has a genius for it. The score of her work for full orchestra, "The Survivors," brought me to tears - maybe to no surprise, given that I later learned it was written to capture her feelings just after the 2010 earthquake. Sabrina learned Western-style music at the Dessaix Baptiste school in the beautiful coastal town of Jacmel.
I had the pleasure of returning to the Fondation Ste. Cecile summer camp this year. This program, which includes a full orchestra, has very limited resources and yet provides music education to perhaps 150 students and a daily meal during the summer camp weeks, really making the most of what it has. The director, Jeoboham Pierre, is a master drummer, and I managed to receive one lesson from him while I was there, and then spent much time banging my hands on the drum head and my head against a wall while trying to recreate the sounds he
made that made the drum talk, and made one drum sound like three instruments playing simultaneously.
Since I have a usable Haitian drum back here in the US, I hope that, with enough hours' practice, I might be able to learn to do what he showed in that one lesson! One thing that strikes me is the similarity of learning cello and Haitian or African drumming - Jeoboham stressed that it wasn't just about learning the notes or the rhythms and going through the motions, but immersing oneself in the rich sonorities that give it life - a task he says he's still working on! I feel the same way about cello. Truly, a musician's learning is never complete.
This summer I wish I could have returned to the Othello Bayard school in Les Cayes, a beautiful city near the coast in the west. The
director there, Macome, enjoyed taking me to the beach and ordering for me tom-tom soup at a restaurant, so that Tom could eat tom-tom. I
must say, it was delicious! Macome impressed me with his open communication style - communicating with parents, students, staff, and community partners so that the school's relations with all those stakeholders stayed healthy. For example, I sat in on a meeting where he and the orchestra director met with an official of the local cathedral to discuss music selections for a special holiday mass in which the school orchestra would perform. Not everyone would take the trouble to meet in person to discuss details of repertoire, but doing so meant everyone knew just what to expect on the big day. I remember a similar meeting Macome held with the school staff to discuss the camp food. Great leadership! And, a great and growing music program.
Written by Tom Clowes
Board Member
Summer Music Camp Blog
August 2016
Every summer members of the BLUME Haiti Board, along with volunteers from across the globe, travel to Haiti to teach at music camps organized by the CEMUCHCA, Holy Trinity, Dessaix-Baptiste, AMI, and Fondation Saint-Cecile
schools. Throughout the summer they will use this page to update us!


text:
By: Elizabeth Hays
For the past few months, the Baltimore Police Department, pressured to find a new way to reduce crime, conducted a secret aerial surveillance program over the city.[1] The police recorded over 300 hours of surveillance, which covered approximately 32 square miles each flight.[2] The Police commissioner and the mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, knew about the surveillance program from the beginning.[3]
Maryland lawmakers and the American Civil Liberties Union ("ACLU") are now considering legislation that would regulate police surveillance programs.[4] The legislation would prevent the police department from acquiring new surveillance technology without public approval.[5] Although the resolution on the cameras is too low to identify particular individuals, it can be used to track individuals and vehicles from crime scenes.[6] The ACLU as well as other critics voiced concerns about possible Fourth Amendment violations.[7] In fact, the footage from the plane was used to track down the suspects accused of killing two elderly siblings back in February.[8] However, the police did not refer to the aerial surveillance in charging documents that were presented in court.[9] Although this may be a benefit for law enforcement, citizens' civil rights must be protected throughout this process.[10] While the plane is not currently conducting surveillance, the police state that it might be used later during the Baltimore Running Festival in mid-October.[11] The future legislation regarding this matter could result in an impact on anything where the police have cameras that view the public, such as body cameras, CCTV cameras, or even dash cameras.[12]
Elizabeth Hays is a third-year day student at the University of Baltimore. She serves as a Staff Editor of the UB Law Forum and is Co-president of UBSPI. Her legal interests include, administrative and military law. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Deleting Unverf.com Manually
Infections similar to Unverf.com
|Browser Hijacker
|Find-asap.com, ActualNames, Searchiu.com, Websearch.seachsupporter.info, T11470tjgocom, TeensGuru, Prize-Party Hijacker, Secureinstruct.com, Internet Turbo Toolbar, Softwareanti.net, Ad.turn.com, dns404.net, Oyodomo.com
|Veracrypt Ransomware, Locked-in Ransomware, Fs0ci3ty Ransomware, Levis Locker Ransomware, Kaandsona Ransomware
|KGB Spy, Otherhomepage.com, TSPY_AGENT.WWCJ, MalwareWar, SpywareZapper, Spyware.IEmonster.B, SystemGuard, StorageProtector, OnlinePCGuard, Acext, Adware.TSAdbot, Wintective, Win32/Heur.dropper, Malware.Slackor, IMDetect, WNAD
|ClockSync, Adware.Aurora!rem, FastMP3Search, BrowserModifier.NauPointBar, RK.al, Adware.SurfAccuracy, SocialSkinz, Adware.Cinmus, Adware.Getter, BHO.xbx, Adware.TTC, ShoppingSidekick, 180Solutions.Zango, Virtumonde.quh
|Trojan.Downloader.Esaprof.A, Trojan.Downloader-CAZ, IRC-Worm.Cugirl, Trojan.Mournor, Trojan.Downloader.Cred.B, Viking.IT, Trojan.Agent.AEAN, Trojan.FakeVRL, Progenic Trojan, Trojan.Komodola, Spy-Agent.fd
Best Way To Delete Unverf.com Successfully From PC
What do you know about Unverf.com?
Generally speaking, Unverf.com is term refer to a type of dangerous computer virus which aims to gain complete access over infected machine. It easily exploit the installed program vulnerabilities and then take advantage of user's incompetence regarding safe web browsing. The threat displays flashing pop-ups, banners, auto-play video commercials and in-text links onto your system's screen. It is capable of hijacking installed Internet Explorer for collecting sensitive information about user's online browsing activities. The malware can know what websites you visit the most, what search terms you use and what data you enter. This type of infection blocks the entire machine and seeks to threaten the computer users into paying an invented fine. Additionally, Unverf.com can used to get an unauthorized access to the affected PC, infecting crucial files and damaging the computer. Therefore, it is very important to Block the virus safely from your Windows 10.
Main Principles of Unverf.com Distribution
The threat may apply few major principles for the PC infiltration and it does need an additional program or special conditions in order to arrange and carry out a successful malicious attack. Typically, Unverf.com rely on some deceptive techniques, such as:
Misleading Official Web Portals: Most of the rogue programs have their official domains presenting them as an useful tools, for example, handy browser toolbars, helpful shopping assistants or amusing game plug-ins. If you fails to recognize that such softwares is capable of performing annoying activities on your PC, then you may end up with Unverf.com onto the system.
Fake Pop-up Adverts & Links: Clicking on misleading advertisements or redirect links can also be malicious and may lead you to the infiltration of such noxious virus. This type of notifications typically suggest downloading missing program updates, several system security softwares, free computer scans and attention-grabbing offers.
Bundling: There are plenty of cost-free applications that have been bundled with Unverf.com. Such deceptive program packages are usually promoted on unsafe software sharing domains or P2P networks. If you tend to visit these websites, you may end up downloading rogue programs associated with dangerous viruses.
Effect on the System After Unverf.com Invasion
Once the malware successfully enters the machine, it typically performs various changes onto installed web browsers. When infected with this parasite, you may notice an unknown homepage, search engine and a new tab page. Besides, it can also add and delete entries on your Registry Editor. It initiates these changes without user's permission. It is mostly used to redirect users to phishing web pages and infect their machine with other sorts of noxious viruses. Unverf.com can seriously decrease your system's security. Hence, Deleting the malware is considered very important for you.
Click Here To Download Unverf.com Free Scanner
Process To Get Rid of Unverf.com From PC & Internet Explorer
Process 1: Best Way To Boot Windows System in Safe Mode To Block Unverf.com
Process 2: Steps To Delete Unverf.com From Control Panel of PC
Process 3: Best Way To To Clean Unverf.com Related Malicious Registry Entries
Process 4: Unverf.com Removal Report For Affected Internet Explorer
Process 5: Block Unwanted Processes of Unverf.com From Windows Task Manager
Process 6: How To Reset Internet Explorer Settings To Delete Unverf.com
Process 1: Instructions To Boot PC in Safe Mode To Delete Unverf.com
Deleting Unverf.com From Windows 8 or Windows 10 Computers
Press "Win key + C" keys and click on Settings. Then after, tap on Power icon, hold down the Shift key and click "Restart" button.
Select "Troubleshoot option" and click on the "Advanced" options.
Select "Startup Settings" and then press Restart.
To enable "Safe Mode with Networking" option, press F5 key.
Now, your PC starts in Safe Mode with Networking and you can find and delete Unverf.com as quickly as possible.
Unverf.com Uninstallation From Windows XP/ Win Vista/ 7 Systems
Press F8 key continuously when the PC is powered on or restarted.
Here, you will notice Advanced Boot Options on your computer screen.
To select Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Networking, use arrow keys and hit Enter button.
Now, identify and Block Unverf.com from your system as early as possible.
Process 2: Best Way To To Eliminate Unverf.com From Control Panel of PC
Click on Start button and go to Control Panel option.
Now, under Programs category, click on Uninstall a Program option.
Then after, you can select Unverf.com and its associated annoying programs and click on Uninstall button.
Process 3: Method To Delete Unverf.com Related Malicious Registry Entries
To open Registry Editor, press Start button and choose Run option.
In the open field, type "regedit" and hit Enter key.
- Block malicious registry entries of Unverf.com without any delay.
Process 4: Unverf.com Uninstallation Report For Affected Internet Explorer
Unverf.com Uninstallation From Chrome 50.0.2661
Open Chrome browser and tap on gear icon at the top right corner.
Click on More Tools option and then go to Extensions.
Select Unverf.com related unwanted extensions and click on Trash bin icon.
Deleting Unverf.com From Mozilla Firefox:38.0.1
Launch Mozilla Firefox and click on gear icon to open browser menu.
Select Add-ons and choose Extensions panel.
Then after, Block Unverf.com related add-ons by clicking on Remove button.
Block Unverf.com From IE 8:8.00.6001.18372
Open Internet Explorer and click on Gear Icon from the right-top corner to open Tools menu.
Now, tap on Manage Add-ons option and select Toolbars and extension tab.
Find all the suspicious add-ons related to Unverf.com and tap on "Disable" button.
Process 5: Delete Unwanted Processes of Unverf.com From Windows Task Manager
To open Windows Task Manager, press "Ctrl + Alt + Del" keys altogether.
Click on Processes tab in order to identify malicious processes of malware.
Select Unverf.com and its associated processes and click on "End Process" button.
Process 6: How To Reset Internet Explorer Settings To Delete Unverf.com
Reset Mozilla Firefox:38.0.1
Start Mozilla FF, tap on Firefox menu, select Help option and then click on Troubleshooting Information option.
From top of the page, click on he "Refresh Firefox" button.
Tap on "Refresh Firefox" button in the appeared dialog box.
After resetting Firefox, Unverf.com will be removed Successfully from your browser.
Reset Chrome 50.0.2661
Launch Chrome browser, tap on Chrome menu >> Settings option.
In the search box, type Reset and click on Reset button.
Hence, Unverf.com will be deleted completely when you reset your Chrome 50.0.2661.
Reset IE 8:8.00.6001.18372
Open Internet Explorer, tap on >> Tools menu >> select Internet options.
Click on Advanced Tab button and hit Reset.
Check mark the "Delete Personal Settings" option and tap on Reset button.
Now, click on Close button and restart your IE. Then after, you will find the complete Uninstallation of Unverf.com.


text:
Call direct appointment number
Nagpur - Super Speciality
Consulting days: 10 am to 12 pm, 2 pm to 4 pm, 5 pm to 7 pm
Role: Consultant
M.D., O.M. (Neuro)
Consultant - Neurology
Dr. Ketan Chaturvedi is a medical post-graduate from the esteemed University College of Medicine & Calcutta National Medical College. He further joined the post-doctoral degree program in Neurology of the West Bengal University of Health Sciences and Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER), Kolkata.
Research & Publications:
• "The clinical profile of pediatric epilepsy - a study from eastern India" in the Neurology Society of India.
• "The clinical profile of refractory epilepsy" in the Indian academy of neurology conference at New Delhi.
• Published a case report "Pyrexia of unknown origin with Neutropenia, Cervical Lymphadenopathy, Pneumonia and Marrow Hypoplasia" in Journal of Associations of Physicians of India in the year 2006.
• M.B.B.S. Government Medical College, Nagpur 2001
• M.D. (Med) ucM & Calcutta National Medical College, Kolkata 2006
• O.M. (NEURO) Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata 2009
• Epilepsy
• Stroke
• Movement Disorder
• Dementia
• Infection Diseases of nervous system
• Spinal Cord Diseases
• Multiple Sclerosis and demyelinating diseases
• Muscle & neuromuscular junction diseases
1643, North Ambazari Road, Nagpur – 440033


text:
Sundays 5/3-6/7
11:15-12:30pm, $125
This is the second class in the beginner series. Students who have successfully completely Beginner Fabrics Level 1 should be able to climb comfortably, hold a tuck for 10 seconds and tie a footlock in the air and have all skills completed from the Beginner Level 1 List. Our focus will continue learning more complex footlock poses, hip keys, ankle hangs and more! Please email Kelly Jo for placement questions - firstname.lastname@example.com. Taught by Patrice Woodard
It the session is sold out - please send us an email so we can get another section open for registration or put you on the waitlist! Email firstname.lastname@example.com.
Skills to be learned and mastered in Level 2 before moving on are: Double Ankle Hang Arabesque Fallen Star Lotus Inverted Split Clothes Line Vertical Split Hip Key Starfish Mermaid Coffin Rocking Horse Archer Girdle Supported Lotus Shoulder Sling Lyana Splits Beaman Sit Split Roll Up Bicycle Climb Twisted Russian (Candy Cane Climb) Basket Bight
In the Dark Circus Arts Refund/Cancellation Policy To receive a full refund for a class or workshop you must notify In the Dark Circus Arts at email@example.com at least 48 hours before event starts to receive a refund. Once a class session has started no refunds will be given. There are no formal make ups for missed class, however if the student is going to be absent they need to contact us and let us know beforehand so if there is a make up option, we can make arrangements.


text:
York Quay Neighbourhood Association covers Toronto's iconic Central Waterfront, with members in every building. YQNA is actively engaged in what shapes our neighbourhood – traffic, transit, planning, cultural and social events, policing, environment, noise, businesses, and the great urban renewal transforming Queens Quay. YQNA welcomes all residents to participate, share their ideas and enjoy our events.
New Boundaries for YQNA
YQNA is changing boundaries. We are moving along Queens Quay to the west, to reach from Yonge St. to Spadina Ave. (no longer Rees St.) At the same time we are pulling back on the north side, from the train tracks down to Lake Shore Blvd. and Harbour St., hoping the new condo buildings north of us will establish their own neighbourhood associations. We were encouraged to also move further east where developments are happening quickly all the way to the Port Lands, but we don't have the capacity to get involved in the details of it. We are hoping the future residents on Queens Quay East will organize and get involved.
The change was up for a vote at a packed meeting at the Radisson Admiral Hotel. A name change of YQNA was also on the agenda — from York Quay to Queens Quay Neighbourhood Association (QQNA). It would reflect our location on the Waterfront and carry the name of Toronto's most prominent boulevard, but our members felt YQNA is so well established that a name change could have a negative effect, so it was voted down. (Click to see our updated Constitution with new boundaries.)
Farewell to Pam McConnell
Our city councillor Pam McConnell has died much too early at age 71, a great loss to us and the city. She was our defender and ally since YQNA started in 2003 and became a friend to many of us. Pam was easy to approach, and her office was always open to hear our concerns — if not by her then by her senior advisor Tom Davidson, our steady contact person. Pam was busy in her large Ward 28 and as deputy mayor, but once we had her attention on Waterfront issues, she focused with tremendous energy and could out-talk anyone. Her ability to wrap up complex issues and see through a bureaucratic haze is clear in this video from City Council. The passion and logic that flowed from her left-of-centre conscience was aimed at building the city, defeating poverty and promoting equality. YQNA joins thousands in sending condolences to her family. Here is a collage of photos of Pam visiting YQNA and taking part in our neighbourhood events over the years.
Removal of Gardiner Ramps
— as seen and photographed by a Waterfront resident
Last Saturday was quiet at the ramp removal site. Just the background hum of traffic and the City, plus the beeping of the huge cherry-pickers as the workmen cut the steel beams off their bearings in a shower of sparks.
Most weekdays are different, when a hoe-ram – which I call the Great Beast – uses its single mechanical tooth to break up the concrete and asphalt roadway on the doomed ramp off the Gardiner to York, Bay and Yonge. Its work is done up to the west edge of Simcoe Street. Next to go will be the ramp that leads to Bay Street and the one that circles down to York Street and Queens Quay, where a lovely park will be created.
It all began 12 years ago, when some YQNA members asked the City if all these ramps were really needed. Fast forward to 2008 when the City finally began to review that very idea, and decided that they could be removed if a new ramp was built to Simcoe Street instead, and if Harbour Street was improved. More recently, Councillor McConnell found money to get the project going. So on April 17, 2017 at 5 am the ramp was closed forever and the demolition began.
This is what I see from my windows: first, the Great Beast cuts off the parapet; then it destroys the deck, pushing the rubble down between the beams. Surprisingly delicately, it cleans the beams of concrete and cuts off the smaller steel ties between them. This is VERY LOUD. All the metal is going to be recycled, I assume.
Next, the beam crew comes along and cuts the beams off the pillars. Other workers clear up the concrete rubble and ensure that dust is kept down and the public kept safe. A huge magnet collects up the small pieces of steel and drops them into a dumpster.
This urban renewal project will be completed in January, 2018, when the new down-ramp to Simcoe will open to traffic. Meanwhile many residents will live with the noise and traffic congestion. Fortunately, we are well trained from the recent three years of redesigning Queens Quay. Here is more information about how the ramp removal will affect us now and in the future.
Sail Ahoy
The Disabled Sailing Association of Ontario (DSAO) helps the disabled get out on Toronto Harbour in specially-designed sailboats all summer. It's a great charity in the middle of YQNA's neighbourhood. Come visit DSAO at the Harbourfront slip at Queens Quay and Rees Street.
There are lots of programs for both adults and kids. They are run by students, and supported by lots of enthusiastic volunteers, many from our neighbourhood.
Thanks to the generous support of donors and sponsors, the cost to a disabled person is only $15 per sail, plus a $50/yr membership.
But paying the staff and maintaining the boats costs money! The DSAO is grateful for any contribution. You can make a secure online donation to DSAO through CanadaHelps.org. A tax receipt will be issued to you from the Canada Helps website.
The DSAO also needs volunteers. You don't have to know how to sail; the association needs helpers on land too. To find out how you can help, please visit DisabledSailingOntario.com.
Say NO to the World's Biggest Nightclub
YQNA is at the center of a city-wide protest against a Waterfront nightclub that would be the largest in the world with a capacity of more than 15,000 people. That is if the Powerhouse Corporation is granted a liquor license from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Lengthy upcoming hearings at the AGCO Tribunal start February 9 and are open to the public.
Powerhouse Corporation's Licence Appeal Hearing starts February 9, 2017 at 9:30 am in the Tribunal's Offices in Toronto at 20 Dundas St. W., 5th floor. Hearings will continue if necessary on February 10, 13 and 14 and March 20, 21, 30 and 31, 2017.
The co-chair of YQNA, Edward Hore, is working pro bono as our lawyer and is submitting written protests to this outsized club — from city councillors, neighbourhood associations, condo boards, Waterfront developers and businesses. Residents on the Islands near the site are represented by lawyer Robert Tanner. Ken Greenberg, prominent urban designer of the Port Lands, says this monster club is the biggest threat to the Waterfront so far, exceeding others that residents fought off, such as a jet airport, casinos, box retail stores and a Ferris Wheel.
This club application — which would top the world's largest nightclub in Spain for 10,000 people — almost went unnoticed by the public. The club is currently called Rebel and is where the former Docks club lost its liquor license years ago in a similar imbroglio with the public. When YQNA learned the application details through councillor Pam McConnell from club owner Charles Khaboult of the Powerhouse Corporation, we started a successful campaign to engage the media. CBC TV and Radio gave extensive coverage as did The Globe and Mail. People were shocked at this news, to say the least. This mega-club would put Waterfront renewal plans for the Port Lands at risk and cause serious social, traffic and noise issues.
The enormous scale of this nightclub is not just a local Waterfront issue. It concerns millions of people who use the Waterfront as their "cottage country." The Waterfront is also home to a growing mixed-use community that comprises North America's largest urban renewal project under the auspices of Waterfront Toronto. To protect our precious Waterfront, you can sign this petition from the newly formed Waterfront For All — and spread the word to your friends!