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Making connections
The Year 9 Extended Performing Arts class have been working on a play called Trainers which is about the low wages of the people who make big brand name trainers. It is focused on the poor working conditions of the sweat shops that these people work in and the amount they are paid. This story is set in the far east. It starts with a girl called Laura who's mother tells her that she can no longer afford to send her to school, and that she has to go work at the Oriental Footwear Company. Laura meets the unkind boss Mr Lee who tells her, after a long hard 12 hour day, that she has only earned £3.80 . The year 9s have been working very hard to pull these productions together with the help of their teacher Miss Sargison.
The Facts:
- Almost half the toys in the US are produced in China, Thailand, and other Asian countries in sweatshops.
- 85% of sweatshop workers are young women between the ages of 15-25
- No health insurance is provided
- On average, a migrant worker works about 12 hours a day, 26 days a month.
- In a sweatshop in Capetown, there were only 3 toilets for about 2,000 workers
- 200,00 children die annually due to the hazardous conditions in the sweatshops.
So where were your trainers made and how? What responsibility do we have?
Trainers and shoes in Harrogate Grammar. An international issue at our feet.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Anil is the most powerful forgiveness expert you will ever meet. You cannot live a rich and fulfilled life without being able to forgive, whether it is yourself or others.
Anil has found that forgiveness is the express pathway to freedom. People do not want to forgive thinking that the other person will 'win', or they do not know how to forgive.They also think they have to speak to the other person or continue a relationship with them, which is not the case! You can forgive without speaking to the other person! It is all about YOU and your LIFE. Not forgiving is like you taking poison hoping something happens to the other person, it only hurts you!
Anil has a unique gift that will allow you to forgive, often in one session, so that you are free to live the life you truly deserve. Forgiving will give you much clarity about your life, including what your purpose and mission in life is and ultimately leads to Fulfillment. You cannot be fulfilled without the ability to forgive. It is fundamental to leading a richer, fuller and happier life.
Anil talks about the power of giving rather than having.
To Get Anil's new book free: http://dilogr.com/app1/s/HappinessSurvey
Join Anil's FB fans: http://FB.com/immediatehappiness
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/immediatehappiness
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/immediatehappiness


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Employers owe a duty to their employees to do everything they can to ensure their safety in the workplace. Unfortunately, some employers don't do enough to protect their staff. As a result, men and women all across the country have been subjected to sexual harassment at work.
Many of our readers may have seen the news that Bill O'Reilly, host of Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," was the subject of a investigation that revealed sexual harassment claims by five women who worked with O'Reilly. A former guest on O'Reilly's show, Wendy Walsh, provided this information and recently called Fox's anonymous hotline. Walsh claimed that O'Reilly promised her a position as a network contributor, but failed to follow through with his offer after she declined to go to his hotel room after a dinner in 2013. Walsh's attorney stated that Walsh called the hotline to get the company to take action.
As a result of this call, 21st Century Fox has hired a law firm to investigate further. The company has said that all claims of this nature are investigated through their anonymous hotline and that no employee had raised any concerns about O'Reilly there.
According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, any unwelcome sexual advances, unwanted verbal or physical sexual conduct or requests for sexual favors can all constitute sexual harassment at work. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees. If an employee is discriminated against for refusal of sexual activity, they can file a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. If the EEOC is unable to settle your complaint, you may be able to file a lawsuit against your employer.
Source: The New York Times, "Fox Asks Law Firm to Investigate Bill O'Reilly Harassment Claim," Emily Steel, April 9, 2017


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Not every woman who comes to Fulshear will take the same path. Some need treatment before they can transition, while some require only our support as they learn to create their independent life.
Based on the care team's clinical assessment, it is possible that you might skip the ranch experience completely and go straight to our Sugar Grove apartments for your transition experience. Our compassionate staff will provide varying levels of support, tailoring care based on your specific needs.
Unlike other types of transition programs, our average length of stay in independent living is six to eight months. This longer timeframe affords you the opportunity to settle in, get comfortable, and get a strong handle on learning to manage an independent life, as well as work on career aspirations or further your education.


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There were two guys from Alabama who love to fish, and they wanted to try some ice fishing.
They'd heard about it up in Canada, and they took off for up there. The lakes were frozen nicely. They stopped just before they got to a lake at a little bait shop and got all their tackle. One of them said, "We're going to need an ice pick."
So they got that, and they took off. In about two hours, one of them was back at the shop and said, "We're going to need another dozen ice picks."
Well, the fellow in the shop wanted to ask some questions, but he didn't. He sold him the picks, and the the guy left.
In about an hour, he was back. "We're going to need all the ice picks you've got."
The bait man couldn't stand it any longer. "By the way," he asked, "how are you fellows doing?"
"Not very well at all," he said. "We don't even have the boat in the water yet."


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The world's largest bearings maker SFK said it would acquire US-based Kaydon Corporation for $1.25bn in a bid to expand its business in North America.
The tender offer would start on 16 September and the acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2013, subject to regulatory approvals.
Michigan-based Kaydon has over 2,100 employees worldwide and manufactures bearings, velocity control products and so-called specialty products. The company had sales of $475m (£305m, €362m) in 2012, with an adjusted operating profit of around 16%, according to an SKF statement.
Kaydon has a strong presence in North America, which accounts for 62% of its sales. Europe accounts for 24% of the company's sales.
The purchase will help Sweden-based SKF reduce its dependency on its home market, Europe, which still accounts for about 50% of its sales. It will also provide access to Kaydon's North American manufacturing footprint.
Kaydon's stock was trading 22.94% higher to $35.53 at 9:43am in New York on Thursday. SKF's stock was trading 0.22% higher to 180.40 Swedish kronas at 3:45pm in Stockholm on Thursday.
SKF has offered $35.50 per Kaydon share - 22% higher than the closing price on 3 September. The all-cash deal valued Kaydon at 12.7 times adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
"We have followed the development of Kaydon for a long time. They have a strong product portfolio, strong management and a solid financial performance ... In particular this acquisition, combined with our other activities, investments and acquisitions in the last few years, shows our strong commitment to the North American market," SKF President and Chief Executive Tom Johnstone said.
The move by SKF is expected to result in annual cost synergies of $30m. Sales synergies, such as being able to distribute Kaydon products through the SKF distribution network worldwide, are expected to hover around $50m.
JPMorgan was the exclusive financial advisor to SKF and Reed Smith provided legal counsel.


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Tonight I'm not doing a review; I'm sitting here sipping on a homebrew, a Belgian Dubbel I brewed for the Maine homebrewer's competition. My entry wasn't a winner but it's still an excellent beer and most importantly, I made it. It seemed like an appropriate way to end my evening, having spent some time down at the Central Street Farmhouse attending their brewing 101 class.
Zeth and Asa were brewing one of their house kits, Mothers Milk Stout, an extract kit with specialty grains. With the water heated to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, the grains in a mesh bag were placed into the kettle to steep for 15 minutes, this allowed Zeth some time to explain the difference between extract brewing and all grain brewing. After the grains had steeped, the bag was removed from the kettle and the propane burner re-ignited. As the water reached the boiling point, Asa began adding the two cans of malt extract, the base of the beer; these ingredients contribute to the flavor, color and body of the beer, as well as provide the fermentable sugars that the yeast will consume to create alcohol. When a full rolling boil was achieved the first hops addition was tossed into the kettle. Zeth then explained hops and the wide variety that are available to homebrewers. He explained how hops are a natural preservative and how the addition of hops at different times during the boil will change the bitterness, flavor and aroma of the beer. A couple of bags of hop pellets were passed around the group to be seen and smelled. As we approached the end of the boil the final hops addition went in the kettle as well as a pound of lactose, an unfermentable sugar that will add to the body and sweetness of the finished product. Before transferring to the fermentation bucket we watched Asa clean and sanitize any and everything that would come into contact with the brew. Zeth took a hydrometer reading to determine the gravity of the unfermented beer. The class ended after everyone had an opportunity to ask some questions.
Overall I found this to be an excellent class, as an established homebrewer I wasn't learning anything I didn't already know, but it gave me the opportunity to see another brewer's process. I found the information presented to be very straight forward and easy to understand, this is perfect for anyone new to homebrewing. Zeth and Asa make homebrewing feel very approachable. This class also gives people the opportunity to see what is involved without making an investment in ingredients and equipment. The class is completely free and everyone is welcome to attend. Check out the Farmhouse website and follow their Facebook and Twitter accounts for updates on upcoming brewing classes.
Mother's Milk Stout Recipe
Malt Extract:
One (1) can or bag Briess Dark malt extract
One (1) can or bag Briess Golden light malt extract
One (1) pound Lactose (add for the last 10 minutes of the boil)
Adjunct/Specialty Grains:
1/2lb Roasted Barley
1/2lb Chocolate Malt
1/2 lb Flaked Oats
1/2lb Crystal 60
1oz Challenger hops (entire 60min boil)
1oz Kent Golding hops (last 10 min of boil)
Suggested Yeast:
Safale US-05 (dry) or BRY-97 West Coast ale yeast (dry)
Wyeast American Ale (WY1056)
Central Street Farmhouse
Web: http://www.centralstreetfarmhouse.com/
Twitter: @FarmhouseBangor
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/centralstreetfarmhouse


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"Because parents cannot take milestones for granted, development takes on an added element of excitement and anticipation."
Dr. William Sears, The Baby Book
These words helped get me through some tough times during Christina's slow development. Eight homeschool moms were due to have babies within 2 months of each other, when Christina was born, and, to this day, when I see our children together, and see how grown up their 4 year olds are compared to Christina, I wince inwardly.
Then God sends the surprises, which are truly appreciated by special mothers, like when Christina discovered the Christmas train at the old fashioned hardware store on the corner. She was completely absorbed, running to and fro, to see the train emerge from the tunnel connecting it to the other side of the store window, saying, "where go?" each time, Just to have her so engaged in a typical childhood activity, and speaking appropriately, was a thrill to me, a Christmas surprise.


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Author: Gabriel Persechino-Forest Published: January 7th, 2018
Dance with Devils Fandisc Opening Movie
The fandisc of Dance with Devils (Titled My Carol) just had its opening movie streamed:
Source: Rejet's Official YouTube Channel and Article Image: Taken from opening movie
Diabolik Lovers Zero Announced
The controversial Diabolik Lovers series has a new project in the works titled Diabolik Lovers Zero (New Chapter 0). So far, all we have on this new project is a promotional video:
Source: Rejet's Official Twitter Account and Rejet's Official YouTube Channel
Killing Bites Cancelled
The action game adaptation of Killing Bites has officially been announced as cancelled for good.
Source: Official Website
SSGSS Vegeta Trailer
New trailer featuring Vegeta has been released for Dragon Ball FighterZ:
Source: Bandai Namco Entertainment America's YouTube Channel


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Customer reference
"We have worked closely together with PET since 2010. One major focus is on preparing individuals and small groups of nurses for the "B2 German for Nurses" examination, which is recognized by the Bavarian government."
PET in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
German for nurses and care workers
Are you working in nursing or elderly care and need to improve your German?
Do you require an officially approved B2 German test in order to obtain recognition from the German authorities?
PET is at your service!
Over the past five years PET has become a specialist in this field, via successful co-operations with a number of clinics, hospitals and retirement homes.
We offer the following courses:
Course 1: Intensive German course for nurses and care workers A2 B2 leading to PET's own B2 exam
Do you work in the nursing or elderly care industry, speak German at A2 level, and need to take an official B2 German language exam in order to get your occupational status recognised by the German authorities?
PET offers regular intensive group courses:
- Groups of 6 to 12 participants
- Intensive courses over a period of 4 months e.g. 2 days per week, 5 learning units of 45 mins per day
Course content:
- Expand existing general German skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking
- Specialist medical vocabulary
- Communicating in retirement homes / hospitals: interacting with patients / residents, colleagues, superiors and family members
- Documentation: Records, transferring and discharging patients, etc.
- B2 exam preparation
The course culminates in our B2 Examination "German for Nurses and Care Workers".
PET's examination is recognised by the Upper Bavarian government. Check our "Open Program" section for a list of upcoming exam dates and a registration form.
The exam consists of the following modules:
|Exam module
|75 minutes
|Selective reading / general reading / grammatical structures
|approx. 30 minutes
|Understanding a message left on an answering machine / Understanding arguments during a dialoge involving several people
|50 minutes
|Write an e-mail / about someone's background / an admission or accident report
|approx. 15 minutes
|Brief presentation and interactive discussion
Successful candidates receive the following certificate:
PET "B2 German for Nurses and Care Workers"
Contact us to find out about upcoming courses and fees!
Course 2: B2+ advanced course
Are you a nurse or care worker who has already passed the B2 exam but would like to further improve your German for your job and career?
Our B2+ advanced course will consolidate your level and take it further:
- Groups of 4 to 10 participants
- Course times to suit work schedules
Course content:
- Role-plays for oral communication: Useful phrases to build confidence when talking to colleagues, superiors and patients / residents
- Practical exercises for care documentation: useful tips to develop a logical writing style that is easy to understand
Contact us to find out about upcoming courses and fees!
Course 3: One-to-one training
Are you a nurse or care worker who speaks German but want to confirm your current level?
We'll assess your level during a quick written and oral test conducted at the PET office.
We'll then advise you on your options:
Maybe we've got a group course that's just right for you. Perhaps one-to-one training might be the best option to help you quickly achieve your personal goals, e.g. exam preparation or certain language areas.
Benefits of one-to-one training:
- You'll learn faster and more effectively
- You can arrange courses to fit your schedule
- You choose how many hours of tuition you nee


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What 2011 Holds for Apple: Long Shots, Sure Shots and Even MoneyDecember 28, 2010 No Comments
With the birth of the iPad, 2010 has been a banner year for Apple. What does the next year hold in store? We may not see a groundbreaking new device category come along, but we can expect some specific improvements to what's already there. Inching a little farther out on a limb, perhaps we'll see major MacBook makeovers, a more unified approach to content, and exciting new MobileMe abilities.News


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AIA is one of the largest promotional product distributors in the U.S. The organization supports a large community of franchisees and independent resellers with a variety of programs and services. The brand had gone through various stages of change, however it never fully captured the energy and excitement that defines the promotional industry. By fully positioning AIA as the organization that "propels idea people" to "be boldly you" we were able to build a strong colorful theme and connect with the true value proposition of the brand.
Work Completed
- Corporate Rebrand
- Value Proposition, Positioning and Messaging
- Visual Identity
- Website


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Horse Riding
The most basic form of horse riding involves going to a stable and choosing a horse to ride trails in the area. You will usually not be required to provide your own equipment, although you are often expected to clean the tack and rub down the horse after your ride. Each stable will have its own rules as to how fast you are allowed to ride and which trails you can take, but they will also often offer riding lessons to those who are new to the sport.
Rodeo events can be considerably more dangerous than other horse riding experiences, however.
Horse riding offers something for every level of skill and adventure seeking and is a good way to feel more in touch with nature while improving your balance and muscle tone.


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Friday, December 8, 2017
Blue Jays 2011 Draft Report Card
When Alex Anthopolous took over as GM of the Blue Jays, one of his first priorities was to return the club to its scouting roots. Under the previous regime of J.P. Ricciardi, the scouting department was cut back considerably, and Toronto was no longer considered to be a standard bearer of acquiring and developing prospects. The 2009 Jays media guide listed 13 area scouts and 4 national cross checkers to take care of evaluating amateur players, and nine pro and major league scouts. A year later, Anthopoulos had put together a scouting staff of 21 pro and MLB scouts, and 24 area scouts and 8 cross checkers. It was the biggest scouting department in the game.
The benefit of this increase was to make each area scout's geographical area smaller, which allowed them to get more looks at players, and get to know them better. By 2011, the second draft under Scouting Director Blake Parker, the Blue Jays were at the top of their scouting game.
The Blue Jays had taken advantage of old draft rules to hoard picks: in 2010, they had 8 of the first 93 (taking, among others, Aaron Sanchez, Noah Syndergaard, and Justin Nicolino). In 2011, they had 7 of the first 78, landing Joe Musgrove, Daniel Norris, and later, Anthony DeSclafani. Interestingly, top pick Massachusetts prep righty Tyler Beede, who had told all MLB teams a month earlier that he had committed to Vanderbilt and therefore not to select him, failed to sign after the Jays chose him 21st overall. The compensation pick they received next year, of course, was Duke RHP Marcus Stroman.
The Top Arms
Norris (taken in the 2nd round), considered by many the top high school southpaw in the draft, struggled with his command and overhauled mechanics in his first pro season, but had a breakout 2014, pitching at four levels, and finishing the year with Toronto. Dealt to the Tigers as the centrepiece of the David Price deal last year, Norris has battled some adversity, including a cancerous growth on his thyroid (first detected when he was pitching for Buffalo last summer) which was removed in the off season, and some inconsistency early this year. Norris pitched well in Detroit's rotation for the final two months of 2016, and should be a lock to be stay in it next season.
Musgrove was dealt to the Astros in 2012 in the J.A. Happ deal, and made his big league debut against the Blue Jays in August. He set a major league record by fanning 8 in that game, the most ever for a pitcher making his first big league appearance in relief. Musgrove allowed only 1 hit over 4 1/3 scoreless innings, retiring the last 10 hitters in a row. From there, Musgrove moved into the Astros rotation, starting 10 games over the rest of the season. He has to be considered a favourite to land a spot as a starter with Houston next year.
DeSclafani was part of the blockbuster deal with Florida that brought Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle to Toronto 2012, and after making his MLB debut with the Marlins in 2014, he was later traded to the Reds in the Matt Latos deal. Despite missing two months with a strained oblique, he made 20 starts for Cincinnati this year, and also has to be considered to have locked down a rotation spot for next year.
The Top Bats
They had not yet developed an overwhelming preference for projectable high school arms that would mark later drafts, but Toronto did take high school pitchers with 5 of their first 7 picks.
The two bats they had hope for were California HS OF Jake Anderson, who they chose in the 1st supplemental round, and a Georgia HS OF with MLB bloodlines in Dwight Smith, Jr. Anderson's career has been significantly derailed by injuries, and after reaching full season ball with Lansing this year, finished the year with short season Vancouver. Smith has reached AA, and might profile one day as a fourth outfielder, but spent his second season with New Hampshire this year.
The Sleeper
Few scouts kicked the tires on a kid from suburban Los Angeles when he was a high school senior. Neither did recruiters from Division 1 schools. So, Kevin Pillar headed off to nearby D2 Cal State Dominguez Hills, a school that produced utility infieder Craig Grebeck, who spent three seasons with the Blue Jays in the later 90s.
All Pillar did at Cal State Dominguez was hit - he was second in his conference in hitting his freshman season, and set an NCAA record with a 54-game hitting streak in his junior year. But still the scouts tended to give Pillar's game a miss, and 978 players were selected before him when he finished his senior year. The Blue Jays took a chance, taking him in the 32nd round in 2011.
Two years later, Pillar was in the big leagues.
The son of a former motorcross racer has shown little regard for his health as he made a series of highlight reel catches since establishing himself as a regular last season - he played the last half of 2015 with a broken hand, and he recently had surgery to repair thumb ligaments he injured sliding into 2nd in early August.
Pillar provides elite-level defence, and when the team was on its way to scoring runs at a near-historic level in 2015, the offence could carry his .314 OBP. This year, with production down, so was Pillar's walk rate and hard contact rates. His dip in offensive production was not the sole reason the team had trouble scoring runs down the stretch, but it didn't help.
Still, Pillar has generated 9.3 of the 15.9 WAR the 2011 draft has produced, and considering how far he has come since his D2 days (no one taken below Pillar has cracked MLB), the Blue Jays amateur scouting staff deserves top marks for this pick. Projected to be an overachieving, fourth outfielder type, Pillar has more than surpassed expectations.
The Ones That Got Away
Louisiana HS LHP Aaron Nola was taken in the 22nd round, but opted to attend LSU (his brother Austin, a junior infielder was taken in the 31st round, but didn't sign, and returned to LSU for his senior year).
The Phillies took Nola with the 7th pick in 2014, and he was in the majors a little over a year later. After a good start with the Phillies (2.65 ERA on June 5th), but was hit hard over his next 8 starts, and was placed on the DL in August with strained elbow ligaments and tendons).
RHP Luke Weaver was taken a few picks earlier in the 19th round, but the Florida high schooler opted to attend Florida State. Selected by the Cardinals in the 1st round (27th overall) in 2014, Weaver averaged almost a K per inning before debuting with St Louis this year. He gave up some contact in his first MLB season (46 hits in 36 innings), but he also struck out 45.
Future Super Utility Guy?
Andy Burns was one of the top Colorado high school prospects in 2008, but fell to the 25th round to the Rockies due to his commitment to Kentucky. After this sophomore season with the Wildcats, he transferred to Arizona, meaning that he had to sit out his junior year. The Blue Jays had kept tabs on Burns, and even though he didn't play in 2011, took him in the 11th round. Primarily a short stop, the Blue Jays began to groom him in a variety of positions in 2014. He played mostly 2B for Buffalo this year, but can play all four infield and the corner outfield positions. Burns made his MLB debut with Toronto in May, and appeared in 10 games in three separate stints with the team. With his versatility, above average speed, and bat, Burns is all but ready to fill a valuable reserve role with a big league team.
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The Converse CONS One Star Nubuck delivers durability and impact protection with a tough leather upper and plush, Nike Lunarlon cushioning. The low profile offers total flexibility, while the rubber outsole provides excellent traction wherever you go.
ONE STAR ORIGINSIn 1974, Converse launched a low-cut suede version of the Chuck Taylor All Star with a simple but impactful style change: a solitary star became the statement on the sneaker's lateral side. Reissued in the early '90s, the One Star soon rose to prominence in alternative culture, embraced by self-reliant innovators of street and skate.
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Yes ok it's been a little while since the last Evil Dorf update, but that sneaky chap Geoff over at Oakbound Studios (Notice the name change!) has been pushing forward despite being a rather busy chap with his new 32mm Legends of British Steampunk range and other bits!.
Really go check them out,while not Oldhammer are rather purdy indeed.
Now those which follow Oakbound may have spotted a picture on the Oakbound FB Group (Go join it you tart!)
Those which haven't well here it is!
Now at the top you can spot the Steampunk range along the top..
But what's that on the bottom I spy!?
Yup Multi-part Evil Dorfs!
Here's a sneak peak at one
Very exciting for parts of Wave 2 to be cast and well it's 1 step closer to having a full range.
On a final note, go to Oakbound FB if you havn't already and give it a like and browse.


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The sun will not transgress his measures. For if he does, the Furies, ministers of Justice, will find him out.
– Heraclitus
Posted by gazeoftheabyss | Filed under Cosmology, Ecology, Fire, Greece, Heraclitus, Philosophy
28 Thursday Jun 2012
The sun will not transgress his measures. For if he does, the Furies, ministers of Justice, will find him out.
– Heraclitus
Posted by gazeoftheabyss | Filed under Cosmology, Ecology, Fire, Greece, Heraclitus, Philosophy
28 Thursday Jun 2012
Lowith compares the undiscriminating nature of the Japanese with the free mastery of the ancient Greeks when they adopted neighboring cultures: they felt free among others as if they were at home, and at the same time retained their sense of self. There is no such unity of self and others in the case of Japan. Lowith says that modern Japan is itself a 'living contradiction.' What he says is true–but how are we then to resolve such a contradiction? As a European, Lowith let the question lie there. It is our problem, a problem of will.
– Keiji Nishitani, The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism, 1990
Posted by gazeoftheabyss | Filed under Cosmopolitanism, Culture, Education, Eleatics, Greece, Japan, Kyoto, Nietzsche, Philosophy, Sovereignty, Uncategorized
28 Thursday Jun 2012
If it were not for these things they would not have known the name Justice.
– Heraclitus LXIX
Posted by gazeoftheabyss | Filed under Geopolitics, Greece, Heraclitus, Illuminati, Justice, NWO, Philosophy, Revolution, Situationism, Zionism
28 Thursday Jun 2012
Let us not concur casually about the most important matters.
– Heraclitus
Posted by gazeoftheabyss | Filed under Greece, Heraclitus, Philosophy
27 Wednesday Jun 2012
the power which steers is not light but it is fire
Posted by gazeoftheabyss | Filed under Fire, Greece, Heraclitus, Illuminati, Journal, Philosophy, Pyromania, Uncategorized, Zionism
25 Monday Jun 2012
Posted 911, Colorado, Education, Fire, Fukushima, Genocide, Geopolitics, Greece, Hunger, Illuminati, Maple Spring, Nazis, Nietzsche, NWO, Philosophy, Rockefeller, Rothschilds, Society, TEPCO, Zionismin
canada, chernobyl, fukushima, hydrangea, illuminati, japan, london, maple, mexico, msm, nyc, occupy, ottawa, revolution, rt, spring
one thing the MSM might do at this point in time is to give the illusion they've 'joined' the cause. but who'd fall for that anyway?
(note the original source of this blog http://sovereignsentience.blogspot.com/2009/09/who-really-is-behind… has been banned from google. So here is another copy)
By Matthew D. Jarvie
September 24, 2009
Dissecting the New Age
Russia Today has gained huge popularity over the past year among followers of the "alternative" media. While RT does feature news pieces about topics not regularly discussed in the American mainstream media, for a while I have wondered why the Russian media would have an interest in things pertaining to the New World Order, such as the manufactured banking crisis and the reality behind 9/11. After all, hasn't Russia several times called for a New World Order and a one world currency?
Russia Today is sponsored by the state-owned Russian news agency, RIA-Novosti. Novosti was, and still is, essentially an arm of the KGB. Many believe the KGB ceased to exist with the fall of the Iron Curtain, but those who know better understand that this just isn't the case. The Soviet system was never abolished, rather moved underground. The KGB simply changed its name and is now called the FSB (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation).
It is important to remember that communism was born not out of Russia, but the operational centers of the international banking elite who work primarily out of New York and London. Communism was sicced upon an unwitting Russian people to create an antithesis to the thesis of capitalism, and a bogeyman that has been used to push a fascist/totalitarian globalist agenda. The people of the West could never know that the real enemy existed within, so the global elite used Russia as their scapegoat by funding the rise of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Many people still believe that Russia exists outside of globalist control, but nothing could be further from the truth since Russia has been under the control of the bankers since the 1917 revolution. It is simply Russia's purpose in the dialectic to appear as a looming threat to "western democracy," when it is controlled by the same people who control the US and the rest of the world from behind the scenes.
Communism was designed to have the appearance of spreading outward from Russia, to eventually ensnare the world in its proverbial net. The supposed fall of communism is one of the biggest ruses in modern history that was perpetrated on the people of the world by the globalists. While communism was once used as an overt threat (bogeyman) to bring us closer to global governance, it has since been transformed into a covert threat to carry on the same agenda as everyone looks to the Middle East as the latest manufactured threat to "world peace." The goal has been the eventual creation of a global fascist system that would be the synthesis of capitalism and communism, resulting in a system that is neither of the two but rather completely new altogether, called the Third Way.
So it's quite obvious that Russia has played an important role in the rise of the New World Order. It has served as an outside bogeyman, a beta testing grounds, and an operational base for the deviants seeking to bring about their world totalitarian state. One of the objectives of Russia's KGB (and the CIA in the US and MI6 in the UK) was the infiltration of Western media (on behalf of the globalists) — the goal being to demoralize and soften up the people, making them more malleable and open to the "change" offered by their controllers.
In the mid-80s, researcher G. Edward Griffin interviewed Soviet KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov (aka Tomas Schuman), where he discussed, among other things, the process of demoralization and the media being integral to achieving these goals. Bezmenov himself worked as a propagandist for Russia's Novosti — which served to produce false news stories — and was well aware of the techniques used for manipulating people's thoughts and opinions.
People must realize that all effective propaganda contains large amounts of truth in order to be convincing to its audience. It's how the information is presented and spun that determines the outcome.
Is it possible that a news network such as the Novosti-controlled Russia Today serves a purpose that is the same or similar to what the so-called "Truth" Movement serves? What if the ultimate goal was not to inform and educate, but rather demoralize so people will be more likely to accept a solution that's offered by the same people who created the problems to begin with? While it is true that many people have "woken up" in recent years, we must ask ourselves what it really means to have "woken up." How many people that have woken up to the rampant corruption behind the Federal Reserve and the truth behind 9/11, really have a good understanding of the bigger picture and how it relates to the Hegelian dialectic? I would say of the people who have "woken up," few have an adequate understanding of how the system really works and therefore are more likely to accept a phony "solution" to what they see as a system that is broken and beyond repair (which it is).
Even the Western mainstream media has given credence, albeit little, to alternative viewpoints pertaining to 9/11 and the banking crisis, which tells me there probably isn't too big of a concern among those at the top about this information getting out. Otherwise, why would people like Alex Jones be given guest appearances on networks such as FOX, CNN and others?
I have expressed the belief in numerous previous articles that the Truth Movement is controlled opposition being steered and directed without the knowledge of its participants for the following purposes:
* To marginalize and discredit the truth and independent-minded truthseekers with sensationalism, wild antics and bogus rumors.
* To incite people to act out of fear through violence, creating an order out of chaos situation that plays into the system's agenda.
* To lead people into another false paradigm where they are unable to see the big picture and look for non-existent solutions within the system.
* To break people down and demoralize them with constant fear-mongering, so they are even more easy to manipulate and deceive.
People often retaliate against criticism of the "Truth Movement", saying things like, "You don't want the truth to get out." Of course that is nonsense, and I ask those of you making these accusations: When have popular movements ever not been controlled? If people want the truth, they're not going to get it being blind followers of a movement or self-proclaimed "leader," or adherents to a particular outlet of information, be it the "alternative" media or otherwise. People need to do their own research and start looking into things for themselves. Just because someone purports to be a proponent of the truth, does not mean that truth doesn't come with a hidden agenda or serves the sole purpose of informing people.
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25 Monday Jun 2012
Posted Art, Friendship, Greece, Music, Parmenidesin
"Aesop fables" by Empirikos Od.-Pesoa M.
Published on Jun 23, 2012 by nerantzisg
Empirikos Odysseas – Pesoa Martin
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38 Widmer St, Toronto, ON M5V 2E9, Canada
For Sale, Pre-Construction
$400 to over $ ...
Central Condos is a new condo project by Concord Pacific Developments Inc. and is currently in pre-construction. The new project will be located at 38 Widmer Street in Toronto.
Central Condos will be a 52 storey tower with 426 mixed condo units. The estimated completion date for Central Condos is set for 2022.
This building features high-tech residential amenities, such as 100% WiFi connectivity in all common areas including elevators, hallways and parking, will also include energy efficient suites with smart thermostats, state-of-the-art conference rooms, 100% EV parking, refrigerated parcel storage and NFC entryways where your phone becomes a keyless system to enter your buildings front door.
Concord has created a vision to transform this building into a dynamic environment for creativity, focus and connection bringing your workspace at your home. Whether you need a desk, office suite or board rooms for you or your clients, the builder is going to create an environment that increase productivity, innovation, and collaboration all in one space that will allow you to Work, Live and Play from home!
Central Condos Specs
Number of Storeys 52
Total Number of Suites 426
Floor Plans 12
Suite Size Range 380 – 938 sq ft
Parking Price $79,000
Locker Price $12,000
Platinum Access
• First Access to Pricing & Floorplans
• The Very Best Incentives & Promotions
• Extended Deposit Structure
• Right of Assignment
• Free Lawyer Review of your Purchase Agreement
• Free Mortgage Arrangements
• Studio – From the low $400,000's
• 1 Bedroom – From the low $500,000's
• 1 Bed + Den – From the mid $600,000's
• 2 Bedrooms – From the high $600,000's
• 3 Bedrooms – From the high $800,000's
Tentative Occupancy: 2022
Deposit Structure: 5% on signing, 5% in 120 days, 5% in 210 days, 5% in 400 days, 5% in Interim Closing
Taxes: Estimated at 1% of purchase price
• $3,000 Closing credit on any 1 Bedroom Suites
• $5,000 Closing credit on any 2 Bedroom Suites
• $10,000 Closing credit on any 3 Bedroom Suites
Concord Pacific Developments Inc. was formed in 1987 to develop Concord Pacific Place on the former Expo Lands in downtown Vancouver. In the late 90's, the group merged with the publicly listed Burcon Group, which controlled Oxford Properties that owned one of the largest office and retail portfolios in Canada. In the early 2000's, Concord Pacific became a separate public company and was subsequently privatized. Concord Pacific is now a private company active in the residential and commercial real estate investment and development business.
The Concord Group of Companies success has continued with Canada's largest skyline defining communities, Concord Pacific Place in Vancouver and Concord CityPlace in Toronto. Concord has further expanded with numerous large scale master-planned communities across the Canada and is now developing in the UK. Concord has completed over 100 residential and mixed use buildings with more than 50 in various stages of planning and development.
Over the past 25 years, the Concord Group of companies has also grown into other industry sectors including software and information technology, telecommunications, as well as green energy projects in solar, wind and hydroelectric power generation.


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Book Details
[논문] The Book of Revelation and Early Jewish Textual Culture (By Garrick V. Allen)
Part of Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series
Publication: July 2017
format: Hardback
isbn: 9781107198128
Table of Contents
1. The scribal apocalypse and early Jewish textual culture
2. Textual pluriformity in Jewish and Christian antiquity
3. Borrowing prophetic words: textual form and access to tradition
4. Reading Zechariah with John: techniques of Reuse, exegetical resources, and textual hermeneutics
5. Reading Zechariah in early Judaism
6. 'These words are faithful and true' (Rev. 22.6)
Appendix 1
Appendix 2.


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Volunteering with Diabetes Canada gives you a chance to contribute to lives of people affected by diabetes –perhaps those close to you, in your community, or even at the national level. You join a team of committed, generous people who are making a difference.
We offer a variety of volunteer opportunities, working to match your skills, interests and availability to the right role for you. By submitting the application below, you agree to be contacted by our volunteer engagement team to further discuss the opportunities available.


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Art Show Given a Random Point - art show
Tuesday, March 3th, 2015 – 19:00
Given a Random Point
Or about the imponderability of a point
The point as a form of ultimate abstraction. Stripped of materiality or dimension.
Actually, has anyone ever seen a point?
Although it represents a basic concept of geometric analysis, when subjected to individual analysis, we realize that the point lacks any sort of content. (F. Klein, Elementary Mathematics from an Advanced Standpoint: Geometry). By the way, about the point, ever since Euclid, we know that it has no parts.
A void full of meaningful at the intersection between mathematical nominalism and idealism, between geometry and philosophy, the point is all around us and yet nowhere. If two worlds were to intersect in a single point, they could have everything or nothing in common.
Such a point can be found inside the eyeball, where the image of the world is inverted to then be projected upside down on the retina.
Situated uncertainly inside the pupil this point may glide depending on the plane of sight. This comprises two worlds - one that lies ahead of us and one beyond our sight, yet remaining outside of it.
Let's call it the-point-in-which-the-gaz
A big-bang moment inside being: in which the image of the whole gathers in a miniscule point to then explode and make all the sense we give to the world.
In this point, the entire content captured by vision acquires the same value on the same informational plan - the material blends in with its shadow, and emptiness is confused with fullness.
So here we are in a paradoxical situation: the point, lacking any content, becomes the material manifestation of a bipolar representation.
Arantxa Etcheverria creates a series of geometric situations, intercepting instances of immanence in everyday life. Forms of conjunction between light and shadow, brought together in the same bidimensional plan.
Given a Random Point functions as a waiting room for a new state of consciousness.
(photo: "Treatise of Man", René Descartes , 1664 edition)


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First details regarding Dead Rising 2's new multiplayer mode have come out of the Tokyo Game Show.
"A series of multiplayer challenges for up to four players via online play," will be jammed into the anticipated sequel, including "jumping into giant hamster balls and mowing down the undead; seeing who can place the most drill buckets on zombies' heads," "taking to the arena on a motorbike with chainsaws for handlebars". Players can also interfere with other players' scores.
New screenshots have also been released of the game's single-player campaign with Chuck Greene smashing the crap out of those zombies we all know and love. See those at the gallery. As well as that, two new trailers are also available, where you'll get your first glimpse of gameplay.


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The Learning Center at Cleveland Community College helps parents reach a better life through education programs that improve their employment standing.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is one of many highlighting Cleveland County agencies that help at-risk children and will participate in Connect, Commit to Change 2012.
The Learning Center at Cleveland Community College helps parents reach a better life through education programs that improve their employment standing.
That, in turn, helps parents improve their children's lives, thus improving the community, said Jerry Hopper, a recruiter for the Learning Center.
�The Learning Center Cleveland Community College and Connect, Commit to Change help reach the main goal of offering a bridge to the next level," said Hopper.
Connect, Commit to Change helps the Learning Center reach more parents to spread information about continuing educational opportunities.
The Learning Center provides free education programs for parents and other family members 18 or older. If applicants are 16 or 17 years of age, they can contact Dan McCabe with the Focus program in the JobLink Center.
�These programs are for parents who didn�t finish their education, rather it be G.E.D. or high school diploma or junior college or so on,� Hopper said. �These programs have even helped grandparents who have said I just want to be able to read to my grandkids."
The Learning Center works to help parents and grandparents earn their high school diploma, associate's, bachelor's, master's or doctorate degree.
Connect, Commit to Change:
What is it?: An annual event connecting organizations who help children to volunteers who keep those organizations operating. During the event, which is a partnership between The Star and the community, those organizations share what they do and connect with community members willing to help their cause. From serving as a lunch buddy to spending time outdoors with an inner-city child, there are a variety of ways to help.
How can you help?: Attend the event, connect with an organization in need.
When is it?: Saturday, Nov. 3, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where is it?: Cleveland County Fairgrounds
Last year: The event netted 244 commitments from volunteers who pledged to help the county�s needy children.
New this year: This year's event is named "The Week of the Child." The event will partner at the fairgrounds with Hog Happnin�, an annual fundraiser to benefit Children�s Homes of Cleveland County. The Shelby Junior Charity League Holiday Gift Galleria will be the same weekend at the LeGrand Center, across the street from the fairgrounds. Groups will share work to promote assistance for area children in need.
For more information: 'Like' the 'Connect Commit to Change' page on Facebook.
Want to volunteer with this year's event? Contact Collette Deviney at email@example.com. Volunteer opportunities are available for both teens and adults.


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Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) offers direct, on-demand travel in automated vehicles seating 3-6 passengers on exclusive right-of-way. Commercially available systems now offer speeds up to 45 kph at headways from 3 seconds. With 3-second headways, a typical load of 1.5 passengers and 30 empty vehicles, the link capacity will be 1200 passengers per hour (one direction). This paper explores ways to extend the capabilities of PRT with respect to capacity and speed. Strategies have been developed and verified with the generic simulation software PRTsim.
Efficient feeder distributor systems around train stations are important in attracting train passengers. Such systems would be a suitable application for personal rapid transit (PRT). This paper suggests layouts and operations strategies for transfer stations between PRT and heavy rail. Ticket handling can be avoided by having the train fare include PRT trips. Ridesharing can be encouraged by destination signs. The catchment area that can be efficiently served is related to the interval between trains. The capacity of the station and guideway can be improved by coupling PRT vehicles in the station and decoupling them as necessary en route. Applications in Sweden are illustrated with the PRTsim software. In one case, outgoing PRT vehicles were loaded to 78%.
In order to achieve sustainable long-term transport infrastructure development, there is a growing need for fast, reliable and effective methods to evaluate and predict the impact of traffic safety measures. Recognising this need, and the need for an active traffic safety approach, this thesis focuses on traffic safety assessment and prediction based on the use of safety indicators that measure the spatial and/or temporal proximity of safety critical events. The main advantage of such measures is that they occur more frequently than accidents, and therefore require relatively short periods of study to establish values that can later be used for comparison, or for accident prediction purposes. There are a number of more generally accepted safety indicators including: Time-to-Accident, Time-to-Collision, and Post-Encroachment Time. These are based on different underlying principles and measurement techniques, including both on-site subjective estimation, and objective photometric measures.
A major part of the work presented in this thesis, concerns identifying the potential and limitations of the different safety indicators with regard to their validity and reliability, and practical use for safety assessment and prediction purposes. This is done in conjunction with field studies in the urban and suburban environment, at both signalised and unsignalised intersections. Results from these studies indicate that on-site observation methods provide useful quantitative and qualitative information relatively quickly and efficiently, provided that they are used correctly. On the other hand, the methods based on photometric measurement (video-analysis) proved arduous and time-consuming. Furthermore, there are questions regarding the abilities of the Time-to-Collision and Post-Encroachment Time safety indicators to adequately represent interaction severity, suggesting possible flaws in fundamental concepts related to construct validity. Importantly, results showed that the relationship between safety indicators and traffic accidents is complex and equivocal, where many different factors and processes can impose a significant influence on safety. This makes generalised predictive modelling a particularly difficult task for safety analysts.
The potential of micro-simulation for traffic safety and performance estimation based on the use of safety indicators was investigated in the second part of this thesis. Microscopic traffic simulation has become increasingly popular among transport planners, due to the fact that it serves as a safe and flexible off-line test environment for the estimation of dynamic and complex traffic system effects. It is useful and cost-effective in relation to the evaluation of issues concerning roadway design, and technological systems that influence road-user behaviour and vehicle performance. For reasons related to modelling fidelity and data quality, simulation has seldom been used for traffic safety estimation. Simulation model development is however, undergoing rapid development and the area of 'safety-simulation' and is recognised as having a high potential in the field of transport planning and traffic engineering.
As part of the work in this thesis, practical simulation experiments were carried out to investigate this potential, and identify limitations. Based on the data from one of the earlier studies, and knowledge regarding important safety-influencing factors and behavioural processes, one of the simulation experiments showed evidence to suggest that realistic safety critical events could be generated and measured using safety indicators in a simulation environment, without making unnecessary and unrealistic behavioural assumptions. Furthermore, a second application of this methodology revealed the safety potential of a rear-end incident-reduction function used in standard vehicle actuated signalling. While both of these simulation studies highlighted the potential of this type of approach, the need for more flexible and realistic models of interactive behavioural processes could be identified in addition to the general need for greater active research into the field of safety simulation.
In today's public bus transport punctuality is one of the main problems to deal with for traffic planners and operators, especially in large cities such as Stockholm. The current static models do not handle congestion delays and the interaction between bus and car traffic, leading to overly optimistic timetables and hard to manage delays. In the DYMOBUS project (Funded by VINNOVA and City of Stockholm) a dynamic modelling tool was developed in order to study these interactions. This paper discusses a mesoscopic, mixed-traffic, a transit simulation model designed to support evaluation of operations planning and control, especially in the context of Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS). Examples of applications include frequency determination, evaluation of real time control strategies for schedule maintenance and restoration from major disruptions. The transit simulation component is designed to represent realistically the uncertainty in operations, in order to assess service reliability. The simulation models all sources of uncertainty: chaining of trips, travel time variability, behavior at stops and a detailed representation of passenger demand at the various stops. Unlike most previous efforts in this area, the simulation model is built on the platform of a mesoscopic traffic simulation model, which allows modeling of the operations of large-scale transit systems. A Tel-Aviv case study demonstrates the transit simulation capabilities of the model.
Microscopic traffic simulation models are becoming increasingly popular and used to address a wide range of problems, from planning to operations. Furthermore, hybrid models that combine mesoscopic and microscopic models to simulate large scale networks are emerging. Despite the significant progress though, a potentially important process, the loading of vehicles onto the network, has not received much attention. If vehicles are assigned their initial speeds improperly, especially in congested networks, unnecessary turbulence may be created that will result in artificially reduced capacity of the loading link. The paper reviews existing loading methods (employed by the state of the art models MITSIMLab and VISSIM) and demonstrates the sensitivity of the simulation results to the initial speed. The results show that loading has a significant effect on the initial acceleration behavior of the loaded vehicles, and the (implied) capacity of the first segment of the entry link. The paper proposes four alternative loading approaches and identifies one as theoretically sound and consistent. A case study demonstrates that the new method is robust, and performs well even under congested conditions. The proposed method is useful not only for loading vehicles in microscopic models but also in the context of hybrid models for transferring vehicles from the meso to the micro network.
The paper presents a mesoscopic traffic simulation model, particularly suited for the development of integrated meso-micro traffic simulation models. The model combines a number of the recent advances in simulation modeling, such as discrete-event time resolution and combined queue-server and speed-density modeling, with a number of new features such as the ability to integrate with microscopic models to create hybrid traffic simulation. The ability to integrate with microscopic models extends the area of use to include evaluation of ITS systems, which often require the detailed modeling of vehicles in areas of interest, combined with a more general modeling of large surrounding areas to capture network effects of local phenomena. The paper discusses the structure of the model, presents a framework for integration with micro models, and illustrates its validity through a case study with a congested network north of Stockholm. It also compares its performance with a hybrid model applied to the same network.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of potential benefits of a fleet of shared autonomous taxis "aTaxis", in this paper referred to as Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAV)) when replacing private car commuter trips in a metropolitan area. We develop a framework for dynamic allocation of SAVs to passenger trips, empty-vehicle routing and multi-criteria evaluation with regard to passenger waiting time, trip times and fleet size. Using a dynamic representation of current private vehicle demand for the Stockholm metropolitan area and a detailed network representation, different scenarios (varying levels of accepted passenger waiting time at origin and accepted % increase in travel time) are compared with respect to passenger travel time, number of vehicles needed and vehicle mileage. The results indicate that an SAV-based personal transport system has the potential to provide an on-demand door-to-door transport with a high level of service, using 5 % of today's private cars and parking places. In order to provide an environmental benefit and to reduce total mileage, an SAV-based personal transport system requires users to accept ride-sharing, allowing a maximum 30% increase of their travel time (13% on average) and a start time window of 10 minutes.
Benefits from traffic information examined using three methods; focus groups, stated preference-studies (SP) as well as simulated work-trips on the internet. The SP-results show that that there is a clear relationship between message content and the valuation. They also show that the value of decreasing uncertainty, when informed about a travel time delay with ± 10 minutes, corresponds to SEK 3.80 (EUR 0.4). The travel simulation shows that radio messages in general have a larger effect than VMS messages on route choice. Repeated information has however an impact, since a large share of the respondents who did not switch route at the first decision point, switched at the next decision point where updated information was given.
Efficient and reliable public transport systems are fundamental in promoting green growth developments in metropolitan areas. A large range of Advanced Public Transport Systems (APTS) facilitates the design of real-time operations and demand management. The analysis of transit performance requires a dynamic tool that will enable to emulate the dynamic loading of travelers and their interaction with the transit system.
BusMezzo, a dynamic transit operations and assignment model was developed to enable the analysis and evaluation of transit performance and level of service under various system conditions and APTS. The model represents the interactions between traffic dynamics, transit operations and traveler decisions. The model was implemented within a mesoscopic traffic simulation model. The different sources of transit operations uncertainty including traffic conditions, vehicle capacities, dwell times, vehicle schedules and service disruptions are modeled explicitly.
The dynamic path choice model in BusMezzo considers each traveler as an adaptive decision maker. Travelers' progress in the transit system consists of successive decisions that are defined by the need to choose the next path element. The evaluations are based on the respective path alternatives and their anticipated downstream attributes. Travel decisions are modeled within the framework of discrete random utility models. A non-compensatory choice-set generation model and the path utility function were estimated based on a web-based survey.
BusMezzo enables the analysis and evaluation of proactive control strategies and the impacts of real-time information provision. Several experiments were conducted to analyze transit performance from travelers, operator and drivers perspectives under various holding strategies. This analysis has facilitated the design of a field trial of the most promising strategy. Furthermore, a case study on real-time traveler information systems regarding the next vehicle arrival time investigated the impacts of various levels of coverage and comprehensiveness. As passengers are more informed, passenger loads are subject to more fluctuation due to the traveler adaptations.
Analysis of public transport system performance and level of service in urban areas is essential. Dynamic modeling of traffic conditions, passenger demand, and transit operations is important to represent adequately the complexity of and the interactions between these components in modern public transportation systems. This paper presents a transit simulation model designed to support evaluation of operations planning and control, especially in the context of advanced public transportation systems. Unlike most previous efforts in this area, the simulation model is built on a platform of a mesoscopic traffic simulation model, which allows modeling or the operation dynamics of large-scale transit systems, taking into account the main sources of service uncertainty and stochasticity. The capabilities of Mezzo as an evaluation tool of transit operations are demonstrated with an application to a real-world, high-demand bus line in metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel, under various scenarios. The application shows that important phenomena such as bus bunching are reproduced realistically. A comparison of simulated running times and headway distributions with field data shows the model is capable of replicating observed data.
Real-time information is increasingly being implemented in transit networks worldwide. The evaluation of the effect of real-time information requires dynamic modeling of transit operations and of passenger path choices. This paper presents a dynamic transit analysis and evaluation tool that represents time-tables, operation strategies, real-time information, adaptive passenger choices, and traffic dynamics at the network level. Transit path choices are modeled as a sequence of boarding, walking and alighting decisions that passengers undertake when carrying out their journey. The model is applied to the Metro network of Stockholm, Sweden area under various operating conditions and information provision scenarios, as a proof of concept. An analysis of the results indicates substantial path choice shifts and potential time savings associated with more comprehensive real-time information provision and transfer coordination improvements.
Service reliability is one of the main measures of performance determining transit system level of service. Holding control strategies are a common transit operations practice aimed to reduce transit service unreliability by setting criteria for departure fromtime point stops. In order to adequately analyze the sources of uncertainty involved with transit performance, it is essential to model dynamically the interactions between traffic conditions, passenger demand and transit operations. BusMezzo, a transit simulation model has been developed on a platform of a mesoscopic traffic simulation model, which enables the representation of large-scale transit systems. The model implements severalreal-time holding strategies. It is used to evaluate the application of these strategies in areal-world high-demand bus line in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, under various scenarios. An analysis of the results suggests that a holding strategy based on the mean headway from the preceding bus and the next bus, restricted by a maximum allowableholding time, is especially efficient.
Transit operators are interested in strategies to improve service reliability as it is an important measure of performance and level of service. One of the common practices aimed at reducing service unreliability is holding control strategies. The design of these strategies involves the selection of a set of time point stops and the holding criteria for regulating the departure time. The interactions between passenger activity, transit operations, and traffic dynamics must be dynamically modeled to analyze the impacts of holding strategies on transit performance. An evaluation of different holding criteria and the number and location of time point stops was conducted with Bus Mezzo, a dynamic transit simulation model. The holding strategies were implemented in the model and applied to a high-frequency trunk bus line in Stockholm, Sweden. The analysis of the results considers the implications of holding strategies from both passenger and operator perspectives. The analysis suggests substantial gains are possible by implementing a holding strategy on the basis of the mean headway from the preceding and the succeeding buses. This strategy is the most efficient for passenger time savings as well as fleet costs and crew management.
Transit operations involve several inherent sources of uncertainty, including dispatch time from the origin terminal, travel time between stops, and dwell time at stops. Bus-holding control strategies are a prominent method applied by transit operators to improve transit performance and level of service. The common practice is to regulate departures from a limited number of stops by holding buses until their scheduled departure time. An analysis of the performance of a high-frequency bus line in Stockholm, Sweden, based on automatic vehicle location data showed that this control strategy was not effective in improving service regularity along the line. The analysis also indicated that drivers adjusted their speed according to performance objectives. Implications of a control strategy that regulates departures from all stops on the basis of the headways of the preceding bus and the following bus were evaluated with Bus Mezzo, a transit operations simulation model. The results suggest that this strategy can improve service performance considerably from both passengers' and operator's perspectives. In addition, the strategy implies cooperative operations, as the decisions of each driver are interdependent with other drivers' decisions, and mutual corrections can be made. Difficulties in realizing the benefits of the proposed strategy in practice, such as dispatching from the origin terminal, driver scheduling, and compliance, are discussed. The implications of several practical considerations are assessed by conducting a sensitivity analysis as part of the preparations for a field experiment designed to test the proposed control strategy.
Cities worldwide are looking for new policies to attract travelers to shift from cars to public transport. Policies focused on reducing public transport fares are aimed at improving social inclusion and leading to a modal shift. The City of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, has recently introduced a fare-free public transport (FFPT) service in an effort to improve accessibility and mobility for its residents. The case of Tallinn is a full-scale, real-world experiment that provides a unique opportunity for investigating the impacts of FFPT policy. A macrolevel empirical evaluation of FFPT impacts on service performance, passenger demand, and accessibility for various groups of travelers is presented. In contrast to previous studies, the influence of FFPT on passenger demand was estimated while changes in supply were controlled. The results indicate that the FFPT measure accounts for an increase of 1.2% in passenger demand, with the remaining increase attributed to an extended network of public transport priority lanes and increased service frequency. The relatively small effect could be attributed to the previous price level and public transport share as well as analysis of the short-term impact. The evidence-based policy evaluation in this paper is instrumental in supporting policy making and facilitating the design of public transport pricing strategies.
Informed by principles of environmental criminology, this study assesses patterns of sexual victimization among young riders of rail-bound public transportation using a sample of 1,122 university students in Stockholm, Sweden. Exploratory data analysis and logistic regression models underlie the methodology of the study. Findings indicate that the physical and social characteristics of transit environments have an impact on the likelihood of sexual victimization after controlling for individual factors. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Designing a congestion pricing scheme involves a number of complex decisions. Focusing on the quantitative parts of a congestion pricing system with link tolls, the problem involves finding the number of toll links, the link toll locations and their corresponding toll level and schedule. In this paper, we develop and evaluate methods for finding the most efficient design for a congestion pricing scheme in a road network model with elastic demand. The design efficiency is measured by the net social surplus, which is computed as the difference between the social surplus and the collection costs (i.e. setup and operational costs) of the congestion pricing system. The problem of finding such a scheme is stated as a combinatorial bi-level optimization problem. At the upper level, we maximize the net social surplus and at the lower level we solve a user equilibrium problem with elastic demand, given the toll locations and toll levels, to simulate the user response. We modify a known heuristic procedure for finding the optimal locations and toll levels given a fixed number of tolls to locate, to find the optimal number of toll facilities as well. A new heuristic procedure, based on repeated solutions of a continuous approximation of the combinatorial problem is also presented. Numerical results for two small test networks are presented. Both methods perform satisfactorily on the two networks. Comparing the two methods, we find that the continuous approximation procedure is the one which shows the best results.
In this paper we extend a previously developed heuristic procedure, with a modal choice model, to solve the congestion pricing problem of simultaneously finding the optimal number of toll facilities, their corresponding location and toll levels. When considering a congestion pricing scheme the cost of collecting the tolls can not be disregarded. The objective is wherefore to maximize the net social surplus, which is the social surplus minus the cost of collecting the tolls. The heuristic method is an iterative solution procedure, in which the integer part of the objective function is approximated by a continuous function. A version of the Sioux Falls network (76 links) is used to demonstrate the solution procedure. The solution is a congestion pricing scheme which divide the network into four zones, by locating tolls on 27 links. This solution yields a social surplus which is only 13.5% lower than the marginal social cost pricing solution.
As congestion pricing has moved from theoretical ideas in the literature to real-world implementation, the need for decision support when designing pricing schemes has become evident. This paper deals with the problem of finding optimal toll levels and locations in a road traffic network and presents a case study of Stockholm. The optimisation problem of finding optimal toll levels, given a predetermined cordon, and the problem of finding both optimal toll locations and levels are presented, and previously developed heuristics are used for solving these problems. For the Stockholm case study, the possible welfare gains of optimising toll levels in the current cordon and optimising both toll locations and their corresponding toll levels are evaluated. It is shown that by tuning the toll levels in the current congestion pricing cordon used in Stockholm, the welfare gain can be increased significantly, and furthermore improved by allowing a toll on a major bypass highway. It is also shown that, by optimising both toll locations and levels, a congestion pricing scheme with welfare gain close to what can be achieved by marginal social cost pricing can be designed with tolls being located on only a quarter of the tollable links.
Objective: The aim of this study is to describe patients with heart failure and an ejection fraction (EF) of more than or equal to 40%, managed in both Primary- and Hospital based outpatient clinks separately with their prognosis, comorbidities and risk factors. Further to compare the heart failure medication in the two groups. Design: We used the prospective Swedish Heart Failure Registry to include 9654 out-patients who had HF and EF >= 40%, 1802 patients were registered in primary care and 7852 in hospital care. Descriptive statistical tests were used to analyze base line characteristics in the two groups and multivariate logistic regression analysis to assess mortality rate in the groups separately. Setting: The prospective Swedish Heart Failure Registry. Setting: The prospective Swedish Heart Failure Registry. Subjects: Patients with heart failure and an ejection fraction (EF) of more than or equal to 40%. Main outcome measures: Comorbidities, risk factors and mortality. Results: Mean-age was 77.5 (primary care) and 70.3 years (hospital care) p < 0.0001, 46.7 vs. 36.3% women respectively (p < 0.0001) and EF >= 50% 26.1 vs. 13.4% (p < 0.0001). Co-morbidities were common in both groups (97.2% vs. 92.3%), the primary care group having more atrial fibrillation, hypertension, ischemic heart disease and COPD. According to the multivariate logistic regression analysis smoking, COPD and diabetes were the most important independent risk factors in the primary care group and valvular disease in the hospital care group. All-cause mortality during mean follow-up of almost 4 years was 315% in primary care and 27.8% in hospital care. One year-mortality rates were 7.8%, and 7.0% respectively. Conclusion: Any co-morbidity was noted in 97% of the HF-patients with an EF of more than or equal to 40% managed at primary care based out-patient clinics and these patients had partly other independent risk factors than those patients managed in hospital care based outpatients clinics. Our results indicate that more attention should be payed to manage COPD in the primary care group.
This paper considers the value of travel time variability under scheduling preferences that are defined in terms of linearly time varying utility rates associated with being at the origin and at the destination. The main result is a simple expression for the value of travel time variability that does not depend on the shape of the travel time distribution. The related measure of travel time variability is the variance of travel time. These conclusions apply equally to travellers who can freely choose departure time and to travellers who use a scheduled service with fixed headway. Depending on parameters, travellers may be risk averse or risk seeking and the value of travel time may increase or decrease in the mean travel time.
Variable Speed Limit Systems (VSLS) where variable message signs show speed limits based on traffic or road conditions exist on motorways in many countries. The purpose of the VSLS is to decrease the number of accidents while increasing efficiency of traffic system. Cooperative systems are a type of intelligent transport system that has received increasing interest lately. The central part of a cooperative system is communication between vehicles and/or vehicles and the infrastructure. In this paper, a cooperative systems extension of a VSLS is proposed and evaluated by means of microscopic traffic simulation. In the proposed cooperative VSLS, communication between the vehicles and the infrastructure is made available via a roadside unit communicating the speed limits to vehicles upstream on the road. Both aggregate and micro-scale emission models are used to estimate emission from vehicle states in traffic flow. The results of the study show that the cooperative VSLS has a potential to contribute to flow harmonization and to reduce environmental impacts. The emission estimates in the study are dependent on the emission models being applied.
The concept of a dynamic and flexible Intelligent Subscription Bus Service (I-Service) was developed, and two integrated questionnaires were conducted among the commuters of a large university campus. To determine travel times to the campus by I-Service, a digital urban road network map with travel time databases was produced, and software was developed to calculate optimum routes using these databases. Travel times for each participant were determined by the shortest travel time principle. The proposed hypothetical service was introduced to participants, and anticipated advantages for each participant were reported back to them by means of a second questionnaire to determine if they would prefer using I-Service. As a result, a 49% modal shift potential from all other modes in general and a 52% modal shift potential from private car to I-Service were found.
The maturing of autonomous driving technology in recent years has led to several pilot projects and the initial integration of autonomous pods and buses into the public transport (PT) system. An upcoming field of interest is the induced demand level and changes in network design for public transport system operating autonomous buses. In this work a multi-objective optimization-based multi-agent simulation framework is developed to study potential changes in the network design and frequency settings when autonomous vehicles (AV) systems are deployed on fixed-route networks in addition to existing PT systems. During the optimization process multiple deployment scenarios (network configurations and service frequency) are evaluated and optimized concerning the operator cost, user cost and infrastructure preparation costs of the system. User-focused network design and operator-focused network design are studied for a real-world network in Sweden. The results provide insights into the network design and level of service implications brought about by the deployment of autonomous bus (AB) when those are integrated in route-based PT systems.
Air quality and fuel efficiency has become important factors in decision-makings on urban traffic planning and management. To support the process simulation models have potential to play essential roles in evaluation of planning alternatives and control strategies. However, traffic and its environmental impacts are different processes and often require various levels of models. With concerns on high computing performance and rich functionalities, it may be not appropriate to model emission inventory within traffic simulation. In this paper, we present a distributed simulation approach, and an independent emission/energy computing platform is built to simulate, visualize and analyze online emission outputs, given a microscopic traffic simulation tool, KTH-TPMA. Two distributed computing frameworks, common objects request broker architecture (CORBA) and service oriented architecture (SOA), are adopted in the distributed software design and implementation. Several emission models are implemented and generally evaluated in microsimulation runs of two road networks.
In this paper, we propose a numerical approach to calibrate dynamic emission models when on-road or in-lab instantaneous emission measurements are not fully available. Microscopic traffic simulation is applied to generate dynamic vehicle states in the second-by-second level. Using aggregate estimation of ARTEMIS as a standard reference, a numerical optimization scheme on the basis of a stochastic gradient approximation algorithm is applied to find optimal parameters for the dynamic emission model. The calibrated model has been validated on several road networks with traffic states generated by the same simulation model. The results show that with proper formulation of the optimization objective function the estimated dynamic emission model can reasonably capture the trends of online emissions of traffic fleets.
Cost issues have been an important concern in the development of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) since the concept was developed several decades ago. The lightweight, computer-guided electric vehicles operating the PRT system are generally a major part of the capital cost of the system, especially in larger network with high demand. A sufficient number of empty vehicles are needed to be moved to the stations where passengers are waiting or demand is expected. Generally a larger fleet size leads to a reduction in waiting time of passengers and thus a higher level of service given a specific demand, but an increased investment cost including capital cost per vehicle and additional operation and maintenance. So it requires a compromise between user cost (in terms of passenger waiting times) and operator cost (in terms of fleet sizedependent capital cost and operating/maintenance costs). There should be an optimal fleet size so that the sum of these two costs can be minimized while an expected level of service is achieved. This paper presents first the way to obtain the PRT demand, and then a prescription to determine the optimal fleet size using a cost-effectiveness analysis with traffic simulation. This prescription identifies the set of activities that are necessary to perform the optimization task. Each activity is regarded as a component in our general framework and this framework is illustrated by a case study in the Waal/ Eemshaven harbor area in the Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
One of the major challenges cities face today, in their development towards sustainable urban areas, is the need for an efficient and environmentally friendly transport system. This transport system should manage to tie together the city without strong adverse impact on urban environment, air-quality and climate change. The specialized labour (and leisure) market, typical of a large urban area, exaggerates the need for efficient travel, as it is increasingly difficult to live and work within short distances.
The use of demand management tools has become more frequent in transport planning with this development towards more sustainable cities. Whereas investing in new capacity was previously the main response to increased demand for travel, there is a much broader range of policies in use today. One of these demand management tools is congestion charging. Singapore was first to implement congestion charging and during the last decade it was followed by London and Stockholm, with increasing support from the citizens as a consequence. Many other cities have performed feasibility studies for introduction of congestion charging.
The development of transport models for prediction of demand management tools, such as congestion charging, has however not been able to keep up with this change in kind of policy. Transport models that were developed for prediction and evaluation of infrastructure investments, such as new motorways, are often used to forecast effects of policies aimed at managing demand, which too often results in poor prediction.
This thesis focuses on the needs for modelling of congestion charging. The state-of-practice models used before implementation in Singapore, London and Stockholm are reviewed, as well as more advanced dynamic models developed for prediction of congestion charging and other demand management tools. A number of gaps in the modelling of congestion charging are described and a new model called SILVESTER is developed, which closes some of these gaps. In particular, SILVESTER involves dynamic mesoscopic modelling of traffic flows, flexible departure times and users with heterogeneous preferences.
The thesis describes the implementation of SILVESTER and considers and compares different methods of demand aggregation in order to reduce run-time of the large-scale dynamic model (Paper I). It also describes how preferred departure times of road users can be determined in calibration such that consistency exists between the departure time choice model and dynamic traffic flows which are input to assignment (Paper II). The unique implementation of congestion charging in Stockholm gives the possibility to validate SILVESTER on real-world measurement of reductions in traffic flow and behavioural adjustments to the charges (Paper III). SILVESTER is then used to analyse several modified versions of the Stockholm congestion charging scheme and to compare welfare and equity effects of the different schemes. It is shown that the welfare of the current scheme could be improved if charges were allowed to differ by location and driving direction (Paper IV). It is shown that the benefits of congestion charges calculated using SILVESTER are greater than the benefits calculated with a static model. Finally, the reasons for the greater benefits are investigated (Paper V).
This paper uses a simulation model to compare traffic and welfare effects of changes to the charging schedule currently in use in Stockholm. In particular, a step toll is compared to its flat counterpart at two charging levels. The increments between steps are also increased in a peaked step toll scenario. Furthermore, results from simulation of the current toll ring are compared to real-world measurements in a first attempt to validate model predictions regarding impacts of a time-varying congestion charging scheme. In the model, car users have the possibility to respond to congestion charging by changing departure time, route or switch to public transport and travel times are calculated using mesoscopic traffic simulation. Validation shows that departure time choice adjustments because of congestion charging are overestimated by the model that is based on stated preference data. This warrants further research on discrepancies between stated and revealed adjustments to congestion charging. The current step toll reaches the highest social benefit estimate in model predictions, but differences in traffic effects between the current step toll and its flat counterpart are rather small. Furthermore, results show that demand changes occur in the model to a considerably greater extent for trips with low value of time. The differences in welfare effects is for that reason large for different trip purposes, indicating the importance of accounting for heterogeneous trips when modelling effects of congestion charges.
This paper uses a newly developed transport model to analyze effects of alternative road pricing schemes. The responses to road pricing included in the model are departure time, mode and route choice. Traffic analysis is performed on a large urban network of Stockholm using mesoscopic simulation. The compared pricing schemes differ in toll location and charged amount. Through calculation of consumer surplus per geographical zone, effects of the road pricing schemes are analyzed per income group and geographical area in order to study equity effects. Simulation results suggest that road pricing can be both regressive and progressive depending on the design of the pricing scheme, this even before the use of revenues to compensate users. Results also indicate that there can be a disagreement between which pricing scheme is preferable from a congestion mitigating point of view and which is preferable when looking at equity effects.
This paper describes and evaluates a stated adaptation instrument to investigate the effects of a transition towards electric vehicles on travel behaviour. The respondents were equipped with an "imaginary" electric vehicle with a specific range and were asked whether they wanted to make changes in an activity-travel schedule they had previously registered. It has been found that electric vehicle use may increase car use, and that activities are likely to be cancelled in case of problems with range limitations. In this paper, the validity, reliability and practical implementation of this stated adaptation experiment are discussed.
In order to assess environmental impacts of local traffic flow, a two-stage parameter tuning approach is proposed for recalibration of the Comprehensive Modal Emission Model (CMEM) using on-road emission measurements collected in Chinese cities. Based on the procedure comprising of grid search and nonlinear simplex optimization, the fuel- and emission-related parameters in the model are estimated to minimize the Mean Square Error (MSE) between model outputs and real measurements. In addition, a regression-based emission model is calibrated using the same data samples to compare performance. It is shown from the numerical results that the tuning process is able of improving the model prediction accuracy, especially concerning the CO emission, when comparing with the original CMEM model and the regression-based model. In addition, the emission models are, after the tuning process, applied together with a traffic simulation model to evaluate dynamic environmental effects of traffic in a case study.
Given that severe weather conditions are becoming more frequent, it is important to understand the influence of weather on an individual's daily activity-travel pattern. While some previously rare events are becoming more common, such as heavy rain, unpredicted snow, higher temperatures, it is still largely unknown how individuals will change and adapt their travel patterns in future climate conditions. Because of this concern, the number of research studies on weather and travel behaviour has increased in recent decades. Most of these empirical studies, however, have not used a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) framework, which serves as the the main tool for policy evaluation and project selection by stakeholders. This study summarises the existing findings regarding relationships between weather variability and travel behaviour, and critically assesses the methodological issues in these studies. Several further research directions are suggested to bridge the gap between empirical evidence and current practices in CBA.


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