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Scufl2 has moved to Apache (incubator)
Information in this section is out of date!
Here are a few suggested use cases that should be possible to build as examples of how SCUFL2 can be used.
myGrid is not intending to implement all of these use cases. This list is mentioned as an extensive list of suggestions of what might be possible to do with SCUFL2, hence feed into the requirements for the formats and APIs.
The suggestion is to implement many of these use cases in at least two languages, like Java, Ruby, Python, XSLT, SPARQL or even Taverna workflows.
- What are the names of the processors in a given workflow? Java** Show a tree, including processors in nested workflows. Java
- What input ports does a workflow require, and what output ports would it produce?
- Are there any example inputs or descriptions?
- Which WSDL services does this workflow use?
- Are they registered on BioCatalogue?
- Given all public Taverna workflows on myExperiment (Taverna 1, .t2flow and scufl2), how many different services have been used?
- How many different beanshell scripts?
- Given all public Taverna workflows in myExperiment and a chosen service, suggest possible input and output services
- Generate a textual script-like (say Python) overview representation of workflow
- Generate workflow diagram using GraphViz
Validation "Compiling"
- Check if a workflow definition has invalid loops like A->B->C->A
- Check if a workflow has invalid depth combinations, like a merge of depth 1 and 2.
- Check if service bindings match port names and depths of processors
- Check by service annotations if a connection is syntactically valid, for instance passing string to service expecting XML, or gene when expecting
- Change any web service calling http://oldservice/old.wsdl to call http://newservice/new.wsdl
- Remove unconnected processors and input ports (clean-up)
- Wrap a selection of processors (for instance a WSDL service and shim splitters) and their links as a new nested workflow, replacing old processors
- Execute workflow using the command line tool, and annotate workflow with example outputs
- Using provenance, annotate workflow with how long each service invocation takes, and how many iterations are typical
- Look up web services in BioCatalogue and annotate each processor with service descriptions
- Extract per-processor semantic annotations and return as a single RDF document with URIs for each processor
- Adding annotation of licence, creator, credits from myExperiment round-trip.
- Automatic credits from common ancestor?
- Persist annotations across edits, ie. even if workflow ID changes
- Given a workflow with unconnected web services and their splitters, auto-connect compatible ports (based on their XSD datatype and/or port name)
- Given a simple input format (Makefile?) of shell script file names, generate a workflow which executes those shell scripts using either (configurable) the command line local worker or the use case activity
- Create an abstract workflow with no service bindings
- Perform dynamic service bindings based on type annotations
- Given a particular dataflow from a semi-compatible workflow system (Knime/RapidMiner/Kepler/etc), generate an abstract workflow (no bindings) with the same structure.
- Create Taverna workflow based on data playground usage in Galaxy
- Include different bindings for workbench, command line tool and server. For instance user interaction; workbench binding could pop up UI, command line ask on console, and server send an email
- Include information about plugins used in workflow, offering alternative (lower-priority) bindings if plugin is not installed. For example: Use-case activity with fall-back to local worker
- Include Taverna version information in binding, for instance warn if service definition is for a newer version with an unsupported property
Taverna research objects
- Bundle workflow representations in various formats (XML, RDF/N3, JSON) - Must define which wins when loading
- Include workflow diagram when saving from Taverna
- Include cached web service definitions (WSDLs)
- Include 'calculated' extra information from Taverna, such as resolved depth and all available (but not connected) activity ports, dispatch stack details, etc
- Bundle provenance and data for a successful example run (ODF export?)
- Include required local tools, like JAR dependencies, shell scripts, Taverna plugins
- Load scufl 1
- Load t2flow
- Load RDF
- Load JSON
- Save scufl 1
- Save t2flow
- Save RDF
- Save JSON
- Load/save plugin for Taverna 2.2
- Formats should be easy to work read and write from other software without access to the SCUFL2 API
- Sign workflow definition (XML-DSIG etc) - so that Taverna Server could execute workflows built by 'trusted sources'.
- Sign activity bindings - allow arbitrary users to execute workflows from a pre-approved list of service bindings
- Tracking of ownership, attribution, workflow reuse
- URIs should be Linked Data compliant (when possible). For instance have a lookup service at http://ns.taverna.org.uk/ which redirects to http://scufl2.taverna.org.uk/
- Identifiers for workflows and workflow components (in addition to the workflow ontology itself) should be globally unique Non-Information Resources** A resolution service that gives basic information in RDF about (known) workflows?


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How is a nearly 70-year-old organization keeping up with the times? The United Nations is getting innovative with some thinking that is quite literally out of the box. Late last week, lawmakers on Capitol Hill got a firsthand look at some of the most exciting new ideas coming out of UN agencies as they look for new ways to confront the world's most grave crises.
Miss the reception? Check out some of the top ideas that were featured:
1. Refugee housing…by IKEA
From the people who probably furnished your first apartment and made the Allen wrench famous, refugee shelters are getting safer, more durable, and cost-effective. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the IKEA Foundation are teaming up to create shelters that can comfortably house five people for more than three years, even in harsh conditions — a big leap from the tents that currently last an average of six months.
What's more, these shelters harness solar energy to eliminate the need for candles or kerosene lamps, as well as a fabric shading sheet that reflects heat during the day and traps warmth at night. As for the people they serve—individuals who have been forced to leave their entire lives as they flee from conflict and violence — they provide a new measure of dignity and privacy.
The Allen wrench is not included — or needed. In fact, these modular shelters can be set-up entirely without tools.
2. Missing class? Not when you have School in a Box
Even in the aftermath of some of the worst imaginable disasters, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is getting kids back to school within 72 hours of an emergency. From a simple, easily-transported box comes a complete set of core tools like workbooks, pencils, erasers, a teaching clock, cubes for counting, a wind-op/solar radio, and posters of alphabet, multiplication, and number tables. The kit is supplied in a locked aluminum box, the lid of which can double as a blackboard when coated with special paint included in the kit. Using a locally developed teaching guide and curriculum, teachers can establish makeshift classrooms almost anywhere.
3. No fraud here: voter registration goes biometric
In nations where new democracy is fragile but entirely essential, the UN Development Programme has launched a biometric voter ID system. Countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Cape Verde have taken advantage of the program's ID system, which uses voluntary fingerprint and iris scans to identify voters and promote credible elections that prevent election fraud and inspire faith in the system.
4. The debit card feeding the world's most in need
The UN's World Food Programme is distributing prepaid debit cards to Syrian refugees, loaded with $27 per person each month. The cards allow the refugees to buy their own food and boost the local economy, without having to wait in long lines for paper vouchers or depend on pre-packaged rations. The program, which has been piloted in Lebanon, allows participants to purchase food from any of 300 participating stores across nation. And because the UN distributes IDs with the cards, the program is also helping to eliminate fraud.
5. E-learning for midwives and frontline health workers
Through a partnership with Intel, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is strengthening the skills of midwives and other health workers using e-training modules that can be translated into a myriad of languages for workers who are delivering care on the ground. That means that education can take place anywhere, anytime, using real-time vital data registration and remote supervision and monitoring of the health care workers. The goal? Enhanced decision-making and performance of health care workers around the globe to improve maternal and newborn health.

subset: commoncrawl


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Can GIP turn LGW around? October 28, 2009Posted by supersonicswan in Swan Song.
Tags: BAA, Ferrovial, GIP, LCY, LGW
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With the industry's widespread approval, Mr O'Leary preaching the end of BAA's monopoly, Virgin Atlantic hoping a new monster hadn't been created and some analysts claiming GIP got ripped off, one week down the line LGW's sale remains a hot topic. (more…)
Three, two, one… SOLD! (at a loss) October 23, 2009Posted by supersonicswan in Swan Lake.
Tags: BAA, Competiton Commision, Ferrovial, GIP, LCY, LGW, LHR, London
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Come Friday and I finally have a while to scribble something again. Meanwhile, we had some big announcement this week in the South East, hadn't we? Without any doubt, the aviation headline of the week was the long-awaited sale of Gatwick airport.


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Finance & Accounting - COPY
We'll work in partnership with you to tailor a solution which best suits your business needs and helps you identify opportunities for maximum efficiency whilst improving frontline patient care.
We process over £170 billion of payments each year. Through use of the largest Oracle Shared Service Centre platform of its type in the world, we provide NHS finance and accounting services to 100% of the NHS commissioning market and over 35% of the NHS provider market. We harness data from your finance, procurement and NHS payroll systems to provide you with insightful, customised business intelligence reports which reduce time spent interpreting data and create a robust foundation for management and operational decision-making. test
Case Studies
The success stories below show how our NHS partners can overcome the day-to-day challenges they face in the back and middle office.


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A recipe for success
Fill an agile, state-of-the-art chassis with an engine delivering class-leading power and torque. Then dress it with top class components, ensuring that the 4-stroke maintains its edge over the competition. The result is a READY TO RACE dual sport suitable for amateur explorers, while still satisfying the pros. Eat that, adversaries.
Engine Type
1-cylinder, 4-stroke engine
Displacement CC
Bore X Stroke
78mm x 52.3mm
Fuel Tank Capacity
8.5 l
Electric starter
Transmission Type
Seat Height
960 mm
Ground Clearance
355 mm
Kerb Weight
103 kg
Brakes Type Front
Disc brake
Brakes Type Rear


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Recent Posts
Kristen's Cake
Posted byon
I love the beautiful texture on this cake! The fresh pears, figs and grapes were airbrushed and hand painted with our edible gold, pearl and silver paints.
Diana's Birthday Cake
Two of our fabulous teachers! One celebrating her Birthday and the other one made her a beautiful rose cake decorated with magic chocolate. I think we should teach a class on this!! Thank you Patsy Reed for the beautiful and tasty cake.
Pamela's Cake
I loved working with this Bride! The sequins, fondant petals and stencil all flowed nicely. Thank goodness for my airbrush and confetti sprinkles. Thank you to Noah's Richardson for always creating a beautiful atmosphere once again.
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text: Polyurethane foam insulation can be sprayed into locations in either closed cell or open cell form. Closed cell has a higher R-value but it's more expensive, while open cell is a better sound barrier. Find out more about where these insulation types are appropriate and where they're a bad idea in our new article on polyurethane spray foam insulation.


text: Zoysiagrass El Toro Zoysia Legacy post 2016-05-11 No Comments Jimmy Brown – posted 25 January 2014 21:57Just got 7 pallets of Palmer's Turf Nursery El Toro Zoysia in Chattanooga , Tennessee. It was a great experience to deal with the Palmer's. They gave me a great deal on my 7 pallets.Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ← Empire Zoysia – Mowing Height Zoysia Choke out →Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment.


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Choose from the many destinations around Bangalore for a weekend road trip
Visit Nandi Hills if you want to plan a day trip
Visit Mysuru or Ooty if you want to spend a long weekend away from the city
Be sure to buy road trip travel insurance via Bajaj Finserv to get coverage up to Rs.3 lakh
A quick weekend getaway is the perfect way to break the monotony of your nine-to-five routine. To make it even better, plan a road trip! If you stay in Bengaluru, this is an ideal option for you, as it is surrounded by great destinations that are a stone's throw away. Here is a list of 7 holiday destinations for you to choose from when you plan your next weekend road trip.
The 70km trip to Nandi Hills, on the outskirts of the city, is popular destination for car and bike enthusiasts. Known for its lush green slopes and the Amrita Sarovar lake, the Nandi Hills boats of pleasant weather all year round.
Spread over six islets, Ranganathittu is home to an excellent bird sanctuary where you will find a range of migratory birds. Situated in Mandya district, the sanctuary makes for a relaxing weekend break if you're a nature lover. A short deviation from the Coorg highway will lead you to this bird watcher's haven.
Located 150km from Bengaluru, Mysuru is brimming with culture. The palaces and temples are definitely worth a visit. However, if you're planning a trip here, try to leave the city early as the highway can get busy during the day. Also, on your way, be sure to stop at the many eateries that dot the roads for a scrumptious meal.
Known as BR Hills, this locale is around 200km from Bengaluru and is ideal if you love wildlife. Located at the point where the western and eastern ghats meet, this destination is home to Biligiriranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, a tiger reserve. In addition, you can spot barking deer, over 250 types of birds, elephants, leopards and bears.
Arguably one of the best hill stations in South India, Coorg is also one of the most popular. You can indulge in river rafting or trekking, or simply relax at a homestay with a book for company. The roads on this route are in good condition too, making the 250km trip enjoyable.
Surrounded by tea plantations, this hill station is nestled in the Nilgiris, around 300km from Bengaluru. Here, you can go for long walks, indulge in the local cuisine, ride the toy train and stop at local shops to snack on fresh Tapioca chips.
Just 20km from Coonoor, Ooty is a popular hill station. It has plenty of stay options, bustling markets and ample eateries too. Here, be sure to visit the Botanical Garden and Doddabetta, the highest point in the Nilgiris.
Before you start packing, be sure you have purchased road trip travel insurance. It is the one must-have you shouldn't leave home without! CPP Travel Safe Road Trip Insurance available through Bajaj Finserv offers 24x7 roadside assistance at 500 locations around the country, as well as up to Rs.50,000 to take care of travel, stay and other costs if you are stranded. In addition, you can avail cover of up to Rs.3 lakh for situations such as loss of baggage, hospitalisation, etc.
What did you dislike?
What did you dislike?
What did you like?
What did you like?
What did you like?


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We've all heard (or experienced) stories about people who return home to find their spouse in bed with a stranger. But what if the naked person in the arms of an unknown guy is your grandmother?
That's what happened in the case of an 81-year-old victim's granddaughter. And the circumstances that led to this startling discovery explain why jurors lowered every boom at their disposal on Michael Arreola -- who, despite his conviction, is currently on the streets. Details and more below.
The crime took place on July 31, 2012, in Wheat Ridge, according to the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.
Arreola, a 58-year-old self-employed carpet cleaner, knew the elderly victim through her ex-husband, and on the day in question, he took her to a bar in Wheat Ridge -- and he made sure she was well-hydrated.
Employees at the watering hole are said to have testified that Arreola "aggressively" ordered beers for the hour or two he and the woman were in the place, to the point where she was seen struggling to maintain her balance. She even fell into a wall before bar employees helped Arreola pour her into his truck.
The drive doesn't appear to have sobered her up. A neighbor testifying for the prosecution said Arreola turned up with the victim at around 6 p.m. that evening and had to practically drag her into the house, because she wasn't able to perambulate unassisted.
Several hours passed before the woman's granddaughter, who was in charge of her care, returned to the house. There, she found Arreola and her grandma naked in bed.
To understate the situation considerably, the granddaughter was very upset by the discovery -- and after she covered her grandmother with a blanket, she went next door, where her father lived, and told him what was going on. He responded by getting a gun, heading to the old woman's house, and ordering Arreola out of the house.
Shortly thereafter, a call was made to 911 -- by Arreola, who complained that he'd been threatened at gunpoint. But if he expected sympathy from law enforcers, he was sadly mistaken. When officers from the Wheat Ridge Police Department arrived, the 81-year-old was still too blotto to walk and began vomiting, suggesting to them that her dalliance with Arreola didn't qualify as a matter of free will -- as the woman's in-court testimony this month made clear.
Those assigned to consider Arreola's defense appear not to have been swayed by his take. Despite a trial lasting five days, a Jefferson County jury deliberated for less than four hours on Monday before finding him guilty on two counts of attempted sexual assault of an at-risk adult, one charge of unlawful sexual contact of an at-risk adult, plus attempted unlawful sexual contact of an at-risk adult and menacing.
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He's set to be sentenced on August 29, and he faces a wide range of potential punishment -- perhaps probation or maybe twenty-to-life behind bars. In the meantime, he's free on a $1,000 bond.
Here's a larger look at Arreola's mug shot.
More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "Brandon Johnson: Sex assault charge for getting into woman's bed, pretending to be boyfriend."


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Churchill Downs Buys One-Half of HorseRacing TV
Racetrack owner Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, purchased a 50% interest in Magna Entertainment's HorseRacing TV channel.
Both Churchill Downs and Magna will work to offer as much of their respective live simulcast content as possible on HRTV and will actively explore how the television medium can be used to more effectively serve horse-racing customers -- and the industry as a marketing vehicle.
In addition, HRTV will seek additional content providers that wish to televise their horse-racing content alongside the Churchill Downs and Magna content.
HRTV is a 24-hour television network providing up to 15 hours per day of wire-to-wire coverage of live horse-racing action from more than 70 thoroughbred, harness and quarter-horse racetracks in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Churchill Downs owns and operates horse-racing venues throughout the United States, and its five racetracks in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Louisiana host many of North America's most prestigious races, including the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, Arlington Million, Princess Rooney Handicap, Louisiana Derby and Indiana Derby.
Magna is North America's largest owner and operator of horse racetracks, based on revenue, including such major venues as Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown. It develops, owns and operates horse racetracks and related parimutuel wagering operations, including off-track-betting facilities.
As part of its 2007 offerings, HRTV will broadcast Target Louisville, a 30-minute television program highlighting the training, workouts and final preparations of Kentucky Derby contenders. Target Louisville will air daily during the week leading up to the 133rd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
The deal was just one of several agreements Churchill Downs and Magna unveiled. They also formed a joint venture called TrackNet Media Group, through which the full breadth of the companies' respective horse-racing content will be available to each company's various distribution platforms, including Magna's advance deposit wagering, or ADW, platform; XpressBet, a Churchill Downs-owned ADW platform; twinspires.com, which is under development; and to third parties, including racetracks, OTBs, casinos and other ADW providers.
TrackNet will also purchase horse-racing content from third parties to make available through Churchill Downs' and Magna's respective distribution platforms.
Both companies believe a single organization performing these important functions will promote optimal distribution of content across a broader spectrum of platforms, including ADW providers, international outlets and distributors that offer rebates. By creating a single cost-effective organization to more efficiently buy and sell racing content, TrackNet will have the resources to pursue wagering integrity and security objectives, with a view toward generating revenue for horsemen and racetracks that create content.
Both Churchill Downs and Magna will continue to honor all existing contractual obligations with respect to their content. TrackNet's ability to license simulcast content from Churchill Downs-owned racetracks to ADW providers other than Gemstar-TV Guide International-owned Television Games Network will commence with the expiration of those tracks' individual TVG agreements.
TrackNet will have immediate access to racing signals from Churchill Downs racetrack for its 2007 Spring Meet, which begins April 28, and to signals from Fair Grounds Race Course when the track begins its 2007-08 meet in November 2007.
TVG will continue to have access to simulcast content from ArlingtonPark through Aug. 6 and from Calder Race Course through the end of its 2007-08 racing season, which ends Jan. 2 next year.
Churchill Downs' 2007 Spring Meet will be available on HRTV. ArlingtonPark, Calder and Fair Grounds will join the HRTV lineup as their respective TVG contracts expire.
TrackNet will be headquartered in Louisville, Ky. TrackNet and HRTV will have offices in Louisville and Arcadia, Calif.
Scott Daruty, formerly the chief U.S. counsel for Magna, will serve as TrackNet's CEO. Patrick Troutman, who served as vice president and general manager for the Churchill Downs Simulcast Network and Churchill Downs Simulcast Productions, will serve as TrackNet's executive VP. Current members of CDSN's support staff will join TrackNet, as will certain members of MEC's simulcast operations.
Churchill Downs is currently developing its own ADW platform, twinspires.com, which will launch later this year. The site will offer racing fans the opportunity to watch and wager on Churchill Downs- and Magna-owned racing content, as well as other racing content made available through TrackNet licensing agreements. Customers can visit the site to learn more about its future offerings and sign up for e-mail alerts.
Churchill Downs will share more information about twinspires.com, including the target date for launch, with customers and members of the media in the next few weeks.


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Greyfriars Church
A Churches in Edinburgh City Centre
Greyfriars Kirk has held an important place in Scotland's history, with regard to the National Covenant in particular. Many of the Covenanters are believed buried in the Kirkyard, while the Covenanters' Prison and the Martyrs' Monument are preserved here. Greyfriars' other famous resident, the canine hero Greyfriars Bobby, is also believed to be buried some 50 yards from his master, John Gray. A statue of the loyal dog can be seen at the top of Candlemaker Row, opposite the entrance to the Kirkyard. The Church has a Visitor display with an exhibit of the National Covenant, portraits, and an account of the Kirk's 400-year history. Also on show is the original portrait of Greyfriars Bobby painted by John MacLeod in 1867. Apr - Oct: Mon - Fri 10:30 - 16:30 Sat 10:30 - 14:30 Nov - Mar: Thu 13:30 - 15:30 (other times by arrangement with the Visitors Officer) Regular Services throughout the year. Free Disabled access, hearing loop, large print orders of service, shop, guidebooks and video
Greyfriars Church
T none Visit website
Additional Photos
The Private House Stay's Guide
Edinburgh City Centre
The Old Town of Edinburgh is built on a ridge that rises gradually from the Palace of Holyrood to Edinburgh Castle. There are staircase lanes, called Wynds, that lead off this 'Royal Mile' that give the impression of the city being built on multiple levels and buildings that date from the 11th Century. The New Town is also a World Heritage Site with its mix of Georgian town houses and the earliest examples in Europe of tenement flats. The views to be had from the Castle, Arthur's Seat and Calton Hill are dramatic and inspiring.


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A settler in the Jordan Valley was killed in his yard Thursday night. This is the third such incident in the West Bank in less than a month.
A retired Israeli colonel was killed in his home last night (Thursday) in the Brosh Habika settlement in the Jordan Valley. The incident brings the number of Israeli casualties in the West Bank to three in less than a month. According to his wife, Seraiah Ofer was attacked with iron rods and axes in his front yard. She escaped through a hole in the back fence, while her husband was beaten to death. By the time help arrived, the attackers fled the scene. Five Palestinians were arrested, according to Ynet News.
There used to be a saying at the daily paper I once worked at: one is "an isolated case," two is a coincidence, and three means a trend. The three cases – a shooting of a soldier in Hebron, the killing of another soldier by a Palestinian who worked with him in a restaurant and last night's attack – seem unrelated and uncoordinated, but they do create the impression of an escalation in violence, and several more such attacks are likely to have a serious political impact.
All three casualties were described in the Israeli media as soldiers, but that's mainly due to the Israeli glorification of army service. The colonel was a civilian settler, killed in his front yard; the restaurant employee was also murdered outside the context of his service by a person who knew him. The Hebron casualty, however, was a soldier on military duty, to the extent that this distinction matters.
The temptation to view these cases as a sign of escalation is also a result of a relatively long period with few attacks on Israelis in the West Bank (not a single Israeli was killed by such attacks in 2012). In fact, from an Israeli perspective, 2012 was the quietest year in decades. Yet this narrative misses the point: the ongoing violence of the occupation has never ceased. When (rightly) condemning the killing of Israeli civilians, one should remember that Palestinians have not been able to enjoy the "calm" of recent years. In fact, there has been an increase in the number Palestinian casualties, including the death of three people in a raid on a refugee camp a month and a half ago.
Which brings us to the strange paradox of Israel's policy towards terror: when attacks on Israelis take place, the willingness of the leadership to offer concessions decreases ("we don't deal with terrorists") while public rage rises. However, when there are no attacks on Israelis, the Israeli willingness to offer concessions also decreases, and government ministers tour the world, praising Israel as "an island of stability" in a Middle Eastern sea of turmoil.
The previous Netanyahu term demonstrated this dynamic all too well. The relative calm provided by the Palestinian Authority's security forces didn't cause the government nor the public to be more willing to give up land or share power. If anything, the opposite is true. Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected whatever was offered by Israeli negotiators in previous rounds of talks, while his senior coalition partner, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, argued that Israel should insist the Palestinians give up their claim to East Jerusalem, just as they gave up – according to Lapid – the right of return.
The tragic truth is that so far, the only way to get concessions out of Israel has been through struggle. The First Intifada led to the Oslo process, while armed struggle led to the Gaza withdrawal. In both cases, Palestinians paid a dear price for their revolt, but they did manage to get Israel and the United States' attention. However, when Mahmoud Abbas went the diplomatic route by taking his statehood bid to the UN, Israel and the U.S. threatened him with all kinds of measures.
For years, Israel has demanded that Palestinians stop attacking citizens and soldiers. But when attacks stopped, the Israeli government started raising new, more abstract demands, such as recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. The message to the other side couldn't have been clearer: cooperation won't get you anywhere.
Finally, a personal note: whenever news of an attack on Israelis break, I feel, like the rest of the public here, a mixture of anger and sadness, especially faced with horrifying details of the murder(s). However, I also understand why many Palestinians treat all forms of resistance – from civil disobedience to violence – as different parts of the same national struggle for freedom, just as most Israelis treat all resistance groups that predated the state as partners to the same just cause. I do not think Israelis should accept the armed attacks on them, but we should also be asking some honest questions on the alternative we offer this struggle beyond the "stable" status quo, which for the Palestinians is a form of systematic, ongoing violence – one which most of the world so comfortably ignores.


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Rebecca Hennessy's FOG Brass Band, is a New Orleans inspired brass band party with the intricacies of a modern jazz group. This band features the brassy fun-times frontline of tuba (Jay Burr), trombone (Tom Richards) and trumpet (Rebecca Hennessy), that will have toes tapping and bodies grooving alongside energetic electric guitar (Don Scott), rich piano harmonies (Tania Gill) and deep drum beats (Nico Dann) that will take one through sounds inspired by funky blues, old country, Balkan folk tunes and high-energy jazz-rock grooves. Rebecca, formed FOG Brass Band in 2014, shortly after spending seven months on a creative residency in NYC. Since then, FOG has been performing and recording regularly and in 2016 was nominated as a finalist for the TD Grand Prix De Jazz at the Montreal Jazz Festival and was also nominated for TD Halifax Jazz Festival Singray Rising Star Award.
Bandleader Rebecca Hennessy is a highly sought-after Toronto-based trumpeter, composer and bandleader who has been performing, recording and touring with various projects since moving to Toronto in 2003 from Vancouver Island, BC. As a leader and co-leader, Rebecca has released seven albums to date and has toured Mexico, Panama, Europe, USA and extensively in Canada. She has also performed and recorded with internationally recognized artists including Adele, Ron Sexsmith, Andy Kim, Owen Pallett, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Ab Baars and Ken Vandermark.
Tom Richards is a trombonist, pianist, composer, conductor, and low-brass specialist. He leads an alt-electro-jazz quartet called Riverrun and is a sideman in dozens of active projects. Riverrun has become well known for pushing the boundaries of conventional practice through the radical use of technology and the staging of 12-hour marathon performances. As a trombonist, Tom has recorded and performed with The Wooden Sky, The Hidden Cameras, Spoon, The Human Rights, Shred Kelly, The Thing Is, The Australian Art Orchestra, Drumhand, Theatre Columbus, and many others.
Jay Burr is an active tuba/trombonist, working in genres from contemporary jazz, to rock, latin, blues, bluegrass and beyond. He has defined himself as a tubist/bass player that sounds original: like no one but himself. Jay has performed and recorded with artists as diverse as Sam Rivers, Jane Siberry, Mike Downes In The Current Ensemble, John Millard, Zubot and Dawson, The Longest Night Ensemble and many others in a wide array of musical styles. He continues to perform with his quartet Tuba4, FOG, the Latin Vintage Orchestra, the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation (TWAC), the Red Light Sessions, and numerous other freelance gigs. He resides in Dundas, Ontario and considers himself a 'professional driver' who stops every once in awhile to perform music.
Don Scott is a Toronto-based guitarist and composer, and a well known force in Canada's creative music scene. Don brings an unshakable energy and originality to his own music, and is sought after by many musicians as the "x-factor" in other projects. His melodic inventiveness, rhythmic fluidity, and passion for delving into sound and texture are essential to the many projects he leads or co-leads, including Peripheral Vision, God's Gift To Yoda, Don Scott Trio, Run Stop Run, The Offbeat, and Idioteque, which showcases Don's vocal skills, performing the music of Radiohead. In demand as a versatile sideman, Don has performed with international jazz legends, David Binney, Chris Potter, Jim Black, Dave Douglas, and Ernest Ranglin, and a "who's who" of Canadian jazz players. In 2008-2009, Don split his time between New York and Toronto, and while there, studied with Adam Rogers, Ben Monder, and Donny McCaslin. In 2013, Don spent several months living in Berlin, studying with renowned composer, John Hollenbeck. Don's piece, "Backbone" won the Galaxie Rising Star Award for best composition presented at the 2012 Montreal Jazz Festival. "Dominated by lively counterpoint…with constantly shifting and inventive underpinnings. Scott's tone has a crisp bite, and his compositions have an edgy unpredictability." Downbeat Magazine
Tania Gill is a Toronto-based pianist and composer, recognized for her original voice centred in jazz and improvised music. She has toured and recorded with notable musicians in many genres including The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, Andrew Downing's Melodeon ensemble, avant-garde jazz icon Anthony Braxton, the art rock band Deep Dark United, Charles Spearin and the Happiness Project and The Mark Segger Sextet. Tania released her critically acclaimed debut album Bolger Station (Barnyard Records) in 2010 with Lina Allemano (trumpet), Jean Martin (drums) and Clinton Ryder (bass). Tania teaches piano at Laurier University and Humber College and has an MMUS in Jazz Performance from the University of Toronto.
Nico Dann is described as being "…fiendishly precise…" (pitchfork.com), Canadian Jazz Drummer Nico Dann has been peforming and recording for almost 20 years. Past projects include touring with chart-topping indie luminary tUnE-yArDs (4AD), ex Montreal Indie Band Sister Suvi , and Toronto's Bernice. Current projects include Jazz/Classical/Folk ensemble Shepherds Heard and Indie-Folk band Elephant Ear. Nico has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreal's Off Jazz Festival, POP Montreal, South by Southwest, Glastonbury, and New York's CMJ. Nico made his Classical debut with father Steven Dann and Joel Quarrington at the National Arts Centre in 2008. In 2010 Nico made his musical theatre debut at Toronto's Summerworks Festival. Nico has studied with Jim Blackley, Jim Black, Chris McCann, Michel Lambert, Rémi Bolduc, Dave Douglas, Nasheet Waits and Antonio Hart among others. Nico has a BMus and an MA in Jazz from McGill University and CUNY Queens College in NYC, respectively. Nico has attended the Banff International Workshop on Jazz and Creative Music as well as an independent residency at the Banff Centre. Currently Nico currently lives in Toronto with his wife Classical soprano Ilana Zarankin.
To book FOG please contact:


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Photos: Cheerleader, Washington D.C.
Up can coming Cheerleader opened up the 9:30 club last night for The Wombats. If you havn't heard them yet, go check them out. Cheerleaders debute album is coming out May, 19th.You can pick up the new album or tickets to their live show here. Photos By: Owen Paterline Please follow and like us:Read More


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The Plaster Group have been our customers since 1999. We are super excited to be launching their new responsive design.
The Plaster Group entered the plastering industry in 1980 right after High School. Over the years I learned the trade and became a Foreman in the 90's, then Superintendent for two different companies in the Bay Area in the late 90's and into the early 2000's.
In 2004 I obtained my license to operate on my own. Prior to getting my own license, I was the superintendent/foreman on projects in San Francisco like the Ferry Building, the Marriot Hotel, the Radisson Hotel, San Francisco City Hall and many more big projects in the Bay area.
The Plaster Group is a full service Stucco Plastering Company. Working on both large and small projects throughout the Northern, Ca & the Bay Area. We help our clients transform their projects into an end product that encompasses all their ideas while Introducing to them the most up to date state of the art materials and applications on the market today.


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By Attorney Jonathan
Author of "The Rise of Tyranny" and
"Global Censorship of Health Information" and
"Restore The Republic"
April 7, 2014
Last week Russia's gas monopoly, Gazprom, under orders from Vladimir Putin, raised the price of 1,000 cubic meters of gas from $286.50 to $385.50. Gazprom aims to cripple the already depressed Ukrainian economy and exact a penalty against Europe for opposing Putin's invasion of the Ukraine. The United States could resolve the problem and turn the tables on Putin by replacing Russia as a source of oil, but President Obama refuses to take the necessary steps.
The Ukraine is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. It will be hard hit by these and other financial penalties that Russia is imposing on the country. The move to hike gas prices appears designed to render even more unstable the already contentious political environment present in the Ukraine. The dramatic escalation in gas prices raises the prospect of consumer revolts which would further weaken the Ukrainian regime and economy. Household gas prices are likely to rise by 50 percent in May.
In Europe, about one-third of natural gas is imported from Russia. In the past Russia has used gas supply to Europe as a lever to exact political concessions. The Daily Caller reports that over the last decade Putin has cut off gas supplies to the Ukraine, through which most Russian gas reaches Europe, for several days at a time. In January of 2009, Putin cut off the gas supply for 22 days.
There is a steep downside for Putin in his use of gas as a geopolitical weapon. Revenues from oil and gas exports make up about 40 percent of Russia's budget. About 84 percent of Russian oil and 70 percent of Russian gas exports are to Europe. Given these facts, it is shocking in the extreme that President Obama is not joining with Congress immediately to make it a national priority to eliminate all barriers to U.S. oil and gas exports to the Ukraine and Europe.
The Obama Administration regularly rejects or delays applications for drilling on federal lands and in the U.S. coastal waterways. It likewise stands in the way of fracking to extract oil from previously unavailable sources. The Obama Administration has also imposed a ban on crude oil and natural gas exports. If that ban were removed, U.S. production for export would increase dramatically. An estimated production of between 5 and 10 billion cubic feet per day is possible and would help alleviate European dependency on Russian oil, significantly cutting into the Russian market.
The Department of Energy routinely blocks applications for export to other countries. Over the last four years, the Secretary of Energy has approved only a half dozen applications, while failing to act on two dozen more.
Several members of Congress have introduced legislation to eliminate in part or whole federal restrictions now blocking U.S. exports of oil and gas to Europe and the Ukraine. Representative Ted Poe of Texas and Senator Mark Udall of Colorado have introduced legislation to expand U.S. exports by removing regulatory barriers to production.
Very shortly now, this opportunity if not taken will be lost as Europe turns to others in a scramble to replace Russian supplied oil and natural gas. The long term economic losses to the United States of not exploiting this opportunity are enormous. Nevertheless, given Obama's penchant for acting slowly and indecisively in the face of international crises, along with his strong ties to environmental lobbies, chances are better than even that he will do nothing to reduce regulatory constraints on the American oil and gas markets.
Click here to visit NewsWithViews.com home page.


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Tailor New York City At dessert specialist Sam Mason's restaurant Tailor, he collaborated with mixologist Eben Freeman on the cocktail list. They make the Brown Butter Rum by adding rum to browned butter, cooling the mixture and discarding the solid butter from the infused spirit. Mason and Freeman use a similar technique with spices, olive oil and even bacon fat. Plus: Ultimate Cocktail Guide
How to Make It
Moisten the outer rim of a martini glass with honey and coat lightly with the graham cracker crumbs. Freeze until firm. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the Brown Butter Rum and apple cider. Shake well and strain into the martini glass. Garnish with the nutmeg.


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Archive for the 'Onra' Tag
Playlist: Music Library 29-11-2010
Filed under: Music Library Playlist | Tags: Caribou, Chew Lips, Digitalism, Dubstep, Electro, Flirtfm, Flying Lotus, glitch-hop, Gold Panda, Indie, Irish Music, Jessica Hoop, Justice, Nouveaunoise, Onra, radio, Rusko, Sunday Girl, Super Extra Bonus Party, The Xx, Two Door Cinema Club, Why?
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The Music Library is an alternative music show which airs on Flirtfm 101.3, Galway's alternative student station Monday-Friday between 8 and 9 am. I take charge of the tunes on Mondays.
Onra – The Anthem
Sunday Girl – Stop Hey (Rusko Remix)
The Xx – Shelter (Death to the Throne Remix)
Jessica Hoop – Seeds of Wonder (Killabits Dubstep Remix)
Gold Panda – You
Flying Lotus (Featuring Thundercat) – MmmHmm
Super Extra Bonus Party (Ft. Cadence Weapon) – Radar
Caribou – Kaili
Chew Lips – Karen
Two Door Cinema Club – What You Know
Katy B – Katy on a Mission
Nouveaunoise – Cinnte
Why? – These Few Pesidents
Digitalism – Pogo
Justice – Phantom pt. II
Gig: Mount Kimbie
Filed under: Gig Review | Tags: Dubstep, Flying Lotus, Galway, Gig, Mount Kimbie, Nosaj Thing, Onra, Roisin Dubh
Comments (1)
When a new band breaks onto the scene and gains instant support the first thing everybody wants to know is what do they sound like…what genre are they? Its part of the logocentric nature of man, we want to be able to point to one single thing and categorise a host of subjects, it's basic laziness. Its hip-hop, rock and roll, grunge, electro, techno, house, etc. With this one word we try to sum up an entire sound and numerous artists.
What then do we do when an act like Mont Kimbie comes along? Widely regarded as Dubstep this London duo mixes all sorts of 'genres' to create a sound all of their own. Dubstep may be the umbrella they have been cast under but last night's showing in Galway's Roisin Dubh was more Flylo than Jakwob, more Onra than Benga. Dominic Maker and Kai Campos varied loops and samples with dreamy synths and rocky instrumentation.
A respectable crowd was present to witness the unclassifiable but undeniably brilliant performance from Mount Kimbie. While aspects of their live show bared resemblance to minimal dubstep, in a manner not dissimilar to Skream, most of the set was dominated by beats resembling the fashionable glitch-hop sound made popular thanks to performers like Nosaj Thing. It was refreshing to see the Londoners emerge from behind their laptops and samplers to pick up a guitar and drum sticks and prove that modern electronic artists are not afraid to make music the traditional way.
LastFm offers several 'genres' which could all lossely be applied to Mount Kimbie's sound but instead of playing the genres game, this time why don't we just listen to the music and decide if we like it. After last nights memorable performance I have to say I love their blend of electo/electromental/ambient/downtempo/chillout/electronica/techno/garage/glitch hop/folktronica/shoegaze…..oh ya and dubstep.


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Nonsystematic risk(redirected from Nonsystematic Risks)
Nonsystematic risk
Nonmarket or firm-specific risk factors that can be eliminated by diversification. Also called unique risk or diversifiable risk. Systematic risk refers to risk factors common to the entire economy.
Nonsystematic Risk
Risk that is unique to a certain asset or company. An example of nonsystematic risk is the possibility of poor earnings or a strike amongst a company's employees. One may mitigate nonsystematic risk by buying different of securities in the same industry and/or by buying in different industries. For example, a particular oil company has the diversifiable risk that it may drill little or no oil in a given year. An investor may mitigate this risk by investing in several different oil companies as well as in companies having nothing to do with oil. Nonsystematic risk is also called diversifiable risk. See also: Undiversifiable risk.
Nonsystematic risk.
Nonsystematic risk results from unpredictable factors, such as poor management decisions, successful competitive products, or suddenly obsolete technologies that may affect the securities issued by a particular company or group of similar companies.
Portfolio diversification, which means spreading your investment among a number of asset subclasses and individual issuers within those subclasses, can help counter nonsystematic risk.


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AUA Guidelines on Undescended Testes
Featured Speaker
Brian Jumper, MD
The American Urological Association has recently come out with new guidelines regarding timing of surgery for undescended testes.
Experienced physicians at Maine Medical Partners – Urology have an informed opinion on this timing, and whether the effects of anesthesia on an infant's central nervous system are effectively safe at such an early age.
Dr. Brian Jumper (Guest): The important thing to know is that I have looked at my own data over the last 25 years of practice and see that there is no change in the pattern of referrals that we're getting referrals quite late in the process and that undescended testes are often found right at the time of birth, where 1 or 2 percent of normal boys have testes that are not palpable or not in the scrotum. The issue here for the AUA was come up with a set of guidelines that helped our primary care doctors know what our failings are and what the literature supports as far as following these patients and getting them as a proper referral to us so that we can evaluate them. What is known is that the cryptorchidism is the term meaning that you cannot see or feel the testes. And for one thing, imaging is not necessary to evaluate the children. It is just physical examination. We should be able to find the testes in the scrotum by six months of age. If they are not there on the well child visit by six months of age, they should be referred to a pediatric surgeon or a pediatric urologist so that we could evaluate them. The orchiopexy is a term we use for surgery to bring them into the scrotum, and through these 16 different recommendations that came out this August in the Journal of Urology, as far as our guidelines go, they make it obvious that we should be seeing them much sooner so that this is an ongoing problem for the testicle if it's not in the scrotum. There are problems down the road with fertility, where they have much poorer sperm quality and numbers, and there's an increased risk of cancerous changes later in life. The recommendations are for our pediatrician friends and family practitioners to send them to us if they do not palpate a testis in the scrotum by six months or what we consider their gestational age. Some children that are born prematurely are much younger because if they're born at 34weeks and should be at 40 weeks, we take that six weeks into account. Six months of what would be their gestational age postpartum is when we would want to see those children if they do not feel the testes.
Melanie: Since this, Dr. Jumper, is one of the most common pediatric disorders of the male endocrine glands, are there certain risk factors that parents can know in vitro or before they get pregnant that would tell them you might be predisposed to having this situation?
Dr. Jumper: It's a very complex set of risk factors, none of which are glaringly evident but one of which is smoking. There's about a 13 percent increased risk in maternal smoking, but interestingly not for alcohol use. Another one that has come up as a risk factor—and this is very sad to hear—is Tylenol in the first and second trimester shows an increased risk. But none of these are very, very strong risk increases. It's not like it doubles or triples it. It's just in the order of a few percentage. It's not just environmental, but there also is some multifactorial genetic issues, a couple that have been elucidative, but it only accounts for about 2 percent of all the boys with undescended testes. So it's not recommended that you need genetic testing.
Melanie: What are the treatments involved? Parents hear surgery, they have an infant, they're terrified. Tell us a little bit about what that surgery would entail, and what is the outcome? What happens afterward?
Dr. Jumper: Surgery is predicated on the testes needing to travel further, so it's being held back typically by connective tissue and these muscles called the cremaster muscles. The cremaster muscles are an extension of our internal oblique muscles, which is a middle layer of muscles on our abdominal wall. Those need to be released and all the connective tissue freed up. So there's is usually an inguinal incision, although you can do it all through a scrotal incision and move the scrotal incision around, then a second incision in the scrotum to make a little pouch for the testicle to reside. Ideally, this should be done before age two. That way, the child will have no memory of it. Their anesthetic risks are minimized and we can easily do the procedure. It gets more complicated if you cannot feel the testicle. That's why there are 16 different recommendations, but I'm not going to go into all 16. But if you do not palpate the testes, you need to explore the abdomen, and that's usually done with a laparoscopy. The children have a very great chance of having fertility if it's just unilateral, just one testis is not down. Their fertility rates later on have been shown to be equal to the general population. However, bilateral undescended testes have a significant drop in parenthood and down to about maybe 50 percent. When you have bilateral undescended testes, it's very, very important that they understand the risks of infertility later. The other big risk long-term is cancerous changes in the testes. If you bring them down before puberty, which is very late in the process, but if it's done before puberty versus after puberty, you can reduce the risk of cancer by four or fivefold. We do not know exactly how much that would be reduced if we did all of our children before age two, but this presumption is that that would probably even confirm more protection than if they're older. We do not recommend hormonal treatment, which is what they do in some places in Europe, for example, because there's not enough evidence in the literature to suggest that hormones should bring down the testes.
Melanie: What about hernias after the surgery? Are they more predisposed to having hernia? Or how do parents care for this after treatment?
Dr. Jumper: Actually, they have a reduced risk of hernia because the hernia sac is typically associated with that undescended testis, which we fix at the same time. The second part of your question was what to expect. The children are amazing. They will recover within a day or two, acting as if nothing has happened. In fact, one of my colleagues did a video of his son later that same day running around, a two- or three-year-old. The point is, they can do very well as far as postoperative pain. Postoperative care is minimal. They usually are back to their own selves within one or two days.
Melanie: What's the follow-up with the urologist, Dr. Jumper, after the fact?
Dr. Jumper: The follow-up is we see them about a week or two later to check on their incision and make sure everything is okay, and then six months later to reevaluate the testes to get an idea if they're still where they should be, which 99.9 percent will. Occasionally, they may atrophy or shrink down if there has been damage at the time of surgery, which sometimes the blood vessels are not able to support the testes, especially if you have to do an abdominal testes which sometimes takes two procedures in order to get it safely into the scrotum. It's recommended we see them six months later, and then counseling is one of the suggestions at the end of our recommendations so that by puberty and older, you're never going to see that child's testes again. They need to know about testicular self-exams for the risk of cancer, as I've mentioned.
Melanie: That was going to be my next question is explain to the parents just a little bit about teaching their children, their sons, about a testicular self-exam when they're teenagers so that they know what they're feeling for and what to look for. And then please tell the listeners why they should come to Maine Medical Center for their care.
Dr. Jumper: Well, the testes, to me, they are like hardboiled eggs. That's what I counsel my adult patients when I go to do their vasectomies, when I'm examining them. I give this spiel. They should feel like hardboiled eggs, but if you were to palpate and squeeze the eggs slightly, if there was something inside that felt like a rock—let's say the yolk of the egg was a rock—you would be able to feel that, much like the feel of your kneecap versus your thigh. Something that's hard or irregular like that should be thought to be a testicular tumor until proven otherwise. The boys just have to kind of push the testes back and forth and slide it, make sure it feels uniform, it doesn't feel hard in any way and feels soft and smooth. That should be done in about a monthly basis. Their risk for testicular cancer runs into the mid-50s, so it is something that they need to do for several decades and be aware of it. The reason that they should come to Maine Medical Center is we have fantastic pediatric anesthesiologists who are the most important thing as far as those parents are concerned because they are the ones that safely take the patient into surgery and bring them out of surgery safely. We do have three pediatric fellowship-trained urologists—myself, Dr. Thomas Kinkead, and we just hired a Dr. David Chalmers, who finished three years at Denver Children's Hospital. Dr. Chalmers, for example, does a scrotal approach in some of his patients, whereas we do a standard two-incision approach, and all of us are trained to do it laparoscopically.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Dr. Jumper. You are listening to MMC Radio. For more information, you can go to mainemedicalcenter.org. That's mainemedicalcenter.org, mmc.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening and have a great day.


text: I've been helping the local Swan Valley Stampeders hockey team (MJHL) get their video equipment set up and they've bought this cool little DVD recorder, the Sony VRD-MC6. Just plug in a video source with the red, white & yellow RCA jacks (or insert a memory card from your camcorder), insert a blank DVD and press the red button. Very handy. If you want a similar unit that also acts as a DVD player, then move up to the MC10 model. The MC6 has a small colour display to show that video is actually going into the unit, but there is no headphone jack, so you have to take other measures to ensure the red & white cables are both working and that the audio signal is the right level. Small enough to fit in a parka pocket - it will see a lot of action at the hockey games this year!


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Not sure what boot is right for you? Call us! 1-888-543-2668
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See our popular Custom Anderson Bean Boots Made in Texas
Anderson Bean style 8012A is custom made for our walk-in store located in Lubbock, TX. This means we were able to sit down with our Anderson Bean sales representative and hand-pick the leathers for the vamp and top. This particular style features a Briar vamp with a 17-inch Sinsation Tan top. The versatile Briar leather looks great with jeans of any shade and khaki dress slacks. Use an application of Apache Cream, or a similar leather conditioner, to keep the leather nourished and blend minor scuff-marks away. The 17-inch Sinsation Tan tops veer away from the traditional western stitch pattern with a Double Diamond Pattern, otherwise known as Double DP. A tall underslung heel and a broad square toe provide the finishing touch to this all-around cowboy boot.
Please note that our website doesn't reflect real-time inventory and any size not in stock at our walk-in store could face a 90-120 business day back-order. You can check stock availability by calling 1-888-543-2668 Monday thru Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM CST.


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Friday, June 3, 2016
Review: All-New X-Men, Vol. 2: Here to Stay
Artists: David Marquez, Stuart Immonen
Collects: All-New X-Men #6-10 (2013)
Published: Marvel, 2013; $24.99 (HC), $19.99 (TPB)
All-New X-Men, Vol. 2: Here to Stay delivers on the promise of the series' first volume with a story that, even more so than Vol. 1: Yesterday's X-Men, prioritizes character development over plot. In fact, this volume represents some of writer Brian Michael Bendis's strongest character work in years.
There is forward plot progression, to be sure, with Mystique gathering the villains Sabretooth and Mastermind for a crime spree that comes to a head in the next volume. But the real star of Here to Stay is the series' time-displaced version of Cyclops, who wastes little time, following the events of Yesterday's X-Men, in stealing Wolverine's motorcycle to search for answers about his present-day self. As one might imagine, this makes for an amusing series of misadventures in which Cyclops comes to grips with the modern world as Wolverine tries to track him down.
The first two issues of Here to Stay, beautifully illustrated by guest-artist David Marquez, culminate in a conversation between Cyclops and Mystique (who this young version of Cyclops has never met). Mystique acts as something of a sounding board for Cyclops at first, allowing him to talk through the major events of Yesterday's X-Men and granting readers the clearest access to his thoughts that we've had so far. But what makes this sequence most interesting to me is that it can also be read as a total inversion of Bendis's much-celebrated Ultimate Spider-Man #13, in which Peter Parker comes out as Spider-Man to Mary Jane Watson (who, prior to this issue, thought Peter's big secret was that he had a crush on her). The same honesty that characterized that conversation initially seems present here as well, with an empathetic-looking Mystique offering seemingly thoughtful advice to the angst-ridden Cyclops. Bendis turns that perception on its head, though, in the very next scene:
The time-displaced Jean Grey develops in interesting ways here too, with the ethics of her newly acquired mind-reading powers brought repeatedly into question. The other three original X-Men – Beast, Iceman, and Angel – are given a lot less to do this time around. Angel in particular feels like a dead weight on this series, and despite a tedious subplot in which he fights generic Hydra robots alongside his present-day counterpart, his only real function here is to have his thoughts questionably manipulated by Jean. And while I'm not confident that the plot development teased by this volume's cliffhanger ending – Angel's departure from the Jean Grey School for the present-day Cyclops's New Xavier School (and, thus, for the series Uncanny X-Men) – will make the character any more compelling or relevant, the prospect of a slightly decluttered cast in All-New X-Men is a hopeful one.
One final thing I couldn't help but consider as I read these issues is exactly when Bendis proposes the original X-Men to have been formed. All signs seem to point to the late 1980s: the young Cyclops is baffled by cell phones and water bottles, and there are repeated references to the present-day Cyclops being around 40 years old while the younger version "looks twelve" (although I suspect he is closer to sixteen). For two and a half decades to have transpired since the formation of the X-Men contradicts the (frankly stupid) principle of Marvel's "sliding timeline," which would have us believe that all the events of the modern Marvel Universe have taken place over the course of less than ten years.
Here to Stay may lend some credence, then, to a theory advanced by Rich Johnston: that Marvel editorial at one point was purposefully seeding such continuity aberrations in order to justify a future "quarantine" of the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises – the Fox-controlled film rights of both being the subject of much dismay among top executives at Marvel and Disney – from the rest of the Marvel Universe. It's impossible to render a verdict based on the issues collected here, of course, but it's something I'll certainly keep in mind as I continue to read this series.
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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oaktree Capital Group, LLC (NYSE: OAK) announced today that 2017 Schedule K-1 tax forms for the Class A units of Oaktree Capital Group, LLC are available online. OAK public unitholders can access the Schedule K-1 tax form at www.taxpackagesupport.com/Oaktree.
The 2017 Schedule K-1 tax packages will also be mailed out to unitholders beginning in late March. For additional information about the Class A units of Oaktree Capital Group, LLC reported on the OAK Schedule K-1, you may contact Tax Package Support at (866) 709-8178.
About Oaktree
Oaktree is a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $100 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2017. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in distressed debt, corporate debt (including high yield debt and senior loans), control investing, convertible securities, real estate and listed equities. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the firm has over 900 employees and offices in 18 cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit Oaktree's website at www.oaktreecapital.com.


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French tribunal places the Rodriguez Group in administration
by Caroline
The Tribunal de Commerce de Cannes has placed the Rodriguez Group in 'redressement judiciaire', a state equivalent to administration.
The action is the result of not meeting the 2013 deadline for the recovery plan of its subsidiary company SNP Boat Service, which has debts of €115 million.
The group will undergo a six-month judicial observation process, during which it plans to sign new agreements with its creditors.
'Our operational restructuring was completed in 2013 and we have a good business plan that we built step by step and which corresponds to market expectations,' the group's executive board said in a statement. 'The next six months will bring back all of our partners around the table, to establish on a new basis the latest step of our recovery plan, namely the treatment of bank debt.'
Companies that come under the Rodriguez Group umbrella include SNP, Golfe Juan shipchandlery Le Yacht, Gérard Rodriguez Shipyards and Camper & Nicholsons International. The latter two companies are not in administration, and the brokerage and charter firm Camper & Nicholsons International has underlined that it will not be impacted since it operates independently and is not jointly liable financially or otherwise for SNP's debts.


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watch 02:45
The Loop (Games)
Do you like this video?
Iron Ore is the second tier of smelt-able metals after Copper Ore. It can be found almost everywhere in small to medium sized veins. It is hard to distinguish from stone, especially in poor/colored lighting. It is used in tools and armor as well as Furniture (both functional and cosmetic).
Three Iron Ore can be smelted into an Iron Bar at a Furnace.
- Since v1.2, there is a chance that your world will have all of it's Iron Ore replaced with Lead Ore during world generation, which will only allow you to craft Lead Bars instead of Iron Bars. Those two ore types may look different, but their functionality is the same. So you can make chains, chests etc. that would originally use iron to make. If lead is in a generated world, then iron will not be.
Update Info
- Now stacks to 999.
- Sprite now has a sparkling effect.
- Added to the game.
|Original Metals
|Alternative Metals
|Hard Mode Metals
|Other Minerals & Materials
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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Garsha, Heart Land of the Dakinis
- In Books
- Post 23 November 2011
Heart Land of the Dakinis
A Mirror into Lahaul
Sacred Time and Space
This newly published volume is based on the knowledge as preserved in the local tradition as well ancient texts in Sanskrit, Sharda and Tibetan (Bhoti) language, collected by the best Historians of Lahaul, Ladakh and the Western Himalayas, Lahulis, Tibetans and foreigners, including art historians, epigraphists, etc. A very well documented yet inspiring book designed pimarily for the pilgrims and local people, full of amazing stories and 150 colour photos, with 4 maps, 60 endnotes for academic discussions, more than 110 bibliographical references. With a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a foreword by His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa. (click image to enlarge view)
Price: USD9.99 (excluding postage, which will be calculated based on shipping address)
In the high Indian Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh, Lahaul is a major centre of pilgrimage renowned thoughout Northern India and Tibet. It has been a magnet for legendary Mahasiddhas, yogis and pilgrims for thousands of years and is still venerated by Buddhists and also by Hindus. In the folds of the impressive landscape, the most profound spiritual transmission is preserved. For the first time, a guide book introduces to the public the sacredness of the valley traditionally called Garsha, the Land of the Dakinis. This book also reveals little known stories based on local traditions and ancient scriptures.


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How to use photo-scanned assets with Forest Pack
In this tutorial we look at how to use assets created using photo scanning techniques in conjunction with Forest Pack Pro including how to use surfaces, import and use photogrammetry models, and prepare 3D assets from texture atlases.
In the process we'll demonstrate a complete workflow for creating a woodland scene by layering 10 Forest Pack objects, and look at the key settings used to control each of the scatters.
See more of this tutorial here


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Using the Success Every Time (SET) Methodology to Improve Your Organization.
Who Invented SET?
The SET methodology was invented by John Casey, and he did this to improve manufacturing and automotive industries. He saw that errors within one section of the process could derail an entire project. So, he decided to come up with a way for engineers to add improvements into the production process. But, he knew that these processes at to be either free or extremelly low-cost.
Casey came up with several initiatives to get this done. One of those initiatives was the GM Global Quality Tracking System. This system searches for errors within the process. If errors are present that cause the prodcut to be made incorrectly, the entire process is stopped, and everyone needs to start again from the beginning.
What Does Success in a Project Mean?
Everyone wants a successful project the first go round. But, wanting a successful project and getting a successful project are two different things. So, how do you get success every time? Well, the success every time (SET) methodology can help.
The SET methodology involves creating a working project and delivering that project on time and within budget. While that may sound simple, it can actually be hard if you don't know what a successful project truly entails.
A successful project does not mean that you got out a project on time, but that certain parts were not working correctly. Your project also isn't successful if your client does not like your project, or you go way over the estimate of your project.
So, what does constitute a successful project? Well, your customer has to be happy. That's the most important, but you also need to have met your major milestones when they were supposed to be met. Your must also be within your budget, and your team must have worked successful together.
Using SET
Now, that you know what's involved in a successful project, it's now time to use the success every time (SET) methodology to your advantage. First of all, invest in a project management software program that checks for errors throughout the process.
Set up alerts within this software program to let you know if errors occur or if your project gets off schedule. Even one late project can cause your whole project to derail, especially if it's a task on the critical path.
Next, come up with ways to measure success and overall health of the project. Create charts and graphs that help you see areas that have improved and areas where improvement is needed. The overall goal of the SET methodology is to reduce the number of errors that do occur, and you should also strive to not waste a lot of resources.
Step 1: Setting up Your Prerequisites
Before you can start using the SET methodology, you must have certain prerequisites in place that will help you ensure success every time. First of all, you must involve your team in the entire process. They will help you make it success. Ensure that they are fully trained to use their tools and resources.
Next, you need to have a good organizational structure in place. People need to know to whom they should report, and there needs to be a good management structure.
You also need tried and true businesses processes in place that people understand and use. Finally, ensure that you have enough resources on hand to complete your project.
Step 2: Objectives and Goals
Always have clear objectives and goals in place, and be sure that management is involved and committed to these goals. Next, coach and instruct your team on how to reach these goals. Do not except excuses as to why something can't get done. It must get done. There is no excuse for failure.
You also need to help your customer understand the path you are going to take to make their product. This will get them on board and help them support your methods.
Step 3: Implementing the SET Methodology
The overall goal of this process is to create a working product. As you go through the process of making the product, keep the customer's needs and standards in mind. If at any time the product is not meeting the customer's needs, the process is stopped until the problem is fixed. In some cases, this may mean starting from scratch again.
The main part of SET is continual process improvement and evaluation. Somebody must be in charge of looking for errors throughout the process. The software mentioned earlier will also help with this process. When an error is found, you must address it immediately. Problem resolution and tracking is a large part of SET.
Your processes should also be stable throughout as this will ensure success. Start projects on time, and train employees on tasks before they start the task.
Step 4: Evaluation
Finally, while you will be evaluating the product quality throughout, you should also do an evaluation at the end to determine what else you can do to improve the process. This will help you on future projects.


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Sunomono (Cucumber Salad With Seaweed And Sesame)
Cucumbers are perfect for handling summer's heat. Sunomono is a classic Japanese summer salad of cucumbers in vinegar with numerous variation.
AprilSunomono (Cucumber Salad With Seaweed And Sesame) – – cucumber (cut in to 1/2 inch quarters), rice wine vinegar, nori or light seaweed (crumbled), sesame seed (black or brown), water, sugar (if needed), , Slice and quarter the cucumber to desired bit sizes.
In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, water, seaweed, seeds and sugar. Pour over cucumbers until thoroughly coated. Serve chilled.; ; – – salad – side – Asian – Blogs – Recipes – Sides and Salads – Summer Recipes – Vegan – Vegetables – Vegetarian – cucumber salad – cucumbers – Pulse Holistic Health – sunomon


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Advisory Board
You are here
Pursuing enhancement strategies
We have formed a Chemistry External Advisory Board (CEAB) that
- advises us on academic, program, and strategic issues;
- helps us with promotion and recognition; and
- provides philanthropic support and assistance in seeking public and private financial support.
Leading scientists in their fields
Members of the CEAB are leading scientists from a variety of industries, and many are University of Minnesota and Department of Chemistry alumni.
CEAB Members
Timothy Abraham, Ph.D.
Gregory Anderson, Ph.D.
Tina Arrowood, Ph.D.
DuPont Water Solutions
Anna Belu, Ph.D.
Arthur Coury, Ph.D.
Northeastern University
Genzyme (retired)
Robert DeMaster, Ph.D.
3M (retired)
Suntava Corporation
Robert Duan, Ph.D.
Shawn D. Feist
The Dow Chemical Company
Paul Guehler, Ph.D.
3M (retired)
Karl Haider, Ph.D.
Covestro LLC
Daniel LeCloux, Ph.D.
DuPont Microcircuit Materials
Yong Li, Ph.D.
Eastman Chemical Company
Scott Pearson, Ph.D.
The Coca-Cola Company
Martin Rigney, Ph.D.
Ecolab (retired)
Terrance "Terry" Smith, Ph.D.
Steven Tinker, Ph.D.
SBC Industries
Darrel Untereker, Ph.D.
Medtronic (retired)
Steve Vanderboom
Pace Analytical Service
Janet Zuffa, Ph.D.
Masonite Corporation
- Chemistry External Advisory Board
- 139 Smith Hall, 207 Pleasant St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
- David Blank, Department of Chemistry Head
- email@example.com
- (612) 624-1880


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Many start a YouTube channel to make money and making money from YouTube was not my main motive. It has been about a year now that I am regularly post all my travel videos. It is not that I have just started traveling one year back, but I have starting video blogging since December 2017. I have been traveling a lot for year now, but never had thought of making videos and posting it on YouTube or any other similar services. I used to write blogs about travel, the places I visit, restaurants, food and more, but videos, no.
Now its 1 year, about 130+ videos, half a million views, 2400+ subscribers, I think it is a good going.
I had written about many milestones during this one year journey like with I reached my initial 200 subscribers and then qualifying for the YPP reaching 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours, subsequently getting my channel serving advertisements from Adsense.
Sharing my 1 year of Vlogging / video blogging / YouTube experiences
I had written a lot about my experiences during this journey (Tips for new YouTubers). As we move forward, try new things, we learn new things or even out thoughts would start changing. The same has happened to me too as far as YouTube is concerned. I used to focus a lot on YouTube SEO, but now I am not much bothered about that. I am now more focused on creating good videos that I love to watch and would want others to watch and enjoy.
YouTube Make Money – Not a way to make quick money
Many youngsters or beginners think that YouTube is a source of big money because they see many vloggers with costly sports cars, mansions, traveling around the world in private jets and so on. You search YouTube, you find tons of videos where people talking about making millions of dollars from YouTube. I agree that many are making millions on YouTube directly or indirectly, but they have reached far ahead and for a person just starting a YouTube channel would take a long time, lot of hard work and luck. Yes luck is also a very important factor.
In this one year, I have not made anything near what I have spend. I have not started this channel as my main source of income. I have been earning online for more than a decade now, so I know that it is not so easy and I am not that lucky too, yes luck is important, but I am sure that consistent hard work gives results, just keep calm and continue working.
Don't invest much
If you have money and you are passionate about making videos, yes you can spend, like I am doing, but if you are thinking about a business model, then you need do a lot of research and take decisions.
Some tips for travel vloggers
My main YouTube channel is a travel channel. I have got most of the professional gadgets that a YouTuber wish to have like couple of DSLR camera, lenses, drone, tripods, Canon G7X, GoPro, Rode Mics, etc. To carry my stuff, I got many bags, in search of finding the which to carry everything I wanted when I travel. I got some Canon bags, Manfrotto bags, some from Tumi and on and on, but still I am searching for a better bag. Lenses, after one year, I have settled for two lenses which I carry now for most of my travel videos, after buying about 7-8 lenses.
So, if you are going to keep investing you gadgets / tools to shoot and produce your videos, make it more professional, then it is a never ending process.
Suggested Reading – Things that I learned from my own mistakes
My Advice to new YouTubers / Video Bloggers / Travel Vloggers
Don't invest on too much of equipment because, you will never find a single device that can handle all your situations. You may have to shoot something in a windy location where your Canon G7X will have problems with audio, but if you have a Rode shotgun mic or a film maker kit, then you can do it. Your DSLR can take really good shots at low light and you will need a lens with better aperture. I have a Sigma 16-30 which has a 1.8 aperture and work wonder in low light situation, but I cannot use it when I am walking and shooting, for that I use a 10-22 mm wide angle camera and so on.
Finally now, I prepare myself for every trip, anticipate things and carry my minimal gadgets.
Minimal gadgets for a travel vlogger
It is very important to travel with minimal things in your bag to make your travel comfortable, but you should not regret that you missed something because you did not carry something. I had big regrets when I decided to carry just my Canon G7X M II for my Guangzhou, China trip in my bag and nothing else. Many times during my video shoots I wished I had my Canon 80 D or my Canon 200D with me, but still I could do some good videos.
Check out my YouTube Gadget List
My Plans for the coming year and future
I have many travel plans inside and outside India. I am also planning to connect more with people who would want to work with me on things like reviewing their property, interviews, etc which should be related to travel and food industry.
If you have anything in mind that you could do with me, please feel free to contact me
So to conclude, making money from YouTube, yes possible, but with lots of conditions like hard work, dedication, passion towards work, time and luck.


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Swinging to Crystal Swing
Knock NS Parents Association and board of management are delighted to welcome Crystal Swing to the Manor Hotel in Abbeyleix for their harvest moon dance on Saturday, August 16.
Raffle and refreshments on the night. Support by Bare Foot Jenny.
Tickets available through from the Manor Hotel, Abbyleix or phone 086 8270189.


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A Pinkie Promise
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The following reflection was written in the summer of 2014 by Katherine Ellis, Grace and Main's then Summer Missionary and Artist in Residence. The following is a reflection from the first few weeks of her involvement with us. The piece of art near the bottom is also done by Katherine.
Richard Rohr, a Franciscan friar, once said, "We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking." This summer God's people are teaching me the art of living and loving and their presence compels me to respond both in action and thoughtful retrospection.
This summer I am staying in Danville, Virginia, population 43,000. Through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Student.GO missionary intern program I have been commissioned to live and work among the homeless and near homeless of Danville as missionary and artist in residence with Grace and Main Fellowship. It has been over two weeks since I made the long trip from Texas across the North Carolina border into Virginia and my experiences in these past several days have already been overwhelming and compelling. Grace and Main, my community for the summer, describes itself as "an intentional Christian community of hospitality and service." Deciphering what exactly that means has taken me more than perusing their website. Each day I believe I better understand the radical work that is taking place here in Danville and daily I am humbled to be a small part of it this summer.
Grace and Main is not ushering a community through a soup kitchen line–Grace and Main is ushering a community to its dinner table. Grace and Main is not managing a shelter in town–Grace and Main is opening up its houses and offering hospitality to those without a place to sleep.
One Thursday I was joining what Grace and Main calls the Roving Feast: two or three times a week a few of Grace and Main's leaders pack a couple dozen sack lunches and set out into the city, to meet people where they are whether that be homeless, drunk, hungry, or just in need of some company. Mark and I gathered up a couple of the brown lunch sacks and walked through someone's yard toward a tool-shed: Steve's home. We went inside and sat down next to a mattress on the floor and a discarded dishwasher as I shook hands with Steve who appeared to have had more than one drink that day. We talked about the Daytona 500 and Steve's childhood and I laughed when Steve persistently apologized for accidentally cursing in front of a lady. As we were leaving, Steve took my hand and squeezed my pinkie finger with his own. He asked if I knew what that meant. I responded, confused, "Is it a promise? Like a pinkie promise?"
Steve replied, "No, that means love, don't you ever forget that." I squeezed his pinkie, Mark prayed, and we left. We returned to the shed a few days later. Steve was once again drunk, but glad to see us. The conversation was heavier this week as Mark and Steve danced around the topic of Steve getting help. Steve repeatedly proclaimed that he was tired of drinking–he wanted to stop. At one point I grasped his pinkie finger with my own and asked, "Remember what this means?" After some coaxing, Steve stood up and we walked out of the shed toward my car, toward the ER, toward detox, and toward the hope of freedom from the slavery of addiction. We sat in the ER with Steve for several hours waiting with him.
As the blood was drawn and the first tests were run, Steve took my hand and held it, not letting go for most of the rest of our time there. At one point that evening Steve looked up at me with his weathered skin and untamed beard and quietly noted, "You must think I'm a baby for wanting to hold your hand. It's just comforting you know, it's nice to have someone here with me." Steve is a middle aged man accustomed to the streets and empty bottles, and like all of us he wants to know someone cares, that he matters, that he is loved. This summer I am learning that we all need community. Just as I hope I'm teaching Steve that he is worthy of love and comforting, Steve is teaching me about grace, redemption, and friendship. This summer is messy, Roger walked into Bible study drunk last night and looking for his wife as the 105th Psalm was being read. But also in the room sat Steve, 3 days sober and reciting the Lord's prayer. Beauty and hope spring forth in the murk where community is riddled with pain and mistakes, but also with the transformation of hearts.
Some of us may live in large houses, drive nice cars, and be able to hide our addictions better than others. We are all slaves to our own forms of addiction whether they are alcohol, drugs, sex, or money, comfort, and success. We may not lump ourselves with those who we consider poor and needy, but not even one of us is immune to poverty of the soul. There is growth that occurs when vice meets faith, when our messy community embraces one another amidst the struggle. We are all impoverished in some manner, all addicted to something, all in need of community, and all in need of a Savior. The people that I am blessed enough to encounter this summer are, as Richard Rohr said, helping me to live myself into new ways of thinking as their stories become entangled with my own. When we come face to face with another's struggle we are forced to look into their eyes and see our own reflection, our own pain, our own need for detox and healing. Often we all need someone to squeeze our pinkie finger and ask us, "Remember what this means?"
Please consider making a donation to support our continued work at: bit.ly/3CMdonate.


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- in Conscious Crypto by Anja Schuetz
Crypto… WHAT?
There's a shift in consciousness happening in the world — we see it in almost every aspect of our lives.
To me, the arrival of the blockchain and cryptocurrencies are a reflection of this shift in the world of finance and economics.
What is a cryptocurrency?
Magic Internet Money !! ;)
Actually there is nothing magic about it. This digital money is based on maths, algorithms, and super smart technology. You know, science.
But what it represents can be quite magical for us. It can change the world. It can make the world a more beautiful, truthful, fair and equal place.
If we all adopt it.
This digital money — aka cryptocurrencies — exists on the revolutionary technology called Blockchain.
A Blockchain is a decentralized peer-to-peer network — a hive without a boss.
It's the opposite of our traditional pyramid structured centralized models (of governments with a president on top, of companies with a CEO on top, of banks with a central bank on top, of computer networks with a main central server, etc.).
Decentralization = Power to the People
In a decentralized organisation powered by the blockchain, there is no central controlling authority. Everyone is self-directed and free. Everyone can make direct peer-to-peer financial or business transactions — fast, anonymous and for a fraction of the costs of a centralized system — where there is always a middle man (third party service provider) that charges a fee for their service.
Especially for us international online entrepreneurs, this is fantastic news. We can save costs in our business.
We are in control. We don't need to go through the hassle of claiming our account back anymore, when Paypal decides to freeze it on a whim. We don't need to pay money to search for a payment that our bank lost!
In a decentralized network, nobody has power or authority over our account and our transactions but ourselves.
Our savings will grow again instead of slowly diminishing, due to low or even negative interest rates. Cryptocurrencies are deflationary in that they have a limited number of coins. Once this number has been reached ("mined" in crypto terms), there can't be any more. Coins can't simply be reprinted, like our current "fiat" money. (Yes, that is what it's called. I had no idea either!)
The more people decide to use a certain cryptocurrency, the more that currency will rise in value. We are still at the very beginning of the "rise of the cryptocurrencies" and this new world represents investment opportunities for us, that we never thought possible.
Lots of early believers in Bitcoin are millionaires today.
Is this REAL money?? YES!
I highly recommend watching the TED Talk below in order to get a general idea about what the blockchain is, how it was invented, and what potential it has to make the world a better place.
The shift is here. Now.
And so are the opportunities.
Everything is changing now. This technology was developed during the past 9 years. By now loads of new currencies and other blockchain projects are on the market and in this new 9 year cycle they will go mainstream.
It is NOT only about finance and investing. This is about so much more! You can now get paid by the blockchain for e.g. blogging, or earn a passive income by supporting people in Africa. The possibilities are endless!
WIN:WIN:WIN for everyone.
Powered by sharing and receiving — aka the Blockchain.


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A version of this review appeared in Issue 75 of Cosmos Magazine, July 2017
The runaway evolution that drove human brilliance
Darwin's Unfinished Symphony: How Culture Made the Human Mind
by KEVIN N. LALAND
Princeton University Press (2017)
Evolutionary biologists are often loath to admit the vast gap that exists between our own brilliance and the relatively modest smarts of our animal brethren. Tracing an evolutionary sequence of incremental changes in body shape from apes to humans is reasonably simple. Charting changes in intellect presents more of a challenge. Humans alone have built particle accelerators, propelled astronauts into space, and manipulated the genetic code of other organisms. No other animal even comes close.
In Darwin's Unfinished Symphony, Kevin Laland not only admits that a seemingly insurmountable gap exists, he takes up the challenge of explaining how a step-wise process of natural selection – as it was first explored by Darwin in his Descent of Man (1871) – can be used to explain what sets the human mind so dramatically apart.
Laland draws on more than two decades of work in his own lab, as well as work by other animal behaviourists and evolutionary biologists, to argue that culture has colluded with genetics to catapult humans far ahead of other animals on the intelligence league board. His elegant theory also positions the human mind as an architect in its own evolution.
Laland traces human intelligence back to its elemental components. Conveniently, many of these components, such as the abilities to imitate, innovate, teach and communicate, have been rigorously interrogated in a staggering array of species, from honeybees to crows, stickleback fish to chimpanzees, dolphins to meerkats.
In recent decades, it has become clear that none of these skills is entirely unique to humans. Chimpanzees use tools to solve puzzles, meerkats teach their young how to kill scorpions, whales bellow out songs in regional dialects. But only in humans do these components come as a package deal. And all promote the evolution of large brains and greater intelligence.
Once our ancestors became reliant on two of these foundational elements – the ability to innovate, and the ability to accurately copy the behaviours of more learned members of our social group – a path towards culture was set. Innovation brought things like stone tools, which became entrenched in our culture thanks to our ability to copy, teach and communicate with each other.
As each of these cognitive skills was honed, more cultural practices were added to our repertoire and retained from one generation to the next. The cultural practices in turn cemented the mental abilities we needed in order for culture to thrive and become more complex. Rather than being a simple outgrowth of human mental abilities, says Laland, culture is part of the explanation for those mental abilities.
Culture also influenced traits not related to our brain. For example, when Northern Europeans began dairy farming, a rare gene variant that allowed adults to digest lactose, the sugar in milk, rapidly spread through the population, and remains common in dairy-consuming cultures today.
This intimate feedback between our genes and our culture created a runaway process, and the speed of human evolution, particularly of the mind, ratcheted up in response. Laland's account provides a satisfying – if at times laborious – explanation for the origins of intelligence and culture that extends beyond our own existence to that of other animals, our prehistoric forebears, and our hunter-gatherer contemporaries.


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in stock
Our Sugar Sticks feature ball handle wooden stirrers coated with white sugar crystals.
Stir one into your cuppa for a perfect dose of sweetness.
Each bouquet contains 5 individually wrapped sugar sticks.
*Packaging may differ slightly from image.
Pair a sugar stick bouquet with a tea pyramid for a perfect door gift / wedding favor / party favor !
in stock


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One for the Law Nerds: New Draft SI's on IPS Reform
More detail is now out to add to the July 2013 HMT Consultn IPS 07-09.13 document on Changes to IPS Law. The plan, you will recall, is to increase the limit on withdrawable share capital, apply insolvency rescue procedures to societies, protect the register of members from vexatious applications for information, and beef up the FCA's investigation powers.
Now these three draft Statutory Instruments have been issued by HM Treasury to anyone who had asked for them. They are the planned legal instruments to bring about three of the changes dealt with in the July 2013 Consultation:
Copy of mutuals register order draft of 7 Aug 2013
Share Capital Increase SI final draft
Copy of Investigations Regulations draft 7 Aug 2013
Comments on the drafting of these SI's are welcome before the end of August (earlier than the Consultation deadline of 20th September) and should be sent to email@example.com
The SI to implement the insolvency rescue procedures won't be out in draft form until September.
© Ian Snaith 2013 This work is licensed under the
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Labels: co-op capital limit, Consultation 2013, Law reform, new FCA powers, UK co-op law; HM Treasury


text: Hindus want a temple to be built at site of the razed Babri mosque Giriraj Kishore, the chief of the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) organisation, was arrested along with two of his senior colleagues and about 500 sympathisers as he headed for Ayodhya, the city that is at the centre of a raging dispute between Hindus and Muslims. The VHP leader had planned to defy police bans and lead tens of thousands of supporters on Friday to Ayodhya, demanding that a temple should be built on the site where the 16th century Babri mosque once stood. A Hindu mob had pulled down the mosque in 1992, claiming it had been built after destroying a temple. Riots The mosque's destruction led to countrywide riots, resulting in the death of more than 2000 people. The dispute is being heard by India's highest court, which months ago ordered the Archaeological Survey of India to excavate the site and ascertain the historical truth. But the religious tangle is far from being resolved. Archaeologists have reported finding ruins of a temple under the rubble of the mosque, prompting Muslim leaders to cry foul. They allege the report has been doctored at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the leading party in India's ruling coalition. SOURCE: Agencies


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For Sale $379,000 - Condo
Beach Club Condominium Home For Sale, Gulf Shores Alabama
Price: $379k
Details: 2 BR, 2 BA Gulf-front Home with 980+ sq. ft.
Address: 527 Beach Club Trail., Gulf Shores, AL 36542
Gulf Shores Alabama Real Estate Sales
Beach Club condo, beachfront home in Gulf Shores. This resort home numerous upgrades including $30,00 in bathroom & flooring upgrades in December. This well furnished condo has granite counter-tops in the kitchen & bathrooms, the mast. bath has a new tile walk-in shower and the second bathroom has a new bathtub and tile. Enjoy exceptional views of palm trees, pools, white-sand beaches and the Gulf of Mexico. The community amenities at the Beach Club are what you would expect in a gulf-front resort – 5 beachfront pools & hot tubs, tennis courts, basketball court, clubhouse with spa/salon, indoor pool, exercise facility, restaurant/lounge, shopping venues, etc. Come see this home….visit Beach Club Condo in Gulf Shores AL.
Gulf Shores, Coastal Alabama
Sugar-white beaches, fresh seafood, championship golf courses, charter fishing trips, wildlife areas, arts, museums and historic sites are just a few of the options Gulf Shores has in store for visitors. Gulf Shores, with it's warm weather, is a water-sports paradise. Surrounded by back bays and rivers, there are many opportunities for outdoor recreation and fresh seafood. This area is the perfect getaway and has something for everyone. Choose from a variety of accommodation ranging from Gulf Shores condo rentals, to beach resort houses and gulf-front hotels.
Source: Realtor.com
Beach Club Condo, Gulf Shores Alabama