Auditory Processing Disorders

The problem is that they usually don’t recognize slight differences between sounds in words, even when the sounds are loud and clear enough to be heard. NPCC officers who hold the rank of assistant superintendent of police have a single row of silver braid on the peak of their cap (for males) or bowler hat (for females). In the National Police Cadet Corps, the rank of acting assistant superintendent of police (A/ASP (NPCC)) is given to inspectors who have not attained the rank of ASP (NPCC) but have been appointed as the officer commanding of their unit. In the Singapore Police Force, ASP is the second lowest senior officer rank, immediately above an inspector and below a deputy superintendent of police. New police officer cadets holding university degrees graduate from the Home Team Academy as inspectors.

Brain & Nervous System Home

What does APD stand for police?

The disorder can lead to learning delays, so kids who have it may need a little extra help in school. It’s important for the people caring for your child to know about APD.

What Are the Signs & Symptoms of Auditory Processing Disorder?

However, assistive devices, such as FM equipment may alleviate some problems. Children with APD may exhibit a variety of listening and related complaints.

The type, frequency, and intensity of therapy, like all aspects of APD intervention, should be highly individualized and programmed for the specific type of auditory disorder that is present. A multidisciplinary team approach is critical to fully assess and understand the cluster of problems exhibited by children with APD.

In Pakistan, an assistant superintendent of police is a selected through the Central Superior Services examination. Assistant superintendent, or assistant superintendent of police (ASP), is a rank that was used by police forces in the British Empire and is still used in many police forces in the Commonwealth.

However, only those children with the most severe APD will qualify for disability benefits. Your doctor can use a hearing test to see if your child’s issues are caused by hearing loss, but only a hearing specialist, called an audiologist, can diagnose auditory processing disorder (APD). Sometimes home-based programs are appropriate whereas others may require children to attend therapy sessions in school or at a local clinic. Once again, it should be emphasized that there is no one treatment approach that is appropriate for all children with APD.

What does it mean to put out an APB, and what happens after it is put out?

The problem is especially pronounced in situations with background noise. It affects about 5% of school children and can have a significant impact on their ability to function, especially at school. Kids with this condition, also known as central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), can’t process what they hear in the same way other kids do. Something interferes with the way the brain recognizes and interprets sounds, especially speech. People with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) experience no immediate benefit from using a hearing aid.

  • To a person with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) the sounds of speech are muddled together because the speech processing centers of the brain are unable to distinguish one speech sound from another.
  • Even if their hearing is normal, people with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) have difficulty understanding speech.
  • The problem is especially pronounced in situations with background noise.

Therefore, we should always keep in mind that not all language and learning problems are due to APD, and all cases of APD do not lead to language and learning problems. No matter how many symptoms of APD a child may have, only careful and accurate diagnostics can determine the underlying cause. Auditory processing disorder (APD) is a hearing problem that affects about 5% of school-aged children. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) is still in use in India where the officer holding this rank is from Indian Police Service.

Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) may be associated with diseases, such as aphasia and Parkinson’s. Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is a hearing disability unrelated to hearing loss. Children with APD are unable to detect subtle differences between sounds in words even though they have no difficulty actually hearing the words. For example, a child with APD may have difficulty distinguishing between words that sound the same, such as cat and hat. Background noise or distractions further limit their ability to understand words.

If your child has APD, ask school officials about what’s available. So, many kids diagnosed with APD can develop better skills over time as their auditory system matures. While there is no known cure, speech-language therapy and assistive listening devices can help kids make sense of sounds and develop good communication skills. If you think your child is having trouble hearing or understanding when people talk, have an audiologist (hearing specialist) examine your child. Kids with APD are thought to hear normally because they can usually hear sounds that are delivered one at a time in a very quiet environment (such as a sound-treated room).

It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. In the 20th century, it was in many territories opened to non-Europeans as well. Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) may be hard to identify.

However, assistant superintendent of police is a probationary rank (till the second year of the career of an IPS officer) and is worn by officers when under training at SVPNPA. All IPS officers start their career as Assistant Superintendent of Police. They hold Deputy Superintendent of Police rank which is equivalent to this rank. Researchers estimate that Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is present in 3-5 percent of the population. The cause of Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) may be genetic, but may also be associated with trauma at birth and middle ear infections resulting in temporary hearing loss.

apb meaning

In California, some radio codes in the 400–599 range that refer to vehicle violations are left over from the California Vehicle Code (CVC) which was revised in 1971. Some agencies, such as the California Highway Patrol (CHP) use the current vehicle code numbers while municipal and county police agencies, especially the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) still use the 500 series. Between 2% and 7% of kids have it, and boys are more likely to have it than girls.

See more news about How long does an apb last

To a person with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) the sounds of speech are muddled together because the speech processing centers of the brain are unable to distinguish one speech sound from another. Even if their hearing is normal, people with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) have difficulty understanding speech.

Tell teachers and other school staff about the APD and how it may affect learning. Kids with APD aren’t typically put in special education programs, but you may find that your child is eligible for a 504 plan through the school district that would outline any special needs for the classroom. Several computer-assisted programs are geared toward children with APD. They mainly help the brain do a better job of processing sounds in a noisy environment.

Related Posts


“A Hundred Thousand Welcomes”

“What do you want?”

Those are never words you want to hear—even less so when you’ve walked into an office hoping to get help with an administrative problem. When people live in poverty, they’re so often made to feel unwelcome. It may be because of the way they speak, or their clothes. Or it may simply be because, in a world where so many people feel busy and tired, energy runs out for offering a word of welcome.

In Ireland though it is no ordinary welcome that is offered to guests. In the Irish language, the phrase “c’ead mile failte” means “a hundred thousand welcomes.” The words are particularly meaningful spoken in a country that has seen so many of its citizens emigrate over the years. In the 1840s, it was the famine that pushed millions to emigrate. This fate was sometimes forced on people, as is remembered in the song, “The Fields of Athenry,” about a man who stole bread to feed his family and was punished by being exiled to Australia. Irish emigration continues today, with almost 250 people a day leaving the country throughout 2013—one of the highest emigration rates in the world, higher than that of Haiti, the Sudan or Guatemala. The Independent newspaper voices the country’s regret that economic difficulties mean “youngsters are forced to leave their families and friends behind” as well as “a brain drain of talent.” What does it mean for any country to see so many of its strongest and most capable young people leave, year after year? Too often, they are exploited, or even subject to abuse as newcomers, far from home, coping in unfamiliar languages and contexts.

This was what happened to Irish people who emigrated to England, where they were often made to feel unwelcome because of the conflict between their countries. This experience makes their hundred thousand welcomes even more heartfelt when they are shared with all those who arrive in a new place, and all those who manage to return home after long journeys.

It is just the same with ATD Fourth World: many of us have been treated rudely and shown that we weren’t wanted. But ATD Fourth World is where everyone is treated as equals. Treating all human beings with dignity also means that it is never just one person who welcomes another. Each of us has something to share with one another, be it only a smile or a warm word. Maybe what we can learn from Ireland is that the true meaning of a hundred thousand welcomes comes to life when all people, with all of our differences, learn to reach out to welcome one another.

Seamus and Diana


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Do you feel ok but want an insight into your health status? Or do you have concerns about your health status? This test can provide insights into current health risks such as diabetes or low vitamin levels, this will allow you the first steps into improving your health. If you require a comprehensive health MOT then this is the test for you!

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Blood Test Explained

White Blood Cell Count
The WBC (white blood cell) count is a common test within a health assessment and is a measure of your body's ability to fight infection. A normal WBC level can be interpreted as a sign that the first line of defence against invasion by bacteria or other disease causing organisms is intact and functioning. Moderately elevated white cell counts are a sign of acute infection, while very high counts of abnormal white cells are encountered with leukaemia (a relatively rare form of blood cancer).

Red Blood Cell Count
The RBC (red blood cell) count is the number of red blood cells present. It can vary considerably, and a marginally low or high health screening reading may not imply a problem. Significantly reduced numbers within any health check can be associated with anaemia (a deficiency in red cell production, or excessive loss of blood), and very high numbers are seen in polycythaemia (a condition which can be caused by smoking, living at altitude or just because the bone marrow makes too many red cells).
Proteins are indespensible as transporters of many other essential molecules around the body. Within your health screening high levels can be seen in disorders of over production such as myeloma, low levels can be found in conditions of failure to produce protein (eg liver disease) or excessive loss from the body (such as malnutrition or kidney disease).

GGT (gamma GT) is a liver enzyme. High levels are most commonly encountered when alcohol has been drunk at higher than recommended levels in the preceding few weeks. Some medication can lead to higher levels of this enzyme also.
Cholesterol, total.
Cholesterol is a form of fat (lipid) bound to protein known as a lipoprotein, and is an essential component of all cell membranes (boundaries) - but an excess of it during a health screening is linked to an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease. The total figure is useful, but it is more helpful to know the levels of the two parts which make up the bulk of the cholesterol molecule - HDL and LDL.

Triglycerides are a category of fat found in the blood. Triglycerides effectively store energy for later use by the body. High triglyceride levels within a health screening are associated with pancreatitis, and possibly heart disease and strokes. Some medication can cause the level to rise, as can poorly controlled diabetes.

HDL Cholesterol
HDL (high density lipoprotein) is the component of cholesterol that is associated with good health, and high levels within a health screen are linked to reduced risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

LDL Cholesterol
LDL (low density lipoprotein) is the component of cholesterol that is associated with higher risk of heart and blood vessel disease. The ideal level within a health screening is below 2.5 mmol/L
The serum iron level is a measure of the circulating iron in the blood. It tells us (along with TIBC/UIBC, transferrin and ferritin) the state of the body's iron reserves. An excess in a health screening can indicate disorders of iron storage (such as haemochromatosis), while low levels may indicate (along with changes in TIBC/UIBC, transferrin saturation and ferritin) iron deficiency.

The TIBC (total iron binding capacity) is a measure of the body's ability to store iron. The higher the level within a health screening, the less iron there is in reserve. This test can be used to detect iron deficiency, and also conditions of iron excess (such as haemochromatosis). It is an equivalent test to UIBC.

Transferrin Saturation
Transferrin saturation, like TIBC/UIBC, is a measure of iron storage. The higher the level within a health screening, the greater the amount of iron stored. This test can be used to detect iron deficiency, and also conditions of iron excess (such as haemochromatosis).

Free T4
LDH (lactate dehydrogenase) is found in almost all tissues but only a small amount of it is detectable in the blood. It usually stays within the cells. When cells are damaged or destroyed, LDH enters the blood. LDH within a health screening is used as a general marker of injury to cells, and many cells can release it to varying degrees. A total LDH level is an overall measurement of five different LDH isoenzymes (or subgroups). A rise in the level may indicate a problem with cell damage somewhere in the body. A low level is probably of little significance.
Uric Acid
Uric acid is a normal waste product of protein breakdown in the body. Low levels within a health screening are generally of no concern, but high levels can lead to gout - an acutely painful inflammation of the joints. High uric acid can also be associated with some medication (especially diuretics), diet or possibly be of genetic origin.
Vitamin D

Vitamin B12

Potassium is another essential electrolyte, whose level in the blood is largely determined by the kidneys. Like sodium, screening for low or high levels of potassium can indicate a problem with health due to disease or inappropriate medication. Potassium levels are very sensitive to storage - if there is any delay in testing, the level is often higher than would otherwise be expected. Normally, it is readily apparent if the rise is due to storage change as other test results will usually be normal.

Urea, like creatinine, is a waste product of normal bodily function - its level in the blood is controlled entirely by the kidneys. Rising levels of Urea that are detected in your pathology results may indicate kidney disease or damage, although small rises may also be a sign of dehydration. Low levels are of no concern.

Creatinine, like urea, is a waste product of bodily processes. The kidneys control its elimination from the blood. A rise in creatinine within a health screening, especially if urea levels are also high, will usually mean there is a degree of compromise of the kidneys. Small rises can be a sign of dehydration. Low levels are of no concern.

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BMCR 2019.12.07

The Rise and Fall of Nikephoros II Phokas: Five Contemporary Texts in Annotated Translations. Byzantina Australiensia, 23

Denis Sullivan, The Rise and Fall of Nikephoros II Phokas: Five Contemporary Texts in Annotated Translations. Byzantina Australiensia, 23. Leiden: Brill, 2018. viii, 252. ISBN 9789004382206 €153,00.

This volume provides annotated English translations, with facing Greek, of five texts related to the career of Nikephoros II Phokas, first as a military commander and later as emperor (r. 963-969). Phokas is an interesting figure, far from the popular stereotype of a Byzantine emperor: he was intensely militaristic, undiplomatic, and expressed his piety through a personal austerity bordering on asceticism. Phokas’ death, however, conformed rather more closely with popular stereotype, since he was brutally murdered by a court conspiracy led by his nephew and his own wife. These five texts offer new perspectives on Phokas’ life—and death—to a wider audience. They comprise three extracts from longer historical chronicles, an encomiastic epic poem, and an akolouthia or liturgical office for a new saint. The chronicles narrate the reigns of Nikephoros’ two imperial predecessors, Constantine VII (r. 944-959) and his son Romanos II (r. 959- 963); all three break off before Phokas’ own ascent to the throne. The poem tells of the Byzantine re-conquest of Crete, which Phokas led as domestikos ton scholon for Romanos II. The akolouthia was apparently composed soon after Phokas’ death as part of an attempt to have the deceased emperor recognised as a martyr. All five texts have previously been edited and introductory notes for each are kept short, commenting on authorship, circumstances of composition and major themes, while providing comprehensive references to the more detailed studies. Annotations to the translations are similarly brief and concentrate on textual and interpretive matters, with the reader frequently referred to the bibliography for detail on historical issues. The Greek of each is a direct reproduction of a previously published edition whereas the translation itself reflects a somewhat revised text, with the corrected Greek given in footnotes to the translation. Since most modifications are minor, this is rarely obtrusive and, for the first of the five, Sullivan has himself gone back to the manuscript to resolve certain problems.

The first and longest text is the sixth book of Theophanes Continuatus. Although it terminates in 961 and provides the least information directly regarding Phokas, the many similarities of content and language with the other chronicles fully justify its inclusion. The second text consists of the final chapters of the revised chronicle of Symeon the Logothete. These initially cover much the same material as Continuatus, albeit in a more compressed fashion, but carry on the narrative until 963, terminating just as Phokas’ army is about to proclaim him basileus. Symeon, during his revision of his work, also added a number of interpolations to earlier chapters (which are not included in the present volume) concerning Phokas’ grandfather, also named Nikephoros, and clearly intended to redound to the greater glory of his grandson. These interpolations are collected into an appendix. The third text, the chronicle of Pseudo-Symeon, much more briefly covers the years 944-962. It is apparently derived from the same, unknown source as the two other chronicles but contains some unique additional details among the repetitions, such as details of the triumph awarded to Phokas for his victories on Crete.

The relative syntactic simplicity of the chronicles facilitates and deserves close translation. Sullivan’s prose is correspondingly clear, fluent and faithful. It is a little unfair to niggle at such a consistently excellent translation, but Romanos II cavorting with his ‘young mates’ (p. 65, for ὁμηλίκων) struck an oddly colloquial note for this native of UK English and the phrase ‘God-controlled empire’ (p. 69, for θεοκυβερνήτου βασιλείας), rather than ‘God-guided’, seemed overly deterministic. The only—very minor—mistake I noticed was the transliteration of κλεισούρας as kleisourai (Byzantine military districts centred around passes, as stated in the glossary) on p. 71 when, in the context of fleeing Cretan Arabs seeking refuge, the chronicler surely intended the simple geographical sense of ‘passes’. Most probably this was the result of an over-zealous search and replace at the editorial stage. The footnotes are clearly not intended to provide a full commentary but they are occasionally a bit too sparse for readers not already conversant with the period. Little information is provided regarding individuals, although their PmbZ1 numbers are listed in the glossary, along with a list of court titles and technical terms.

The fourth text, the Capture of Crete, conventionally known as De Crete capta, was composed by a deacon named Theodosios. He was probably attached to the court in Constantinople and wrote with the apparent intent of flattering Romanos II. Although Sullivan doggedly attempts to draw out what the text can tell us about the military operations on Crete, it was obviously not intended to report the actual events of the campaign in any but the loosest sense. Its chief historical value arguably lies in the attitudes revealed by Theodosios’ portrayal of his patrons and the foe, themes which Sullivan highlights in his introduction. Theodosios celebrates both a decisive Byzantine victory and the concomitant slaughter of Cretan Muslims, men, women, and children alike; the tone throughout is of vengeful and bloodthirsty ‘holy war’. Phokas naturally looms large in his role as commander and Theodosios’ desperate efforts to shoehorn Romanos II into events—whether in the form of inspirational visions appearing to his soldiers or through a reprimand addressed to Phokas by a subordinate officer, for failing to praise his emperor sufficiently—suggest that there was considerable anxiety at court that the credit for victory would accrue to the commander rather than his sovereign. Consequently, it is hard not to smile at the embarrassment evident in the dedicatory proem, which indicates that Romanos died before the work could be presented and that it was therefore hastily rededicated to Phokas, even without removing the reprimand. Phokas, addressed as magistros, could not yet have been emperor but must have been an obvious contender at that time.

Sullivan is more interested in the historical than the literary value of the text and accordingly translates Theodosios’ verse into prose. Although Theodosios repeatedly admonishes Homer for writing about deeds that he deems trivial compared to the campaign on Crete, he wisely declines to measure his own literary skills against those of his poetic predecessor. Sullivan’s translation is once again clear and faithful, and the occasional awkward English phrase, such as ‘ballistic fiery heat’ (p. 149, p. 187), is generally a reflection of a similarly awkward Greek simile, in this case φλεγμονὰς πυρεκβόλους. Sullivan follows the suggestion of Panagiotakes’ 1960 edition that Theodosios in a number of instances employed στρατηγοί or στρατηγέται to indicate common soldiers. This may be the case on a few occasions, particularly for στρατηγέτης, but sometimes I felt a looser interpretation as ‘commanders’ or ‘officers’, rather than restrictively as ‘generals’, produced a satisfactory meaning without supposing Theodosios could not distinguish a στρατηγός from a στρατιώτης.

The fifth text, the akolouthia for St Nikephoros Phokas, provides fascinating evidence for an organised attempt to elevate Phokas to sainthood. Frustratingly the author is unknown; Sullivan rejects the hypothesis that Theodosios was again the author and makes a persuasive case that a monastic, and maybe even an Athonite, origin is possible. The verses, more restrained than De Creta capta, are translated into elegant prose by Sullivan and, through the introduction and glossary, he helpfully outlines the complex structure of the office for those not conversant with liturgy. The text emphasises Phokas’ pious life and death—through his asceticism, forgiveness of his murderers, and acceptance of his demise—and reports that his tomb exuded miracle-working myron, or holy oil. It also celebrates in passing his virtue as a warrior for his faith against Islam. Phokas’ well known, but unsuccessful, attempt to persuade the Church to declare his fallen soldiers martyrs for the faith tends to be regarded as an unusual outlier in Byzantine history, where evidence for militant religious passion is quite weak when compared to the crusading outpourings of the Latin world. Yet this and the previous text suggest such attitudes were relatively common in the mid-tenth century, even if they did not develop substantially thereafter.

In summary, Sullivan has performed a valuable service for scholars of Byzantine history and literature by making these texts accessible to a wider audience. It is hard to shake the impression that the volume’s title leads the reader to expect something slightly different than it actually delivers, since the five texts presented here do not offer a narrative or even an overview of Phokas’ career. This is compounded by the absence of even a summarised biography of Phokas—while the volume is clearly intended for specialists, such an addition would have been welcome if only for reference purposes. It does, however, provide selective, fascinating insights into contemporary attitudes towards the Phokas family and towards Nikephoros himself. The three chronicles, moreover, are of obvious utility to anyone interested in tenth-century Byzantium and, researchers of Byzantine attitudes towards religious warfare will find much to ponder here as well. The book thus contrives both to fall short of and to exceed its promised subject, which is not a criticism of the author or the work but simply of the choice of title. The volume is handsomely presented and has been produced to a high standard; typographical errors are few and trivial. Sullivan’s work is a welcome and deserving addition to the Byzantina Australiensia series.

1. Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt. 2013. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. Retrieved 10 Sep. 2019, from De Gruyter’s preview.


Jul 04, 2020
2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog
2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

ARTD 108 - A Survey of Graphic Design (3 credits)

A comprehensive survey of graphic design from ancient history to the present. This course will look at significant movements, figures and technological advancements. It will include a basic introduction to the language, issues, and concerns of graphic artists and the various communication vehicles used. F, S.


Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (Credits: Twitter)

Virat Kohli-led India further asserted their dominance in Test cricket with a clinical performance on day one of the ongoing day-night Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens. At the end of the day, India were firmly in the driver’s seat of the game. India bowled out Bangladesh for just 106 before finishing the day on 174 for 3.

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Bangladesh won the toss and once again took the bold decision of batting first. But just like the first Test, the decision once again backfired as India’s in-form pace trio of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav ran riot with the ball. The pacers never really allowed the Bangladesh players to settle down.

Ishant Sharma led the show by picking up five wickets while Umesh Yadav picked up three wickets. Shami, on the other hand, picked up two wickets in addition to injuring Liton Das and Nayeem Hasan. Bangladesh kept losing wickets at regular intervals and none of their batsmen really looked like providing any sort of assistance.

India vs Bangladesh
Ishant Sharma picked up five wickets (Credits: Twitter)

India then further tightened their grips on the game with a fine batting show. Openers Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma departed cheaply before Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara joined hands. The two added 94 runs for the third wicket before Ebadot Hossain dismissed Pujara for 55. Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane then saw off the remaining overs.

Also Read: Run Machine Virat Kohli Achieves Another Milestone As India Skipper

Another record for Virat Kohli:

Virat Kohli, meanwhile, added yet another feather to his already illustrious cap. The India skipper became the quickest captain in history of Test cricket to score 5,000 runs in the longest format of the game. In the process, he also became the first Indian captain to do so. Kohli broke the record held by former Australia captain Ricky Ponting.

Ponting had scored 5,000 Test runs as captain in 97 innings while Kohli achieved the feat in just 86 innings. Kohli started the day on 4,968 runs and remained unbeaten on 59.

Here is a list showing quickest to 5,000 Test runs as captain:

Captain Innings
Virat Kohli 86
Ricky Ponting 97
Clive Lloyd 106
Graeme Smith 110
Allan Border 116
Stephen Fleming 130


What Is Chronic Inflammation?

Chronic inflammation is debilitating, long-term pain. Sufferers of conditions such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis endure varying degrees of discomfort on a daily basis.

cryotherapy The causes of chronic inflammation are often obscure although food allergies, environmental factors and stress are believed to contribute. The constant pain is typically caused through an imbalance in the immune system which prompts it to attack the body’s tissues rather than protecting them.

Reducing Inflammation

Cryotherapy is an effective anti-inflammatory treatment. It’s based on the traditional remedy used for the temporary, acute inflammation of sprains which involves placing an ice pack on an injury to the muscles or joints. When the body is subjected to a temperature of -110°C for just a few minutes the hormone norepinephrine is released and instantly begins to reduce deep-seated inflammation. The number of white blood cells drastically increases to protect tissues from the inflammation and filter toxins from the bloodstream. Even minor injuries such as sprains are healed more quickly as bodily strength increases.

Cold spa treatments have frequently relied on plunge pools of icy water. Therapy in a purpose-built chamber provides accurate temperature control and is flexible and convenient. There are no restrictions regarding when it can be used as it’s safe even after eating a meal. Wearing the least amount of clothing possible users then protect their hands, ears and feet with warm accessories. A mask is recommended to reduce the shock of inhaling the cold air. In larger units, the therapy begins in a small chamber with a mid-range temperature of -60°C. After approximately twenty seconds the main chamber is entered where the temperature is maintained at -110°C. The therapy lasts no longer than three minutes. Safety measures include being in visual and audio contact with staff throughout the treatment.

Adapting a building to include a permanent chamber is expensive. Renting a cryotherapy unit is a cost-effective way to offer cold therapy treatments at your spa, health centre or sports facility. CryoAction has a range of treatment chambers available at economic, affordable rental rates. Each independent unit features a changing room and electrically-powered treatment chambers. Cryotherapy has many health benefits but its effectiveness in reducing the constant pain of chronic inflammation without the use of chemical medication is one of the most welcome. To find out more about the range of cryotherapy chambers available from CryoAction, please call us on 0800 014 8058 or send an enquiry to info@cryoaction.com.


Kuwait Airways Strike Costs $1mn

The strike caused by the carrier’s employees over a pay hike led to the cancellation of 10 flights within a four-hour period.

A strike by employees at Kuwait Airways, which led to the cancellation of 10 flights on Saturday, cost the company and its subsidiaries an estimated $1 million within the four-hour period, according to local media reports.

The protesting workers were demanding a higher pay, and blamed the government for not meeting its requirements.

“We were forced to go on this strike as a result of the negligence of the government for not fulfilling its promises or realizing the deal signed with the union regarding wages and increasing allowances of Kuwait Airways workers more than six months ago,” the head of the Kuwait Airways union, Abdullah Al-Hajri, said in a statement.

“Kuwait Airways employees care for the general benefit of the public but they were forced to hold this strike to demand their rights. We will continue striking until our demands that were previously approved by the government are met,” he added.

In October last year, 4,000 workers from the carrier’s union had gone on strike, also over salary demands.

The protests led Kuwait’s government to announce a 25 per cent pay rise to state workers last week.


Miller reflects on Jewish traditions, lifestyle

Nyah Phengsitthy

Junior Grace Miller celebrates Jewish traditions during the holiday season.

Skimming page by page of the Torah, she absorbed the native language of a dying culture. In her spare time, junior Grace Miller can be found teaching herself the basic principles of the Hebrew language. Judaism has been apart of Miller’s life since birth and has managed to stick by her side since.

By the time kindergarten rolled around, she had already begun learning various types of prayers, as well as the Hebrew alphabet. This was intended to prepare Miller for the the most important event of a Jewish girls life, the Bat Mitzvah. This leads to the simple path towards Jewish adulthood which consisted of standing in front of an entire congregation while leading a service in Hebrew.

“[My parents] built towards this big event [known] as my Bat Mitzvah and it was performing in front of everyone. All of my friends and family were invited and members of the congregation. You are upfront leading a service, it’s a very communal [tradition] and I found out it was a lot less stressful than I made it out to be,” Miller said.

Among other traditions, Hanukkah is one of many holiday staples within the Jewish community. While many of her peers are rejoicing in the Christmas spirit, Miller gets with family and they enjoy a feast together. Afterwards, they pull out the candles and light one of them as a way of bringing honor towards a personal belief such as world peace.

“We light [a candle] for each eight days of the nights, we light for something differently. It’s my favorite thing because I feel like Hanukkah isn’t just for me, but it’s for everyone. It’s not just a holiday about giving presents or eating food or seeing my family. It’s about rejoicing in what we have and we want to give to others.”

Miller prioritizes her relationship with Judaism by attending Friday services and teaching at a Sunday school. As president of her synagogue youth group, she has grown to have a strong and active connection with other Jewish youth. The main purpose of the group is to serve throughout Harrisonburg by performing community service

The group has packed bags for the homeless and volunteered at different shelters. They also participate in an annual event known as “Ski Weekend,” where other youth groups from across Virginia and East Coast are invited to celebrate. Youth groups are offered to stay in their synagogue, while they bond, ski and explore Harrisonburg together.

Miller’s past experiences involving Judaism has led her to come upon many misconceptions about her lifestyle. She has argued that historical textbooks portrays Jews as a set of people who are frightened and intimidated by other groups of people.

“It shows the Jews as a [group] of people who are scared and intimidated by many other people because they’ve been so hunted throughout time. That misconception is widely spread and should be lessened because there is a number of us that [don’t] feel that [way],” Miller stated.

Her ancestor’s struggles provide a perspective on how important life is and that it is important for society to open their minds to everything without excluding a person, religion or culture.

The lack of knowledge on Judaism from others and herself has influenced Miller’s future plans. One of her plans is to travel to Israel as a journey of self-discovery on her religious beliefs. She strives to continue letting Judaism be the center of her focus at college by studying Hebrew and Judaic studies. Because not many people have viewed a large portion of Judaism, she would love to open up that to other people.

“It’s very mind-blowing to think about my ancestors and what they’ve gone through and it really puts into perspective how important life is and how critical it is to open up our minds to everything and not just one culture or people or religion, but to everything and everyone,” Miller said. “Seeing everyone get together and come together in hard times or happy times is just really beautiful. We are all connected through Israel, this homeland. [It] is magical to see how we can all connect through a single thing that we all are no matter what we look like or who we are.”

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03.05.2015 Author: Vladimir Odintsov

Is “American-style Democracy” of Any Good to Anyone?

3423222Last decades have been marked by countless Washington’s efforts to impose its idea of democracy on the world. This trend has manifested itself in a wave of “color revolutions” and the active support of various non-governmental organizations that are designed to promote “the values of American-style democracy.”

However, there are cases when the export of “democracy” cannot be achieved by non-violent means, that’s where US intelligence services step in with a wide variety of covert operations being carried out all across the world. Should they fail, the White House will be quick to use its so-called “coalition” that would eagerly bomb any country back to the Stone Age with total disregard for international norms and institutions. One could easily recall the examples of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, the wave of “Arab Spring”revolutions and the Balkanization of Eastern Europe. In all those cases Washington is hiding behind its favorite excuse – the doctrine that was proclaimed by Harry Truman in the US Congress in March 1947, that constitutes that “US must support free people who are resisting the command of armed minorities or the external pressure.” But back then it all came to countering communist influence that was reflected later in the beginning of the “Cold War”, but now the White House is desperate to apply this very “external pressure” all across the world.

But despite all these efforts, recent years have highlighted a growing opposition movement on different continents that is reinforced by the spread of anti-American sentiments. The reasons are a plenty, but the most serious among them is a common understanding that the “American-style democracy” that is being pushed down the throats of the people around the globe can not be regarded as a role model, since even the population of the United States doesn’t seem to like it all that much.

For instance, a growing number of American and Western media has been reporting a staggering level of violence on the part of law enforcement agencies in America that overshadows any other industrialized country in the whole world. In Germany, in the period of 2013-2014 police officers killed eight people, Canada is bit more dangerous place where police is killing up to ten people each year. However, in 2014 alone in the US city of Pasco, with a population of 68 thousand people, police officers have murdered more people than their colleagues in the whole United Kingdom in the last three years. It’s clear that Washington has unleashed a war against its own population. Frequently those crimes are being recorded, but US authorities refrain from reporting on them, most often than not they are being mentioned briefly in news reports. This March alone US police murdered 115 Americans, which is more than three individuals a day! It is more than the entire British police killed since 1900. The overwhelming majority of the victims is African-American. Residents of California, Wisconsin, Georgia, Ohio are much more inclined to fall victims of this “pro-democratic” police, although this problem has now reached the national scale. In particular, according to the US Department of Justice, in the last 8 years, in Philadelphia alone police officers opened fire on local residents more than 400 times, 80% of those targeted by police were black.

Racial tensions in the US remain rather strong which often leads to institutionalized racism. This fact has been highlighted by an investigative report of The Washington Post that was examining the actions of Ferguson police after the death of Michael Brown, noting that, despite the intervention of the State of Missouri and the federal authorities, the local police still continue to openly adhere to discriminatory policies, which sounds truly alarming.

As a result, an entire generation of African Americans has been victimized by racial policies. If you are born black in the United States, then your chances of dying from a gun wound is 20 times higher than if you were white. Hence,there’s wonder that US cities are regularly shaken by massive waves of protests against police officers killing unarmed black men.

Such atrocities against civilians occur not only in the US, they are pretty commonplace in countries that are occupied by the US military “in the name of promoting American-style democracy.” The last 14 years of ongoing US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have been keeping the international media busy reporting on US military patrols shooting civilians, massive civilian casualties during US military raids, when people are massacred in their home, and finally collateral civilian deaths that were caused by an “unsuccessful” US drone attack.

There’s no surprise that the unanimous opinion of the international community is that the United States officials are not only responsible for the violence on their home soil, but for massive shootings of civilians from Latin America to the Middle East. In 2014, the Gallup Institute in partnership with WIN has published a report on the basis of sociological researches in 65 countries, which states that 24% of world’s population perceive the US as the greatest threat to the planet, which goes in tune with the conclusions of yet another Gallup research that was conducted this March in the 50 states of the US, itshowed that 18% of respondents named the government and its ongoing “democratic” policy in the United States a significant problem, while putting other problems such as terrorism, unemployment, health care, the decline of family values on the background.

So should we promote this “American-style democracy” and is it of any use to anyone?

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You'll need to eliminate sweets, grains and alcohol for as long as you intend to remain in ketosis. As a result, many people find sticking with the diet long-term difficult. "Cheat days" or "cheat meals" are difficult to include in the plan as one high-carbohydrate meal can turn your body back to burning carbohydrates for energy, which can take days (and even up to a week) to reverse.

While sugar may be a great quick form of energy, it doesn't keep your brain at its best. "There is a lot of evidence coming out which suggests that the brain operates more efficiently on ketones than it does on blood sugar, but the research is all fairly new," Olin says. "Ketones are made to fuel the brain in the absence of glucose," says Kristen Mancinelli, a registered dietitian and author of The Ketogenic Diet. "On a normal diet, the brain gets 100 percent of its energy from glucose. On a ketogenic diet, up to two-thirds of the brain's energy comes from ketones. It's understandable that brain function would change drastically on a ketogenic diet." Here are 13 things doctors want you to know about the keto diet.
Try to be patient. Although some people get into ketosis relatively quickly, it may take others a while. Unfortunately, people who are insulin resistant often seem to have a longer journey. Put in a solid month of consistent keto eating, and try to ramp up your physical activity, if possible. Within four weeks, you should definitely be in ketosis and experiencing its benefits.
The keto diet cuts your daily carbohydrates to less than 20 grams; for people with diagnosed diabetes, this may help them manage the condition. A one-year study found that putting people with type 2 diabetes into ketosis dramatically improved their blood sugar control. Also, reports study author Steve Phinney, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of Virta Health, a type 2 diabetes reversal treatment, "Patients were able to lose on average 12 percent of their body weight, about 31 pounds." Doctors want you to know these 13 things about the keto diet.

Most of us LOVE dairy products in all shapes and forms, but it’s possible that skipping or reducing them in your diet could speed up your weight loss and be beneficial for your health. This is because dairy products contain not only milk sugar (lactose), but also milk protein (casein), which stimulates insulin secretion more than many other types of protein, and can trigger overeating.


Common Health Issues and Some Ways To Treat Them

Most people don’t feel 100% all the time. Though there is a consistent target to be as healthy as possible, most people feel that they suffer from some issue or another. And after some sort of diagnosis is present, the next step is to try to decide what to do about it.

Some examples of common health issues include people who suffer from ADHD, addiction, dietary issues, or constant pain. Those are just a few of the things that people deal with regularly, but looking into what some methods are to treat them, you can get an idea of how to approach any other sorts of issues that you might have when it comes to your general health.

Lots of people suffer from ADHD. Though the diagnosis wasn’t all that common until a few generations ago, now it is widely understood to be a spectrum of conditions where hyperactivity becomes a serious issue. Sometimes you can take medication for ADHD, and it works perfectly. Other times, behavioral therapy and situational awareness play an even more important role than chemicals. Ultimately, parents have to help their children deal with ADHD. But as adults, people have to take an active role in figuring themselves out to function efficiently.

Some people have addictive personalities. In those personalities, when mixed with certain types of situations or in certain contexts, lead to addiction. And especially with specific kinds of drugs, addiction may be the hardest thing a person will ever deal with in their life. It can ruin a family. It can ruin a career. It can lead to painful death. That’s why fighting against addiction is such an important issue to take on responsibly if you’re trying to come out the other end of the tunnel feeling like the best version of yourself.

Dietary Issues

There is a whole gamut of dietary issues that hundreds of millions of people deal with every day. There is anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphia – the list goes on and on and on. It may be one of the most common health issues that there is. And there’s not always a simple solution. Sometimes the psychology of having a problem with diet is stronger than the physical capacity of a person to handle it. That’s why educating people and knowing where to go for moral support is so important.

Constant Pain

A final issue that a lot of people deal with is constant pain. It might be an old hip injury. It might be headaches that won’t go away. Maybe there is chest pain or gastrointestinal issues. But ultimately, some ever-present sense of pain is distracting to a person’s life. And to get over that distraction, a person has to do something. Some people choose pain medication. Others choose meditation. Other people try to retrain their body not to react to nerve impulses. Whatever path you choose, the point is that it isn’t necessarily easy, but there are ways to achieve that sense of pain-free homeostasis again.


Team, Visitors, External Collaborators
Overall Objectives
Research Program
Application Domains
Highlights of the Year
New Software and Platforms
New Results
Bilateral Contracts and Grants with Industry
Partnerships and Cooperations
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Section: Research Program

Scientific Challenges and Research Issues

In TADaaM , we will tackle the problem of efficiently executing an application, at system-scale, on an HPC machine. We assume that the application is already optimized (efficient data layout, use of effective libraries, usage of state-of-the-art compilation techniques, etc.). Nevertheless, even a statically optimized application will not be able to be executed at scale without considering the following dynamic constraints: machine topology, allocated resources, data movement and contention, other running applications, access to storage, etc. Thanks to the proposed layer, we will provide a simple and efficient way for already existing applications, as well as new ones, to express their needs in terms of resource usage, locality and topology, using a high-level semantic.

It is important to note that we target the optimization of each application independently but also several applications at the same time and at system-scale, taking into account their resource requirement, their network usage or their storage access. Furthermore, dealing with code-coupling application is an intermediate use-case that will also be considered.

Several issues have to be considered. The first one consists in providing relevant abstractions and models to describe the topology of the available resources and the application behavior.

Therefore, the first question we want to answer is: “How to build scalable models and efficient abstractions enabling to understand the impact of data movement, topology and locality on performance?” These models must be sufficiently precise to grasp the reality, tractable enough to enable efficient solutions and algorithms, and simple enough to remain usable by non-hardware experts. We will work on (1) better describing the memory hierarchy, considering new memory technologies; (2) providing an integrated view of the nodes, the network and the storage; (3) exhibiting qualitative knowledge; (4) providing ways to express the multi-scale properties of the machine. Concerning abstractions, we will work on providing general concepts to be integrated at the application or programming model layers. The goal is to offer means, for the application, to express its high-level requirements in terms of data access, locality and communication, by providing abstractions on the notion of hierarchy, mesh, affinity, traffic metrics, etc.

In addition to the abstractions and the aforementioned models we need to define a clean and expressive API in a scalable way, in order for applications to express their needs (memory usage, affinity, network, storage access, model refinement, etc.).

Therefore, the second question we need to answer is: “how to build a system-scale, stateful, shared layer that can gather applications needs expressed with a high-level semantic?”. This work will require not only to define a clean API where applications will express their needs, but also to define how such a layer will be shared across applications and will scale on future systems. The API will provide a simple yet effective way to express different needs such as: memory usage of a given portion of the code; start of a compute intensive part; phase where the network is accessed intensively; topology-aware affinity management; usage of storage (in read and/or write mode); change of the data layout after mesh refinement, etc. From an engineering point of view, the layer will have a hierarchical design matching the hardware hierarchy, so as to achieve scalability.

Once this has been done, the service layer, will have all the information about the environment characteristics and application requirements. We therefore need to design a set of mechanisms to optimize applications execution: communication, mapping, thread scheduling, data partitioning/mapping/movement, etc.

Hence, the last scientific question we will address is: “How to design fast and efficient algorithms, mechanisms and tools to enable execution of applications at system-scale, in full a HPC ecosystem, taking into account topology and locality?” A first set of research is related to thread and process placement according to the topology and the affinity. Another large field of study is related to data placement, allocation and partitioning: optimizing the way data is accessed and processed especially for mesh-based applications. The issues of transferring data across the network will also be tackled, thanks to the global knowledge we have on the application behavior and the data layout. Concerning the interaction with other applications, several directions will be tackled. Among these directions we will deal with matching process placement with resource allocation given by the batch scheduler or with the storage management: switching from a best-effort application centric strategy to global optimization scheme.


A novel methodology for in-process monitoring of flow forming

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    Flow forming (FF) is an incremental cold working process with near-net-shape forming capability. Failures by fracture due to high deformation can be unexpected and sometimes catastrophic, causing tool damage. If process failures can be identified in real time, an automatic cut-out could prevent costly tool damage. Sound and vibration monitoring is well established and commercially viable in the machining sector to detect current and incipient process failures, but not for FF. A broad-frequency microphone was used to record the sound signature of the manufacturing cycle for a series of FF parts. Parts were flow formed using single and multiple passes, and flaws were introduced into some of the parts to simulate the presence of spontaneously initiated cracks. The results show that this methodology is capable of identifying both introduced defects and spontaneous failures during flow forming. Further investigation is needed to categorise and identify different modes of failure and identify further potential applications in rotary forming.


Sightseeing Highlights

Cruise right under the famed Chateau of Chenonceau, which uniquely spans the River Cher. Visit the home of artist Leonardo da Vinci. Tour the Renaissance gardens at Chateau de Villandry. Wander through the dainty streets of a centuries-old village, perhaps discovering a lively local market or a hidden shop with hand-painted pottery. Taste the wines of Touraine.

Canals & Waterways

At 629 miles the Loire is France’s longest river, though not all of it is navigable. Its main tributary is the 246-mile Cher. The Loire rises in the Cévennes in south-eastern France and flows through Orléans, Tours, Angers, and Nantes until it reaches the Bay of Biscay.

Why Barge in Loire Valley?

What could be more extraordinary than cruising in the “Valley of the Kings”, past magnificent chateaux built centuries ago by wealthy dynasties of global influence, and designed by architectures of great distinction? The Loire Valley is as rich in legend as it is in verdant natural beauty, and fortunately, little has changed over the centuries.


They offer a selection of youth, independent and backpacker hostels in Russia - including all sorts of unique & unusual properties such as a hostel on a Jumbo jet, in a tree house, on a houseboat, even a bed in an old jail!

Arrival Date:

Nights:    Guests:


Good Apps To Develop Cognitive Skills

Apps can be particularly good at developing and testing cognitive skills. From a young age they can help with colour, shape & pattern recognition and early categorisation skills, and as children grow older they support development of numeracy skills, logic, problem solving, measurement, memory, learning time and a wide range of maths concepts.

This section includes some of the best apps for developing cognitive skills in children. Use the filters to find apps for particular ages or to target specific cognitive skills.


Hillsborough County

Client: Hillsborough County
Industry: Economic Development/Government

Understanding how residents feel about their county government is important. The county wanted to disseminate a survey to reveal insights into how citizens value different aspects of their lives. The county believed that these findings will help them draw conclusions to make improvements and increase individuals’ satisfaction. By being able to differentiate the resident’s districts, additional insights and conclusions can be made to further help the county.

Hillsborough County engaged HCP Associates to develop a quantitative telephonic survey that would be statistically representative and an online survey to welcome all citizen feedback.

Hillsborough County is one of Florida’s 67 counties, located on the central, West Coast. It is Florida’s fourth most populated county, with 1,351,087 residents, according to the 2017 American Community Survey. The county was established in 1834 and initially encompassed other counties; in 1911, the county established the boundaries that currently exist. Hillsborough is home to the Port of Tampa Bay, two Major League sports teams, an international airport, offers connectivity to award-winning beaches, and has been rapidly growing into the county it is today.

The study aimed to set baseline metrics for what people feel the county is succeeding with and to gain a pulse on how citizens feel about key topics that impact their quality of life. The results offer the county with generalized sentiments, key items of importance, and factors that impact citizen’s lives. In addition, the study’s results provide all commissioners with valuable information into their constituents’ sentiments.

From utilizing different distribution platforms, HCP was able to track respondent’s methods of accessing the survey. By using a mixed channel distribution method, HCP can confirm that this level of engagement from the county to residents is found to be successful, effectively reaching all demographics.

Overall, residents’ satisfaction with their quality of life is very high, with 93% of the county feeling satisfied. The survey highlighted that the largest expectation gaps, where citizens are expecting more to be done by the government, lie in the categories of support services and traffic/congestion.

HCP remains a pioneer in conducting meaningful research that both serve and strategically engage the community. As a leader in consulting and market research, HCP is proud to guide the county in understanding and evaluating citizens’ sentiments in order to continue to thrive and advance into the future.


Dealer System in Corpus Christi

The dealership business has also grown by a big margin in the city of Corpus Christi. There has been a remarkable spurt in the dealership count in RV business, and also in marine and trailer businesses. But the crux of the matter is still the same. The growth of dealers in such a large number can be a worrying sign for the small-scale and the mid-scale dealers. Their limited budget makes it difficult for them to fix lower prices. This puts them in disadvantage when pitted against big dealers who have a larger budget and lower costs. So, IDS has come out with the DMS or Dealer Management Software which has been designed to help dealers in various ways.

DMS reduces the cost of operation. It directly reduces the cost of accounting, financing and reporting. It also ensures accuracy in data and report-preparing. Since it systemizes everything in one place, it gives the management less headache about information and data-collection. When the dealers look back in the year gone by and try to sum up the pros and cons of the firm, they are more at ease when they are presented with well-made reports and analysis by DMS tool. Corpus Christi may be a relatively small city but the dealers have to struggle to keep the demand stable. Dealer management software is something which can be relied upon. It makes it impossible to make errors unless the accountant is really negligent of his work. So, investing in this software is a sure shot way of lifting up profits and profitability for the business.


Anxiety about fake news has long dogged open publishing environs, while the costs of gatekeeping often go unnoticed.

Ryan Khurana is the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Advancing Prosperity. He is a Senior Fellow for IREF Europe and a Research Fellow for the Consumer Choice Center. He formerly worked as a technology policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and as a Research Associate at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London, United Kingdom. His work has been featured in The Telegraph, National Review, The Washington Examiner, The Federalist, and many others.

On August 13th, 1678, King Charles II was informed of an elaborate Catholic conspiracy to take his life. A manuscript, discovered just a few days prior, named nearly 100 English Jesuits as part of a plot to reinstate Catholic power in Protestant England. The King found the whole thing absurd, and wanted it kept quiet to avoid mass panic. Word, however, got out, prompting an investigation that led the magistrate to the fervently anti‐Catholic Titus Oates.

History of Fake News

Oates’s impeccable memory, confidence, and intelligence persuaded the King that the plot was real. Oates claimed to have infiltrated secret Catholic meetings and learned of their plans. He made numerous allegations, and knew about the personal lives and positions of various influential Catholics. Fury gripped the English public.

Drastic anti‐Catholic measures were taken to protect the King’s life. The Exclusion Bill excluded the King’s Roman Catholic brother, John, from the line of succession. The Jesuits were persecuted, with nine executed and another twelve dying in prison.

The most shocking feature of the entire “Popish Plot” was that it was totally fictitious. Titus Oates had fabricated the entire manuscript along with a supposedly insane clergyman, Israel Tonge, intending to spur hysteria that would do lasting damage to English Catholicism.

The King survived till 1685, with no successful attempts on his life by Catholics. However, it was not until 1829 that the policies against Catholics were relaxed with the Roman Catholic Relief Act.

Fake stories have garnered widespread attention throughout history, though only a few were as impactful as the Popish Plot. Similar libelous persecutions of Jews occurred across Europe in the late 19th Century in the Dreyfus, Beilis, and Hilsner affairs; all fake, and all successful in stoking hysterical public anger.

Some instances of fake news, such as the press’s popularization of bat‐men on the moon, can be innocuous, but others have held dire implications for whole nations. The sensationalist “Yellow Journalism” pioneered by Pulitzer and Hearst has often been cited as a cause of the Spanish‐American War of 1898. Hearst’s papers blamed the Spanish for sinking the Maine, an American warship, during a Cuban uprising, despite scant evidence, in order to drum up public support for his hawkish outlook.

The Role of Media Technology

As the modern phenomenon of fake news has caught public attention, spurring calls for new regulation, there are useful lessons to be learned from the history of epistemic uncertainty in public discourse. The historical presence of fake news indicates that this is not a new challenge, and the diminution of the issue throughout the 20th century grants further insight into the problem’s internet borne reemergence.

In the case of the Popish Plot the truth was eventually discovered, though only after much damage had been done. Means of transmitting the written word were limited, slowing the process of refuting error. The traditional business model of mass media rewarded sensationalism, making it more profitable to spread unverified claims and publish retractions later. These incentives have been well‐understood throughout history, and enabled powerful interests to manipulate public opinion.

Over time, however, the cost of information transmission fell drastically, increasing the quality of reporting. Prior to the widespread deployment of the telegraph, foreign correspondence was based on independent letter writers whose commentary was sent with cargo to the reporting nation. Fact checking was difficult under these circumstances, but as demand for news increased, more resources were invested in rigorous correspondence. This demand driven shift began with the Chicago Daily News, which became the gold standard for foreign reporting by the early 1920s. The rise of reporting quality coincided with advances in air travel, as commercial airlines were established following the First World War. These changes drastically improved the ability for misinformation to be corrected rapidly, rather than the weeks, or sometimes months, of delay that it took for news to travel by ship.

As new players entered into the newspaper market, changes in business models affected reporting as well. An increasing number of players pushed down the value of advertising dollars for each paper as competition for circulation intensified. Newspapers began to shift their focus to retention of high valued customers through the adoption of subscription sales. This reduced competition for attention, shifting the market to competition in quality. News like the Popish Plot would be less likely to thrive in an environment in which profit is based on rigor rather than shock.

Beyond the changes in print came a series of advances in media technology throughout the 20th Century. Guglielmo Marconi patented what would soon become the first commercially successful radio device in 1896, and by 1919 human speech was clearly transmitted. Throughout the 1920s, developments in broadcasting marked a new era in media communications, changing how the public received information. Only be a few decades later the widespread adoption of television sets spurred yet another media revolution.

Network television grew tremendously in the 1950s, becoming the new voice of American news. Following the popularity of Edward R. Murrow’s “A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy”, network television expanded the length of newscasts to 30‐minutes, and invested heavily in finding broadcast journalists who were seen as trustworthy. While short news reports were common before, the television news format allowed a small few to speak to millions in an unprecedented manner. The novelty of the format, along with high natural barriers to market entry, created an environment in which a handful of stations commanded the attention of the entire American audience, further reducing competition driven sensationalism.

The Return of Fake News

While many broadcast innovations of the 20th Century seemed to limit the impact of fake news, the information technology boom that began in the 1970s changed the dynamics of its production. Declining computer hardware costs enabled widespread access to media production, and the commercial internet allowed for near instantaneous transmission of ideas.

Cheaply available software enabled the creation of false content. Tools such as Photoshop provided quick, high‐quality image doctoring, making it difficult to distinguish between real and fake photographs. While the creation of false images had been a common phenomenon since the dawn of photography, it was given new prominence in the internet‐era, as speed became an important factor in narrative creation.

The combination of lower production costs and rapid content dissemination led to an explosion in the number of information sources. Setting up a website was far cheaper than establishing a television station, driving a profusion of online news. The early internet was an anarchic environment, hosted on a novel, effectively decentralized infrastructure which large corporations had yet to fully master. Content production had been democratized, but it was often hard to distinguish between high and low‐quality content. This tension is evidenced by the popularity of the phrase “don’t believe everything you read on the internet”, often humorously attributed to Abraham Lincoln. The doubt prevalent in online interaction is further exampled in the famous 1993 New Yorker cartoon “On the Internet, nobody knows you are a dog”.

Internet freedom also changed the business model of publishing to be more reminiscent of 19th Century print media. The costs of scaling had long insulated large networks and national newspapers from the sort of intense competition enabled by the internet. National networks took view attention for granted. As the number of news sources increased, each customer’s attention became scarcer, and therefore, more valuable. Online social media sites operate as attention maximizers, showing people exactly what they want to see, rather than curating content for quality. In such an environment, emotionally charged, attention grabbing content is likely to have greater throughput than dry, analytical works.

While changes to the information economy have been ongoing, the current concern over fake news stems from the 2016 US Presidential Election. Concerns that Russian propagandists influenced the election by spreading disinformation on social media, as well as the rising popularity of alternative news sites such as Breitbart, Daily Kos, InfoWars, and the Huffington Post, drove concerns about fake news’s corrosive impact on democracy.

The argument contends that as more people rely upon social media for news, the line between what is true and not becomes blurred. Articles that play to a reader’s sensibilities will be algorithmically selected and over‐served, deceiving them into taking their claims as fact. Malicious actors, such as Russian agents aiming to elect Donald Trump, can and will take advantage of these advertising algorithms to mislead and influence the public. The possibility of Popish Plots influencing discourse, it is claimed, has become practicable once again.

The Scope of the Problem

Economic Historian Niall Ferguson has likened the influence of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to that Hearst at the time of the Spanish‐American War. Other commentators have condemned what they consider to be social media monopolies as political threats, as they reduce the number of information channels, making people more susceptible to fake news. Even though the internet provides a wellspring of free information, some have argued that it has actually made us dumber, and less able to critically assess what we see.

There is little evidence that fake news had any measurable impact on the outcome of the 2016 election. If anything, it seems that the Russians benefitted more from the hysteria attending their efforts than any products of the efforts themselves. Whether or not the articles churned out by Russian troll factories are true, it is better to address their content, rather than decry them as fake news. Dismissing speech as fake, rather than engaging with it, provides an easy rhetorical escape from discomfiting views. The acceptability of dismissal sows partisan discord, which harms public debate.

Many claims made about Facebook and its’ influence are hyperbolic. The idea that Zuckerberg has the power of Hearst is to discount the ongoing conversation concerning his influence. Facebook does not exert editorial authority over content on its site as Hearst did with his newspapers. In addition, internet users express general skepticism of what they see online, and rarely trust a single source for everything. While more people probably get some news off Facebook than they did through Hearst Media at its peak, its’ influence on their thought is weaker. A 2017 Pew Research poll found that only 20% of US adults regularly receive news from social media. Out of the 67% who receive any news from social media, 37% supplement with Local TV, 28% with Cable TV, and 33% with online newspapers. These are hardly results that suggest susceptibility to monopolistic influence.

To illustrate this point, let us imagine that Facebook began actively curating its site to support a war with Spain. It algorithmically favors information that makes the case for war, including fabricated Spanish antagonism, and demotes any and all information that shows otherwise. Is it likely that the populace has become so pacified as to believe everything they see, and become pawns to the influence of Facebook’s owners? Not in the slightest. Unlike broadsheets or television news, social media sites do not create a general consensus, as they host microtargeted content. Disparate users, finding similar content universally thrust upon them, would discover this aggressive curation quite quickly. This discovery would likely result in fierce backlash against Facebook executives.

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are not simply competing with traditional news sources, they rely on them for revenue. If Facebook abused its content creators, they might refrain from publishing on the site, which would in turn reduce its credibility. While it is often claimed that social media has accelerated the decline of traditional media, this assertion is not borne out by the data. Traditional media was in decline well before the creation of outlets like Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. If anything, platforms have been responsible for halting the demise of legacy content creators. Countless people access New York Times articles through Facebook every day, far more than accessed them directly through their site before Facebook rose to prominence.

Online companies do not have the luxury of maintaining sleepy monopolies, or abusing their market position. On the contrary, they have a large financial incentive to combat fake news as best as possible, even overcompensating on occasion. Facebook, Twitter, and Google have all taken initiatives to counter the spread of fake news on their sites, while still allowing users wide latitude to create, post, and consume the content they most enjoy.

This suggests that the tendency of people to believe fake news is not so much a technological issue as a social one. While the internet age decreased the cost of producing fake news, digital media itself did not make it any more believable. The degradation of trust in traditional media—something that began in the 1990s—indicates that fixes targeted at content, rather than the underlying concerns that bring it to the fore, will have little positive impact.

The Cost of Reprieve

Understanding the pre‐internet media landscape helps to contextualize why fake news has seemed like such a new phenomenon. For around 40 years television was the dominant form of media. Families would sit around for hours to consume standard sitcoms from I Love Lucy to Two and a Half Men — that remained almost identical in form no matter what year they were broadcast— and to remain informed about current affairs. From the inception of network television in the late‐1940s to the rise of standalone news stations in the 1980s, the Big Three (NBC, CBS, and ABC), dominated American homes, and American minds.

Elsewhere in the world, television content was strictly monitored to maintain moral standards. This severely restricted the number of accessible channels. In the UK, where the publicly funded BBC was the sole body responsible for broadcast television for decades, the reaction against the introduction of ITV, the first independent station, was fierce. The Labour Party continued to oppose commercial television into the Thatcher administration, when Channel 4, an ad‐funded public‐service broadcaster, was launched in 1982.

The American news scene evolved in 1980 with the introduction of CNN, but it was only in 1996, with the inception of MSNBC and Fox News, that news channels began to become more explicitly partisan.

The notion that the news of the television era was more truthful than today’s internet media is deeply flawed. By limiting the channels through which information could be accessed, the bounds of political discourse were informed by the narrow interests of those who commissioned television shows. Many fringe groups were permanently excluded from the national conversation. It might be argued that excluding those who held these fringe views brought a valuable cohesion to society, but there were unintended consequences to this form of censorship.

Take one of the most famous songs of the Black Power Movement, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott‐Heron, with lines such as “There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock News/and no pictures of hairy armed women Liberationists and/Jackie Onassis blowing her nose”. The song chastises the media structure of the 1960’s, which is held responsible for pacifying the American public in the face of brutal systemic racism. In doing so, it makes clear that discussion of effective, ameliorative political action had been foreclosed by media centralization.

Contrary to its aims, the deplatforming of radicals only lent credence to their claims. It fed delegitimizing narratives of a democracy managed by shadowy elites, and on both left and right, was used to justify violent action. Twentieth Century media sorted Americans into a majority who trusted the content they were shown, and a minority who believed none of it.

Today, however, the ability of a single source to control the information available to an entire demographic is much weaker. Legacy media conglomerates, such as News Corp, Viacom, or Comcast, that traditionally acted as gatekeepers of information, compete for clicks and views with upstart magazines, YouTube clips, tweets, LiveLeak footage, and blogs. The internet has driven an increase not only in the volume of content, but its velocity and variety. Compared to twitter, televised news summaries seem glacially slow. News curation, rather than creation, has become costly.

Acknowledging this change illustrates the difficulty of attempting to return to the dynamics of the television age. One of the reasons fringe movements, whose narratives were empowered by censorship, never grew strong enough to effectively challenge mainstream opinion was not their lack of resources, but the trust people had in the system of information gatekeepers. Broad social consensus endorsed the bounds of acceptable debate, and the functioning of the wider institutions of society, upon which the news industry relied.

The contemporary spread of fake news concerns not only the ability to produce content, but the lack of trust that now permeates society. The post‐9/11 and post‐financial crisis world does not trust its institutions as much as it did in the 1980s. The content produced by sites like InfoWars, known for their conspiracist reporting, follow an anti‐elite narrative that attacks not only the political establishment, but once reputable media corporations.

Regulation and Reputation

To regulate social media sites in way that controls user content would undeniably generate backlash. There is no authoritative means of identifying what news should be printed and what should not. Only after something has been said and publicized can it be identified as true or false. Preventing publication is, in turn, a form of censorship known as prior restraint, that the US Constitution severely restricts.

Less drastic than banning what is deemed to be fake news are incentive‐based regulations, such as the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields online platforms from liability for user generated content. This legislative shift would render companies liable for malicious or libelous content posted on their sites, like traditional publishers. The chilling effect of this change would limit far more speech online than just fake news, as a fearful private regulator always is more cautious than a public regulator.

Given the tremendous volume of speech produced by its users, despite their best efforts, it is impossible for Facebook to adequately monitor everything posted on its site. If Facebook were held liable for content it could not adequately monitor, it might maintain a presumption of guilt on the part of the user, censoring any politically charged or potentially offensive content, fearful of the legal action likely to accompany any mistakes.

Understanding the complexity of regulating online speech, Vox’s Matt Yglesias has called for Facebook to simply be shut down, given the danger to democracy the site apparently poses. This is an absurd remedy, one that is far worse than the purported disease.

Hysteria over the impact of fake news has led people to neglect the immense tangible benefits brought by social media. Twitter and Facebook may allow people to post lies online, but they have also facilitated far greater interconnectedness than ever previously thought possible. Social media has facilitated new political opportunities, such as the Arab Spring, as earlier centralized information technologies were easily controlled by tyrannical governments. It has allowed people to remain in contact with friends abroad, and expand their horizons by lowering the cost of information gathering.

Contrary to popular opinion, social media has also contributed to the depolarization of political views. Psychologically, and perhaps counterintuitively, users are less likely to spend time on a site that only shows them content they like, but more likely to remain engaged if they are angered by what they see. Twitter feuds drive engagement more fervently than echo chambers. While the overall effect on people’s beliefs is mild, constant exposure to disagreeable views makes it easier to appreciate sources of disagreement.

While it is true that fake news stories were the most shared individual articles of the 2016 election season, this statistic says little about the impact of fake news. People’s worldviews are rarely shaped by single articles. Instead they tend to share articles that reinforce their preexisting beliefs. A viral fake news article represents a small share of each individual’s news consumption, but its visceral nature increases the likelihood that each reader will pass it on to others.

In order to avoid being fooled by fake news, people have begun to look for proxies to judge the reliability of what they read online. Philosopher Gloria Origgi has referred to this shift as the dawn of the Reputation Age, which has supplanted the Information Age as the sheer volume of information available has become too great to process.

Trust is the most important aspect of Origgi’s Reputation Age. As social trust has eroded, the assumption that information is reliable has also disappeared. She argues that this is being countered by organizations and individuals developing trust signals to engage forthrightly with one another. Just as brand marketing allows consumers to trust the quality of a product or a service, a messenger’s reputation allows listeners to determine the level of trust thye should place in the information he delivers. Individuals do not form beliefs after evaluating all relevant information, but by evaluating the sources of that information, and the trustworthiness of others who hold those beliefs. These networks of reputation form the foundations of collective intelligence.

As individuals become more accustomed to the social implications of the internet, they will develop personal reputational devices. Social media sites are attempting to facilitate their creation by flagging trusted sources and verifying the accounts of frequently impersonated users. These shifts provide for greater trust in the institutions governing information, while retaining the diversity of sources inherent to the internet.

Oates’ hoax was found out in 1681. The Catholic King James II ascended to the throne in 1685, despite all the anger brewed just a few years prior. Things move faster now than they did then, but the same logic applies, and the truth always shines through.


POSTPONED - Mary Elizabeth Ames discusses H'ILGRAITH

Join us for fantasy and dragons with author Mary Elizabeth Ames as she releases her latest work, H'ILGRAITH!

In H'ILGRAITH, a new species has emerged . . .
When homo transformans, a species of human able to transform into animals, first appears, those affected do not know what is happening to them or how to control it. As the world becomes divided into factions seeking to either exploit or protect this new species, an orphaned girl named Ruwena finds a mentor in the mysterious old woman known only as H'Ilgraith. But who is H'Ilgraith? Why is she so dour and taciturn toward her ward, and how did she acquire her extensive knowledge about dragons, potions and hybrids? Witness H'Ilgraith's adventures as a young woman, forging her personality and abilities as a homo transformans in an unfriendly world.

Mary Elizabeth Ames has a master of science degree in biology and has taught pathophysiology at the graduate level. She has worked in the healthcare arena for more than thirty years. She incorporates the science of biology and genetics into her narratives to imbue the stories with a sense of realism and to provide an understanding of how genes function. This is her second novel, a follow-up to Homo transformans: The Origin and Nature of the Species.

Event date:
Saturday, March 28, 2020 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Event address:
2200 N. Westmoreland Street
Arlington, VA 22213
H'Ilgraith Cover Image
ISBN: 9781646630028
Availability: Available from Our Distributor (5+ days shipping)
Published: Koehler Books - February 28th, 2020


Jorge Gay

With the title “Las dulces y amargas tardes de Boris Mijailovich Kustodiev” (The bittersweet afternoons of Boris Mijailovich Kustodiev”, we present a new exhibition of Jorge Gay in our gallery showcasing his work of the last couple of years.

As it is usually the case with the Aragonese painter, all the exhibition begins with an idea that is the origin of all the exhibited works, in this case, the inspiration comes from the life of the Russian painter Boris Kustodiev, a little known artist who passed away at a young age and that drew Jorge Gay’s attention because “in front of adversity, he remained happy”.

It is a conjunct of acrylics on canvas and on paper full of harmonies and dualities, of a calm brightness and sensuality, slightly threatened by motifs of melancholy. It is a show with echoes of Henri Matisse, Giorgio de Chirico, Pablo Picasso or Fernand Léger, that may look almost ancient, but Jorge Gay’s personality turns it into something timeless and personal.

In works such as “El refugio de los besos” (The shelter of kisses), “Mayo será eterno” (May will be eternal), “Ya no servían las palabras con las que identificábamos la realidad” (The words we used to describe reality were no longer useful) or “Las tardes heladas de Boris” (Boris’s frozen afternoons) full of samovars, melancholic interiors or still lifes, the artist achieves to make the complex look simple, that the profound seems natural.

It’s an evocative exhibition: the cold sunsets of Saint Petersburg, the glorious Crimean mornings, houses remembered or dreamed and lived… All remains us to the Russia of the end of the 19th Century and beginnings of the 20th, grey and luminous at the same time. The compositions presented by Jorge Gay doesn’t submit to the dictates if the traditional academy or the neo vanguard academy, the artist keeps an independence and a freedom that may not be representative of this century we are finishing, but the 21st.

The exhibition will remain open until the next June 26th.


Weaving - ukraine-travel

Weaving Craft Tour

Duration: 6 days/5 nights Sheshory is an amazing mountain community where incredible architecture, folk craft, textiles and history are harmoniously combined. Art journey of textile and spirituality to the authentic mountain communities Sheshory and Kosmach. Optional tours: A natural boundary Lebedyn is a part of a national park “Hutsulshchyna”. Unique nature of this reserve is reflected in the various landscape forms. You can see mountains, plains, meadows, forests, swamps and lakes here. The Lebydyn Lake is the most famous treasure of the whole park that is located at the altitude of 600 meters above sea level being surrounded by beech and pine woods. There are different legends about the lake, locals believe hat it does not have any lake bed and some mysterious creatures live in it. One can see here some small meadows where 17 plant species listed in the Red book are growing. Flora and fauna are very rich and various here.


The ConnectCore 8M Nano is shipped without a default operating system loaded. Only U-Boot is flashed in the device. This step demonstrates how to install Yocto in your ConnectCore 8M Nano.

1. Establish a serial connection with your device

Due to an incompatibility between the USB/serial driver and the PuTTY terminal program, you must use another serial terminal program such as Tera Term, Minicom, CoolTerm, or HyperTerminal.

Open a serial connection with the following settings:

Parameter Value

Serial port where the device is connected

Baud rate

Data bits

Stop bits

Flow control

2. Program the firmware

  1. Download the firmware images from the following location:

  2. Decompress the zip file.

    U-Boot dub-2018.03-r3.1 (Jan 24 2020 - 16:52:06 +0100)
    CPU:   Freescale i.MX8MNano Quad rev1.0 1500 MHz (running at 1200 MHz)
    CPU:   Commercial temperature grade (0C to 95C) at 27C
    Reset cause: POR
    DRAM:  1 GiB
    MCA:   HW_VER=1  FW_VER=0.17
    MMC:   FSL_SDHC: 1, FSL_SDHC: 0
    In:    serial
    Out:   serial
    Err:   serial
    Model: Digi ConnectCore 8M Nano Development Kit
    ConnectCore 8M Nano SOM variant 0x01: 1 GiB LPDDR4, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, MCA, Crypto-auth
      Board version undefined, ID undefined
       - ATF a2fcfba
       - U-Boot dub-2018.03-r3.1
    flash target is MMC:0
    Net:   eth0: ethernet@30be0000
    Fastboot: Normal
    Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
    Information in the console log may vary.

    => run install_linux_fw_sd

## Resetting to default environment
## Error: Can't overwrite "ethaddr"
## Error: Can't overwrite "eth1addr"
## Error: Can't overwrite "wlanaddr"
## Error: Can't overwrite "btaddr"


Feeding Therapy

The goal of feeding therapy is to help children develop normal, effective feeding patterns and behaviors. Feeding therapy is more than just “teaching a child to eat.” Therapists collaborate with the child’s family to determine the source of the child’s difficulties and develop very specific therapies to make the entire process of eating easier and more enjoyable.

Eating is a complex task, requiring multiple systems in our bodies to work together seamlessly. Childhood growth and development is dependent on proper nutrition as an overall part of health and wellness. There are many reasons a child may struggle to eat including: difficulty chewing, difficulty swallowing, an aversion to food textures, mealtime anxiety, or a chronic health issue. It often requires a team to work together to ensure that each situation is met with the proper evaluation and treatment. Our Specialists in this area can work with the child and the family to create an individualized plan to fit your child’s needs.

    Mealtimes are a great time for bonding and enjoying new experiences. Unfortunately, for some children, it can be a stressful and challenging time. If any of the behaviors below are affecting a child’s ability to safely eat, meet nutritional needs or enjoy the mealtime experience, the child may benefit from receiving a feeding evaluation.

  • Difficulty chewing foods, typically swallowing food in whole pieces or refuses to swallow certain types of food consistencies.
  • Refuses to eat certain food textures or has difficulty transitioning from one texture to another texture (ex: from bottle feedings to purees, from purees to soft solids or mixed textured foods).
  • Gags on, avoids or is very sensitive to certain food textures, food temperatures and/or flavors.
  • Struggles to control and coordinate moving food around in mouth, chewing and preparing to swallow food.
  • Fussy or irritable with feeding.
  • The child seems congestion during feedings or after.
  • Refuses or rarely tries new foods. Considered a “picky eater”.
  • Pushes food away.
  • Has difficulty transitioning from gastric tube (G tube) feedings to oral feedings.
  • Negative mealtime behaviors (infant cries, arches, pulls away from food; child refuses to eat, tantrums at mealtimes or “shuts-down” and does not engage in mealtime).
  • Infant demonstrating signs of difficulty with coordinating the suck/swallow/breath pattern during bottle or breastfeeding.
  • Feeding time taking longer than 30 minutes for infants, and 30 to 40 minutes for toddlers or young children.


We hope our issues with our previous landlord are now resolved.  At least, we hope that the electric company will honour their word and not come after us for the unpaid bill, which all, except the landlord, have agreed is the landlord’s responsibility.

We have dealt with so many people throughout the course of our dispute, and each one seems to give different advice.  It was extremely confusing and every time we talked to a new person, we had to describe everything from start to finish.  “Frustrating” is an understatement.

But, in the process, we have learned a few lessons.  Lesson number one: we need to be more aggressive.  It wasn’t that we just let everyone walk all over us.  We tried not to be a pain, so we didn’t whine and complain about everything.  We reported problems when we needed to and left it up to the agents and landlord to work out what needed to be done.  Unfortunately, neither showed any inclination to fix any problems.  They blamed each other when it came down to figuring out what went wrong where.  Lesson number two: due diligence.  Don’t rely on someone else’s word for it, do it yourself.  Lesson number three: the Brits have an “I don’t want to get involved” attitude.  We get the sense that most Brits don’t want to give third party advice unless they are in alliance with you for some personal gain.  For example, we considered getting someone close to the landlord to reason with him, but felt that we would be given the cold shoulder.  Lesson number four: know who to turn to.

This last one could be tricky.  Everyone tells you to go to the CAB for advice.  We had gone to them several times during the course of our stay, but nothing useful was forthcoming.  They can be helpful in many areas, but in our case, it seemed they were at a loss.  It wasn’t until our account came up to the Live Debt department at the electric company that someone came up with a solution (though we cannot be certain that the issue is resolved yet).  They’ve decided to proceed with a power shut-off to force the landlord’s hand.  (Apparently, they wouldn’t do it if we were still living there.)  So, the higher up the ladder you move, the more ideas you can come up with.

But, in the midst of all this, we found out through the RAC Legal Aid that we should have reported our landlord to the council.  Apparently, it is not just for social housing landlords.  Had we done so, we could have had an independent appraisal of the situation, and we could have had a refund on our rent.  Perhaps, that would have also helped us to deal with the electric issue.  Lesson learned.  Hopefully, we won’t go there again.

As the weather gets warmer, we need to prepare for the invasion of the those pesky flying insects again.  Now, in the US, we usually get flies, then later in the summer we get the mosquitoes.  Here, since the weather gets warmer earlier and stays warmer later in the year, we have a longer period of flies, mosquitoes, midges, moths and other flying insects which I have yet to identify.  I have already talked about the “killer gnats”, so I really don’t want to get on the topic of insects again.

What I would like to mention is the lack of screens on windows and doors.  Screens seem to be the mainstay of windows in the US and most houses also have screen doors on the outside.  This is to keep out the flying insects
when you want to open the windows or doors for fresh air.  This, of course, does not prevent insects from getting through when you go in and out of the doors.  But it does cut down on a lot of entry at other times.  I have yet to see a screen here.  And they can’t say it’s because they don’t have flying insects.  I don’t know what the reasoning is behind the lack of screens.

One of the features of windows that I see advertised quite frequently is double-glazing.  Essentially, it is two layers of glass, which is supposed to cut down on draughts and hold in heat.  We are not fortunate enough to have double-glazing on our windows, which may in part explain the temperature of the house during the winter months.  But, I cannot comment on how it affects the temperature during the summer months.  We had covered the windows with a semi-transparent plastic drop sheet for the winter (and have not removed them yet) and when the sun comes through, it really heats up the room.  I can just imagine what double-glazing would do.