The Ultimate Code Kata

"Contrary to what you might believe, merely doing your job every day doesn't qualify as real practice. Going to meetings isn't practicing your people skills, and replying to mail isn't practicing your typing. You have to set aside some time once in a while and do focused practice in order to get better at something. ... Separating the practicing from the profession is often referred to as code kata."

© Блог Романа Ворушина


Stadium is the ultimate destination for the modern day sports fan; a new, first-of-its-kind, fully programmed, 24/7, multi-platform sports network, producing world-class sports content every day of the year and delivering to fans on every device.

Stadium includes a 24/7 linear feed distributed across both digital and broadcast platforms, as well as a comprehensive array of on-demand (VOD) digital content including additional live games and events. Stadium is owned by a collection of industry leaders including Silver Chalice, Sinclair Broadcast Group, MLBAM, the NHL, the PGA TOUR, and Meredith.


It’s probably fair to assume most of us are paid to solve problems, and we’re darn good at it. More than likely, you make a living by troubleshooting problems, so I know I’m preaching to the choir by trying to describe or define the word “troubleshooting,” but here’s my spiel. My troubleshooting process revolves around two core ideas: Communication and Validation, and Collaboration and Research.

Communicating brings details and details bring context, all of which bring you to a resolution more quickly. An example would be a ticket I received recently which only contained a single sentence: “Wireless is down in room 110A.” There are so many questions needing to be answered. Where is room 110A? What kind of device is having a problem? Are there any error messages? Can they even see the WLAN? All these things would provide me with context to troubleshoot the issue efficiently. Since the person who created this ticket didn’t communicate properly, we have only a few details and almost zero context. In this case, I had to start the troubleshooting process from the beginning and reach back out to the user. Once I feel like I’ve gathered enough detail and context around the issue, I immediately begin validating the information. I probably don’t have to explain why it’s a bad idea to take a user’s word as law but before you even begin troubleshooting, it’s important to validate the information you have, otherwise you run the risk of going down the wrong path and getting stuck. Ever been lost in a corn maze? We all know the feeling.

This is where I begin the actual troubleshooting. Checking logs, looking at charts, making ritual sacrifices to vendors…the usual stuff. From here, there are three possible scenarios: I might find the problem and implement what I assume to be a solution, realize I can’t solve the problem alone and reach out for help, or come to the conclusion I don’t have enough data/context. The first option is obviously what I’m hoping for, and the third option dictates I move back to the beginning to gather more information. The second option, though, that’s what we call “bringing out the big guns.”

If I’m troubleshooting something and have a good idea of what the problem is, but still can’t seem to find a solution, I do what any other educated IT professional who has spent years accumulating knowledge does…I Google it. To me, this means I’ve reached a new stage of troubleshooting: Collaborate and Research. This is the humbling part where I admit I don’t understand why the issue is occurring and need to work with someone (or something) else to get the job done. This collaboration could be with a coworker, a knowledge base, a vendor, or a random stranger on the internet who had the same issue six months ago. Either way, I consider this a separate step in the troubleshooting process. From this point, I hope to find an answer to be implemented as a potential fix, but that’s not always the case, meaning I need to go back to the beginning and get more detail/context through communication.

Let’s say I’ve managed to find a “solution” to the problem, and I implement it. This is what I consider the Testing Phase, and from here you can either confirm the issue is resolved, or, once again, go back to the beginning and get more information. If the issue persists, I try not to re-enter the testing phase without additional communication, otherwise it feels like I’m shooting blind. Do you see the emphasis I’m putting on communication? I hope so.

As IT professionals we fight the stigma stating we’re “nerds who lack social skills.” If communication is a pain point for you and your troubleshooting process, I implore you to start sharpening this skillset. It opens a whole new world of professional and personal possibilities but also improves your troubleshooting. It’s important to note I’m not only talking about small talk at the watercooler or workplace banter with your coworkers. Communicating technical ideas to non-technical people is, in my opinion, one of the most important skills an IT professional can have. Failing to translate something technical to your users usually causes them to get confused and frustrated, which can snowball into mistrust and resentment toward you or your systems. Do your users hate calling IT? Have you considered there might be a breakdown in communication causing this behavior?

Here’s a little flowchart to summarize my thoughts. What does your troubleshooting process look like? What tools are you using, and how do you collaborate? Are there weak points in your process needing to be improved?


TBH Science Update February 2018 | Eat Better, Think Better | AARP 2017 Survey on Brain Health and Nutrition

What: A recently released AARP survey of adults ages 40+ found that individuals who eat the USDA recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables are significantly more likely to report better brain health and have higher than average mental health scores. The online survey, which included over 2,000 Americans, found that hardly any of the participants ate the recommended amounts of foods in all 5 food groups, and that a full third of those responding did not consume the recommended amount in any food group.  However, 9 out of 10 respondents stated that they would eat a healthy diet if they were aware it could reduce their risk for cognitive decline, heart disease, or diabetes.

Why This Matters: Eating a balanced diet and maintaining a healthy weight have been identified as key factors in reducing dementia and stroke risk. Patterned diets, such as the Mediterranean or MIND diet, have also demonstrated significant impact on reducing risk for neurodegeneration as well, more recently, possibly improving daily performance. This survey is an eye-opening overview of the dietary habits of older adults, the possible relationship between their nutritional intake and cognitive fitness, and the potential for shifting these behaviors to improve cognitive outcomes.

The Takeaway: We have a responsibility to educate our entire population regarding the brain health benefits of eating a healthy diet, both as it impacts everyday performance and long-term well-being. Research shows that even modest changes can make the difference, and that we are never too old (or young) to start eating healthier for our brains. AARP’s partner organization, The Global Council on Brain Health, has released a report with evidence-based recommendations to improve nutrition in older adults, along with infographics and other educational materials you can use to supplement TBH Toolkits workouts on brain health nutrition or use on your own.

Global Council on Brain Health. Brain Food: GCBH Recommendations on Nourishing Your Brain Health. Washington, DC: Global Council on Brain Health, January 2018. https://doi.org/10.26419/pia.00019.001

1. What Makes It Difficult to Age in Place with Dementia? New Study Sheds Light

2. Don’t Forget About Memory! | 3 Good Reasons Why Memory Training Matters To Your Brain Health

3. Love Marriage, and Dementia Risk


Moss is a name shared by three different Clanless cats. Did you mean...

Moss, a kittypet and former loner who appears in Warrior's Refuge?

Moss that Grows by River (Moss), a Cave Guard in the Tribe of Rushing Water?

Moss, a former member of Slash's Camp, who later is named Moss Tail?


Financial access

May 29, 2019

The writer is a development sector practitioner and a lawyer.
The writer is a development sector practitioner and a lawyer.

OUR country’s social fabric is being frayed by a multitude of socioeconomic ills. While there is no single blanket approach to address every economic complaint, one crucial aspect that urgently needs to be addressed is the vulnerability of Pakistan’s women.

One approach that is gaining currency around the world is microfinance. Both a financial as well as a social intervention, microfinance can be harnessed to uplift the status of disenfranchised populations across a multidimensional sphere. In a country where 84 per cent of the adult population remains unbanked, it is increasingly being seen as a dynamic tool to plug financial gaps and empower the vulnerable.

Women’s lack of financial inclusion impacts all socioeconomic indicators, and it is particularly acute in Pakistan. According to the United Nations, 56pc of Pakistani women fall below the poverty line. Moreover, only 21pc of women have access to finance, of which only 11pc have access to a bank account. A study by Kashf Foundation found that 90pc of women surveyed felt they were disempowered in domestic and financial matters, an issue rampant across all socioeconomic strata.

Women must be empowered to exercise socioeconomic agency.

This lack of economic empowerment has resulted in Pakistani women as a whole, both urban and rural, being deprived of their say in allocation of resources and other decisions within and outside of the home, having reduced financial support structures, and being unable to contribute towards the country’s growth. Thus, the need of the hour is to empower Pakistani women to exercise socioeconomic agency.

The benefits of using microfinance as a gateway to enhance financial access have been enunciated in a plethora of studies. Microfinance provides women with the tools to exercise greater agency over usage and allocation of productive assets, thereby increasing household savings and streamlining domestic consumption. Moreover, it helps women reclaim their reproductive rights, increases school enrolment and literacy rates, decreases nutritional deficiencies and other health risks, and enables employment generation. Rather than women being seen as supplementary caregivers in their homes, financial access enhances their social power both at home and within the community.

In a recent impact evaluation that has been conducted by the Pakistan Microfinance Network and measures household welfare across five dimensions — gender empowerment, household per capita consumption, durable consumption expenditure, schooling children, and employment generation — it was found that giving women access to finance resulted in significant improvements in all dimensions. Women were shown to be more productive savers, invest more altruistically (both within their households and in the market), stimulate entrepreneurial growth, and boost returns on investment within a variety of market sectors. As women tend to spend more on education and healthcare, community welfare was also enhanced.

The market for microfinance in Pakistan currently comprises of only 6.9 million active borrowers of microcredit, in a country where nearly 100m comprise those falling within the vulnerable category according to governmental estimates. Coupled with the fact that the industry is growing at an average rate of 30pc, this highlights the vast untapped potential that lies in covering underserved markets. Market penetration for the microfinance sector currently stands at 32.5pc. While this is impressive growth for Pakistan, it still means that nearly 70pc of the market has not been penetrated.

Moreover, though 53pc of all active borrowers are female due to microfinance institutions such as Kashf Foundation and Damen Support Programme that cater primarily to women, research highlights that the loan ends up being managed by the household’s male members. This shows that women continue to remain underserved because loan products are not being customised primarily to cater to them.

Data pertaining to female entrepreneurship is worrying because recent reports from the World Bank show that only 1pc of the female population is engaging in entrepreneurial activities, compared to 21pc for male. Though the country has embarked on various investment climate reform initiatives, the World Bank highlighted that the lack of access to finance, patriarchal attitudes and discrimination continue to plague women and discourage their labour force participation. The journey towards achieving socioeconomic empowerment and breaking free from the chains of vulnerability that bind us might be a difficult one, but it is not impossible. Harnessing the power of microfinance as a vehicle to enhance access to finance for women will have a multipronged, systemic impact across all facets of society. It is imperative to provide women with the economic tools needed for them to enhance their participation in the formal economy, gain agency, alleviate poverty, and boost household welfare.

The writer is a development sector practitioner and a lawyer.
Twitter: @Shanzaf

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2019


Terena - Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. Prior to the imposition of Christianity, the religious life of the Terena was oriented toward shamanism. According to the Terena's conception of the world, all human, animal, and plant beings possessed a soul ( hoipihapati ) that survives after death. Personifications of natural forces inhabited the mythical-symbolical universe of the Terena. One of the most important myths is that of the Yurikoyuvakai, the civilizing twin heroes, who gave the Terena their tools. It is this myth that justifies the division into ceremonial halves in traditional Terena society.

Religious Practitioners. In traditional Terena society the shaman ( koixomuneti ) was the main figure in activities connected with the supernatural world. In addition to functioning as a healer, the koixomuneti was an important counselor in warring expeditions, since he or she predicted future events. The koixomuneti's apprenticeship took several months, during which the candidate went through a period of solitude and fasting under the guidance of an experienced koixomuneti. A person generally became a shaman after a revelation in a dream or by being selected by a koixomuneti among his (or her) kin. At this time there still are a few practicing village koixomuneti (both men and women), performing a shamanic ritual that combines traditional elements with Christianity. The koixomuneti are always practicing Catholics.

Ceremonies. The great ceremonial feast of the Terena used to be the Oheokoti, consisting of sacred as well as profane rituals. This ceremony was performed when the Pleiades reached their highest point in the skies (April/May) and was linked to the start of the harvest. The ceremony began with shamanic rituals and continued with fun and games, ending in a large feast. At present only the shamanic ritual is still practiced in a few Terena villages. The holidays particularly celebrated in the villages today are the National Day of the Indian (19 April), Christmas, and New Year's.

Arts. Traditional Terena dancers wear special costumes and paint. Skirts are made of rhea feathers, the bird being important in Terena mythology. The dancers are accompanied by a flute player and the sound of a drum. Today, the "wood-beating" dance ( kohixotikipahé ) is performed during the National Indian Day celebrations. Two groups of dancers take part in this dance. Another surviving dance is the women's putu-putu.

Medicine. Practically all Terena adults are familiar with the more widely used medicinal plants. The koixomuneti is generally consulted when the more common treatments do not work or if "witchcraft" is suspected. Techniques used by the koixomuneti include suction and fumigation. In addition to the koixomuneti, there are prestigious healers in the villages, who also are frequently consulted. Their treatment generally involves plant therapy. FUNAI operates an infirmary at each indigenous post; however, they have neither supplies of medication nor the structure required to serve the population.

Death and Afterlife. The Terena used to bury their dead with the head facing west. They believed that after death the spirit moved on to the "land of the dead," which is to the west, in the direction of the Chaco, their old habitat. The koixomuneti helped the spirit in its voyage to the land of the dead. The Terena traditionally burn the dead person's house or replace the entrance door so that if the spirit of the deceased returns, looking for company, it would not recognize its old abode. At present burial and mourning follow the patterns current among the Brazilian population.

Also read article about Terena from Wikipedia

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cellophane bags, biodegradable bags, doypacks, pp bags

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What is the Role of Food Packaging Bags?

383 Published by Fast Sincere Sep 23,2019

What is the role of food packaging bags? To understand the role of packaging bags, we must first understand what is a food packaging bags, which is a container for keeping fresh food and storing food in life.

Let us explain in detail the role of food packaging bags.

Fast Sincere has more than 20 years experience in food packaging bags industry.

1.Protect food from damage

The food stored in the package can be protected by the packaging bag and is not damaged by extrusion, collision, direct sunlight and the like. The food packaging bags can block the air, water vapor and other gases from entering the package, which can effectively protect the quality of the food and prevent the deterioration of the food.

2.Increase customer’s desire to buy

The good or bad of a packaging design directly affects the customer’s desire to buy this food. The food displayed on the shelf generally has no outstanding features and will not be purchased. Therefore, the quality of the packaging design seriously affects consumers. The purchase or not, a good packaging design mainly includes pattern + text combination, not only can attract consumers here, but also let him understand the benefits of choosing to buy, this time the text should be prominent. The packaging design can greatly increase the sales volume of the merchants and bring more benefits to the merchants.

3.Can establish an excellent brand

Why is the food packaging bag able to establish a good brand? That is because the bag can print the things you want, then what can highlight the brand of the business, nothing more than the pattern + text, an important part of the printed LOGO, with More and more kinds of packaging appear, innovative packaging bags are also indispensable. If you want to grab more customers’ hearts, you can start with packaging design, grasp the psychological needs of customers, and achieve the actions of customers. Then such packaging is a successful case.

Having said so many food packaging bags, we think everyone understands why it is used. The importance of packaging design, I hope that businesses can pay attention to this, please pay attention to Fast Sincere packaging for more information.

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The “Frankfurt Urania” from the Muses of Agnano

ca. 120/100 BC

Height 86 cm

The muses are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (“memory”), who, as a divine force, stands for humanity’s intellectual powers. Her nine children protect and promote the creative as well as the scholarly and scientific activities of humanity. Polyhymnia, or “she who sings many songs”, fosters the singing of songs to the accompaniment of the lyre; Euterpe, or “she who gives delight”, is the muse of lyric poetry and flute-playing, while Erato, or “she who inspires love”, is the muse of love poetry. Three muses oversee the creative energies of the theatre. Thus, Terpsichore, or “she who delights in the dance”, is the muse of dance and choral song; Melpomene, or “the chanting one”, is the muse of tragedy; while Thalia, or “the festive one”, is responsible for comedy. Finally, three of Mnemosyne’s daughters are assigned to scholarship and the sciences: Clio, or “she who praises”, as the muse of epic poetry and history; Calliope, or “she of the beautiful voice”, as the muse of literature and science; and finally Urania, the “heavenly one”, as the divine inspiration of astronomy.

The famous “Frankfurt Urania” is one of a group of statues discovered in the Roman baths at Agnano (near Naples). The figures had clearly already been removed from their original location in ancient times. It is generally assumed that they were initially erected on the Greek island of Delos, near the great temple of Apollo. The execution of the fine robes is especially attractive and varies from muse to muse. The arrangement of the robes and their materials emphasise the figures’ beautiful, girlish bodies. Despite the condition of the group, which in parts is quite fragmentary, one senses even today that it is not “posed” for the viewer, but rather accords him the role of an accidental onlooker.


Best Hashtags to Get Followers On Instagram

Best Hashtags To Get Followers On Instagram: You're resting there believing, "Seriously? That's your recommendations?" Yet hear me out. Hashtags are still a significant device for Instagram customers. Yes, Instagram has a credibility for bland and self-indulgent hashtags like #nofilter, #iwokeuplikethis, or #selfielove. But outside of the commonly buffooned ones, there are heaps that obtain utilized by people who are straight in your targeted market. Actually, some hashtags also have actually complete neighborhoods built around them and also almost feature like little online forums.

Locating the right ones isn't really almost as hard it as soon as was. Instagram has ultimately placed in an autocomplete feature that supplies tips whenever you enter #. The valuable element of this is seeing the variety of posts for every hashtag. You could lastly see where individuals are investing their time.

Best Hashtags To Get Followers On Instagram

However just throwing any type of even remotely appropriate hashtags right into your messages might not always be the very best way to get exposure. You need to utilize hashtags that are genuinely relevant to your brand or your specific audience.

Allow's say that you're trying to find followers to promote your new customer's hand-crafted guitar internet site, you can absolutely make use of #music. But that's also common. It has a vast reach, and also it has 181 million public blog posts as of this writing, yet that's a great deal of competitors. Way too much sound to obtain observed. You can utilize #guitar, however it ~ 22 million posts, which is still a lot of noise. #guitars, on the other hand, has a somewhat extra convenient 1.9 million.

However, like Search Engine Optimization, the more you drill down, you will certainly locate the excellent things that actually transforms. Simply utilizing the autosuggest, the tags #guitarshop, #customguitar, #customguitars, #handmadeguitar, as well as #handmadeguitars appeared anywhere in between 80k to 200k articles. This is where your target individuals are, so the extra you make yourself a presence there, they even more people that will follow you. It's most likely you could obtain some of the top blog posts in a particular niche area.

Let me mention once more the areas that spring up around hashtags. You wish to find where individuals socialize, like possibly #guitarplayers or #indierockalabama. These are the locations where lots of possible followers congregate and also end up being close friends.

And due to the fact that these typically aren't as jam-packed as #music, your posts will stay on top longer for more people to see you, follow you, and also start to love you.

Including Hashtags

The last 2 things you have to consider when using hashtags to fish for followers is how many to make use of as well as where you need to include them. Instagram enables as much as 30 hashtags per blog post, however you should not constantly make use of that lots of (it looks like spamming). Some case studies have revealed that communication typically plateaus after 10 tags.

Including that many hashtags to your post can appear spammy, as well. You could get around that by putting 5 solitary dots on 5 solitary lines to make sure that the article falls down in individuals's feeds. Even far better compared to that, you can add a remark to your own picture that's nothing but hashtags, and also IG will certainly still index your image with them. However it has to be the initial remark and because of how the IG algorithms work, and you should publish that remark immediately upon publication. If not, you might lose some juice and lose out on some potential followers.

Oh, as well as you can include hashtags to Stories, also. So when you're recording your day or doing something ridiculous or enjoyable, put some hashtags in the message box. They're searchable! They might not look terrific in your story's structure, so you could diminish the hashtag box down and also conceal it behind a supersized emoji. Instantaneous broadened audience (or is that Insta expanded target market?) that will certainly see the real you and also follow you-- due to the fact that your tale confirms that you're also remarkable not to comply with.


The Co-op Board and Policy Governance®

Policy governance. It sounds stuffy. Boring. And probably complicated.

It’s actually none of those. Granted, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, depending on what an individual expects his or her board experience to be. Policy Governance® sets clear boundaries between operations and board work. It keeps board members from micromanaging. That is its purpose and its strength.

The board of directors has only one employee—the Co-op’s general manager (GM). The GM has been hired because of his or her ability to run a $78 million retail cooperative. The GM bears full responsibility for meeting the board’s—and, hence, the membership’s—expectations for what the co-op shall provide and how it shall be provided.

By keeping board members focused on their governance role, Policy Governance® facilitates creation of clear instructions for the GM with no ambiguity. The board speaks with one voice, writes down its expectations, and then consistently monitors how well the GM is meeting those expectations. Individual board members are not allowed to tinker or to suggest how something should be done. If they were, the board could no longer hold the GM solely accountable for results.

Using Policy Governance®, the board writes two types of policies that provide instruction to the GM. One type (Ends) answers the question “What is the Co-op for?” Not what does it do, but why does it exist? What difference shall the Co-op make in the lives of its members? What difference shall it make in the world? Ends state expected results and nothing more.

The second type of board-written policy that provides instruction to the GM is known as an Executive Limitation or EL. Executive Limitations are exactly what they sound like. They tell the GM, in clear language, what conditions, processes, or outcomes will not be tolerated by the board. They purposely do not tell the GM what to do or how to do it. That’s the GM’s area of expertise. Instead, they set boundaries within which the GM must work.

For instance, an EL regarding employee welfare may state that the GM must not allow employees to be exposed to unreasonably hazardous conditions. The policy does not delineate all possible conditions or what the GM must do to avoid exposure to each one. That’s up to the GM and staff to figure out and implement. But when the GM reports to the board about employee welfare, the GM must explain how employees are protected and what the outcomes have been, providing data to convince the board that employees have not been and currently are not exposed to any unreasonably hazardous conditions.

The GM’s performance evaluation and continued employment rest upon his or her reasonable interpretation of, and demonstrated compliance with, all of the Ends and EL policies written by the board.

In a membership organization such as the Co-op, one of the board’s most important jobs is to know what the Co-op’s member-owners want their co-op to be. What should that Ends policy say? What difference should the Co-op be making in the lives of its members? The board can’t know the answers unless it actively engages with its member-owners.

On-going member linkage is a primary duty of a co-op’s board and also one of its greatest challenges.

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Rosemary Fifield

Rosemary Fifield

Co-op Board President Rosemary Fifield is a long-time member, foodie, author, and the Co-op's Education Director Emerita. Contact her at
Rosemary Fifield

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HART is dedicated to providing shelter to, and improving the lives of, sex trafficking survivors by providing them with safe crisis housing, emergency services and long-term support.

To provide financial support to partner agencies to help end sex trafficking in the Greater Toronto Area, and enable survivors to live the violence free, fulfilling life they deserve.


DanceAfrica-BAM's longest running program and one of its most beloved-returns for the 42nd year with a focus on Rwanda. By BWW News

The festival features one of Rwanda's best internationally-known dance companies, Inganzo Ngari, and several related programs to illuminate a country that moved past a national humanitarian disaster with collective determination.

Twenty-five years after the Genocide, during which up to one million people-estimated to comprise 70% of the Tutsi population-were decimated, Rwanda has rebounded with a robust economy (annual GDP growth over 6% in the past five years) and a society determined to move towards reconciliation and renewal. "When we visited Rwanda," DanceAfrica Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam said, "everywhere we went, Rwandans no longer divided themselves as Hutus, Tutsis, or Twas. They are just Rwandans." Inganzo Ngari is an example of it. Founded in 2006 with a focus on passing Rwandan folkloric dance and music to the next generation, the company has become an ambassador of Rwandan culture internationally and is making its US debut at BAM. They will perform some of the most recognizable Rwandan dances, including the warrior dance Intore, and collaborate with BAM/Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble on stage.

To reflect the contemporary Rwanda, several new elements have been created. They include spoken words performed by actor and poet Malaika Uwamahoro as part of the Opera House show, an interactive "DanceAfrica Portal" to Kigali, and a RadioBook Rwanda reading and discussion. A visual art exhibition and FilmAfrica with several contemporary Rwandan films round out DanceAfrica once again. More information below.

Many long-held traditions return, including the Tribute to Ancestors, the Community Day, the Outdoor Bazaar, and the late night dance party, all free to the public.


Take The Grand Mirage in your hand luggage
From a 5-star Amazon review by Fred Kempe, CEO of the Atlantic Council:
It was a matter of happy coincidence that I read The Grand Mirage during a recent journey through Islamic worlds Darrell Delamaide so vibrantly portrays. Though I traveled in relative luxury, Delamaide transported me back to a dustier, less comfortable age when the discovery and exploitation of oil had begun to transform the region and the world.
His narrative is so evocative, his characters so compelling and his descriptions so vivid that I at one point was certain I was inhaling the pungent aromas of Constantinople while sprinting alongside the his story's hero, Lord Leighton - an accomplished orientalist on a secret mission for the British Crown - as he evaded adversaries through the city's ancient alleyways. At another point, I found myself gripping the armrest of my Turkish Airways seat while Lord Leighton's caravan navigated the perils of the Mesopotamian desert.

Great editorial reviews for The Grand Mirage

Great review in the online Washington Independent Review of Books. Author and former journalist Lawrence De Maria praises the book not only as a highly readable spy thriller but as a history lesson for this vexed part of the world:
Delamaide’s prose is uniformly entertaining. If it was his intention to pluck 21st-century American readers from their living rooms and deposit them in the mysterious and dangerous souks of the Middle East ― and give them 500 years of history lessons to boot ― he has succeeded admirably.
Read the entire review on the WIRoB website.

Read the full review at Bookpleasures website.

5-star review in Readers Favorite:
Leighton’s captivating journey as a spy is dangerous, exciting, thrilling…and will keep you turning those pages until the very end.
Read the full review on the Readers Favorite website.

More praise for The Grand Mirage

From James Bruno, Kindle bestselling author of Permanent Interests and Tribe

The Grand Mirage is an evocative tale in the rich tradition of Kipling and George MacDonald Fraser. Like a desert sirocco, it will sweep you away into an era whose echoes still reverberate and a region that dominates today's headlines. The stakes are high, the characters are unforgettable and the plot moves with the indomitable force of the Berlin-to-Baghdad railway, which occupies center place in this story of intrigue, espionage and forbidden love….As you lose yourself in his story, you feel you are there: 1910, the Middle East. The colors, the smells, the dress, the vernacular are all there in perfect symmetry. The Grand Mirage clearly lends itself to a series and I eagerly await the next adventure of Lord Leighton.”

From Paula Butturini, author of Keeping the Feast: One Couple's Story of Love, Food, Healing:

"Darrell Delamaide's The Grand Mirage is a wonderful read. I simply did not want to put it down. Though inundated with things I absolutely had to accomplish over the weekend, I found myself, between endless chores, sneaking back to my computer again and again to read just one more chapter. Both historical thriller and spy novel, The Grand Mirage outlines the geo-political intrigues surrounding the construction of the Baghdad Railway during the run-up to World War I in a corner of the world still seething with unrest over its most precious commodity -- oil. Delamaide's scholar/spy hero charms..."

From James McGrath Morris, author of Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power:

“Delamaide has woven a masterful combination of spy story and historical novel. Every page entertains while building a massive canvas on which a spine-tingling game of intrigue is played out among the various European powers seeking to control this all-important passage across the Middle East on the eve of World War I. This is not merely an espionage tale. Its plot, central character--the beguiling Lord Leighton--and atmosphere combine for a deeply satisfying tale of intrigue on a grand scale.”

From John Marks, author of Fangland and The Wall:
“In his melding of historical detail and crackerjack thriller plot, Delamaide outdoes the modern master of the form, Alan Furst, blasting through cliches about the Great Game and opening a curtain on a vital but little-known episode in the evolution of the modern Middle East. Do not miss it!”

From John Tagliabue, correspondent for The New York Times:
“This is a well-told yarn about intrigues in the Middle East just before World War I, when the Ottoman and German Empires were building the Baghdad Railway….Though dealing with events a century ago, there’s an extraordinary relevance to the story today: struggle among great powers for control of the region, its oil and its transportation, the backlash of local populations, all continue to permeate international politics every much as it did then.”

From Nicholas Kralev, former diplomatic correspondent for Washington Times:
“The story will intrigue you, educate you and entertain you, all at the same time….Very pleasant, intelligent and quick read.”

Reviews for Darrell Delamaide's thriller, Gold, soon to be reissued by Barnaby Woods Books

The Library Journal:
"Can the international monetary system be as exciting a field for catastrophe as an inflamed terrorist plot? The answer is a resounding yes. ...In his first novel, Delamaide has reivigorated the financial wizardry saga ...This superlative tale transforms the brass of greed and corruption into golden entertainment."

The New York Daily News says:
"Murder and intrigue, lots of financial entertaining cautionary tale about greed."

Kirkus Reviews describes the book as an "end-of-the-financial world thriller involving skulduggery on and off the commodities exchanges" in terms that make it sound remarkably current:
"When his South African stringer reports that terrorist sabotage has virtually halted gold mining in the world's largest producer, Drew Dumesnil, managing editor of World Commodities News, promptly puts the item on the wire, though he knows it will panic markets around the world. It isn't until the price of gold has tripled, commodities exchanges have been closed, and bank holidays are being considered that Drew begins to suspect a hoax....But the hoax, as Drew gradually realizes, isn't designed just to enrich a few traders. South Africa and Russia, after under-reporting their production for years, have hatched a plot to drive up the price of gold before releasing their reserves to a hungry market. As Third World countries threaten to bring down the tottering structure of international finance by repudiating their foreign debts, Mark Halden, president of the New York Federal Reserve, prepares his counterthrust: the U.S. will repudiate its foreign debt, ending the reign of the dollar for good....Tidy plotting, solid background, and a brisk pace make this an appealing debut..."


Liquor- the cost and the profit

Date: 17.01.2018 - Views: 63
Nowadays, many restaurants open bar counter or serve more drink style to generate more revenue. So to understand and to analysis throughout the liquor cost also known as. Why don’t we dive in the formula to calculate the liquid cost?

A restaurant soft opening is essential for a brand new restaurant.

Date: 09.01.2018 - Views: 64
You don’t know if your restaurant is ready for operating until you know you can handle the service and the quality of dishes.  The best way to evaluate that is to have a soft opening at your brand new restaurant.

5 brilliant restaurant hacks - 5 ways to save money

Date: 15.12.2017 - Views: 31
Every day, as an owner, you always think on how to save money but still provide quality food and service to your customers. Those restaurant hacks will be exactly what you are looking for. They are easy to implement and have a great impact for you, your restaurant and your customer.

Date: 01.12.2017 - Views: 40

How to manage a restaurant: guideline of steps for restaurant owners/managers

Date: 21.11.2017 - Views: 88
Being a restaurant manager/owner, you probably know there are millions of things need to be under control ranging from customer, staff, inventory, and so on. In the article, we provide you some information and guidance to help you manage and grow your restaurant.
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Groundbreaking research into the impact washing machines have on clothes and the environment shows that shorter, cooler washes help clothes look better for longer and release fewer microfibres.

A new centre will enable 50 fully-funded PhD researchers to harness satellite data to tackle global environmental challenges.

The deaf community risks being excluded from aspects of modern science because the number of new advances is outpacing the development of sign language to explain them, a leading researcher says.

Challenging artists and scientists to collaborate on new approaches to the creative process, the £15,000 DARE Art Prize is open for applications.


Contributed by Robert Lyman © 2019

Remy Prud’homme, a celebrated French economist now teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recently wrote a paper that described the “energy transition” that the government of France was seeking to achieve in order to “decarbonize” the French economy. It was published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation under the title, The Energy Transition – Useless, costly, unfair.

In a short 15 pages, Prud’homme dissects the reasoning behind the French policy and shows how flawed it is. His analysis offers many useful lessons for those concerned about climate-related policies in Canada.

This article will provide a summary of the highlights of Prud’homme’s paper. You can find the complete text here:

The objective of the French government’s policy is to reduce annual carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from the current level of 340 million tonnes (Mt) to 170 Mt by 2050 and subsequently to zero. Unlike historic energy transitions, which were driven by market demands and technological innovation, this transition is entirely politically motivated. It is based on acceptance of the theory of anthropogenic global warming, i.e. that greenhouse gases emitted as a result of human activities are the drivers of increases in the average global temperature. Prud’homme call this theory “more political than scientific”. However, rather than challenging the theory on its scientific basis, he treats it as though it were scientifically validated, and shows how the policies based on it are pointless and damaging.

Impact of Potential OECD Policies on Temperatures

To do this, he describes the differences between two scenarios. In the reference scenario, without energy transition policies, yearly global emissions stay at their 2017 level. He regards this as “realistic”, given that over the last 33 years, global emissions have increased by 80 per cent, so assuming they would decrease in the 33 years from 2017 to 2050 seems unrealistic.

He compares this to a “policy scenario”, in which between 2017 and 2050 OECD countries reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 50 per cent and the rest of the world (i.e. the “developing countries”) do not increase their yearly emissions.

As a parenthetical comment, I would argue that both scenarios are very “optimistic” in terms of the prospects for reducing emissions; the absolute levels of emissions, however, are less important for his case that the differences between the scenarios.

In the reference scenario, the average world temperature would increase, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) analysis, by 0.53 degrees C. The strong measures adopted under the policy scenario would bring this temperature increase down to 0.48 degrees C. The difference between the scenarios is thus 0.05 degrees C., or 5/100ths of a degree. The difference is small and, in practice, negligible.

He then examined the impact of policies by France. France’s emissions represent one per cent of global emissions, which themselves are just one per cent of the stock of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So, if by some miracle France were to instantly stop emitting carbon dioxide, the growth in the atmospheric stock would be reduced by 1/10,000, and the effect on global warming would be “entirely insignificant”.

A great deal is being made in France of the importance of closing the four remaining coal-fired power plants (with a capacity of 3 GW, accounting for 1.8 Per cent of electricity output). This will be done over the next four or five years. In contrast, China will soon open about 560 thermal power plants with a capacity of 259 GW.

The Costs of the Policy

France’s carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by economic sector are quite different from those of Canada. Transportation produces 39 per cent, residential and services 24 per cent, manufacturing 21 per cent, energy 14 per cent, and other sources 3 per cent.

Strangely, French policy is to reduce nuclear power generation and replace it with wind and solar; that is, to replace one low emission source for another. Prud’homme shows how, considering the energy required to build wind and solar plants and the effects of having to build backup plants, the results of this will almost certainly be to increase emissions. EdF, the main electrical utility, is obligated to buy wind and solar under feed-in-tariffs that guarantee above-market rates for wind and solar suppliers for 15 year periods. The cost of this practice is about five billion euros (roughly $7.5 billion Canadian) per year and increasing regularly. The regulator has estimated that, with conservative assumptions, the cumulative cost will be 57 billion euros ($85.5 billion Canadian) over the period 2014-25. Moreover, the combined effect of the 20% value-added tax and the tax on electricity consumption adds another one billion euros per year to ratepayers’ bills.

To this can be added many indirect costs, including:

  • The destruction of rural landscapes
  • The loss in value to neighbouring real estate, estimated at 20 billion euros ($30 billion Canadian) so far
  • The deaths of thousands of birds and bats
  • The significant cost of the electricity gathering and transmission systems, estimated to add one billion euros per year to transport costs
  • The costs of back-up generation and of curtailment due to the frequent periods when the generation does not match demand and renewable energy is given “first-to-the-grid” rights.

Experience to date in Europe and elsewhere shows that, as the share of wind and solar energy in a country’s electricity generation system rises, the rates for consumers rise. While France is not yet one of the European countries most heavily affected by this, the developments planned for the French “energy transition” imply a doubling of electricity rates.

To reduce emissions caused by road transport, French governments have used several measures. Notably, they have heavily taxed vehicles and subsidized alternatives.  Taxes on road transport that do not apply to other goods and services amounted to 45 billion euros ($67.5 billion Canadian) in 2017. After tobacco, road fuels (gasoline and diesel) are the most taxed goods in France. The government’s plan to increase road taxes even more led to the Yellow Vests protest movement.

Prud’homme comments on the French use of carbon taxes, noting that in theory they could replace all other anti-carbon policies, but in fact are used as an addition, not a substitute. He argues that implementing a carbon tax in only one country or one group of countries (e.g. the OECD) rather than globally merely serves to displace economic activity from the taxing countries to the others, but he also notes that a single world carbon tax is “socially and politically unthinkable”.

Non-automobile transport modes are subsidized as much or more than other European countries. SNCF, the French national rail monopoly, receives about 14 billion euros ($21 billion Canadian) per year in subsidies. Urban transit receives about 9 billion euros ($13.5 billion Canadian) per year, financed by a special tax levied on businesses. A purchaser of an electric vehicle receives a subsidy of 6,000 euros ($9,000 Canadian). If the government reaches its goal of one million EVs purchased in one year (very unlikely), the taxpayer’s bill would be 6 billion euros ($9 billion Canadian) per year.

All these taxes and subsidies have had a limited effect on energy demand or emissions. The share of rail in freight transport has stagnated; it represents only 10 per cent of total freight and 2 per cent of freight shippers’ expenditures. Cars represent 89 per cent of passenger transport expenditures. Bicycles, highly touted and subsidized, account for 0.5 per cent of passenger travel. In these circumstances, the main effect of road taxes is to increase general transport costs and to reduce mobility. Lower mobility reduces the effective size of labour markets, and hence their efficiency (workers cannot access the jobs they want, and enterprises cannot access the workers they need).

The French Road Safety Agency is reducing the speed limit on secondary roads from 90 km/h to 80 km/h, claiming that this would lower carbon dioxide emissions by 30 per cent. In fact, it will reduce average speeds by 2-5 km/h, fuel consumption by 1 or 2 per cent, and carbon dioxide emissions by a similar percentage.

Regressive Effects in France

The share of energy expenditures in electricity, road transport, and housing is larger in poor households than in rich ones, so fuel taxes fall disproportionately on the poor.

There are also regressive subsidies. The very large subsidies to electric vehicles, for example, go for the purchase of cars costing far more than the average family can afford, and usually go for the purchase of a second or third car.

The National French Statistics Agency keeps track of “energy vulnerability”, a condition that exists when a household spends more than 8 per cent of its income on home heating and/or more than 4.5 per cent on transport. Twenty-two per cent of French households are in a position of energy vulnerability, and the number is rising, with the problem especially acute for senior citizens.

The costs of energy differ by regions. To illustrate, in 2011, the household expenditures on electricity averaged 630 euros ($945 Canadian) in large cities and 850 euros ($1,275 Canadian) in rural areas. In the same year, household expenditures on car fuels averaged 1,083 euros ($1,632 Canadian) in large cities and 1769 euros ($2,654 Canadian) in rural areas.

Regressive Effects Internationally

The greatest “regressivity” is the impact of climate policies on developing countries. which simply cannot afford the cost of using wind and solar energy for electricity generation when cheaper coal is available. Through what Prud’homme refers to as “environmental imperialism”, rich countries, their aid agencies and the development banks they control have decided not to finance coal-fired power plants, even through reimbursable loans. NGOs have successfully lobbied private banks to adopt the same policy. China, however, has stepped in and financed coal-fired plants (at interest rates higher than World Bank rates, and with fewer environmental constraints). This may have long-term strategic consequences.

At COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, rich countries promised to pay poor countries a hundred billion dollars per year starting in 2020 if the poor countries agreed to commit to huge emissions reductions. Nine conferences later, no progress has been made. “There is absolutely no agreement as to who exactly will pay what, to whom, according to what criteria, and with what controls.

“Transition” vs Pollution

Prud’homme expresses his strong objection to real environmental degradation of air, land and water. He describes how in France the fight against carbon dioxide has pushed aside the fight against pollution. The former Ministry of the Environment has even been renamed “The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity”.

Prud’homme concludes:

This transition is neither ecological, nor solidary, much less economic. The transition stands beyond the realm of rationality, in a world of fantasy. As Goya puts it in one of his etchings: ‘the sleep of reason produces monsters’.


Embryo Quality and Grading

Can we estimate results  of In Vitro Fertilization? What are the chances of a successful embryo transfer? What do embryo quality and grading mean? Do they tell anything about possible outcomes? These are the questions intended parents worry about the most. While embryo grading is a complex medical process, parents need and should be informed about every important step on their fertility journey.

What do Embryo Quality and Grading Mean?

Embryologists use embryo grading system in order to make predictions about embryo transfer results. These predictions do not depict the reality accurately. A lot of embryos with low or middle grading lead to successful pregnancies. Moreover, not all high quality graded embryos result in gestation. This happens mainly because grading does not give an information about embryo’s genetics.

Embryo grading system is still a powerful tool that gives a good impression about which embryos are appropriate for transferring / freezing. Estimating embryo’s quality and potential is an important step. It helps intended parents to save time, finances, protects from unexpected misfortune and may facilitate their parenthood journey.

There is no universal grading system. In some clinics grade 1 is better than 4, while in others 4 may indicate the best quality. The most common practice is to observe an embryo after 3 or 5 days of fertilization. However, embryos are not on the same development stage on these days. Embryologists use different grading systems for day 3 and day 5.

Grading on day 3

On the day 3, embryos are on their “cleavage stage”. This means that cells in the embryo (blastomeres) are dividing. Observation happens under a high power microscope. On the day 3 after retrieval, embryo itself is not growing in size – only the cells are being replicated.

Accordingly, grading criteria number one is the number of cells in the embryo. The desired number of cells on the day 3 is 6-10. Based on experience, embryos containing 6 to 10 blastomeres on day 3, are more likely to result in successful pregnancy.

Criteria number 2 is the presence of fragmentation. Fragmentation/Blebbing is the process when the inside of the cells break off and form fragments. These blebs do not contain nucleus. Nucleus is the cell storing cell’s genetic material, DNA. As fragments/blebs are separated from the nucleated part of the cell, they are not referred to as cells. It is preferable to have little or no fragmentation at all. On the other hand, embryologists may capture multinucleation (presence of more than one nucleus per cell). Multinucleation is very hard to identify but may unfortunately indicate chromosomal abnormality of the embryo.

Embryo quality and grading includes one more important criteria – cell regularity. It is desired that blastomeres are of the same or close to the same size.

After the observation on the day 3,  embryos having no fragmentations and including equally sized 6-10 cells will be considered of high quality and will be assigned the highest grade. Laboratory will assign further grades according to their own system. The higher the quality grades are, so is the likelihood of successful implantation.

Grading on day 5

On the 5th day after fertilization,embryo contains increased number of cells and a fluid cavity. As the cells are growing, they start to form in different types. We encounter two cell types on the day 5. First type forms the Inner Cell Mass (ICM) and the second one is called Trophectoderm Epithelium (TE). Day 5 embryo is referred to as Blastocyst and has reached the development stage when it is getting ready to attach itself to the uterine lining (Implantation).

ICM will grow into fetus and TE will form pregnancy essential tissues.  Due to their importance for gestation, day 5 grading system evaluates both cell types separately. ICM and TE will be both observed for their amount and density (how tightly are they packed). For example a lot of tightly packed cells indicate higher quality than loosely packed fewer ones.

Blastocyst should implant soon. Above mentioned cell types divide and fluid cavity has to enlarge and hatch out of its shell.  Fluid cavity’s volume in the embryo is one more criteria of 5th day grading.  It should begin to outgrow the space inside of the shell (zona pellucida) and then the blastocyst will be ready for the implantation.

Day 5 embryo will be assigned the higher quality grade, when fluid cavity has reached the appropriate volume, ICM is tightly packed, is sufficient in amount and TE is also forming a cohesive layer with sufficient quantity of cells.

As already mentioned, clinics may use different grading systems and utilize numbers or symbols to assign grades. However, most of the laboratories use exactly above mentioned criterias to evaluate the potential of an embryo.

While talking about the chances of successful gestation, high embryo quality and grading is not  a 100% guarantee. There are far more details included in the successful outcome. Sometimes an embryo does not implant because it has a genetic or chromosomal abnormality. It also happens that a lower grade embryo results in an unproblematic gestation because it has healthy genetics. A lot of clinics will suggest doing preimplantation genetic screening(PGS). This procedure checks chromosomal normality in the embryo.

Positive results in PGS and middle to high graded embryo already give a reasonable purpose to estimate a healthy pregnancy.


National Donut Day is June 1st, and to help celebrate, Entenmann's Is going to hire someone as the first ever Chief Donut Officer.

What does the job entail? Well, obviously you have to like donuts. On their website they ask how you will promote donuts more and what new ideas you might have. How would you help spread the love of Entenmann's donuts? How would you make them better? So, there is a little thinking involved. You fill out the application and then wait.

Whomever takes on the title will get $5,000 and a year's worth of donuts, no word on public appearances.

To enter, legal U.S. residents age 18 or older can apply on Entenmann's website from now through June 30.


So he’s been dead for a few centuries – whatever happened to the phrase “gonebut not forgotten”? I always seem to read about pop and rock groups, but whynot try something classical? And who better than the classical music geniushimself,

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Parents are desperate to give their children every enhancement that they can. There are areas we will examine to see if the Mozart Effect has evidence to support the claim Of children becoming smarter after listening to it, and to

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Instead of printing the output conventionally they decided to put the output onto sounds. They realized that the patterns sounded familiar and contained the sound of baroque, Eastern and New Age music (Anderson, 2000). Why does this matter? The fact

In an independent sample design, the participants were separated into two groups and asked to memorize and eater recall a list of 10 two digit numbers. Both groups received the same list and had the same period of time to

Music of any period reflects, in its own way, some of the same influences, tendencies, and generative impulses that are found in the other arts of that time (Donna, 2005). Thus the word “baroque,” usually used despairingly by eighteenth-century art

The Ottoman’s contribution to music has always been evident in the music we play or hear almost everyday. Be it Mozart, Beethoven. The Ottoman’s meter (meaning military band) influenced the start of the military and the marching band. They too,

As someone who suffers from extreme hearing loss, I am amazed at the great Talent of Ludwig vans Beethoven, who as one of the greatest composers of all time wrote most of his music while he was deaf! It seems

Film to Remember Amadeus, a film originally written as a play by Peter Shaffer. Follows the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, through the eyes of his bitter rival, Antonio Saltier. This film is arguably one of the most immerse pictures

Community theatre enriches the lives of those who take an active part in it, as well as those in the community who benefit from live theatre productions. On either side of the footlights, those Involved represent a diversity of age,

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany and was baptized December 17th 1770. Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was an important figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music. His

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One is an executive armchair with a modern form and technical solutions. Features contributing to its outstanding ergonomic character include: mechanism Synchro, seat depth, armrest and headrest adjustments. The synchronous mechanism helps the user to keep a proper seating position and reduces the unpleasant feeling of “pulling the jacket” while leaning back.

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Public service broadcasting: as vital as ever Contents

Appendix 4: Meeting with school group

On Wednesday 12 June, Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall, Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury and Lord Gordon of Strathblane met Year-12 students (aged 16–17) from Stockport Grammar School to discuss their viewing habits and views on the future of public service broadcasting. A summary of the discussion at the meeting follows.

Students said that they watched content on screens of different sizes but there was a preference for watching sporting events and programmes watched with the family on large screens and using mobile phones and computer screens for social media and video-sharing.

In general, students did not watch programmes at their scheduled time of broadcast. They preferred not to “move their day around” to watch television. Often linear viewing, unlike VOD viewing, would be with their family. Students said that they would only turn on linear TV for a specific programme, such as live entertainment, a landmark drama series, news or sports. They saw such ‘event television’ as a key strength of the BBC. However, they felt that too many sports events were only available on subscription channels such as Sky Sports and that these were prohibitively expensive. One student suggested that the BBC should launch its own sports channel.

The students said that when they wanted to watch TV they would go first to video on demand services. Students’ first port of call to watch PSB programmes would be VOD services such as BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub, however they did not watch much on the BBC or ITV—with Love Island a notable exception. Some watched Channel 4 for the news, Gogglebox and First Dates. No one watched Channel 5.

The students discussed the value of the licence fee. It was noted that the it allowed the BBC to be impartial. Most valued it, arguing that it allowed them to develop their opinions and become better informed. One felt that people should have the option not to pay. Another felt that people should not be imprisoned for failing to pay it. It was suggested that general taxation could be used to fund the BBC.

Most went first to Netflix, Amazon Prime or Now TV. Students felt that SVODs offered a wider choice of programmes, as well as offering perceptive recommendations for programmes they would enjoy. Students enjoyed watching the same programmes as their peer group and exchanged recommendations. They liked that Netflix did not have adverts and some said that they would prefer to pay a subscription than watch adverts. The students resented watching adverts and their repetitiveness, sometimes even seeing the same advert being played twice in a row.

Students valued the broad range of content on Netflix and felt that it offered something for everyone, although they noted that this included BBC content. One student suggested that it would not be feasible to require an international company such as Netflix to produce UK content just for the UK as this might lead them to leave the country. The students thought that Netflix’s international content, including foreign language programming, was a strength, as was its portrayal of BAME and LGBT groups. By contrast, one student described the BBC and ITV as “quite white British”.

A number of students first subscribed to Netflix, or other SVODs, because of a programme only available on that service and maintained their subscription to watch other programmes. Netflix’s strength was seen to be drama and comedy, whereas its original factual content could be unreliable. Popular programmes on Amazon Prime included The Grand Tour and American Gods. One student noted, however, that his class was from a more affluent background than others, and that access to multiple SVOD services might not be typical.

Regarding video-sharing platforms, the students felt that the Government should ensure that companies address illegal content. At the same time, it was argued that people of non-mainstream views should be allowed to express themselves unless they act illegally.

Students also discussed different sources of news. They trusted news from public service broadcasters, with many going to BBC News first. They felt that the BBC was more objective and trustworthy, however one student felt that this was undermined by ‘analysis’ articles which featured more opinion. There was widespread awareness of the effect of echo-chambers online and students were particularly wary of Facebook as a news source. They seldom used Facebook, preferring Instagram, Snapchat and, to a lesser extent, Twitter. Students cited Facebook’s use of data as a major reason for not using it, as well as a generational divide between their cohort and those who were older.

© Parliamentary copyright 2019


Aga Bible by Amy Willcock

The Aga is much more than an oven, it's an icon, it's a statement, It's a way of life. Agas have never been more popular and the queen of Aga cookery is undoubtedly Amy Willcock. Here is her definitive Aga Bible.

Amy also tempts the taste buds with a delectable selection of desserts and cakes, including Raspberry souffles, Chocolate pecan tart and Lemon meringue cake. There are 30 new and exclusive recipes such as Moules marinieres, Crab and coconut soup and Apple and onion tart. All the recipes feature conventional cooking instructions, so even non-Aga owners can enjoy Amy's tasty dishes.

304 pages.

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Asociación de Psicoterapia

Cognitivo-Analítica de España.

What is ICATA?

It is a federation of national associations promoting training and supervision in the practice of CAT from Australia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, India and Hong Kong and United Kingdom. We look forward to more countries joining in.

What does ICATA aim to do?

Develop knowledge and use of Cognitive Analytic Therapy internationally. Support training and supervision internationally. Oversee national accreditation programmes and procedures.

Where has CAT developed?

Cognitive Analytic Therapy is most established in the UK where it has developed from the work of Dr Anthony Ryle and colleagues since the 1980’s supported by the work of the Association for Cognitive Analytic Therapy. There are 900 members of ACAT. Follow this link to find out more www.acat.me.uk In Finland CAT has also developed very strongly over the past twenty years through the leadership of Professor Mikael Leiman and now through the FINCAT association which has a membership of 200. CAT has also developed over many years in Greece, Ireland, Spain and Australia.

What is CAT?

As an individual therapy CAT is a model of brief, focused and structured therapy which was developed in the public health service in the UK and in Finland, Greece, Ireland, Australia and Spain. Now it is developing more widely in Italy, New Zealand, Hong Kong, India, Poland and Chile. CAT helps link the relational origins of hard to change patterns of cognition, behaviour and emotion to the powerful way they are reproduced through interaction with self and others in the present. It uses maps of different states of mind and the patterns that connect or isolate them within the wider sense of self. It uses compassionate writing to describe the dance of these patterns internally, socially and interpersonally and to give meaning to their origins in the formation of a sense of self and social identity. As well as being a method of therapy, CAT is proving useful as a consultative method and as a means of relational skills training for people in a wide range of medical and health roles. In this context CAT has become a dialogic way of understanding the interaction of psychology and psychotherapy, and the relationships involved in the provision of care and treatment in mental health and health services more widely.

For more details generally about ICATA and the development of

CAT internationally please go to:

Archivos para descargar:

Icata_constitution_june_2009.pdf     (29k)

Icata_ethical_guidelines.pdf               (25k)

International_cat_training_guidelines_2010.01.pdf     (90k)


Serves: 6 waffles
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

  • 1 ½ tsp rose water
  • 1 tsp cardamom

Waffles 2

  1. Preheat the waffle iron and brush with a thin layer of coconut oil or non-stick spray.
  2. In a large mixing bowl whisk all the dry ingredients together until well combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the almond milk and apple cider vinegar together and allow the milk to separate slightly. Then mix in the syrup of your choice.
  4. Slowly add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until fully combined. Lastly mix in the rose water and cardamom or whichever alternative you prefer (cinnamon, fruit, nut butter etc.).
  5. Pour about 1/3 cup or more of the batter in the center of the waffle iron and cook until the waffles are golden brown and crisp. Serve immediately or lay on a cooling rack until cool. Store in a container or Stasher bag in freezer.*

Alternative additions: 2 tsps cinnamon & 2 chopped stewed apples or ½ cup chopped strawberries/raspberries or 2 tbsps peanut butter & 1 chopped banana.

Keeping Waffles Warm: If you’re not going to enjoy your waffle straight out of the griddle, is to place them on a cooling rack in an even layer. Turn your oven to the “warm” setting or about 100. and place the fresh waffles in an even layer in the oven until ready to enjoy. Unlike pancakes, where you can toss them all on top of each other to keep them warm, waffles have a crispy outer coating that is highly desirable. If you stack them while they’re hot, they are going to create steam and quickly lose that crispiness.

Can You Freeze Waffles? YES! These waffles are great for storing in the freezer and popping straight into the toaster oven. Place the cooled waffles in a container or stasher bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Toast in toaster to defrost and toast the waffle or use the oven on grill setting.

Coconut Cream & Fresh Fruit Crêpe Cake

Toasted Coconut Birthday Cake with a Dairy-Free Matcha Frosting


Obligation To Pay Maintenance For Another Mans Child

Many Clients who have remarried and have a child from a previous relationship ask this question:

Is my current husband responsible to continue to pay whatever he has been paying for my child from a previous relationship?

People are relying on their spouses to honour their agreements for financial assistance.

Generally people are only liable to pay maintenance for a child if they are the biological parent or if they have legally adopted the child. However recent case law takes this obligation to the next level.

MB v NB 2010 (3) SA 220 (GSJ)

The Plaintiff was a widow with a teenaged son from her previous marriage. She married the Defendant, who agreed to adopt the child as his bond with her son had become increasingly stronger and he was treating him as his own.

Adoption was not pursued however, but the child’s surname was changed to that of the Defendant in September 2000. In 2007 when the Parties were on a search for a suitable school for the child, they enrolled him as a boarder in a private school in the Eastern Cape. The Plaintiff and Defendant completed the application form and they signed as the child’s mother and father, respectively.

After the birth of the Plaintiff’s and Defendant’s own child in 2002, the Defendant rekindled a relationship he previously had with another woman.

The Plaintiff discovered the secret affair the Defendant was having and put him on terms to leave the matrimonial home. The Defendant left the matrimonial home during 2008 and the Plaintiff commenced divorced action against the Defendant, shortly thereafter.

The Plaintiff requested from the Court an order whereby she was claiming spousal maintenance and that the Defendant must continue to pay her son’s private school fees, including the boarding fees, for as long as he attended a private school.

The Plaintiff’s claim for the Defendant to pay the child’s fees was based on the agreement to pay her son’s fees, which the Plaintiff contended constituted a binding contract.

The Court held that in order to determine if the Defendant was obliged to pay the school fees, it was not necessary to conclude that he was adopted; and that the relationship should have been recognised under the statute, or even that the Defendant was under a general duty to maintain her son.

It was enough for the Court to conclude that the Defendant presented himself as the child’s father and that the Plaintiff and child relied on this representation and therefore he was liable to pay the school fees for the child.

Don’t take the law into your own hands, let the professionals handle it!

Annemarie Basson
Senior Attorney

Book a Consultation


Cuttlefish Can Watch 3D movies and Wear the Glasses, Too

  • When tested, subjects showed they have depth perception much like humans.

Humans and cuttlefish are similar. How do you ask? They can both watch and react to 3D movies.

The scientists studied this by gluing Velcro near their eyeballs, and then sticking on custom-made 3D goggles. It wasn’t easy.

“It took a lot of coaxing of the cuttlefish to make them wear their glasses,” Trevor Wardill said. “They’ll want to play with it.”

The glasses, similar to ours, had one blue filtered lens and one red filtered lens. Once a cuttlefish got hungry, the scientists showed them 3D videos featuring two shrimp silhouettes, each a different color and a different distance from the camera.

This proved that cuttlefish do have depth perception, just like humans. In some cases they would get so close to the video shrimp that their tentacles were hitting the screen itself.

“I was ecstatic. We were sort of jumping up and down,” Wardill said. He also said that the cuttlefish would immediately get real shrimp as a reward.

The study proved that the cuttlefish see in 3D, but not exactly the same way that humans do. Also, even though they have “fish” in their name, cuttlefish aren’t really fish.

They are actually marine mollusks that are related to squid and octopuses, and are probably the world’s most intelligent invertebrates. This makes them one of a kind, and also just plain cool.

“While cuttlefish have similar eyes to humans, their brains are significantly different,” Paloma Gonzalez-Bellido, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, said in a university press release. ”We know that cuttlefish brains aren’t segmented like humans. They do not seem to have a single part of the brain — like our occipital lobe — dedicated to processing vision. Our research shows there must be an area in their brain that compares the images from a cuttlefish’s left and right eye and computes their differences.”


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An audit of basic practical skills acquisition of final year medical students in a Nigerian medical school
NJ Jebbin
JM Adotey
Annals of African Medicine, 2012.
Background/Objective: Young medical graduates undertaking their housemanship are naturally expected to demonstrate reasonable competence in basic practical skills. Failure to do this may not only be a source of anxiety to the doctor but also potentially dangerous to the patient. The objective was to assess the level of exposure of final year medical students of a Nigerian medical school to basic practical skills. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Structured questionnaires were distributed to a set (all) of 86 final year medical students of the University of Port Harcourt immediately after their last lecture in their final posting in medicine and surgery. The questionnaires listed some selected basic practical skills (e.g. phlebotomy, male urethral catheter insertion, etc.) that house officers are expected to be competent in. The students were asked to anonymously fill them and return same before leaving the lecture hall. Results: Of the 86 students, 84 completed and returned the questionnaires, giving a 97.7% response rate. No student had performed an arterial puncture for an arterial blood sample. Seventy-six students (90.5%) had not inserted a naso-gastric tube. Only 14 (16.7%) students had successfully inserted more than 10 intravenous canulae. A significant number, 38 (45.2%), had never inserted a urinary catheter (for male patients) nor had any experience with bag/mask skills. Majority, 59 (70.2%) had had some experience with intravenous antibiotics administration. Forty-one (48.7%) students had had 6 or more successful attempts at venous blood sampling. Conclusion: The exposure level of final year medical students to basic practical skills was low.
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Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.Napu - chevrotain somewhat larger than the kanchilnapu - chevrotain somewhat larger than the kanchil; found in India and Malaya
chevrotain, mouse deer - very small hornless deer-like ruminant of tropical Asia and west Africa
genus Tragulus, Tragulus - type genus of the Tragulidae
References in periodicals archive ?
kid kid dikdik--two goats, small antelope marmot tom ram--rodent, cat, sheep martin nit ram--[approximately equal to] swallow, louse, sheep marten egret toad napu panda otter genet ram--napu = chevrotain (W) + 7 common animals motmot tom tom--colourful tropical bird, two cats oka miro korimako--oca (W), NZ tree, NZ bellbird tangelo mole gnat--hybrid citrus, talpid, a fly
GA, SA, NO and IAA were used to prime the seeds of Brassica napus to study the drought stress induced variations.
napus (r= 0.766; P= 0.0037 **), whereas relative humidity and rainfall had significantly negative correlation (r= -0.759; P= 0.0041 **, r= -0.715; P= 0.0089 **).
et al., Cytoskeletal changes and induction of embryogenesis in microspore and pollen cultures of Brassica napus L.
Clarke, "The effects of leaf removal on yield and yield components of brassica napus," Canadian Journal of Plant Science, vol.
Brassica napus seeds (Nanwu kemao Co., Ltd., Beijing, China) were purchased from a farm market.
Canola (Brassica napus L.) crop is among the important sources of edible oil in Pakistan.
The study investigates the impact of polluted sediment on the morphological and biochemical prospects of Brassica napus seedlings, grown in vitro.


Wiki information Moylette:

Ray Moylette
Professional Boxer, Athlete, Person, Measured person, Martial Artist, Boxer

Raymond Moylette, more commonly known as Ray Moylette and sometimes incorrectly referred to as Ray Moylett, is an Irish amateur boxer from Derrycooraune, Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland. He represented Ireland in the lightweight division at the 2008...