Each of us

Fiona Dowling (France/Ireland) tells folktales, world tales, love tales, and stories from her own colourful childhood spent between Ireland and France. Her favourite stories are ones that combine mystery, wisdom and humour. She was recently a featured teller at the Mohill Storytelling Festival in Leitrim.

Eléonore Nicolas (France) cultivates words with the same attention as a gardener looks after his plot. She delicately picks out details from everyday life and mixes them with her own witty perspective to craft small stories, which delight and inspire her audiences. She spreads her stories like seeds in the hope that they will grow and color people’s life.

 Michael Phelan (Ireland) tells stories because he enjoys bringing people on a journey into another reality. Stories for him, are a life-force all on their own and can in ways, we do not know, shape peoples’ destinies. He likes to tell stories with a bit of fun in them, and that have a twist and turn in them that capture and evoke you. Above all he enjoys telling you a story that speaks to you.

Simone Schuemmelfeder is a storyteller, writer and teacher from Germany who aims to bridge the gap between an old tradition and the modern world. In her story sessions she combines traditional German folktales with modern short stories, urban legends, crime mysteries and tales of romance and adventure. Simone is fascinated by the enchantment that stories can bring into everyday life. For her telling stories is deeply connected with the power of imagination and she hopes that the vivid and vibrant images in her stories help her listeners to picture the story in their mind and create their very own story.

Nina Tanis (USA) hopes that somewhere between her telling and her audience listening is a space that allows for suspension of time and place. To reach this spot is to reach the truer self. She brings you to this place with tales of man and child, love and luck, behavior and attitude, kingdoms and castles, seeking and finding...or not, so that we may be entertained while contemplating our humanity; reflecting on whom we are, who we may wish to be or hope never to become.

Adam Wilson (Ireland) likes to tell tales where things and people are often not quite what they seem to be. His formal training as a clown has perpetuated his natural skill in eliciting riotous laughter from his audience while telling seemingly very "ordinary" tales. A keen ear for the vernacular gives Adam great power as a creator and raconteur of vivid, entertaining dialogue. Let Adam's masterful telling and tongue- in- cheek style weave their magic, bringing you to an unusual country far far away...yet...strangely familiar.

Boaz Zur (Israel,Ireland) tells stories from around the world. He brings the variety of cultures including short stories, folktales, myth, wonder and likes to use spices and to inspire. He tells personal stories and stories that he wrote. He delivers stories in many images so that the listeners listen with all their senses. In some of his performances he incorporates music, movement and drama combined with a musician, where the audience are interactive. He loves the oral tradition and facilitates workshops where people are encouraged to share stories, poems, songs, music and more.


Sunday, December 14, 2014

In the Name of Reading Education

This is my last post in 2014. I promise I will be better about posting book reviews more regularly in the new year. So for now, here is one last rant to close out 2014. Happy Holidays!

As I have been writing my new book, which will be out in Spring 2015, I have been wandering the internet for resources and have uncovered an unfortunate trend: teachers still do crap in the name of teaching children to read that life-long readers would never tolerate. I have seen so many "alternative" to book reports postings, using digital resources to make kids do the same waste-of-time assignments I tried to rally against when I write my first book on the Reading Workshop in 2001.

Why does anyone think having children post images on Pinterest from their iPads is any more worthwhile than writing book reports on paper plates? Why waste their time? The next thing you know someone will be suggesting that we use auto-cad architectural programs to build digital dioramas.
So what should we ask young readers to do when they have finished reading? The answer is only asking them to do the same things we do ourselves when we finish reading. We share ideas with other readers, make suggestions, read another book, conduct research, go out and play, buy another book like the one we read, we talk, and we write about the books we love on a goodreads website or blogs like this for other readers to read. That's about it for me. I don't make trailers, I don't build collages or write found poetry, and I definitely don't cook food from the book.


Saving Art Deco in Toronto

Slightly hidden from view by the construction walls that encircle it, an abandoned warehouse stands at the corner of Bathurst Street and Lakeshore Boulevard West. Known as Loblaw Groceterias, it was built in 1928 to house the consolidated headquarters of the present-day grocer giant. But unlike its predecessors, it appears wholly neglected with many broken[…]

Humber Lakeshore Reaches Development Milestone

    If you have ever stumbled to the west end of the city, you have probably witnessed the serene beauty of Humber College campus. Surrounded by trees and abundant in secret paths and walking trails that lead to the shores of Lake Ontario, the campus grounds provide the perfect small-town-school experience. With majority of[…]


Favored Classes: Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Monk

Class Notes: Olveri Clerics have a ritual restriction on every non-domain spell they cast, and may not channel energy.

Special Rules: Olveri receive a -6 penalty to Charisma-related checks when dealing with races once enslaved by the Empire.

Olveri are elves, and use the rules for elves except as noted above. They are slightly shorter and broader than typical elves, and their lifespans, while long, are finite.

Ten millennia ago, the Olveri were peaceful, forest-dwelling people surrounded by hostile nations. Rather than allow themselves to be conquered, they used the resources available to them and built great machines of war, wielding mighty magics that allowed them to not only overrun their neighbors, but conquer the entire world for themselves. However, this success came at a serious price: by surrendering to the temptations of power, they cut themselves off from their ancestral gods and the magic of the land. They moved from their forest into mighty cities of marble and brick and lived fat off the slave labor of those they had conquered, and lost access to the raw magical power that had enabled ther success in the first place.

Olveri culture is highly regimented, with ultimate authority residing in the hands of the Empress. Her husband is High Commander and in charge of defending the Empire and its people. Large Olveri cities are typically extremely racially mixed, although only Olveri are considered citizens of the Empire. The high priests and priestesses of the major religions meet in conclave to advise the Empress on spiritual matters.

Wanderer's Wake VinceKlortho


Q: My yard is small and does not have a space for planting blueberry bushes by themselves. Is it OK to group them with azaleas?

A: Yes, azaleas and blueberries may be planted in the same bed. Both plants have similar requirements; a site containing rich textured, slightly acidic, well-drained soil that receives plenty of sun and ample amounts of water to encourage fruiting and flowering.

Q: Our home is new, and our yard is bare. A friend offered to give me several sweet gum trees. She says they are nice trees, but my husband says the trees drop sticky balls and he doesn’t want to always be cleaning up the mess. Do you recommend planting sweet gum trees in a yard?
A: A young sweet gum tree is beautifully shaped, but as the tree ages, the shape become less uniform, and yes, the sticky balls are a mess. I recommend that you listen to your husband, especially if he is the one caring for the yard.

Q: What is the difference in annuals and perennials? This year, I filled a planting bed with marigolds. The label said they are annuals, which I thought meant they would come back annually. I paid a lot for the plants and sure hope they will come back next year. Will they?
A: Annuals grow for one year and die. Hardy perennials return year after year. I’m sorry, your marigolds will not return next year.

Q: My mother grew “Hens and Chicks” in a pot on the front porch. I can’t remember what she did with them during the winter. Do they need to be brought inside for the winter, or will they be OK outside?
A: I grow Sempervivum tectorum (Hens and Chickens) in a container in my front yard. For the past few years, I have left the pot outside all winter, and the plant has survived but has not thrived. Because Hens and Chicks do not tolerate wet soil very well, I suggest that for the winter, the container be situated in a sunny place that provides protection from excessive cold and rainfall.

Q: You seem to recommend pruning crape myrtles every year? I have two large crape myrtles that have never been pruned and they are beautiful.
A: I’m sorry if I have given the impression that all crape myrtles should be pruned every year. Generally, unless damaged, the majority of older, larger, established, well-shaped crape myrtles require no pruning whatsoever. With younger and smaller crape myrtles, new suckers growing from the tree’s base should be removed for a neat appearance and to prevent additional trunks from forming.
While a young tree is being shaped, any new limbs that rub against or cross over another limb should be removed.
In some instances, a gardener plants a crape myrtle in a specific spot where the tree is required to stay small to fit the available space. These are the trees that are pruned yearly to remove the older, taller growth.
Also, in the fall, on smaller trees, seed pods may be removed to encourage a final round of flowers. On larger trees, removing all the seed pods becomes impossible.


BFF Weekend

Each year I spend a weekend with four of my best friends from high school and each year I almost always do an immediate blog post about the fun we had.

This year, I found I couldn't blog about it so quickly.

It seems there aren't easy words to describe what I felt about the power of connection. I have so much love for these women and am so proud of who they are and the way their lives are connected to mine.  In deep and simple ways they create beauty--each with their own 'flavor'--that makes the world a better place to live in.

These words aren't very articulate about the emotion. But then they don't have to be. The feeling is enough.

© Random Cathy
Maira Gall


Where cravings drives search for recipes and the creation of delicious homemade food

9x13 tray with parchment or buttered
1) 10 tbsp. (142g) unsalted butter
1) 16 cups (680g) marshmallows
1) ½ tsp. kosher salt
2) 19 cups (476g) rice krispies cereal
3) 4 cups (170g) miniature marshmallows

In a stockpot combine (1) and heat over low heat until melted.

In a large bowl measure rice krispies (2)and make a well.

Pour (1) into (2), fold immediately then add (3) and mix.

Pour rice krispies into 9x13 tray and press it down. Let it cool and cut into desired size.


The song of April 2nd, 2016

This song is Time by Vocal Few. I had never paid attention to it until yesterday and I loved it.

I’ve been a little sensitive and reflexive lately, I’m young and I (hope to) have a long time to live. There are many things I’d like to do and sometimes I feel like there is not enough time.

Then I realize that thinking about time takes a lot of time. So it is better to do instead of thinking about doing it. If I want to be a great writer, then I should write a lot. If I want to travel to Asia, then I should save money for that trip. I have to act looking forward to a specific goal.

Also, time passes, we grow up, and there are people who will go out of and people who will enter our lives. We should not worry about who could it be or how painful it will be. we should instead enjoy our time with them and be thankful that they are there right now.

Like the song says, “time is not on our side”. Time flows and days pass. We should not serve time by crying because of the passage of time. We should do our best with the little time we have. And maybe then, when we are old, we will look back and say “I didn’t serve time.”

Enjoy this song and live!

– Karl


WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. For food use only. Do not inhale the nitrous oxide found in whipped cream charger refills. It may cause serious and irreversible damage to your health, including death. United Brands is not liable in any way for injuries or deaths caused to anyone, regardless of age, by the misuse of the products found on this website.

Keep in mind that the chargers are under great pressure. Please use in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions. Never pressurize a whipped cream dispenser with more than one charger at a time. Non-aerosol. Recyclable steel. Volume 10 cm3. Contains 8gm Nitrous Oxide (E942) under pressure. Gross cartridge weight - 28g. Variety of colors. Do not pierce. Never dispose of full cartridges. Do not take onboard an aircraft. Keep out of reach of children. Explosion danger - 50C max temperature.

RECYCLING - Non refillable, made of 100% recyclable steel. They are safe to put in with your tin cans etc. for collection. Please do not dispose of unused cartridges!

This information is provided for educational use only. This information is not to be misunderstood as legal or medical advice

Medical Info Regarding Nitrous Oxide Use

Nitrous oxide (N2O) was first used medically in 1844 for a dental tooth extraction. Nitrous oxide is still used today primarily in dentistry as an addition to other local anesthetics. As an anesthetic, nitrous oxide is usually administered to the patient via a gas inhaler which mixes the nitrous oxide with oxygen allowing the dentist to precisely control the flow of gas.

Nitrous Oxide, like other drugs, poses the potential for abuse when used as a street drug. Dependence of nitrous oxide is not as severe as that of other drugs, such as opiates and narcotics, however chronic abusers often develop strong emotional dependencies which can be highly destructive to their lives.

Abusive use via inhalation of nitrous oxide can produce a number of harmful side effects. Nitrous oxide is known to suppress the body's ability to absorb vitamin B12. A far more common is injury caused by the release of the super cooled gas from the charger itself. The nitrous oxide found in charger is extremely cold and it is capable of burning the face, nose, lips, tongue, and throat. Death from nitrous oxide use is rare, but is most common when a person attempts to huff the nitrous oxide out of a bag or balloon that has been placed over their head or face, causing them to accidentally asphyxiate.

Legal Information

The possession of whipped cream chargers, or more specifically, the nitrous oxide found in the chargers, is legal in the United States. However, like all products which can potentially affect food safety, is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The possession of "crackers" or any other devices which serve the sole purpose of opening a whipped cream charger is outlawed in a number of states, and the sale of such devices is also prohibited. Nearly every state has passed laws making it a crime to inhale or consume nitrous oxide, or possess nitrous oxide with the intent to consume as a street drug. In most states, it is illegal for minors to purchase or possess nitrous oxide. The FDA also regulates the labeling and distribution of nitrous chargers, making it a crime to sell nitrous oxide for the purpose of human consumption as a street drug.

By bidding and paying for this auction you certify that you meet all the legal requirements to purchase compressed gas. Nitrous Oxide charger contents are under pressure.

Do not incinerate full chargers or expose to sun or heat. Do not allow temperature to exceed 50C or 122F. Never dispose of full chargers, always empty before disposing. Keep out of reach of children Our Nitrous Oxide. We apply to the recommended guidelines set forth by the Compressed Gas Association in terms of distributing our product.  It is the responsibility of the buyer to ascertain and obey all applicable Local, State and Federal Laws in. Consult your attorney regarding Local, State and Federal Laws before ordering. Zcoffee is not responsible for any injury/death as an result of product misuse or abuse. When applicable, equipment sold may be subject to Public Law 90-351, Title III 18 U.S.C., Section 2511 or the applicable law in your country. The substance is in compliance with the USPS Pub. 52 guidelines. You must be 18 or over to purchase compressed gas (21 in OHIO).


Culture & Heritage

Cultural heritage is part of our everyday world. It is a view to our past and a path for our future. Culture brings people together, encourages greater understanding and contributes to the strength of a community. As the Cayman Islands continue to grow and evolve, it becomes increasingly important that we preserve our cultural heritage and maintain our national identity through the sharing of knowledge and the celebration of our unique culture.

Culture and Heritage in the Cayman Islands

Music, food, religion and sense of family are fundamental aspects of our heritage that still connect us as a people. Our past is rich with stories about the roles of mothers and fathers, the importance of family and the priority placed on  church. Our forefathers were not blessed with the modern conveniences that we enjoy today but found value in and made the most of the land and sea. Although almost every old time story has a recollection of hardship, there is always a sense of appreciation and happiness.

As Caymanians share their experiences, family stories, jokes and reminisce on the
past, they help to perpetuate Caymanian heritage and culture.  In so doing, younger generations of Caymanians and non-Caymanians learn about Caymanian life in the past and develop an appreciation for the many blessings received. It also provides an opportunity to discuss Caymanian art, literature, stories and poetry as well as discover Caymanian music through the years, thus providing an opportunity to promote Caymanian-produced music.

The Cayman Islands was once described as the ’Islands time forgot’; however time has managed to catch up with us, and now more than ever there is an overwhelming need to reconnect with our past.

Music played an important part in both private and community events, creating a lively and festive atmosphere. Old folks tell stories of ‘kitchen dances’ held at people’s homes, garden parties, boat-launchings, weddings and weekend dances in Town Halls. Some have memories of ‘culture nights’ in George Town where the wider community got together to celebrate diversity through music, poetry and costume.

Folk music was the traditional music of Cayman dating back to the eighteenth and
nineteenth century. It was and still is played by kitchen bands comprised of a
fiddle and drum, sometimes a harmonica and guitar, along with items from the
home including a spoon and bottle, washboard and grater. The local music scene
has since grown tremendously; and we can now hear the influence of other
cultures with genres such as country, jazz, reggae and even hip hop.

Food has always been a means of bringing people together, and the tradition was to spend long hours chatting in the kitchen as a fresh, healthy meal was prepared. The components were never a concern as Caymanians of the past were satisfied with what was on hand. Seafood, such as turtle (our national dish), conch and fresh fish, has always been a favourite, with fruits and ground provisions (yam, cassava, bottlers, breadfruit and pumpkins) being a staple part of every meal.

Among other culinary delights, Caymanians are known for ‘heavy cake’ (desserts made from ‘bread kind’ which are our starchy vegetables such as cassava and yams), and ‘rundown’ or stew. These favourites are still prepared in many local households and can be enjoyed by all during cultural festivals throughout the year.

Back in the day, women looked after the home while men fished and maintained the grounds when they were not earning a living as seafarers. Past generations were less influenced by material possessions. Instead they valued their role within the community and the strength of their family unit.

Good morals and principles were instilled in children at a very early age.  Many of these values have been passed down through storytelling, ensuring that future generations understand and appreciate what our forefathers endured to get us where we are today.


Pushups are a great exercise for working your chest, shoulders, arms, and core -- but if you do them wrong, you're going to get hurt. Fortunately, paying attention to a few key points on form -- and listening to your own body, of course -- are all you need to keep yourself safe while doing any type of pushups, from easy knee pushups to one-armed pushups with a weight vest for extra resistance.

Body Position

Your body should always form a straight line from your shoulders to your heels for full pushups, or from your shoulders to your knees if you're doing knee pushups. Maintain that board-like posture throughout the entire pushup, as you lower your chest toward the floor and as you push back up to the starting position.

Hand Position

In most cases your hands will be directly below, and spaced slightly wider than, your shoulders. There are two exceptions to this rule: One is when you do bench pushups, in which case your hands will be elevated on a bench or counter but your shoulders will still come down directly over them as you do the pushups. The second is when you do narrow- or wide-grip pushups, in which you deliberately position your hands closer or farther apart.

Always inhale as you lower your body toward the floor, and exhale as you press back up to the starting position. If you hold your breath or strain and bear down as you press up -- which is known as the Valsalva maneuver -- you can cause a spike in your blood pressure.

Unless you're specifically training to build speed or power, there's no reason to do rapid-fire pushups. Instead, aim for a cadence of two to four seconds as you lower yourself toward the floor, then about two seconds as you press back up. These pushups might not look as impressive as the rapid-fire variety, but they're actually more challenging.

Tracking Progress

If you're exercising for general fitness, you should be able to do a minimum of eight repetitions with good form. If you can't maintain good form for at least eight repetitions, you need to do an easier type of pushups -- for example, if you're doing full pushups, drop to your knees and do knee pushups instead, or do pushups with your hands on a bench or other elevated surface. If you can do more than 12 to 15 repetitions with good form, it's time to move up to a more difficult pushup variation.

Photo Credits

  • Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images


eco-cities and mega-regions

Note: It's been a little tough around here, so again my apologies for not giving timely responses to your comments. We were terribly affected by the loss of Jack. Top that off with losing my eldest brother the month before, and Ana X a few months earlier. So it's been quite a year.

I had started several posts -all of them are stuck in some half complete form that I will hopefully get around to posting. (Q: How many half-completed posts are in your "draft posts" queue? I've got 38.)

There were several interesting articles last week that I wanted share and comment on but with the work grind still at maximum, I'll have to stick to short comments.

Pictured above is Arup's EcoBlock, a carbon-neutral take on China's SuperBlock model of urban development. SuperBlocks are key units in the 400x400 sq.m. development scales used in PROC's urban planning models - usually gated, always hi-rise.
"We knew that Chinese gated superblocks comprise the largest part of China’s overall development efforts, which are among the most ambitious construction in the history of the world. The Chinese are building 10 to 15 gated superblocks every day, equal to 10 million to 12 million housing units per year (10 times the US average). " (Unforbidden Cities)
So says Harrison Frakker Jr. (Dean of UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design). Berkeley CED's Urban Sustainability Initiative worked with Arup (the top engineering firm the world) to develop the alternative model for China's cities. Enter the EcoBlock:

Designed to be replicable to the masses, a concept that in reality puts minimal pressure on off-site infrastructure and the natural environment...Largely self sufficient in terms of energy and water use, EcoBlocks are carbon-neutral developments. Their layouts encourage walking, cycling and use of public transport.
All wastewater is recycled on-site; energy generation is on-site and any energy generated on-site from waste, sun, and wind is used to treat rainwater and gray water and provide residents with high quality potable drinking water. Even food waste and landscaping waste will be converted into energy to power residents' homes.

Constructed wetlands and swales collect and treat water for reuse, serving the dual purpose of enhancing the aesthetic value of each neighborhood and creating green waste that can be transformed into energy within an on-site anaerobic digester. And EcoBlocks are designed to use 40 percent less energy than a standard development of its size.
And the potential impact of the EcoBlock model?
...if 18,333 600-unit EcoBlocks were built, it would keep 34 landfills, 42 power plants, 54 water treatment plants, and 51 wastewater treatment plants from being built, at a total cost savings of $38,737,185,000 ... (Arup) estimates that the Chinese government alone would save 1.3 percent of its GDP from not having to build additional infrastructure to meet demands for energy, clean water, sanitation and waste disposal - and that's not counting the savings from costs currently associated with treating environmental pollution associated health problems, which currently claims about 10 percent of the country's GDP.
Could we use a similar model in redeveloping Metro Manila? (To give you an idea of the scale of a 400x400 meter project (16 hectares), here's how it measures against Glorietta:

Meanwhile, Richard Florida, proponent of the Creative Class and their role in making cities competitive, published a list of the top 40 mega-regions in the world. (All of them, urban corridors). Florida and his team compiled the top mega-regions (via CEOsforCities):

They use a new measure they call Light-based Regional Product to rank the world's top 40 mega-regions. They also include rankings by population, patents and frequently-cited scientists.

Greater Tokyo is the world's top mega-region. Boston-Washington and Chicago-Pittsburgh rank second and third.

Greater Toyko has 55.1 million people, LRP of $2.5 trillion, 91,280 patents, 11 highly-cited scientific authors. (All numbers are 2000-2001.)

Boston-Washington has 54.3 million people, LRP of $2.2 trillion, 21307 patents, and 293 authors.

Chicago-Pittsburgh has 46 million people, LRP of $1.6 trillion, 17,686 patents and 67 authors.
Rounding out the top 10 are:

Southern California (LA-San Diego-Tijuana)
In an article addressed to Torontonians (via Google's cache), he writes:

According to our definition, mega-regions are made up of two or more contiguous cities and their surrounding suburbs, and generate more than $100-billion in annual economic output.

...mega-regions are the real economic engines of the global economy. The 10 largest account for 43 per cent of the planet's economic activity and more than half of its patented innovations and star scientists who generate pioneering breakthroughs, while housing only 6.5 per cent of its population. The top 40 produce 66 per cent of the world's economic activity and more than eight in 10 of its patented innovations and most-cited scientists, while being home to just 18 per cent of the world's population.

All of this convinces me that place, not statehood, is the central axis of our time and of our global economy.
Read the pre-publication release of the paper here. (pdf)

Is Metro Manila on the list? Nope. Despite the supersized populations, megacities don't automatically fall into the mega-regions, although Mexico City, the Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paolo corridor, and Delhi-Lahore make it to the list. (So do Singapore and Bangkok.)

Here's their map of the mega-regions in Asia:

Which then makes me think that key to our competitiveness would be to strengthen Metro Manila's connections (transportation and trade) with Hong Kong-Shenzen, Singapore and Taipei.

Fully Charged Jack from junisimbulan on Vimeo.

The video above was Jack after his last tranfusion in L.A.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his parents and family.

Love always,
Papa and Mama

the logic of political survival

If you're looking for a next book to read, pick up Bruce Bueno de Mesquita's (et. al.) "The Logic of Political Survival" (MIT Press).

(This might be of particular interest to you, Koikaze)

Bueno de Mesquita's thoughts on the "selectorate" and the "winning coalition" could pretty well explain the Arroyo-Estrada love dance and even explain the conduct of our national politics. (It also echoes MLQ's own thoughts in the early paragraphs of this post) .

Bueno de Mesquita and his colleagues apply game theory to political analysis and actually use mathematical models to predict political outcomes.

His track record has been impressive:

That list is from a great article in GOOD Magazine on Bueno de Mesquita.

You can also download two podcasts from EconTalk featuring the man and his thoughts:
More on Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and his previous work here.

I'm still reading through their work -which is admittedly a very cynical view of politics, but on first blush, the theories do appeal to me as a designer.

Image credit:
Cover art feat. B. Bueno de Mesquita
by Ethan Hill for GOOD Magazine

reprint: on the boundary system

The Boundary System as a city shaper.

So, a driver will:

Image credit:Manfred's Travel Pictures

Note: Anyone still here? The operative word, as far as work is concerned, is "tuliro" -- and I've been running around like a headless chicken working to close several projects.

I wrote this sitting in a DC airport, waiting for a flight that was delayed for three hours. rather than working on my projects, I squeaked in some-not-so-quality blog time.

I wound up in wifi hell on the shores of Lake Huron in Ontario, so I missed both the news and the blog posts.

I hope you're all ok.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the bombing in G2: A good friend of mine was a mere hundred feet away from the explosion. I'm glad he's ok. Another friend is on the front lines for ALI helping the victims and their families. Strength and endurance for her.

Further on rethinking public transport, here's a quick work-up on why our roads are so congested.

An average bus, carrying full capacity, can seat about 70 passengers. An average car, about 4. (Five, if you want to squeeze people in.)

Let's do a side by side comparison. Assume the bus is not full to capacity and carries only 60 people. (Of course, rush hour buses in Metro Manila probably carry close to 100). Then, assume 4 passengers per car. What effect does that have on our roads?

Here are the numbers:

You'll need 15 cars to transport as many people as one bus. You'll need 30 full cars to be on par withtwo buses (120 passengers).

How much road space do these vehicles take up? The two buses will take up 38 meters (124.6 feet) of road space. Bumper to bumper, the 30 cars will take up 152 meters (498.6 feet). Even if you double up on two lanes, the cars will still stretch to 76 meters -twice the road space of the two buses.

What does this mean as far as road capacity? Take two lanes on EDSA's 23 kilometers, fill it up with buses -and you can theoretically move 145,440 people. Fill those same two lanes with cars instead and you will only carry 36,360 people. Barely a fourth of the bus capacity.

You will need at least 8 lanes of road, with bumper to bumper cars, to even come close to what the buses can carry!

If two lanes of cars can only carry a fourth of one lane of buses, the cars will have to move at 4 times the speed of the buses to transport as many people. And that's under perfect (read: unreal) conditions -where the cars drive almost bumper to bumper and traffic flows smoothly.

Which is why the logic of counting the number of vehicles that move on a road (traffic flow), instead of counting the number of people you can transport (people flow) to measure performance only leads to more congestion.

To increase carrying capacity, you will try to try to speed up traffic. You will be forced to widen the road (and eat up sidewalks) to add more lanes and increase throughput. You will think of building flyovers and underpasses and overhead highways to keep traffic flowing.

Then there's the emissions equation. Eight lanes of EDSA will carry 36,360 cars. Two lanes of EDSA will carry 2,424 buses. Even if you assume that each bus generates 10 times more GHGs than each car, two lanes of buses will still generate 30% less GHGs than 8 lanes of cars. (And it's way easier to equip buses with CNG engines, which can theoretically produce just 7% of the emissions that the 8 lanes of cars will produce.)

The logic is clear. You want to move people more efficiently? Move more buses.*

You want to clean up the air and take care of our environment? (Not to mention, contribute to GHG reduction)? Reduce car use, increase bus use.

What about bad driving?

This all looks good on paper, you say. But with the way metro manila's bus drivers drive, we can throw all those efficiency gains out the window.

If you've kept up with this blog long enough, you'll know that I'm convinced we won't solve bad (PUV) driver behavior with increased traffic enforcement, we have to change the economic model of our public transportation system.

p.s. -taking the train to Ottawa later today - will use the time (and the onboard wifi) to answer all the great comments I've been neglecting.

* Don't we have the OBR, you ask. Isn't that a bus priority lane? I though it would be a precursor to a BRT system, but it sadly, the OBR seems to be more about driver discipline rather than transit efficiency. It's a traffic management solution, not a public transportation solution.

(So what if you used FXs instead of cars? You can assume 10 passengers, including the driver, and assume the chassis length. Two lanes of FXs will only carry 60% vs. two lanes of buses. And, of course, you'll still be generating more GHGs with the FXs than the buses.)

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e-Duke Books

Moving beyond the black-white binary that has long framed racial discourse in the United States, the contributors to this collection examine how the experiences of Latinos and Asians intersect in the formation of the U.S. nation-state. They analyze the political and social processes that have racialized Latinos and Asians while highlighting the productive ways that these communities challenge and transform the identities imposed on them. Each essay addresses the sociopolitical predicaments of both Latinos and Asians, bringing their experiences to light in relation to one another.

Several contributors illuminate ways that Latinos and Asians were historically racialized: by U.S. occupiers of Puerto Rico and the Philippines at the end of the nineteenth century, by public health discourses and practices in early-twentieth-century Los Angeles, by anthropologists collecting physical data—height, weight, head measurements—from Chinese Americans to show how the American environment affected “foreign” body types in the 1930s, and by Los Angeles public officials seeking to explain the alleged criminal propensities of Mexican American youth during the 1940s. Other contributors focus on the coalitions and tensions between Latinos and Asians in the context of the fight to integrate public schools and debates over political redistricting. One addresses masculinity, race, and U.S. imperialism in the literary works of Junot Díaz and Chang-rae Lee. Another looks at the passions, identifications, and charges of betrayal aroused by the sensationalized cases of Elián González, the young Cuban boy rescued off the shore of Florida, and Wen Ho Lee, the Los Alamos physicist accused of spying on the United States. Throughout this volume contributors interrogate many of the assumptions that underlie American and ethnic studies even as they signal the need for a research agenda that expands the purview of both fields.

Contributors. Nicholas De Genova, Victor Jew, Andrea Levine, Natalia Molina, Gary Y. Okihiro, Crystal Parikh, Greg Robinson, Toni Robinson, Leland T. Saito

Subject Matters: new book alerts from Duke University Press


The success of your participation in this event will be dependent on how well the team performs and how motivated they are.

Good teamwork is essential and will not happen by chance; team building will be necessary. The importance of the support team must also be recognized, they will need to transport you to and from the course, provide you with sustenance together with other supplies and meet any other unexpected needs.

The following are some suggestions for building an effective team.

Set Clear Goals

The goal of the team must be established and clear to all members. The goal could be as simple as completing the event, or it could be to do so within a time frame or to raise a set amount for charity.

Communicate Your Thoughts

Good communication is essential if all team members are to pull together. Discuss and agree on the goals and objectives, together with the methods of achieving them.

Assign Roles and Tasks

Distribute the work amongst the team members so that they all participate and contribute. Determine what tasks need to be completed to achieve your goals. Make sure the person responsible for each task is clearly defined and that they understand what is required.

Practice Your Roles …

to get accustomed to them and iron out any awkwardness. Be flexible and willing to adapt the roles to meet unexpected circumstances.

Celebrate Your Achievements …

whenever you complete an objective to maintain the motivation of the team. Thank team members when they finish a task.


Seed7 - The extensible programming language
Seed7 FAQ Manual Screenshots Examples Libraries Algorithms Download Links
Mahjong Source Code
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This is a Mahjong solitaire game.

The 144 Mahjong tiles are arranged in the turtle formation with their faces upwards. In every turn the player selects two equivalent tiles and removes them. Tiles can be selected when they can be moved left or right without disturbing other tiles. Two tiles are equivalent when their faces have identical pictures or when they are both flower or season tiles. The goal is to remove all tiles. In the upper right corner the number of tiles left and the number of possible moves are displayed. This mahjong program generates only solvable games. Depending on you strategy you still may end in a situation with no possible moves. The following commands are accepted:

  • Help suggests a move. When one tile is already selected, it shows possible moves with matching tiles. When nothing is selected, it shows two tiles of a possible move. Repeated Help commands show all possible moves.
  • Undo a move. There is no limit how many moves can be undone.
  • Redo a move which was undone. There is no limit how many moves can be redone.
  • Demo shows a possible solution.
  • New generates a new game.
  • Quit the game.

The commands are also in the top menu and can be selected with the mouse.

Welcome screen

Start of new game

Middle of game

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Technician, Field

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POST DATE 8/19/2016
END DATE 10/16/2016

DiversityWorking MO

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Full Time
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* 2 years experience in Field Operations and maintenance
* 3+ wireless telecommunications or other related experience
* Understands basic RF Engineering, Radio Frequency theory, and Electricity and Electronics theory
* Operational knowledge of IP based interconnect/backhaul circuits
* Solid understanding of theory and application related to RAN.
* Self-motivated; exhibits initiative in achieving company goals and objectives
* Basic leadership skills and ability to prioritize and complete multiple tasks
* Able to work independently or in a team environment
* Strong attention to detail
* Flexibility with ever-changing environments and priorities
* Solve problems using creativity and innovation
* Accepts and provides constructive feedback
* Solid skills in Microsoft office products with advanced skills in Excel specifically.
* Solid communication skills; verbal, written and presentation.
* Supports key projects, providing day-to-day updates to Senior Technicians and Manager as directed.
* Collaborates with team members, actively participating in discussions toward achieving results.
* Supports team by contributing 100% as an individual, while prioritizing team success.
* Heavily scrutinizes actions to ensure the customer experience is protected to the greatest extent feasible.
* Quickly adapts to change, seeking to understand the whole picture to best adapt.
* Openly share ideas to help gain efficiency, solve problems, or add value to the business.
* Demonstrates continuous desire to learn and develop personally and professionally.
* Solid understanding of theory and advanced understanding of application related to transport.EducationMinimum Required
* Vocational/Technical Training. Two-year vocational degree in a technical discipline or related technical military trainingLicense or CertificationMust have and maintain a clean driving record & license Applicant is to meet the minimum DOT medical standards under 49 CFR Part 391Essential FunctionsTechnical support:
Takes on smaller projects or portions of key projects / initiatives, providing accurate status and progress updates as requested.Operations:
- Applicant is to meet the minimum DOT medical standards under 49 CFR Part 391
- This position requires the incumbent to be able to lift, carry, push or pull objects (weighing no more than 75 pounds.)
- This position requires bending, turning, twisting of your neck or at the waist.
- This position requires squatting, crawling, kneeling.
- This position requires balancing and maintaining equilibrium.
- This position requires being able to feel, grasp, reach with hands and arms (outwards and/or upwards).
- Must be able to communicate with others effectively through written communication methods.
- Position requires regular and consistent attendance.
- Position requires being able to withstand working in a noisy environment.
- Position requires the ability to drive cars, trucks, or other equipment.
- Position may have exposure to extremes in temperature, humidity or wetness.
- Work day, afternoon and graveyard shifts, weekend shifts, on-call, and Holidays.
- Climbs stairs or stepladders to reach equipment and cable trays.


5 Reasons to Support Farmers Markets

One of the best ways to care for the environment is to connect with ourselves. One of the things every one of us does every day, is eat. When we connect to our food, we connect to nature and in turn, connect with ourselves . Going green means connecting to the food we eat and the water we drink. One of my favourite ways to explore this connection is by going to local farmers markets.

       An artichoke...it smelled like honey

       An artichoke...it smelled like honey

1. Variety

I've never seen the amazing array of produce at grocery stores, that I see at farmers markets. At markets you can experience the diversity of our planet, both cultivated and wild. It's simply amazing what can be discovered, from sea asparagus, elephant-ear mushroom, padron peppers, variety of sprouts, artichokes in full bloom and so much more. It's wild to experience our planet first hand and all that it has to offer. The fruits and vegetables that are available at these markets are the freshest available.

2. Eat Your Seasons

The food at farmers markets is seasonal. Seasonal produce can grow without humans meddling as much i.e adding pesticides, waxes, chemicals, preservatives and genetic modification. These are toxic to the water and soil as well as our health. Shopping in season also helps you connect with the weather and natural cycles of nature in your region. Building our eating habits around these natural cycles facilitates our body's natural healing processes.

3. Support Independent Growers

When you buy directly from farmers they get a better return for their produce and this helps them in todays tough economy. Small farmers have a hard time competing in the food marketplace, with the rise of agribusiness farms which are taking over. Support family farmers so they can continue operating. These are the guys that aren't destroying or ecosystem to make a quick dollar.

4. Protect the Environment

Shipping food uses large portions of our natural resources (especially fossil fuels), contributes to pollution and not to mention, creates excess trash due to all the extra packaging. Farmers markets are free of elastics, stickers, plastic wrap and twist ties, or at least you have the option to give them to the farmer directly to be reused. The food at the farmers markets is transported shorter distances and grown using procedures that minimize our negative impact on the Earth. Sustainable agriculture uses less toxic resources compared to conventional agriculture which pollutes our air, water and land.

5. Know Where your Food Comes From

One of the best ways to connect with your food and where it comes from is your local farmers market. (unless you grow your food yourself)  I've had so many opportunities to meet and talk with different farmers and have even had the opportunity to go to some of their farms. When you know how your food is grown, where it is grown, when it is grown, and why, you can make informed decisions about what you put in your body. This also brings us one step closer to understanding sustainability. Nature is our greatest teacher and healer.


Sort By

Ferngully 2: The Magical Rescue(1998)
Femme Fatale(1990)
Femalien 2(1998)
Female Trouble(1974)
Female Animal(1970)
Felix the Cat: The Movie(1991)
Felidae (1994)
Francis the cat has just moved into the neighborhood with his owner, only to be greeted by a series of baffling and gruesome murders. Sifting through the clues left by the murderer, the crazed Claudandus sect, and his own horrific nightmares; Francis must solve the puzzle behind the killer - befo...
The FBI is a very elite organization. They're looking for the best people to help the country. Two women have joined FBI training. Each one of them has something the other person lacks. Ellie DeWitt (Rebecca DeMornay) is a former Marine who is physically tough but somewhat lacking in book smarts....
Feast Of Love(2007)
Quote O' Matic


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What is an Annual summary?

An Annual summary is a document highlighting any charges, interest or refunds that have been applied to your current account(s) during a 12 month period. You will receive an Annual summary for each current account that you hold with the bank which is produced on the anniversary of the account being opened.

You can view your Annual summary online:

  2. Select `Statements` from the main menu
  5. Select the Annual summary and then `View Statement`

Please note:

  • We cannot change the date that an Annual summary is produced
  • An Annual summary is not produced for savings accounts


Sequences: Two Principles

By January 24, 2010The Sequence

2. They must absolutely have a clearly defined tension in order to have shape. By shape I mean that the audience starts to take a vested interest in one or another turn of events in the near future (and therefore is involved, participating) and they have an idea of how things are going – hope versus fear. Once that overall shape is established, the sequence itself can contain all manner of desperate elements as long as this tension is periodically kept alive.


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Έλληνες, στο έλεος...

Harvester's log 16/3/17

Legal Notice 66

Legal Notice 62

My story

Η Εστία μου

Why so untidy?

Εξόντωση Ελλήνων αντιφρονούντων;

Ζήτημα εμπιστοσύνης

Ανοικτή Επιστολή πρέσβη ΗΠΑ

Αφορμή, U2RIT vs Ελλάδα;

A request to U2RIT

Colonial aggression - 2

Open Letter to UN S.G.

Open Letter to p.C. & p. O.

Δήλωση πρόθεσης επαναπατρισμού

Ο "εφιάλτης" της Νυρεμβέργης

Συλλογή Φωτογραφιών

Αίτημα προστασίας, προς Ιταλία

Chroma key, background removal

Science and Ethics

Να συμβάλει και η U2RIT

Θα ξαναφτιάξουν πολλές φορές Άουσβιτς και Zyclon B

Split-Screen effect

Η Ζωή είναι Ωραία.

Βόρεια Κορέα

Λευτεριά στους Έλληνες, εξανα- γκαστικά "Εξαφανισμένους"

Μυστικές δίκες;

Πολιτισμό, ή, απληστία;

Ακραία Στυγνότητα

Η Τέχνη της Επιβίωσης

Political Asylum 3

Επιστροφή στις ρίζες

The Human Cost of Torture

An urgent appeal for solidarity

More obvious than the Sun

Western "culture"

Political Asylum

Έννομη Προστασία

Μια μήνυση που εγείρει ερωτηματικά

Honor your father...

Creative Greeks

A pair of Dictatorships

The conversation of death PDF Εκτύπωση E-mail
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Συνεννόηση για Δράση - Απόψεις
Συντάχθηκε απο τον/την Χρήστος Μπούμπουλης (Christos Boumpoulis)
Κυριακή, 11 Ιούνιος 2017 04:33

The conversation of death

Wolf Hunting Tactics

Wolves are primarily nocturnal animals that avoid the heat of day. They generally commence hunting at dusk.

Wolves detect prey by three primary means, sent (most common), tracking, and chance encounters.

After prey is detected, wolves may split up to search through brush, travel on ridge tops searching for the prey below, or test herds looking for signs of weakness.

It has long been recognized that wolves often take advantage of wear members of the herd. In 1804, Captain Clark of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition wrote that prairie wolves followed buffalo and fed "on those that are killed by accident or those that are too pore or fat to keep up with the ganges."

Later researchers reinforced the image of the wolf as a predator of the very young, the very old, the weak, of the diseased. Aldolph Murie, in the Wolves of Mount McKinley,wrote: "Many bands seem to be chased, given a trial, and if no advantage is gained or weak animals discovered, the wolves travel on to chase other bands until an advantage can be seized."

Lois Crisler notes in Arctic wild, "In all our time in the arctic, the only healthy caribou we saw or found killed were fawns with big herds." She observed that adult caribou killed had "hoof disease, or lung tapeworm, or nostril-cloging ... botflies." In a 1980 study in northeast Alberta, T. Fuller and L.B. Kieth found that "wolves killed disproportionately more young, old and probably debilitated moose (Ales alces), as well as more female calves."

In fact, the only animal that habitually preys upon prime mature animals is man.

Although it does not prey only on the weak and the ill, the wolf is opportunistic, and it is inevitably the disadvantaged that are the easiest to catch.

The Selection

Weakened animals may show their condition to predators through body stance, uncoordinated movements, the smell of wounds or infection, or some other tangible signal. The reading and evaluation of these signals comprises what Barry Lopez has poetically termed "the conversation of death."

Once a weak individual is selected by a pack, wolves will usually travel upwind. By traveling upwind, the sent of any prey will be carried to them. They will follow the air currents directly to the game. Or, they may follow the sent trail left by a game animal's foot tracks and body odors.

The Chase

Just before the chase wolves prefer to make there final approach downwind so there body sent is not carried to the prey species, alerting it to their presence

Prey that runs is usually chased. Prey that stands its ground may be able to bluff off its pursuers. Moose and Elk often take to deep water or swift rivers and await departure of the pursuing wolves, But more often than not the wolves wait. While the majority of the pack rests, one or two members test the prey for signs of fatigue.

Usually the chases are short, but L. David Mech has stated that "One wolf I know of chased a deer for 13 miles."

David Gray described one such encounter in Canada's high Arctic in the musk-oxen of Polar Bear Pass:"the wolves approached to within a hundred meters of the herd ... one wolf lay down as two others circled the milling herd."

Contrary to popular belief, most prey chased by wolves actually gets away. In one study, only three percent of the moose that were tested ended up being killed. The percentage of prey that is killed is called the "predation efficiency," and in spite the wolf's prowess as a hunter, the majority of his prey escapes.

The Attack

When the attack comes, the prey is usually seized by either the nose or the rump. Rarely, if ever, does a wolf hamstring a prey animal. This is one of the oldest and most pervasive false beliefs held about wolves. As late as 1980, the Aubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals stated that the wolf kills "by slashing tendons in the hind legs.", this is pure myth. The actual death of the prey is usually caused by massive blood loss, shock, or both. Sometimes with smaller prey a neck bite will snap a backbone.

The Alpha wolf will eat first, Wolves usually begin to feed on the rump, if it was exposed during the chase, or else on the internal organs. The muscle and flesh is the last portion of the prey that is eaten, in contras with human habits. Having strong jaws allows the wolf to crush bones to get to the soft marrow, it also helps the wolf eat most of its prey leaving very little waste at the killing site.

Another myth is that packs are required to bring down large prey; several observers have seen single wolves catch and kill elk and moose. The first wolf to return to Sweden after the extermination of its wolf population regularly brought down large moose by itself.

There is evidence that wolves have some knowledge of proper prey management. L. David Mech found one pack in Minnesota that varied its killing by hunting in a different part of its territory each year, allowing prey numbers elsewhere to recover, aiding the long-term survival of the pack.

Wolves hunt out the weak, the sick, the old, and the injured. They help the population of prey animals like the elk, deer, moose, and caribou, by taking away the weak and letting the strong survive. This is important part in the ecological system. By enhancing the strength into the herds. Without animals like the wolf to eliminate the weak, old , sick and injured, the herd of deer would swelter. They would become so numerous that they would starve to death. The wolf helps keep them healthy by insuring the breeding of the strong.

Wolf Pack-Documentary

Wolf hunting strategy follows simple rules

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of wolves (Canis lupus) has found that communication between pack members and a social hierarchy are not essential features of a successful hunt, and all the wolves have to do is follow two simple rules.

The researchers, led by Cristina Muro of the Assistance Dogs Association AEPA-Euskadi, in Bilbao, Spain and colleagues in Spain and the US, used computational simulations to study the strategies of wolf packs in hunting and capturing prey.

The results of the study were that two simple rules were sufficient to reproduce the actual wolf-pack behaviour of tracking, pursuing and encircling prey seen in the wild. The rules were, firstly, move towards the prey until at a close but safe distance (the distance depending on factors such as the length of horns), and then secondly, when at the minimum safe distance, to move away from the other wolves which are also in position.

The only information each of the five wolves in the computer-simulated pack needed was the position of the other wolves in the pack, and it did not necessarily need to communicate with the other members. The computer models also found that no hierarchy was required within the pack for the hunting to be successful.

The results suggest that theories requiring the wolves to display a strict hierarchy along with superior intelligence and ability to plan the chase may be off the mark, since simply following the two rules resulted in the virtual wolves in the computer simulation behaving remarkably like wild wolf packs. The virtual wolves closed in and encircled the prey in the same way as real wolves, and if the prey tried to escape one wolf would sometimes seem to ambush the prey after it drew back to maintain distance from the other members of the pack, which placed it in the path of the prey animal.

The results of the study do not prove, however, that wolves are not intelligent and do not show foresight or planning.

Research at Yellowstone Park reported on last month at Physorg also demonstrated that wolves are risk-averse and keep at a safe distance if they can, leaving other members of the pack to do the dangerous work of getting in closer to prey, which can kick or gore them to death. This research also showed that smaller wolf packs can hunt more effectively than larger packs.

The results of the two studies raise questions about why wolves tend to live in packs, since the previously held assumptions of a large pack being more effective at hunting, and social behaviour and communication being essential, appear to be wrong.

The Kamera (The Chamber)

The laboratory where the Soviet secret police invented exotic poisons used to kill dissidents in hideous and (mostly) untraceable ways.

It’s no secret that the KGB used assassination, often by poison, to silence political dissidents that spoke out against the Soviet regime (known within the agency as “liquid affairs”). What remains shrouded in secrecy to this day, however, is the mysterious laboratory where the Soviets invented new methods of poisoning enemies of the state without leaving a trace.

The Soviet Union’s secret poison factory was established in 1921, not long after an attempted assassination of Vladimir Lenin via poison-coated bullets. Originally dubbed the “Special Room,” it was later called Laboratory No. 1, Lab X, and Laboratory No. 12 before becoming known simply as the Kamera or “the Chamber” under Joseph Stalin.

When it comes to murdering your enemies for political power, poison has been a popular weapon of choice since ancient times. But the goal of the Chamber was to devise a poison that was tasteless, odorless, and could not be detected in an autopsy, so as to protect the anonymity of the assassin. This led to such innovations as a cyanide that could be deployed as a mist, a poison that made the cause of death appear to be a heart attack, and a gas pistol that could shoot liquid up to 65 feet away. One politician was killed by a poison sprayed onto his reading lamp, which the heat from the bulb caused to disperse through the room with no trace.

As for the lab itself, very little is known to this day, including the exact location. KGB agents were not allowed to enter the lab or ever told of its whereabouts; only Chamber staff and high-level officials were allowed in. Some disturbing details were revealed in 1954 by a KGB defector, who admitted that poisons were tested on political prisoners and described the lab as being near the secret police headquarters in Lubyanka.

The Soviet government, for its part, had just the previous year claimed that the lab was abolished. But many believe it may still be functioning in some form today, and the lethal innovations developed there still in use. Though it’s been some 30 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, even within the last decade enemies of the Kremlin have been found dead in mysterious circumstances, including some, apparently, by poison.

The Judeo-Russian Mafia and the Bloodbath to Come

In the 1970s, more than forty thousand Russian Jews settled in Brighton Beach. It was under the shadow of the elevated subway tracks on Brighton Beach Avenue, bustling with Russian meat markets, vegetable pushcarts, and bakeries, that the Russian gangsters resumed their careers as professional killers, thieves, and scoundrels….

— Laura Radanko, “The Superpower of Crime.

A political tactic of joining an organization with which you do not agree with the intention of changing it from the inside.

In his 1959 book Masters of Deceit, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described entryist tactics by Soviet agents to infiltrate school boards, trade unions, and major party precinct organizations.

What is the difference, if any, between, the U2RIT (U.K., U.S.A., Russia, Israel, Turkey) and an ordinary wolfpack?

Which Nations, if such Nations exist, are willing to maintain bilateral relationships with the U2RIT?

Christos Boumpoulis

P.S.: For some people, unfortunately, violence, seems like being a pastime; and for the rest, violence, is an element of barbarity for which, it is preferred that, it would remain, exclusively, withing the kingdom of the wild animals.

Note: the photo was found here, https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/csz/news/800/2011/wolves.jpg.


Wheaton-warrenville Schools Name Trustee

August 12, 1986

The board of Wheaton-Warrenville Unit District 200 has appointed Marie C. Slater to fill a vacancy on the panel. Slater, 48, who lives on Hevern Road, Wheaton, will replace Sandra Dohrenwend, who is moving from the district. The term expires in the fall of 1987.


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Blink - Managing Vendor Selection in Enterprise IT

Blinking Businessman

Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is full of examples of how we make decisions—right or wrong—without really knowing what we are doing. “It just feels right,” experts will say. Given the need to justify decisions, and given that specialized skills are not always available, vendor selection almost always becomes an endless exercise in analysis-paralysis, that endless cycle of questioning and rethinking that is just the opposite of a blink.

In another much older book, Language, Truth, and Logic, British philosopher Alfred Jules Ayer makes a similar point about arguments used to justify ethical and philosophical viewpoints. Ayer points out that people often come up with reasons to justify their positions after they have already made up their minds. In other words, the process of analyzing alternatives, if we are honest, bears more resemblance to creating a rationale for the choice we favor rather than a dispassionate exploration of options.

When Problems Arise

Later on, when problems arise that could have been foreseen, emotions run high and finger pointing starts. If the expert made a decision based on “what felt right,” some important implementation constraint may have been overlooked. On the other hand, if a vendor selection was made using a lengthy analysis process to determine what’s right for the organization, it's likely that it took so long that the rationale for the decision was obsolete by the time the decision was made. In both cases, it’s up to the technical executive to decide whether the analysis or the experts’ “blink” was really right.

The Remedy

Taking a step back in this process to establish more clarity about requirements is not easy to do. We recommend a technique called The Question Game (See Using the Question Game for Business/IT Alignment), but there are many ways to gain a deeper understanding. A book we published called Lost in Translation recommends describing requirements in plain business terms before giving any thought to technology.

In most cases, however, company executives still make default choices, usually based on industry standards, selecting "safe vendors" like Microsoft or IBM or following industry “best practices.” To appear to have more balance, they may try to weigh other choices through a lengthy analysis of other vendors in the space, tweaking their requirements into decision matrices with complex weighting algorithms. Not surprisingly, these matrices usually wind up validating the executive's original default choice.

Bolder Decisions

In many cases, asking a real expert for his or her “blink” can yield a result much faster. But consulting such an expert takes a new breed of IT management who are willing to take additional risk in making bold decisions. After all, the decision may be wrong. Nobody ever got fired for selecting Microsoft, IBM, or the industry best practice solutions. On the other hand, nobody ever really created a large competitive advantage for the business by selecting those solutions. You have to be willing to take some risks if you want to implement a better solution that defies the status quo and creates unique business advantage.

I’m told by people who would know that Jeff Bezos thinks of Amazon as a software company, not a retailer or an e-commerce company.


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Open Access research with a real impact on health...

Explore open research content by Physical Activity for Health...

Sphingosine prevents diacylglycerol signaling to mitogen-activated protein kinase in airway smooth muscle

Tolan, D and Conway, A M and Pyne, N J and Pyne, S (1997) Sphingosine prevents diacylglycerol signaling to mitogen-activated protein kinase in airway smooth muscle. American Journal of Physiology, 273 (3). C928-936. ISSN 0002-9513

Because many agonists utilize diacylglycerol (DAG) to initiate nuclear transcriptional activity via protein kinase C (PKC), we have investigated whether sphingosine might counter DAG. Sphingosine inhibited PKC activity in an isolated airway smooth muscle cell lysate and prevented the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) by platelet-derived growth factor, bradykinin, and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate in intact cells. MAPK activation in response to all the agonists involves PKC. The stimulation of [3H]palmitate-labeled cells with sphingosine, in the presence of butan-1-ol (0.3%, vol/vol), induced an increase in [3H]phosphatidate (PtdOH) but was without effect on [3H]DAG. [3H]PtdOH synthesis was inhibited, whereas [3H]DAG levels were increased in the presence of the DAG kinase inhibitor R-59949, indicating that sphingosine stimulates phospholipase C/DAG kinase. Recycling of DAG from PtdOH was prevented by a sphingosine-dependent inhibition of PtdOH phosphohydrolase-2 activity. In conclusion, the sphingosine-induced conversion of DAG to PtdOH may serve to optimize the effect of sphingosine on MAPK. This may account for the antiproliferative action of sphingosine.