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Hotel ZaZa Museum District
A thoughtfully curated experience exuding an edgy elegance for a high-end, high-culture getaway.
Hotel ZaZa's Museum District location is where elegance meets attitude. With just enough of an edge, this boutique gem is a perfect fit for the neighborhood, fully stocked with artful portraits of celebrities and also a lobby water feature fully stocked with real, live koi.
The atmosphere ranges from luxurious to curious; a quiet undercurrent of mystery keeping things interesting from the lobby to the lounge, and those are just the public spaces. Accommodations are carefully curated works of art in and of themselves, with 10 unique concept suites, over-the-top "Magnificent Seven" suites and eight separate options for the simpler guest rooms. If you can't find something you like here, it's probably your own fault.
Worthy of a scene in a Wes Anderson film, the pool is outfitted with perfect symmetry in shades of blues, whites and yellows. Other scenic spots include the terrace inside Monarch, the hotel bar and restaurant, which overlooks the Mecom Fountain and the Museum of Fine Arts.
Hotel ZaZa room
Aerial shot of Hotel ZaZa
Hotel ZaZa room with a view
In the heart of it all
The Hotel ZaZa Houston Museum District is one of two Hotel ZaZa locations in Houston. (The other is Hotel ZaZa Houston Memorial City which is 14 miles away.) A concentration of outdoor beauty and indoor explorations surround Hotel ZaZa Museum District in the form of Hermann Park, McGovern Gardens as well as 19 museums. It's easily walkable, bikeable, centrally located and is in proximity to Houston's METROrail. Here's a few ideas to get you going before you dive into the best things to do in Houston.
Literally across the street you'll find the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, home to over 70,000 works of art and one of the largest museums in the United States.
Honoring the legacy of African Americans in military service, the Buffalo Soldier Museum offers a comprehensive look into the history of some of America's bravest heroes.
Lions and tigers and bears and giraffes and meerkats and sea lions, oh my! These, plus many more species and specialized habitat exhibits like the Patanal and Texas Wetlands are just a few reasons to visit the Houston Zoo. Make it a point to observe the gorillas, feed the giraffes and sit for a few moments of contemplation at the reflection pool.
Immerse yourself in a world of fluttering butterflies, look up into the cosmos (projected onto the ceiling of the planetarium), explore the very distant pre-vertebrate past, feel just how small you are under the gaze of a dinosaur skeleton and watch the sparkle of massive natural gemstones at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. For the full experience, budget the whole day. Plan ahead and pick a specific path if you're on a schedule.
The Rothko Chapel is a place for quiet contemplation, so if you're seeking solace, this is the spot. Displaying 14 murals from late artist Mark Rothko, the chapel is a moving experience for those of any (or even no) faith.
If variety is the spice of life, then ZaZa is a masala in the world of hotels. The options aren't endless, and certainly not cheap, but they are exciting, luxurious, fun and even a little naughty in the best kinds of ways.
Magnificent Seven suites
Magnificent is truly the correct adjective for these large-scale suites meant for over-the-top experiences. Pick from the Bella Vita, Black Label, Fatal Charms, For Your Eyes Only, It Happened One Night, Rock Star Suite or the Tycoon because #YOLO. The creme de la creme of Houston accommodations, all range between 900 to 2,200 square feet (approximately) and spare no details when it comes to design and decor.
Concept suites
Ten options await, ranging in square footage from 448 to almost 2,000, each individually themed and then properly outfitted. All are standouts, but first-time Houston visitors may enjoy the "Houston, We Have a Problem" suite suited for meetings and out-of-this-world experiences. An astronaut (suit only, no real humans included) stands guard over a corner overlooking a space age bubble chair and crescent-shaped sofa.
Guest rooms (and mores suites)
So variety, right? It continues. Still more suites are available, though with smaller footprints compared to their aforementioned siblings, but in keeping with individualized details and luxurious amenities. On varying levels are the king or double balcony options, pool villa or bungalow and "petites," rooms under 300 square feet. Truly something for everyone.
Luxury abounds
It's both boutique and luxury, and the amenities here reflect that. In-room, you'll find: Egyptian bathrobes and slippers, custom bedding and Italian linens, blackout drapes, stocked refrigerators with snacks, high-speed WiFi, a LED flat-screen TV with HD cable channels and a safe. Select rooms and suites also offer full dining rooms, kitchens, half bathrooms, soaking tubs, hardwood floors, work areas and washer/dryers. Room service is available at the hotel, too.
Onsite: A hotel spa with a laundry list of services, Monarch, their signature bar and restaurant, a fully-equipped business center, dry cleaning and laundry service, a dedicated concierge, the resort-level pool with any accompanying poolside bar, fitness center, 24-hour front desk and much more.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Fancy & fun
Monarch soars with options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even an after-hours DJ and bottle service on Saturdays. Brunch is available for weekend mornings through 2 p.m. with a mix of cultural classics like chicken and waffles, chilaquiles, brioche French toast, eggs Benedict and classics like pancakes and bacon. Weekday breakfast is scaled back with simple options like oatmeal and breakfast tacos.
Lunch and dinner offerings are fairly standard, upscale and broad enough to keep everyone in the group satisfied. Think pasta, seafood, steaks and sandwiches. The food is good but the atmosphere is also a star, versatile enough for a romantic dinner or a buttoned-up business lunch.
Beer, wine, cocktails and a limited menu are also available poolside, with bottle service options.
If you do venture out, Toasted Coconut is an adventurous departure with rum cocktails and tropical dishes, The Breakfast Klub is a Houston institution for soul food and Lucille's is a hot spot for upscale Southern fare. All are within a small radius of the hotel.
What time is check-in and check-out?
Check-in is 4PM and check-out is noon.
Are pets welcome at the hotel?
Hotel ZaZa Museum District is pet-friendly. A one-time, non-refundable deposit of $150 per pet is required at check-in.
Is there internet access at the hotel?
All guests can access free WiFi throughout the hotel.
Does the hotel have an outdoor pool?
Yes, Hotel Zaza Houston Museum District has an outdoor pool and a poolside bar.
Does the hotel have meeting rooms?
Yes. There are seven meeting spaces ranging from a 425 square-foot — the X room which is also on the 1oth floors — to a luxe main ballroom which is 3730 square-feet, has full window dressings and oversize chandeliers.
What are the hours of the spa, the Zaspa?
The Zaspa hours are:
It's closed on Monday and Tuesday
Wednesday and Thursday: 10AM-7PM
Friday and Saturday: 9AM-7PM
Does the hotel offer parking?
Valet parking is available at Hotel ZaZa and parking fees vary depending on length of stay.
Is smoking allowed at the hotel?
Hotel ZaZa Museum District is a non-smoking hotel.
Does Hotel ZaZa have other locations?
Besides Hotel ZaZa Museum District the hotel has three locations as of November 2022: Hotel Zaza Austin Downtown, Hotel Zaza Dallas Uptown and the other aforementioned location in Houston.
What is the Hotel ZaZa Houston Museum District's address?
5701 Main street, Houston, Texas 77005.
houstonmuseumdistrict@hotelzaza.com
Best Things To Do in Houston

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
New stablecoin backed 1-for-1 by Australian dollar launches on blockchain
A new stablecoin is scheduled to launch on Stellar's blockchain in November, according to the announcement made at the Las Vegas Money 20/20 Conference by Novatti Group, an Australian online payments processor.
Scheduled to be released November 19th, the Novatti AUD Utility Token will be tied to Australian dollar, backed 1-for-1 with AUD being held in trust. The news comes in after a rough week when the well-known stablecoin tether (USDT) fell below $1 and a number of exchanges listed alternatives.
Additionally to a 'traditional' usage for stablecoin as a tool to move money between exchanges, Novatti Group sees its new token as a 'tool of its own', used for all of common cases, including purchases.
According to Novatti's managing director, Peter Cook, establishment of the token will also help to further secure the cryptocurrency marketplace, as usage of it requires a compliant know-your-customer identity check.
According to Cook, among their other customers there will also be well-recognized financial institutions, such as licensed money service businesses and banks. To further encourage crypto-industry members, Cook emphasized that Novatti Group is a publicly traded company, and is required by law to follow strict financial guidelines.
At this moment, Stellar already supports at least 10 stablecoins, including USD Anchor, created by startup Stronghold in collaboration with IBM. Following a certain market tension with earlier stablecoins, there's more demand for better alternatives on the market, according to Lisa Nestor, director of partnerships at the Stellar Development Foundation. She also emphasized that with the continued adoption there's also a significant growth and demand for using stablecoins in the payments space.
Blockchain Cryptocurrencies


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text:
Inflation Persistence at Disaggregated Level – Empirical Study for Poland
Katarzyna Hertel Narodowy Bank Polski , Agnieszka Leszczyńska Narodowy Bank Polski i Uniwersytet Łódzki Przegląd Statystyczny. Statistical Review, vol. 60, 2013, 2, pages: 187-210 Published online: 30 June 2013
(Polish) PDF
The paper aims to evaluate inflation persistence at a disaggregated level. The measures of inflation persistence used in the exercise rely solely on time series methods of AR and long memory models (cf: Marques, 2004; Pivetta, Reis, 2007; Baillie, 1996) and are applied to Polish CPI and its 11 components. The choice between those two frameworks has been based on the results of the FDF test (Dolado, Gonzalo, Mayoral, 2006). The second part of the study consisted in investigation of the dynamics of persistence. An experiment of rolling window regressions revealed a decrease in the persistence of most of the price indices. A plausible source of the decline was a structural change, which occurred during the introduction of direct inflation targeting by the monetary authorities in Poland.
inflation persistence, disaggregated price indices, long memory, FDF test
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[2] Altissimo F., Mojon B., Zaffaroni P., (2009), Can Aggregation Explain the Persistence of Inflation?, Journal of Monetary Economics, 56 (2), 231–241.
[3] Andrews D., (1993), Exactly Median-Unbiased Estimation of First Order Autoregressive/Unit Root Models, Econometrica, 61 (1), 139–165.
[4] Babecký J., Coricelli F., Horváth R., (2009), Assessing Inflation Persistence: Micro Evidence on an Infl ation Targeting Economy, Czech Journal of Economics and Finance, 59 (2), 102–127.
[5] Baillie R. T., (1996), Long Memory Processes and Fractional Integration in Econometrics, Journal of Econometrics, 73, 5–59.
[6] Berben R., Mestre R., Mitrakos T., Morgan J., Zonzilos N., (2005), Inflation Persistence in Structural Macroeconomic Models, ECB Working Papers, 521.
[7] Bilke L., (2005), Break in the Mean and Persistence of Inflation. A Sectoral Analysis of French CPI, ECB Working Papers, 463.
[8] Bos C., (2001), Time Varying Parameter Models for Inflation and Exchange Rates, WebDOC.
[9] Cecchetti S., Debelle G., (2006), Has the Inflation Process Changed?, Economic Policy, 21 (46), 311–352.
[10] Clark T. E., (2006), Disaggregate Evidence on the Persistence of Consumer Price Inflation, Journal of Applied Econometrics, 21 (5), 563–587.
[11] Cutler J., (2001), Core Inflation in the UK, External MPC Unit Discussion Papers, 3.
[12] De Jong D.N., Whiteman C.H., (1991), Reconsidering 'Trends and Random Walks in Macroeconomic Time Series', Journal of Monetary Economics, 28, 221–254.
[13] Dhyne E., Alvarez L.J., Le Bihan H., Veronese G., Dias D., Hoffmann J., Jonker N., Lunnemann P., Rumler F., Vilmunen J., (2006), Price Changes in the Euro Area and the United States: Some Facts from Individual Consumer Price Data, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20 (2), 171–192.
[14] Dolado J. J., Gonzalo J., Mayoral L., (2006), What is What?: A Simple Time-Domain Test of Long-memory vs. Structural Breaks, Mimeo, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
[15] Dolado J. J., Gonzalo J., Mayoral L., (2009), Simple Wald Tests of the Fractional Integration Parameter: An Overview of New Results, Mimeo, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
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[23] Geweke J., Porter-Hudak S., (1983), The Estimation and Application of Long-Memory Time Series Models, Journal of Time Series Analysis, 4, 221–238.
[24] Granger C. W. J, Joyeux K., (1980), An Introduction to Long-Memory Time Series and Fractional Differencing, Journal of Time Series Analysis, 1, 15–29.
[25] Hassler U., Wolters J., (1995), Long Memory in Infl ation Rates: International Evidence, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 13 (1), 37–45.
[26] Hosking J. R. M., (1981), Fractional Differencing, Biometrika, 68, 165–176.
[27] Koop G., Ley E., Osiewalski J., Steel M., (1997), Bayesian Analysis of Long Memory and Persistence using ARFIMA models, Journal of Econometrics, 76 (1–2), 149–169.
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[42] Phillips P., Perron P., (1988), Testing for a Unit Root in a Time Series Regression, Biometrica, 75, 335–346.
[43] Pivetta F., Reis R., (2007), The Persistence of Inflation in the United States, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 31 (4), 1326–1358.
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text:
Crewe Mecca bingo club gets national accolade
THE Rank Group plc, which includes Mecca Bingo in Crewe, has been awarded a prestigious international health and safety accolade.
Crewe Chronicle
Only companies which have already achieved the British Safety Council '5 Star' grading can apply for the British Safety Council Sword of Honour award 2010.
Only 40 Swords are awarded worldwide every year and, this year, Mecca Crewe is part of the only leisure company to receive this Award in the UK.
Winners of the award are recognised as having first class health and safety management systems for employees and customers.
Mecca Crewe's general manager Gill Clark said: "To be one of only 40 companies achieving this status worldwide is a fantastic achievement and we are all very proud of ourselves.
"We put the health and safety of both our customers and team members first so it's great to have this recognised and rewarded."
The Sword of Honour was officially presented at a luncheon ceremony in London.
The Rank Group's director of security John Butler and health and safety manager Brian Duffin accepted the award.


The Laser Touch One Low Level Laser Therapy Device is an FDA approved clinical-grade pain management tool that combines the therapeutic benefits of both laser light and micro-current electrical stimulation therapies into one convenient handheld applicator. Clinical research has shown the combined effect of these two therapy systems benefits muscle tissue at the cellular level and helps to promote the body's natural healing processes. With the combination of low level laser, or cold laser, therapy (LLLT) and microcurrent electronic nerve stimulation, the LaserTouchOne treats pain at the source, providing effective, lasting relief from both chronic and acute pain. Microcurrent electrical stimulation is a million times lower than a "TENS unit" (so no prescription is needed in this case) and this low frequency more closely matches the body's own electrical frequency for optimal healing. This portable and ergonomically designed handheld laser therapy device provides easy, effective and self-treatment without medication. FDA approved for effective pain management, the LaserTouchOne provides ergonomic, portable and reliable pain relief right from the palm of your hand.


text:
Michael "Mike" Anthony Riley (born 17 December 1964) is an English former professional football referee, who has refereed matches in the English Football League, Premier League, and for FIFA. Riley currently serves as the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited.

Career
Riley was born in Leeds in West Yorkshire.

He became a national Football League referee in 1994, having previously served five years on their assistant referees' list. He was later granted FIFA status in 1999 allowing him to officiate international fixtures.

In 2002, Riley refereed the English FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Chelsea, which he later stated was "the highlight of my career".

Riley took charge of the 2004 Football League Cup Final, between Bolton and Middlesbrough, in a game that saw all three goals scored within the first 25 minutes. He awarded a penalty to Middlesbrough after seven minutes and cautioned five players during the course of the game. Riley failed to spot penalty taker, Zenden, kicking the ball twice.

Riley also headed England's refereeing team alongside assistants Philip Sharp and Glenn Turner at the UEFA Euro 2004 finals.

Riley refereed the controversial 2004 match between Manchester United and Arsenal, also known as the Battle of the Buffet, with the result ending Arsenal's record-breaking 49 match unbeaten run.

Riley officiated the Football League Championship playoff final between West Ham United and Preston North End in 2005. West Ham ran out 1–0 victors, seeing them promoted to the FA Premier League.

Riley was invited to go to Hong Kong to take charge of the 2006–07 Hong Kong FA Cup final between South China and Happy Valley in 2007. South China won by 3–1, allowing them to achieve a treble in local competitions (First Division League, Senior Shield and FA Cup). Riley gave three penalty kicks in the match, two for South China and one for Happy Valley.

Mike Riley was appointed manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB) in June 2009, replacing Keith Hackett. This effectively ended his career in refereeing matches.

In June 2022 it was announced that he would be stepping down as the English refereeing chief effective from the end of the 2022/23 season.

Career statistics

References

External links
Mike Riley Referee Statistics at soccerbase.com

English football referees
Living people
1964 births
Sportspeople from Leeds
Premier League referees
FA Cup Final referees
UEFA Euro 2004 referees

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Frank Bencriscutto (September 21, 1928 – August 28, 1997), nicknamed "Dr. Ben," was an American conductor and composer of concert band music. Bencriscutto was Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota for thirty-two years.

Family
Born to Italian immigrant parents in Racine, Wisconsin, Bencriscutto was the ninth of ten children. In 1951, he married Jean Wisner Fischer. The couple had three children.

Education
Bencriscutto earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. At Eastman, he studied composition with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers and played principal alto saxophone in the Eastman Wind Ensemble under Frederick Fennell.

University of Minnesota
Bencriscutto's work as a conductor at the University of Minnesota (1960-1993) led to many honors for his ensembles.  As director of the University of Minnesota Marching Band, Bencriscutto instituted the Indoor Marching Band Concert at Northrop Auditorium, an annual tradition that has since been copied by university marching bands nationwide.  Many marching band traditions instituted by Bencriscutto continue to this day, including the band's football pre-game "swinging gates" formation performed during Dr. Ben's arrangement of "Battle Hymn of the Republic." This tradition has been ongoing since it debuted in 1961.

In 1969, the conductor led the University of Minnesota Wind Orchestra on a landmark 7-week, 10-city, 27-concert cultural exchange tour in the Soviet Union while Bolshoi Ballet toured the United States. The tour culminated with a presidential command performance in the Rose Garden of the White House and resulted in Dr. Bencriscutto being invited by Dmitri Shostakovich and the Ministry of Culture to be an honored guest of the Soviet Union the following year at the 1970 International Tschaikovsky Competition.

Benscriscutto and The University of Minnesota Concert Band made a tour of mainland China in 1980 as the first American band to perform in the People's Republic of China.

After retiring from the University of Minnesota in 1993, Bencriscutto joined the faculty at the Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo, Japan as a visiting professor and conductor of the Wind Ensemble until 1996.

Professional honors
Bencriscutto was elected to the American Bandmasters Association in 1966.  His work "Sing a New Song" (1973) won the Neil A. Kjos Memorial Award for the most significant contribution to band literature.  He received the Edwin Franko Goldman Award from the American School Band Directors Association in 1993, and in 1997, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor at the Midwest Clinic.

Composer
Active as a composer and arranger, Bencriscutto wrote the majority of his original works for concert bands. Several of his compositions have become standards in the repertoire, including Let the Light Shine, Latina, Serenade for Solo Alto Saxophone and Band, Granite Rock, and Summer in Central Park. As an arranger, Bencriscutto transcribed several orchestral works for band, most notably Profanation from Jeremiah (Symphony No. 1) by Leonard Bernstein. He also arranged many works for the University of Minnesota Marching Band that are still used by the ensemble today.  Examples include The Minnesota Rouser, The Royals Rouser, The Minnesota March by John Philip Sousa, Hail! Minnesota, and Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Compositions
A list of original compositions is included below.

Concert band
Metamorphosis: Three Episodes for Concert Band (1957)
Concertino for Tuba and Wind Band (1963)
Latina, Latin American Dance (1964)
Lyric Dance (1967)
Festina (1971)
Granite Rock (1971)
The Spirit of Our Land (1972)
Jazz March: A Brazilian Percussion Feature (1972)
Sing A New Song - Psalm 96, for Mixed Choir and Band (1973)
The President's Trio, for Three Trumpets and Band (1973)
Symphonic Jazz Suite for jazz soloists, jazz-rock combo and band (1975)
Lamp Of Liberty (Symbol Of The American Spirit - The Statue Of Liberty) (1976)
Serenade for Alto Saxophone and Band (1976)
Dialogue for Clarinet and Band (1978)
Six Concert Fanfares (1977)
Let The Light Shine (1978)
Concerto for Trumpet and Band (1979)
Escapade For Trombones (1979)
Concerto Grosso for Saxophone Quartet and Band (1980)
Jubile (1981)
Kaleidoscope (1986)
Visions of Childhood (from Metamorphosis) (1987)
Pacific Scene (1987)
Lindbergh Jubilee (1988)
TM Blues (1991)
Concertino for Clarinet and Band (1995)
Centennial Festival Overture (1995)
Summer In Central Park (1996)

Chorus
Sing A New Song - Psalm 96, for Mixed Choir and Band (1973)

Chamber
Rondeau for percussion and piano (1959)
Valse Rondo for solo clarinet and piano (1978)
Dialogue for solo clarinet and piano (1978)
Elegy for solo clarinet and piano (1978)
Concerto grosso for saxophone quartet and piano (1980)
Suite for flute and piano, bass, drum-set (1986)

Pedagogical work
Total Musicianship, method books for all musical instruments of a band (1983)

References

External links
Minnesota Music Hall of Fame: Frank Bencriscutto
Frank Bencriscutto Collection - Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland

1928 births
1997 deaths
Musicians from Racine, Wisconsin
University of Minnesota faculty
Eastman School of Music alumni
American conductors (music)
American male conductors (music)
University and college band directors
American male composers
 University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni
Pupils of Bernard Rogers
20th-century American composers
Classical musicians from Wisconsin
20th-century American male musicians


Coming to NTU for a study abroad programme? Here you'll find all the information you need for when you arrive on campus.
In order to complete your enrolment you must show a valid visa (if applicable). If your stay in the UK is longer than 6 months, this will be on your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).
You must collect your BRP within 10 days of arriving here.
Collect your BRP from the place shown on your visa decision letter. This will be the University or a post office in Nottingham.
The enrolment process is a little different for each so please check this information carefully.
If you have any questions about collecting your BRP you can email our Academic Registry.
You can collect your BRP from our City Campus.
You'll need an appointment to do this.
Our Academic Registry will email you to confirm when your BRP has been delivered to the University and will arrange a date and time for you to collect it. They'll also complete your visa checks.
your full address in Nottingham, including your postcode.
Take all the above documents with you to collect your BRP from the post office.
The address will be in your visa decision letter.
When you've collected your BRP you'll need to take it to our Student Services Centre together with all your other documents.
Our staff in the Student Services Centre will complete your visa checks.
You can then collect your NTU Student Card to complete your enrolment.
If you're coming to NTU as a fee-paying study abroad student, make sure you've made arrangements to pay the rest of your tuition fees in full, or by instalments.
Make sure you've completed any pre-arrival tasks for your course. Your Academic School will email you any pre-arrival course tasks you have. You can also check on our course induction web pages.
When you arrive at NTU you'll be invited to an induction session at NTU Global. This is your chance to meet and connect with other exchange students from around the world, and get to meet your Student Exchange Buddies. These sessions are also useful as you'll have the opportunity to ask us questions about anything to do with your stay.
It's really important that you attend your course induction.
This is where you'll meet your classmates, teachers and other staff on your course. Find your course induction.
Welcome Week is a varied and vibrant programme of activities and events designed to welcome you to Nottingham Trent University. It's a great time to settle in, make some friends and have some fun before your course starts.
You can also use some of this time to finalise any practical matters, like moving in to your new home, for example.
Details about our 2018 Welcome Week will be available in the summer.
If you are not able to arrive in time for our Welcome Week, get in touch with the Global Student Experience team or pop into our Global Lounges at any time for information on upcoming events and to meet other people.
If you're on a course of more than 6 months, you may need to register with the police within 7 days of arriving in the UK as a condition of your visa.
Check your passport to see if you are required to do this as it's very important.
If you're staying in the UK for 6 months or more, we recommend opening a UK bank account.
With a UK bank account you'll be able to manage your money more easily. It is necessary for paying your rent and bills, transferring money from overseas, and if you decide to work part-time during your studies your employer will probably pay your wages into your bank account.
You can get advice from our international student support service team about this when you arrive.
We advise you to register with a medical practice when you arrive.
There's a health centre on the City and Clifton campuses.
If you're going to be studying at Brackenhurst Campus you can register at the nearby Southwell Medical Centre.
NOW is the NTU online workspace where you'll find most of your course material, assignments and activities.
Make sure you make some time soon after you arrive to meet our international student support service and study abroad teams – we're looking forward to welcoming you to the University.


text:
Q: How can I access a value in a for loop from outside the loop? I'm trying to find the average of all the values that come out of this for loop. I've created a variable that adds the values together once they're created (k), and I need to be able to work on the final k. The problem is that I can't access the k unless I'm in the if statement, which means that I can't print or work on the final version. How would I access it so that I could use it outside the for loops and if statements?
public static void main(String[] args) {
        String[][] act = Activities.act;
        String[] nd = Youngadult.normalday;
        int nl=nd.length;
        int al=act.length;
        int b = 0;
        int k = 0;

        for(int i = 0; i <= nl; i++){
            for(int j=0; j <= al; j++) {
                if(act[i][0] == nd[j]) {
                    b = j;
                    int mt = Integer.parseInt(act[b][2]);
                    int l = Integer.parseInt(act[b][3]);
                    int p = Integer.parseInt(act[b][4]);
                    int r = calc(mt, sl, p, l, c, a, n, o, e);

                    k +=r;
                    System.out.println(k);
                    break;

                }
            }
        }   System.out.println(k);
}

These are the arrays I reference in the code:
    static String[][] act = {{"Dog Walking", "Home Chore", "1", "2", "0", "true"},
              {"Hanging Out With Friends", "Socialisation", "5", "3", "5", "false"},
              {"Homework", "Education", "1", "2", "0", "true"},
              {"Watching a Movie", "Entertainment", "4", "2", "0", "true"},
              {"Painting", "Entertainment", "4", "3", "0", "true"}};
}

String[] normalday= new String[] {"Dog Walking",
            "Hanging Out With Friends", "Homework",
            "Watching a Movie", "Painting"};

and this is what is outputted:
-10
35
25
35
35
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: Index 5 out of bounds for length 5
    at youServe.TestingForLoop.collate(TestingForLoop.java:112)
    at youServe.TestingForLoop.main(TestingForLoop.java:141)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Determination of Flow Resistance in Modular Open Channel
Storage tank module is a lightweight modular system which commonly used as underground storage tank for rainwater harvesting. This storage tank module promotes reuse of rainwater, infiltration of surface water and water quality improvement. In sustainable stormwater drainage designed by River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), this storage tank module was used as underground conveyance conduit integrated with grassed swale. There are two types of modular channel investigated in this study which is the existing and newly designed modular channel which is known as Modular Channel Type A and Modular Channel Type B respectively. In this study, a total number of 54 sets of experimental and field had been analyzed in order to investigate the hydraulic characteristics of Modular Channel Type A. Meanwhile, a total number of 30 sets of experimental tests were carried out in investigating flow in Modular Channel Type B. Investigation concerning the variation of Manning's n with hydraulic parameters which include of flow depth, flow rate, Froude number and Reynolds number were also presented in this study. The analysis indicated that there were good correlations between Manning's n and Froude number with correlation of coefficient (R2) more than 0.93. A design step of modular channel was proposed by utilizing the relationship between Manning's n and Froude number using iteration. Apart from this, simplified equations by using only aspect ratio and channel slope were developed by using multiple non-linear regression and genetic programming. It shows that prediction by using genetic programming tends to underestimate flow rate for field date. Information reported in this study can be used to estimate the hydraulic characteristics of modular under different condition.


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Making our product more affordable – and impactful.
To get our pumps to our customers who need them, we work with established distributors who take fair margins and sell at an affordable price.
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text:
APTA to Trump: Use rescinded funds for rail, bus repairs
President Donald Trump has proposed rescinding $279 million of prior-year surface transportation funding, including $100 million of public transit and intercity passenger-rail grants, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced yesterday. In a "legislative alert," APTA said that the president's administration has proposed rescinding: • $47 million in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) formula grants that had been provided in federal fiscal-year 2005 and prior years; and • $53 million in the Federal Railroad Administration-issued capital assistance for high-speed rail corridors and intercity passenger-rail service, including $47 million for the Chicago-to-Iowa City intercity passenger-rail project. Trump's proposal also calls for rescinding $179 million of prior-year Federal Highway Administration funding. APTA officials recommended that instead of rescinding funds for public transportation and intercity passenger rail, the Trump administration should apply the funds to address the current $90 billion in the state-of-good-repair backlog for bus and rail systems. According to an FTA document, the prior-year formula grants and intercity passenger-rail funding were recommended for cuts because they were initially provided for under a general fund program. "Formula funding for transit agencies is now carried out exclusively by the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund, and these balances are the residual balances remaining from funds provided in FY 2005 and earlier," the FTA document stated. "Enacting this rescission would have a negligible impact on overall transit investments." Regarding the high-speed rail funds, the FTA document noted that the $47 million in grants were awarded in 2011, but not obligated for the Chicago-to-Iowa City corridor project. "The obligation of these funds is contingent upon work done to construct improvements necessary to restart passenger-rail service between the two regions, which is long stalled and still in the design phase," the document stated.
https://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/APTA-to-Trump-Use-rescinded-funds-for-rail-bus-repairs--54623
#Rail


text:
A mission trip team from the Diocese of East Carolina on the beach in La Romana.To see an album with group photographs of all of the 2019 mission trip teams to date, click here.
Dominican Republic Mission Trip Teams
Mission Trips Approximately 50 mission teams from the United States come to work in the Diocese of the Dominican Republic each year.The Diocese has an office dedicated to the planning and support of the work of mission teams, and the Dominican Development Group works in close cooperation with this office to facilitate the transfer of funds needed to pay for in-country meals and lodging, transportation, and program supplies such as construction materials. The DDG has developed secure and reliable methods to transfer funds internationally to the Diocese of the Dominican Republic that satisfy all U.S. Homeland Security banking regulations for such transfers. As a 501(c)(3) organization, the DDG can accept funds as charitable contributions under Internal Revenue Service regulations. Funds sent by individuals directly to the Diocese of the Dominican Republic are not considered charitable contributions under U.S. tax law.
Click here for a list of incoming mission teams and their work locations in 2020 (updated February 10, 2020)
Click here for an online photograph album of all of the teams that have arrived in 2019 (updated December 9, 2019).
Click here for 2019 mission team poster
Pilgrimage Trips In addition to helping coordinate trips by mission teams to the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Development Group also sponsors pilgrimage trips twice each year. These pilgrimage trips (formerly called exploration trips) are designed to familiarize mission team leaders and others interested in the ministries and facilities of the Diocese of the Dominican Republic with many of those locations in a fast-paced, week-long trip that begins and ends at the Las American International Airport east of Santo Domingo. In even years, the general path of these trips follows a south-to-north direction, including several Episcopal facilities on the north-central coast of the Dominican Republic. In odd years, the path is generally west to east, including the Episcopal church, school, and medical clinic located in the city of Jimaní on the border with Haiti. For more information on pilgrimage trips, contact Bill Kunkle, DDG Executive Director, at (813) 400-2722 or <bkunkle@dominicandevelopmentgroup.org>.
The Dominican mission team support office is currently led by Miquea Santivil Luis, a bilingual Dominican who has several years of experience working with mission teams At this time, this mission team support office is in a restructuring process, so additional support for the mission team office and its programs is being provided through the Diocesan Bishop's office. Contact points for that office are the Rt. Rev. Moisés Quezada Mota (mquezada@iglepidom.org) or his executive assistant, Charlene Baez (aobispo@iglepidom.org).
Miquea Santivil Luis, the leader of the diocesan mission team support office.
Inquiries from US-based mission teams should be sent to these contact points:
Mission Team Support Office:
missionteam@iglepidom.org
Telephone (To DR office in Santo Domingo via international commercial lines) 809 688-6016 / 809 686-7493 ext.24


text:
Man who wanted to brand teen as 'property' nabbed at airport
Harlan Wright was arrested after stepping off the flight from Chicago as part of a undercover cyber investigation.
Author: John Hogan
Published: 8/8/2018 2:36:03 PM
Updated: 7:21 PM EDT August 8, 2018
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Police have arrested a man they say flew into Grand Rapids on Sunday, Aug. 5, with the expectation of meeting a 14-year-old girl for sex and marking her with a livestock brand.
There was no girl, just federal agents waiting to arrest him as part of an undercover cyber investigation.
Harlan David Wright is accused of traveling across state lines to engage in illicit sex with a minor. It's a 30-year felony.
He was caught after an undercover investigator posed as a single mother with two daughters, ages 9 and 14. Wright allegedly said he wanted to turn the older girl into his property.
"What I want is a lifetime of happy service from both girls,'' Wright, 52, stated, according to court records. Wright also said he wanted to mark the older girl with his "livestock brand,'' federal court records show.
"Wright stated he would wait a few years before any sexual contact with the 9-year-old girl,'' an investigator wrote in a criminal complaint.
In a conversation with an undercover officer, Wright admitted to having "a serious humiliation kink and a sadistic streak,'' the investigator wrote.
"The goal is using degradation and pain to completely destroy a sense of self-worth,'' Wright wrote in a May 24 message to the undercover officer. "I will make sure through my actions that following my will is the only viable choice.''
In a May 28 conversation, Wright indicated that he planned to tie the girl's hands to the bed "no matter what,'' court records show.
"I want her understanding from her first time that she is not in control, never will be in control and there to serve and be used by me,'' he wrote, according to court records.
During conversations with the undercover officer, Wright indicated his desire to "make the relationship decades long.''
Wright was repeatedly told the ages of the girls and that he could cancel the event at any point, the investigator wrote.
Before flying to Grand Rapids, Wright sent undercover investigators a photo depicting candy, bandaging tape and a pink leash. He also sent a photo of condoms and stated "one dozen with spermicide now packed,'' court records show.
He was arrested at Gerald R. Ford International Airport after stepping off a flight from Chicago. Wright told police he only planned on having sex with the girls' mother, court records show.
Wright is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids on Thursday, Aug. 9 for a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing.
Have a news tip? Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.


text:
Neuroimaging matches specific schizophrenia behaviour to the brain's anatomy.
Posted on October 27, 2015 by Healthinnovations	3 comments
Differences in the size and structure of certain brain areas have been found in some adults diagnosed with schizophrenia. Early findings came from the discovery of enlarged ventricles in people diagnosed with schizophrenia. This finding has not proved particularly reliable on the level of the individual person, with considerable variation between patients. However, it has been usedin case studies with twins although it is a rather small percentage about 1 in a 100 cases of twins have shown that schizophrenia is genetic but it is rare.
With an argument raging back and forth as to whether the brain abnormalities in schizophrenia are either neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental in origin, mapping these imaging markers is a priority globally. Now, a study from researchers at Washington University has used advanced brain imaging to match certain behavioural symptoms of schizophrenia to features of the brain's anatomy. The team state that their findings could be a step toward improving diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia.
Previous studies have shown a large number of differences in brain structure between people with and without diagnoses of schizophrenia. However, many of these differences are only reliably detected when comparing groups of people, and cannot be used as biomarker without further validation. Neuroimaging studies using fMRI and PET to examine functional differences in brain activity in patients with schizophrenia have shown that differences seem to most commonly occur in the frontal lobes, hippocampus, and temporal lobes. These differences are heavily linked to the neurocognitive deficits which often occur with schizophrenia, particularly in areas of memory, attention, problem solving, executive function and social cognition. A running argument also exists as to the role of antipsychotic medication in causing such abnormalities with studies proving inconclusive to-date.
Earlier studies from the researchers reported evidence suggesting that schizophrenia is not a single disease but a group of eight genetically distinct disorders, each with its own set of symptoms. Results found that distinct sets of genes were strongly associated with particular clinical symptoms. The current study investigates the brain's anatomy and shows that there are distinct subgroups of patients with a schizophrenia diagnosis that correlates with symptoms. This also explains the difficulty in past studies to identify a single set of biomarkers for a single type of schizophrenia.
The current study evaluated scans taken with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a technique called diffusion tensor imaging in 36 healthy volunteers and 47 people with schizophrenia. Results show that the scans of patients with schizophrenia had various abnormalities in portions of the corpus callosum, a bundle of fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and is considered critical to neural communication.
Data findings show that certain characteristics across the corpus callosum revealed in the brain scans matched specific symptoms of schizophrenia. The group explain that patients with specific features in one part of the corpus callosum typically displayed bizarre and disorganized behaviour. They go on to add that in other patients, irregularities in a different part of that structure were associated with disorganized thinking and speech and symptoms such as a lack of emotion; other brain abnormalities in the corpus callosum were associated with delusions or hallucinations. The lab conclude that their findings provide further evidence that schizophrenia is a heterogeneous group of disorders rather than a single disorder.
The team surmise that they didn't start with people who had certain symptoms and then look to see whether they had corresponding abnormalities in the brain. They note that they just looked at the data, and the patterns began to emerge. They go on to add that this kind of granular information, combined with data about the genetics of schizophrenia, one day will help physicians treat the disorder in a more precise way. For the future, the researchers state that it will be important to focus on how precise gene networks are linked to specific brain features and individual symptoms so that treatments can be tailored to patients.
Source: Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Mapping early and late deficits in schizophrenia. Deficits occurring during the development of schizophrenia are detected by comparing average profiles of gray matter between patients and controls at their first scan (age 13; Upper) and their last scan 5 years later (age 18; Lower). Although severe parietal, motor, and diffuse frontal loss has already occurred (Upper) and subsequently continues (Figs. 1 and 2), the temporal and dorsolateral prefrontal loss characteristic of adult schizophrenia is not found until later in adolescence (Lower), where a process of fast attrition occurs over the next 5 years. The color code shows the significance of these effects. Mapping adolescent brain change reveals dynamic wave of accelerated gray matter loss in very early-onset schizophrenia. Rapoport et al 2001.
tagged with biology, brain, genetics, healthinnovations, imaging, Magnetic, medical, MRI, neuroanatomy, neurodegeneration, neurodevelopment, neurogenetics, neuroimaging, neuroinnovations, neurology, neuroscience, plasticity, Resonance, schizophrenia, science, TBI
brain plasticity
neurogenetics
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February 12, 2016	08:33
Bloody oath I agree with the pink brain outcome.
Getting stoned 24/7 shuts down the brain good & proper-damn right it is a two sided medicine bringing out symptoms in all.
This can be a party- the reason everyone has a drink.
Or it can be a living hell.
Oh that's why weed smoker or schizophrenic or weed smoker doesn't do much productive things because their brain is literally dead !!


text:
Notice to the Profession - Dauphin Judicial Centre
Notice to the Profession - Dauphin Judicial Centre...
Notice to the Profession - Judicial Review Applications (E-Filing)
Notice to the Profession - Judicial Review Applications (E-Filing)...
Call to the Bar June 19, 2014
There will be a special sitting of the Court of Queen's Bench for the Call to the Bar ceremony on June 19th. Chief Justice Glenn Joyal will preside and Justice John Menzies, of the Court of Queen's Bench, will bring special...
Allan Dueck appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench
OTTAWA, May 12, 2014 – The Honourable Peter MacKay, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Central Nova, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment:The Honourable Allan D....
Sadie Bond appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench
OTTAWA, April 11, 2014 – The Honourable Peter MacKay, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Central Nova, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment:The Honourable Sadie...


Together, we cleaned out many of our members' basements and sold items at the flea market. All proceeds went to the organization, of course.
Click through the photo gallery below for pictures of the flea market initiative.
After lengthy negotiations with Pasadena Boxing Club we were finally able to partner-up and provide community service hours for youth. Youth help out around boxing gym and must attend classes such as Anger Management to complete required hours from the Courts.
Click through photo gallery for pictures of ongoing and past events.


text:
Skip to content Saturday, January 16th
TheMinotVoice.com
U.S. House of Representatives Passes Legislation to Combat Human Trafficking
by: Josh Wolsky | January 29, 2015
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Congressman Cramer issued a news release on House of Representative action against human trafficking. In total, twelve bills were passed which address the issue in whole and reach into areas such as law enforcement, victim support, foster care, awareness training, and welfare.
The legislation passed by the U.S. House today will complement work currently underway in the North Dakota state legislature. The U.S. House's Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act encourages states to establish their own "safe harbor laws" to ensure victims of trafficking are treated as victims and not defendants, and are properly directed to child protective services. The North Dakota state legislature is set to vote on its own safe harbor law during the 2015 session, which is supported by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.
Here are Congressman Cramer's comments on the legislation:
"These twelve bills represent twelve different directions coming at the same problem. Each perspective is an important one, it deals with a different aspect of this scourge of human sex trafficking in our country. It's a great illustration of the diversity and the talent on exhibit in the U.S. House of Representatives. You've got Republicans and Democrats, conservatives, liberals, men, women, locking arms and bringing their talents together in this package of bills that cannot be ignored any longer. The previous Senate for some reason wasn't interested in this topic, but we think the current Senate is much more interested with its new leadership. We already know the Senate judiciary chairman has agreed to take these up, and we expect they will end up on the President's desk yet this year,"
An overview of the legislation follows below:
Human Trafficking Prioritization Act: Raises the status of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) to give the unit an equal voice with other bureaus in the U.S. State Department.
International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking: Addresses human trafficking in tourism by requiring notice whenever a registered child sex offender travels outside the United States, and requesting the same information from foreign governments for anyone seeking to enter our borders.
Human Trafficking Prevention Act: Mandates new minimum training procedures for foreign service personnel.
Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims for Youth Trafficking Act: Enables existing grant resources for use in training Department of Health and Human Resources staff on human trafficking prevention, and to provide street-based services including treatment, counseling, crisis intervention, and emergency shelters.
Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act: Ensures child welfare agencies have the proper systems and personnel to identify and assess child victims of trafficking.
H.R. 246: Replaces the term "child prostitution" with "child sex trafficking" on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children cyber tipline to emphasize the fact children are victims, not willing participants.
Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act: Creates more effective training for healthcare personnel by awarding grants to medical and nursing schools to develop best practices in combating human trafficking.
Human Trafficking Detection Act: Requires Department of Homeland Security personnel to be appropriately trained on how to identify suspected human trafficking cases, and keep accurate records to increase the training program's effectiveness.
Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act: Launches a review of federal and state trafficking prevention activities by the Interagency Task-Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, requires an inventory of existing federal anti-trafficking efforts by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), and adds support for survivor shelters to Department of Justice grants.
Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act: Deals with the serious nature of the crime by creating a National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, helping victims pursue legal damages, and requiring convicted johns to be listed higher on the National Sex Offender Registry. It also creates a national human trafficking hotline which will be helpful in western North Dakota where local resources are sometimes scarce.
Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act: Strengthens prosecution of those involved in human trafficking by increasing law enforcement resources, penalties, while also boosting support for victims' services. It also encourages robust collaboration between all involved parties including law enforcement, child welfare systems, tribal authorities, victim service groups, and the court system.
SAVE Act: Makes it a federal crime to profit from knowingly advertising for the commercial exploitation of minors and trafficking victims.
News National Laws & Elections Congressman Cramer Human Trafficking
Josh Wolsky
Editor and Publisher of TheMinotVoice, Developer of the #ForMinot Network, Co-Host of #GoodTalk Minot, Advocate and Friend of the Souris River, Former City Alderman, and clearly -- all things #MakeMinot. Go ahead, don't wait for permission!
TheMinotVoice.com is hosted on the ForMinot Network | © 2021


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text:
California: More Anti-Gun Bills Going to the Governor and Several More Still Moving!
This week, more anti-gun bills were sent to Governor Jerry Brown for his consideration. Assembly Bill 2333 passed in the Assembly by a vote of 45 to 29, Assembly Bill 2460 passed in the state Senate by a vote of 21 to 16 and Senate Bill 1366 also passed in the state Senate by a vote of 22 to 15. Senate Bill 1315 is already awaiting the Governor's consideration and action. Please contact Governor Jerry Brown and urge him to VETO SB 1315, AB 2333, AB 2460 and SB 1366. Let Governor Brown know these anti-gun bills will do nothing to stop criminal activity and only stop California's law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights. Governor Jerry Brown can be reached at 916-445-2841 and by e-mail here.
Senate Bill 1315 – Local Regulation of Firearms
SB 1315, introduced by anti-gun extremist state Senator Kevin de León (D-22), is just a stepping stone to completely destroying California's firearms preemption law. Such firearms preemption laws are in place to standardize firearm laws across the state. SB 1315 would authorize Los Angeles County to enact and enforce an ordinance that is stricter than state law regarding the manufacture, sale, possession or use of any BB device, toy gun, replica of a firearm, or other device that is so substantially similar in coloration and overall appearance to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to perceive that the device is a firearm and that expels a projectile that is no more than 16 millimeters in diameter.
Assembly Bill 2333 – Liability for negligent storage of BB, airsoft and other toy guns
AB 2333, introduced by Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-69), as amended, would expand California's negligent storage law to any person who knowingly or reasonably should have known that a minor is likely to gain access to a BB device without the permission of the minor's parents or legal guardian and the minor carries the BB device in a public place. The definition of "public place" includes "A front yard, driveaway, doorway or entrance to a building or dwelling." If a minor possesses a "BB device" that is visible from your own private property YOU and YOUR CHILD HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME. Violators would be subject to a civil penalty and/or community service. AB 2333 would impose an unnecessary and potentially severe criminal liability on everyday toys (not just BB guns and pellet guns) leading to severe penalties.
Assembly Bill 2460 – Ban of Law Enforcement Transfer of Firearms
AB 2460, introduced by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-9), would ban law enforcement officers from transferring handguns that are not on California's approved "roster" to anyone but law enforcement officers. Currently, California law allows for the transfer of firearms that are not on the approved "roster" to be transferred to law-abiding civilians. These transfers must go through a licensed firearms dealer and are only transferred when the new civilian owner has passed a criminal background check.
Senate Bill 1366 – Lost and Stolen Reporting of Firearms
SB 1366, introduced by state Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-7), would require every person to report the theft or loss of a firearm he or she owns or possesses to a local law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the theft or loss occurred within 48 hours of the time he or she knew or reasonably should have known that the firearm had been stolen or lost. Law-abiding gun owners should not be made a victim twice.
There are still several anti-gun/anti-hunting bills that are expected to come up for their final reading next week in the state Senate. It is IMPERATIVE that you, your family, friends, fellow gun owners and sportsmen call AND e-mail your state Senator TODAY and respectfully urge him or her to OPPOSE ALL pending anti-gun legislation. Respectfully let them know that law-abiding citizens are the only ones who are affected by these anti-gun bills. Enacting these restrictive and misguided laws would not stop crime or criminals.
On the Senate floor for final consideration: Please contact your state Senator IMMEDIATELY and respectfully urge him or her to OPPOSE SB 1221, AB 1527, AB 2512 and AJR 45. Contact information for your state Senator can be found here.
Senate Bill 1221 – Hunting Ban
SB 1221, introduced by state Senator Ted Lieu (D-28), would ban hunting bears and bobcats with dogs. Hunting with dogs is a tradition that continues to be practiced across the country. Many dog breeds with select characteristics for hunting can be traced back for thousands of years. Seventeen states allow bear hunting with dogs. The use of hounds for hunting has never been shown to have an adverse impact on wildlife numbers. Biologists and other wildlife experts determine regulations and bag limits, just as they do with other hunting seasons.
Assembly Bill 1527 – Open Carry Ban (of unloaded long gun)
AB 1527, introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-44), would expand on last year's ban on open carrying of an unloaded handgun to also include unloaded rifles and shotguns.
Assembly Bill 2512 – ammunition registration/large capacity ammunition magazine ban
AB 2512, introduced by Assemblyman Nancy Skinner (D-14), would make it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed six months, or both, to knowingly manufacture, import, keep for sale, offer or expose for sale, or give or lend, any device that is capable of converting an ammunition feeding device into a large-capacity magazine. AB 2512 would also require any vendor in California who sells, supplies, delivers, or gives possession of more than 1000 rounds of ammunition to any individual within any five consecutive day period shall report the transaction to the local law enforcement agency where that individual resides within 24 hours of the transaction. Failure to comply would result in a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed six months, or by both.
Assembly Joint Resolution 45 – Reinstatement of Federal Assault Weapons Ban
AJR 45, introduced by state Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-42), would urge the President to reinstate the Federal "Assault Weapons" Ban.
California Lost and Stolen Firearms California negligent storage Ammunition Registration Open Carry Ban Hunting/Conservation Firearms Preemption
Respect for the Second Amendment in Illinois' Largest County
California: Lead Free Ammunition Required for All Hunting as of July 1


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Want to eat (more) local? Find out how
Is 2016 the year you vow to eat more food that is produced locally?
Want to eat (more) local? Find out how Is 2016 the year you vow to eat more food that is produced locally? Check out this story on courierpostonline.com: https://on.cpsj.com/1R9NQ3X
Tammy Paolino, @CP_TammyPaolino Published 5:13 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2016 | Updated 5:13 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2016
CSAs offer shares so consumers can pick up (or, sometimes, have delivered) fresh produce and other items near their homes during the growing season. They have picked up in popularity in the region in recent years. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
If so, perhaps a CSA is the answer. But don't wait until the daffodils show their sunny faces to decide you want to join one, because by the time the asparagus is poking through, it's usually too late.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) usually means that individuals and families purchase "shares'' in a farm's harvest, and benefit through weekly or less frequent bundles of fresh foods. There are many CSAs and similar programs in the region, but it can be hard to figure out which one suits your food and family needs.
The Garden Task Force of Sustainable Cherry Hill hopes to make all of that easier with its Local Food for Thought event, taking place from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Camden County Environmental Center. The Center is located between Grove and Haddonfield roads, in Cherry Hill, at 1301 Park Blvd., not far from Wegman's.
COURIER-POST
2015: The year in pizza
In its third year, Local Food for Thought aims to get folks excited not just about CSAs, but about farmer's markets, farm stands and growing their own.
Gwenne Baile of Haddon Township, event chair, said guests can expect to hear about seven CSAs from Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties, with both pickup and delivery (to private homes, farmers markets and restaurants) options.
"I'm almost an addict when it comes to CSAs and farm stands and all that kind of stuff,'' Baile said.
Also participating will be Muth Organic Family Farm, which recently converted from a CSA to a farm stand, and Philly Winter Harvest, a Farm-to-City buying club offering off-season pickup in Collingswood of fresh food and other products from Lancaster County and other farms.
"Residents will be able to discuss the pros and cons with the farmers to see if one CSA better meets their needs,'' Baile said. "We often read about CSAs in spring when everyone begins to think about gardens. However, by then, most CSAs are filled and residents lose out on belonging. That is the reason for a January event — both farmers are available and sign-ups are starting to take place.''
Camden County Master Gardener Mark Wellner will offer advice on establishing a raised garden bed, and Collingswood bee keeper Robert Bennett will bring a live hive and answer questions on beekeeping.
Attendees can also find out how to join a community garden near their homes, as well as information about backyard chickens and hydroponic/vertical gardening.
Baile is a big proponent of owning chickens for eggs, and she leads courses teaching homeowners how to properly care for them. A backyard chicken will be in attendance.
The event is free but guests are asked to register at the Sustainable Cherry Hill website, and to bring non-perishable food items to be donated to the Jewish Family Services food pantry.
"Our mission is to educate about healthy, local food,'' Baile said. "The farmers don't necessarily think they're going to get 100 people signing up for their CSA. They are there to educate them, that's what's most important for them, too.''
Read or Share this story: https://on.cpsj.com/1R9NQ3X


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'World of Coffee Dubai 2023' kicks off tomorrow at Dubai World Trade Centre
Witnessing participation of 10,000 experts, leaders and professionals, and over 1,500 international companies and brands
World of Coffee Dubai 2023, organised by DXB LIVE, the integrated event management and organisation service provider of the Dubai World Trade Centre, and the Specialty Coffee Association, will kick off tomorrow on January 11, 2023, with participation of about 10,000 experts and professionals and more than 1,500 international, regional and local companies and brands from 33 countries. The exhibition will be held at Zabeel Halls 5 and 6 at the Dubai World Trade Centre and will last till Friday, January 13.
After the first edition witnessed huge success, coinciding with Expo 2020 Dubai, the World of Coffee is now being held in Dubai for a second year in a row. The event fits perfectly with Dubai's desire to host and organise the most prestigious international trade events as well as its efforts to encourage the expansion of the region's coffee industry and solidify its position as a regional and global hub for the coffee trade. This year's attendance at the exhibition is predicted to double that of the first event and expects participation of prominent businesses and top brands in the global coffee industry.
Khalid Al Hammadi, Senior Vice President at DXB LIVE, said: "We are delighted to announce the completion of all preparations for the exhibition, which begins tomorrow morning. We look forward to greeting specialised visitors, who are predicted to outnumber visitors by double the number than the first edition. Participants and guests will have the opportunity to witness a great experiences through the event's featured activities this year."
"Hosting this event in Dubai will strengthen the emirate's leading position in the global coffee market and open newer avenues for companies involved in the industry to forge new alliances and attract new investors, further boosting the growth of coffee industry in the UAE increasing its economic impact on the country," he added.
"The exhibition will witness a major increase in the number of global firms and brands participating this year, which benefits both regional and local companies participating in the exhibition as well as accelerate the growth of the international businesses. The event offers an opportunity to collaborate and forge new connections and partnerships," Al Hammadi stated.
"The World of Coffee Dubai 2023 offers a perfect platform to showcase the expertise and prowess of businesses and industry professionals in the coffee industry, which are the outcomes of years of expansion and progress in the coffee sector in the region. Local and regional businesses, coffee enthusiasts, and professionals can gain insightful information from top speakers and experts at the workshops and lectures that will be held at the exhibition," Al Hammadi concluded.
Mr. Israel Degefa, CEO of Kerchanshe, said: "We are honored to serve as the Golden sponsor of the World of Coffee Dubai 2023, an event that has been instrumental in fostering the interests of the coffee community, both in the UAE and on a global scale. At Kerchanshe Coffee, we are committed to creating a healthy and sustainable coffee industry, from seed to cup. This is achieved by bridging the gap between the coffee farmers and the market, raising awareness among stakeholders, as well as ensuring the finest quality possible. We look forward to showcasing our selection of premium coffee beans at the event, in an effort to promote the consumption of high-quality coffee in the community."
The 'Cupping Room,' 'Roasters Village,' and 'Brew Bar,' are some of the features over the three-day event, which allows visitors to learn about the various types of coffee and understand the methods of roasting and preparation in different regions from the world. Visitors can further watch professional barista shows and taste the coffee beverages they prepare. The event will also feature a number of significant lectures and workshops, which will be attended by prominent professionals and industry leaders from across the world, who will discuss a range of subjects pertaining to the trade, industry, and coffee preparation.
Furthermore, a variety of events and award ceremonies will be held at the exhibition, including the 'UAE National Barista Championship,' in which 12 of the top baristas from across the nation will compete to win the title and earn a spot to represent the UAE at the 'World Barista Championship.' In addition to the 'Best New Product' competition, which aims to introduce new products after evaluating their quality and value in multiple categories, the event will also witness the 'Coffee Design Award' over the course of three days, during which exceptional creative designs in the field of coffee will be honoured in multiple categories.
The World of Coffee exhibition, a prominent global coffee event, highlights most significant challenges and advancements in the local and global coffee industries, as well as the potential for future growth. In addition to farmers, traders, manufacturers, distributors, SMEs, coffee shop owners, roasters, hotels, coffee lovers and tasters, baristas, and all others working in the coffee industry from around the world, the event brings together top experts and industry leaders at the global, regional, and local levels.
The exhibition kicks off on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, starting from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, continuing on Thursday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Friday, January 13, 2023, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Fish-free Tuna is in the can
FRUIT LOGISTICA 2023: Take a peek into the biggest industry trends
Events June 29, 2021 0
Alimentaria FoodTech will take place in 2023 to bolster its value proposition and internationality
Alimentaria FoodTech prepares its next edition in September 2023 aiming to celebrate an event with a wider offer, internationality, and participation, to continue being the reference point for the food and beverage's technology, equipment, and ingredients sector. The trade fair's organizing committee, composed by companies and the main industry associations, has endorsed the change of
News December 8, 2022 0
Koehler NexPure® OGR: Koehler launches sustainable packaging paper onto the fast-food market
 Packaging solution for fries, sandwiches, or wraps Innovative paper with barrier properties and low grammage Portfolio expansion within the Koehler Paper "Seal & Wrap" campaign Koehler Paper, part of the Koehler Group, is adding another product for use in the fast-food market to its flexible packaging paper portfolio. Consumer demand for sustainable products and


Asia One reported that Zhou Hai, 22, had suffered from constipation since he was a newborn. Everyone thought it was a minor issue and Zhou lived with it and got no medical treatment. He did take laxatives, however, but his stomach was distended. Things got so bad that Zhou had trouble breathing and experienced extreme abdominal pain.
The CT scan revealed a massive buildup of feces in his colon. Zhou had emergency surgery to remove the blockage and part of his colon. The images show the section of bloated colon that surgeons removed from Zhou.
This section of colon weighed over 28 pounds! Doctors believe Zhou had years of buildup in his colon. After years of suffering, Zhou was finally diagnosed with Hirschsprung's disease which is a rare disorder that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States each year. According to the Mayo Clinic, Hirschsprung's disease is when some nerve cells are missing in the colon which makes it difficult to pass stool. The treatment is to have the affected part of the colon missing.
Cincinnati Children's stated that the condition occurs more frequently in boys than in girls and there is a genetic cause.
If a parent suffered from Hirschsprung's disease, then it is likely their children could have it also.
One early symptom is if an infant doesn't have a bowel movement within 48 hours of birth. On the bright side, Zhou is expected to make a full recovery.


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Herman: When the victims get the final word
Ken Herman
kherman@statesman.com
For two weeks in late February, despite the gut-wrenching emotion of the subject matter, the courtroom had remained a picture of courtroom dignity. Defendant Brandon Daniel had been treated with the respect due someone presumed innocent until proven guilty, even someone seen on surveillance video fatally shooting Austin police officer Jaime Padron at a Wal-Mart.
But moments after Daniel's death sentence was pronounced, the rules changed and the tone morphed into the kind of raw emotion you might expect to see on daytime TV.
"As for you," Amy Padron, the dead officer's ex-wife, told Daniel, "you're a pathetic coward who deserves nothing less than pain, torture and hell."
After sharing her sentiments, Padron, a former cop, shared her young daughters' letters to Daniel. A photo of the two girls kissing their dad was to her right.
"Dear bad guy, why did you kill my dad?" wrote the 8-year-old, who included her drawing of Daniel killing her dad. "My dad was important and he meant so much to me and he was funny. He was an amazing guy. Why did you kill him?"
The 12-year-old daughter's vitriolic 11-page letter was then read, with deep anger, by her mom.
In emotional detail, the girl told Daniel of the pain and loss he had caused.
"You made me cry," she wrote. "Now it's your turn to cry in prison for the rest of your life."
Near the end, she wrote: "All you are is a black bitch of darkness, nothing else but a waste of time and space."
The statements — including others from friends and family — came after state District Judge Brenda Kennedy, who had just pronounced sentence, asked if there were any allocution statements.
In Texas courtrooms, allocution statements are post-sentencing victim impact statements. They can take many forms. The statements can be about what the criminal did to the victim and what the victim would like to happen to the criminal. They can be forgiving. They can be vindictive.
They are not transcribed by the court reporter and do not become part of the official trial record. They are a time for unfettered venting by victims.
The 1991 Texas Legislature, as part of the victims' rights movement, passed a law authorizing the statements. In its original version, the bill allowed victims to make the statements after conviction and before sentencing. The final version, however, moved the statements to after sentencing.
In 1995, Keith D. Nicholson examined the relatively new procedure in a St. Mary's Law Journal article titled "Would You Like More Salt With That Wound? Post-Sentence Victim Allocution in Texas."
He recounted a Houston courthouse incident in which an allocution statement led to a hallway melee ignited by the defendants' relatives who didn't take kindly to in-court comments made by relatives of teenage murder victims.
"At first glance," Nicholson wrote, "one might think such a scene would only occur during the early American days of 'frontier justice.'"
Nicholson cited the pros of the statements, including forcing criminals to understand the harm they caused. Nicholson also wrote of potential rehabilitative effects.
But he branded the statements as "a classic form of denunciatory punishment."
"In the context of the modern legal system, denunciatory methods of exacting revenge are somewhat barbaric, leading to descriptions of post-sentence victim allocution as the 'modern-day equivalent of the pillory,'" he wrote, quoting from a National Law Journal article titled "Texans Take It Out on the Defendant."
Nicholson cited "the risks that post-sentence victim allocution pose to the dignity of the courtroom."
After all these years of allocution statements, Bobby Mims of Tyler said, as a defense lawyer, he doesn't like them.
"We have to sit there with our client, who has probably killed half the family, while the rest of the family is screaming and shouting at him. It's very uncomfortable," said Mims, president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
But "as a citizen," Mims thinks the statements are a "good outlet for people to be able to vent." And, he said, he sees nothing wrong with making a guilty defendant feel uncomfortable. The only potential change he's heard discussed would be taking jurors out of the courtroom during the statements.
Daniel's only words during the victim statements were "Yes, ma'am," in response to this from Linda Diaz, the deceased officer's sister: "You don't get to come here, choose to do a crime and then choose your consequence. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Georgetown lawyer Russell Hunt Jr., who represented Daniel, said, "It's a terrible feeling" to hear, from victims' mouths, the damage a client has done.
"They run the gamut from the person who is angry and screaming at your client and wants them to die and burn in hell," Hunt said, adding that others offer forgiveness.
He declined to pass judgment on what Padron's family and friends said to Daniel.
Travis County Assistant District Attorney Gary Cobb, who prosecuted Daniel, believes the victim statements force a criminal to hear the pain he's caused. "Whether he takes it to heart or listens or cares, it's more for the victim to get it out," Cobb said.
Some come with a script. Others, Cobb said, "just talk and talk and talk."
"Some people talk about forgiveness and moving on. They forgive him and say God will be the final judge, but they want him to know in their heart they've forgiven them," Cobb said. "Some take the opposite tack. 'I will never forgive you. I hope you rot in hell.'"
Like Hunt, Cobb refused to comment on the Daniel case victim statements. "What you would do in those circumstances, you never know," he said.
Liza Friend, director of victim and witness services in the Travis County district attorney's office, said the statements can be very positive for victims. "Some people don't want to spend any more time on the case. Some people want to tell the impact of the crime that has happened," she said.
Then-state Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, sponsored the 1991 measure. Gallego, a former West Texas prosecutor, is now a U.S. House member.
"We wanted to find a way to make the victim a part of the proceedings and feel like they had an opportunity to say something because many times in the criminal justice system, up until then, there was no place for them to participate if the prosecution chose not to call them to the witness stand," Gallego said recently. "They were spectators in a system that had really seared their emotions and really forged a new way of life upon them."
Gallego said he knew the statements would range from mild to angry to vitriolic to vengeful. He is fine with all of the above.
"To me, that's the victim's right," he said. "The victim has, through no fault of their own, been placed in this position, and the victim has the opportunity to use their statement, their time, in whatever manner they choose. Our criminal justice system owes them at least that much."
Gallego bristled at the notion that anything a victim could say to a convicted defendant could be categorized as verbal abuse.
"The defendant in a criminal courtroom is not a victim. The defendant has been placed there through a voluntary, deliberate act of his own, whereas a victim making that statement is sitting there through no fault of their own," Gallego said.
"That is a family that is suffering excruciating pain that I would not wish on anyone," he said. "I would never second-guess or criticize people for using their time in the manner that they choose."
Amy Padron used her time in the manner she chose. So did San Angelo cop Matt Baldwin, Jaime Padron's longtime friend, who said he had not planned to speak but decided to tell Daniel about the lives he's ruined.
"I want to thank you, actually Brandon, for making me realize how precious life is," he told Daniel. "I want to thank you for making me love my family more than I already did. I want to thank you for letting me become closer to a family that I was already close to. And I want to thank you for better clarifying for me the beauty of life."
"You changed my life, man," Baldwin said, "not by something good you did, by something tremendously horrible you did. But from that I'm going to take away something positive."
Choking up, he continued: "I do want you to know this: Any moments of fame you think you may have had, in any way, shape or form you think this may have been something good for you, I want you to know you lost, not just because of what happened here this past two weeks and what happened here just tonight, but you've confirmed for us that Jaime was the winner in this. You confirmed for us that Jaime was a hero, not just for me, but for so many people.
"We loved him. We always will. These things will be evidenced by all the outpouring I've seen over the last 22 months since you killed my friend. I'm sorry you have to live with that."
Allocution, indeed, takes many forms.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct a quote from Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine.
Video of allocution statements in the Brandon Daniel trial accompany this story @statesman.com.


The New Gold Rush: Benefits and Risks of the US Shale Gas Boom?
Euphoria has recently taken on a new name in the boardrooms in the European plant engineering industry. Unconventional natural gas in the form of shale gas, treasure from the deep, is generating a wave of collective enthusiasm. There is talk at Uhde and Linde of a paradigm change. At $2–$3 per million BTU, US natural gas is available at an unbeatable price. Investment projects that previously appeared dead and buried have now become feasible again. The American fertilizer industry is one example. Seeing an opportunity to regain its former prominence, the US chemical industry is planning to put cracker capacity in place which has the potential to shake up the world market and upset the equilibrium in the chemical industry.
Dr. Michael Thiemann, member of the Executive Board at ThyssenKrupp Uhde, believes that the shale revolution is a phenomenon that will roll at us in three waves. Producing fertilizer from shale gas is not particularly challenging from the technical standpoint. Along with power generation, fertilizer production will be a factor in the first wave of shale gas exploration. Companies which acquire projects at this stage will also be in a position to ride the second and third waves and establish a long-term presence in the markets as they evolve.
Uhde and Linde have already lined up contracts. The deck is currently being completely reshuffled in the US market. The European plant engineering industry now finally has an opportunity to force a breach into the phalanx of Foster Wheeler, Technip and other US companies. A contract acquired by Uhde in October followed by another at the beginning of November is one example.
High water consumption is an Achilles heel of hydrofracking. Most of the water is returned to the surface with the gas which is extracted. It then has to be treated, recycled or disposed of. Process improvements can be particularly helpful in alleviating the problems.
Siemens Water Technologies has introduced the new Frac Treat product line for mobile water treatment in the oil & gas industry. Designed especially with shale gas production in mind, the range includes mobile systems for continuous precipitation and flotation as well as a mobile combination pilot unit.
BASF also markets a range of waste water treatment solutions including process chemicals and filter membrane materials such as Multibore membranes which trap particles and microorganisms.
Linde has developed technology for adding liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide to the water which is used for hydrofracking. Both gases reduce water consumption and increase the volume of gas extracted.
Page 1: The New Gold Rush: Benefits and Risks of the US Shale Gas Boom?
Page 2: New Business Opportunities for European Companies in US Shale Gas Boom?
Page 3: Shale Gas Could Leave US Economy Import Dependent, Insiders Warn..


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