text:
package rss.feed.reader.ui.activities;

import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.res.Configuration;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
import android.support.design.widget.NavigationView;
import android.support.v4.app.Fragment;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentManager;
import android.support.v4.content.ContextCompat;
import android.support.v4.view.GravityCompat;
import android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBar;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarDrawerToggle;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
import android.text.TextUtils;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuInflater;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.CheckBox;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.TextView;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import butterknife.BindView;
import butterknife.ButterKnife;
import io.reactivex.observers.DisposableObserver;
import rss.feed.reader.R;
import rss.feed.reader.api.model.Channel;
import rss.feed.reader.api.model.News;
import rss.feed.reader.dagger.components.ActivityComponent;
import rss.feed.reader.ui.base.BasePresenterAwareActivity;
import rss.feed.reader.ui.contracts.MainContract;
import rss.feed.reader.ui.fragments.NewsListFragment;
import rss.feed.reader.utils.GuiUtils;
import rss.feed.reader.utils.HockeyAppUtils;
import rss.feed.reader.widget.NewsViewsService;
import rss.feed.reader.widget.NewsWidgetProvider;

public class MainActivity extends BasePresenterAwareActivity<MainContract.Presenter>
        implements MainContract.View {

    private static final String TAG_NEWS_LIST_FRAGMENT = "news list fragment";

    @BindView(R.id.drawer_layout)
    DrawerLayout mMenuLayout;

    @BindView(R.id.left_side_menu)
    NavigationView mPrimaryMenuView;

    @BindView(R.id.right_side_menu)
    NavigationView mSecondaryMenuView;

    private UserInfoViewHolder mUserInfoViewHolder;

    private Menu mMenu;
    private ActionBarDrawerToggle mMenuToggle;

    private DisposableObserver<List<Channel>> mSubscription;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(final Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        HockeyAppUtils.checkForUpdates(this);

        initActionBar();
        initNavigationDrawer();

        setUpUserInfo();
        onIntentReceived(getIntent());
    }

    @Override
    public void showChannelsNews(List<Channel> channels) {
        FragmentManager supportFragmentManager = getSupportFragmentManager();

        Fragment fragment = supportFragmentManager.findFragmentByTag(TAG_NEWS_LIST_FRAGMENT);
        if (fragment != null) {
            NewsListFragment newsListFragment = (NewsListFragment) fragment;
            newsListFragment.showChannelsNews(channels);

        } else {
            NewsListFragment newsListFragment = NewsListFragment.newInstance(channels);
            supportFragmentManager.beginTransaction()
                    .replace(R.id.news_list_container, newsListFragment)
                    .commitAllowingStateLoss();
        }
    }

    private void initActionBar() {
        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.base_toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);

        ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
        mMenuToggle = new ActionBarDrawerToggle(this, mMenuLayout, toolbar,
                R.string.menu_toggle_open, R.string.menu_toggle_close);

        mMenuLayout.addDrawerListener(mMenuToggle);

        if (actionBar != null) {
            actionBar.setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);
            actionBar.setHomeButtonEnabled(true);
        }

        mMenuToggle.syncState();
    }

    private void onIntentReceived(Intent intent) {
        if (intent != null && !TextUtils.isEmpty(intent.getAction())) {
            switch (intent.getAction()) {
                case NewsWidgetProvider.ACTION_ON_NEWS_ITEM_CLICK:
                    News news = intent.getParcelableExtra(NewsViewsService.EXTRA_CLICKED_NEWS);
                    mNavigation.toCustomTabActivity(news.getNewsUrl());
                    break;
            }
        }
    }

    private void initNavigationDrawer() {
        mPrimaryMenuView.setNavigationItemSelectedListener(this::handlePrimaryNavigation);

        mSecondaryMenuView.setNavigationItemSelectedListener(this::handleSecondaryNavigation);
    }

    private boolean handleSecondaryNavigation(@NonNull MenuItem item) {
        mSecondaryMenuView.setCheckedItem(item.getItemId());

        if (item.getItemId() == R.id.menu_all_news_item) {
            resetSecondaryNavigationViewContent();

            mMenuLayout.closeDrawer(mSecondaryMenuView, true);
            return true;

        } else {
            View view = item.getActionView();

            CheckBox checkBox = (CheckBox) view.findViewById(R.id.tag_item_checkbox);
            checkBox.toggle();
            return true;
        }
    }

    private void resetSecondaryNavigationViewContent() {
        MenuItem mainMenuItem = mSecondaryMenuView.getMenu().findItem(R.id.menu_all_news_item);
        mainMenuItem.setChecked(true);

        Menu menu = mSecondaryMenuView.getMenu();

        int size = menu.size();
        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
            MenuItem menuItem = menu.getItem(i);

            if (menuItem.getGroupId() != R.id.menu_tags) {
                continue;
            }

            View view = menuItem.getActionView();

            CheckBox checkBox = (CheckBox) view.findViewById(R.id.tag_item_checkbox);
            checkBox.setChecked(false);
        }
    }

    private void setAllChannelsOptionChecked(boolean isChecked) {
        MenuItem menuItem = mSecondaryMenuView.getMenu().findItem(R.id.menu_all_news_item);
        menuItem.setChecked(isChecked);
    }

    @Override
    public void onPause() {
        super.onPause();
        HockeyAppUtils.unregisterManagers();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        switch (item.getItemId()) {
            case R.id.all_news:
                mMenu.findItem(R.id.all_news).setVisible(false);

                // Select 'All News' item from Left-side menu
                Menu primaryMenu = mPrimaryMenuView.getMenu();
                mPrimaryMenuView.setCheckedItem(primaryMenu.findItem(R.id.menu_all_news_item).getItemId());

                setUpSecondaryNavigationViewContent();

                // Hide 'All News' option from menu
                item.setVisible(false);

                setTitle(R.string.menu_all_news_item);
                getPresenter().onAllChannelsSelected();
                return true;

            default:
                return mMenuToggle != null && mMenuToggle.onOptionsItemSelected(item) || super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onNewIntent(Intent intent) {
        super.onNewIntent(intent);
        onIntentReceived(intent);
    }

    private void setUpPrimaryNavigationViewContent() {
        getPresenter().getChannels().subscribe(channels -> {
            Menu menu = mPrimaryMenuView.getMenu();
            menu.removeGroup(R.id.menu_news_list_item);

            for (int j = 0; j < channels.size(); j++) {
                Channel channel = channels.get(j);
                menu.add(R.id.menu_news_list_item, j, Menu.NONE, channel.getTitle());
                // Set checkable to true to have a nice item selection with text and background changes
                menu.findItem(j).setCheckable(true);
            }

            ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
            boolean isNewsItemSelected = false;
            if (actionBar != null && actionBar.getTitle() != null) {
                String title = actionBar.getTitle().toString();

                int menuSize = menu.size();
                for (int i = 0; i < menuSize; i++) {
                    MenuItem item = menu.getItem(i);
                    if (title.equals(item.getTitle())) {
                        mPrimaryMenuView.setCheckedItem(item.getItemId());
                        isNewsItemSelected = true;
                        break;
                    }
                }
            }

            if (isNewsItemSelected) {
                mMenu.findItem(R.id.all_news).setVisible(true);

            } else {
                menu.findItem(R.id.menu_all_news_item).setChecked(true);
            }

            boolean isAuthorized = getPresenter().isUserAuthorised();
            menu.findItem(R.id.menu_signin_item).setVisible(!isAuthorized);
            menu.findItem(R.id.menu_signout_item).setVisible(isAuthorized);
        });
    }

    private void setUpSecondaryNavigationViewContent() {
        getPresenter().getTags().subscribe(tags -> {
            Menu menu = mPrimaryMenuView.getMenu();

            int menuSize = menu.size();
            MenuItem selectedItem = null;
            for (int i = 0; i < menuSize; i++) {
                MenuItem item = menu.getItem(i);
                if (item.isChecked()) {
                    selectedItem = item;
                    break;
                }
            }

            if (selectedItem == null || selectedItem.getItemId() == R.id.menu_all_news_item) {
                mMenuLayout.setDrawerLockMode(DrawerLayout.LOCK_MODE_UNLOCKED, mSecondaryMenuView);

            } else {
                mMenuLayout.setDrawerLockMode(DrawerLayout.LOCK_MODE_LOCKED_CLOSED, mSecondaryMenuView);
                return;
            }

            menu = mSecondaryMenuView.getMenu();
            menu.removeGroup(R.id.menu_tags);

            if (tags.isEmpty()) {
                mMenuLayout.setDrawerLockMode(DrawerLayout.LOCK_MODE_LOCKED_CLOSED, mSecondaryMenuView);

            } else {
                mMenuLayout.setDrawerLockMode(DrawerLayout.LOCK_MODE_UNLOCKED, mSecondaryMenuView);

                for (int i = 0; i < tags.size(); i++) {
                    String tag = tags.get(i);
                    MenuItem item = menu.add(R.id.menu_tags, i, Menu.NONE, null);
                    // Set checkable to true to have a nice item selection with text and background changes
                    item.setCheckable(true);

                    View view = View.inflate(MainActivity.this, R.layout.item_channel_tag, null);

                    TextView textView = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.tag_item_name);
                    textView.setText(tag);

                    CheckBox checkBox = (CheckBox) view.findViewById(R.id.tag_item_checkbox);
                    checkBox.setOnCheckedChangeListener((buttonView, isChecked) -> {
                        setAllChannelsOptionChecked(false);
                        mMenuLayout.closeDrawer(mSecondaryMenuView, true);

                        List<String> tags1 = getSelectedTags();
                        getPresenter().onTagsSelected(tags1);
                    });

                    item.setActionView(view);
                }
            }
        });
    }

    private List<String> getSelectedTags() {
        List<String> tags = new ArrayList<>();

        Menu menu = mSecondaryMenuView.getMenu();
        int size = menu.size();

        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
            MenuItem item = menu.getItem(i);
            View actionView = item.getActionView();

            if (actionView == null) {
                continue;
            }

            TextView textView = (TextView) actionView.findViewById(R.id.tag_item_name);
            CheckBox checkBox = (CheckBox) actionView.findViewById(R.id.tag_item_checkbox);

            if (checkBox.isChecked()) {
                tags.add(textView.getText().toString());
            }
        }

        return tags;
    }

    private boolean handlePrimaryNavigation(@NonNull MenuItem item) {
        mPrimaryMenuView.setCheckedItem(item.getItemId());

        if (item.getGroupId() == R.id.menu_news_list_item) {
            mMenuLayout.setDrawerLockMode(DrawerLayout.LOCK_MODE_LOCKED_CLOSED, mSecondaryMenuView);

            mMenu.findItem(R.id.all_news).setVisible(true);

            String itemTitle = item.getTitle().toString();
            setTitle(itemTitle);

            getPresenter().onChannelSelected(itemTitle);

            mMenuLayout.closeDrawer(mPrimaryMenuView, true);
            return true;

        } else {
            mMenu.findItem(R.id.all_news).setVisible(false);
            mMenuLayout.setDrawerLockMode(DrawerLayout.LOCK_MODE_UNLOCKED, mSecondaryMenuView);
        }

        mMenuLayout.closeDrawer(mPrimaryMenuView, true);
        int id = item.getItemId();
        switch (id) {
            case R.id.menu_all_news_item:
                setTitle(R.string.menu_all_news_item);
                getPresenter().onAllChannelsSelected();
                return true;

            case R.id.menu_settings_item:
                mNavigation.toSettingsActivity();
                return true;

            case R.id.menu_feedback_item:
                mNavigation.toMailClient();
                return true;

            case R.id.menu_about_item:
                mNavigation.toAboutActivity();
                return true;

            case R.id.menu_signin_item:
                mNavigation.toSignInActivity();
                finish();
                return true;

            case R.id.menu_signout_item:
                getPresenter().signOut();
                return true;

            default:
                return false;
        }
    }

    private void setUpUserInfo() {
        if (mUserInfoViewHolder == null) {
            View rootView = mPrimaryMenuView.getHeaderView(0);
            mUserInfoViewHolder = new UserInfoViewHolder(rootView);
        }

        mUserInfoViewHolder.headerView.setBackgroundColor(ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.colorPrimary));
        mUserInfoViewHolder.iconView.setImageResource(R.drawable.avatar);
        mUserInfoViewHolder.iconSmallView.setImageResource(R.drawable.rss_logo);
        mUserInfoViewHolder.usernameView.setText(getPresenter().getUsername());
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
        inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu_channel_details, menu);
        mMenu = menu;
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
        super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
        if (mMenuToggle != null) {
            mMenuToggle.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onBackPressed() {
        if (mMenuLayout.isDrawerOpen(GravityCompat.START)) {
            mMenuLayout.closeDrawer(GravityCompat.START);
        } else {
            super.onBackPressed();
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void injectActivity(ActivityComponent activityComponent) {
        activityComponent.inject(this);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onStart() {
        super.onStart();
        renewSubscription();
        getPresenter().getDisplayableChannels().subscribe(mSubscription);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onStop() {
        super.onStop();
        if (mSubscription != null && !mSubscription.isDisposed()) {
            mSubscription.dispose();
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDestroy() {
        super.onDestroy();
        getPresenter().destroy();
    }

    private void renewSubscription() {
        if (mSubscription != null) {
            mSubscription.dispose();
        }

        mSubscription = new DisposableObserver<List<Channel>>() {
            @Override
            public void onComplete() {
                dispose();
            }

            @Override
            public void onError(Throwable e) {
                GuiUtils.showInformationDialog(MainActivity.this, e.getMessage(), TAG_DATA_LOADING_FAILED);
            }

            @Override
            public void onNext(List<Channel> channels) {
                setUpPrimaryNavigationViewContent();
                setUpSecondaryNavigationViewContent();

                showChannelsNews(channels);
            }
        };
    }

    @Override
    public void onUserSignedOut() {
        setUpUserInfo();

        renewSubscription();
        getPresenter().getDisplayableChannels().subscribe(mSubscription);
    }

    static class UserInfoViewHolder {
        @BindView(R.id.menu_user_root)
        View headerView;

        @BindView(R.id.menu_user_icon)
        ImageView iconView;

        @BindView(R.id.menu_user_icon_small)
        ImageView iconSmallView;

        @BindView(R.id.menu_user_name)
        TextView usernameView;

        UserInfoViewHolder(View rootView) {
            ButterKnife.bind(this, rootView);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The LEGO community is full of people doing amazing things with LEGO, and it's really hard to keep up with it all. The Builder Spotlight series aims to highlight not only some seriously amazing MOCs, but the builders themselves, and their inspirations! This time, I'm talking with Koen, otherwise known as Swan Dutchman.
My name is Koen, but within the LEGO community I am better known as Swan Dutchman. I am 30 years old, am living in the Netherlands and am a member of a Dutch LUG called Lowlug.
LEGO is one of the things I grew up with. As a kid I used to play with LEGO a lot. I especially liked the Castle and Pirate themes. However it was only about 6 years ago I started building my own creations.
Oh yes, at the age of 12 I even sold all my LEGO!… I still regret it. That said I did get a major part of my childhood LEGO sets back by buying LEGO from people my age whose kids don't have much interest in their parents' LEGO… lucky me!
It's kind of a weird story what brought me back. About six years ago I had to go to the hospital for some minor surgery with the prospect of not being able to walk much for one week. I dreaded to be bored that week and thus I was looking for an activity that would take several hours that I could do while sitting with my legs up. At the same time I was also looking to have something like a ship on top of my bookcase, because it would look so cool. To summarize: that's when I got my first LEGO set as an adult which was 4195 Queen Anne's Revenge. I was impressed with the new shapes and colours LEGO had in those days and got very enthusiastic. Soon after that I purchased a big party of second hand LEGO and started building my own stuff.
I like to build all sorts of things except modern warfare builds. Most of my MOCs have something to do with things I think are fun like Disney, games and movies.
Oh, now this is a difficult question to answer since I like all my MOCs… otherwise I simply wouldn't build them. However, the gingerbread house is definitely a favourite.
One of the things I like about LEGO is that everything I want to build has it's very specific challenges. A couple of examples: how to make a sturdy and seamless angled Star Destroyer?; how to make curvy jewelled eggs that can open?; how to make a small castle that still has a lot of detail?
The building time varies between a day and a year depending on the size, challenges I come across and my building experience. A few examples: gingerbread house – 1 month; Star Destroyer – 5 months; a cuddly toy – less than 1 hour; Cinderella Castle – 3 months, Efteling People of Laaf – about a year.
The gingerbread house contains about 1500 parts.
There are so many awesome builds from fantastic builders. I faved hundreds of them on Flickr.
You've recently created a stunning microscale Disney Castle. can you describe your build process?
The building process is the same for almost anything I build and can be divided in 4 stages: idea building; designing, collecting and building. 'Idea building' is the stage where an idea pops up. The first thing I do is making some sort of digital mood board or gather all sorts of reference material in case the idea is to be a LEGO replica of something existing (like the Disney Castle).
Next thing I do is determining the scale by tackling a very specific part of the object. For the Disney Castle it were the towers of the outer wall that determined the scale. During the 'idea building' stage I determine if the build is feasible. About half the ideas I have are rejected because of technical issues or because the colours I want are not yet available.
The next stage is the design stage which is also the longest stage. I go back and forth building real life and digitally using LEGO Digital Designer. I build real life using parts in any colour I have (considering the parts are available in the correct colour in the end) just to test certain building ideas or to test how strong a build is. I use LDD to save the design and to keep improving the model with details. I find this much easier to do digitally, because I won't have to demolish the whole model just to make a small improvement.
After the design is ready I start collecting the parts I need to make the complete build. During designing I already considered part availability and pricing. Some Bricklink orders will do most of the time. Next is the actual building stage using the saved design in LDD. It's always a pleasure to see the digital build come to life in real bricks.
Something dark and sinister from Lord of the Rings.
You can find my MOCs on Flickr and Facebook. I usually don't post anything about what I am working on unless it's a really big MOC.
Got an idea for a new MOC? Just go for it! Don't worry too much if the MOC isn't 100% the way you want it to be. Over time your buildings skills will improve and your knowledge about parts will expand. And get involved with fellow LEGO fans! It's fun, inspiring and educative as well. Most important is to enjoy yourself with LEGO!
Thanks very much for your time Koen! It's always great to read about someone that's as excited about LEGO and building as we are. Go and check out the rest of Koen's work on Flickr and Facebook. You'll be amazed!


LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 20, 2017) - The award-winning team at "48 HOURS" has teamed with Oblong Industries, Inc., the pioneer of the spatial operating environment and creator of the Mezzanine™ visual collaboration platform for the new era of collaborative work, to visually enhance the production of "48 HOURS: NCIS," a new six-part series launching on Tuesday, April 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS Television Network.
"48 HOURS: NCIS" Senior Executive Producer Susan Zirinsky worked with Mezzanine to help bring to life the real-world crime cases of the Naval Command Investigative Service that are at the heart of the new series. The series takes viewers inside some of the biggest cases handled by the NCIS.
"Mezzanine's technology helped us develop a unique visual way to enhance our storytelling and to bring these compelling stories to our viewers," says Zirinsky.
The "48 Hours" team worked with Oblong to incorporate a specially designed Mezzanine immersive visual control center into the production.
Mezzanine's three-dimensional computing environment provides a stimulating means of presenting crime scene footage and revealing photographs to capture viewers' imaginations as the story unfolds. This behind the scenes clip of 48 HOURS: NCIS on the Oblong blog shares the creative process of the team as they talk about bringing stories to life with Mezzanine.
"We're using Mezzanine for the new show in a very immersive way," says CBS News Director Rob Klug. "We're actually putting the viewer inside of the control center for NCIS."
To see the award-winning 48 HOURS team's approach to elevating the stories of the real NCIS with Mezzanine, watch the series premiere on April 25, 2017, 10pm ET/PT on CBS.
Oblong Industries' innovative technologies change the way people work, create, and communicate. With roots in more than two decades of research at the MIT Media Lab, Oblong's flagship product Mezzanine™ is an immersive visual collaboration solution that defines the next era of computing: simultaneous multi-user, multi-screen, multi-device, multi-location immersive visual collaboration. Mezzanine's groundbreaking Infopresence capabilities multiply the effectiveness of distributed organizations and catalyze new, more effective, more collaborative workflows. Oblong is headquartered in Los Angeles and supplies Mezzanine systems to Fortune 500 enterprise customers and reseller partners. Oblong's customers include NASA, PwC, IBM, Fujitsu, and Accenture along with other forward-thinking Fortune 500 companies. To experience Mezzanine firsthand, schedule a demo at one of 18 offices worldwide.


text:
Digital Ag Series: Women Leadership in AgTech - Transforming the Agriculture and Food Sector
Rating: 4.8 (8)
"Just 7% of AgTech deals and 3% of the record-breaking volume of dollars invested in the sector in 2018 went to female-founded teams"
AgTech is the convergence of agriculture and technology, with investments totaling over US$10.1 billion in 2017. However, women-led startups consistently receive a smaller share of these investments. Industry-wide, women-led companies received just two percent of the total venture capital investment in 2017—only US$1.9 billion out of the total US$85 billion invested by venture capitalists that year. In agriculture more broadly, women make up about half of the world's farmers, but consistently receive a smaller share of land ownership and farming inputs.
Just 7% of AgTech deals and 3% of the record-breaking volume of dollars invested in the sector in 2018 went to female-founded teams, according to the report released by AgFunder, Karen Karp & Partners, and The New Food Economy in collaboration with S2G Ventures. "A structural bias exists which prevents female founders and CEOs from accessing capital to start and grow their Agri-FoodTech enterprises," states the report, Money Where Our Mouths Are that investigates funding disparities between male and female AgTech founders.
Understanding the specific impediments women farmers face is necessary, but a more holistic approach that focuses on the Food System as a whole would enhance women farmer's abilities to benefit from government support and could lead to greater food and nutritional security, reducing poverty, and substantial gains in GDP.
World Bank Group is launching the inaugural webinar series to increase the investment in AgTech, focusing on women-led AgTech. During this webinar, hear from the women leadership in AgTech and learn about the key innovations in technology that are used to empower smallholder farmers. Data and advanced analytics improve the productivity of agriculture which in the long run will lift them out of poverty. Learn about their product offering for advisory services, to provide farmers with comprehensive information on prices, crop planning, and weather, pests, and disease control. In some cases, a digital marketplace that connects farmers to buyers and suppliers more seamlessly.
Topics: Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Security, Gender and Agriculture, Gender and Economic Empowerment, Agriculture Technology, Business Entry and Startup and One Stop Shops, Venture Capital Fund, Angel and Venture Capital, Data, Data Analytics, Crops and Food Security, Agricultural Innovation Systems, Crop Production, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship, Access to Finance, Linking Farmers with Markets, Digital Green Agriculture, Agricultural Output Markets, Climate Smart Agriculture, Agricultural Technology Adaptation, ICT and Agriculture, Agricultural Supply Chain, Nutrition and Agriculture
women leadership, Agriculture and Food, Agtech, Agriculture technology, Start-Ups, startups, Venture Capital, Farmers, Smallholder Farmers, Agri-FoodTech, agrifood, women farmers, Food systems, food and nutrition, Agricultural Data, Ag Data, Crop Management, crops, Crop Production, Blockchain, Sub-Saharan Africa, SSA, Entrepreneurship, Digital Technologies, Digital Agriculture, Value Chains, Agriculture Value Chains, Climate Smart Agriculture, farm-to-fork, Africa, Female Entrepreneurship, Founders, Female Founders, crop yields
Presenter Resources
Women Leadership in AgTech (Presentation)
Ponsi Trivisvavet
CEO & Director, Inari
Ponsi Trivisvavet is the CEO and Director of Inari, a seed company using breakthroughs in genomics and computational science to transform plant breeding and radically reduce the amount of natural resources needed to grow our food. Ms. Trivisvavet has broad expertise in global agriculture as well as extensive management skill in the seeds business. Prior to joining Inari, she held a number of leadership roles at Syngenta, most recently as president of Syngenta Seeds North America. Before Syngenta, she held positions with McKinsey & Company. Ms. Trivisvavet holds an MBA from Cornell University.
William Sonneborn
Senior Director, International Finance Corporation
William Sonneborn is the Senior Director, International Finance Corporation, overseeing all investments in Disruptive Technologies and Funds. Prior to joining IFC, Bill was the President of EIG and a member of the Investment and Executive Committees. Prior to joining EIG, he was a partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and a member of KKR's Management Committee. Bill served as CEO of KKR Asset Management (the public markets side of KKR) as well as CEO and Director of KKR Financial Corporation (NYSE: KFN), a publicly-traded specialty finance firm. He also sat on the board of Nephila Capital, a $10 billion Bermuda-based hedge fund in which KKR purchased a stake in 2013. Prior to joining KKR, he was with The TCW Group, Inc., most recently as President and Chief Operating Officer. Previously, he worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York and Hong Kong, where he focused on mergers & acquisitions.
Co-founder and CEO, Agrosmart
Mariana Vasconcelos is the daughter of farmers, co-founder, and CEO at Agrosmart, a tech pioneer company by the World Economic Forum. Biz Dev with degrees from UNIFEI, UCLA, and Singularity University, Mariana was nominated MIT Technology Review Innovators under 35, Forbes Under 30, and Fast Company 100 Most Creative. She is a global ambassador for Thought for Food, an expert in digital agriculture, and considered one of the 100 most influential agribusiness people by Dinheiro Rural Magazine.
Johanna Hartung
Project Lead in Ghana, German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ)
Johanna Hartung works at the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) as a Policy Advisor to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Her fields of work include G20 partnerships on digitalization during the German presidency in 2017, digital inclusion, and women's empowerment in the digital age. Prior to joining GIZ, Johanna worked in different positions at the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Humboldt University in Berlin, and the consultancy company FAKT. Johanna earned her master's degree in media and political communications from the Free University in Berlin with a thesis on mobile phone use patterns in West Africa. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Konstanz and studied abroad at the University of Warwick.
Dina Umali-Deining
Practice Manager, East Asia and Pacific Region, Agriculture and Food Global Practice, The World Bank
Dina Umali-Deininger is the Agriculture and Food Practice Manager for the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank. She manages analytical and advisory services and a lending portfolio totaling $3.5 billion, which focuses on promoting climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive agriculture, linking smallholder farmers to markets, agriculture value chain development, and enhancing rural livelihoods and jobs. She formerly served as the Agriculture Practice Manager in Central and Eastern Africa and Water Practice Manager in Europe and Central Asia. She also served as Country Sector Coordinator and Lead Agriculture Economist in the World Bank New Delhi office overseeing the World Bank's agriculture and rural development program in India. Prior to joining the World Bank, she held a teaching position at the University of the Philippines and was a Research Associate at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. She has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Stanford University and a B.A. in Agribusiness Management from the University of the Philippines.
Lesly Goh Senior
Technical Advisor, Agriculture, and Food Global Practice, The World Bank
Ms. Lesly Goh is the Senior Technology Advisor, former Chief Technology Officer for the World Bank Group. She is a Fellow at Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) Judge Business School and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Lesly advises policymakers on the regulatory impact from emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G, Cloud and Edge Computing. Prior to the public sector role, Lesly built a solid technology career at Microsoft, Deloitte, and startups. Lesly is the Board of Director for Singapore GovTech and a member of the WEF Global Future Council on Data Policy. From her extensive experience in public and private sectors, she introduces strategic partnerships for agriculture digital transformation, leveraging data and technology innovations in emerging markets.
Questions Submitted
- Aug 1, 2022
DR. YOGENDRA NATH
Lynn Ioana
Mohammad Nadir

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home » Events » CMC Animation Exchange 2014 » Moses Nyachae, Director, Film & TV – Saffery Champness
CMC Animation Exchange 2014
Moses Nyachae
Saffery Champness
Director, Film & TV
Moses is a Director in the Film & TV department of Saffery Champness, providing specialist advice on accessing and maximising the UK film tax credit.
He has substantial experience in UK film tax breaks for both co-productions and Schedule 1 British qualifying films and works very closely with HMRC and the BFI on all matters relating to the UK Film Tax Credit. He has also been closely involved in the consultation process regarding the new tax credits for High End TV, Animation and Video Games, all of which follow the same principles as the existing film tax credit.
Moses acts for a number of US studios as well as UK and European production companies and over the past 8 years has worked on blockbusters, Hollywood films and art house titles alike. Most recently he has advised productions such as 'Thor 2', 'Skyfall', 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides', 'The Kings Speech', 'John Carter', 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel', 'Welcome to the Punch', 'Hugo', 'Captain America', 'Total Recall' and 'Prometheus'.
www.saffery.com


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Natural Gas Pipeline Could Cross Greenbrier River and Mon Forest
http://amrtesting.com/content/uploads/2014/10/10-7-Dominion-Open-House-Part-2.mp3
At the Durbin Volunteer Fire Department, Dominion Resources recently held an open house to answer questions about their Atlantic Coast Project, the natural gas pipeline would travel across Northern Pocahontas County on its way to Virginia and North Carolina. While the route continues to change, the most recent map shows the pipeline crossing the West and East Forks of the Greenbrier, as well as over one hundred acres of the Monongahela National Forest.
Instead of offering a presentation to the community as a group, Dominion set up several tables with posters and handouts designed to encourage individuals to ask about the project. The company expects to submit a pre-filing request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this fall, submit an application to FERC in the summer of 2015, receive a certificate in the summer of 2016, and build the pipeline between 2016 and 2018. Right now, they're still surveying and planning the route, but according to Project Manager Greg Park, Dominion has almost completed that stage.
"Out of the 550 [miles], we have close to 400 miles laid out," Park said. "In this general area, we're still working with the forest to try to determine the best route through them, so we're kind of still working on that, so not a lot of this area right here has actually been routed yet."
"Certain prescription properties [have] endangered species, whether it be the Cheat Mountain Salamander, the Red Spruce, and various things. Obviously we're trying to do our best to miss that sort of stuff but still keep the route relatively close to where we had it," Park said.
Pocahontas County is known for its rivers, forests, and scenic areas, and many residents are concerned about how the construction and operation of such a pipeline will affect the environment. Bill Scarpinato, the Environmental Manager for the project, explained one possible way the company would cross water bodies like the Greenbrier River.
"For streams that are constantly flowing, considered high quality, we would dam and pump and do what they call a 'dry crossing,'" Scarpinato said. "So we dam upstream, downstream, pump the water around. Once that area is dry, we would trench through, place the pipe, and then re-place the riverbed per our permit on how that riverbed has to be reestablished, and that pipe will be buried under a stream of 5 feet versus the normal 3 feet in most places along the pipeline right-of-way. And it will also have to be done in a very timely manner. Once we start, we have to continue around the clock as weather allows to finish our stream crossing."
Beth Little of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy was at a table outside of the fire department, talking with people about the environmental impact. "Natural gas is a fossil fuel," she said. "This pipeline is a massive piece of infrastructure to transport natural gas so we can burn more of it, and that's not what we should be doing."
"We need to be doing renewables and energy efficiency," Little said. "Some people say it won't work, but in fact, 67% of the new energy that came online in 2014 was from renewables in West Virginia. And we can reduce our use of electricity by 30% with energy efficiency, so we don't have to go to another fossil fuel, which is creating climate change. We should be doing other things."
According to a fact sheet issued by the Highlands Conservancy and Greenbrier Watershed Association, stream crossing is one of the most significant impacts of pipeline construction. For many or most of the larger streams that would be crossed in mountainous terrain, it's likely that the pipeline crossing will be achieved through direct excavation and possibly blasting of the stream-bed.
A study conducted by Chmura Economics and Analytics found that the pipeline would support a total of 74 long-term jobs in the state of West Virginia, with 24 of those jobs directly employed in pipeline operations. While some residents hope the project will bring economic growth to the area, others at the Durbin Volunteer Fire Department that night felt that the county stands to lose more than it stands to gain.
"We talked to a landowner here in Durbin who has been a logger and has been all over these hills and mountains, and he's extremely concerned about all of the hollows that they're going to cross and the streams and what it's going to do to people's springs and wells," Little said. "He's just really almost outraged at the effect he thinks this is going to have on the water."
Megan Moriarty


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Breaking Free From Breaking Dawn: Kristen Stewart Proves She's More Than the "Girl From Twilight"
The actress opens up to Vanity Fair about life after Bella Swan
By Elyse Dupre Jul 30, 2019 2:36 PMTags
MoviesTwilightRobert PattinsonKristen Stewart
It's been almost seven years since the Twilight saga ended. Still, Kristen Stewart often finds herself tied to the Bella Swan role.
It wasn't until the 29-year-old actress started working with independent directors like Kelly Reichard and Olivier Assayas that she began to break the mold.
"It gave me a chance to not weigh something down. It was so much bigger than me," she told Vanity Fair for its September cover story. "My baggage was so minuscule in comparison to what [Reichardt's and Assayas's] story lines are, as filmmakers. I was finally given a chance to be looked at, not as this thing in this celebrity-obsessed culture that was like, 'Oh, that's the girl from Twilight.'"
Not only were fans obsessed with the movies, but they were also fascinated by her relationship with Robert Pattinson. The now-exes regularly made headlines, especially after Stewart's cheating scandal with Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders.
Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart's "Twilight" Audition Secrets
Stewart has since been romantically linked to Stella Maxwell. The 29-year-old model even accompanied her to the Vanity Fair shoot. When asked about her love life, Stewart played coy.
"I only date people who complement me," she quipped.
Alisdair McLellan for <i>Vanity Fair</i>
However, Stewart's protection of her privacy shouldn't be misunderstood.
"I think I've grown out of this, but I used to be really frustrated that because I didn't leap willingly into being at the center of a certain amount of attention, that it seemed like I was an asshole," the Charlie's Angels star told the magazine. "I am in no way rebellious. I am in no way contrarian. I just want people to like me."
To read Stewart's full interview, check out Vanity Fair.
Witney Carson Says She's "So Proud" of Her Body After Giving Birth
Ice-T on Going From Robbing Banks to Playing a Cop on SVU


text:
Cm C#m Dm D#m Em Fm F#m Gm G#m
Bbm Bm
Simplified version
© Chorded by Ocheret M. (https://Muzland.info)
Lyrics and Music by Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl
Intro: A5/E A5/E D5/A B5/F# | C5/G C5/G F5/C E5/B  } 2 times
A5 A5 D5 B5 | C5 C5 F5 E5  } 6 times
A5   D5   B5 C5  F5      E5 A5
Load up on guns, bring your friends.
D5  B5 C5       F5    E5 A5
It's fun to lose and to pretend.
D5  B5 C5      F5     E5 A5
She's over-bored and self-assured.
D5  B5 C5    F5  E5 A5
Oh, no, I know a dirty word.
D5  B5 C5     F5   E5 A5
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
D5  B5 C5     F5
Hello, hello, hello.
E5 A5         D5         B5 C5
With the lights out, it's less dangerous.
F5        E5 A5   D5    B5 C5
Here we are now, entertain us.
F5       E5 A5 D5      B5 C5
I feel stupid and contagious.
F5    E5 A5 D5   B5 C5  F5   E5 A5 D5    B5 C5
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido.
F5  E5    A5 G#5 A5 Bb5
Yay,
D#   A5/E G#5 A5 D5 C5  G#5 A5 G#5 A5 Bb5
D#   A5/E G#5 A5 D5 C5  B5
Instrumental: A5 A5 D5 B5 | C5 C5 F5 E5  } 2 times
I'm worse at what I do best,
And for this gift I feel blessed.
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end.
Instrumental: A5 A5 D5 B5 | C5 C5 F5 E5  } 10 times
And I forget just why I taste.
Oh, yeah, I guess it makes me smile.
I found it hard; it's hard to find.
Oh well, whatever, never mind.
F5    E5 A5 D5  B5 C5
A denial, a denial,
F5   E5 A5
A denial.
The top twenty Print
Finger notations of chords
Published 30.06.15
Transposed 25834 times
Nirvana - more songs with chords
Rape me
🎸 N
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Guitar)
Categories: 1004, songs: 3735.


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Beauty "dog star" left paw prints in Hollywood officials to salute the (FIG.)
the dog star in the oscar-winning film "the artist" wu ji left his & other; Paw print & throughout; (page screenshots)
international online features: AFP, June 26, the dog star in the oscar-winning film "the artist" wu ji (uggie) officially retired in 25 local time to attend the official ceremony, its & other Paw print & throughout; In other Hollywood screen stars next to mark, including Marilyn & middot; Monroe (Marilyn Monroe) and clark & middot; Gabriel (Clark Gable), etc.
at the ceremony, the fine acting of wu ji excited the crowd barking, win people's chorus of praise. It's the trainer omar & middot; Feng & middot; Mueller (Omar Von Muller) said: & other; Everyone said I was a great trainer. But I don't think so, because it is a great dog. Throughout the &;
now already getting old, cannot continue to adapt to the cruelty of a film, and it itself with nerve disease. An official from the local city hall said: & other On behalf of the city of Los Angeles, I salute to wu ji, and announced on June 25, 2012 for the city of Los Angeles day. Throughout the &;
now, the biography is wu ji real life story writing, including its performance in the show, in the "water for elephants" and "artist" role in the film, and as a nintendo endorsement dogs, etc. IfengLogo (jin-liang li)
Feminist subway play behavior art contentious: can I SAO you cannot interference (figure)
Farmer cross-stitch reproduce the qingming festival on the painting "grinding off more than 10 needle (figure)


CURRENT SEASON STATS: Hit .347 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 27 games at Lehigh Valley (Triple-A) with 11 runs scored, seven doubles and a .611 SLG.
Contract purchased from Lehigh Valley May 13 when 1B/LF Darin Ruf was sent down.
May 13, in a 3-2 win against the Reds. The starting first baseman, he batted sixth and went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored before being replaced by INF Andres Blanco at first base in the top of the eighth inning. In his first big league at-bat, Joseph struck out swinging against Reds starter Brandon Finnegan. In the fourth inning, still against Finnegan, he drew a one-out walk and scored on a triple by Tyler Goeddel. In his final at-bat of the day, in the sixth inning, he struck out on a foul top against Reds reliever Steve Delabar.
In almost any other week, the saga of Tommy Joseph's journey to the big leagues would be the lead story. Instead, he made his big league debut the same night as that of Matt Bush. But Joseph's arrival is one also very much worthy of celebration. When Joseph was drafted by the Giants out of high school in the second round of 2009 he was viewed as one of the best catching prospects in the game. Tough, hard-nosed, a solid backstop and a standout hitter in an area that has become as well known for its high school baseball talent as Florida, Texas and southern California. But injuries took their toll on Joseph. Not just sore knees, and not just a broken wrist but, more seriously, a series of concussions, year after year after year, culminating in one so damaging, taken off the facemask on a foul ball, that the Phillies finally moved him to first base — maybe a career-saving move, maybe a life-saving move. Due to this series of injuries dating back over the years, Joseph had not played in more than 45 games in a season since 2012. In 2011, he'd shown what he could do with the bat when he hit .270 with 22 homers and 95 RBIs in 127 games at San Jose (High A) but since then the time spent healthy had gotten lower, the odds higher, and it was all he could do to just stay in the game and not walk away. After hitting just .193 with three homers and 18 RBIs in 45 games at Lehigh Valley in 2015, a reinvigorated (and 25 pounds lighter) Joseph returned to Allentown to start 2016 and just lit up opposing pitchers for the first month.


VILNIUS – Hot on the heels of the European Commission's recent report on Lithuanian accession progress, Vygaudas Usackas, vice-minister of foreign affairs and the country's chief negotiator with the European Union, was plugging the importance of EU membership to his fellow Lithuanians.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Usackas stressed the guarantees of territorial integrity, economic and political stability and increased foreign investment that membership would bring.
"The EU is a market of 370 million people that will grow to 540 million after expansion. We need to learn from small countries like Finland and Ireland which have succeeded in taking advantage of this huge market," he said.
Usackas is a perennial optimist about Lithuania's EU hopes. "We have the ability right now to catch up to countries that have a two-year lead," he said.
Usackas has been putting a lot of pressure on government and interest groups to agree on bargaining positions in each of the remaining areas of negotiation.
"Seventy percent of the negotiating we do is with Lithuanian ministries and officials so that we have a unified response. I would rather be able to say that the EU was late in making their positions clearer than we were," he said.
Lithuania and the EU have reached preliminary agreements in seven areas, including education, small- and medium-sized business and security. Negotiations in culture and competition policy are ongoing and Lithuania has already stated its positions in seven other areas, including transport and telecommunications.
Negotiations in the 13 remaining areas are slated to begin in 2001.
Lithuania has already asked for extended transitional periods in three areas: freedom to provide services, environmental policy and the free movement of capital. "Environmental policy is the most expensive area for us, and also one of the ones the EU pays most attention to," said Usackas.
To meet EU standards for drinking water alone it will cost Lithuania 800 million litas ($200 million). Other environmentally related municipal infrastructure projects could cost as much as 2 billion litas over a 15-year period.
Usackas received support from Kestutis Petrauskis, assistant editor at theVeidas weekly who also spoke strongly for EU membership for Lithuania.
"Lithuanians need to look at themselves the way the West looks at us," he said. "The EU is throwing a lot of money our way because they know that Lithuania along with many other Central and East European countries are future economic tigers," he said.
Petrauskis said that the progress made in going from a command to a market economy in the past 10 years is phenomenal. "We have recently weathered the Russian recession. It was not easy, but we did it with relatively little pain. I wonder what would happen if [hypothetically] Germany's largest trading partner, France, were suddenly to become insolvent. Would the Germans be able to survive such a shock as well as we did?" he asked rhetorically.
Lithuania has nothing to fear from future economic tigers in other parts of the world, Petrauskis said. "S o-me Latin and South American economies are doing well, but Lithuania is politically more stable and has a better education system. And why invest there when Lithuania is so much closer," he said.
Lithuania's recent accession report card c om-plimented the country for correcting its fiscal deficit, continuing the large-scale privatization of state companies and restructuring the banking sector. The EC also stated that Lithuania could be viewed as a market economy for the first time. Some minor criticisms regarding a lack of bankruptcy legislation and probl ems in agricultural policy were noted.


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Browse all Landscapers in Taunton Somerset.


Spitting Prohibited is a photograph by Ivana Westin which was uploaded on May 17th, 2016.
Spitting on sidewalks prohibited rusty sign on a summer farm together with farm equipment. Penalty $5 to $100.
haha love it! great shot and detail!


AIVA Gallery is an online gallery and shop of contemporary jewellery, operated by the Academy of International Visual Arts in Shanghai. We have a professional jewellery studio in Shanghai and we offer jewellery workshops and courses, as well as seminars, pop-up exhibitions and salon sessions.
As an affiliate of Academy of International Visual Arts, we host collections from established jewellery masters as well as young elite contemporary jewellery artists. Everyone who has an interest in contemporary jewellery is welcome to visit us at AIVA Gallery. Here you can try on and appreciate contemporary jewellery pieces made by various artists. Maybe you could even meet with the artists and talk to them.
Workshop 05 Apr 2019 - 08 Apr 2019 Constructing a narrative, telling a story through jewellery and object. A Masterclass with Norman Cherry.
Workshop 26 Jan 2019 - 26 Jan 2019 Linear Earrings Workshop.
6.5 x 6 x 3 cm, chain 80 cm.


Piping Skills - Saving the world from bad baking.
Ensure your baking efforts look as good as they taste – good piping skills is what separates the amateur from the professional bake or cake decorator. In this hands on course you will hone your piping skills as you practice while making delicate eclairs and profiteroles, decorated cupcakes and heavenly biscuits.


A new scholarship at the Quad Cities Community Foundation will celebrate the life of a man whose life was tragically lost too early and serve as an inspiration for area students who wish to continue their education after high school.
Almost four years after the onset of a crippling disease that left him unable to walk or raise his arms above his head, Davenport native Kale Hyder is finding personal and academic success as he pushes forward in recovery.
Students can now apply for scholarships to community colleges, trade schools, and four-year institutions thanks to the generosity of donors. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships are awarded each year from the Quad Cities Community Foundation.
That's a sentiment Hannah Thomsen feels strongly now that she has returned to her old stomping grounds to live and work. "I feel like I've found myself in my home community," said Thomsen, who serves as the communications director for the Pleasant Valley Community School District in Riverdale, Iowa.
It was during a balloon and laser demonstration while a high school student that Caleb Hoffman first realized he was interested in engineering.
"The Community Foundation has my back"
The Quad Cities Community Foundation is proud to announce that applications for 2018 scholarships are now available. Thirty-eight different scholarships will be awarded this spring, with some offering more than one award.
Mary Marker credits a renewable scholarship through the Quad Cities Community Foundation with helping her do more than pay for college.
Saneha Borisuth, a senior at Moline High School, has been recognized as one of the country's most outstanding high school leaders by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and has been awarded a $20,000 college scholarship.
Craig A. "Corky" Kress was born on November 17, 1942 in Waterloo, IA. He attended Waterloo West High School and graduated from the University of Iowa, where he majored in Psychology and minored in Music.
Be open and honest. That's the advice Esmeralda Jinez would give to Quad City high school and college students this year as they apply for scholarships from the Quad Cities Community Foundation.
Kathi Morency had no idea that reading The White Oleander would lead to the establishment of a scholarship to benefit foster children.
Every year, the RiverCenter in downtown Davenport, IA hosts the Quad City Regional Auto Show. This event showcases close to 100 auto dealers from the bi-state region. Family-friendly activities are held in conjunction with the show, making this event fun for people of all ages.
Edwin Adland was born on April 8, 1904, in North Cape, WI. He graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in civil engineering. His education led him to a career with the Army Corp of Engineers at the Rock Island Arsenal.


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I have a new post on Free Spirit Publishing's Blog! Check out my post Halloween Items You Can use in Your School Counseling Office (and Classrooms!) Year-Round. I share some spook-tacular after-season finds that are fun and budget friendly! What after-season finds do you use in your school counseling office or for classroom lessons? Please go to the post and share your ideas with others!


There's an interesting "challenge" going on. As you know, I listen to a lot of Internet radio and have been logged into K LOVE a number of times. K-LOVE bills itself as "your home for contemporary Christian music online." It is offering a challenge for you and your friends to listen to nothing but Christian music for 30 days and see how it changes your life!
Now, as disclosure, I'm not taking part in the challenge, but the initiative is intriguing. As Mark Hall, lead vocalist of the group Casting Crowns, put it in the promo, music you listen to is either who you are or who you want to be.
K-LOVE doesn't insist you listen exclusively to its programming during the challenge, but other Christian stations, CDs, tapes, whatever. The point is to infuse uplifting Christian songs into your listening experience. All you have to do is sign in to the 30 day challenge. As an enticement, the station is offering a chance at winning tobyMac's CD Eye On It and a new GoPro camera!
Whether you choose to join in the challenge or not, I would encourage you to sprinkle some Christian music into your listening. If might give you a different perspective … on life.
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Don't get so caught up in all the pressures of parenting, you don't take time to enjoy your children and see the humor in what they do.
This entry was posted in etc and tagged challenge, christian, DPchallenge, faith, K Love, music, Radio. Bookmark the permalink.


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My First Shoot with the Sony F35
Art Adams November 17, 2008
About a week and a half ago I received an email from Leigh Blicher, partner at Videofax in San Francisco. "Just wanted to let you know our F35 has…
Lighting Simply for the RED
A while back I posted a Quicktime movie of this project, shot for the California "No on Prop 8" campaign. At the time I promised that lighting diagrams…
The RED Camera and Green Screen
After working in this business a while (this year was 21 for me) I find that I don't worry about venturing into the unknown. And three weeks ago…
More Fun with RED
Art Adams October 28, 2008
I just finished a four day shoot for solar energy company Sunpower where we used the RED for three days of location shooting and one day of green screen. More…
What I've learned about the RED in the last three days
Tomorrow I finish a project that has shot for three days already on the RED, build 16. Here's what I've learned and discovered: I'm…
After Effects CS4 is Shipping
Chris and Trish Meyer October 18, 2008
For those who might have missed the news, Adobe Creative Suite 4 started shipping this past Wednesday. Users are already receiving their pre-orders. After Effects users looking to upgrade…
"Conversation": Anatomy of Another HD Spot
This kind of spot is a natural for film–but we shot it on HD. And unless you're looking very, very closely, you'll never be…
Handheld Camera Script
David Torno September 30, 2008
Introducing a new script that creates an AE camera that not only has handheld motion, but can be easily adjusted to mimic a variety of camera motion effects like running…
The Thorons: Anatomy of an HD Spot
Art Adams September 29, 2008
I shot this spot a few weeks ago and it hit the air in a big way on Sept. 22. Sam and Julia Thoron spoke directly to camera, and we…
Encoding web video in the age of the iPhone
Allan Tépper September 28, 2008
The last time I looked, Apple had already sold over six million iPhones after just 13 months since its initial launch. I don't think that there have been…
Photoshop CS4 – User Interface Changes
Richard Harrington September 23, 2008
Learn about important changes to the Photoshop CS4 user interface. – Refined workspaces – Freely rotatable canvas – Greater zoom levels – Enhanced controls with panels – Tabbed documents Want…
Grain Matching
Hi everyone, I first wanted to say thank you to the PVC team for making me a part of their family. I feel honored to have been asked to be…
What Wired Didn't Understand about Depth of Field
Art Adams August 17, 2008
In the Sept. '08 issue of Wired Magazine, in an article about the RED camera called "A Star is Born," the author states that the difference in…
I recently shot a museum project where the style required almost exclusive use of tilt/shift lenses. (We occasionally used a Zeiss 14mm prime, but that was rare.) It was…
Advice to a Camera Trainee
A film student, who I've been mentoring, landed a job on a low-budget RED project as camera PA. He sent me an email saying he's…


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LI Political Intern Arrested in Nude Photo Blackmail Scandal
Local News, Crime
By Eric Anderson Published: April 24 2013
The high-profile intern is facing extortion and cyber stalking charges.
Adam Savader, 21 of Great Neck, was a high-profile political intern that worked with the Romney-Ryan presidential campaign. Now, the SUNY Farmingdale student is facing charges in Michigan due to an alleged scandal involving extortion and cyber stalking.
According to CBS News, Savader is being accused of attempting to extort nude photos from women. Officials say that he contacted several women anonymously using Google Voice. He allegedly sent text messages claiming that he had nude photos of the women, and threatened to show the photos to their family and friends unless they sent more.
The extortion attempts took place between May 2012 and February 2013. Some of the women he contacted were ex-classmates from college and high school. The women targeted lived in Long Island, Ann Arbor and Washington D.C.
Police first began investigating after one woman from Michigan informed police in September that she was contacted via text message by someone who identified himself as John Smith. "Smith" sent her a nude photo of herself, which she had stored in a private folder on her computer. He then threatened to send the photo to her parents if she did not send him more naked photos.
In another incident, Savader allegedly threatened to send a nude picture of a woman to the Republican National Committee as well as her family and friends if she did not send more pictures.
Officials say Savader also sent many explicit messages to the women. One of the victims said she received more than 80 text messages from Savader from September through December 2012.
Savader was a political intern, and has more than 70,000 followers on his Twitter account. He worked closely with Paul Ryan during the Romney presidential campaign. His Facebook profile has several pictures of himself with well-known Republican politicians including Romney, Ryan, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.
Savader and his attorney are denying the charges, and his neighbors in Great Neck say they are shocked by the news.
The U.S. Attorney's Office filed charges against Savader in Detroit. He is being held until his bail hearing on Friday.
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Subject: LongIsland.com - Your Name sent you Article details of "LI Political Intern Arrested in Nude Photo Blackmail Scandal"


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كوردی عربي Türkçe
From people
Iraq In Transition
Iraq In Transition
New election law did not "prevent parties interference in formation of recent commission"
Diyala, Federal Elecrions, May 2018. Photo: KirkukNow
KirkukNow
The new law of the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) put an end to political parties nominees for the commission , memberships. It shifted the power to appoint members of the commission from parliament to the Supreme Judicial Council. Nonetheless, political parties appointed the judges.
The Iraqi Council of Representative in a majority vote passed the law last December as a response to the nationwide uprisings in the capital city of Baghdad and other provinces. The protestors demanded to change the commission and cut political parties' hands in the institution.
The New IHEC Law
According to the new law, IHEC is an independent commission. It consists of two groups, which are the council of commissioners and the directorate of elections. The commission has nine judges.
The nine judges will elect head and deputy head and secretary of the council. Later, one of them will become head of the election directorate.
The law set a procedure to elect the members. There will be nominees of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Court, Kurdistan Region's Judicial Council, and the State Council. Later among the nominees, five nominees of the Iraqi Judicial Council, two nominees of the Kurdistan Region's Judicial Council, and the two nominees of State Council will be elected in a lottery.
It also set independence and non-partisan as a condition, and women's quota is also taken into consideration. These conditions even existed in the old law.
Baghdad, electing the nine commissioners by the Supreme Judicial Council in a lottery with the presence of the United Nations representative, 2019. Photo: Media office of the Supreme Judicial Council
The old law, passed in 2007, allowed political parties to have their nominee and submit their names to the parliament to vote on.
One term membership, based on the new law, is four years, and it cannot be extended. However, the old law did not have such conditions, and the term could have been extended.
A director will run the IHEC's offices in the provinces. All the offices are directly connected to the national election directorate. Currently, the offices are administered by temporary acting directors until the new law reorganizes the offices.
Several articles of the new law are the same as those of the old law and have not been changed.
Two Solutions for Three Problems
Adil Lami, who served as the first director of IHEC from 2004 to 2007, stated that if the new law has solved two problems, it has caused the emergence of three issues.
"The old law had two biggest problems; one was electing the head of the election directorate by the council of the commissioners for a year which allowed the political parties to appoint someone annually."
"The second problem was that the parliament elected the members that opened the door to the political parties to nominate persons based on their shares."
He explained that the new law has solved two major issues to a certain degree.
"However, the new law contains several negative points, one of which is again electing the head of the election directorate by the council of the commissioners, but this time the term does not last in a year."
The new law contains several negative points
Lami thinks that electing the candidates by the Supreme Judicial Council once more enables political parties interference because the judges are also elected based on political parties' share.
Another problem of the new law is the judges are elected by the Supreme Judicial Court, which contradicts the Iraqi constitution, stating the IHEC independent and does not belong to Legislative, Executive, or Judicial branch.
A Longstanding Problem
Almas Fazil, a member of the Legal Affairs Committee in the parliament, believes that IHEC problems will continue because, in all elections, there are disagreements and doubts and some of which face the IHEC.
"The aim of passing the new law was to solve the previous law's issues. Not only that law, but no law in this world guarantees the prevention of fraud," Fazil stated.
Fazil states that "there were qualified commissioners in the IHEC and the current commissioners are also qualified, but let's be realistic, the Iraqi an IHEC issues are political disputes that also affected IHEC."
Does the New Commission Deliver the Protestors' Demand?
Sarbast Mustafa, former IHEC director, thinks that a lack of the word "no partisan" in the name of the commission will again put the commissioners under questions and doubts.
Another citric, he says, is that the new commission has dissolved its offices in the province, and it is "a grave mistake, and there is a political incentive behind it to appoint partisan people for the offices."
Iraq, a woman protestor asks for changing the IHEC. Photo: Reuters
"Four years has been set as one term of the commission, and it puts the commission under the authority of the executive branch because, with every new government, a new commission will be elected," he said
He proposed that a committee of United Nations and Organizations experts should have interviewed and evaluated 90 nominees and among which they should have elected the nine commissioners. Later, the parliament should have voted on them.
Another problem, Mustafa claimed, is that the commissioners will remain in office for four years while the head of the election directorate will stay in place for five years, which "will make the head to enjoy a higher authority among the commissioners."
"Generally, it appears that the political class and authorities have elected a commission that is in their interest. It is not meeting the demand of the protestors."
Political Parties "Commission" to Judges "Commission"
The most significant change in the commission law is changing the commissioners from political parties members to judges, according to Aram Jamal, executive director of the Kurdish Institute for Election (KIE).
Jamal said, "yet these changes do not guarantee a free and fair election unless the new commission works professionally and implement the commission plans without political parties interference."
Yet these changes do not guarantee a free and fair election unless the new commission works professionally
Jamal believes it is up to how the commission functions and it depends on the commissioners. As long as they are not independent and do not make decisions on their own, free elections will not happen regardless of how the election is conducted or what devices are used.
In a statement, the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council stated that the judges, who are elected as commissioners of IHEC, will no longer have a role in the council.
Aram Jamal, who has observed elections for years, claimed, "the former commissioner did not work professionally and were not barriers to prevent fraud, but rather they dealt with the elections' allegations fraud superficially. Eventually, they made the moves that the political parties liked."
In the 2018 federal elections, IHEC was suspended with the allegations of fraud, and numerous judges replaced the commissioners. The members who oversaw the determination of the allegations. However, these measures did not change the results of the elections.
Judges Replace Qualifications
The election process of the commissioners previously depended on qualifications and expertise in the field, which is opposed to the current process, according to Salim Shushkai, a member of the Legal Affairs Committee.
Sushkai explained that former commissioner nomination went through a special parliament committee consisted of election experts. Besides that, the parliament approved and voted on them, but the current commissioners "do not have any expertise in elections."
".Current commissioners "do not have any expertise in elections
However, "both commissions have a point in common which is the nomination of the commissioners of political parties' shares."
Nineveh, IHEC is hanging a poster to encourage people to go to the polls, 2018. Photo: IHEC Media
Shushkai thinks that the new commission law and the changes will not have any role, and the power-sharing among the political parties is repeated in the new structure of the commission.
"It is tough to hold a fair and free election by an unreliable commission," Shushkai said.
The New Commission Guarantees Free, Fair, and Credible Elections
New Iraqi High Independent Election Commission, in its first statement issued in February 2020, guaranteed holding "a free, credible and fair election."
According to the statement, after the appointment of head and deputy head, secretary, director of the election directorate of the new commission, their efforts, including renewing electoral lists and distributing biometric cards, have insisted on the preparation of the next elections.
"We work to restore people trust in the election process through the independent work of the commission, carrying out reforms, strengthening impartiality, transparency,"
KirkukNow attempted to interview the new commissioners for two weeks. They promised to talk to KirkukNow, but later some of them refused to give any speech, and the other did not pick up their phones.
The new commission also promised, "to reach highest election turnout in the next election."
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A seamless transition
Garry Monk has given praise to Owls defender Julian Börner.
The summer signing has adapted to life in the Championship seamlessly and is already on the fast track to become a cult hero with Wednesdayites.
His performances at the heart of the Owls' defence have earned the commanding defender plaudits both within and outside of the club.
Börner was voted as Owls' Player of the Month for August and also made the shortlist for the October Championship Player of the Month award earlier this week.
The Owls boss said: "Julian Börner has an excellent personality and is moving in the right direction, he is very determined, respectful, he enjoys the physical side of the game and is rising to the challenge.
"His mentality helped him to come over to this country and the type of league he has faced, the Championship, in terms of how physical and mentally demanding it is.
"That has allowed him to adapt quicker, so credit to him.
"Overall, he has consistently performed well, and I am sure there will be more to come from him. How he has handled that transition has been really impressive.
"He is a good guy around the group, all the players and staff like him."
Julian Borner


In the early hours of Saturday, January 12, Sarah Cogswell left her house to get ready for a farmers' market, only to find her barn ablaze. Fire crews from Dartmouth and the surrounding communities battled the intense fire for four hours, but the barn was a complete loss. Sarah, along with Kate Levin, own and run Cluck and Trowel, a small family farm in Dartmouth and Westport, MA. It is a certified organic farm raising pastured poultry and heritage pork as well as a variety of seasonal produce. Sarah and Kate lost over 200 laying hens, a brand-new chest freezer full of their pork they were selling at farmers' markets, and all of the equipment that they stored in the barn for the winter.
Unfortunately, their farm insurance will not cover equipment, poultry or product replacement, so they will be relying on fundraising more than they initially thought. Members of the community and local businesses are standing by these farm owners to help get them back on their feet and continue to farm.
Destination Soups will be donating a percentage of sales all day on Thursday, January 24. Destination Soups is located at 149 Union Street in downtown New Bedford. Check out their Soup It Up for Cluck & Trowel event on Facebook.
Farm & Coast Market will be hosting a fundraiser on Thursday, January 31 at the market located at 7 Bridge Street in South Dartmouth. There will be apps, beer, wine, and live music with Barry Gross and Neal McCarthy. Tickets will soon be available for $25.
A "Hootenanny" is currently being organized at Weatherlow Farms in Westport for the end of February. Just the name alone makes me want to put my cowboy boots on for folk music and dancing.
If you can't make any of these events, but still want to show your support, then consider sending a check to the Dartmouth Grange on their behalf. Please make checks out to Dartmouth Grange and add "Cluck and Trowel relief fund" to the memo. Their address is 1133 Fisher Rd, Dartmouth, MA 02748. Sarah, Kate, and all the little goats are eternally grateful for your contribution.
Kate Levin posted about one donation in particular that made the goats very happy: "BIG thanks to Peter and the Concordia Team for helping us with a foul weather shelter for Judith, Lucy, and Higgins this morning!"


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Through The Eyes Of A Master
Renoir AFG Art Walk
Dimitri Permiakov 2018
Olivia Kemp 2017
Eugen Gorean 2016
Double Window
Cultural Diplomacy
ROYAL DRAWING SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
Home 2018 August 17 ROYAL DRAWING SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
feel free to call us +0044 7911 795714 info@artforguernsey.com
admin, August 17, 2018 August 17, 2018 , Activities, 0
Joint venture between the Sovereign Art Foundation and Art for Guernsey, where Art for Guernsey provided two fully funded scholarships to two Guernsey art students from the 12 short-listed candidates participating to the Sovereign Art Foundation School Art Prize. The 2 winners have been selected by an Art for Guernsey jury made of Olivia Kemp (our last exhibiting artist and an alumni of the Royal Drawing School), James Freeman (owner and MD of the James Freeman Gallery in London) and Nikki Gardham (a London based artist and a teacher at the Royal Drawing School), who flew to Guernsey specifically for the occasion. I took the view that the people of Sovereign Art Foundation were doing a good job originating and identifying local artistic talents (80 artworks submitted to their School Art Prize, all from students aged 15 to 19 years), hence decided to position Art for Guernsey downstream of their work to offer two scholarships awards. The scholarships has provided the two winners (Hemu Khankashi and Edmund Morgan) with the opportunity to attend a two week long "Foundation Master-class" intensive art course for young artists aged 16-19. It is taking place from the 22nd of July until the 5th of August at the Royal Drawing School (RDS) in London. This is a unique opportunity for talented young Guernsey artists to hone skills, build a portfolio and experience art school first hand. Art for Guernsey has capitalizing on its good relationship with the Royal Drawing School to offer this life changing opportunity to Hemu and Edmund, get them exposed to Excellence and give them a chance to raise their standards just before their application to University. In order to make it an equal opportunity for all candidates, travelling and living expenses, accommodation and tuition costs have been fully covered. I will personally take them to Buckingham Palace at the Prince & Patron exhibition to see Olivia Kemp's Guernsey drawing during their
stay in London.
ARTS FOR IMPACT
Ongoing cash donation to Arts For Impact and significant business development and strategic mentoring (Art for Guernsey has a...
Performing Arts Guernsey College of Further Education
In May, we sponsored for the second year in a row, the yearly show ("Bugsy Malone") of the Performing...
ART IN SCHOOL
Joint venture between the Guernsey Education Department and Art for Guernsey. In September 2018, we launched "Art in School",...
Costa Rica link in pupils' football shirt designs
admin, July 8, 2019 May 12, 2021 , Activities, Events, In the Media, 0
Art for Guernsey competition inspired by local seafaring pioneer The island flaunted their winning football shirt designs along Market...
GUERNSEY CHESHIRE HOME
For the third year in a row, Art for Guernsey is teaming up with the Guernsey Cheshire Home and...
GUILLE-ALLES LIBRARY
In March, Art for Guernsey sponsored and curated the Literary Beards Art Exhibition at the Guille-Alles Library, showcasing the...
GUERNSEY CHESHIRE HOMESovereign Art finalists enjoy a brush with visiting artist
Olivia Kemp In the media
©2022 Art For Guernsey Site by Mad Co


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Q: Dynamic iframe inserted into document that is standards mode defaults to quirks mode I have a parent document that is currently returning CSS1Compat from document.compatMode.
When I add a blank iframe with jQuery like this:
$("body").append("");

and check the compatMode of the new iframe like this:
$("#test-iframe")[0].contentWindow.document.compatMode

it equals BackCompat
This is causing case sensitivity issues later on and some other styling problems. I can't change the cases and have no control over that. Shouldn't the new iframe be the same compatMode? Is there a way to force that?

A: This is because the browser is loading a basic html document (notice no doctype declaration):

Since there is no doctype declared Chrome will use BackCompat mode.
If you want it to be changed to a different mode either set the src url to a html page that uses a doctype declaration, or write to the iframe and set the html to one with a doctype.
var myContent = '<!DOCTYPE html>';

$("body").append("");
var frame = $("#test-iframe")[0];
frame.contentWindow.document.open('text/htmlreplace');
frame.contentWindow.document.write(myContent);
frame.contentWindow.document.close();
console.log( frame.contentWindow.document.compatMode );

JSFiddle

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Shelly Schwasnick honored as Friend of Children
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Special Programs teacher's assistant Shelly Schwasnick was recently nominated for and won a Child Care Council of Cornell Cooperative Extension Friends of Children award.
The Child Care Council describes the Friends of Children awards as honoring people in the community who devote their time and talent to ensure that our youngest citizens have the very best start in life.
Schwasnick works as a teacher's assistant in the classroom of Herkimer BOCES Special Programs teacher Lindsay Walker.
IN OTHER BUSINESS NEWS:
• The Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce's July Business After Hours will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 16, at The Utica Zoo, 1 Utica Zoo Way, Utica. The zoo will partner with Fitzgerald, DePietro & Wojnas, CPAs as co-hosts of the event. The cost for pre-registered chamber members is $10, or $15 at the door. For those who are not chamber members and wish to attend, the cost is $20.
• Mohawk Valley Community College announces the following new appointments, employee title changes, and promotions as approved by the Board of Trustees: Todd Behrendt, Dean of the School of Art; Gary Broadhurst, Dean of Athletics; Melissa Copperwheat, Dean of the School of Health Sciences; Tracy Coulson, Director of Student Accessibility and Wellness; Julie Dewan, Dean of Curriculum and Assessment; Jennifer DeWeerth, Dean of Student Enrollment; Brittany Dielemans, Coordinator of Judicial Affairs and Community Standards; Steffani DiPierro, GEAR UP Program Specialist; Dennis Gibbons, Dean of Student Life; Michelle Green, Instructor, Health Information Technology; Michael Grider, YouthBuild Case Manager; Jeffrey Grimshaw, Business Development Manager; Michael Henningsen, Completion Coach; Sarah Lam, Director of Community and Workforce Development; James Lynch, Assistant Vice President for Learning and Academic Affairs; Samantha Madderom, GEAR UP Program Specialist; James Maio, Dean of Student Support; Dawson McDermott, Director of Holistic Student Support; Michael J. Mihevc, Dean of the School of STEM-Transfer; Mark Montgomery, Dean of the School of Public and Human Services; Delvin Moody, GEAR UP Program Specialist; Rosemarie Pastorella, Completion Coach; Morris Pearson, Director of Education Outreach Center; Cheryl Plescia, Professor Emerita; James Roberts, Dean of the School of Humanities and Cultural Studies; Ibrahim Rosic, Assistant Dean of the School of STEM and Director of the Learning Commons; Kristen Skobla, Executive Director of the Center for Leadership Excellence; Timothy Thomas, Assistant Vice President for Learning and Academic Affairs; Cassie L. Tuff, Peace Officer; Saingghech Ung, Math Corps Coordinator; Christine VanNamee, Dean of the School of Business and Hospitality; Janet Visalli, Director of Holistic Student Support; Nancy Wallace, Associate Director of Human Resources for Employment and Compensation; R. Joseph Woodrow, Dean of the School of STEM-Career.
• Faxton St. Luke's Healthcare (FSLH) and St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) medical staffs announced its 2019 officers. The 2019 FSLH medical officers are: Waleed Albert, MD, FACP, president; Jonathan Block, MD, vice president; and Mathew Ulahannan, MD, treasurer/secretary. The 2019 SEMC medical officers are: Sushma Kaul, MD, president; Jonathan Wigderson, DO, vice-president; and Michael Kelberman, MD, treasurer.


REBEL 'RESILIENT' SOCK - Expression Fiber Arts, Inc.
Gorgeous yarn, love the texture of the socks, ordered more in other colors for more socks! Amazing customer service, Chandi is great!
My friends and I LOVED this color as soon as we saw it and it's even more vibrant in person! The feel is soft and though it's a sock weight yarn, still luscious. I can't wait to knit it up into the hat pattern we picked! But even just putting it into a cake is so beautiful!


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The EU starch industry – a key enabler to boosting the bioeconomy in the EU
The EU starch industry welcomes the update of the EU 2012 bioeconomy strategy
Starch Europe appreciates the new impetus given by the Commission's 2018 Action Plan in its Communication: "Bioeconomy: the European way to use our natural resources".
While the EU and Member States are responsible for many of the actions, Starch Europe will welcome any opportunity to contribute to the implementation of the 2018 action plan. Indeed, the time to deliver these concrete actions will be crucial to realise the vast potential of the bioeconomy in the EU, scaling up and strengthening the existing value chains, and unlocking investments and markets for bio-based products.
Positioned at the cross-roads of all the outlets of the bioeconomy, the EU starch industry is a key link between farmers and consumers
The EU starch industry processes EU-grown agriculture raw materials (mainly wheat, maize and starch potatoes) serving the four outlets of the bioeconomy, food, feed, industrial and energy with sustainable and added value ingredients[1].
Starch Europe's biorefineries are well-positioned to address the challenges of resource-efficiency and sustainability
Resource-efficiency is at the core of the EU starch industry's production. Through continuous innovation, the EU starch industry has reached optimum processes:
On the one hand, the EU starch industry processes all the valuable products and co-products of the grain or the tuber. In the spirit of the circular economy[2], it produces minimal waste; more than 99% of the agricultural raw materials are valorised[3], generating high resource-efficiency without producing any food waste[4].
On the other, as processes are energy-intensive, the EU starch industry is covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme Directive[5]. To achieve high levels in energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions, it implements various techniques such as Combined Heat and Power generation and energy recovery techniques.
Starch Europe advocates for a level playing field with competing industries
In the framework of the CAP, EU farmers must comply with some of the strictest rules in the world. This set of rules provides the users of EU-grown biomass with guarantees in sustainability across climate change, water, soil, biodiversity and landscape.
Renewable ingredients from the starch industry are functionally compatible with fossil-based chemicals. However, today there is no incentive to favour climate-friendly products.
Starch Europe calls on the Commission to kick-off the concrete initiatives aimed at fostering the development of markets for bio-based products early in 2019
With annual investments averaging 430 million € (of which about 80 million € in Research & Development), the EU starch industry continuously innovates to meet changing customer needs and consumer expectations for new applications, developing the functionalities of the starch products and replacing fossil-based ingredients with renewable and biodegradable starch-based ones.
Substituting fossil-based consumer products with bio-based ones is key to developing a sustainable economy based on renewable materials in Europe:
Many of these ingredients already exist and provide solutions to the market: on top of the more traditional industrial outlets like paper, cardboard and textiles, the EU starch industry today produces bio-based ingredients that are used as raw materials in the construction, chemical, cosmetics, fermentation, packaging, plastics and detergent industries.
We welcome the Commission's support for using bio-based feedstock for the production of plastics and will continue the good cooperation with the Commission's Joint Research Centre on Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) data for alternative feedstock. Furthermore, the plastics strategy underlines that bio-based plastics should be mechanically or organically recyclable and by this, links the concepts of bioeconomy and circular economy.
Starch Europe's recommendations to implement the action area number 1: "Strengthen and scale up the bio-based sectors, unlock investments and markets"
Starch Europe calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide stakeholders with a stable, long-term and predictable legal framework.
Starch Europe welcomes the inclusion of the bioeconomy as one of the objectives of the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and calls on the Member States to propose measures and indicators in their CAP National Strategic Plans. The CAP is the foundation stone of a sustainable bioeconomy in Europe and a key policy enabling the EU starch industry's sustainable supply of agricultural raw materials[6].
Starch Europe welcomes the increase in research and innovation funding and supports the Commission's proposal on Horizon Europe, the most ambitious research programme ever, to dedicate 10 billion euros to food, agriculture, rural development and the bioeconomy under the 'food and natural resources' cluster.
Starch Europe recommends to establish a one-stop-shop in the "Circular Bioeconomy Thematic Investment Platform" to enable starch companies access fit‐for‐purpose information and dedicated support:
a. This will enable investment decisions based on practical advice on integrated funding and financial instruments.
b. Investing in existing starch biorefineries contributes to the livelihood of rural areas: EU starch plants are anchored in rural areas. Often, they are one of the major employers in the region, if not the biggest.
The role of research in food and nutrition is equally crucial: Starch Europe supports the greater food orientation of Horizon Europe in public private partnerships such as the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking. Indeed, the EU starch industry also plays a part in food security:
a. During the starch production process, 5 million tonnes of valuable oil, fibres and proteins are produced, then sold for both animal and human nutrition.
b. The more starch the industry produces, the more protein and fibre-rich co-products it produces, thus providing high-quality feed and helping to offset for the EU's structural deficit in plant proteins with EU-grown proteins, developing new value chains on the EU territory.
Encompassing the FOOD2030's recommendation on nutrition and climate-smart food systems, Starch Europe calls on the Commission to support the industrial development of a sustainable and competitive supply chain for all plant-based proteins in its forthcoming EU protein plan[7].
Starch Europe commits to contributing to the creation of standards through CEN, the EU standardisation body, and calls on the Commission & Member States to increase references in their official communication to credible 'bio‐ based content' certificates and labels based on the standard EN 16785‐1:2015, such a the recently‐developed NEN[8] certificate and label for bio‐based content[9].
Starch Europe also recommends to implement the measures in the area of public procurement to raise awareness about the benefit of bio-based products and create a market for these bio-based products building on existing initiatives such as:
a. thereport[10] of the Commission's Expert Group on bio-based products entitled "15 recommendations for an increased uptake of bio-based products in public procurement". This report outlines what needs to be done at EU, regional and national level to create dynamic new markets for home-grown, EU-sourced bio-based products.
b. Another good example of market-creation measure that works is the USDA biopreferred program[11], whose economic contribution was presented to the US Congress in 2015 based on "An Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry":
i. In just one year, the US biopreferred program created 4 million jobs, with a 2.64 job multiplier effect and 379 US$ billion value added in seven sectors of the US economy (Agriculture and Forestry, Biorefining, Biobased Chemicals, Enzymes, Bioplastic Bottles and Packaging, Forest Products and Textiles)[12].
ii. By stimulating market demand for bio‐based products, supply has increased: the BioPreferred Program has registered 2500 certified bio‐based products on the US market, many of them European.
c. Last but not least, the inclusion of renewability as a criterion of Green Public Procurement and Eco-label would be a powerful instrument to communicate about the benefits of bio-based products to public procurers and consumers.
With this communication, the Commission creates the framework to launch these actions across the EU. Starch Europe calls on the Commission to kick-off the concrete initiatives that are within their remit and aim at fostering the development of markets and investments for bio-based products as early as January 2019.
Download the PDF version of this Position Paper here
[1] In 2017, it processed about 24 million tonnes of agricultural raw materials (mainly wheat, maize and starch potatoes), transformed into 11 million tonnes of starch and 5 million tonnes of proteins, fibres and oils. Ever since the starch industry began, starch has been associated as much with its non food uses as with its food ones. Of the EU's 9,4 million tonnes consumption of starch and starch derivatives, 58% go to food, 2% to feed and 40% to industrial applications.
[2] PFP statement on circular economy
[3] Starch Europe Life Cycle Assessment
[4] PFP statement on food waste and resource-efficiency
[5] Starch Europe position on the revision of the EU ETS Directive
[6] See Starch Europe's position paper on Post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy
[7] See Starch Europe's position paper on the EU protein plan: https://starch.eu/blog/2018/10/24/proteins-as-part-of-the-european-starch-industrys-value-chain/
[8] Netherlands Standardisation Institute
[9] Bio‐based content certification scheme, Bio‐based content 2017: http://www.biobasedcontent.eu/
[10] See the Commission's web page http://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/15-recommendations-increased-uptake-bio-based-products-public-procurement-0_en
[11] See USDA's web page at https://www.biopreferred.gov/BioPreferred/ and https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2016/02/18/fact-sheet-overview-usdas-biopreferred-program
[12] The 2015 report specifically excludes the following sectors: energy, livestock, food, feed, and pharmaceuticals.
Related Key-messages
4. Bioeconomy
We develop bio-based materials and alternatives to fossil-based products
We develop bio-based materials and alternatives to fossil-based products in industrial applications from renewable resources, offering functional properties and CO2 emission reductions.