text:
In-fall
by Ted Kosmatka
Published in Dec. 2010 (Issue 7) | 3564 words
The disc caved a hole in the starshine.
Smooth, graphene skin reflected nothing, blotting out the stars as it swung through the vacuum—black on black, the perfect absence of color.
It was both a ship and not a ship.
The disc lacked a propulsion system. It lacked navigation. Inside, two men awakened, first one and then the other.
In truth, the disc was a projectile—a dark bolus of life-support fired into distant orbit around another, stranger kind of darkness.
This second darkness is almost infinitely larger, massing several hundred thousand sols; and it didn't blot out the stars behind it, but instead lensed them into a bright, shifting halo, bending light into a ring, deforming the fabric of spacetime itself.
From the perspective of the orbiting disc, the stars seemed to flow around an enormous, circular gap in the star field. It had many different names, this region of space. The astronomers who discovered it centuries earlier had called it Bhat 16. Later physicists would call it "the sink." And finally, to those who came here, to those who dreamed of it, it was known simply as "the maw."
A black hole like none ever found before.
By the disc's third day in orbit, it had already traveled three hundred eighteen million miles, but this is only a tiny fraction of its complete trajectory. At the end of the disc's seventy-second hour in orbit, a small lead weight, 100 kilograms, was fired toward the heart of the gravity well—connected to the ship by a wire so thin that even mathematicians called it a line.
The line spooled out, thousands of kilometers of unbreakable tetravalent filament stretching toward the darkness until finally pulling taut. The line held fast to its anchor point, sending a musical resonance vibrating through the disc's carbon hull.
Inexorable gravity, a subtle shift.
Slowly at first, but gradually, on the fourth day, the ship that was not a ship changed course and began to fall.
The old man wiped blood from the young man's face.
"Ulii ul quisall," the young man said. Don't touch me.
The old man nodded. "You speak Thusi," he said. "I speak this, too."
The young man leaned close and spat blood at the old man. "It is an abomination to hear you speak it."
The old man's eyes narrowed.
He wiped the blood from his cheek. "An abomination," he said. "Perhaps this is true."
He held out his hand for the young man to see. In his hand was a scalpel. "Do you know why I'm here?" he asked.
Light gleamed off the scalpel's edge. This time, it was the old man who leaned close. "I'm here to cut you."
The old man placed the scalpel's blade on the young man's cheek, just beneath his left eye. The steel pressed a dimple into his pallid skin.
The young man's expression didn't change. He stared straight ahead, eyes like blue stone.
The old man considered him. "But it would be a kindness to cut you," he continued. "I see that now." He pulled the blade away and ran a thumb along the young man's jaw, tracing the web of scar tissue. "You wouldn't even feel it."
The young man sat motionless in the chair, arms bound to the armrests by thick straps. He was probably still in his teens, the beginnings of a beard making patchy whorls on his cheek. He was little more than a boy, really.
He had probably once been beautiful, the old man judged. That explained the scars. The boy's psychological profile must have shown a weakness for vanity.
Or perhaps the profiles didn't matter anymore.
Perhaps they just scarred them all now.
The old man rubbed his eyes, feeling the anger slide out of him. He put the scalpel back on the tray with the other bright and gleaming instruments.
"Sleep," he told the boy. "You will need it."
And the universe ticked on.
"Where are we going?" the boy said, after several hours.
Whether he'd slept or not, the old man wasn't sure, but at least he'd been silent.
The old man rose from his console on creaking knees. Acceleration accreted weight into the soles of his feet, allowing the simple pleasure of walking. He brought the boy water. "Drink," he said, holding out the nozzle.
The boy eyed him suspiciously, but after a moment, took a long swallow.
"Where are we going?" he repeated.
The old man ignored him.
"They have already tried to interrogate me," the boy said. "I told them nothing."
"I know. If you told them what they wanted, you wouldn't be here."
"And so now they're sending me someplace else? To try again?"
"Yes, someplace else, but not to try again."
The boy was silent for a long moment. Then he said, "For that they have you."
The old man smiled. "You are a smart one."
Rage burned in the boy's eyes, and pain beyond measuring. The earlier interrogations had been harsh. He pulled against his straps again, trying to jerk his arms free.
"Tell me where you are taking me!" he demanded.
The old man stared down at him. "You are scared," he said. "I know what you are thinking. You want out of your restraints. You're thinking that if you could get loose… oh, the things you would do to me." The old man glanced toward the tray of gleaming steel. "You wish you could use that blade on me. You wish that you were in my shoes, that I was sitting where you are.
"But you don't understand," the old man said, then leaned forward again and whispered into the boy's ear. "It is I who envy you."
The ship hummed as it fell. Charged ions blasted carbon skin.
"Why won't you tell me where we're going?"
The boy repeated the question every few minutes.
Finally the old man walked to the console and pressed a button. The wall revealed a view screen, exposing deep space, the looming maw. "There," the old man said. "We are going there."
The black hole filled half the screen.
Abyss, if there ever was one.
The boy smiled. "You try to scare me with death? I don't fear death."
"I know," the old man said.
"Death is my reward. In the afterlife, I will walk again with my father. I will tread the bones of my enemies. I will be seated at a place of honor with others who fell fighting for the side of God. Death will be a paradise for me."
"You truly believe that, don't you?"
"That is why I envy you."
The boy was a mass murderer. Or a freedom fighter.
Or maybe just unfortunate.
The old man looked at the boy's scars, noting the creative flourish that had been lavished on his face during previous interviews. Yes, unfortunate, certainly. Perhaps that above all.
Life in deep space is fragile. And humans are as they have always been.
Bombs though, are different.
In space, bombs can be much, much more effective.
If placed just right, a simple three pound bomb can destroy an entire colony. Open it to the sterilizing vacuum of the endless night. And ten thousand people dead—a whole community wiped clean in a single explosive decompression.
He'd seen that once, a long time ago, when this war first began. Seen the bodies floating frozen inside a ruptured hab, the only survivors a lucky few who scrambled into pressure suits. A lucky few like him.
Because of a three-pound bomb.
Multiply it by a hundred colonies and a dozen years. Three airless worlds. A fight over territory, culture, religion. The things man has always fought over.
Humans are as they have always been. In space though, the cost of zealotry is higher.
A thousand years ago, nations bankrupted themselves to raise armies. It cost a soldier to kill a soldier. Then came gunpowder, technology, increased population densities—gradually leveraging the cost of death along a sliding scale of labor and raw materials, until finally three pounds of basic chemistry had the power to erase whole swaths of society. Ever more effortless murder, the final statistical flat-line in the falling price of destruction.
"What is your name?" the old man asked him.
The boy didn't answer.
"We need the names of the others."
"I will tell you nothing."
"That's all we need, just the names. Nothing more. We can do the rest."
The boy stayed silent.
They watched the viewscreen. The black hole grew. The expanding darkness compressed the surrounding star field. The old man checked his instruments.
"We're traveling at half the speed of light," he said. "We have two hours, our time, until we approach the Schwarzschild radius."
"If you were going to kill me, there are easier ways than this."
"Easier ways, yes."
"I'm worth nothing to you dead."
"Nor alive."
The silence drew out between them.
"Do you know what a black hole is?" The old man asked. "What it is, really?"
The young man's face was stone.
"It is a side-effect. It is a byproduct of the laws of the universe. You can't have the universe as we know it and not have black holes. Scientists predicted them before they ever found one."
"You're wasting your time."
The old man gestured toward the screen. "This is not just a black hole though, not really. But they predicted this, too."
"Do you think you can frighten me with this game?"
"I'm not trying to frighten you."
"It makes no sense to kill me like this. You'd be killing yourself. You must have a family."
"I did. Two daughters."
"You intend to change course."
"This ship has value. Even your life must be worth something, if not to yourself then at least to those whose orders you follow. Why sacrifice both a ship and a man in order to kill one enemy?"
"I was a mathematician before your war made soldiers of mathematicians. There are variables here that you don't understand." The old man pointed at the screen again. His voice went soft. "It is beautiful, is it not?"
The boy ignored him. "Or perhaps this ship has an escape pod," the boy continued. "Perhaps you will be saved while I die. But you'd still be wasting a ship."
"I cannot escape. The line that pulls us can't be broken. Even now, the gravity draws us in. By the time we approach the Schwarzschild radius, we'll be traveling at nearly the speed of light. We will share the same fate, you and I."
The old man shrugged. "You don't have to believe. You have merely to witness."
"This doesn't make sense."
"You think it has to?"
"Shut up. I don't want to hear more from a Godless tathuun."
"Godless? Why do you assume I am Godless?"
"Because if you believed in God, you would not do this thing."
"You are wrong," the old man said. "I do believe in God."
"Then you will receive judgment for your sins."
"No," he said. "I will not."
Over the next several hours, the black hole swelled to fill the screen. The stars along its rim stretched and blurred, torturing the sky into a new configuration.
The boy sat in silence.
The old man checked his instruments. "We cross the Schwarzschild radius in six minutes."
"Is that when we die?"
"Nothing so simple as that."
"You talk in circles."
The old mathematician picked up the scalpel. He touched his finger to the razor tip. "What happens after we cross that radius isn't the opposite of existence, but its inverse."
"So now you ask the questions? Give me a name, and I'll answer any question you like."
"Why would I give you names? So they can find themselves in chairs like this?"
The old man shook his head. "You are stubborn, I can see that; so I will give you this for free. The Schwarzschild radius is the innermost orbit beyond which all things must fall inward—even communications signals. This is important to you for this reason: beyond the Schwarzschild radius, asking you questions will serve no purpose, because I will have no way to transmit the information. After that, you will be no use to me at all."
"You're saying we'll still live once we pass it?"
"For most black holes, we'd be torn apart long before reaching it. But this is something special. Super-massive, and old as time. For something this size, the tidal forces are more dilute."
The image on the screen shifted. The stars flowed in slow-motion as the circular patch of darkness spread. Blackness filled the entire lower portion of the screen.
"A black hole is a two dimensional object; there is no inside to enter, no line to cross, because nothing ever truly falls in. At the event horizon, the math of time and space trade positions."
"To distant observers, infalling objects take an infinite period of time to cross the event horizon, simply becoming ever more redshifted as time passes."
"More of your circles. Why are you doing this? Why not just kill me?"
"There are telescopes watching our descent. Recording the footage."
"As warning."
"Propaganda, you mean."
"To show what will happen to others."
"We aren't afraid to die. Our reward is in the afterlife."
The old man shook his head. "As our speed increases, time dilates. The cameras will show that we'll never actually hit the black hole. We'll never cross the threshold."
The boy's face showed confusion.
"You still don't understand. The line isn't where we die; it's where time itself ceases to function—where the universe breaks, all matter and energy coming to a halt, frozen forever on that final mathematical boundary. You will never get your afterlife, not ever. Because you will never die."
The boy's face was blank for a moment, and then his eyes went wide.
"You don't fear martyrdom," the mathematician gestured to the viewscreen. "So perhaps this."
The ship arced closer. Stars streamed around the looming wound in the starfield.
The old man put his hand on the boy's shoulder. He touched the scalpel to the boy's throat. "If you tell me the names, I'll end this quickly, while you still have time. I need the names before we reach the horizon."
"So this is what you offer?"
The old man nodded. "Death."
"What did you do to deserve this mission?"
"I volunteered."
"Why would you do such a thing?"
"I've been too long at this war. My conscience grows heavy."
"But you said you believe in God. You'll be giving up your afterlife, too."
The old man smiled a last smile. "My afterlife would not be so pleasant as yours."
"How do you know this is all true? What you said about time. How do you know?"
"I've seen the telescopic images. Previous missions spread out like pearls across the face of the event, trapped in their final asymptotic approach. They are there still. They will always be there."
"But how do you know? Maybe it's just some new propaganda. A lie. Maybe it doesn't really work that way."
"What matters is that this ship will be there for all to see, forever. A warning. Long after both our civilizations have come and gone, we will still be visible. Falling forever."
"It could still be false."
"But we are good at taking things on faith, you and I. Give me the names."
The old man thought of his daughters. One dark-eyed. The other blue. Gone. Because of boys like this boy. But not this boy, he reminded himself.
The old man looked down at the figure in the chair. He might have been that boy, if circumstances were different. If he'd been raised the way the boy was raised. If he'd seen what he'd seen. The boy was just a pawn in this game.
As was he.
"What is death to those who take their next breath in paradise?" the old man asked. "Where is the sacrifice? But this…" and the old man gestured to the dark maw growing on the screen. "This will be true martyrdom. When you blow up innocents who don't believe what you believe, this is what you're taking away from them. Everything."
The boy broke into quiet sobs.
The horizon approached, a graphic on the screen. One minute remaining.
"You can still tell me,
—there is still time.
—perhaps they are your friends, perhaps your family.
—do you think they'd protect you?
—they wouldn't.
—we just need names.
—a few names, and this will all be over. I'll end it for you before it's too late."
The boy closed his eyes. "I won't."
His daughters. Because of boys like this boy.
"Why?" the old man asked, honestly confused. "It does not benefit you. You get no paradise."
"I take your heaven from you," the old man said. "You will receive nothing."
"Your loyalty is foolish. Tell me one name, and I will end this."
"I will not," the boy said. There were tears on his cheeks.
The old mathematician sighed. He'd never expected this.
"I believe you," he said, then slashed the boy's throat.
A single motion, severing the carotid.
The boy's eyes flashed wide in momentary surprise, then an emotion more complicated. He slumped forward in his bonds.
It was over.
The old man ran a palm over the boy's eyes, closing them. "May it be what you want it to be," he said.
He sat down on the floor against the growing gravity.
He stared at the screen as the darkness approached.
The mathematician in him was pleased. A balancing of the equation. "A soldier for a soldier."
He thought of his daughters, one brown-eyed, the other blue. He tried to hold their faces in his mind, the final thought that he would think forever.
Not the reverse of existence, but its inverse.
And he waited to be right or wrong.
To be judged for his sins or not.
Spotlight with Ted Kosmatka
More by Ted Kosmatka
Tags: Best of the Year, Lightspeed: Year One, Reprinted in Gardner Dozois's The Year's Best Science Fiction
Ted Kosmatka
Ted Kosmatka's short stories have appeared in many venues, including Asimov's, Nature, Nightmare, and Lightspeed, and have been reprinted in numerous Year's Best anthologies. He has been nominated for both the Nebula and Sturgeon awards. His debut novel The Games was nominated for Locus Magazine's Best First Novel award. His most recent novel is The Flicker Men, published by Henry Holt. Originally from northwest Indiana, Ted now lives in the Pacific Northwest with his family.


LeaseAccelerator, the pioneer of the Enterprise Lease Accounting software category, announced today that over 60 SAP-centric companies have selected its SaaS application to manage and account for their portfolio of leases and assets. LeaseAccelerator offers a global lease accounting engine and lease management application that can be easily integrated with SAP's general ledger, accounts payable, and real estate applications.
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text:
Chapter 2 on Family literacy in the EU and beyond
by Ann Hegarty
This chapter aims to give an overview of the diverse approaches to policy relating to FL across the EU. Before considering EU policy, and to further contextualise this section of the OER, the chapter opens with a glance at UN FL policy. The chapter then turns towards related EU overarching policy frameworks and finally we drill down into the policy approaches within two EU Member States: Luxembourg and Ireland. These countries were chosen for their contrasting policy efforts, one which takes a whole of government approach and the other which situates FL policies across a range of childhood, educational and social inclusion policies. The chapter also provides links to a range of relevant policy documents in a number of other EU countries and concludes with some reflection prompts.
United Nations 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals
Whilst there is a lack of discrete policy relating to FL across the EU a robust policy backdrop is to be found in the United Nations 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The ambitious SDGs, espouse a strong commitment to FL as a means of combating disadvantage, inequality and social exclusion through an intergenerational approach to FL (UNESCO, 2017).
At first glance, the most obvious SDG related to FL is SDG4. This goal requires countries to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. SDG4 sets a range of targets to be achieved by 2030 including the following targets which are related to the goals of FL.
/en/file/sdg4pngSDG4.png
Source from: UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals.
4.1 aims to ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education
4.2 seeks to ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
4.5 eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
4.6 ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.
/en/file/sdgpngSDG.png
The integrated and embedded nature of FL across many areas of life becomes apparent when the entirety of the SDGs are forensically examined through a literacy lens which views literacy as socially situated. For policymakers, such an enquiry brings to light the often overlooked possibilities of FL and its transformational role in disrupting intergenerational patterns of educational disadvantage. From such a perspective, FL can be seen to be critical to the achievement of the full spectrum of the SDGs.
EU policy context
There is no one EU wide FL policy. Rather, FL has a number of related but diverse policy homes. Policies focus sometimes on adults and sometimes on children and are located within the fields of adult basic skills, adult basic education, lifelong learning, childhood education and other sectoral policies for social inclusion. Such fragmentation across a range of policy domains highlights a need for a more robust and strategic approach to FL policy making in the EU. A unifying and sustainable European FL structure could provide a vision for Member States where a generic policy would be regionally and locally interpreted. This in turn would provide guidance for locally responsive and integrated implementation strategies. Such a strategy would afford an opportunity to further strengthen the effectiveness of FL interventions and have the potential to impact on the literacy development and lifelong learning trajectory of adults and children across the EU.
Related European policies
Education and Training 2020
In a European context ET2020 (Education and Training 2020) relates closely to FL in that it has social as well as economic goals (European Commission, 2013). The common strategic framework sets targets for a range of areas in the Inclusive Education strand including basic skills, early childhood education and participation in lifelong learning.
European Pillar of Social Rights
More recently, the EU accord on the European Pillar of Social Rights was unanimously agreed by the EU-28 in 2017. Member States have set an agenda for implementing new and more effective citizens' rights in equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions and social protection and inclusion. Progress on the Social Pillar is tracked by an online scoreboard and includes measures for education, skills and lifelong learning. Under the EU Pillar of Social Rights, children from disadvantaged backgrounds have the right to specific measures to enhance their chances of equality and their quality of early childhood care. The Social Pillar is concerned with the impact of public policy on reducing poverty in each Member State and as such has relevance for the underpinning ethos as well as the immediate goals of FL.
Case studies from Europe
Luxembourg: A whole of Government approach to family learning
Family literacy programs in Ireland
It could be argued that the absence of one unifying FL policy framework across the EU signifies the integrated and socially situated nature of FL. Family literacy processes and practices are already interwoven in family and community life and as such go unremarked. In such a context FL can be overlooked by policy makers until such times as International Literacy Assessments are published. The focus then is again targeted at raising levels of literacy skills across continents and FL is brought in from the margins.
Family literacy includes programmes and interventions which aim to support the development of literacy confident individuals, families and communities. It can be viewed as a foundation stone of engagement in lifelong learning, which is a key goal of the EU and of Upskilling Pathways. Furthermore Luxembourg's whole of Government approach to the implementation of an integrated policy provides a useful and adaptable model for the development of an EU wide sustainable FL policy framework. This would go some way to addressing persistent challenges of educational disadvantage, inequality and exclusion and contribute to a more literacy robust EU.
Prompts for reflection
What do you know about your country's FL polices?
What do you imagine would be the advantages of an EU wide policy to support the proliferation of FL across the EU Member States?
In your opinion what might be the downsides to such a policy?
How does FL contribute to the objectives of UP recommendations?
Recommendations for further relevant resources are welcome in the comment section below!
The Capacity Building Series of EBSN provides free open educational resources (OERs) and massive online courses (MOOCs) through EPALE, to help the implementation of the European Commission recommendations on Upskilling pathways in EU Member States. EPALE is funded by the Erasmus+ programme, as part the European Commission's ongoing commitment to improving the quality of adult learning provision in Europe. The project is implemented with the support of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).
Continue here!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The developers of Buzz Launcher have kicked of a pretty wholesome competition in order to grow awareness for their product. The contest calls for designers and users alike, which the developers refer to as "Buzzers" to create, rate and share their favorite Buzz launcher homescreens. It's really not difficult to do at all, and if you've been using the popular app for some time now you should already have the wherewithal to get this done.
If you've never used Buzz launcher before, it differs from usual launchers because of how the content is offered. Users can share, rate and install homescreens that other users have designed and download them in one shot. Instead of installing and setting up all the various components associated with a homescreen, Buzz allows users to download everything they need in a single package without all the hassle. So, if you see a particular homescreen setup you really love, you can get it installed on your device with the click of a button.
Up to $2,000 will be awarded to regular users with the most shares. To break it down, the top three users will net prizes of $300.
The contest started today, and will run until July 15, 2013. The winners of the content will be announced on July 22, 2013.
What are you waiting for? Get out there and get rating, or creating!


text:
Philippe Assouline
Speaking power to truth in Gaza and the West Bank
On the gagging of progressive Palestinian voices
Nov 4, 2012, 9:55 AM
This post was co-written with Daniel Campos Putterman, founder of No Borders Israel, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting xenophobia and religious intolerance through music, and to opposing violations of freedom of music and artistic speech everywhere.
I thought poetry could change everything… but now I think that poetry changes only the poet.
— Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish
Artists move us beyond dogmas. Think of the role of music in the anti-war movement of the 1960s. Think of the impact that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or "The Diary of Anne Frank" had on public consciousness. Art is the vanguard of progress.
The Middle East is no exception. Artists were pioneers of the Israeli peace camp. They nudged a majority of Israel beyond traditional fears and founding mythologies to see people where they once saw only a threat, and the Oslo peace process was in no small way a result of their efforts. Yitzhak Rabin held a copy of "A Song for Peace" in his pocket on the day he was shot. Authors like Amos Oz and A. B. Yehoshua are still incessantly pushing for Israel to compromise.
On the Palestinian side, progressive artistic voices have been much more hesitant (music and art have actually celebrated violence). And yet, Mahmoud Darwish, the most prominent Palestinian poet, was resolute after the crushing Arab reversal of 1967 that brought Israel to the West Bank and Gaza when he said: "I will continue to humanize even the enemy." In an age of ubiquitous demonization, it is precisely this humanization of the enemy that is needed for progress to happen.
But today, Palestinian governments – both Fatah of the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza – are systematically crushing progressive and liberal artistic voices and therefore making peace, or even coexistence, less likely. A few telling examples:
May 2012, Gaza – Literary festival is shut down for being critical of Hamas: Armed Hamas men violently broke up a Palestinian literature festival because the Hamas government had been criticized in some of the lectures.
January 2012, Gaza – "Palestinian Idol" is banned for being secular: Hamas banned the popular TV contest for being "indecent." Hamas spokesmen said that the popular show, which for years has showcased young secular and religious performers, "has harmed (our) culture and traditions."
December 2011, Ramallah – Singer is forced to quit mid-show for song critical of Fatah government: Popular Palestinian musician Basel Zayed was forced under threat of violence to stop his New Year's Eve concert mid-song. The reason: Zayed's song was critical of the Palestinian Authority. Ironically, organizers protested that the concert had "a lofty goal, namely anti-normalization through art, one of the most dangerous types of normalization" (translation).
December, 2011, Ramallah – Popular Arab singer is prevented from performing because he is also Israeli: A popular Israeli Arab musician was prevented from performing at a New Year's Eve party. The Palestinians authorities were angered by the fact that the singer was presented as an Israeli and that some of his songs were in Hebrew. Palestinian Authority policemen raided the hall and ordered the appearance canceled.
Oct 2011, Gaza – First Gaza Hip Hop party is forcefully dispersed; cooperation with Israeli peace activists is rejected for fear of arrest: Hamas forces broke up rapper Mothafar Assar's gig at Gaza's first hip hop party and confiscated video cameras. Assar's show was considered at odds with Hamas's brand of Islam.
Assar was also compelled to reject an offer by Israeli NGO Peace Now to record a track with an Israeli rapper to promote coexistence. "It could have been a positive thing, but I would have been viewed as a collaborator. I would have been arrested the next day," Assar said.
Summer 2011, Gaza – Palestinian films are banned or censored for showing women flirting: Hamas's Culture Ministry banned the Palestinian film "Masho Matook" which depicts Israeli troops interacting with soccer-playing Palestinian children. Hamas cited a scene where Israeli soldiers interact with a Palestinian woman with uncovered hair. "She was leaning and laughing, looking at the Israeli soldiers, and that was not appropriate. Palestinian women would not do that."
A film festival hosted by the Gaza Women's Affairs Center was subjected by Hamas to the forced removal of scenes of women flirting and "any work that violates traditional values because we want to preserve the heritage of the community."
December 2010, Gaza – Last liberal youth center is shut down by Hamas for teaching music and dancing: Hamas shut down the last liberal youth organization in Gaza, accusing it of "ethical corruption, encouraging non-veiling, mixing of the sexes, and teaching music and dancing." The closure means the end of "a refuge for the young and pro-democratic [who value] individual liberties and human rights." Police also arrested around 20 young men and physically assaulted a woman who protested the decision, and confiscated reporters' cameras.
Oct 31 2010, Qalqilya – Palestinian poet and blogger is arrested for atheistic writing: Waleed Al-Husseini was arrested by Fatah security forces for the crime of expressing his atheistic beliefs online. Al-Husseini had posted satirical poems in Quranic style and refuted religious arguments (coercion of religion by the Fatah government of the West bank is increasingly prevalent).
July 2010, Ramallah – "Boney M." prevented from singing hit song inspired by Bible because it tells of Israelites: The legendary disco band was prevented from singing their psalm-inspired hit "By the Rivers of Babylon" because the ancient lyrics express a Jewish yearning to return to the Holy Land from exile in Babylon. (This recalls Egypt's ban of an audio cassette for Christian children because it featured a song based on the biblical story of David and Goliath, which was deemed pro-Israel.)
October 2009, Gaza – Uniformed gunmen assault "atheist" singer: Gunmen in uniform abducted Salah Al-Qeshawi, his son and his band after a wedding reception. The armed men shouted "atheist" while beating the musicians and warned the young boy "don't ever sing, singing is forbidden." The men stole Salah's phone and 600 shekels.
October 2009, Gaza – Extremist groups assault and kidnap singer: Five days later, gunmen beat Palestinian singer Khalid Faraj with a rifle, put him in a black bag and sped away. A source close to the singer said that he had been the target of many attempts to silence him by "unidentified extremist parties."
April 2009, Jenin – Youth Orchestra disbanded for performing for elderly Holocaust survivors: Palestinian authorities disbanded a local youth orchestra because the students had played for Holocaust survivors in Israel, explaining that such a concert "served enemy interests." The Israeli-Arab conductor of the orchestra was banned from Jenin.
Far too little has been written about this. Palestinian progressives deserve the freedom to express themselves politically and artistically without fear of violent repercussion. The Palestinians need to hear their voices. And liberals should support them. Ultimately, it is not only Israel but Palestinian society as a whole that will suffer from the subjugation of art to illiberal politics.
Philippe Assouline is a lawyer and PhD candidate in International Relations and Political science. His research is on the Middle East, and investigating whether positive communication can foster peace between Israelis and Arabs. Philippe believes that dehumanizing propaganda, like BDS, fuels hatred and war. Accordingly, he has written posts criticizing BDS and profiling dissidents and Arab peace activists, to break barriers between Jews and Arabs.
Liberal US Jews say Trump weaponizing Israel to defend racist tweets
Palestinians denounce Trump tweets against hometown hero Tlaib
Mohammed Daraghmeh


text:
Donbass battalion
Ukrainian extremists threaten to sever the Donbass water and electricity
March 10, 2017 – Fort Russ News –
– RusVesna – Translated by James Harmon
If participants in the trade blockade of Donbass do not reach their goals, they plan to sever the supply of electricity and water to the republic to create "intolerable conditions", typical of the inhumanity of extremist factions and fascists who lack humanitarian understanding of populations and their needs.
This was stated by the second commander of the dangerous and extremist battalion "Donbass", Anatoly Vinogrodsky, a virulent ultranationalist and fascist sympathizer.
"We will close the supply of all goods, electricity and water, which will flow into the occupied territory, in order to organize unbearable conditions for the population, so they began to harass Zakharchenko and his minions", Vinogrodsky stated bluntly.
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/03/ukrainian-extremists-threaten-to-sever.html
Tagged blockade, Donbass battalion, electricity, Vinogrodsky, water
Ukrainian security forces are fighting each other
Anatoly Tarasov for Vesti, Latvia – translated by Joaquin Flores
Fighting occurred between regular units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces yesterday in Avdeyevka, in the Donetsk oblast. This was reported by the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) Ministry of Defense Corps, Deputy Commander Edward Basurin.
"We have documented evidence of an exacerbation of confrontation not only between the regular army and the Ukrainian Volunteer Battalions, but also skirmishes between units of the UAF," explained Basurin.
The Deputy Commander said this before reports that the 93rd mechanized brigade of the UAF required the rogue volunteer battalion 'OUN' (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists) to leave their positions near Peski.
"And today, April 11, in Avdeyevka there has been fighting between regular units," said Basurin.
"Please note that these facts of Ukrainian units firing at each other, are presented to the Ukrainian authorities as a violation of the ceasefire by the DNR militia, as regularly reported in the OSCE and Ukraine controlled media," – said the representative of the military department DNR .
Recall that on April 1st, the DNR Defense Ministry reported that the Ukrainian battalion "Donbass" opened fire on positions of the "Right Sector." According to representatives of the militia units who do not want to obey the command of the UAF, "We reserve the right not to respect the ceasefire."
The leadership of the armed forces of Ukraine had decided, at the end of the day, to take the Volunteer Battalion 'OUN' from the line of contact (ceasefire line) in Peski.
"By staying on the front line, the Volunteer Battalion of the OUN, which is not officially part of the armed forces, did not allow Ukraine to fully implement the Minsk agreement"- said in a statement posted on the UAF website.
The ceasefire officially came into effect in Donbass on February 14, 2015 at 01:00 in Donetsk. The DNR has repeatedly stated that compliance with the truce depends entirely on the Ukrainian side.
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/04/ukrainian-security-forces-are-fighting.html
Tagged DNR, Donbass battalion, Eduard Basurin, OSCE, OUN, Right Sector, UAF, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Volunteer Battalion of OUN
Amnesty International says humanitarian disaster looms as food aid blocked in Eastern Ukraine, yet doesn't tell the whole truth
From Amnesty International, December 24, 2014
Comments from Eric Zuess follow.
Pro-Kyiv volunteer battalions are increasingly blocking humanitarian aid into eastern Ukraine in a move which will exacerbate a pending humanitarian crisis in the run up to Christmas and New Year, said Amnesty International.
"As winter sets in, the already desperate situation in eastern Ukraine is being made even worse by the volunteer battalions preventing food aid and medicine from reaching those in need. It is no secret that the region is facing a humanitarian disaster with many already at risk of starvation," said Denis Krivosheev, acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International.
"These battalions often act like renegade gangs and urgently need to be brought under control. Denying food to people caught up in a conflict is against international law and the perpetrators must be held to account."
Amnesty International has received information that the pro-Kyiv battalions, which include Dnipro-1 and Aidar, have blocked aid entering territories controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR).
The Dnipro-1 volunteer battalion, along with members of Donbass battalion and Pravyi Sector militia, are reported to have blocked 11 roads leading into the DNR-controlled territory. They have refused to allow most aid convoys through, because they believe food and clothing are ending up in the wrong hands and may be sold instead of being given as humanitarian aid. They also insist on the release of prisoners held by the separatist forces as a condition for granting access to the humanitarian aid to the east.
At least four convoys sent by the humanitarian foundation of Rinat Akhmetov, one of Ukraine's richest men, were blocked on the roads leading to the separatist-controlled territory by the Dnipro-1 battalion last week.
After stopping one of the convoys Vladimir Manko, deputy commander of the Dnipro-1 battalion, told the Ukrainian media:
"We don't have any control on the other side. It turns out that we're at war with them and we're spilling our blood, but in the same time we're feeding them."
Over half of the population in these areas are now entirely dependent on food aid as wages, pensions and social benefits are not being paid regularly as a result of the conflict that began in May. The decision of the Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv to essentially cut off the region from the Ukrainian financial system in November is also contributing to the hardship of the local population.
An aid worker from the Luhansk Region has informed Amnesty International that Aidar battalion is also stopping and searching cars that travel from Starobil'sk to Luhansk and vice versa. Members of the battalion, which was previously implicated in arbitrary detention and torture, are reportedly stopping food and medicines getting through to the region.
The aid worker recalled a particular case when medicines for four elderly people in Krasnodon, who are suffering from heart and blood pressure conditions, were snatched from a bus at a checkpoint.
"Checking the content of humanitarian convoys crossing frontline is one thing. Preventing it is another. Attempting to create unbearable conditions of life is a whole new ballgame. Using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime," said Denis Krivosheev.
The population of the region has suffered from six months of fighting between Kyiv-controlled and pro-Russian separatist forces. More than 4,700 people have died and thousands more live in fear of being caught in the crossfire or being entirely cut off from vital food and medical supplies.
Amnesty International reiterates its call for the Ukrainian authorities to reign in the volunteer battalions and to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who desperately need it.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/eastern-ukraine-humanitarian-disaster-looms-food-aid-blocked-2014-12-23
Comments: By Eric Zuesse
Ukraine's Government is Starving Residents of the Breakaway Region
Amnesty International has found that "the already desperate situation in eastern Ukraine is being made even worse by" so-called 'volunteer' or mercenary forces for the Ukrainian Government, which are blocking the supply of food to residents in that region, and trying to starve them to death.
Thus, "The region is facing a humanitarian disaster with many already at risk of starvation," said Denis Krivosheev, acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International, on Wed, December 24th.
Amnesty International reports that, "Over half of the population in these areas are now entirely dependent on food aid."
The AI report quotes one commander of these mercenary forces as giving his reason for blocking the humanitarian supplies, as being: "We're at war with them and we're spilling our blood, but in the same time we're feeding them"; so, they refuse to allow the aid convoys through.
Germany's Nazi forces during World War II gave the same explanation for why they treated the entire population in their conquered regions as being the enemy: they were the enemy, to be exploited and not served; they were thus to be cleared out, or else slaughtered, in order to provide "lebensraum" for the conquering people ('Aryans'), who would be moving in and taking over the natural and other resources of the region, to be used by the Nazi state. (In the present instance, gas is one of the main resources in the rebelling region, which is the site of the vast Yuzivska gas field, and Obama's people want it; and one of the Obama team's appointed leaders there, the billionaire Ihor Kolomoysky, hired Joe Biden's son and a friend of John Kerry for the board of his gas-exploration company.)
The situation is similar in southeastern Ukraine to that during WW II. The United States Government (in the person of Victoria Nuland of the State Department) chose Arseniy Yatsenyuk on 4 February 2014, which was 18 days prior to the coup, to become the new leader of Ukraine as soon as the democratically elected leader, Viktor Yanukovych would be overthrown, which turned out to be on February 22nd (though Nuland had no way of knowing at the time what the specific date of the overthrow would be). Almost immediately after Yatsenyuk became the leader of Ukraine, on March 5th, he sacked the existing three Deputy Defense Ministers, and replaced them with three rabidly anti-Russian racist-fascists or nazis, who were committed to the policy of bombing the residents in that area, the area that had voted 90% for Yanukovych. The person who was made the Minister of Defense, Mikhail Koval, then announced his intention to ethnically cleanse from southeastern Ukraine the "subhumans" who voted for Yanukovych, who will "be resettled in other regions," meaning either Russia (if Russia accepted these Ukrainian refugees) or else concentration-camps inside Ukraine (and then perhaps death). Their property was to be confiscated, and "Land parcels will be given out for free to the servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other military formations, as well as to the employees of Interior Ministry and the Security Service of Ukraine that are defending territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country in eastern and southeastern regions of Ukraine." That's the euphemism for the ethnic cleansing, and mass-theft. In other words, Obama's new rulers of Ukraine were offering their soldiers the opportunity to grab legally the property of their victims. Ukraine doesn't have the money to pay for all the soldiers that are needed to do this ethnic cleansing; so, they're being promised war-booty, instead. Destroying the residents is the way to get it.
Amnesty International cannot afford to say this. According to sourcewatch (before they took their site down) Amnesty International is largely funded by Western aristocrats, and the famous Professor Francis H. Boyle has said, "Amnesty International is primarily motivated not by human rights but by publicity. Second comes money. Third comes getting more members. Fourth, internal turf battles. And then finally, human rights." So: they're heavily dependent upon Western, and especially upon American, aristocrats, including such people as George Soros and his Open Society Foundation, and his International Renaissance Fund (which donated heavily to promoting the coup). In other words: AI needs to watch out.
Here is an uncensored description of the situation in that region of Ukraine, which is called "Donbass." It comes from George H. Eliason, an American who lives there, and whose reports on the situation in Ukraine I have always found to be true in the past.
[George Eliason's description is also posted at http://www.globalresearch.ca/kiev-regime-is-forcing-death-by-starvation-and-relocation-in-east-ukraine/5420460
https://freeukrainenow.org/2014/12/19/kiev-regime-is-forcing-death-by-starvation-freezing-and-relocation-in-east-ukraine-will-we-stand-by-and-do-nothing/%5D
Tagged Aidar battalion, Amnesty International, Denis Krivosheev, Dnipro-1, DNR, Donbass, Donbass battalion, George Eliason, George Soros, humanitarian, LNR, Pravy Sector, Rinat Akhmetov, Vladimir Manko
U.S. military instructors prepare clandestine terror groups for Russian-speaking territories
Posted by Global Research, November 02, 2014
Originally from Antifascist.com
The first group of fighters from volunteer punitive battalion Donbass started training yesterday at the training center in the town of Zolochiv, Lvov region, under the leadership of American instructors.
'Experimental' program as outlined on the official website of the battalion, will last one month, and is aimed at training of junior commanders. It is reported that the Americans will train guards in all the subtleties of work with personnel, management of brigades, and improving coordination.
At the same time, according to other sources, the militants also will be trained to conduct sabotage and terrorist activities on 'enemy' territory, the skills of organizing of clandestine groups and intelligence.
According to the news agency Voenkor, the most radicalized "ideological militants" are chosen for the courses, including ethnic Russians. The latter, obviously, get special attention, because with the lack of accent they can be planted on the Russian territory with a minimum of risk of immediate exposure.
Commander of 'Donbass' battalion Semen Semenchenko (Grishin) have repeatedly talked about the creation of training centres for 'partisans' to work in the liberated territories of Novorossia and the Russian Federation. It should also be noted that US intelligence agencies have a wealth of experience in such training
Translated from Russian by Fortruss.blogspot.no
http://fortruss.blogspot.no/2014/10/american-instructors-prepairing.html
http://antifashist.com/item/amerikancy-pristupili-k-perekovke-ukrainskih-karatelej-na-diversantov.html#ixzz3Hmen8hO0
Posted at http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-us-military-instructors-preparing-clandestine-terror-groups-in-russian-speaking-territories/5411381
Tagged Donbass battalion, Semenchenko, Zolochiv


text: Q: How to fix the Authlogic Heroku Can't Logout Issue in Production? I followed the Railscasts on using Authlogic and it works perfect locally in the development environment but when I push to Heroku, I cannot logout. I read that using an Active Record session works but I also read that it's not advised for large traffic sites. I'm not using Passenger. Any advice would be helpful.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Sick bullies film attack on girl, 12
A gang of young thugs used a mobile phone to film a sickening attack on a group of terrified schoolgirls.
One of the girls was kicked in the head and stamped on as she lay defenceless and whimpering on the ground in a city park.
Astonishingly one of the sadistic attackers? pals gave a running commentary into the phone as the girls rained down blows on a terrified 12-year-old.
Three teenage girls mounted the attack in Caludon Castle park in Wyken, Coventry, last week as a group of boys recorded the cruel abuse on a mobile.
The shocking assault has provoked outrage from the 12-year-old?s mother, who has spoken out against the thugs as her daughter recovers from her injuries.
The mother-of-three, who lives in the Wyken area, just streets away from the horrific assault in the park, fears other children are being targeted by the gang as part of a sick game.
She is furious with her daughter?s teenage attackers, but is afraid of reprisals on her family and asked not to be identified.
She said: ?They surrounded my daughter, who was petrified, kicked her to the floor, punched her while she was lying frightened on the ground and kicked her all over her body, including her head.
?They stamped on her as she lay still on the floor. We have two trainer prints on her trousers which the police have taken away as evidence.
?My daughter was so scared she could not cry, she could only whimper.
?She has never been in a fight in her life, never brought home any problems. She?s so soft and gentle. How evil and cruel are these people??
The attackers pounced on the 12-year-old and her two female friends on Thursday at 4pm.
One of the gang had knocked down one of the group near the castle ruins so they moved on. But when they headed off for dinner the mob followed and set on the only girl who wasn?t crying.
After the unprovoked attack, the girl was taken home by a kind woman.
The girl?s mother said she wanted to thank her ?from the from the bottom of my heart?.
The girl has described her attacker as having brown shoulder length hair in plaits, and said she was wearing new white trainers.
Another girl attacker had short blonde hair, was tall and had two gold necklaces on.
Police are investigating. Call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 with information.


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Every insurer has different policies and procedures when it comes to your insurance, and while some may offer excellent premiums and great service, others will simply say that they do. So how do you sort the wheat from the chaff? Simple.
Ask your insurer about their ability to cover multiple policies. You may find that if you insure more than one car with your insurer, you will get a discount. This is a great way to save money, especially if you have more than one car to insure. If you can bundle your car, home and life insurance, this is even better.
Also ask your insurer to take your particular life situation into consideration. You should not be charged in the same way as someone who lives or works in a high risk area. If your car is parked inside a locked garage at night, why should you pay the same premium as someone who parks on the street?
Also note that the type of vehicle you drive is also important. Sports cars generally carry a higher premium than small hatchbacks, while a car without a tracking system will be more expensive to insure than one with a tracker. Also important is the car's sound system, the tyres, any anti-hijack devices and window tinting. All of these things need to be considered when your unique premium is constructed.
The distance you drive should also be on the premium. After all, your chances of having an accident if you drive just 5km is less than someone who may be driving 50km on a daily basis. It is all about the law of averages and your insurer should be taking all of these into account.
If you are not sure that your insurer has set up your risk profile according to the points mentioned here, you may need to look around for a new insurer. The business of insurance is all about managing risks, and if you have a lower risk profile, you should be paying a lower premium for car insurance and for other types too.


text:
National Trail Newspaers
Home News Attack On Journalist: Court Issues Warrant Of Arrest Against Kwara Commissioner
Attack On Journalist: Court Issues Warrant Of Arrest Against Kwara Commissioner
By Steve Oni, Ilorin
An Ilorin Magistrate's court has issued an order of warrant of arrest against the Kwara state Commissioner for Commerce and Cooperatives, Mr Tunde Agboola, for failure to appear before the court on allegations of causing bodily harm, and attempted culpable homicide on a broadcast journalist in the state.
It will be recalled that a broadcast journalist and former Chairman of the Radio Kwara chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Alhaji Abdullahi Adisa-Akodudu was on March 28, 2019 reportedly attacked and beaten to stupor by suspected hoodlums over a land dispute at Irewolede housing estate along New Yidi road, llorin .
Speaking with newsmen in Ilorin after the court sitting, counsel to the plaintiff, Yahaya AbdulRasheed Alajo, said that it was the first time that the case came up in court for mentioning.
"The case was actually mentioned. We expected the accused persons to take their pleas today, but the first defendant, who is the commissioner did not show up in court. For that reason, the court could not go ahead with the case. Attempts were made to serve him court notice, but he was evading service of the summon. So, the court ordered the warrant of arrest and he be arrested to make him appear in court on adjourned date on June 18, 2019.
"The incident is that complainant here, Adisa Akodudu complained before the court that all defendants brought before the court harassed him, beat him and caused bodily injury on him and that attempts were made on his life, an offence under the law. The accused were brought before the court on allegations of conspiracy, causing bodily injury and making attempts on his life, which is culpable homicide punishable with death.
"The matter is about a fight over a piece of land, which had been earlier assigned to our client. The people thought because they are in government and they think they can do and undo. They brought thugs, including the commissioner. Our client believed that it's in the court that he can get justice, and that's why he was in court.
"First defendant, who is the commissioner, was not in court today, all other four defendants, who are staff of Housing Corporation. He was not in court despite the fact that he was aware of the case. On several occasions, the court orderly made attempts to serve him but he refused service. So, court saw this as an affront on the court and ordered his arrest before the adjourned date", he said.
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Online betting is quickly becoming one of the favourite pastimes around the globe. It is a great way to relax in your spare time and have some fun. For those of you who are new to online betting, we've prepared a list of tips that can come in handy as you embark on a journey through the flashy world of online casinos.
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3) Choosing a bookmaker/casino: there are so many online casinos out there that choosing the right one can seem really challenging. Always read user reviews before putting your trust in an online casino. There are many good ones, but there are also plenty of illegal online casinos. Do a background check, see if the casino has licence and read the terms and conditions before depositing money.
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5) Understand the odds: the very point of betting on sports is to try to beat the bookmaker by finding the odds that are above "fair" value. Bookmakers have teams of experts whose job is to set the odds, but sometimes punters can outsmart them. This can happen for instance when a bookmaker is introducing a new market.
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7) Live betting: live betting online is a great way to bet on sports because it allows you to place bets even after the game has started, leading to better chances of winning.


Advil is the top-selling brand in the $3.5 billion over-the-counter pain reliever category.1 But in 2014, sales and household penetration were declining and Advil was losing its leadership equity. Advil was struggling with a lack of identity among consumers who viewed it to be substitutable with its generic, store brand counterpart. To positively differentiate itself, command a price premium (versus store brands), and grow the business, Advil needed to strengthen its emotional connection with consumers with a memorable new campaign.
"Functional attributes are correlated to, and ladder up to, key emotional benefits." This was revealed through brand equity tracking.
"Although pain plays a big role in people's lives, our consumers choose to defy the pain." This was revealed from qualitative consumer immersions—online community boards, mobile video diaries, in-home interviews and shop-alongs—video-taped in a story-telling format.
"There are unspoken drivers of decision making in this category." Heuristics-based studies on drivers of behavior informed the thinking behind 200 new campaign idea concepts.
"Advil had consumers' permission to engage in a much more emotional way." Forty campaign ideas were quantitatively tested and ranked, using prediction-markets and crowd-wisdom research methods that provided insights about the emotional strength of each idea.
"The power of an idea was rooted in its simplicity." In a qualitative-quantitative study, "Distant Memory" consistently won praise. Consumers smiled and laughed, describing the execution as pithy, memorable, telepathic and the sentiment (defiance toward pain) they wanted to exude to their social circle. This was the break-through moment.
In its final copy test validation, Advil's "Distant Memory" campaign successfully delivered on all the necessary measures to drive emotional connection with viewers. With an upbeat pace and lively and invigorating music, it features various everyday people doing extraordinary things—from an elderly woman doing yoga on her hands to a man breakdancing on his wrists. A voice-over states, "With Advil, you'll ask, 'What backache? What sore wrist?... Advil makes pain a distant memory."
The campaign launched across television, print, digital social, and in-store platforms. Mobile was a key component. Thumb-stopping videos posted on Facebook showcased exhilarating moments in life when pain is a distant memory. In 2016, "Distant Memory" was the Advil's first Super Bowl television commercial since 1992. Aware that its target consumer over-indexes on social media and would have his or her mobile device during the game, Advil set up a newsroom for live Tweeting.
Among the results, brand tracking showed significant gains across key metrics. And within six months of the launch, Advil sales rose by 3 percent, outpacing the category performance. Its buy rate rose 8 percent versus the prior year, while store brands fell 3 percent. Marketing mix analysis showed increases in incremental sales volume and television effectiveness, with digital efforts driving a 24 percent increase in both effectiveness and return on investment.


text:
Sandy Tatum Remembers Bill Campbell
By Sandy Tatum Photos by AP Photo
Campbell playing in the final of the 1964 U.S. Amateur.
Editor's note: Sandy Tatum is a former standout amateur golfer and a past president of the USGA.
In a life loaded with fortuitous developments among the most fortuitous is the friendship I was privileged to have with Bill Campbell. The bonding agent in that friendship was our respective love affairs with the game.
That bonding lead to sharing a wonderful lot of golf experiences with Bill. Obviously his ability to play the game was very impressive. Add to that his personality and pervasive enthusiasm and the experience is memorable to say the least.
Related: Wisdom from Bill Campbell and other golf sages
Bill Campbell was a quintessential golfer. His record as a player qualifies as unique. Elements of that evaluation are:
-- Won the U.S. Amateur 1964
-- Runner up in the British Amateur 1954
-- Walker Cup: Over a period of 24 years played on eight Walker Cup teams. Was captain in 1955 and had a singles record of 7 wins, 0 losses, tie.
-- Winner U.S. Senior Amateur 1979, 1980
-- 2nd in the 1980 Senior Open
-- Won 15 consecutive West Virginia Amateur Championships
-- Played in 37 U.S. Amateur Championships, including 33 consecutively from 1941-1977
-- In the period 1949-1975 played in 15 U.S. Opens
-- In the period 1950-1976 played in 18 Masters
As he was achieving that record he was living a life enhanced with other accomplishments. To cite a few among many illustrative examples:
-- He and his wife Joan raised six children
-- He developed a successful insurance business
-- President of the Advisory Board of Marshall University
-- Past President of the Huntington Area Chamber of Commerce
-- Past Chairman, twice, of the West Virginia
-- Citizens' Legislative Compensation Commission
-- President of the Huntington YMCA
-- Past President of the Central Ohio Valley Industrial Council
-- Member of the West Virginia Legislature, 1948-1951
-- 3-1/2 years Army active duty in WWII, rank from Private to Captain in combat with 100th Infantry Division, received Bronze Star for Valor, Army Commendation, and three Battle Stars.
-- Not only did he serve as president of the United States Golf Association, he was captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
Embellishing a life so extraordinarily lived was a thoroughly engaging personality enhanced by a pervading sense of humor. His Scot heritage added a frugality factor which was flavored by Billy Joe Patton's claim that Bill Campbell was the only player in the history of the Masters who on the first tee of his first round washed his ball.
Bill had a close friendship with Sam Snead, notwithstanding how different were their lifestyles. It is especially noteworthy that in the early Masters years there was a driving contest in which Sam had hit the ball 325 yards and no one was close except Bill. He hit his drive 328 yards.
Related: Jack Nicklaus reflects on Bill Campbell
Note that those distances were achieved with persimmon woods and balls that were not developed from laboratory research designed to try to defeat the laws of gravity.
As I reflect on how much Bill Campbell's life contributed so much to so many, including me, in so many ways, I can put my evaluation of Bill into effective perspective by noting my view that in the whole history of golf there have been just two ultimate quintessential golfers. The other was Bobby Jones.


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Updated 16 February, 2017 - 13:40 Natalia Klimczak
Icelandic Magic, Witchcraft, and Sorcery and the Tragic Case of Jón Rögnvaldsson
Traditions relating to the dark and fascinating practices of witchcraft in Iceland are as old as the first human settlements on the island. Countless people paid for these practices with their lives, but many sorcerers and witches did not cease their commitment to the magic arts.
The Icelandic word to describe witchcraft is "Seiður". The men practicing magic were called "seið-menn", while women were known as "vísendakona". The concept of the most fundamental seiður was related to the ancient Norse gods like Odin and Freya. Icelandic magic was originally based on Norse beliefs, but with time it started to evolve into a unique and mysterious magic system of its own.
The Norse god Odin on his horse Sleipnir. ( Public Domain )
The First Man Burned as a Witch
Although there are many well-known names of people who practiced magic, most of them were never punished by Christians. Due to the slow process of Christianization in Iceland, it was impossible to apply the rules characteristic of other northern countries of Europe, like Denmark or Norway, which adopted the Christian faith, and attempts to remove old beliefs from their lands, more rapidly.
Agnes Waterhouse: The First Woman Executed for Witchcraft in England
The Hill of Sorcery: Mythology and Archaeology of the Tlachtga Barrow
Rauðskinna: The Famous Icelandic Book of Black Magic
The story of women punished due to witchcraft is much longer, but that is a topic for a separate article. Unlike other parts of Europe, most of those persecuted for magic in Iceland were men, as there was a strong tradition of male magic. The first man to be executed for practicing magic, Jón Rögnvaldsson, lived during the end of the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries.
Armenian manuscript of 1053. Work of Johannes in Iceland. ( CC BY 2.5 )
Jón Rögnvaldsson became a symbol of those executed for sorcery and those who were the salt in the eye of the Christian priests. While the followers of Christ did their best to bury the ancient practices, people did not want to stop praying to their deities, carrying out the old rituals, and calling all the spirits of the world to make their needs fulfilled. One of those that refused to stop was Jón Rögnvaldsson, whose practices had been well known in Iceland.
His story was lost throughout time and only small pieces of his life have survived up to the present age. It began in the 1600s when the bailiff Magnus Björnsson travelled from Copenhagen to Iceland, bringing with him a book about witch persecutions in 1487. Decades later, the terrible account Björnsson had read about became a reality in Iceland as the same events caused by a close-minded society appeared. Björnsson was influenced by the book, so when he heard about a boy's mysterious disease and the death of several horses, he believed the events were caused by witches that needed to be exposed. People encouraged by the holy monks began to gossip that it was caused by black magic. For unknown reasons, the boy suggested that the one who cursed him was Jon Rögnvaldsson. The evidence presented during the trials were pieces of paper with Icelandic runes written by Jon. His brother, who was trying to help, declared that Jon practiced the rune magic called Galdrar (or Galdr), which involved spells and incantations, but not for evil purposes. This was enough to decide that Jon was a danger to society. Despite being a victim of malicious accusations, he was burned at the stake in 1625 with a flame of injustice.
Pagan priestesses that specialized in chanting galdrs. ( Public Domain )
The Christianization of Iceland took place around 999 AD and the new religion wasn't accepted easily. The Icelandic people wanted to follow their old beliefs so the process of adaptation was long and painful.
The imagination of followers of Christianity made them believe that the pagans and practitioners of witchcraft were followers of the devil and that their sexual acts brought them closer to their dark master. The monks who tried to influence society with the teachings of Jesus sought to fight them with the same tools that had previously been used in other parts of the Europe. According to Christopher Morris from University College London:
''Diabolism and sexuality were then able to stay disassociated during the heights of the hunt in Iceland. Considering this along with the masculine magical traditions so intricately woven throughout Icelandic cultural history, it is not then surprising that more men than women were accused of witchcraft and the culture was immune to Europe's attitude of magic and misogyny. Iceland was unfortunately not immune to the hunt in general and some scholars look at Iceland's witch-hunt as a threat to the Icelandic culture of the time thanks to the long arm of Danish law and religious fervor. Anthropologist Kirsten Hastrup wrote that because galdr was so easily appropriated by the authorities as witchcraft, Icelanders lost their control over tradition and were in danger of accusations coming at anyone at any time as "the powers of definition slipped out of the Icelander's hands." This might be true as seen from the Icelander's early modern point of view but from a historical perspective the details tell a different story. In a European context, Icelanders were able to prevent submission to a southern European notion of witchcraft. A cultural imperturbability assured Icelanders remained rooted in their own traditions and peculiarities despite the best efforts of Danish appointed sheriffs. Perhaps it was less a willingly stubborn hold on tradition and more a tale of isolation defusing the ripple effect of a European panic, but either way Icelanders remained Icelanders and the "powers of definition" stayed within their grasp. Galdr remained magic and magic remained masculine.''
Introduction of Christianity. ( Public Domain )
Due to these arguments, men were punished in the same way that woman were for having a relationship with magic. The cruel practices by Christian worshipers of the holy cross drove many innocent people to the burning stake. The laws created by Norway and Denmark relating to witchcraft were applied in Iceland in 1630. However, unlike other countries, the majority of those executed for magical practices in Iceland were men. Only ten out of more than one hundred were women.
For Good and Evil: Witch Bottles as Countermagical Devices Through History
Remains of building in Japan may be palace of ancient shaman Queen Himiko
Witchcraft, Hunger, War, and Disease: Charting the Downfall of Arroyo Hondo Pueblo
The Execution of three witches. ( Public Domain )
The Business Side of Witchcraft
Today, witchcraft has been transformed into a huge and prosperous business that brings Iceland an impressive income every single year. Museum exhibitions, like the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in Holmavik, as well as publications, and 'witchcraft tourism' boom in every corner of the island. Although it is tough to find any original piece related to the old magic traditions, thousands of people arrive in Iceland searching for that magical inspiration.
Top image: "Alchemist Sędziwój" by Jan Matejko: alchemist, and pioneer chemis. ( Public Domain )
By Natalia Klimczak
A Spell Against Misogyny: Masculinity and Magic in Early Modern Iceland by Christopher Morris, available at:
https://www.academia.edu/8991467/A_Spell_Against_Misogyny_Masculinity_and_Magic_in_Early_Modern_Iceland
Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, available at:
http://holmavik.is/galdrasyning/historical.php
The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft, available at:
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-museum-of-icelandic-sorcery-witchcraft
Witchcraft in Iceland by Magnús Ólafsson, available at:
https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/witchcraft-in-iceland
Weaving with Witchcraft: Tourism and Entrepreneurship in Strandir, Iceland by Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir and Gunnar Thór Jóhannesson, available at: https://www.academia.edu/19785406/Weaving_with_Witchcraft_Tourism_and_Entrepreneurship_in_Strandir_Iceland
Jón Rögnvaldsson
Magnus Björnsson
Galdrar
Natalia Klimczak is an historian, journalist and writer and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Languages, University of Gdansk. Natalia does research in Narratology, Historiography, History of Galicia (Spain) and Ancient History of Egypt, Rome and Celts. She... Read More
6 October, 2022 - 01:57 dhwty
Hecate: Triple-Bodied Greek Goddess of Witchcraft and Keeper of Keys
Hecate the goddess of Greek mythology has been primarily remembered for her associations with magic and witchcraft. Throughout history however, her sphere of influence also included the moon, night,...
Read more about Hecate: Triple-Bodied Greek Goddess of Witchcraft and Keeper of Keys
16 August, 2022 - 22:53 Steven Darian
The Medieval Crushing of the Cathars and Sexualizing of Witches
Many Christian writers identified the gods and lesser spirits of the Greek and Roman world with demons. This ushered in the Christian practice of demonizing those they perceived as their opponents...
Read more about The Medieval Crushing of the Cathars and Sexualizing of Witches
4 August, 2022 - 19:01 Robbie Mitchell
Royals and the Occult: Witchcraft, Astrology, and Mystical Healing
We often talk about the modern world's obsession with celebrities. People love to talk about the rich and famous. This is nothing new. It's been a part of human nature since time immemorial. Before...
Read more about Royals and the Occult: Witchcraft, Astrology, and Mystical Healing
3 August, 2022 - 18:52 Sahir
Last Salem Witch Has Been Exonerated Posthumously By Boston Court
It's not just something one can bury in the recesses of history because even today many cultures across the world accuse women of practicing black magic and witchcraft. And women accused of this...
Read more about Last Salem Witch Has Been Exonerated Posthumously By Boston Court
11 June, 2022 - 18:39 Mark Brophy
The Cringeworthy Reason Witches are Shown Riding Broomsticks
What comes to mind when you think of a witch? For most people, the first image that comes to mind is of a witch flying through the night sky on a broomstick. Ever wondered why witches have been...
Read more about The Cringeworthy Reason Witches are Shown Riding Broomsticks
18 March, 2022 - 00:59 Phoenix Vald
Six Fantastic and Mythological Beings from the Blade Trilogy
In the original Blade trilogy, Wesley Snipes played Eric Brooks, the title character also known as Blade. The film, written by David S. Goyer and directed by Stephen Norrington, was released in 1998...
Read more about Six Fantastic and Mythological Beings from the Blade Trilogy


A while back I got serious, not in a good way...way too serious. I forgot how to play. Small children, tantrums, sleepless nights, financial worries, health scares, struggling businesses, too much responsibility and an inability to ask for help sent me on a downwards spiral.
I spent the early years of our daughters lives (now 13 and 17) rushing from one task to another, forgetting to breathe deeply, mostly forgetting to savour the small moments.
A bout with melanoma and a baby with severe asthma made me plunge even more deeply into a frenzied pattern of work and denial, eventually leading to a breakdown (breakthrough:)) at the age of 33. I spent months suffering from debilitating panic attacks and finally made the decision to walk away from the business that was slowly swallowing me up.


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Authorities: Cactus man dies after Sherman County rollover
Authorities said a Cactus man died Monday morning after a rollover about four miles southwest of Texhoma.
Ernest Daniel Reyes, 45, was travelling southwest on U.S. Highway 54 about 8:42 a.m. when the 2009 Nissan Titan pickup he was driving crossed the center line, causing the vehicle to go into a side skid, according to Texas Department of Public Safety officials.
After going through a fence, DPS said the pickup rolled multiple times in a field south of U.S. 54.
Reyes was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from his vehicle, according to DPS.
Reyes was airlifted to Northwest Texas Hospital, where he died at 10:42 a.m. due to injuries received from the accident.
No other fatalities were reported.
AGN TV
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Trade war punctures China's pride in its technology
By Yoko KubotaThe Wall Street Journal
Thu., June 28, 2018timer4 min. read
BEIJING—To the list of casualties in the trade battle between the U.S. and China add another: Chinese chest-thumping about the country's prowess in innovation.
More sober assessments of China's technological capabilities have emerged from China's tech community in recent weeks, as the U.S. has ratcheted up pressure, threatening tariffs and export restrictions to punish Beijing for what it says are theft of technology and unfair trade practices.
"There is a big gap between the science and technology of China and those of the United States, as well as other Western developed countries. This is common sense, not a problem," said Liu Yadong, the editor in chief of the government-run Science and Technology Daily, in a speech last week that set off debate on the internet.
China's tech businesses have been on tenterhooks in recent months. Threats by the Trump administration to impose tariffs on as much as $450 billion (all figures US) in Chinese products and to restrict Chinese investment in the U.S. and American technology exports to China potentially stand to disrupt supply chains crucial to China's telecommunications-gear makers, its microchip industry and aircraft manufacturing.
While President Donald Trump backed away from those investment and export restrictions on Wednesday, he said those issues would be addressed through existing institutions.
Some Chinese officials greeted the move with wary relief. A Commerce Ministry spokesperson said Thursday that Beijing is watching developments in the U.S. and warned that investment restrictions would likely affect global perceptions about the U.S.'s business environment.
Still, disruptions loom. U.S. tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods kick in July 6, and China has vowed to retaliate dollar for dollar. The biggest casualty thus far in the trade fight is Chinese telecom-equipment maker ZTE Corp., which nearly stopped operating after the U.S. Commerce Department prohibited its access to American components because of sanctions violations.
Mr. Liu, the Science and Technology Daily editor, sought to address the foreign foundations of many Chinese industries at a seminar on China's reliance on critical technologies.
"The house is built on other people's foundation, but some insist that we have complete and permanent property rights," Mr. Liu said, according to a transcript on the website of the newspaper, which belongs to the Ministry of Science and Technology. "What's troublesome is that people with those kind of opinions have fooled leaders, the public and even themselves."
His was a striking admission considering that state media and senior officials have played up China's advances in innovation for much of the past year to meet President Xi Jinping's objective of making the country a global technology power. The government news agency Xinhua last year praised China's "four great new innovations" in modern times: dockless shared bikes, high-speed rail, online payments and e-commerce. Almost all were invented elsewhere, and China's high-speed rail uses technology from Germany's Siemens AG, Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and other foreign companies.
In March, a government-produced documentary "Amazing China" lauded China's advanced technologies in ports, bridges, cars and the internet.
"Our Amazing China also has areas that are not amazing," Beijing Daily, the Communist Party's official newspaper in the capital, said this week. It said that while China has made strides in development, "our shortcomings are more noticeable. Just one microchip is enough to put China in a corner, let alone other items."
A core U.S. concern is what the Trump administration says are attempts by China to steal U.S. technology and use subsidies to build up national champions to conquer world markets. Particular criticism has been directed at Beijing's "Made in China 2025" plan to dominate 10 cutting-edge areas including information technology and aerospace.
Given the glare, senior Chinese officials have recently started playing down "Made in China 2025" in meetings with the U.S. business community and European diplomats, people familiar with the matter said. Authorities have also ordered media to tone down coverage of the policy, according to people familiar with the matter.
China's State Council Information Office didn't respond to a request for comment.
The shift in tone is more tactical and doesn't mean China is scrapping its global technology ambitions. "The wrestling between the U.S. and China on technology issues is inescapable, and we for sure shouldn't chicken out at this moment," said Fang Xingdong, who runs ChinaLabs, a technology think tank. But, he said, China has said too much about the importance of Made in China 2025.
The U.S. is mistakenly targeting Made in China 2025, he said, because the real strength in China's technology sector comes from market-oriented companies.
The Finance Ministry offered tax relief Thursday for companies in high-end manufacturing and technology sectors, particularly those in fields covered by "Made In China 2025." In a notice, the ministry said it would refund to companies overpayment of value-added taxes, instead of applying the excess amount to next year's tax bill, as in the past.
As part of the new messaging, President Xi, senior officials and state media have said the trade fight should spur China to reduce its U.S. dependence, not curb its technological ambition.
"If the U.S. keeps providing us with core technology, it might hinder China's technology development," Mr. Liu, of the Science and Technology Daily, said in an interview. "If the U.S. does not provide, China will devote our own efforts to technology development, and the process to catch up might be shortened."


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La Houssoye ist eine französische Gemeinde mit  Einwohnern (Stand ) im Département Oise in der Region Hauts-de-France. Die Gemeinde liegt im Arrondissement Beauvais und ist Teil der Communauté de communes du Vexin Thelle und des Beauvais-2.

Geographie

Die Gemeinde liegt rund fünf Kilometer südwestlich von Auneuil am Bach Ruisseau du Moulinet, der in den Avelon fließt. Der Ortsteil Le Croquet liegt im Süden einer Steilstufe, die sich von Cuigy-en-Bray bis nach Berneuil-en-Bray erstreckt.

Einwohner

Verwaltung

Bürgermeister (maire) ist seit 2014 Patrick Leclerc.

Sehenswürdigkeiten

 Schloss, heute Erholungsheim einer Versicherung.
 Kirche Saint-Christophe (siehe auch: Liste der Monuments historiques in La Houssoye)

Einzelnachweise

Weblinks

Ort in Hauts-de-France

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Knight Frank India today launched the tenth edition of its flagship half-yearly report – India Real Estate. The report presents a comprehensive analysis of the residential (across eight cities) and office (across seven cities) market performance for the period July – December 2018 (H2 2017). The report has established 2018 to be historically best performing year for the commercial office with leasing crossing 46 million square feet (msf). For the residential market saw some upward movement in sales velocity but stopped short of being a year of recovery. Total sales of residential units were estimated to be 242,328 units registering a 6% increase over full year 2017.
The sales trend for Hyderabad registered positive growth of 15% in H2 2018 over the same period last year. The total units sold in this period was recorded at 7,278.
The full year 2018 recorded total sales of 15,591 units registering an annual rise of 9% over last year.
The market, while operating on a lower base when compared to other markets, has be registering steady upward movement in sales velocity, especially post the demerger from erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
New unit launches in H2 2018 were recorded at approximately 1700 units registering a growth of 81 % y- o- y over same time last year.
New launches for the entire year of 2018 also demonstrated strong trend registering an increase of 54% over last year. Total new launches in 2018 was estimated at 5404 units.
West Hyderabad continues to the largest market accounting to 84% of the new launches in the city.
43% of all launches were in the affordable and mid category with ticket price of upto INR 5 mn (50 lakhs). But the majority launches were interestingly concentrated in the price bracket of INR 5 – 7.5 mn (5- 7.5 Lakhs).
H2 2018 recorded an all-time high leasing volume of 4.3 msf.
The total transaction recorded for the complete year of 2018 is estimated at over 7 msf denoting a 24% growth over last year.
With this significant rise in leasing activities in 2018, Hyderabad has emphatically come closer to larger sized markets such as NCR and Mumbai.
The leasing activities were driven IT/ITeS that constituted 44% of the total leasing, however noteworthy growth was recorded in segments of Manufacturing (26%) and Other services (29%) including Co- Working spaces.
Total new supply in H2 2018 was recorded at approximately 2 msf recording a rise of 70% y-o-y.
The total new supply in Hyderabad for full year of 2018 was close to 4 msf denoting a rise of about 19% y-o-y against 2017.
Average rentals grew at 14% with PDB and SBD recording identical rise of 16% in rental values at the end of 2018.
Vacancy crept up marginally settling just over 7% mostly on account of large infusion of supply experienced in the second half of 2018.


This shirt is so tough we had to add softeners to the wash so that it would bend at the elbows. Just joking. Good looking shirt though. For the TOORAK SHIRT we use 12 oz washed gravel canvas, Features include roll-up sleeve tabs, a left hand sleeve pocket, front plackets, and like all our shirts, we top stitched our seams. Large front patch pockets with the right hand double stacked (great to hold the sunnies in). The button down pocket flaps are riveted. Double back yoke with side pleats allow extra ease.


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Economists satisfied with MTBPS but still concerned over SA's growth, debt
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered his Medium-term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Thursday, forecasting growth of 5.1% for this year.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers his maiden Medium-term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament on 11 November 2021. Picture: GCIS.
SA Economy
MTBPS
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana
2021 MTBPS
Kgomotso Modise | 68 days ago
JOHANNESBURG - While economists have welcomed the revenue windfall which has been used to fund many of the adjustments in the medium-term budget, growth and debt still remain the main concerns.
He announced a gross tax revenue of R120 billion more due to an uptick in commodity prices and revenue from mines.
• MTBPS: SA economy to grow by 5.1% in 2021 & R450bn allocated to municipalities
• Godongwana refuses to give in to pressure to increase govt expenditure
• State has to shift infrastructure funds for public wage bill - Godongwana
But the minister has warned that it would be short-lived.
Economist at Sanlam Investments, Patrick Buthelezi, said that Godongwana's MTBPS was simply a good one and was in line with expectations but he said that major risks remained.
"Risks stemming from expenditure, demands from wages and also state-owned enterprises. What is important is that the economy needs to grow faster."
Economist at KH Equity Partners Dumiso Hadebe has echoed the minister's sentiments, saying that the tax records overflow was nothing that we could bet on.
"Sars has continued to do some work in terms of improving tax compliance, so I do anticipate that there would be some green shoots that would also be derived from there but there should be nothing of the scale that was recorded as a consequence of the high commodity prices.
Economists said that they were looking forward to the implementation of the structural reforms earmarked by the Treasury to create a more competitive economy.
Business Unity South Africa (Busa) said that while there was a sense of deja vu during the medium-term budget statement, it was encouraged by the finance minister's emphasis on growth and investments.
Minister Godongwana tabled his maiden MTBPS, where he kept the 2021 growth forecast unchanged at 5.1%.
However, the growth rate is expected to slow over the next two years to 1.7% - it's a rate that Treasury says is too slow to meet the country's development needs.
Busa CEO Cas Coovadia said that Godongwana sent the right message.
"I think that he emphasised quite a few times in the budget the need for economic reform, the need for government to actually intervene to promote growth and not impede growth the fact that growth in the private sector will create jobs if the environment will be appropriate for them to invest."
WATCH: Godongwana: SOCs have been badly managed, no additional funding in latest budget
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Prasa aims to complete upgrades at 39 train stations across SA in 2022