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Robin Casarjian, M.A.
Robin Casarjian is the Founder and Director of the Lionheart Foundation and its National Emotional Literacy Projects. She is a public speaker, writer, and consultant with extensive experience in education, stress management training, psychotherapy, and administration. Whether in inner-city classrooms, hospitals, corporations or prisons, Robin's work has been widely acclaimed for its clarity, directness, and unwavering vision of the enormous potential within all people.
Working with people from diverse backgrounds and in different settings, Robin realized the central role that forgiveness plays in the healing process. Translating the age-old spiritual concept of forgiveness into a grounded, commonsense, day-to-day practice, she wrote her first book. Forgiveness: A Bold Choice for A Peaceful Heart, published by Bantam Books in 1992, is now available in seven languages.
Robin's expertise in stress-management and forgiveness resulted in appearances on PBS and local and national talk shows, including ABC's 20/20 and Oprah Winfrey. She has also been interviewed in numerous national magazines and publications.
Volunteering in a Massachusetts state prison in 1988, Robin developed a course for inmates in emotional literacy skill-building. Witnessing the profound impact this course repeatedly had on prisoners, she was inspired to bring her work to prisoners across the country.
Toward this end, Robin wrote Houses of Healing: A Prisoner's Guide to Inner Power and Freedom, with the intent of distributing free copies to all prison libraries in the U.S. In 1992, she founded the Lionheart Foundation and its National Emotional Literacy Project for Prisoners in order to support this endeavor.
In Lionheart's latest major initiative, the National Emotional Literacy Project for Youth-At-Risk, Robin collaborated with her niece, child psychologist Bethany Casarjian, Ph.D., on the publication of a program for highly at-risk adolescents that is utilized as a curriculum in 3000 youth programs nationwide.
Robin continues to develop innovative new programs for at-risk populations.
Learn about the newest prison program – The Houses of Healing Self-study Program for Prisoners in Solitary Confinement
For her prison work, Robin Casarjian was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by Interfaith Counseling Services of MA and honored by The Giraffe Project, a national program recognizing individuals who "stick out their neck" for the greater good.
In 2007 Robin was honored with the Paul H. Chapman Award from the Foundation for Improvement of Justice. This award is given "to innovative programs that have proven effective and can serve as models for others'.
In 2009, Robin Casarjian was awarded the 2009 Humanitarian Award from the Boston Theological Society.


Sources at Villa Somalia country's Presidential Palace, revealed to GO that President Farmajo's trip to Puntland regions scheduled next week has been postponed. No date had been set for the official visit.
The President has been requested to delay his visit by Puntland government, after the state's Parliament lawmakers have overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence motion against the cabinet ministers last Tuesday over failure of state security, poor performance and corruption.
The state's request came after a ministerial committee that was assigned last Month, to organize the welcoming occasion of Somali President's first visit to Puntland, apologized following cabinet dismissal.
Farmajo delayed his trip several times in the past because of Puntland's political turmoil.
An official at Puntland Presidential Palace said, President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali "Gaas" is facing pressure over the appointment of the new cabinet, as the state is set to mark the 19th anniversary of the establishment of state in August 1, 2017.
The official spoke to GO on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media over the issue. So far Puntland is yet to release an official statement, confirming the delay of the President's visit.
Since he took office in last February, following his election, Somali President paid domestic visits to some of the regional administrations in the country, including Southwest, Galmudug and Jubbaland.


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home > Calendar & News > Latest News > Uncategorised > A solid performance from the WGS boys' 1st XI hockey squad
A solid performance from the WGS boys' 1st XI hockey squad
A solid performance from the WGS boys' 1st XI hockey squad with a 4-2 win
After producing a good performance against Pelicans HC last week, the boys' 1st XI were keen to get back on the pitch for the visit of an Uppingham Senior squad
On Saturday 27 January, in blustery and rainy conditions, both teams looked to exert their authority on the opposition, from which it was WGS who took the upper hand with a well-taken goal from Frazer Brown inside the first 7 minutes. The opposition continued to probe down the wings, though credit to the WGS defensive unit they were unable to get a clear shot on goal throughout the half. WGS scored a further two goals through Louis Jones and a second for Frazer to leave the score at 3-0 in favour of Wisbech.
With the rain abating in the second half, both sides were looking to up their game, Uppingham were looking to close the gap, with the WGS side working to put the finishing touches to those opportunities created. It was the opposition who struck first in the second half, squeezing the ball inside the post off a penalty corner. WGS restored their 3 goal advantage with a goal from Jake Slender some 5 minutes later, which seemed to settle the nerves. Uppingham scored a second goal in the latter stages of the game, which was to prove to be the final action.
A solid performance from the WGS squad, one that should stand them in good stead for the next match, away at Norwich.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The use of accelerometers in bio-logging devices has proved to be a powerful tool for the quantification of animal behaviour. While bio-logging techniques are being used on wide range of species, to date they have only been seldom used with non-human primates. This is likely due to three main factors: the long tradition of direct field observations, a difficulty of attaching bio-logging devices to wild primates and the challenge of deciphering acceleration signals in species' with remarkable locomotor and behavioural diversity. Here, we overcome these aforementioned obstacles and provide methodology for identification of behaviours from accelerometer data of wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in Cape Town, South Africa.
We apply machine learning techniques to process complex accelerometer data, collected by bespoke tracking collars to quantify a range of behaviours (focusing on locomotion and foraging behaviour). We successfully identify six broad state behaviours that represent 93.3% of the time budget of the baboons. Resting, walking, running and foraging were all identified with high recall and precision representing the first classification of multiple behavioural states from accelerometer data for a wild primate.
Our 'end to end' process—from collar design and build to the collection and quantification of acceleration data—provides advantages over gathering data by traditional observation, not least because it affords data collection without the presence of an observer which may affect an animal's behaviour. Furthermore, our methodology and findings open new possibilities for the fine-scale study of movement and foraging ecology in wild primates, and in particular our baboon study population which is in conflict with people.
The development of animal-attached devices that provide data on animal movement, behaviour or physiology (without the need to directly observe the animal) has proved a powerful way to quantify animal behaviour [1, 2]. In particular, three-dimensional accelerometers have been used to reconstruct animal behaviour [1, 3]. The use of accelerometers has been used most widely in studies of marine mammals and birds [3, 4], but recent advances in bio-logging technologies have made devices smaller, cheaper and longer-lasting, drawing interest from researchers working with a wider diversity of species . Behaviours identified from acceleration data can range from simple active–inactive behaviour [6, 7] to the dynamics of prey capture  or even the classification of 'internal state' .
Bio-logging techniques are seldom used on non-human primates, probably due to the long tradition of direct observation by researchers in the field [10, 11, 12]. However, bio-logging can provide information on elusive or out of sight behaviours that are difficult to record [13, 14] and reduce potentially negative outcomes associated with observer presence , or habituation to observation [16, 17]. To date, only a handful of studies have used accelerometer data to infer behaviours in primates, but these analyses have been limited to broad levels of activity, rather than specific behavioural states (rhesus monkeys, Macaca mulatta , vervet monkeys, Chlorocebus pygerythrus  and owl monkeys, Aotus azarai ). To our knowledge, the only study that has used accelerometers to identify specific behaviour was undertaken by Sellers and Crompton  where they successfully identified locomotion events in captive red-ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata rubra). Therefore, unlike other terrestrial species [22–25] no acceleration ethogram (a catalogue of different acceleration footprints produced by different behaviour of an animal) exists for any non-human primate.
An acceleration ethogram would be particularly useful to collect fine-scale behavioural data with high temporal resolution. Among many applications, such methods could be used to document situations where primates are in conflict with people in species ranging from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)  to macaques (Macaca mulatta)  allowing us to quantify the occurrence of such events and their spatial–temporal dynamics. One of the most high-profile non-human primate–human conflict occurs with people and baboons in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, with baboons raiding bins, properties or taking food directly from people themselves daily . We are particularly interested in using acceleration data to document baboons' behaviour in this environment to understand baboons' behavioural responses to anthropogenic change, but in order to complete this later goal (not developed in the present work), we first need to define a reliable method to assess behaviour through acceleration.
A key challenge that is common to all studies involving the use of accelerometer data lies in the analysis of the data. This is particularly pertinent for datasets that extend over weeks or even months, which are typically extremely large. To infer behaviour from acceleration data, researchers manually annotate the signal by expert interpretation , or 'label' behaviours in the acceleration signals, ideally using time-matched behavioural observation, to teach machine learning algorithms [29–31]. The broad approaches can be applied across taxa, although the specific selection of variables is likely to vary with and reflect characteristic movement modes, behavioural categories and habitat types of a particular species or population.
Here, we aim to describe a reliable 'end to end' process to quantify major behavioural states from tri-axial acceleration, applied here to baboons, but potentially transferable to other primates or contexts. We equipped n = 10 adult male baboons in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, with three axial accelerometers and used video footage of the collared baboons ranging in their natural environment to generate a labelled dataset. We then used random forest models  to match behaviour and acceleration in the dataset with a focus on the identification of locomotion gaits and foraging behaviour . Finally we compared the model predictions to our observations to test its accuracy and validate our procedure.
The general workflow of the methods is summarised in Fig. 1. All data processing and analyses were conducted in R (R version 3.2.2, R Core Team (2015). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/.), and all codes used are provided in Additional file 1 (Computation of acceleration variables for behavioural identification) [22, 30].
We studied the 'Constantia' baboon troop that ranges in a varied landscape at the edge of the City of Cape Town (S −34.0349, E 18.4156) (for more details see ) for 30 days from mid-May to mid-June 2015. The troop comprised 13 adult males, 25 adult females, 4 subadult males and approximately 30 juveniles of both sexes.
Ten adult males were fitted with SHOAL group in-house constructed collars (F2HKv2 collars, see Additional file 2, Baboon collar development). Each collar contained a tri-axial accelerometer ('Daily Diary' sensor ) recording acceleration in each axis at 40 Hz which allows for the study of behaviours of most terrestrial animals whose fastest movements range between 0.5 s to 1 s. Baboons were cage-trapped in accordance with the local 'baboon management team'-approved protocol before being sedated by a certified veterinary surgeon and fitted with the collar. Collars weighed less than 3% of the body mass of the baboons and were approved for use by Swansea University Ethics Committee (Swansea University IP-1314-5). Of the 10 collars fitted to the baboons, one baboon dispersed before we were able to collect video data (see below) and so our sample is based on n = 9 individuals.
Baboons were habituated to close (≤10 m) human observation and could thus be followed on foot by one or two observers without affecting their behaviour. Collar equipped individuals were video recorded using an AEE SD100 camera (PNJ SARL, Paris, France) for 15.3 h in total with a mean ± standard deviation of 1.7 ± 0.96 h per individual.
Footage was time-stamped to allow synchronisation with the accelerometer, and the signal was annotated using Framework4 . We labelled behaviours at time steps of one second, relevant for most behaviours (mean duration of one behavioural bout (±SD) = 33 s ± 62 s, median = 12 s) [22, 34], leading to a sample size of 33,619 s. This created a dataset with n = 18 labelled behaviours (Tables 1, 2) for a total of 9.3 h. All rare behaviours with less than 100 s of observations (representing in total 7.3% of their time budget) were discarded from further analysis, bringing the labelled sample down to 33,387 s, i.e. 9.2 h (on average 1.2 ± 1.3 h (SD) per behaviour and on average 1.0 ± 0.6 h (SD) per individual, Table 2).
There are essentially two main types of variables that can be derived from tri-axial acceleration data that are relevant to the identification of behaviour. These are static acceleration, which is dependent on gravity and describes the posture of the animal, and dynamic body acceleration, which reflects the body movement of the animal. These variables can be measured in each of the three-dimensional axes (with X for 'surge', Y for 'sway' and Z for 'heave'; Fig. 2). Data from the three axes can also be combined to give a general index of body motion.
In order to match our behavioural sampling frequency (1 Hz) and identify behaviours at this frequency, we computed mean values over one second for a total of 25 variables that describe both static (Fig. 1b) and dynamic (Fig. 1c) acceleration data across our individuals. The list that follows summarises each of these variables, which are numbered 1–25 in round parentheses: (1–3) tri-axial static acceleration ; (4–5) pitch and roll ; (6) vectorial dynamic body acceleration (VeDBA); (7) smoothed vectorial dynamic body acceleration (VeDBAs) [35, 36]; (8–10) tri-axial partial dynamic body acceleration (PDBA) ; (11–13) the tri-axial PDBA-to-VeDBA ratio. In addition to these descriptive statistics, we processed the dynamic part of the acceleration further by computing its (14–16) tri-axial power spectrum density (PSD); (17–19) maximum frequencies associated with the tri-axial PSDs; (20–22) the second maximum frequencies associated with the tri-axial PSDs; (23–25) the associated frequency for each axis. We provide a full description for each of these variables (1–25), in turn, below.
(1–3) The static (st) component of acceleration for each axes stX, stY and stZ is directly influenced by the orientation of the logger with respect to gravity and therefore indicative of the posture of the animal [1, 37]. The tri-axial static acceleration was calculated from the raw acceleration with a running mean of 3 s . From the resulting 3D-static acceleration, the angles (4) pitch and (5) roll were calculated, converting the 3D orientation towards gravity (measured in g), to two angles (in degrees) using the plane and upright position as Ref. . Pitch was calculated as the arcsine of stX and roll as the arcsine of stY .
Tri-axial dynamic body acceleration (DBA), which represents overall body movement [1, 35], was calculated as the difference between raw and static acceleration from each axis. We note that centripetal acceleration can also affect the acceleration signal (e.g. when an animal 'pulls g' by cornering); however, this is unlikely to be a main factor affecting the acceleration signal in baboons. (6) The vectorial dynamic body acceleration (VeDBA) was computed using the dynamic components of the signal to assess the 'activity level' of the individual, bringing the three axes (x, y, z) together as given by Eq. 1.
To allow for a general estimation of activity, reducing the impact of short high-amplitude burst of activity, we (7) smoothed the VeDBA using a running mean of 3 s, that is, 'smoothed VeDBA'. (8–10) Partial dynamic body acceleration  was also calculated in each different axis in order to describe the amplitude of the movement, calculated as the absolute dynamic acceleration values for each axis (11–13). The PDBA-to-VeDBA ratio provided an estimation of contribution of each axis to the VeDBA, calculated by the ratio of PDBA to the VeDBA in each of the three axes.
To characterise the oscillations in the dynamic body acceleration for each axis, we computed (14–16) power spectrum densities (PSDs) and their associated frequencies using Fourier analysis [21, 39]. Fast Fourier analysis decomposes the signal into frequencies and amplitude. It can therefore be used to indicate at which frequency the signal varies the most, providing an overview of large body movements and ignoring signal associated with small body movements. For each second, we defined (17–19) maximum PSD and (20–22) second maximum PSD together with their (23–25) associated frequencies, at an interval of 3 s (1 s after and 1 s before, this in order to sample enough oscillations to define a frequency even for slow cyclic behaviour such as walking).
Acceleration variables were time-matched with our video-based behavioural data to obtain a labelled dataset. Of this dataset, 60% was used as a training dataset (20,111 s, 5.6 h) and 40% as a validation dataset which we later used to test the success of our model predictions (13,276 s, 3.7 h, Fig. 1e).
To be able to assign behaviours according to the 25 descriptive variables (see above), we used random forests. Random forests are based on classification trees and, in summary, build many trees using a random subset of the data each time, and a random subspace of variables for each classification step. Thanks to the great number of iterations (here 500) and two 'layers of randomness' , this model has the advantage of being more powerful than the classical classification trees, limiting the risk of overfitting and of being more able to cope with unbalanced dataset .
The first step of the random forest is to sample the initial training set randomly with replacement (such that one observation can be drawn many times), resulting in several bootstrapping sets with the same number of observations as the initial training set (Additional file 3: Fig. S1). Due to replacement, not all observations are represented in every bootstrapping set.
From one of these artificial sets of data, the model builds one classification tree which aims to classify the full set of observations into different classes (here, behaviours) by building a set of hierarchical decision rules based on the given variables (Additional file 3: Fig. S1 ). At each node (a set of observations, represented by a circular graph when two branches split in Additional file 3: Fig. S1), the model will aim to split this set of observations into two smaller and 'purer' subsets, i.e. each subset contains a fewer number of different classes (here, behaviours). A subset is considered as pure when it only contains one kind of behavioural classes. This purity, or its absence, is quantified with the Gini impurity index (Eq. 2) which will tend to zero when only one class is represented in a subset.
where n is the number of behavioural classes and p i is the proportion of each class in the set of observations. At each step of the classification, the model uses a random selection of the total variables available and tests each of them with different thresholds to define a rule that will minimise the Gini index in the two descendent subsets (Additional file 3: Fig. S1). This process continues until no more rules can be found to split the dataset into purer subsets. The local importance of a variable is calculated by the index of the parent set of observations minus the Gini indexes of the two descendent subsets. We classified the variables according their overall importance and performed Kruskal–Wallis tests to compare the mean of the most discriminating variables according to the different behaviours.
When using random forests, the model will simply grow many trees, each built from a different random portion of the training set (60% of our initial dataset). Because the advantages of random forests come from the high number of iterations, we built 500 trees. We tested post hoc the minimum number of trees required to obtain the best classification and found that the best results were reached above 300 trees (Additional file 4: Fig. S2).
where TP is true positive, TN true negative, FP false positive and FN false negative for each behaviour.
Of the variables calculated from our acceleration data, static acceleration on all axes, X, Y and Z (which provides information on the 'posture' of the baboon) were the most important for distinguishing behaviours, stX, stY, stZ being ranked 1st, 6th and 13th and pitch and roll being ranked 2nd and 12th in our model (Fig. 3a). The static acceleration for the X axis (stX) were different between resting (sitting, median [1st and 3rd quartile]: 0.62 g [0.50 g–0.73 g], Additional file 5: Table S1) and behaviours in standing postures such as locomotion and foraging (median [1st and 3rd quartile]: 0.01 g [−0.29 g–0.23 g], Additional file 5: Table S1, Kruskal–Wallis Chi-squared = 20,264.87, df = 7, p value <0.001, Fig. 3b).
Power spectrum densities (PSDs) were the next most important class of variables, with four out of six of these measures ranked in the top ten. The PSD2 on the X axis and PSD1 on the Z axis was, as expected, the highest for running behaviour (PSD1Z median [1st and 3rd quartile]: 0.5870 [0.2614–0.6792]; PSD2X median [1st and 3rd quartile]: 0.0405 [0.0220–0.0586], Additional file 5: Table S1), indicating high-amplitude movements happening on a regular frequency. Walking behaviour was represented by intermediate values for these variables (PSD1Z median [1st and 3rd quartile]: 0.0157 [0.0092–0.0268]; PSD2X median [1st and 3rd quartile]: 0.0025 [0.0043–0.0075], Additional file 5: Table S1) while foraging behaviour, with low-amplitude movements was represented with lower values (PSD1Z median [1st and 3rd quartile]: 0.0008 [0.0004–0.0016]; PSD2X median [1st and 3rd quartile]: 0.0007 [0.0004–0.0016], Additional file 5: Table S1). Overall we found significant differences between the three behaviours on these variables (Kruskal–Wallis Chi-squared 22,773.87, df = 7, p value <0.001, Fig. 3). In contrast, the ratio and frequency measures did not contribute much to the model's ability to classify behaviours (Fig. 3).
The random forest model reached an average precision of 88.3% (±8.5%) and a mean recall of 70.7% (±29.3%) across all behaviours (Fig. 3c; Table 3). The recognition (or extraction) of foraging, resting, running and walking shows a high precision and recall (>85%), while lying and grooming (both when focal is actor and receiver) have high precision (>85%) but lower recall (>60% for lying and grooming [receiver] and >20% for grooming [actor]); the missing instances being principally classified in other low-amplitude behaviours (Fig. 3c; Table 3). The extraction of standing behaviours was poor (recall: 38.9%, precision: 67.9%), and instances of standing that were misclassified tended to be labelled as foraging and resting.
We have successfully used acceleration data to identify six behaviours performed by adult male chacma baboons. These behaviours represented 93.3% of the time budget recorded from video observations and the first ethogram from acceleration data for a wild non-human primate. Behaviours relevant to raiding behaviours (foraging, running, walking and resting), which are important with respect to the study population , were successfully identified with good precision and recall (>85%). We discuss the variables calculated from our accelerometer that contributed to identification of these behaviours in turn.
Static acceleration and the smoothed vectorial dynamic body acceleration (VeDBA) were among the most important variables and were found to be different between active and inactive behaviours. Differentiating between active and inactive behaviours is commonly done with variables such as VeDBA or VeDBAs [1, 7, 18, 24]. Interestingly, static acceleration metrics are not always included as discriminators in machine learning algorithms  and so our findings suggest that this could be an important factor for other primate researchers to include in their models.
The performance of our model varied when it came to the different inactive behaviours, while resting was extracted with a high recall and precision, standing behaviour was less accurately described. A standing posture is adopted within a range of other behaviours (during locomotion, or foraging, for example), and this may explain the difficulty in identifying resting or vigilance when standing, particularly when other activities are executed slowly. Differentiating non-active behaviours has proved difficult in other species too; for example, in vultures static acceleration was not useful for differentiating between different types of passive flights behaviour, such as gliding, thermal soaring or slope soaring . This problem is therefore not unique to the baboons and suggests there is an inherent problem in using acceleration data to classify behaviours which involve subtle movements and especially when these movements are adopted with similar postures . Nevertheless, the identification of a broad inactivity category is likely sufficient for most researchers and questions. For instance, the identification of inactivity could enable us to identify habitats that can be used as refuges. More generally, in the case of our baboon research in the Cape Peninsula, identifying inactivity before and after a raiding event, or short inactive pauses while travelling, could indicate periods of vigilance and can overall be used to explore how and when baboons adopt 'sit and wait' raiding (foraging) strategies . Similarly, identification of inactivity can provide interesting insights into energy expenditure and recovery time in other systems [24, 19, 42].
Locomotion (walking and running) were the best identified behaviours by our model (92% of the misclassifications occurring in running were composed of walking—either running segments classified as walking or walking segments classified as running). This efficiency in the recognition of locomotion has been observed in other species and reflects a regular signal in the heave channel [1, 3, 23] and/or frequency of the general acceleration [1, 21, 43]. This result is also consistent with the importance of the 1st maximum power spectrum density peak in the Z channel (PSD1Z) describing the amplitude of the sinusoidal pattern during locomotion on the Z axis (Fig. 2). Because locomotion is generating the patterns, we frequently describe by the use of GPS data and mathematical models of animal movement [44–46], accurately describing locomotion phases versus sedentary phases via acceleration can allow the user to correct GPS errors and investigate movements which are happening between fixes. Combining GPS and acceleration data will therefore increase the reliability of both data streams that are at the basis of burgeoning field of movement ecology . In the context of our larger programme of research on baboons, locomotion's precision and recall will enable us to explore the dynamics of forays into urban areas by raiding baboons , such as the speed of the approach or the sinuosity of trajectories .
Our model was extremely successful at extracting foraging, despite the fact that a wide diversity of 'types' of foraging behaviours are exhibited by baboons . Indeed, our model successfully extracted most foraging events (recall = 93.5%) which is particularly important for the study of a short lived behaviour such as raiding behaviour . Foraging in baboons is almost never performed in isolation of other behaviours, as it can take place while being stationary (sitting, or standing, i.e. stationary foraging ) or while walking (i.e. travel foraging ). Interestingly, the 2nd maximum power spectrum density peak in the X axis (PSD2X), the fourth most important variable, was important for quantifying a sinusoidal pattern in the secondary amplitude. As such, PSD2X was important for identifying behaviours of smaller amplitude that co-occur during other activities of higher amplitude such as chewing (foraging); which can occur while walking, for example (Fig. 2). We therefore suggest that this variable can be of interest for accelerometer users looking at the foraging ecology of primates or species sharing a similar foraging behaviour. Indeed, researchers have had success identifying foraging in other terrestrial species [23, 43, 49, 50], in birds using location clues, for example, from GPS or pressure sensors [8, 39, 51] and in sea mammals using, for example, mandible accelerometers [52, 53]. This suggests that 'complex' foraging behaviours in fact lend themselves to identification from acceleration (and other bio-logger) signals, and offers a useful avenue for further research.
While the main focus of our study was locomotion and foraging behaviours, we also identified grooming from our collar data. The maintenance of social affiliation by baboons is mostly mediated through grooming, especially for females [12, 11, 54]. As such, grooming has been studied in various contexts across primates , and it constitutes one of the most used metrics to build social networks [54, 55]. Grooming behaviour is traditionally identified by direct observation only and is therefore limited by the number of observers available to witness it and their ability to recognise individuals' identity, and thus recording only one or a few interactions at a time. We were able to identify grooming with >60% of recall and precision when the focal individual was receiver and >20% when the focal individual was the actor. Further work would be needed to confirm this extraction since our model included grooming events from two baboons with few independent events, which could have led to overfitting in the model. Because adult males rarely if ever groom one another, by collaring females that spend a high proportion of their time grooming each other , it is likely that grooming behaviour (active and passive) could be resolved with greater confidence (since the dyad would be stationary and grooming one another). To identify even a fraction of grooming events remotely using tracking collars could transform our ability to explore the spatial–temporal dynamics of social relationships in baboons (and other grooming species) . In the future, grooming data identified through acceleration would afford researchers opportunity to comprehensively investigate questions relating to 'biological market theory' [56, 58], or enhance our understanding of decision processes in movements and leadership [59, 60], for example.
Overall our study shows that the use of accelerometers can document foraging strategies and social behaviour in wild primates. Such methodology provides advantages in gathering data with limited direct observation [15, 16] and offers an alternative to habituation of wild primates . We hope that researchers interested in primate behavioural ecology will be inspired by the 'end to end' process that we have described here. This paper offers a full protocol—from collar design and construction to the identification of behaviours from accelerometers—for any researcher working with a medium- to large-sized primate. We hope that researchers in the fields of both primatology and biotelemetry make the most of these exciting new opportunities.
AJK and GF conceived the study. GF led the fieldwork and performed analyses with support from AJK, ELCS and JO'S. GF collected data, PWH and MDH provided technical support, and JO'R supported fieldwork. All authors discussed and interpreted the data. GF and AJK wrote the paper with input from all co-authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
We thank the Baboon Technical Team for authorisation to conduct our research on Cape Peninsula baboons. We are grateful to the members of SLAM (Swansea Lab for Animal Movement) and SHOAL (Sociality, Heterogeneity, Organisation And Leadership) group for discussion on collar design and interpretation of data, and Carlo Catoni (TechnoSmArt), Gwenda Kesans (Ride and Drive Equestrian), Nicolas Chatelain and the Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Departement d'Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie for their assistance in the design and manufacture of the collars. We thank Rory Wilson for the provision of the Daily Diaries. For their cooperation and assistance in the field, we thank vets Hamish Currie and Dorothy Breed, Ines Fürtbauer, Julie Escoffier, Hugo Pontalier and Human Wildlife Solutions and their rangers who provided logistical assistance.
R scripts and collar details are available in supplementary materials. Raw data are available by email upon request to the corresponding author.
All authors agree consent to publish this work to Animal Biotelemetry.
The present work was approved by Swansea University Ethics Committee (Swansea University IP-1314-5) and Cape Town's Baboon Technical Team.
This work was supported by research grants from the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) and Swansea University's College of Science, in addition to National Research Foundation (NRF) incentive funding provided to M.J'O and travel grants from the Society for Experimental Biology. GF was supported by a Swansea University Ph.D. Scholarship. AJK was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council Fellowship (NE/H016600/3) during development of this study.
40317_2017_121_MOESM1_ESM.pdf Additional file 1. Computation of acceleration variables for behavioural identification. All procedures for the computation of the acceleration variables required for behavioural identification are given in 'VariablesComputation.pdf'. Code written for the R interface (R version 3.2.2, R Core Team (2015). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/).
40317_2017_121_MOESM2_ESM.pdf Additional file 2. Baboon collar development. All steps of the collar development and the collar characteristics are given in 'BaboonCollarDevelopment.pdf'.
40317_2017_121_MOESM3_ESM.pdf Additional file 3. Random forest workflow. The model building workflow is represented in orange and used a training set of N observations, X variables, and three classes, C. (a) The first step is to define K bootstrap sets then the model builds K trees from these sets. (b) For each tree, the model uses a random selection of variables and finds the best rule to split the initial set (or node) into two purer descendent subsets. The process goes on until no more rules can be found to split the nodes into purer subsets. The validation process is indicated in blue. (d) Each tree assigns one class to the observation, and (e) the most frequent 'vote' is attributed as the final prediction.
40317_2017_121_MOESM4_ESM.png Additional file 4. Number of trees required. The error rate (number of misclassifications/total number of observations) according to the number of trees is given for each behaviour. The present work uses 500 trees.
40317_2017_121_MOESM5_ESM.pdf Additional file 5. Acceleration metrics for the five most important variables. Medians and 1st and 3rd quartiles are given for each behaviour. Behaviours which do not overlap between their 1st and 3rd quartiles are highlighted in dark grey, and behaviours for which a behaviour median value does not fall into any other interquartile range are indicated in light grey.


I've been thinking about our church building lately. It was built like a New England farmhouse, one piece at a time, with what and whom we had available. We have space for worship, space for community, space for education. But although this congregation's unifying value undoubtedly centers around relationship and connection, the community room is the least beautified and most neglected. It has tired furniture and makeshift organization. Soon, we'll be looking at a changed space–the sprinkler tanks that have so long occupied the corner will be gone, made unnecessary by our upcoming connection to city water. It is a time of great potential for transformative change, change that will allow us to shape the space according to both our needs and our values and to honor the sweat and labor that members put into building that room.
It doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be expensive. But our space deserves our respect and our attention. Let's dream a little. What would make it a brilliant space, a gem of our building–for socializing, for meeting, for making and nurturing connections? What would make coffee hour sweet and comfortable; what would make large meetings energetic and warm and productive? What else might we do there? Worship? Dancing? Workshops? What would let us feel like we are held in the heart of our building? What would give us another wonderful space for ourselves and the larger community?
This space, like all spaces, should serve our community and reflect our beliefs. How can we make that happen?


One of the smallest devices on the market. Unfortunately this device doesnt support scene activation when double click.
Qubino is new in our productgamma. They make modules that are similar to the FIBARO modules that we sell for a longer period. Now we have an alternative.
The ZMNHCA2 qubino z-wave rollers shutter module can control blinds and roller shutter has a connection for a temperature sensor, and is extremely compact (41,8 x 36,8 x 17mm). This switch has CE-certification.


"Empathy is something unfair until we're the ones who need it." I read something along these lines a couple of days ago. I happen to read that when I was halfway through series 2 of Dissect Podcast. The superb deconstruction of Kanye West's album, "A Dark Twisted Fantasy" by Cole Cuchna renewed my appreciation of empathy. Who would've thunk it? I get a lesson on empathy from a great example of music appreciation of a musician / hip hop artist.
While driving today, I overtook a man with a little girl for a passenger. I assumed it what his daughter. And then wondered if she was. The reason this is noteworthy? He was texting while driving. The little girl was not buckled and had her head out the rolled down window. I was angry and shocked at the same time. How could he be so irresponsible? In my incredulity I wondered if it would be right for me to call him out on it.


text:
1 in 5 UK families experience estrangement but social networking sites have made it easier than ever before for those affected to see, and get in touch with the people they'd like to be reunited with.
Making initial contact might seem easy – just one click away - but knowing what to do next can be hard to navigate without expert help. In One Click Away an experienced family separation expert will support and guide the estranged family members through a robust process.
Commissioning Executive, Vivienne Molokwu said: "Social media gives unparalleled access to find missing people but reuniting is the easy part of building a relationship. This programme looks beyond that fairy tale moment and helps family members through the real challenge of forging long lasting connections."
Karl Warner, joint managing director of Electric Ray, said: "One Click Away is a contemporary take on an issue that affects more and more of us, focusing on the huge range of young and diverse people seeking out a family member. Their stories promise to be dramatic and moving."
The TX Pilot has been commissioned by Channel 4 Head of Features and Daytime, Gill Wilson and Commissioning Executive, Vivienne Molokwu. It will be Exec produced by Karl Warner and Meredith Chambers from Electric Ray.
Twitter: @1Click_Away
Instagram: 1_click_away
Web: https://www.electricray.com/oneclick
Read extracts Google Books
'Understanding Parental Alienation is unique... a balance of scholarship and practical, hands-on experience.'
William Bernet M.D.
Professor Emeritus, Vanderbilt University and Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
'A highly valuable resource for parents, and a must-read book for every mental health professional, social worker or legal professional working with families in divorce.'
Professor Gordana Buljan Flander, Ph.D.
Director of Child and Youth Protection Center of Zagreb, Child protection consultant to UNICEF and Council of Europe expert
© Nick Woodall 2008 - 2019


text:
package nats_input

import (
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"log"
	"net"
	"strings"
	"sync"
	"time"

	"github.com/google/uuid"
	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
	"github.com/openconfig/gnmic/formatters"
	"github.com/openconfig/gnmic/inputs"
	"github.com/openconfig/gnmic/outputs"
	"github.com/openconfig/gnmic/types"
	"github.com/openconfig/gnmic/utils"
	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
)

const (
	loggingPrefix           = "[nats_input] "
	natsReconnectBufferSize = 100 * 1024 * 1024
	defaultAddress          = "localhost:4222"
	natsConnectWait         = 2 * time.Second
	defaultFormat           = "event"
	defaultSubject          = "telemetry"
	defaultNumWorkers       = 1
	defaultBufferSize       = 100
)

func init() {
	inputs.Register("nats", func() inputs.Input {
		return &NatsInput{
			Cfg:    &Config{},
			logger: log.New(io.Discard, loggingPrefix, utils.DefaultLoggingFlags),
			wg:     new(sync.WaitGroup),
		}
	})
}

// NatsInput //
type NatsInput struct {
	Cfg    *Config
	ctx    context.Context
	cfn    context.CancelFunc
	logger *log.Logger

	wg      *sync.WaitGroup
	outputs []outputs.Output
	evps    []formatters.EventProcessor
}

// Config //
type Config struct {
	Name            string        `mapstructure:"name,omitempty"`
	Address         string        `mapstructure:"address,omitempty"`
	Subject         string        `mapstructure:"subject,omitempty"`
	Queue           string        `mapstructure:"queue,omitempty"`
	Username        string        `mapstructure:"username,omitempty"`
	Password        string        `mapstructure:"password,omitempty"`
	ConnectTimeWait time.Duration `mapstructure:"connect-time-wait,omitempty"`
	Format          string        `mapstructure:"format,omitempty"`
	Debug           bool          `mapstructure:"debug,omitempty"`
	NumWorkers      int           `mapstructure:"num-workers,omitempty"`
	BufferSize      int           `mapstructure:"buffer-size,omitempty"`
	Outputs         []string      `mapstructure:"outputs,omitempty"`
	EventProcessors []string      `mapstructure:"event-processors,omitempty"`
}

// Init //
func (n *NatsInput) Start(ctx context.Context, name string, cfg map[string]interface{}, opts ...inputs.Option) error {
	err := outputs.DecodeConfig(cfg, n.Cfg)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if n.Cfg.Name == "" {
		n.Cfg.Name = name
	}
	for _, opt := range opts {
		opt(n)
	}
	err = n.setDefaults()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	n.ctx, n.cfn = context.WithCancel(ctx)
	n.logger.Printf("input starting with config: %+v", n.Cfg)
	n.wg.Add(n.Cfg.NumWorkers)
	for i := 0; i < n.Cfg.NumWorkers; i++ {
		go n.worker(ctx, i)
	}
	return nil
}

func (n *NatsInput) worker(ctx context.Context, idx int) {
	var nc *nats.Conn
	var err error
	var msgChan chan *nats.Msg
	workerLogPrefix := fmt.Sprintf("worker-%d", idx)
	n.logger.Printf("%s starting", workerLogPrefix)
	cfg := *n.Cfg
	cfg.Name = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", cfg.Name, idx)
START:
	nc, err = n.createNATSConn(&cfg)
	if err != nil {
		n.logger.Printf("%s failed to create NATS connection: %v", workerLogPrefix, err)
		time.Sleep(n.Cfg.ConnectTimeWait)
		goto START
	}
	defer nc.Close()
	msgChan = make(chan *nats.Msg, n.Cfg.BufferSize)
	sub, err := nc.ChanQueueSubscribe(n.Cfg.Subject, n.Cfg.Queue, msgChan)
	if err != nil {
		n.logger.Printf("%s failed to create NATS subscription: %v", workerLogPrefix, err)
		time.Sleep(n.Cfg.ConnectTimeWait)
		nc.Close()
		goto START
	}
	defer close(msgChan)
	defer sub.Unsubscribe()

	for {
		select {
		case <-ctx.Done():
			return
		case m, ok := <-msgChan:
			if !ok {
				n.logger.Printf("%s channel closed, retrying...", workerLogPrefix)
				time.Sleep(n.Cfg.ConnectTimeWait)
				nc.Close()
				goto START
			}
			if len(m.Data) == 0 {
				continue
			}
			if n.Cfg.Debug {
				n.logger.Printf("received msg, subject=%s, queue=%s, len=%d, data=%s", m.Subject, m.Sub.Queue, len(m.Data), string(m.Data))
			}

			switch n.Cfg.Format {
			case "event":
				evMsgs := make([]*formatters.EventMsg, 1)
				err = json.Unmarshal(m.Data, &evMsgs)
				if err != nil {
					if n.Cfg.Debug {
						n.logger.Printf("%s failed to unmarshal event msg: %v", workerLogPrefix, err)
					}
					continue
				}

				for _, p := range n.evps {
					evMsgs = p.Apply(evMsgs...)
				}

				go func() {
					for _, o := range n.outputs {
						for _, ev := range evMsgs {
							o.WriteEvent(ctx, ev)
						}
					}
				}()
			case "proto":
				var protoMsg proto.Message
				err = proto.Unmarshal(m.Data, protoMsg)
				if err != nil {
					if n.Cfg.Debug {
						n.logger.Printf("failed to unmarshal proto msg: %v", err)
					}
					continue
				}
				meta := outputs.Meta{}
				subjectSections := strings.SplitN(m.Subject, ".", 3)
				if len(subjectSections) == 3 {
					meta["source"] = strings.ReplaceAll(subjectSections[1], "-", ".")
					meta["subscription-name"] = subjectSections[2]
				}
				go func() {
					for _, o := range n.outputs {
						o.Write(ctx, protoMsg, meta)
					}
				}()
			}

		}
	}
}

// Close //
func (n *NatsInput) Close() error {
	n.cfn()
	n.wg.Wait()
	return nil
}

// SetLogger //
func (n *NatsInput) SetLogger(logger *log.Logger) {
	if logger != nil && n.logger != nil {
		n.logger.SetOutput(logger.Writer())
		n.logger.SetFlags(logger.Flags())
	}
}

// SetOutputs //
func (n *NatsInput) SetOutputs(outs map[string]outputs.Output) {
	if len(n.Cfg.Outputs) == 0 {
		for _, o := range outs {
			n.outputs = append(n.outputs, o)
		}
		return
	}
	for _, name := range n.Cfg.Outputs {
		if o, ok := outs[name]; ok {
			n.outputs = append(n.outputs, o)
		}
	}
}

func (n *NatsInput) SetName(name string) {
	sb := strings.Builder{}
	if name != "" {
		sb.WriteString(name)
		sb.WriteString("-")
	}
	sb.WriteString(n.Cfg.Name)
	sb.WriteString("-nats-sub")
	n.Cfg.Name = sb.String()
}

func (n *NatsInput) SetEventProcessors(ps map[string]map[string]interface{}, logger *log.Logger, tcs map[string]*types.TargetConfig) {
	for _, epName := range n.Cfg.EventProcessors {
		if epCfg, ok := ps[epName]; ok {
			epType := ""
			for k := range epCfg {
				epType = k
				break
			}
			if in, ok := formatters.EventProcessors[epType]; ok {
				ep := in()
				err := ep.Init(epCfg[epType], formatters.WithLogger(logger), formatters.WithTargets(tcs))
				if err != nil {
					n.logger.Printf("failed initializing event processor %q of type=%q: %v", epName, epType, err)
					continue
				}
				n.evps = append(n.evps, ep)
				n.logger.Printf("added event processor %q of type=%q to nats input", epName, epType)
			}
		}
	}
}

// helper functions

func (n *NatsInput) setDefaults() error {
	if n.Cfg.Format == "" {
		n.Cfg.Format = defaultFormat
	}
	if !(strings.ToLower(n.Cfg.Format) == "event" || strings.ToLower(n.Cfg.Format) == "proto") {
		return fmt.Errorf("unsupported input format")
	}
	if n.Cfg.Name == "" {
		n.Cfg.Name = "gnmic-" + uuid.New().String()
	}
	if n.Cfg.Subject == "" {
		n.Cfg.Subject = defaultSubject
	}
	if n.Cfg.Address == "" {
		n.Cfg.Address = defaultAddress
	}
	if n.Cfg.ConnectTimeWait <= 0 {
		n.Cfg.ConnectTimeWait = natsConnectWait
	}
	if n.Cfg.Queue == "" {
		n.Cfg.Queue = n.Cfg.Name
	}
	if n.Cfg.NumWorkers <= 0 {
		n.Cfg.NumWorkers = defaultNumWorkers
	}
	if n.Cfg.BufferSize <= 0 {
		n.Cfg.BufferSize = defaultBufferSize
	}
	return nil
}

func (n *NatsInput) createNATSConn(c *Config) (*nats.Conn, error) {
	opts := []nats.Option{
		nats.Name(c.Name),
		nats.SetCustomDialer(n),
		nats.ReconnectWait(n.Cfg.ConnectTimeWait),
		nats.ReconnectBufSize(natsReconnectBufferSize),
		nats.ErrorHandler(func(_ *nats.Conn, _ *nats.Subscription, err error) {
			n.logger.Printf("NATS error: %v", err)
		}),
		nats.DisconnectHandler(func(c *nats.Conn) {
			n.logger.Println("Disconnected from NATS")
		}),
		nats.ClosedHandler(func(c *nats.Conn) {
			n.logger.Println("NATS connection is closed")
		}),
	}
	if c.Username != "" && c.Password != "" {
		opts = append(opts, nats.UserInfo(c.Username, c.Password))
	}
	nc, err := nats.Connect(c.Address, opts...)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	return nc, nil
}

// Dial //
func (n *NatsInput) Dial(network, address string) (net.Conn, error) {
	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(n.ctx)
	defer cancel()

	for {
		n.logger.Printf("attempting to connect to %s", address)
		if ctx.Err() != nil {
			return nil, ctx.Err()
		}

		select {
		case <-n.ctx.Done():
			return nil, n.ctx.Err()
		default:
			d := &net.Dialer{}
			if conn, err := d.DialContext(ctx, network, address); err == nil {
				n.logger.Printf("successfully connected to NATS server %s", address)
				return conn, nil
			}
			time.Sleep(n.Cfg.ConnectTimeWait)
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after a meeting held Sunday, April 16, a referendum in the country's government will begin to consider the need for the introduction of the death penalty. About it reports Reuters.
During a speech to journalists at his presidential residence in Ankara the head of state said that he intends immediately to discuss returning to the Constitution the death penalty with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Chairman of the opposition nationalist movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli.
The publication indicates that such a step would mean the curtailment of the negotiations on Turkey's membership in the European Union, which the country conducted since the beginning of 2000-ies – the country that wants to join the EU should not have legislative mechanisms for imposing the death penalty.
Erdogan added that it is possible to hold a new referendum on the death penalty. The Turkish President reminded that the Turkish people resisted during the attempted coup in July 2016 and "suffered defeat".
We will remind, preliminary data processing of the ballots suggests that for changes in the country's Constitution on Sunday in favor of more than 50% of the population.
While the Turkish opposition has already declared intention to appeal against the results of the referendum, as its observers had reported fraud during the counting of votes.
Constitutional changes in the transition to a presidential system have been adopted by the Turkish Parliament and signed by President Tayyip Erdogan.
A package of amendments to 18 articles of the Turkish Constitution implies that the President becomes the head of the state system, he will be endowed with the power to appoint Vice-presidents, Ministers and senior officials.
The Prime Minister will be abolished. Decisions on the establishment, dissolution, powers, responsibilities and structure of the ministries will be determined in accordance with the decrees of the President.
Right on the Declaration of state of emergency will be received by the President, approve the decision of the President on the state of emergency will be Parliament. The head of state will be able to publish and the other having the force of law decrees, which will enter into force without the prior approval of Parliament, but they can be canceled if lawmakers in the future they will reject.
The President will not be able to leave the ranks of his political party, as provided for in the current Constitution of Turkey.


Urological conditions are common in men and women of all ages in Australia. There is a chance that at some point you will need to seek advice and treatment from a urologist, and seeing with a specialist who is knowledgable, skilled and experienced is very important. Here are some tips for finding the best urologist in Sydney.
Urologists are highly trained medical professionals who have spent years studying at medical school, in addition to lengthy specialist training in the field.
Dr Arianayagam completed his urology training in New South Wales at Port Macquarie, Westmead and Prince of Wales Hospitals. After completion of the Urology Fellowship examinations in October 2008, further training was undertaken at the Miller School of Medicine, Department of Urology, at The University of Miami, Florida, USA from July 2009 to June 2011 as a Urologic Oncology Fellow. Fellowship to the American Society of Urologic Oncology was awarded at the completion of this two year training period.
You can see Dr Arianayagam's accrediations here.
Do They Offer Comprehensive Service?
The best urologists will offer a comprehensive range of services and will be able to offer advice on all urological needs. Many urological procedures and conditions are multidisciplinary and require knowledge in multiple fields.
Dr Arianayagam offers the entire breadth of urological service. He is a highly skilled laparoscopic and robotic surgeon and routinely performs a wide range of surgeries, from laparoscopic removal of the kidneys, to all aspects of adrenal surgery, to robotic prostatectomy (which improves postoperative erectile function).
You can read more about Dr Arianayagam's special interests and areas of expertise here.
Are They Experienced in Different Areas?
The best urologists will constantly be learning and developing their skills and knowledge in specialised areas.
Dr Arianayagam has a broad range of special interests, such as robotic surgery, to minimally invasive surgery, urinary diversion, specialist robotic techniques, transplant techniques for kidney removal, complex surgeries such as zero ischaemia partial nephrectomy, laser surgery, all aspects of cancer surgery and preserving erectile function.
If you have any questions regarding urological conditions or would like to book an appointment, please call Dr Arianayagam's office on 1300 307 990 and his staff will be more than happy to help.


University of Texas super-fan hits the "Hook-em" button on a Savant home-automation remote to tune all five Sony TVs to his favorite sports stations and trigger Philips Hue smart bulbs to glow burnt orange.
The integrators at Service Tech Audio Visual didn't stop with TVs and automation...they also added a full lighting system, complete with Philips Hue accent lights to give the space a properly colored University of Texas theme.
There are football fans who love watching the sport then there are super fans who relish the opportunity to critique every aspect of the game: compare stats, study and analyze players, review key plays, basically live and breathe the game. The owner of this media room marvel fits into the latter category, especially when it comes to the University of Texas Longhorns.
As his home was being built, he sequestered a 1,500-square-foot space where he could dive deep into football territory, but all from the comfort of his couch.
Local systems integrator Service Tech Audio Visual was hired to handle the conversion of the unfinished space into a multiscreen viewing environment, complete with a billiards table and bar. Sony XBR 4K TVs deliver high refresh rates for superior processing of fast-action sports, and five was the magic number of displays for the impending video wall.
After coming up with a workable game plan, the team at Service Tech centered an 85-incher on the chosen viewing wall and flanked it with two 49-inch displays on each side.
The result is an eye-popping video wall capable of displaying five separate programs simultaneously. Each display is connected to its own dedicated DirecTV box, giving the owner the freedom to pick and choose at will.
Rather than require the owner to use a separate remote to control each DirecTV box and its connected TV, Service Tech tied everything to a Savant control system so a single remote or touchpanel can quickly set up the video for game-day action.
Using the touchpanel, which is stationed on an in-wall charging station but can be quickly removed and carried to the couch, the owner can select a channel for each TV.
Even easier, he can tap a button labeled "Hook 'em" which tunes each TV automatically to the owner's five preferred sports channels.
The central display goes right to the Longhorn Network; the others broadcast to other sports stations. The Savant app on the tablet does the trick, or he can press a button on a Lutron Palladiom keypad as he enters the room.
Click for more images of the Hook 'em Horns theater.
Audio automatically defaults to the 85-inch TV, which plays through a full-length custom Leon Speakers soundbar mounted below the display, as well as to in-ceiling Sonance Performance speakers for a 7.2-channel surround-sound effect. The owner can always use Savant interface on the touchpanel to direct audio from any of the other TVs to the speaker array.
A Lutron HomeWorks QS architectural lighting system and colored Philips Hue accent lights play a big role in the Hook 'em scene, too. The same program that sets up the video wall also activates cove lighting, which shines in Longhorns burnt orange.
From the touchpanel, Savant remote or a Lutron Palladiom keypad, the owner can also engage a "Movie" scene. This tunes the 85-inch TV to Apple TV, switches off all the room lights, and turns the cove lighting to a deep blue hue: the perfect setting for a movie night.
With multiple TVs, intuitive controls, and colorful lighting, this multipurpose room is able to transition easily from a sports devotee's dream viewing environment to a movie buff's cinematic bliss.


file and track a claim, or pay your premium(s) directly on your carriers website.
You may be prompted to login directly to Kemper Specialty's online portal. If you don't have a login, you can easily create one.
You may be prompted to login directly to Pacific Specialty's online portal. If you don't have a login, you can easily create one.
You may be prompted to login directly to Blue of CA's online portal. If you don't have a login, you can easily create one.
You may be prompted to login directly to Explorer's online portal. If you don't have a login, you can easily create one.
You may be prompted to login directly to Delta Dental's online portal. If you don't have a login, you can easily create one.


text:
DARIKA IN IZALA CONFERENCE
His Eminence, The Sultan
The Jama'atu Izalatil Bid'ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah in conjunction with The Muslim World League (Raabitah), organised a two-day International Islamic Conference on Peace and Stability from March 17th - 19th, 2016 at the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Centre, Abuja.
The organisers showed gratitude to both President Muhammad Buhari , who declared the Conference open, and King Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Sa'ud, Custodian of the Two Holy Masjids for facilitating the Conference which brought together dignitaries from many countries as special guests, paper presenters, members of the press and participants. The Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki together with a multitude from the National Assembly formed part of attendees. His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, as well as the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II graced the occasion.
Participants at the Conference cut across regions from Africa, Asia, the Gulf states and the United States of America.
Izala is no longer a local Islamic organisation. Izala is an international movement with members in myriad countries around the world, especially now that it has got the stamp of authority from the Custodian of the Two Holy Masjids, King Salman Ibn AbdulAziz Al Sa'ud, depicted by this alliance with The Muslim World League.
This international conference, the first of its kind by any Muslim group in Nigeria, has opened a new phase in the development of Izala from a movement, viewed by not a few Muslims, with penchant to expelling people from the fold of Islam because of its strict adherence to the principles of monotheism, to a modern Islamic body which pledges allegiance to peaceful exchange of ideas, and engaging the other on scholastic and intellectual platforms.
It was gladdening to sit in a hall with Christians of various denominations, and Muslims from Darika groups attending a conference organised by Izala. Just 10 years ago, one may be pardoned for deeming such meeting impossible. Not anymore. Izala extended invitations to Qadiriyyah and Tijjaniyyah leaders for their participation in the conference, and they all honoured by attending in large numbers. I sat close to Sheikh Tijjani Bala Kalarawi who informed me after one of the sessions at the conference that he came with a lot of other Tijjaniyyah followers like Imam Nasiru Adam, Chief Imam, Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani Mosque, Kano, Sheikh Shehu Shehu Mai Hula, Kano and many in a handsome delegation sent by Khalifah of the Tijjaniyyah Order Worldwide, Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu.
Another powerful delegation was sent by Sheikh Qaribullah Nasiru Kabara, Head of Qadiriyyah Doctrine, West Africa.
This is what we desire: burying the hatchets of rancour. Our disputes on any matter should be referred to Allah and His Messenger, if we really believe in Him as our final arbiter (Qur'an 4:59).
One important lesson from the conference, which I believe the Izala leadership should learn well is the tolerance and maturity our Darika brothers displayed. The mere fact that Darika people agreed to come together with Izala brothers in a conference is a huge leap. Those who did not know the level of acrimony between the two broad groups cannot appreciate this well enough.
These were groups of people who once did not see eye to eye. They used the pulpits of their respective mosques to hurl insults at each other. Somehow, maturity is setting in these days as evidenced by an invitation to the Darika people from the Izala side; something no right-thinking Izala man would do a decade or two ago. Indeed the acceptance of the invitation and subsequent attendance of the big guns in the Darika stables probably led to the silence of their leaders who normally took swipes at the Izala after such conferences in audio and video recordings. The Izalas too would have found a way to do a rejoinder recording and so the vicious cycle would continue, ad infinitum ad nauseum.
One of the more virulent ones among the Darika made it his pastime to insult His Eminence, the Sultan at regular intervals. He once called His Eminence the Sultan of only the Izala because he felt the two factions of Izala were to be considered as one but the Sultan considered them to be two groups and thus gave each representation in the yearly Hajj committee along with representatives from the Darika. Ironically, I am aware that some of the Izala view the Sultan as a closet Darika!
In fact, Sheikh Abdul Mohsen of the Raabitah remarked that this new understanding between the two groups should give rise to a change of name for the Izalas. The current name of Jama'atu Izalatil Bid'ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah (Society for Eradicating Religious Innovation and Upholding the Sunnah) could henceforth become Jama'atu Iqaamatis Sunnah (Society for Upholding the Sunnah) without the Izaalatul Bid'ah (Eradicating Religious Innovation); a phrase which he deemed rather confrontational and no longer necessary since, in his respected opinion, the bid'ah (wrong innovation) has been cleared away now.
The respected scholar and Secretary General of the World Muslim League urged all the groups to work together to educate their followers properly and to collaborate in the fight against religious extremism; a statement I found somewhat at cross purposes with the advice to stop mentioning the eradication of bid'ah. This is because there is no way you can fight against religious extremism without fighting bid'ah, since it is bid'ah which leads to religious extremism to begin with.
The point he was trying to make was clear, the context and application will be subject to many considerations. I foresee a future where Darika would invite the Izala to their own conferences and the Izala would attend and present papers and vice versa. I foresee a point in time when the two can sit and thrash out any issue in a scholarly fashion; in a way which shows both sides have been schooled in the etiquette of disagreement in Islam.
A situation where a so-called scholar would mount the rostrum and tell the leader of Nigerian Muslims, the Sultan that his forebears' jihad did not reach Guru and so he does not regard the Sultan as his leader is sad and avoidable. When senility takes away discernment, it is the duty of the students of such, who as his children should guide their parent who has become a child.
"And God has created you and in time will cause you to die; and many a one of you is reduced in old age to a most abject state, ceasing to know anything of what he once knew so well. Verily, God is all-knowing, infinite in His power" Q16 (An-Nahl): 70
Posted by Abubakr Siddeeq at 8:13 AM 1 comment:
THE ZAYMAR CONFERENCE
The Zaymar Islamic Research and Development Education Centre held a two-day conference on national stability through constructive social relations with constituted authority, at the Abuja National Mosque from March 29th to 30th. The organisers invited me to present a paper on 'UTILISING CONTEXT SPECIFIC RELIGIOUS TOOLS TO PROMOTE CONSTRUCTIVE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CONSTITUTED AUTHORITY'. This is what I said:
May Allah reward Zaymar Islamic Research and Development Education Centre for organising this conference at this trying time of our country's history, and for inviting me to present this paper.
Permit me to modify the latter part of the topic by replacing 'Constituted Authority' with 'Those Who Are In Authority', as contained in verse 59 of Suratun Nisaa. Thus, the topic will now read, Utilising Context Specific Religious Tools To Promote Constructive Social Relationship With Those Who Are In Authority.
'Constituted Authority' conjures up the experiences we had years ago during the Muslim Students Society (MSS) days of abominating anything that has to do with the constitution. Two words in the Hausa Language - kwance, and tushe, were joined together to form kwancetushe which, phonetically, sounds like constitution but which actually means severing of the basics, or destruction of the foundation. Since the constitutions came to replace the Shari'ah with the advent of colonialism, we rejoiced in the usage of this coinage and in the malignant description it gave to constitution in both sound and meaning.
Other events around the world, created in our minds a fantasy of some sorts; like the unjust incarceration, and, later, martyrdom of Sheikh Hassan Al Bannah, Sayyid Qutb, etc., enflamed in most of us this hatred of the constitution. Reading some books authored by the duo, and many like them, as well as the Iranian Revolution of 1979 liberated our benighted thoughts, or so we assumed, to the realisation that: 1) with the abolition of Shari'ah and its replacement with the constitution by our colonial masters, Nigeria has become Daarul Harb, an Abode of War, and not Daarul Islaam, the Abode of Peace anymore 2) it was mandatory on all of us, therefore, to either fight the Nigerian State in order to establish an Islamic one in place thereof or make hijrah, migration from this territory of war to that of peace by any means necessary; 3) Nigeria as a whole, and its apparatus of government was a personification of infidelity because, in it, Allah's Laws were brought low, thus being part of the system in any form, be it as a civil servant, a policeman, a military officer, and whatnot was disbelief; not only that, entertaining any doubt concerning the faithlessness of people in government was riddah, repudiation of one's faith; 4) the education system in Nigeria became the veritable conduit through which disbelief was injected into people who later graduated and became civil servants in government establishments and thus ensured the continuity of the kufuristic system; 5) on account of all these, therefore, Muslims must stay away from all forms of kufr as represented by Nigeria and its administrative and education systems; 6) waging war against the government, its workforce and institutions was a duty on all Muslims, and anyone that opposes this noble jihad was part of the kufr, and as well, a legitimate target.
This flawed state of mind was further exacerbated by ceaseless free supplies, from Iran, of magazines such as Echo of Islam and Mahjubah. Reading whatever Islamic literature came our way was an honest attempt, laced with ignorance, to live according to the dictates of Allah, and to avoid subservience to manmade laws. We entertained this colossal utopian idea of routing the Nigerian authorities, toppling the government through Iranian style Islamic Revolution, and living happily ever after in an egalitarian society under the rule of Allah!
Our attachment to Iranian publications made some to people think we were leaning towards Shi'ism; many even said we were Shi'ah, which we were not. We were only concerned with that bond of brotherhood that bound all Muslims together, thus the name Muslims Brothers.
When the Izalatul Bid'ah Wa 'Iqamatus Sunnah movement started in the 1980s they made the mistake of repelling us from their hold by falsely accusing us of Shiism, something about which we knew nothing then. That was a pricey error. 'Izala failed to embrace, and to save from the wilderness of jumbled understanding of the Deen, a generation of genuine lovers of Islam. Thus, we viewed Sunni scholars of the Izala stripe, at the head of them the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmoud Gumi, as the 'government mallams', who advocated remaining in the kufr system with the aim of effecting corrections from within. We rejected that approach challenging its protagonists to show examples of any success recorded in that kind of arrangement, in Nigeria or elsewhere. They wanted gradual reform; we wanted complete Islamisation as witnessed in Iran.
We advocated and spearheaded the call for total boycott of Boko as kufr because it was based on Judaeo-Christian foundations, according to our derailed perception and limited knowledge. Most of us dropped out on our volition, or were rusticated due to unruly conduct by the university authorities, like ABU, BUK, etc., but we remained within the campus trying to save others from the perdition we saw in pursuing western education. It was only decades later that people like Muhammad Yusuf plagiarised what we initiated and through which we caused otherwise great brains to abandon their studies, by abhorring and describing Boko an Islamically forbidden enterprise.
Even when Tehran started getting interested in what we were doing and invited some of us to Iran, we were sceptical of their intent. However, gradually some of us inclined towards Iran's consistent ideological overtures to Shiism. Conversion of some us to Shiism brought with it the split of the Muslim Brothers into two. Jama'atu Tajdeedil Islam (JTI), which refused to tow the Shi'ah line, and the Shi'ah faction of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN). This later witnessed further division when some of its members returned from Iran after their studies only to realise that the leader of the movement was ill-educated and, according to them, was only using the cause for his personal ends and self-aggrandisement. Therefore, these Shi'ah elite left IMN to form two other Shi'ah organisations, namely the Rasulul A'azam Foundation (RAAF), and the Darus Saqalaini (DS), which operates under the umbrella of Ansarul-Mahdi Organisation.
Unfortunately, what started as genuine love for Islam in the form of Muslim Brothers has ended with one Sunni group, the JTI, and three Shi'ah organisations: IMN, RAAF and DS.
Addressing the topic of this presentation, which is seeking ways through religious tools to promote social interaction with those in authority, will be impossible with some Shi'ites, because of variations in creed. For example, the attempt for any meaningful discussion will be futile with a group which thinks the Glorious Qur'an in our midst today, is incomplete because it suffered interpolation and removal of some verses at the hands of the early caliphs after the demise of the Messenger of Allah (SAW), in order to advance their political interests. These honoured companions were with the Messenger of Allah at the beginning; they gave their best to the cause of Islam, until the he left this world well pleased with them.
To the Shi'ah, as a doctrine of the creed, these companions were renegades who should be cursed because they betrayed the Messenger of Allah after his demise, and usurped from Ali (RA) the right of caliphate. What religious tools will you quote to the Shi'ah when they do not see the wives of the Prophet as their mothers as established by the Glorious Qur'an (Al-Ahzaab, 33:6). Our mother and consort of Allah's Messenger, Aishah is maligned as an adulteress by the Shi'ah. Where you say 'labbaikallaahummah labbaik', Shi'ah will chant 'labbaika yaa Husaini!' These are only few examples of discordant voices between Islam and the Shi'ah creed.
Therefore, this discussion will be of scant benefit to the Shi'ah adherents with their weirdest set of doctrines and 'hadeeth' collections. You can hardly converse logically with a group which its individual members have imprisoned their reasoning and ability to take decision on any matter without referring it, not to Allah, or to their analogical deductions of His ordinance, but to the whim of a single person. The Kaduna State Judicial Commission of Inquiry (KSJCI) was brought to its knees due to continuous adjournments as requested by the legal team representing IMN because members were not able to have access to, and assent of the leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and which, after procrastinating submission of its memorandum, withdrew from further appearance in the KSJCI.
Ironically, the group, which has spent over 30 years goading young Muslim undergraduates to forsake their studies because Boko was not Islamic, is now enjoying the services of non-Muslim lawyers in its existential debacle with the Nigerian Army!
Dividing the world today in terms of Daarul Harb, Abode of War and Daarul Islam, Abode of Peace is something of an anachronism, since you can hardly find a country that does not have, at least, a minority population of Muslims, or a Muslim country without a Christian population no matter how negligible. That is why Shaafi'i scholars averred that any place where Muslims reside and they are able to practice their religion and even call others to it, cannot be described as Daarul Harb. Such countries, according to them, should be called Daarud Da'wah, Abode of Propagation, because through proselytisation people may answer the call and thus strengthen the Ummah and help convey Allah's messages to multitude others.
Our situation in Nigeria, in the opinion of Late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmoud Gumi, is that of Daarul Amaanah, Abode of Trust, where colonialism came with new terms of engagement after conquering the Islamic State established by Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio. In Amaanah setting, unlike Dhimmah (where non-Muslim residents pay jizyah), nobody is to pay for protection, etc., as both Muslims and non-Muslims were subdued by the colonial forces. Here, Muslims are allowed complete freedom in the practice of their religion - rituals, personal laws of marriage, inheritance, etc., - with the exception of the criminal aspect, which, as demonstrated in the Zamfara Shari'ah extension of same, showed even the exception to be ineffectual.
Hijrah is not an option as the above reasons have shown. Boko Haram forsook the town and relocated to the outskirts of Maiduguri, but their goings and comings, back and forth, to meet certain needs in the city occasioned the genesis of their crises, first with the police, and later with the army. The rest is what we are witnessing today.
Another group was Daarul Islam, which established a mini Islamic State in a remote place between Minna and Mokwa in Niger State. Of the hijrah examples that I know, Daarul Islam was a good attempt. I visited the community twice, and I was impressed with what I saw of their independence from the rest of the world, their tolerance and non-violence. Nevertheless, the former governor of the state ordered their expulsion on the false charge of being Boko Haram.
Proper observance of Islam is not tied to making hijrah to anywhere. There is no place that is not under the control of one authority or another. The reality in the world today is Muslims must live with non-Muslims under systems that may not be Islamic. You can count on your fingers the number of countries that are living under Islamic Shari'ah; many are under a constitution like our own, including the country with the highest Muslim population, Indonesia.
What will happen if Muslims boycott participation in democratic processes because they are not purely Islamic? How will Muslims fare if they refuse to work in usurious financial institutions or keep their monies there? We need Muslims everywhere: in the banks, the presidency, the National Assembly, the courts, ministries and agencies, as well as in the private sector.
Decades ago, we did not have options for Islamic banking. Now we boast of full-fledged Islamic financial services, thanks to His Royal Highness, the former CBN Governor and the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, his predecessor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo and Dr Kingsley Moghalu, who started the inclusion of the Islamic non-Interest banking in the windows recognised by the CBN. Incidentally, the last two persons I mentioned are Christians.
Therefore, those in authority deserve our allegiance in as much as the Messenger of Allah (SAW) has admonished us to give absolute obedience even if a slave becomes our leader. The purpose of Islamic Shari'ah is to bring benefit and avert evil in all circumstances.
Muslims are part of Nigeria and will remain to be so until Allah accomplishes His purpose. We shall form political alliances with other Nigerians be they Muslims or non-Muslims by coming together in the democratic process, to reach those in authority with a view to making this country better. Taking up arms against the state or forming parallel government is both foolhardy and exposing the Ummah to ridicule.
This is not to say this is the ideal and end in and of itself; far from it. This is a stopgap, which the Muslim must never mistake for the goal. The goal is as spelt out in the Glorious Qur'aan in several verses, one of the most famous of which is verse 44 of Suratul Maaidah (Q5:44). The Muslim knows and must never forget that his real constitution is the Shari'ah. He works and prays towards its actualisation but he will not carry arms or instigate others to carry arms to achieve this aim.
Now, let us examine the ways we could use religious tools to engage constructively with the government, in the Nigerian context. The main objective of this paper is to enlighten everyone on the tools available and how they can be used to forge constructive social interactions with the government at various levels.
There are many tools available to the Muslim living in a non- Islamic state like Nigeria to help him interact peacefully and meaningfully with those in authority. Some of these tools include but are not limited to:
As-Sam'u wat tā'ah (Hearing and obeying): As long as what those in authority are instructing does not contradict a direct injunction of Allah or His Messenger, the Muslim must hear and obey. Thus, the Muslim will not disobey traffic laws and will pay his taxes and levies and conduct himself in an orderly manner. He will not instigate civil disobedience and will not join protests and riots.
An-Naseehah (Sincere advice): A Muslim will give the government and its agents sincere advice on whatever he has observed requires such. Thus, he will inform the authorities when a crime is brewing and prevent people from breaking the law. He will assist the police to arrest anyone fomenting trouble.
Participation: The Muslim will participate within the limits set by Allah in the running of the state. Failure to do so will bring dire consequences upon the Ummah. Imagine a Nigeria where there is no Muslim in any position of authority. Surely that would be a disaster. Especially as the populace are not matured enough to tolerate each other's' faith. Even where there are some Muslims in important positions, people of other faiths hardly let an opportunity to short-change Muslims go. The same can be said of Muslims in places where the non-Muslims have no representation.
Al-Mushaawarah (Mutual Consultation): This tool is closely linked to the last one. The Muslim is expected to participate in mutual consultation with those in authority. An example of this is when there is a referendum or confab. Muslims will be the losers if we do not actively lend our voices. Many laws, which target certain rights of the Muslims, have been quashed, adjusted or rejected by the Muslims who were part of the mutual consultation that occurs before such laws are made.
I urge my learned brothers and sisters to add to these tools and help spread the word. May Allah grant us our desires as an Ummah. Thank you for listening. Jazaakumullahu khayran.
Posted by Abubakr Siddeeq at 4:15 AM No comments:
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Abubakr Siddeeq
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The contents of this blog are from my weekly column with LEADERSHIP Friday Newspapers.
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