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Blue Out Here
Rural Issues, Viewed From the Left…
What if the Civil War were fought today?
May 27, 2019 buffaloridgeblog Leave a comment
On a holiday first created to remember the massive loss of lives in the Civil War, it's a good time to put in perspective the enormity of those losses and the detrimental effects another civil war would have on our nation. Around 750,000 combatants died in the Civil War, the mortality being the highest on the Confederate side, taking the lives of one in five southern men aged 20-24. Even after the Union victory, the Civil War was a lost decade for the south, as besides the lives lost in the military, southerners, especially blacks, migrated away from the south resulting in a massive loss in human capital that hobbled the south for decades. In 1870 the white population of the south was 25% less than it would have been if the war had not occurred. There was an even larger black migration north, as the black population in Ohio doubled in the 1860s and tripled in Washington, D.C.. The south began the Civil War as an economic powerhouse fueled by slavery, was economically ruined for much of the century, and even today many of it's states are still economic dependents.
Many have said that we are now on the verge of another Civil War, with guerrilla attacks by domestic terrorists already targeting religious and minority groups. Right wingers, nationalists, and fascists are already stockpiling weapons and rehearsing. So lets game out a second civil war and it's long term effects on our nation…
The borders between the rebel forces and the union would not be clear, with the rebels clearly occupying much of the south and less clearly situated in rural America. The actual borders of the Union and Confederacy weren't real clear either, despite the maps in the history books- Besides Virginia being permanently divided, many highland areas of the south never supported the confederacy, Missouri was split and had both a Union and rump Confederate state governments, and south Florida was under union control for most of the war. Military organization was lacking in the Civil War, fought largely by state militia units further divided by ethnic groups, resulting in rival units from the same town fighting with one another. That's clearly the case today on the rebel side with dozens and hundreds of rival groups fighting for adherents and control. The "command and control" structure isn't much more decisive on the Union side- Would the military obey Trump's or the future democratic president's orders? What of the state National Guards? Then there's the twenty odd federal police forces (Even the EPA has one)- Will the Capitol Police enforce a subpoena of the Trump administration's crooks, and would another federal police agency answer with an armed response? And which side will state and local police forces choose?
Then factor in corruption, and just plain disorganization and stupidity… My great great grandfather served in the 28th Wisconsin Infantry Company F which during three plus years of service saw but a couple weeks of combat between postings guarding something or other in Arkansas and occasional forays into Mississippi and Tennessee. Drunkenness was the order of the day and corruption was rampant, and he was one of the nine out of ten of his company's casualties that lost his life to disease rather than in combat.
Compare the relative strengths of the army and rebel "army"- Even a divided or half MIA military and loyal police forces would ultimately defeat a disorganized "army" of 50+ white guys, who even with ARs and pickup trucks full of ammo aren't exactly model physical specimens. But given that disorganization and extended "mopping up" operations and the death toll could rival the Civil War's… With ten times the population we had at the time of the Civil War, another civil war could take seven our eight million lives. The long term economic losses would be even greater- We're now a mature economy trying to survive and maintain our place in a world with dozens of tough competitors while during the 1800s we were a growing nation with plenty of immigrants to continue that growth after the Civil War. Today a civil war would leave us an uncompetitive and impoverished nation for decades. That's the "upside" prognosis, we could end up a failed state at war with itself for decades…
So our nation was lucky to survive the Civil War, we might not be so lucky next time… So please, tone down the rhetoric and hatred and work to unite instead of divide!
Iowa Caucus: Leaders Emerging?
And is the race about to get tighter?
Last I head we have something like 23 announced democratic prez candidates, and I saw someone at a local dem meeting the other night with the number "24". But at several candidate's events in Iowa I've noted a lack of the usual "field" operation- Stuff like capturing attendees contact info, etc.. Now just about every candidate has raised dollars by the millions, so there's no excuse to not have paid staff and at least one office in Iowa for them to work out of. They should also be developing a volunteer base… I get almost daily fundraising e-mails from one candidate, but have yet to be asked to volunteer. It says something that only about half the candidates have a place on their website for volunteers to sign up. And while the Obama campaign would tell volunteers what opportunities were near their zip code by this time in 2007, I found only five candidate's websites offering that no longer advanced technology. Throw in the fact that a whole lot of the candidates are congresscritters or senators and in most cases they can legally transfer left over presidential campaign (slush) funds to future fed campaigns, and it's pretty clear that probably half our near two dozen candidates aren't real seriously running for president, at least this time around.
Of the dozen dem candidates clearly "in it to win it", some are developing impressive field operations despite bumping along in the polls in the low single digits- The best example is Congress member Delaney who has opened 8 campaign offices and campaigned in every one of Iowa's 99 counties before this critical campaign year even started! Averaging the polls, only 2 candidates, Biden and Sanders, have double digit support with Biden at 27% and Sanders at 18%. Buttigieg, Harris and Warren trail at 9% each with O'Rourke at 5%.
So what chances do this half dozen candidates who have found at least 5% support have of winning the nomination. As always, 538 has the answer and it won't cost us a cent, here's the link to their most excellent analysis. 538's results are sobering- a candidate at 5% has about a 4% chance of winning the nomination, and even at 9% the chances only improve to about 7%… However, we do have 3 candidates at 9% and throw in Beto at 5% and there's a 25% chance one of these 4 will be the breakout candidate that wins the nomination. 538's analysis predicts that Bernie at 17% has about a 14% and Joe Biden at 27% has about a 32% chance of heading the dem ticket in 2020. And I know, that don't all quite all add up to 100%…
So the race is probably narrowing to Bernie and Joe and probably just as tight as Bernie and Hillary's fight last go-round, with at least 3 or 4 more great democratic candidates running serious campaigns too in case they should falter. And looking at the crosstabs, Bernie may very well catch Joe, and I'll have a bunch more interesting finds from digging down in the crosstabs in a future post.
How the Minnesota Democratic Party re-elected Trump…
April 21, 2019 buffaloridgeblog Leave a comment
It's friday after the 2020 elections, finally got some sleep and still can't believe we lost. But the numbers don't lie, especially here in Minnesota where we have paper ballots and a bunch of senior citizens running the elections that you don't argue with. But for the first time in decades a republican won Minnesota, and it was Trump, the least popular republican ever. Was the closest race in the nation, with Trump taking Minnesota by almost a percent.
What the… ?
We should have seen it coming- Unlike Iowa and other surrounding states, one big ol' metro area has 60% of the population and the state capitol too, so our Democratic Farmer-Labor (official term, not many farmers left in the party and the republicans are wooing labor) Party figures they can pretty much ignore rural Minnesota. Thus we've seen party support for rural down ballot candidates drop and disappear. Hillary barely won Minnesota in 2016, garnering 178 thousand less votes than Obama got in 2012. Trump in 2016 got only 3 thousand more votes than Romney did in 2016. Almost every one of those lost democratic presidential votes, 169 thousand, came out of the most rural 4 of Minnesota's 8 congressional districts.
In 2012 our downballot candidates won several rural congressional and legislative seats in Minnesota, and in 2014 and 2016 we lost a bunch of them back to republicans. The Minnesota Democratic Party was not ignorant of this drop in rural votes and took action. Problem was, they took the wrong action- Pulling most all support for rural legislative candidates in 2018 and favoring suburban congressional candidates. No surprise that while the blue wave pushed democratic candidates to victory in surrounding states, the Minnesota Democratic Party held on to the statewide offices, swapped congressional seats, and made slight gains in the legislature. By 2020 many rural democratic local units had gone dark, and rural democratic voters took the hint and stayed home on election day.
The above 2020 prognostication is fiction, and hopefully will remain so. But truth is, their are several swing states where a low turnout of rural democratic voters could give even Trump barely enough electoral votes to eek out a win. That's why even in rural red districts, every democratic voter counts!
Homelessness Ended in Southwest Minnesota… Not!
Today we were summoned to a local meeting room for a discussion of homelessness here in southwest MN. Turns out the discussion was rather one sided, as 'twas just a media event for HUD to proclaim that chronic homelessness had been eliminated here, at least according to their count and definition. Having patted themselves on the back and brown nosed the local social service agency staff present, HUD offered a few minutes press availability before high tailing it outa town.
That was my opening, took off my imaginary city council member hat, put on the press hat, and asked the question they didn't want to hear: We've had homeless people in my little town of 39, I know of a mayor of a small town in southwest MN that's struggled with homelessness, so how come our numbers don't jive?
Turns out HUD is counting chronic homelessness only, which they define as being homeless for a year or more amongst other measures. Now what homeless person here on the tundra is going to stay the winter? That makes it damn easy to have no homeless people in Southwest Minnesota when if they as much wander south to Iowa or get an apartment for a month they aren't officially homeless anymore. And for a Trump administration that's trying to look like they've accomplished something, anything, it's a low bar to meet. So sadly a lot of good democrats that know otherwise and concerned local folks were co-opted by HUD into this self congratulating media event.
Truth is, we've got homeless people here and everywhere, often for want of simple needs like transportation to a 20 mile away job or funds to fix up their house. Yup, I've actually met homeless people out here that own homes free and clear but can't afford repairs to make them habitable. As for the transportation problems, I brought this up with "roads and bridges" advocate and legislator Chris Swedinski and he tried to talk it down. This is the same legislator who thinks everyone should have their own snowplow instead of those "socialized" government snowplows. When I mentioned to him the basement flooding many of our citizens experienced these last few days and my attempts to acquire a heavy duty pump for our town, he told me we each need to buy our own pumps, generators, etc.. Sorry Chris, most of our citizens already have those big box store generators and such, and most of them weren't up to the job if we could even get them started. And Chris, hows that pickup truck plow working on snowcrete drifts? Yup, this is the mentality we're up against…
Storm Lake culls the candidates…
March 31, 2019 buffaloridgeblog Leave a comment
You gotta love a small town with the trifecta of a beautiful lake, a college, and a packing plant. Storm Lake would be a household word but for the fact it's in the middle of northwest Iowa, over an hours drive from any Interstate, and I suspect the airport can't handle business jets. But it's Storm Lake's diversity, rural geography, and the fact that the local newspaper editor Art Cullen has won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing the excesses of Big Ag that made the city a natural for a presidential candidate forum on rural issues.
So a bunch of organizations like Art's newspaper, the college, Huffpost, and Farmer's Union organized today's major and only events on the Iowa campaign schedule. Now these multi candidate forums, steak fries, etc. generally draw just about every candidate, the weather was great today, and the floods were far away from Storm Lake… Yet only five candidates had the courage to show their face in rural Storm Lake today. Julian Castro, John Delaney, Amy Klobuchar, John Ryan, and Elizabeth Warren had the guts to show up in rural Iowa today, the rest of the herd blew off us rural democrats and we should treat them likewise on caucus night.
But first, there was the "pre forum" event over at the high school, which kinda bombed… Good idea, poor implementation= They kept the bleachers locked up while setting up risers for the video media, maybe hoping for a "mosh pit" between the cameras and speakers. Crowd looked to be less than 100 even counting the press and Liz Warren was running late, so I bailed and headed over to the "main event".
The actual forum was much better organized, despite what looked like Huffpost's attempts to crowd out competing media. Each candidate got about 15 minutes with Editor Art Cullen and a couple lesser known young questioners, one of whom asked some pithy questions and the other seemed to keep trying to drag the questioning off topic to the standard far left topics with little or no relation to rural issues. Here's the staging: That's Art Cullen on the right with Liz in the "hot seat" next to him. She was first up, clearly had done her homework, and stuck to economic issues despite the aforementioned questioner's attempts to distract her.
Next up was Julian Castro who did OK despite being a thousand miles away from his base. Then the two lane delay factor left us with no candidates for a few minutes (campaign staffers, don't assume you can average 70 MPH out here) 'til John Delaney arrived. John comes off as a policy wonk and junior version of Biden, 'cept he made the mistake of voting for the "too big to fail" banks and that won't play in Storm Lake or Peoria. John's a long shot candidate, but he seems to be opening up campaign offices all over Iowa.
Then came Amy Klobuchar… On top of every issue, damning monopolies and promising tougher antitrust enforcement. She hit all the bases and hit it outa the park, speaking from experience on issues where the other candidates can only offer policy proposals. No surprise Amy got the best audience response. Last up was Ohio Congressmember John Ryan, another policy wonk who noted the similarities of Rustbelt and rural problems.
So as only a town with a packinghouse, college, and Pulitizer winning newspaper editor can do, Storm Lake has culled the 2020 democratic presidential; candidate cattle call from 20 odd down to five. Amy seemed the preferred candidate followed by Liz, Julian did well for a new candidate off his native turf, and the Johns showed the substatntial policy chops our democratic congressmembers have these day.
My bets on Amy!
And thanks to Iowa 4th CD candidate J.D. Scholten for keeping up the good fight:
Would you donate to elect rural democrats?
We rural democrats, 'specially here in Minnesota, gotta problem: Our statewide candidates like Amy Klobuchar win almost every legislative district, while our downballot democrats running to represent those same legislative districts get beat by double digit margins. It's not hard to see why- Amy wins because her campaigns have had millions to make her a household name and 12 years of incumbency hasn't hurt either. Downballot our dinosaur Democratic state party throws six figure funding at suburban races while writing off rural Minnesota. So our downballot candidates on low 5 figure budgets struggle to get name recognition, and on election day are lucky to break 40%.
Last November in R+11 Iowa 4th Congressional District (CD) upstart democrat J.D. Scholten damn near retired rabid republican Steven King, coming within 3% of winning. In the process King's Nazi sympathies became public, leaving him a political zombie still going through the motions of being a congressmember while even his own party took away his committee assignments. Scholten did that with a brilliant campaign powered by 3 million dollars in fundraising, over three times King's haul. The same story was repeated in several rural districts as "small d" democrats via millions of small donations defeated or damn near defeated republicans that were way too red for even their rural districts.
So here in west central Minnesota's 7th CD, given that the state party has all but abandoned us, what if we started our own campaign fund to properly fund strong democratic candidates challenging republican incumbents who've worn out their welcome? Across the border in South Dakota Billy Sutton has kept the lights on in his campaign after running the strongest democratic campaign in South Dakota this decade… Will you donate to send him to Congress in 2020? And in Nebraska's 2nd CD, Kansas' 2nd, back to Iowa's 4th, and in a bunch of other rural districts we came within a hair of winning…
We online democrats have a history of "money bombing" worthy candidates the party has ignored to victory- Will you donate to help rural democrats retire republican incumbents in 2020?
New best practices: Off year conventions!
Old political hacks have more than enough bad memories of election year conventions that dragged on for days (and nights), struggling to select candidates, write the platform, elect party officials, and maybe even find time to deal with urgent party business. No wonder conventions became friday morning 'til late sunday afternoon tests of endurance with victory going to those who could get off work friday and maybe monday too and afford multiple nights in big city hotels.
So no wonder the idea of off year conventions to elect party officers is catching on. I follow several democratic party units in the rural areas of midwest states on Facebook, and seems like everybody's doing it, and turnout has rivaled election year conventions. Last weekend South Dakota democrats has their convention, I'll refer you to South Dakota's best progressive blogger Cory Heidelberger for his account at this link.
My own 7th congressional district had it's convention too, and it went pretty well, especially since someone finally stepped up to relieve me of the thankless job of Outreach Officer. While the convention started friday eve with social events and ended with a saturday night banquet that required another nights hotel stay for those travelling far, following CD7 tradition the business of the convention began at 12:30 pm saturday and was over before 4. That meant I could leave the south end of the district at 7, drive 240 odd miles there (bit more than usual as my shortcuts were iffy due to flooding) and arrive at 11:30 with plenty of time to prepare for the meeting. Meeting over, hopped back in the TDI at 3:50, gambled and took some of my usual county road shortcuts, and got home just before 8. Average speeds were 56 MPH on the way up and 59 MPH headin' home, the VW Golf TDI again showing it's ability as a real world performance car on this 90% 2 lane route, with MPGs in the usual 40s.
So off year conventions are working well- Heck, even the CD7 republicans copied us and held their convention the same weekend!


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Canoe & Kayak Camping Wisconsin: East Branch of the Pecatonica River
The reliable east branch of the Pecatonica offers a number trip options that can be tailored up- or downstream from Blackhawk Memorial County Park campground, an off-the-beaten-path gem nestled in the gentle hills of driftless country. This is a great choice for beginner paddlers who want an easy introduction to river paddling, combined with the luxury of camping riverside.
Approximately 63 miles long, the east branch begins somewhere indistinctly around Barneveld before converging with the main branch just west of Browntown. The river is diverse – from oak savanna and prairie, to forests and meadows, with peek-a-boo cliffs and rock outcroppings, some sandstone, some limestone. It's not the swiftest of rivers but it does move along nicely with enough current to kick up your feet and float or paddle with the flow. It's really a go-at-your-own-pace kind of paddle.
Paddling Style: River Paddling
Best Suited For: Canoes + Kayaks
Camping Location: Riverside + Near Riverside
Availability: First-Come, First-Served Designated Sites
Type: Primitive
Paddle-in: Yes | Walk-in: Yes
Camping Fee: Yes | Camping Permit: No
Blackhawk Memorial County Park is a lovely little park and one of the better kept "secrets" for inexpensive and secluded campsites. The name of the park is telling, too, for it is on these grounds where a "battle" in the Black Hawk "War" was fought (really just a skirmish amongst a dozen or so such skirmishes that last two-and-a-half months long in 1832). Led by Col. Henry Dodge (who would later become governor and have lots of places named after him), the U.S. militia outnumbered Chief Black Hawk's men by a 3:1 ratio. All eleven Kickapoo warriors were killed and then scalped, because that's what white men did to prove that Indians were savages. It's no coincidence that the oxbow pond in the park is named "Bloody Lake." It's heavy, for sure, but that's the reality of this backdrop.
Located about six miles south of Argyle, Blackhawk is perfect for last-minute camping where even on mid-summer weekends you can usually find a site on the river or its backwaters. This might be because most opt to camp at the more popular Yellowstone Lake State Park northwest of Argyle. There are 35 sites and all are first come, first served. The park has two boat landings, a handicapped-accessible pier, portable toilets and firewood for sale (when they have it). Canoe and kayak rentals are also available at Yellowstone Valley Canoe Rental.
Campground: Blackhawk Memorial Park | First Come, First Served
35 Sites. All non-electric.
Facilities: Portable toilets and water.
Nearby Campground: Yellowstone Lake State Park | Reserve a Site
128 Sites. 38 with electric.
Facilities: Flush toilets, vault toilets, showers, water and firewood.
Paddling the East Branch of the Pecatonica River:
Upstream from Argyle to the County Park, you'll find a tranquil, slow-paced trip past oak trees, a couple gentle bluffs and tallgrass. It isn't very dramatic but it's very pleasant. Even further upstream, starting at Highway 78, you'll find a quiet, mostly slow-paced trip past preserved oak savannas, tallgrass prairie, lowland forests, southern sedge meadows and coquettish rock outcroppings. It's easy for beginners, poses minimal obstructions, and rewards paddlers with truly terrific scenery and rock outcrop formations – particularly when the trees are leafless. (We also recommend a section of the east branch yet even further north starting in Hollandale and ending in Blanchardville, though that trip is not as close in proximity to the campground.)
Downstream from the park past Woodford is the last stretch of the Pecatonica's east branch before it merges with the mainstream between South Wayne and Browntown. It offers some truly pleasant moments with modest rock outcrops, tall bluffs and some riffles, though it's generally very calm and more of a quietwater paddle.
Essential Information:
General Camping Info: Blackhawk Memorial Park
Recommended Routes:
Outfitters:
Yellowstone Valley Canoe Rental
Courtesy: @niknadolski
Courtesy: @milespaddled
ArgyleBarry KalpinskiBlanchardvilleBrowntownCanoe & Kayak CampingPaddle CampingPecatonica RiverPecatonica River East BranchWisconsinWoodford
Canoe & Kayak Camping Wisconsin: Apostle Islands
Canoe & Kayak Camping Wisconsin: Peshtigo River State Forest
Canoe & Kayak Camping Wisconsin: Lower Wisconsin Riverway

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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First Look: Inside the Virgin Mary, the Dublin bar with no booze
'Can you lose the booze and keep the craic?' The Virgin Mary hopes the answer is yes
Tue, May 7, 2019, 06:15
Amy O'Connor
The Virgin Mary bar, 54 Capel Street,Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan, The Irish Times
When Vaughan Yates tells drinkers that he is opening a no-alcohol bar, he is typically met with the same response. "Their first reaction is just to burst out laughing," he says.
This week, Yates and his business partner Oisin Davis are set to open The Virgin Mary, Ireland's first alcohol-free bar. Located in what was once a furniture shop on Capel Street, the stylish bar seats 30 and offers a selection of non-alcoholic cocktails, beers, and wines.
Yates and Davis are veterans of the drinks industry and previously collaborated on Poachers, a premium Irish tonic water. They were inspired to set up The Virgin Mary after noticing both a growing appetite for non-alcoholic drinks and a gap in the market for an alcohol-free venue.
The duo enlisted award-winning Anna Walsh to devise a number of bespoke non-alcoholic cocktails. Walsh had made non-alcoholic cocktails before, but this was her first time creating a full menu. Without alcohol at her disposal, she was forced to experiment and play around with different flavours.
"When you give yourself boundaries, you're forced to be more creative," she says.
Many non-alcoholic cocktails can taste like sugary facsimiles of the real thing. Both Walsh and Yates were keen to avoid clichéd mocktails and create drinks that tasted "grown-up".
The result is a range of cocktails designed to emulate the taste and mouthfeel of alcoholic drinks. The bar's Virgin Mary is a hot and spicy non-alcoholic surrogate for the Bloody Mary. Meanwhile, the Cedar's Spritz is a refreshing alternative to a gin and tonic made with non-alcoholic gin and sparkling wine.
Ireland's only booze-free bar: Full-on cocktails for grown-ups
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The coffee is poured from a stout tap, and has the appearance and texture of Guinness. Photograph: Tom Honan, The Irish Times
Anna Walsh makes a Cedar Spritz at the Virgin Mary Bar, 54 Capel Street, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan, The Irish Times
Photograph: Tom Honan, The Irish Times
There are also a selection of non-alcoholic beers with Mikkeller's Drink in the Sun coming highly recommended.
The bar will also serve Raven Nitro Coffee on tap. The coffee is poured from a stout tap and mimics both the texture and appearance of Guinness when served chilled in a glass.
Yates' own go-to drink is a newly launched non-alcoholic aperitif called Everleaf, which tastes bitter and – deceptively – boozy.
In other words, there are drinks to cater to every palate.
"We did the menu in December and since then quite a few products have come out," says Yates.
Open from 4pm to 11pm each day, the bar aims to recreate the buzz and atmosphere of any other late-night venue with "lighting, music, and conversation".
Like a growing number of venues and businesses, it will not accept cash. It will also strive to keep waste to a minimum. One example of this is Walsh taking the pulp from tomatoes used to make Virgin Marys, dehydrating them and making tomato crisps.
Inside the Virgin Mary bar. Photograph: Tom Honan, The Irish Times
Drinks at the Virgin Mary Bar. Photograph: Tom Honan, The Irish Times
Manager Anna Walsh at the Virgin Mary Bar, 54 Capel Street, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan, The Irish Times
As for the target demographic? "People who don't want to consume alcohol but still want to have a good time," says Yates. That could be anyone from people who are pregnant to people who abstain from alcohol for religious reasons, he adds.
Likewise, they hope the bar will appeal to drinkers who just want more options when it comes to places to socialise with friends.
The Virgin Mary is in somewhat uncharted territory. There are very few examples of alcohol-free venues even internationally. One early example was Vena's Fizz House in Portland and even it eventually started serving alcohol.
But with supermarket shelves now carrying drinks with names like "nosecco" and as attitudes towards alcohol change, Yates is convinced that there are great possibilities for an alcohol-free venue.
"There is still a long way to go in this field," he says. "We're only really at the beginning of it, both from a cultural point of view and products."
"Can you lose the booze and keep the craic?" muses Walsh. The Virgin Mary will be hoping the answer to that question is yes.
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Manuel Estrada
Title: Director, REDD+ Technical Innovations
Joined Verra: 2020
Languages spoken: English, Spanish
Manuel is responsible evolution of Verra's work in the REDD+ space. Manuel is also responsible for resolving critical issues related to AFOLU, including collaborating with relevant Program Team staff to respond to stakeholder inquiries and concerns, and supporting nesting of REDD+ projects. Manuel provides relevant policy and technical input to the Innovation Team to ensure new REDD+ and AFOLU related standards, methodologies and program innovations are technically sound and support and align with relevant international and domestic policy frameworks. Manuel also works with Verra's Market Development team to support uptake and impact of Verra's nature-based solutions and gather feedback from stakeholders to inform changes and improvements to relevant Verra standards.
Before joining Verra, Manuel worked on climate change issues for more than 20 years. He worked for the Ministry of Environment of Mexico for a decade where, as Director on Climate Change at the International Affairs Unit, he participated in UNFCCC negotiations. He subsequently became an independent consultant, carrying out more than 50 projects in almost 15 years for governments, international organizations and the private sector on the policy, financial, methodological and carbon accounting aspects of REDD+ and AFOLU. He helped develop the VCS AFOLU Requirements as part of the VCS ARR Expert Group, the VCS REDD Expert Group and the VCS WRC Expert Group and was a Lead Technical Expert for the VCS JNR. Manuel has also contributed to the development and validation of VCS AFOLU project methodologies and tools. Manuel has been a member of the UNFCCC Roster of Experts for years.
Aster Global Environmental Solutions, Inc.
Back to VVB Listing VVB ID: 016 Contact: Janice McMahon, jmcmahon@nullasterglobal.com (+1) 330.294.1242 Location: 3800 Clermont St…
Ruby Canyon Environmental, Inc
Back to VVB Listing VVB ID: 043 Contact: Michael Cote, mcote@nullrubycanyonenv.com, (+1) 970 241 9298…
Nested REDD+ Public Consultation
Para leer en Español haga clic aquí Protecting and restoring forests, and improving forest management…


RT Systems RET-9000 Programming software makes it easy to manage memory channel information and other menu settings of the Retevis RT-9000D. Click here for more Information.
Works with the 2M / 4M / 440Mhz and 220Mhz radios.
Have not used the new program yet, but my past experience with RT systems makes me feel confident that this experience will be great also.


After the opening night of The Seagullin St. Petersburg on October 17, 1896, Anton Chekhovwrote to his friend and publisher Suvorin, "Stop the publication of my plays. I shall never forget last evening… I shall not have that play produced in Moscow, ever. Never again shall I write plays or have them staged."
Whoa. What happened? Well, the premiere had been an epic, epic fail. The audience booed and jeered. They laughed during Nina's Act 1 monologue. Critics trashed the play. Chekhov was humiliated. A successful short story writer, he vowed never to write plays again.
Thankfully, ol' Anton bucked up and kept churning out the brilliance.
Fast forward to 1897, when director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and actor-producer Constantin Stanislavski established the revolutionary Moscow Art Theater (MAT). The MAT— now one of the most storied theaters in the world—was devoted to a new naturalism in the theater, and Nemirovich-Danchenko wanted to remount The Seagull. Chekhov eventually relented, and the overwhelming success of that production established MAT as an influential theater, and Chekhov as a respected playwright.
And thank goodness. Without the MAT and the brilliant men who helmed it, the world might have been short not only this play—a heart-wrenching but surprisingly hilarious story about an aspiring playwright and his own failed play (sound familiar?), his overbearing mother and her literati lover, and the young woman who eventually leaves the playwright for the literary superstar.
Basically, we'd have been deprived of not only an awesome story, but a story so enduring it appears in major theatrical productions in places like New York everyfive years.
We know, we know. The whole love triangle thing in The Seagull is like Kanye's 808s and Heartbreak on repeat… forever. We mean, really: there's not one person in Russia crushed out on someone who actually loves him or her back? Why can't Chekhov show us some love that's, well, requited?
Because, as humans, we can't get no satisfaction. Our longing is a bottomless pit. The Seagull is all about what we want that we cannot have: love, success, money, eternal life. You've never been there, right? Us neither. Never wanted to be richer. Never envied a classmate. Never fallen for someone who looks right through us. Right.
As characters in The Seagull chase their dreams, obsess over them, achieve them, abandon them, and concoct new dreams, Chekhov seems to be saying that the dreams may change, but the dreaming won't. Our want is a constant.
Склонность к ребячеству, фанат сквоша с подавляемой сексуальностью. Беккер пожал плечами: - Не исключено, что ты попала в точку. Так продолжалось несколько недель.


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3 November, 2014 / Interviewin
Modeselektor: "The electronic scene is very boring so we try to add some color"
Ariana Díaz Celma
Modeselektor are Gernot and Sebastian Szary Bronset, an explosive duo that never stops creating tracks since, back in 1992, they met at an underground club in Berlin where Sebastian used to DJ. To say that this union was successful would be very modest. Hello Mom! (Bpitchcontrol, 2005), Happy Birthday! (BPitch Control, 2007) and Monkeytown (2011, released in their homonymous label) are examples of their brilliant electronic and hip hop music, Now they have released two albums that sound like heaven under the name of Moderat with three Modeselektion volumes, essential to understand who are their favorite artists. Modelselektor performed at Razzmatazz on the Modeselektion Nights and we interviewed them. We recommend you to press play here while reading the interview to enjoy a Good Fridays playlist with 12 tracks the band has given to Playmoss…
We are at Razzmatazz, where you will perform as a part of the tour to promote the launch of your Modeselektion 3 compilation, with features such diverse artists as Nosaj Thing and Omar Souleyman. What does an artist need to be in one of your compilations?
Gernot: We just have to meet them. Sometimes it's people we know, and sometimes it's people we look for, like in the case of Omar. We discovered Syrian music and found it very inspiring. We hadn't listened to Arabian music before.
We love to sound different. The electronic scene is very boring and snooty and we try to add some color and break what's already established.
Can we say that your Modeselektion series are a reflection of your music? A set of sounds that, even if they seem unrelated, is consistent all together?
G: Exactly. We love to sound different. The electronic scene is very boring and snooty and we try to add some color and break what's already established.
S: We could compare our music to a fruit salad with kiwis, apples, oranges… Individually they've got different tastes, but all together is even better. And although you can have a favorite fruit, you like them all.
Modeselektor has always been closer to Sónar and Sascha Ring than to Primavera Sound.
What is the creative process with Pathfinder—the studio responsible for your vision—like? You've been working together since the beginning of your career…
G: We can't give you a definite answer. There isn't a specific concept, it's more like a natural process. They are seven and there's always someone who comes with us and are inspired by what they see and hear.
S: But the process is natural. We usually speak with them and tell them some of the ideas we have. Three days later they come with a proposal that we like. For us Modeselektor is a great crossover between music and the visuals Pathfinder understands perfectly. They speak our language and we speak theirs. We started making music with them and our language is music, it's the way we communicate. Modeselektor has always been closer to Sónar and Sascha Ring than to Primavera Sound.
G: We're in the studio with Sascha Ring (Apparat) to release another album Moderat album. In fact, he's working on it now as we speak. We've also prepared a tour with Siriusmo for next summer.
How did you start working together?
G: We have very good relationship with him, we went to primary school together… We all live in Berlin and make music, so I guess that was part of the natural progression of our careers.
And now the big question: how did you get to play with Moderat at Sonar and at Primavera Sound in the same year?
G: Did anyone really noticed? (laughs). We have always had a very good relationship with Sonar, they are like our parents her. In fact, when we performed in Versus, Nitsa's Off Sónar, the organization was a bit surprised. On the other hand, Sasha has always been closer to Primavera Sound and Nitsa, so let's say we reached a good agreement with both festivals.
One of the most characteristic features of Modeselektor are the many collaborations that you do, especially Moderat with Sascha Ring. But any of your albums is full of names that are neither Gernot nor Sebastian, for example Thom Yorke. How's that?
Usually they come to us, but there's a little bit of everything. We think it's a good way to enhance our music and it also brings us surprises, for example discovering that Thom Yorke is a fan of yours and that your work inspires him…
And when Gernot and Sebastian are alone in the studio, who does what?
G: The roles are continually changing, but it's true that I'm more the operator of the studio and I make song arrangements. Sebastian mixes and deals with other details.
S: In fact, when Gernot takes a break, I clean all his mess and I welcome him with a red carpet.
Your favourite hotspots?
G: HardWax, a record store where I spend many hours.
S: Tegel Aiport. It hasn't worked very well in the past three years, so we spend a lot of hours in this concrete block of brutalist architecture.
You can't stop listening to…
G: Mr. Oizo's new album.
E: I listen to the radio a lot, but I have been listening to Kindness' new album a lot lately.
de Kindness.
Good2b means?
Being angry once in a while. It's always good.
Publicado en: Interviewin Watch&Listen
Etiquetado como: electronicsinterviewmodeselktormusic
ANTERIOR POST Watch & listen the new of Kindness
SIGUIENTE POST Off The Wall
8 Oct 14 / Interviewin
Delorean, life beyond Apar
16 Jun 14 / Interviewin
25 Dec 14 / Interviewin
b2b series #3: bRUNA
20 Mar 15 / Interviewin
Playmoss: impossible playlists against musical chaos
Seishi Tanaka


1.7 million women, working in the field of health care, have been found to be living below the poverty line. The results of this study are published in American Journal of Public Health.
"Every day in the clinic and in the hospital, my colleagues who work in low-wage positions - as cleaners, dietary workers, medical assistants, and nurse's aides - make vital contributions to the care of our patients," says Kathryn Himmelstein, MD, lead and corresponding author of the paper. "These workers should not have to go home to poverty or be unable to afford health care for themselves and their families." A resident in the MGH Department of Medicine and postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, Himmelstein initiated the study as a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania.
The authors note that more Americans are employed in health care than in any other industry, and three-quarters of them are women. Their analysis of data from the 2017 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that 18 percent of employed women responding to the 2017 survey and 23 percent of employed Black women work in health care, many of them in low-paying jobs.
Although the average hourly wage for female health care workers of more than $19/hour was higher than the average of around $16/hour for all other industries, it was almost 25 percent lower than the average for men working in health care.
The data suggested that 34 percent of female health care workers, and nearly half of the Black and Latina women working in the health sector, earned less than $15/hour. While the largest number of health care workers making less than $15/hour were employed by hospitals, such workers made up a larger share of the total workforce in home health care and at nursing homes and other residential care facilities. Relatively few women and even fewer women of color worked as physicians or managers.
Projecting the survey's results across the entire U.S. population suggests that 5 percent of all women health care workers - including 10.6 percent of Black and 8.6 percent of Latina women health care workers - live in poverty, the authors note.
Overall, 1.7 million women health care workers and their children lived below the poverty line in 2017, accounting for nearly 5 percent of all people living in poverty in the U.S.
The researchers also found surprisingly high numbers of the female health care workers surveyed lack health insurance. Overall, 7 percent - projected to represent more than 1 million women nationwide - were uninsured, including more than 10 percent of Black and Latina women employed in health care.
The researchers also projected the potential impact of raising the minimum wage to $15/hour, a policy already implemented in several cities and some medical centers. They found that adopting such a policy nationwide would decrease poverty rates among female health care workers by up to 50 percent while increasing U.S. health care costs by less than 1.5 percent.
Senior author Atheendar Venkataramani, MD, Ph.D., assistant professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine, adds, "Wage inequality in the health care sector reflects what we are seeing in other sectors of the economy in the United States. In that spirit, these findings should inform active debates around the role of new policies - for example, raising minimum wages, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit or expanding access to higher education - that seek to address widening income inequality and diminishing opportunities for upward mobility."
Kathy Trevelyan happily contemplates eating a bland mixture of gloopy rice and cubes of vegetables for lunch for five days in the week.
Rising tax rates and increasing benefit cuts in Britain could lead to more and more babies being born under the poverty line, a family charity organization warned.


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Author-Illustrator Interview: Mélanie Watt on Scaredy Squirrel
Home » Author-Illustrator Interview: Mélanie Watt on Scaredy Squirrel
Scaredy Squirrel by Mélanie Watt (Kids Can, 2006). Scaredy Squirrel feels safe in his nut tree–safe from germs, poison ivy, and sharks. He's prepared for danger with his antibacterial soap, Band-Aids, and parachuchute. But what happens when he's suddenly forced out of his tree?! A rare funny book about fear. Ages 4-up.
Mélanie Watt is from Montreal, Quebec. She has a college degree in graphic design and a bachelors of arts in graphic design from the Université du Québec à Montréal. Visit Kids Can Press. She describes Scaredy Squirrel as "the nutty adventure of a neurotic squirrel who faces his fears of the unknown."
My first story Leon the Chameleon came to life in an illustration class at the University of Quebec in Montreal in 1999. My teacher Michele Lemieux encouraged me to send it to Kids Can Press, and they contacted me shortly after to publish my book. I never knew that one day I would be writing and illustrating books for children, but now I can't see myself doing anything else.
Congratulations on the publication of Scaredy Squirrel (Kids Can Press, 2006)! What was your initial inspiration for creating this book?
Myself, and a few family members… It began to be clear to me that being too careful and never taking risks can stop you from discovering your capabilities or talents. We often find ourselves getting too comfortable in our lives and therefore have no need to get out of our comfort zone, just like Scaredy Squirrel in his safe and familiar tree.
Do you have any phobias? (I'm afraid of heights, enclosed spaces, germs, and lettuce).
Of course! I wasn't kidding about the sharks! Since I saw "Jaws" as a child, I've had trouble swimming in a pool! I'm not too crazy about germs either…
What was the timeline from spark to publication, and what were the major events along the way?
I've had the idea in my mind since 2000. I knew I wanted to write a story about a squirrel that doesn't know he's a flying squirrel because he never leaves his nut tree. It took five years before this idea actually came together. It's humor that finally made Scaredy what he is now. And writing humor was not something I knew I was able to deliver.
I sat down one day and decided to approach this story in a new way, by being as ridiculous as I could. Then, ideas started popping in my head. When I sent my squirrel mockup to my publisher, we made a few changes and things moved forward really quickly. I had a wonderful time and a lot of laughs developing this character!
What were the challenges (literary, research, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life?
I think the biggest challenge for Scaredy Squirrel was to keep things simple. Especially when there are graphics, exit plans and lists. I didn't want to confuse kids with too much information, but at the same time I wanted this book to be different than a traditional picture book. One of the advantages of being both an author and illustrator is that you can work on two levels to communicate ideas; there are no limits to your imagination! In some cases, the visuals came first and in others it was the content. I'm thrilled with the results, I love how every page is so different from the next.
The book includes a fold-out page. How did this evolve?
Since this was a key moment in the book, I wanted to emphasis it by prolonging the suspense. It also created a nice visual transition from falling to gliding.
For those unfamiliar with your work, could you talk briefly about your other titles?
My first book, Leon the Chameleon (Kids Can Press, 2001), is a colorful story about being different. Leon always turns the opposite color of his surroundings. Kids learns about complementary colors as they follow Leon's adventure and discover that being different has its advantages.
Where Does a Tiger-Heron Spend the Night? (Kids Can Press, 2002), which I illustrated, was written by Margaret Carney. It is a lift-the-flap book of questions and answers about a variety of different birds.
I wrote and illustrated a series of five concept books entitled Learning with Animals (Kids Can Press, 2003). More than seventy-five different animals help kids learn about numbers, the alphabet, opposites, colors and shapes in different environmental settings.
Bearcub and Mama (Kids Can Press, 2005), which I illustrated. It was written by Sharon Jennings. It is a story about a mother's and child's bond in moments of learning about life's troubles.
This fall, my new book, Augustine (Kids Can Press, 2006), will appear in bookstores. It's the story of an artistic young penguin that moves from the South Pole to the North Pole. She expresses her feelings of dealing with her new school through illustrations inspired by famous paintings.
What advice do you have for beginning author-illustrators?
My advice is to follow your instincts and keep pushing your ideas. I have always found that making mockups of my stories with illustrations helps me test out my ideas. I am a visual person and therefore find that this allows me to get a better sense of why something works or doesn't.
As a reader, what are your favorites and why?
I love funny and witty books. Mo Willems is one of my favorite author-illustrators. His pigeon books really inspire me.
Dean Mary Francois Rockcastle on the Hamline University MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults
Cynsational News & Links


KLR Named one of IPA's Top 100 Public Accounting Firms - KLR News - Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co.
KLR a premier accounting and business advisory firm has received another honor from Inside Public Accounting (IPA), ranking the Firm as the 89th largest firm in the United States.
Consistently ranked in the top 100 list, KLR is also listed as one of the top 100 Firms by Accounting Today. KLR received best place to work honors for 12 years in a row and received the prestigious honor When Work Works for the last five years.


he Advanced Open Water Diver course helps you increase your confidence and build your scuba skills so you can become more comfortable in the water.
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It's one of the more unpleasant employments in the lawful field. Criminal barrier lawyers, who remain close to customers blamed for everything from minor offenses to mass homicide, must mount the best safeguard of their customer conceivable regardless of how egregious the wrongdoing. While their work implements an individual's sacred ideal to a reasonable preliminary, a few spectators berate them for speaking to society's miscreants.
To show signs of improvement comprehension of this regularly sincerely depleting work, Mental Floss talked with three prominent guard legal counselors. Notwithstanding Lichtman, we conversed with Chris Tritico—the subject of the main scene of Oxygen's In Defense Of docuseries debuting June 25, and who spoke to Oklahoma City aircraft Timothy McVeigh in 1997—just as Bryan Gates, rehearsing in North Carolina. This is what they shared about existence as a belligerent third party.
1. Lawyers DON'T ALLOW THEIR PERSONAL FEELINGS TO TRUMP DUE PROCESS.
2. Holding WITH CLIENTS IS KEY, REGARDLESS OF THE CRIME.
3. THEY RESEARCH JURORS' BACKGROUNDS.
Inspecting a potential legal hearer, known as voir desperate, is a workmanship. Both resistance and arraignment need individuals in the jury box who can be influenced, however conditions are generally stacked against the barrier. "The jury is coming in prepared to convict, as nobody by and large backings wrongdoing," Lichtman says.
4. THEY'RE ALWAYS WATCHING THE JURY'S BODY LANGUAGE.
The saying about never under any circumstance conversing with police without a lawyer present? It's most likely the absolute best recommendation any respondent will ever get, yet many still won't let the message hit home. "I can't consider any individual who has ever talked out of being charged," Gates says.
It doesn't stop there, however. Respondents sitting in prison under the watchful eye of their court dates can end up burrowing themselves a considerably more profound opening. "They'll compose letters to individuals. The lead prosecutor, at any rate in North Carolina, can get a duplicate. It probably won't be an altogether admission, yet there can be things that won't placed them in the best light. Telephone calls are the equivalent." If they're angry with their insight, a few customers will even compose letters of grievance to the DA or a judge, which may let slip some dooming data that can be utilized against them later. "That will simply demolish a case," Gates says.
8. Honest DEFENDANTS CAN MAKE THEIR WORK HARDER.
It may appear as though a blameless customer would be simpler to guard. Be that as it may, as indicated by Gates, having a solid conviction that a customer is dishonestly charged makes extra strain on the guard. "It's extremely upsetting in light of the fact that you're truly relating to the individual," he says. While no lawyer needs to perceive any customer found blameworthy, it very well may be painful to realize the individual may be rebuffed for something they didn't do. "We had one legal advisor here [in North Carolina] who labored for a long time for somebody he felt was unjustly denounced, and he was at last ready to demonstrate it." But that is irregular—all the more frequently, lawyers presume their customers are honest and need to look on as juries convict them.
9. Here and there THEY GIVE THEIR CLIENTS MAKEOVERS.
10. THEY LOVE THE EXCITEMENT—BUT TRIALS DON'T MOVE AS FAST AS YOU THINK.
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The internet has brought a new face to the traditional communications, such as the television and the telephone. It is a more elaborated means of communication, of high speed and simple to use, once you get accustomed to some basic concepts. Nowadays, the internet has extended throughout the entire world. Only some remote corners are unreachable for the internet.
Internet has three main usages: information, communication and data transfer. Information is obtainable in all fields possible, because some publish it, others use it. It is the show with the biggest audience and the most inexpensive tickets. Communication is enabled through e-mail and internet telephony, as for the data transfer, this is possible thanks to file sharing. In a nutshell, you can do anything on the internet, so why not internet marketing?
The benefits are at every step. A business on internet is cheap, both for the entrepreneur and for the client. The person who runs an online business saves a lot of money, while the client saves a lot of time. Time is money, so both parts are winners from this point of view. Internet marketing can transform a product or a service which was previously not practical. It can make it a highly appreciated product, because sold in a traditional way, it was not as reachable as it is online.
Another advantage of the internet marketing is the competition. Since it became so expanded, companies spy on each others in order to trace any modification. We find ourselves at a high level at this moment, and this is due to competition. If a company introduces a new product or a new offer, it is an advantage, but only for a short period of time, until the competitors also introduce it.
So check and double check before doing a transaction, because a new, better offer might be at your disposal. As a customer, you have a lot of control when internet marketing. You can check the stock availability, choose the type of paying, the delivery service, anything related to the product. You are in charge.
For companies, internet businesses are easy to maintain, as they provide an easy customer tracking. Internet newsletters are one way of getting a high traffic level on your website. The high traffic level involves a satisfying number of customers. The customer behavior is also very easy to observe on the internet. The customer service is another field improved online. As a customer, you have someone at your serve, twenty-four hours a day, seven days every week. So no matter how full your schedule is, between two office meetings or between two flights a purchase can be done.
Information on any topic possible, at the internet user's disposal at any time, communication possible throughout the entire world, data transfer from customers and to customers, all these are just a few benefits that internet marketing provides. Think at the uncountable possibilities to enlarge your business worldwide, to become an international company, with thousands of clients from all over the world.
Risks shouldn't be taken into account. They are the same as in an offline business. In fact, when working online, loses, if any, are not as big as in a traditional business, because the investment is considerably lower.
Greg is an experienced internet marketer with over 4 years of experience. If you would like more information about internet marketing, he highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate, where you can get more information at his Wealthy Affiliate Review.


Albany County (pop. 36,299) is south of Converse County, along the border with Colorado.
The Laramie Mountains (including 10,000-foot Laramie Peak) are in the northern part of the county, and the Medicine Bow Mountains and Snowy Range are in the southern part.
The county seat is Laramie (pop. 30,816), third-largest city in Wyoming.
Laramie has an elevation of 7,165 feet.
Laramie is the home of the University of Wyoming, founded in 1886.
It has about 14,000 students.
St. Matthew's Cathedral in Laramie is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming.
Laramie is 50 miles west of Cheyenne on Interstate 80. The route includes the highest point on all of I-80, at 8,640 feet.
Interstate 80 follows much of the route of the "Lincoln Highway," the first transcontinental highway. A 13-foot-high bronze bust (1959) of Abraham Lincoln is located at the Summit Rest Area.
It was originally a half-mile away, on U.S. Highway 30.
A few miles away along I-80 is the pyramidal Ames Monument (1880), honoring brothers Oakes and Oliver Ames, who were instrumental in the construction of the Union Pacific portion of the transcontinental railroad.
It marked the railroad's highest point.
Nearby is the "Tree in the Rock," which has been fascinating visitors since the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 1860s.
Como Bluff is a long ridge near the town of Rock River (pop. 245). Many fossils of dinosaurs and other animals were discovered there in the late 19th century.
This entry was posted in Wyoming and tagged Albany County, Ames Monument, Como Bluff, Laramie, Lincoln Highway, Oakes Ames, Tree in the Rock, University of Wyoming.
Albany County report is my favorite for Wyoming so far — it just struck me as interesting. Could be because Oakes Ames is mentioned in it. He keeps popping up in my life: was even in Zillah, WA once. (I edited the Zillah newspaper for a couple of years in the 1970s.).


As a young child how many times have you heard this sentence, "Don't do that!" or, "No, you're not supposed to do that!" And what did you do? If you are lucky enough you can get chances to do what you couldn't do, years after the "No-no-no" remarks. But what did you do in the mean time? Have you ever heard this sentence: OBEDIENCE PRODUCES GREATNESS.


World Water Week in Stockholm is the annual focal point for the globe's water issues. It is organized by SIWI. In 2017, World Water Week will address the theme "water and waste – reduce and reuse". In 2016, over 3,200 individuals and around 330 convening organizations from 130 countries participated in the Week.
The Stockholm World Water Week features Asia-focused events which highlight current and emerging issues and challenges in the region's water sector, along with efforts of governments and development agencies to address them.
The objective of this event is to elicit and propose effective ways to promote sustainable wastewater and sludge management in Asian developing countries. The outcomes of the event will be reflected in the Policy Declaration of the upcoming 3rd Asia-Pacific Water Summit (2017), which will present potential solutions for enhancing water security in this region.
This session will explore the challenges of adopting a water sensitive approach to urban development. It will also share non-conventional practices on building capacities to create high-performing utilities, including peer-to-peer learning through water operator partnerships.
Updates will also be posted on the ADB Water for All Facebook page and on Twitter @ADBWater.
Join the event through the registration page.
ADB does not cover travel and accommodation expenses of participants.


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S. Kanapathipillai (27 June 1899 – 13 March 1986) was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil literary figure and Hindu revivalist in the school of Arumuga Navalar. His father was Sinnathamby Pillai of Madduvil in Chavakachcheri . Kanapathipillai was enrolled at the Navalar Kaaviya Paadasalai, under Kumaraswamy Pulavar, where he pursued higher studies in classical Tamil and literature. He was also guided by Swami Vipulananda, while still a student at the Navalar Kaaviya Paadasalai.

In 1925, he became one of only four people from Jaffna who had been bestowed the Pandithar qualification by the Madurai Tamil Sangam.  Kanapathipillai was a trained teacher and was in charge of the Saiva Teachers Training School at Thirunelveli, Jaffna, from 1929 until he retired. He was also knowledgeable about Sanskrit, about Saiva Siddhanta and is a revered Tamil scholar of high repute and was given the title of "Pandithamani". In his last years he lived at his residence in "Kalasalai Veedi" in Thirunelveli, Jaffna. Panditamani S.Kanapathipillai had recorded his conversations with Mouna thava munivar-P.Kailasapathy of  Alaveddi, Vice-Principal of Saiva-training College, Thirunelveli, Jaffna, from 1941.01.29 to 1957.03.19 in his very presence almost verbatim. The University of Jaffna had published them, in 1994, scrupulously edited by

Prof. S. Suchindraraja and A. Sabaratnam. The 700 pages of typed Tamil document will soon be published  by the Department of  Hindu-religious  Affairs, Colombo.

References

1899 births
1986 deaths
20th-century Hindu religious leaders
Hindu revivalists
Sri Lankan Tamil literature
Sri Lankan Hindus
Sri Lankan Tamil revivalists

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


High tops might've started out as that ankle supporting basketball trainers, but before long segued into men's style closet without much effort. And why not? They look great when paired with the right pair of jeans or trousers, and make a style statement, if worn well.
High-tops, by their very nature, don't really have a formal vibe, unless you're incredibly versatile and can pull off a Converse with a blazer look; but it's safe to say that high tops team well with cropped trousers or jeans and a simple t-shirt. So if you're aiming for a cool, urban streetwear style, then one (or maybe more) of these pairs are a must-have.
Here's our pick of the 10 best high-tops you can lay your hands on RN.
Converse Chuck Taylor All Star High Top Sneaker, Rs. 4,000 approx.
A timeless classic in high-tops, the Converse Chuck Taylor is a must-have in any guy's shoe closet. This denim pair is perfect to ace a casual streetwear look.
On point with the camouflage print and velcro closures, this Adidas Originals pair is FLY!
This high-top styled lace-up sneaker in white and red with a cushioned footbed is comfortable and cool for those long days in college. Wear 'em with distressed denims and one of those slogan tees, we'd suggest.
The Puma IGNITE EvoKnits are great running shoes, especially with its form-fitting upper that is both, stretchable and breathable. Also, the branded collar kind of allows it to stand out in a crowd. So whether you're running or not, this pair's sure gonna give you a sweet fashion high.
Although the Jordan Super.Fly 5 PO is a basketball shoe from Nike, but hey whoever said you can't wear it out of the court, right? Plus it's lightweight and looks LIT!
If you're idea of a fun trip is a trek in rocky terrains, this shoe is made for you. Also, because of the comfortable cushioning, it's one you can wear even in the city. And TBH, that rugged look adds an edge to the soles.
This black Nike Air Force is in one word: DOPE. It's all you need to ace urban street style with swag.
The latest addition to the Tubular series from Adidas, the Tubular Invader is all about going retro chic. Totally cop this pair if you're considering turning a few heads.
This pair of black sneakers is fail-proof option when it comes to casual dressing. Copping this is definitely gonna be a smart buy.
This pair of round top sneakers with high tops styling with a cushioned footbed is bang for its buck.


Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro said that he would be open to the possibility of the United States operating a military base on his country's soil, a move that would form a sharp shift in direction for Brazilian foreign policy.
But the country's powerful agriculture sector is opposed to moving the embassy from Tel Aviv and angering Arab nations that buy billions of dollars worth of Brazilian halal or "permissible" meat each year.
On Wednesday, Brazil's new Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said that underwatch the country would fight for change at multilateral institutions like the WTO.
Categories: Politics, Brazil, Latin America, United States.
Tags: Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, Latin America, Nicolas Maduro, South America, supremacy, United States, US military base, Venezuela.
The Base PRIMARILY is for the protection of Brazil; so it's obvious that Brazil MUST cough-up the necessary dough for its establishment, maintenance, etc.
SECONDARILY - and also obviously - The South America NEEDS the direct liaison, transport, etc. facilities to quickly export - in response to the growing demands by the BIGGEST IMPORTER of drugs.
Obviously, The Base is THE Topmost-Priority Of Course!
It really wouldn't make much sense unless Trump was planning on eventually invading Venezuela, but he's not that crazy. Maybe instead it could be for protecting a group of luxury Trump resorts, but it seems overkill.
In the end, the announcement will certainly trigger some social justice warriors.
Lol, yes, 2,000,000 tonnes of halal meat is quite a logistical consideration.
Didn't Obama build a military base in Chile? I wonder if they have their eye on your bit of Antarctica? With global warming it might become increasingly accessible, and it's a whole unexplored continent full of minerals and oil.


text:
Take an IELTS test in or nearby Cape Verde
Explore the most popular universities and programmes to study abroad in Cape Verde.
Other test centres in or nearby Cape Verde
To study in English at one of the universities in Cape Verde, you may need a proof of English proficiency. There are several standardised English tests that you can take to proof your English level, such as the PTE (Pearson Test of English), TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), CAE (Cambridge Advanced English) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System), offered by British Council and IDP. IELTS is the most popular of these tests, with British Council offering more than 500 test locations and being accepted by more than 9,000 organisations world-wide.
10 most popular study destinations for students in Cape Verde
1. Portugal
Find Bachelor's programmes in Portugal
Find Master's programmes in Portugal
Find PhD programmes in Portugal
Find Preparation Courses in Portugal
Find Bachelor's programmes in Russia
Find Master's programmes in Russia
Find PhD programmes in Russia
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7. Ireland
Find Bachelor's programmes in Ireland
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Find Bachelor's programmes in Estonia
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10. Australia
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Cities in Cape Verde providing IELTS tests
Cova Figueira


If you have a difficult time making it to seminars, let the seminars come to your studio and guide you through the steps of pouring, eye-cutting, soft-fire greenware cleaning, and china painting your Bru. Connie will guide you with step by step photos through the entire process of creating a beautiful heirloom antique reproduction doll. The CD Workbook has been written for the 30″ CDW 201 Bru 14 and the 28″ VL 7 Bru 13. The CD Workbooks are step by step comprehensive photos and directions put on CD. They cover the complete process from eye-cutting thru soft-fire greenware cleaning, and all the china paint firings. The CD Workbook requires a pdf reader on your computer to open it. (This is not a video) You may study and paint from the clear concise photos on your computer or print off the workbook for a hard copy. Please realize the clearest photos will be on your computer.


text:
Q: Invalid Paypal payment confirmation response I need to know why Paypal giving "invalid status" when making handshake to confirm payment. while payment is receiving and everything is good.
Following code is for send request to make payment.
$path = "http:/127.0.0.1/acedmy/";
$paypal_email = 'imranguher-seller@hotmail.com';
$return_url = $path .'Packages/success';
$cancel_url = $path .'Packages/cancel';
$notify_url = $path .'Packages/success';

$item = $this->request->data["item_number"];
$itemArray = explode("_", $item);

$payer_email = "imranguher-buy@hotmail.com";

$querystring = '';
$querystring .= "?cmd=".urlencode("_xclick"). "&";
$querystring .= "business=".urlencode($paypal_email). "&";
$querystring .= "payer_email".urlencode($payer_email). "&";
$querystring .= 'currency_code='. urlencode( 'USD'). "&";
$querystring .= "item_name=".urlencode(stripslashes("monthly")). "&";
$querystring .= "amount="."20". "&";
$querystring .= "item_number="."121"."&";
$querystring .= "submit_x=".urlencode(stripslashes($this->request->data['submit_x'])). "&";
$querystring .= "submit_y=".urlencode(stripslashes($this->request->data['submit_y'])). "&";
$querystring .= "return=".urlencode(stripslashes($return_url)). "&";
$querystring .= "cancel_return=".urlencode(stripslashes($cancel_url)). "&";
$querystring .= "notify_url=".urlencode($notify_url);

header('location:https://www.sandbox.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr'.$querystring);
        exit();

Code to confirm if payment is successful and valid .
  $req = 'cmd=_notify-validate';
foreach ($_GET as $key => $value) {
$value = urlencode(stripslashes($value));
$req .= "&$key=$value";
}

debug($req);
// post back to PayPal system to validate
$header = "POST /cgi-bin/webscr HTTP/1.0\r\n";
$header .= "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n";
$header .= "Content-Length: " . strlen($req) . "\r\n\r\n";

$fp = fsockopen ('ssl://www.paypal.com', 443, $errno, $errstr, 30);
 if (!$fp) {
// HTTP ERROR
} else {
fputs ($fp, $header . $req);
while (!feof($fp)) {
$res = fgets ($fp, 1024);
if (strcmp ($res, "VERIFIED") == 0) {

 $status = "verified";
 debug($status);
// PAYMENT VALIDATED & VERIFIED!

}
else if (strcmp ($res, "INVALID") == 0) {

  $status = "Invalid";
 debug($status);
// PAYMENT INVALID & INVESTIGATE MANUALY!

}
}
fclose ($fp);
}

After debugging response I get following
\src\Controller\PackagesController.php (line 168)
'cmd=_notify-validate&tx=6JS3234156861063R&st=Completed&amt=5.00&cc=USD&cm=&item_number=3_1'
\src\Controller\PackagesController.php (line 192)
'Invalid'

payment was successful but still giving error.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


About a week ago, I went through my local coffee drive-thru, and when I got to the window to pay, the barista informed me that the person in the car in front of me had paid for my drink. This was a first for me, and it instantly turned an otherwise mundane morning around.
I then handed her some money to pay for the drink of the driver behind me and she told me that I was now the 7th car in a row to do that. Incredible.
It is Thanksgiving morning, and I would like to share one of my favorite TedTalks with you. It's about the power of giving, and the presenter addresses not only the intrinsic benefit we receive when we give, but also the tangible results and how we can leverage giving and turn it into performance. This has powerful implications for managers and coaches looking to increase the productivity of teams.
This season, I am grateful for too many blessings to list. I invite you to spend 10 minutes and watch this video, as it's perfectly appropriate for this time of year, and has motivated me to do more to give back.


It is only a short drive to the moors and to Exeter. There are good walks from the Cottage. The Cottage is well equipped but would benefit from a shower. The views are superb and the decked area is a real Su trap even in October.
Our hosts David and Angela had phoned us before arrival to answer any questions, and then had provided a lovely welcome in the form of shortbread, flowers and wine, plus tea and coffee, which we really appreciated. We enjoyed the comfort and tranquility of the cottage and it's lovely setting in a small, picturesque village. It was extremely peaceful there, and there was information about the local area that was very helpful. The holiday sped by and we had a wonderful time in the local area including walking up tors and round a scenic reservoir, exploring the prehistoric settlement at Grimspound and a lovely cream tea in nearby Chagford.
The owners had left a beautiful flower arrangement, wine and shortbread for our arrival, in addition to the more usual (but by no means expected) tea, coffee and milk, and David and Angela were very helpful before and during our holiday. For anyone bringing children or wanting to make their own entertainment rather than watching television there was a large assortment of board games etc. The cottage is ideally situated for walks and places of interest in Dartmoor and the coast is also within easy reach. We would thoroughly recommend a stay here.
The owners have taken the time to think of everything you might need (and more) during your stay. They also left some lovely flowers, wine and shortbread along with tea, coffee and milk for our arrival. The cottage is ideally placed for walks in Dartmoor and trips to the coast. A visit to Cornwall is also within easy reach. The views from the garden and the lounges are spectacular.
This period cottage is situated at the end of a terrace in the Devon village of Dunsford on the edge of Dartmoor.
With rural views over the church and woodland on the steep sides of the pretty Teign Valley, this is a welcoming cottage for families or friends to enjoy.
Step down into the hall and then into the kitchen with dining area, or head into the cosy sitting room with its wood burning stove and TV.
Located up steps from the hall is a sunroom, a good spot to sit on a sunny day and perhaps play board games with the French windows thrown open to a terrace.
Open tread stairs lead up to the two pretty bedrooms which share a bathroom.
Outside, at the back, is a sloping garden with lawn and terrace with furniture and those same relaxing rural views.
Dunsford is picturesque, a tranquil village to wander between thatched cottages, visit the village inn and buy essentials from the shop.
A nature reserve is full of daffodils in spring, lining the banks of the River Teign at Steps Bridge, from where you can take lovely walks through woodland, as far as National Trust Castle Drogo or the village of Drewsteignton if you feel energetic.
This is a great place for golfers with three courses within five miles, and with Exeter just eight miles away, you have all the city entertainment you could wish for.
Lewishill Cottage is a smashing base for relaxing walks and the bright city lights.
The Teign Valley is a dramatically steep wooded valley to the Eastern flank of Dartmoor National Park between the villages of Dunsford in the North and Chudleigh to the South. The villages of Christow, Lower and Higher Ashton, Dunsford and Hennock are peaceful locations for holidays with beautiful scenery all around with hills, fields, rivers and stunning thatched cottages.


U16 AND VARSITY GIRLS SOCCER BILINGUAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!
BILINGUAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!! Both, U16 and the Varsity girls soccer teams WON!!! U16 won 5-1 against Academia Británica and the Varsity won 3-0 against Escuela Panamericana!! GOOOO TROJANS!!!


Our quality control department checks and test every single production cycle. After a careful inspection, every tool is marked with a serial number and a batch number. This process guarantees complete tool traceability.


text:
Q: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCurrentlyInCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'sessionFactoryMaster': org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCurrentlyInCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'sessionFactoryMaster': FactoryBean which is currently in creation returned null from getObject
<bean id="sessionFactoryMaster"
class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate4.LocalSessionFactoryBean" lazy-init="true">
<property name="dataSource" ref="dataSourceMaster" />
<property name="packagesToScan">
    <list>
        <value>com.XXXXX.common.hibernate.entities</value>
    </list>
</property>

<property name="entityInterceptor" ref="auditInterceptor" />
</bean>

<bean id="auditTrailsDaoImpl" class="com.XXXXX.domain.dao.impl.AuditTrailsDaoImpl">
    <property name="sessionFactory" ref="sessionFactoryMaster" />
</bean>

<bean id="auditInterceptor"
    class="com.XXXXX.interceptors.AuditInterceptor" lazy-init="true"  >
    <property name="auditTrailsDao" ref="auditTrailsDaoImpl" />

</bean>

Any idea on the cause of the error and solution?

A: There is a circular dependency in your configuration. Your sessionFactoryMaster requires an auditInterceptor object which requires a auditTrailsDao.The auditTrailsDao in turn requires  the sessionFactoryMaster bean which is currently in creation.
Consider making your auditTrailsDao / auditInterceptor dependent on dataSource instead. You can also make your auditTrailsDao lookup the sessionFactory as a work around
public class AuditTrailsDao{

   public void saveTrail(AuditTrail auditTrail){
        SessionFactory sessionFactory = lookupSessionFactory();
        //save trail
   }
}

You can lookup session factory by making your bean aware of the ApplicationContext by implementing ApplicationContextAware and the using getBean method to get reference to SessionFactory. This is not recommended as it ties up your application to Spring.
However there is a mechanism to use the ServiceLocatorFactoryBean to decouple your application from Spring APIs but still allowing your component to lookup a dependency
http://docs.spring.io/autorepo/docs/spring/4.0.3.RELEASE/javadoc-api/org/springframework/beans/factory/config/ServiceLocatorFactoryBean.html


The outbreak of polio in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the first in the Western Hemisphere since 1991, has been widely reported in the popular press.
Analyses of the strains show that all are derived from one of the strains used in the oral polio vaccine (OPV). Researchers have identified a polio outbreak from a reverted vaccine strain only once before and that was in Egypt in the 1980s.
In both instances, Egypt and Hispaniola, vaccination coverage was very low. This incident highlights the importance of continued vaccinations in countries where polio has not occurred for years.
Below is the official report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
During July 12-November 18, 2000, 19 persons with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) were identified in the Dominican Republic, including six laboratory-confirmed cases with poliovirus type 1 isolates. Of the 19 case-patients, 16 (84%) were aged <6 years (range: 9 months-21 years). All case-patients were either unvaccinated (n=14) or inadequately vaccinated (n=5). In Haiti, a single laboratory-confirmed poliovirus type 1 case was reported in an inadequately vaccinated child aged 2 years; paralysis onset was August 30. Despite intensive case-finding activities, no additional cases have been identified.
The outbreak virus is unusual because it is derived from oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) and has 97% genetic similarity to the parental OPV strain (normally vaccine-derived isolates are >99.5% similar to the parent strain) and appears to have recovered the neurovirulence and transmissibility characteristics of wild poliovirus type 1. In comparison, wild polioviruses normally have <82% genetic similarity to OPV1. The differences in nucleotide sequences among the outbreak isolates suggest that the virus has been circulating for approximately 2 years in an area where vaccination coverage is very low and that the virus had accumulated genetic changes that restored the essential properties of wild poliovirus.
The ministries of health of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, with the assistance of the Pan American Health Organization and CDC, are investigating the outbreak to determine the extent of spread, evaluate the reasons for the outbreak, and initiate appropriate control measures. The Dominican Republic has started a nationwide mass vaccination campaign with OPV, and three nationwide vaccination rounds with OPV are planned for January, February and March 2001 in Haiti.
Circulation of OPV-derived polioviruses in areas with very low OPV coverage has been documented in one other setting – type 2 OPV-derived virus circulated in Egypt for an estimated 10 years (1983-1993) and was associated with >30 reported cases2. Vaccination coverage was very low in the affected areas, and circulation of a vaccine-derived poliovirus stopped when OPV coverage increased. The key factor in controlling circulating OPV-derived viruses and wild polioviruses is achieving and maintaining high vaccination coverage. No evidence for circulation of OPV-derived virus has been found in areas with high coverage.
Since 1991, no cases of polio attributed to wild poliovirus have been detected in the Western Hemisphere. The current outbreak underscores the need for polio-free areas to maintain high coverage with polio vaccine until global polio eradication has been achieved. OPV is safe and effective and recommended for the eradication of polio. All countries should maintain high quality AFP and poliovirus surveillance and accelerate current activities to complete the global eradication of wild polioviruses.
Health care providers should consider polio as a diagnosis in case-patients with a history of travel to other countries of the Western Hemisphere from the Dominican Republic and Haiti who present with AFP usually accompanied by fever. These possible cases should be investigated properly, including collection of stool samples. Suspected cases should be reported immediately to state and local health departments.
Travelers to the Dominican Republic and Haiti who are not vaccinated adequately should be considered at risk for polio. All travelers should be vaccinated fully against polio according to national vaccination policies3.
Reported by: Ministry of Health, Pan American Health Organization, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Ministry of Health, Pan American Health Organization, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Caribbean Epidemiology Center Laboratory, Pan American Health Organization, Trinidad and Tobago. Div of Vaccines and Immunization, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Br, Div of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, and Vaccine Preventable Disease Eradication Div, National Immunization Program, CDC.
1. Kew, O.M., Mulders, M.N., Lipskaya, G.Y., et al. Molecular epidemiology of polioviruses. Sem Virol 1995;6:401-14.
2. Naguib, T., Yang, S.J., Pallansch, M., Kew, O. Prolonged circulation of Sabin 2-derived polio-viruses. In: Program and abstracts of progress in polio eradication: vaccination strategies for the end game. Geneva, Switzerland: International Association for Biologicals, 2000.
3. CDC. Poliomyelitis prevention in the United States: updated recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR 2000;49 (no. RR-5).
SOURCE: MMWR 49(48): 1094, 1103, 2000.
The documentary was conceived by Tony Herring, MD, chief of staff of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (www.tsrhc.com), a hospital that was originally founded in 1921 to treat children with polio. The director and producer is Ken Mandel. The goal in producing the documentary was to increase the awareness and visibility of the history of polio, the defeat of the acute disease in the United States, and the eradication of the disease worldwide.
The 90-minute video weaves together history and personal experiences. It covers the typical "polio story" from the 1916 epidemic in New York, to FDR, Sister Kenny, March of Dimes, Enders, Weller, & Robbins, and Salk & Sabin. The title of the film was taken from a quote by FDR in 1944, "The fight against infantile paralysis is a fight to the finish, and the terms are unconditional surrender."
The film is being shown at film festivals around the USA and is not yet available to the public. IPN will announce details as soon as they are offered.
Current recommendations for children in the United States include a 4-dose vaccination series with inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) at ages 2, 4, 6-18 months, and 4-6 years. Unvaccinated adults should receive three doses of IPV, the first two doses at intervals of 4-8 weeks, and the third dose 6-12 months after the second. If three doses cannot be administered within the recommended intervals before protection is needed, alternative schedules are proposed. For incompletely vaccinated persons, additional IPV doses are recommended to complete a series. Booster doses of IPV may be considered for persons who previously have completed a primary series of polio vaccination and who may be traveling to areas where polio is endemic.
In their continuing support of the global campaign to eradicate polio, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has updated the technical document entitled "Poliomyelitis, OPV and Misconceptions on Vaccinations." It includes a discussion of the disease* and its prevention with oral poliovirus vaccine. The report addresses misinformation and superstitions known to exist in different parts of the world that may prevent people from fully immunizing their families. The document was reviewed by international polio experts, including the USP Expert Advisory Panels on Infectious Disease Therapy, International Health and Pediatrics; the World Health Organization (WHO); the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and others from the general public.
"Poliomyelitis, OPV and Misconceptions on Vaccinations" is available in English, French, and Russian in print (limited quantities) and on the USP web page (www.usp.org) under "Drug Information" in downloadable PDF files.
Contact Marilyn Foster at 301-816-8593 or via email at mlf@usp.org to request copies. Please indicate which language(s) you would like to receive and how many copies.
*The discussion of acute poliomyelitis from the earlier document was reprinted in the Fall of 1998 in Polio Network News (Volume 15, Number 4).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the poliovirus has not been found in the Western Pacific for three years. The last known case of indigenous poliovirus transmission occurred in Cambodia in March 1997. The region comprises 37 countries from China to French Polynesia with an estimated population of 1.6 billion persons (27% of the world's population).


text:
Video in a test tube? Microsoft and UW raise the bar for DNA data storage systems
by Alan Boyle on July 7, 2016 at 5:30 am July 7, 2016 at 6:45 am
The pink smear of DNA at the end of this test tube can store incredible amounts of digital data. (Credit: Tara Brown Photography / UW)
Computer scientists from Microsoft and the University of Washington say they've set a new standard for DNA storage of digital data – but they acknowledge that the standard won't last long.
For now, the bar is set at 200 megabytes. That's how much data the researchers were able to encode in synthetic DNA pairings, and then correctly read out again. The encoded files included a high-definition music video by the band OK Go, titled "This Too Shall Pass"… the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in more than 100 languages … the top 100 books from Project Gutenberg … and the Crop Trust's global seed database.
But Karin Strauss, the principal Microsoft researcher on the project, acknowledges that so much more is theoretically possible.
"You could pack an exabyte of data in an inch cubed," she told GeekWire. An exabyte is equal to 8 quintillion bits of information, which is much more information than is contained in the Library of Congress. (Exactly how much more? That's a matter of debate.)
One thing is certain: The hunger for data storage is growing by leaps and bounds, in large part because of our appetite for data-heavy video and the rise of big-data applications. To answer that need, DNA strands can store data much more densely than silicon-based hard drives can. And if the DNA is kept in a cold, dry, protected place, the data could be preserved for centuries intact.
"It's the ultimate backup media," said project co-leader Luis Ceze, a UW computer science and engineering professor.
We're going to create all sorts of incentives for writing DNA and reading DNA.
The concept adapts Mother Nature's pairings of nucleobases in the DNA molecule: Adenine pairs with thymine, guanine pairs with cytosine. A string of such pairings, such as ATGGGGCCAGT, can serve the same function as the binary code of 1's and 0's used in a traditional data storage device.
There are challenges, of course: The researchers had to build in error-correction mechanisms as well as molecular markers that allowed for random access to the encoded files. And once the digital files were converted to ATGC code, they had to be turned into molecular strands by Twist Bioscience in San Francisco and sent back to UW-Microsoft team in Seattle.
"It's essentially a test tube, and you can barely see what's in it," Strauss said in a Microsoft blog posting about the project. "It looks like a little bit of salt was dried in the bottom."
The commercial cost of encoding a megabyte's worth of data is on the order of a few thousand dollars, and it takes on the order of minutes to convert the files, Ceze said. But the researchers expect both the cost and the conversion time to drop dramatically.
"We're going to create all sorts of incentives for writing DNA and reading DNA," Ceze said.
Harvard geneticist George Church, who's also developing DNA data storage systems, agrees that the field is rapidly changing. He and his research group recently reported error-free storage and retrieval of 22 megabytes of DNA data, and they're aiming next for the gigabyte range.
"How far we are from doing this in a meaningful, optimally compressed form is not yet clear," Church said in an email to GeekWire. But when the technology is ready for prime time, there'll be a market for it.
Technicolor, for example, is interested in DNA data archiving for its large film library. "This, we believe, is what the future of movie archiving will look like," the company's vice president for research and innovation, Jean Bolot, said recently in Hollywood as he showed off a vial containing the DNA code for the 1902 silent classic "A Trip to the Moon."
Previously: Researchers store cat video (and lots more digital data) in DNA molecules
Church said DNA storage technology would be well-suited for archiving vast video surveillance data sets. Ceze and Strauss' list of potential applications also includes health records, research data and sensor readings from the rising "Internet of Things."
In the dawning age of cloud computing, the end users may not know or care that their information is being stored in synthetic DNA molecules. They might notice only that their "cloud" was becoming much more commodious, measured in exabytes rather than mere terabytes.
There's lots of work still to be done. "We're really focused as a team on developing an end-to-end system," Ceze said. That means figuring out more precisely how the mechanisms of DNA molecules work. Ceze compares the task to building a complicated Rube Goldberg machine, like the one featured in the OK Go music video that he and his colleagues encoded.
"If you look at DNA at the nanoscale," he said, "it looks like an incredible but very reliable Rube Goldberg machine."
Space station's next crew lifts off for a long trip in Russia's upgraded Soyuz spaceship
Amazon's Audible releases Channels audio subscription service with new slate of original programs
Filed Under: Cloud Tech • Science Tagged With: data storage • DNA • Microsoft • University of Washington
Microsoft and University of Washington demonstrate automated DNA data storage
Arch Mission partners with Microsoft, University of Washington and Twist to send DNA library to moon
Univ. of Washington researchers uncover DNA data security flaws on popular genealogy website