Our opening chapter recorded that, during November 2012, ENRC began trial shipments of 300,000-tonnes a year (tpy) of iron ore from its BAMIN mine in Caetite, in order to confirm some of the "major operational assumptions for the potential DSO [Direct Shipping of Ore] phase and to update its bankable feasibility study of the project".
By then ENRC was still reviewing a "different phasing of the project, including a scenario with an early revenue direct shipping ore phase over the next three years, utilizing the existing railway and port infrastructure" [Steel First, 17 May 2013].
Just over a year later, in June 2014, BAMIN was given an operational licence, valid for three years, which allowed it to produce up to one million tpy of ore from the Caetite mine, and to transport this using the Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica (FCA) railway "until the completion of Tubarão port in the country's south-eastern Espírito Santo state" [Steel First 18 June 2014].
Just before this, Nostromo Research asked the ENRC/BAMIN head office in Salvador how much ore was being already being sent from the mine, and who was buying it. No reply was received .
However, on a field trip to Caetite, carried out by two Brazilian researchers and this author at the end of May 2014, we observed over-burdened trucks exiting the mine each day. On following these, we found their cargoes were being offloaded to a storage point, then onto rail wagons at the FCA railhead in the town of Licinio de Almeida. From there, according to station staff, this ore was railed to a port in Espirito Santo state.
We calculated that customers could indeed be receiving about 300,000 tonnes a year from the mine, as envisaged by BAMIN in late 2012, although this does not account for any proportion of the ore that might be stockpiled in Espirito Santo itself.
ENRC is very tight-lipped about its current customers. This is hardly surprising, given the allegations of mismanagement and corruption which started swirling around it by early 2013, and have by no means gone away.
The company seems not to have published any data on contracts since 2012; it's likely that at least one contract is still being met, but largely from mines in Kazakhstan, and other sales are concluded on a "spot" basis.
ENRC's main iron ore customer during 2011/12 was the huge MMK (Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works OJSC). This Russian steal maker bought 50% of ENRCS's global iron ore output under an arrangement which the Kazakh company announced would last "until 2017 at least" [Steel First, 21 June 2011].
In its 2012 Annual Report, ENRC confirmed that, during the previous financial year ,it had sold the majority of its iron ore in the form of pellets "predominantly to MMK and to steel producers in North West China". The figures given were: 9.9 million tonnes to Russia; 5.5 mt to China, with the remaining one million tonnes being sold within Kazakhstan [ENRC Annual Report 2012].
The company added that, "due to lower contractual volumes of iron ore supplied to MMK", it had agreed with a second Russian steel smelter, JSC Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (MECHEL), "for the supply of iron ore concentrate, with pricing based on monthly agreements". Moreover, it said that: "The contractual prices with the Group's main Chinese customers are determined on a quarterly basis" [ENRC Annual Report 2012 ibid].
It cannot be verified that BAMIN itself supplies any of these. And it's unlikely that BAMIN is currently – or will ever be- supplying substantial amounts of beneficiated ore to any Brazilian smelters, especially in light of Vale's predominant role in satisfying domestic demand and a lower cost involved in upgrading the ore.
Converting iron from its natural state into metal acceptable to steel manufacturers necessitates a significant number of processes which vary in complexity, depending on the type of ore and what buyers need to use it for.
Once the ore has been wrested from the earth, it is crushed, ground up and "beneficiated", in order to significantly increase its original iron (fe) content. This may involve magnetic separation and flotation – requiring large amounts of water drawn from the surrounding area.. It stands to reason that delivering a product to market with a 62% fe grade, originating from raw material grading at only 32% fe or less, leaves a vast amount of waste behind, dumped at or near the mine site.
The refined ore is then transported in the form of lumps, pellets or fines, and may be upgraded further at a port before being sent overseas. (A further chapter of this work will examine the implications of using these technologies in relation to the Pedra de Ferro project).
It's by no means a simple task, and one that can be adversely impacted upon by numerous unforeseeable events. These include a sudden fall in market demand, storms and flooding, a collapse of mine workings, labour disputes and strikes, and – not least – growing local peoples' resistance to one or more aspects of the operation.
BAMIN's prospects of eventually succeeding in lifting and carting off as much as 20-25 million tonnes a year of iron ore between Caetite and the Atlantic Coast are decidedly uncertain.
Where, then, might ENRC be searching for such customers?
Were constantly told that the world's two most populated nations, China and India, have embarked on a neo-liberal economic "development" path, unprecedented in human history, which is largely aimed to satisfy the pretended needs of a rapidly-rising middle class.
"Continued urbanization and industrialization in large markets such as China and India is expected to prop up demand for iron ore…As per a report by McKinsey, China's urban population is expected to rise by about 350 million by 2025. India is expected to add 215 million to its urban population by 2025. These trends in urbanization and industrialization are expected to drive up demand for iron ore over the coming years" [Forbes magazine, 19 May 2014].
According to Statista, a global statistics portal, China in 2012 was not only by far the largest importer of seaborne iron ore (accounting for some 70% of the global total, followed by Japan, western Europe, South Korea and other Asian countries. It will also remain so for at least another three years [Seaborne iron ore demand 2012 and 2017, Statista, accessed in August 2014].
These bullish projections are music to many ears – not least, those belonging to corporate mining heads.
But there is another tune now being played. Arguably more sanguine and better-informed analysts contend that this iron ore boom is essentially illusory.
What they are warning about may seem unnecessarily alarmist, if not downright counter-intuitive.
After all, the world's three leading exporters of iron ore – Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton – recently bumped up their mining of higher grade material to unprecedented levels. Why ever would they do so, unless they were satisfying genuine need?
None of these firms seem to doubt that their production will find buyers in the longer term .
In reality, much of the iron ore they have delivered in recent months has ended up in stockpiles, bought by steel companies taking advantage of falling costs.
A great deal of it has been sitting idle in ships anchored off the Chinese coast – to the extent that, in May 2014, Business Spectator reported that iron ore inventories at China's ports reached no fewer than "a record 113.3 million tonnes" [Business Spectator, 29 May 2014]. (Around five times the amount that BAMIN plans to deliver each year at full output, from its Caetite mine).
In short, an already over-supplied market is now awash with the stuff. Prices being paid for it have toppled. dramatically.
Consequently, numerous smaller miners of poorer quality, lower-grade, ore (and not only those in China) have been put to the wall. As David Humphreys ( for eight years the chief economist of Rio Tinto) noted in August this year : "With iron-ore prices below US$100.tonne, a large part of China's small-scale private sector production is under water…80 million tonnes a year (more than 20% of the total) could close this year" [Mining Journal 29 August 2014].
But such attrition doesn't worry the Big Three iron ore producers in the slightest; on the contrary they are more than willing to step in and supplant those failed suppliers.
" The iron ore price continues to sink under the weight of two reinforcing influences, neither of which appears likely to abate any time soon.
"The original crack in the price two years ago was due to softening demand for China as its authorities wrestled with an over-heated economy and financial sector.
"There's no reason to believe China is going to bounce back to double-digit-growth rates, with the authorities determined to pursue more stable and higher quality growth, so the demand side of the iron ore equation is unlikely to change dramatically in the foreseeable future.
"As we know from the major iron ore producers' production reports, their supply has increased dramatically and will continue to increase dramatically as they look to higher volumes and lower costs to offset price declines.
" It may well go lower over the next year or so as the additional volumes enter the market. Rio, BHP and Vale aren't going to be overly concerned, given that their cost bases are already at the lower end of the sector's cost curve and are still reducing. Everyone else, however, is going to be worried.
"Prices have fallen 30 percent since the start of the year to about US$95 a tonne, prompting the big miners and analysts to predict a restructuring of the global iron ore industry.
Commodity supplies rise, the price goes down, weaker producers exit the scene, and a more sensible arrangement emerges, with buyers settling contracts with producers, reflecting a more equitable relationship between them. This has happened on two occasions in the iron ore market over the past decade. Why shouldn't it happen again?
The reason it won't is that Beijing's over-arching socio-economic and anti-pollution priorities have noticeably shifted into a higher gear, and the regime is implementing the "cooling" of domestic growth on a scale never seen before.
There are problems, of course. Shutting down hundreds of Chinese mines is comparatively easy – it may be done literally over night on orders of the government. But the administration has still to contend with a huge social problem of providing jobs for hundreds of thousands of ex-miners.
As the Business Spectator said in May this year: "[S]ome of China's mines are co-located and integrated with steelworks [so] they won't be shut down, and …there may be social pressures to maintain sub-economic production.
"It could…be an increasingly nasty and destructive few years for everyone in the sector because the big miners will still be bringing new tonnes — and a lot of them — into the market towards the end of this decade.
"It is the big and continuing increase in production that has occurred since 2012 and the changes in China's economic policies and settings that suggest that this time, history is unlikely to repeat itself with a quick bounce-back in the price." [Business Spectator 21 May 2014].
We should also mention another important factor (largely ignored by the outside world) that significantly contributed to China's apparently insatiable recent demand for iron ore, and one which the Beijing leadership is belatedly addressing.
Until recently, a significant proportion of both iron and copper were being used by Chinese banks as collateral for other trading transactions. The loans were used principally to sustain the country's hugely excessive building spree, resulting in thousands of apartments and office blocks remaining empty and unwanted.
The government stepped in to halt the playing of this "iron ore game" and the price quickly slumped, as banks scrambled to offload their iron ore stockpiles [Business Spectator 14 June 2014].
Regaining fiscal control over wayward banking may not have been the sole objective in making this move According to mining.com: "[I]ron ore was hit… because apart from the credit clampdown China is also targeting the steel industry's chronic overcapacity and environmental impact as part of its 'war on pollution' " [mining.com 8 June 2014]..
Many people will doubtless remain committed to the conventional "modernisation" model, envisaging a galloping use of minerals and metals by states endeavouring to "catch up" with much more refined economies of north America, Japan and western Europe.
Clearly it's naïve and foolhardy to believe that steel manufacture will, any day soon, cease being a key – perhaps the key – building block in the development scenarios propagated by Asian, African and other states.
This is especially true for Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, joined with China and India in the BRICS economic bloc and which, in March this year, launched their own development bank, similar to Brazil's BNDES.
It would be foolhardy to think that China is suddenly going to break away from BRICS and dramatically curb its rate of industrialisation. On the other hand, the country is already the world's leader in promotion of renewable energy sources, and this will have an impact on the amount and type of raw materials it imports, including iron for steel.
Meanwhile, Chinese firms continue to search for foreign iron ore mining opportunities.
For example, just this July, the China's largest steel maker, Baosteel Resources, along with an Australian rail operator, Aurizon Holdings, made a compulsory US$7 billion bid for the Australian firm Aquila Resources Ltd, whose Pilbara iron ore lease in West Australia could mine and export 33 million tonnes of high-grade iron ore a year when it reaches full output [ Reuters 9 July 2014].
Nonetheless, it's reasonable to assume that this kind of China foraging overseas is slowing down, leaving its steel makers to rely primarily on large, established and reliable producers of high quality ore.
India is the world's second largest "developing nation" and its population may soon rival, or even exceed, that of its northern neighbour. The manner in which successive governments (central and state) deal with its own egregious heritage of industrial pollution and community displacement stands in marked contrast to that adopted lately by China.
Indeed, with the election of Narendra Modi from the right-wing political party BJP in May this year, it's more than likely that the indiscriminate mining of many materials will rapidly increase, along with imports.
However, there is one possible exception to this scenario and it's down to the conclusions reached by a recent government Commission. And it centred upon India's profligate mining and export of iron ore.
Until recently, India's domestic production of iron ore was sufficient to feed most its own requirements – indeed the country exported significant tonnages. Virtually all these exports were destined for China, and the main ports used were situated in the "holiday state" of Goa, only a short travelling distance from the mines themselves.
Numerous allegations had been made over several years that mining had spawned rampant exploitation and violation of environmental safeguards; that companies had signed numerous corrupt contracts, and engaged in illegal exports between 2008 and 2011.
The government finally stepped in with a judicial enquiry. Following more than three and a half years of investigation, this Shah Commission delivered its final report to the central government in July 2014, and its findings were broadly accepted. By then, all (sic) iron ore mines in Goa had been closed, along with many others in the state of Karnataka.
Although some operations have since been granted permission to re-open, it will be a long haul before they become productive, while India's output of iron ore will probably never again reach anywhere close to earlier heights.
In fact, the forecast for Indian iron ore exports during 2014 is just 22 million tonnes – a far cry from the figure of 120 million tonnes in 2009.. As mining.com points out: "[The] Indian [iron ore] industry collapsed amid a government corruption crackdown and miners from the subcontinent abandoned the export market [leaving it] now dominated by seaborne ore from Australia, South Africa and Brazil" [mining.com 8 June 2014].
It's too soon to write a death certificate for India's iron ore sector, but it's clear that, for several years to come, the country will predominantly rely on imports.
Indian steel companies are now busy trying to "mop up" much of that surplus global excess largely being mined by "The Big Three" companies.
If a a much smaller and much less capable outfit like BAMIN believes it can easily meet Indian demand, it should think again. Precisely because there's so much material out there, now looking for customers, what it can offer looks distinctly insignificant.
On economic grounds alone, and even did BAMIN quickly raise its output of around 300,000 tpy from Caetite to one million tonnes, this would hardly provide enough capital for ENRC to use all the infrastructure envisaged in the original Pedra de Ferro proposal; and in particular, the construction of a new port of Porto Sul, albeit that it would be shared with other users.
Yes, BAMIN might try to do deals which undercut other miners. It might do so if were already delivering 15-20 million tonnes of low cost, high grade ore a year, having fully secured access to all the infrastructure required to make the Pedra de Ferro scheme a reality .
With barely a single slingshot,the Goliaths may have delivered the fatal blow to Bahia's little David.
* Predictions of future global demand for iron should account for the potential rise in global metals' recycling rates, the re-use of metals, and substitution of steel for other metals – notably aluminium. These conservation strategies are gaining ground.


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The Writer's Welcome Kit
Home > Course Catalog > Characters, Plot, and the Whole Damn Thing
Characters, Plot, and the Whole Damn Thing
Once they've begun reading a book, people tend to stick with it because the characters are compelling or because the plot is tight and fast-paced, or because of both. We'll be looking at how a writer can manage characters, plot, setting, and scene in such a way that the reader is hooked, engaged, and enthralled. We'll also be looking at what novelist Sue Grafton meant when she said, "If you know the question, you know the answer." Students should bring the first scene in which their main character/s appear as well as a description of the plot of their novel. This class has a one-hour lunch.
Beginning Fall 2021, we will be adding select in-person classes back to our course catalog. The majority of our classes will still be offered via Zoom.
If a class says IN-PERSON in its title, it will take place in person at our permanent home in Seattle.
If a class says ASYNCHRONOUS in its title, it will take place on Wet Ink, our asynchronous learning platform.
If a class does not have a marker after its title, it will take place via Zoom.
Instructor: Elizabeth George
Class Type: 2 Sessions
Featured Writers, Fiction
Days of the Week: Saturday, Sunday
Time: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm PDT
Minimum Class Size: 5
Maximum Class Size: 15
$424.80 Member Price:
$472.00 General Price:
Class has begun, registration is closed.
Elizabeth George is a New York Times and internationally best-selling author of twenty British crime novels featuring Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his unconventional partner Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. She also authored a young adult series that takes place on Whidbey Island where she lives and a best-selling book on the writing craft, Write Away.
See current classes >

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Jena from Miss Modish has created a downloadable Pitch Kit recently that I thought was worthwhile mentioning to any of you who may be in the business of pitching your wares to blogs. It's all the insider pitching know-how that Jena has learned from years of experience on both sides of the pitching fence- as both design blogger and PR rep- with insight into both side's perspective. Plus she interviewed 25 bloggers (including me) for their opinions/insight into how to get your product mentioned online. I just read my copy (and learned a few things myself) - so I definitely recommend it as a helpful tool to help market your work at any stage in your business. Click here for more info.


WOODS is the first knitting book in our European Nature series. We created it fuelled by our desire to share our passion for local, breed-specific European yarns and modern minimalistic knitwear design.
We've teamed up with amazing designers and European yarn companies as well as a team of wonderful makers on this journey to create a book that shines a spotlight on sustainable, local yarns, celebrates new and established designers, and shares tons of knitting knowledge.
WOODS contains 11 modern, minimalist knitwear designs, a range of long-form tutorials as well as interviews with and articles by Karen Templer, Clare Devine, Francoise Danoy and Megan Elizabeth.
WOODS is now available through our webshop and our stockists worldwide as well as our shipping pod program.
Get your copy of WOODS now!


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Fighting separatism a long-term, complicated task in Xinjiang: senior official
Fighting separatism in Xinjiang would be a long-term, complicated and tough task, said Xinjiang government head Nur Berkri on Sunday when speaking of the current situation in the region.
Nur Berkri said the situation of fighting separatism was still grave as the separatist forces, despite being hit hard after the July 5 riot, would not accept their failure and were likely to "make more troubles."
"Whatever they do, they are doomed to failure," he said.
Nur Berkri made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Conference, the country's top legislature.
He said development and stability were both important for the region. "Without stability, even the achievements Xinjiang have made will be eroded," he added.
The region suffered double blows in 2009 -- the global financial crisis and the riot in the regional capital of Urumqi on July 5, which left 197 people dead and more than 1,700 injured.
The adverse impacts of the financial crisis on the region were obvious, Nur Berkri said.
Foreign trade in the region fell 37 percent year on year last year, compared with a 61-percent increase in 2008. The oil and petrochemical industries, which accounts 61 percent of regional industrial output, was also hit hard with the world oil prices down from its peak of 147 U.S. dollars per barrel to 30 U.S. dollars, he said.
However, despite these challenges, Xinjiang recorded an 8.1-percent increase in regional gross domestic product last year, which totaled 427.4 billion yuan (62.6 billion U.S. dollars).
Blizzards in NW China leave 30 dead, 3 missing since December
Religious leader warns against secessionist activities in China's Xinjiang
Xinjiang situation moves for the better: senior officer
Newly recruited police officers start working in Xinjiang
China to draw up policies to boost development in Tibet, Xinjiang
China's parliament spokesman says Xinjiang is stable
Five killed after car rolls down reservoir in Xinjiang county
Beijing to launch huge investment in Xinjiang
Senior Chinese leader indicates measures on way for Xinjiang development
8.8M quake jolts Chile
Premier Wen chats with netizens
Collective decision-making eclipses rowdy democracy
China's lawmakers call for more government support for ethnic minorities
Top state leaders attend meeting of 3rd Session of CPPCC National Committee
Highlights of Jia Qinglin's work report of China's top political advisory body
Low-carbon lifestyle finds support at China's "two sessions"
S korean: $34,700 reward for Olympic gold medal
Norway Northug wins men's 50km cross country skiing at Vancouver Olympics
China urges U.S. to respect its core interests
Snapshots from the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver
China makes historic breakthrough in winter sports at Vancouver Olympics
Premier vows to reform income distribution system in WR
Stories about voting in China's political system
Survey: How about "E-Sessions" ?
Silver bullet to shoot rich-poor gap ?
What makes a "Billionaire in Soul"?
Worst grammar mistake ever


A lot of people have the wealth or income to have a swimming pool in their property, actually inside the property, and not outside in the backyard. A backyard swimming pool is quite common in the United Sates. But a new breed of swimming pools and exotic jet fuelled spas have now emerged inside homes.
The products are there, and they are now even appearing on Amazon. Some people even have a swimming pool that starts inside their home and extends through a water passage channel through to the exterior of their homes. The good thing is that if everything is maintained property it will boost the price of your property if you want to sell. This also makes it a wise investment.
If you are in the business of buying and selling homes that targets people in the middle to upper tier of income brackets, features like these are exactly what they are looking for. You can even install luxury spas and Endless pools inside apartments.
Anyone who likes fitness, and swimming will certainly appreciate the value of an endless pool. An endless pools lets you swim against its variable speed current and it is brilliant for small enclosed spaces because you constantly dont need to flip turn as you wont reach the end of the pool. This is one case where swimming against the tide is your best option.
Endless pools dont need as much chlorine as full sized pools as well so you will save your skin and also on a lot of other expensive products like chlorinators and high flow rate pool pumps. In fact you can run a small energy efficient 120 watt pool pump in an endless pool. Practically zero energy bills.
So can you imagine the write up in the real estate agents when you go to sell your home? Includes interior endless pool. Thats going to be a deal-breaker right there for a lot of people. The only downside is you might just decide to hang onto your property a little while longer because of it.


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Menu Eng
Since its inception, the Boris Christoff Foundation actively supported the many activities related to the master program in opera "Santa Cecilia Opera Studio", organized by the Santa Cecilia National Academy until 2015.
Among the various co-produced artistic initiatives, there are a number of opera productions staged in the Sala Petrassi at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, entirely made with the young artists of the Academy's master courses.
The Boris Christoff Foundation, renewing its multi-year collaboration with the Bulgarian Institute of Culture based in Rome, has granted four scholarships to Bulgarian singers, selected through a public competition carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria. The winning singers have attended the advanced courses in opera singing hosted by the Bulgarian Institute of Culture during the Summer of 2021, under the artistic direction of Orlin Anastassov.
Here are the names of the winners of the 2021 Boris Christoff Foundation Scholarships:
Leonora Llieva, soprano
Gergana Gerorgieva, soprano (high)
Dimitrinka Kechedzhieva, soprano (high)
Viktor Krastanov, basso (low)
In 2016, the Christoff Foundation supported the "Incontri con la Musica" (Meeting with Music), a series of Sunday concerts held by the artists of the Santa Cecilia master courses at the Auditorium Parco della Musica.
Read the poster
Celebrations for the centenary of the birth of Boris Christoff
The Boris Christoff Foundation, in collaboration with the Santa Cecilia National Academy and the Bulgarian Institute of Culture, has promoted a series of initiatives to celebrate the figure of the great Bulgarian bass, culminating in the "Concert for Christoff – A Voice within the soul" which re-proposed the same chamber program that the great artist presented on the occasion of his last appearance at the Santa Cecilia National Academy back in 1977. The concert was performed by some of the best artists from the Santa Cecilia Opera Studio Master Course that the Boris Christoff Foundation supported for many years.
Other initiatives included:
Photographic exhibition curated by the Bulgarian Institute of Culture
World premiere screening of the documentary "The prayer of Boris Christoff" by Magdalena Manolova
World premiere screening of the documentary "Letter from Tuscany" by Ema Konstantinova
The Christoff Foundation also sponsored a major celebratory event, Boris Christoff. Le Basse mémorable held on May 21 in Brussels under the aegis of the European Community.
September 11, 12, and 13, Sala Petrassi, Auditorium Parco della Musica in co-production with the Santa Cecilia National Academy
L'heure espagnole, Maurice Ravel
Gianni Schicchi, Giacomo Puccini
Artists of Santa Cecilia Opera Studio
Ensemble 900
Carlo Rizzari conductor
Cesare Scarton director
Gennaro Vallifuoco scenes
Laura Viani costume designer
Sartoria Tirelli costumes
Corrado Verini lights
April 12 and 14, Sala Petrassi, Auditorium Parco della Musica in co-production with the Santa Cecilia National Academy
The cunning little vixen, Leóš Janáček,
Artists of Santa Cecilia Opera Studio,
Instrumental Ensemble of Master Courses
Children' Choir and of the Santa Cecilia National Academy
Marco Angius conductor
José Maria Sciutto Choir Master
Tiziana Cannavacciuolo costumes
Flaviano Pizzardi – The Pool Factory Animations
Patrizia Salvatori choreographic movements (April 2011)
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Page:EB1922 - Volume 30.djvu/13
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EDITORIAL PREFACE
and assistance with regard to the articles on other foreign countries are due to President Masaryk (Czechoslovakia), Prof. H. Pirenne, Rector of Ghent University (Belgium), Prof. L. V. Birck of Copenhagen (Denmark), Mons. M. Beza, of the Rumanian Legation in London (Rumania), Mons. D. Caclamanos, the Greek Minister in London (Greece), Mons. H. N. Bronmer, of the Netherlands Legation in London (Holland), Baron Alströmer, the Swedish Chargé d'Affaires in London (Sweden), and Mons. Erik Colbran, of the League of Nations.
So many individuals have, in one way or another, smoothed the Editor's path, either by suggesting the best-qualified contributors or by giving helpful advice on the subject-matter of articles, that he can only make a rather arbitrary selection here in naming some of the more conspicuous. Practically every national Government, either directly or through its accredited representatives, has aided his attempt to give international authority to the New Volumes, by encouraging the use of its own sources of information; and British official coöperation, as also American, has been generously sanctioned and utilized. By the courtesy of the Naval Intelligence Department of the British Admiralty, the editorial staff had access to all the historical materials it had collected from various parts of the world for secret service during the war, including the handbooks of statistical and general information which had been privately printed by the Government for the use of British officers and political agents while the war was still in progress, and which were only partially "released" for publication afterwards. In this connexion acknowledgment may be made here, once for all, of the permission accorded by the Geographical Section of the British War Office (supplemented by that of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office), and by the French Service Géographique de l'Armée, to reproduce British and French staff-maps, and also by the Librairie Militaire Berger-Lerrault, of Paris, to reproduce some of their maps of the battle areas. In different specialist spheres, the following acted as technical consultants: on Biology and Zoology, Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, secretary of the Zoölogical Society of London; on Botany, Prof. F. W. Keeble, of Oxford University; on Mathematics, Prof. G. H. Hardy, of Oxford University; on Aeronautics, Lt.-Col. Mervyn O'Gorman; on Medicine and Surgery, Dr. R. McNair Wilson; on Civil Engineering generally, Mr. H. M. Ross, editor of the Times Engineering Supplement; on Electrical Science and Engineering, Prof. J. A. Fleming, of University College, London. Each of the above was responsible for suggesting contributors on the subjects named, and assisted in coördinating their contributions. On military matters Maj. C. F. Atkinson acted for the Editor in obtaining the cooperation of a large number of expert advisers, at home and abroad, and he was responsible for organizing all the articles dealing with military history and equipment. On naval affairs useful advice was given by Rear-Adml. Sir W. Reginald Hall, M.P., and Rear-Adml. H. W. Richmond. Mr. Humbert Wolfe, of the British Ministry of Labour, and Mr. R. Page Arnot, of the unofficial Labour Research Department (the intelligence office of the British Labour movement), assisted, from different points of view, in planning the articles dealing with Labour developments, while valuable advice was received on their economic aspects from Sir Hubert Llewellyn Smith and Mr. Sidney Webb. The Editor's thanks are due to all these counsellors; and also to Lord Stamfordham, for material in connexion with the biographical article on King George V., to Sir Godfrey Thomas as regards that on the Prince of Wales, to Sir
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This 6 Story waterfront office building completed in 2010 features column free floor plates, 10'2'' ceiling heights as well as exceptional water and city views. Located at the heart of Harbor Point's live/ work/ play community, Two Harbor Point is adjacent to Commons Park and waterfront promenades, luxury high rise apartment buildings, trendy restaurants and neighborhood retail. This building is the perfect environment for any size corporate end-user seeking new construction, a walk to the metro north train station and first class amenities.


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Home Home & Office Networking Mobile Carriers
Singapore gives two players go-ahead to participate in mobile spectrum auction
MyRepublic and TPG Telecom have been "pre-qualified" to take part in the upcoming spectrum auction, which will see the winning bidder become the country's fourth mobile operator.
Written by Eileen Yu, Senior Contributing Editor on Nov. 16, 2016
MyRepublic and TPG Telecom have received the go-ahead to participate in Singapore's upcoming spectrum auction, which winning bidder will become the country's fourth mobile operator.
Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said in a statement Wednesday that the two telcos had been "pre-qualified" to partake in the New Entrant Spectrum Auction, following a review of three documents submitted in September 2016. The industry regulator said both operators had met the criteria outlined to proceed to the auction of spectrum for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) and IMT- Advanced services, such as 4G services.
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MyRepublic and TPG would be bidding for 60MHz of spectrum from the 900MHz and 2.3GHz bands, IMDA said, adding that the auction was slated to be held by year-end.
It revealed that another applicant, airYotta, failed to meet the pre-qualification requirements and would not be participating in the auction.
In a statement released after IMDA's announcement, airYotta said it had "stepped out of the competition to become the fourth telco". Its CEO Michael DeNoma said: "Putting in place the components of what would be Singapore's first data-led telco in a limited amount of time was always to be a miraculous journey. "
IMDA said it had assessed the applicants based on several factors, including management acumen, competencies and operational experience in rolling out public telecom networks, and service provisions for consumers and enterprise customers. The participants also were evaluated based on their financial, technical, and engineering capabilities needed to establish a telecom system for 4G and IMT-Advanced services, the regulator said.
The eventual winning bidder of the new entrant spectrum auction would have the option to participate in a second phase of the auction, which also would be open to existing players--M1, StarHub, and Singtel.
The general spectrum auction was targeted to be held in the first quarter of next year.
Singapore to tag unregistered SMS senders as 'likely scam'
Razer's Edge Gaming handheld now available in Wi-Fi and 5G flavors


What do you average this year?
Just wondering if anyone hear is interested in a non cash league next year. Lets try and beat the FanFooty and BigFooty Boys. Leave you Team Name if your interested so we can put together a strong league.


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Sick Gaming ; Your source for all things gaming! Computers Windows Microsoft - Team Xbox's take on the most anticipated games of 2022
Microsoft - Team Xbox's take on the most anticipated games of 2022
Team Xbox's take on the most anticipated games of 2022
Like a lot of people my age, Star Wars has been a big part of my life for, well, my whole life. I love the LEGO Star Wars games because they're the perfect way to pass my Star Wars love on to the little padawans in my life and this collection will allow us to play through LEGO-fied versions of all nine movies. I just hope fellow my fellow Kiwi Temuera Morrison voices Jango and Boba Fett like he has in other Star Wars games. – Tom Mahoney, Director of Third-Party Games Marketing
https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2022/01/...s-of-2022/


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Q: Normal subgroup and index problem Let $G$ be a group and let $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$ of finite index. Show that if $H$ is a finite subgroup of $G$ whose order is coprime with $[G:N]$, then $H$ is a subgroup of $N$.
I don't know what to do in this exercise so I would appreciate hints and suggestions to have an idea of how could I solve it.

A: $HN/N \cong H/(H\cap N)$. Hence the finite number $|HN/N|$ divides index$[G:N]=|G/N|$. But being equal to $|H/(H \cap N)|$ is also divides $|H|$. Since gcd($|G/N|,|H|)=1$, we must have $HN=N$, that is $H \subseteq N$.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Let's face it, working on UI is hard. There are so many subjective variables that lend to a good end-user experience that it can be a tall order to accomplish well, especially in a landscape of ever-increasing technology expectations. Choosing a tool that will solve the business requirements efficiently while keeping Domain Specific Language, or DSL, knowledge to a minimum is ideal.
As a Technical Consultant, I'm always interested in increasing my workflow productivity and decreasing the amount of time it may take to get up to speed with a given code base. Using a development tool set that increases general skills in a language while also optimizing development flow is a win-win and ultimately leaves developers with more well-rounded skills for future projects.


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Q: Correct way to perform backup of Cassandra/Scylladb What's the correct(advisable) method to backup a cassandra or scylladb so that we can restore it on development environment with ease?

A: For Scylla, please look at the following official documentation:

*

*Backup your Data

*

*Full Backup Snapshots are taken using nodetool snapshot.

*Enabling the incremental backup (disabled by default) will create a hard-link from each SSTable, right after it is flushed, to a backups directory.
  For a complete point in time backup you need: a snapshot plus incremental backups and commit logs since that time of the snapshot. Make sure to clean unnecessary incremental backup, Scylla will not do it for you.

*Restore from a Backup and Incremental Backup

Restoring a keyspace from backup requires all snapshot files of the tables, and incremental backup files taken after the snapshot - if available. Before restoring from backup, you should truncate the table data, making sure existing data will not override the restored one.

See the linked documentation for detailed instructions.

A: In Cassandra we can take full backup from below command.
nodetool snapshot
A snapshot first flushes all in-memory writes to disk, then makes a hard link of the SSTable files for each keyspace. You must have enough free disk space on the node to accommodate making snapshots of your data files. A single snapshot requires little disk space. However, snapshots can cause your disk usage to grow more quickly over time because a snapshot prevents old obsolete data files from being deleted. After the snapshot is complete, you can move the backup files to another location if needed, or you can leave them in place.
We can also take snapshot for keysapce and table as well. Apart full backup we can enable incremental backup(incremental_backups) on cassandra.yaml also by default it is false.
You can refer below link for more details.
https://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/operations/opsBackupTakesSnapshot.html
To restore snpashot is cassandra is very easy.however in cassandra multiple scenario for restoration. To restore a node from snapshot just copy the all sstables from snapshot folder to actual data folder after clearing the data and take restart cassandra services. it will restore the data to previous version of data.you can copy also incremental sstable also to actual data folder if require point in time recovery.
Please refer more details on below link.
https://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/operations/opsBackupIncremental.html


I thought I would take the opportunity to upload some images of renderings and observational sketches from the fast semester. I started working a lot with pen rather than pencil and really enjoy the results that have occurred.
Comparison between Falling Water and Monticello. Exterior. Plan. Materials, interior floor and exterior surface. Living room.
Foyer of Monticello. Front Elevation, Fireplace wall elevation and Detail of Crown Molding.
St. Mary's House, sitting on the floor next to the kitchen door looking in.
St. Mary's House, sitting in the middle of the sanctuary looking towards the alter.
Perceived perspective at St. Mary's looking towards the front door.
Scale figures, sketched while sitting at Starbucks.
Rendering on another student's wire frame.
Rendering of the basement of Gatewood.
Our third and final unit takes us from The worlds fairs up to the present. We examined arts and crafts, re-form, art movements and their influence on design; as well as the effects of war. All of which helped shape the multiple modernisms of today as well as the Scandinavians design aesthetic.
The World's fairs were a great invention which reminds me a lot of trade shows that we see today. They were international, commemorative, commercial, and collaborative. At the core of the fairs is National pride. The fairs were a way for everyone to show off their intelligence and ability to design and produce the next biggest and greatest idea/object. Architecturally they are challenging in that most are temporary. Creating an environment that inspires awe and can handle hundreds of thousands of visitors is quite the task. Often there are a few buildings or structures that we are left with as reminders, such as the Eiffel Tower, The space needle in Seattle, and the arch in St. Louis. The commercialism and industrialism showcased in the fairs is contrasted by the Arts and Crafts movement.
The Arts and Crafts movement focused on the handmade and the natural beauty and elements around. Ching summarizes this when he states " These Arts and Crafts houses featured a deliberate blurring of interior and exterior space through the use of decks, pergolas, porches, and terraces." (Ching, 681) One of the most exceptional examples of the movement is the Gamble house in Pasadena, which was designed by Charles Sumner Green and Henry Mather Greene in 1908-1909. The idea of the house as a total design package is see perfectly here. Every aspect of the house was part of an integrated design. Cabinets, lighting, leaded glass windows, paneling; everything, was designed by the architects to perform as one cohesive unit. This approach is also seen in other artistic movements and how their design aesthetic translated into the architecture as well. We see this paralleling in the art nouveau style in Europe, where the free flowing lines of nature are the central theme. Think no right angles. Furthering these ideas is Art deco. Beauty for beauty, surface adornment, shiny polished surfaces come to mind here. The exterior of the Chrysler building in New York and the interior of Rockefeller center are excellent examples of this style.
We have learned in the class that most all design movements have a reaction movement or a focus on a new aesthetic. Although not necessarily reactionary, the Bauhaus Movement seemed to have a more industrial nature to it focusing as Roth states "on industrial production and the development of normative industrial standards." (Roth 523) Much of this was theoretical since the designs appeared very industrial, yet were often hand crafted. Many names are associated with the Bauhaus, such as Walter Gropius, the founder, Kandinsky, Klee, and the final leader: Mies van der Rohe. The Bauhaus was eventually shut down by the Nazis in 1933 which tells us that war is among us and a new uncertainty is coming. Multiple modernisms start to appear. Classic revival, ultra modern, and post modern all start appearing more and more. All are searches for what is modern and are modern according to those who are building them as well as the attitudes of how one should live. The idea that people will adapt to the house and learn to live with how it is designed comes into play and is also criticized.
Much of this criticism led us to look at the Scandinavian design aesthetic and how it brings a lot of what we are learning together. Functionality, simple lines, pleasing aesthetics, affordability. All ideas we have discussed come together as a whole here. We learn that the house and it contents needs to be responsive to the individual living within for it to work. It is human nature that cannot be changed for architecture, yet architecture that must change for human nature.
The rise of the interior decorator and mega firm come to the playground as well. We look at the people that make what we do now possible, such as Elsie de Wolf, Dorothy Draper, and Billy Baldwin, pioneers in decorating that opened the doors for us. Mega firms such as Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill start appearing as are mega buildings. Going up and up becomes the new direction. The idea of no structure is realized with glass facades that cover entire buildings, completely hiding the structure. The reaction to this as well, all the structure is shown on the outside, so the inside can be completely open, such as the George Pompidou center for art in Paris. Ultimately we learn that Modern is a search. A search for what looks, functions, and feels right. Modern is not the same for everyone and will always be evolving.
The image that I feel best exemplifies the unit is the Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier. Built between 1928 and 1931 in Poissy France, just outside of Paris. The building exemplifies Corbusier's five points of architecture. Elevating the building to allow the garden to extend underneath, A functional roof that reclaims the land occupied by the building, an open floor plan, long horizontal windows for light and air, and a facade as a skin. All of these ideas we see re-emerging as important today. The Villa Savoye to me is the predecessor of green or sustainable architecture. It was designed around light and how it effects the building as well as the occupants and how they live and the presence of the automobile. Ideas such as a steel structural skeleton that allows for open expanses and for the exterior walls to be an applied facade are both ideas that evolved and will continue to evolve and already allow us to live, design, and function the way we do today. Le Corbusier's exploration of modern developed ideals that we continue to explore and utilize today.
To wrap up the semester we get to choose our favorite Object, Space, Building, and Place to write about. Here are some of mine.
my espresso maker delivers fantastic coffee, just like any fine coffee house. The design is simple, elegant, and functional. Th footprint is half that of my microwave which gave me more counter space as well. Espresso wakes me up in the morning and allows me to function and learn.
For me, the kitchen is a creative outlet. I enjoy cooking and preparing meals more than anything else that I do. It is a way for me to be creative and experimental while at the same time creating amazing food. I like to entertain and the kitchen makes or breaks this for me. Having a well designed, functional, and appropriate space is critical. I live in my kitchen so it needs to be one of the most special places in the house. There is no room for fast food in my kitchen.
I ended up here almost by chance. While in Venice a friend of my parents suggested that I stop by here to visit. I barely had time to see what I wanted to see, let alone another art museum. Boy was I glad that I made time for this place. The museum was the home of Peggy Guggenheim for over 30 years. Originally it was designed to be a palace, yet was never finished. All you see it the first floor. I enjoy that it stands out on the grand canal. It's only one floor when most building are at least two. The gardens are amazingly simple and unexpected in the city. What I truly enjoy the most is the interior. The pale pale brown terrazzo floors, the clean lines, the simplicity. All juxtaposed against the exterior facade. I was there in August, It was so hot and so humid outside you were soaking when just from stepping outside. When I arrived here and entered the building it was cool, dry, calming, and pristine.
This is where I spent a lot of time during the summers growing up. The air is cool, crisp, and thin. The smell is clean and un-polluted. The views are stunning. The life is simple. There are no bugs!!! Picnics in the pasture, nights in a one room cabin, little or no electricity. Ice cold lake water. A spring house a smoke house, things I had never heard of, that now I want. This is where I want to end up, forever.
These are the original drawings that I did for St. Mary's writers retreat. They may be easier to see than the final boards that I have uploaded to the blog. There is additional information on the final boards that is not on these drawings. I've also included some commentary and thought process as to why I have laid the space out as I have.
First floor plan. The office is at the front of the building to the left. The space can accommodate a conference table for 8 as well as an office/writing desk. The living room is directly behind the office. There are stairs up to a loft. The Living space is large enough to accommodate intimate seating at the fireplace, a sitting area in the center of the room and a small space for dining for two. The bedroom is at the back of the living space to create more privacy with an en-suite bathroom as well. The kitchen connects the living room to the public reading room in the rear of the structure, far right. This allows the kitchen to function for both spaces and also create a privacy gradient between public and private spaces. The public reading room has been opened up to the outdoors with french doors and windows all around. If possible a screen porch on the back would be ideal. The reading space also has a built in desk for writing, chair storage, and a public bath. The space can also be used for dining for larger crowds.
Second floor loft plan. Writing loft is at the front of the house to the left. The rear loft can act as secondary living, reflecting space, or additional sleep space if necessary. The rear loft is open to the central portion of the public reading space and could be used as an elevated reading platform as well.
Section Elevation looking east. Shows the Kitchen, office, living, reading and second floor loft spaces.
Section elevation from inside the public reading room looking south. This shows how the ceiling is vaulted in the center and how the second story loft interacts with the space. The writing desk is in the middle and kitchen door is on the right side.
Section elevation from the living room looking north. This shows how the second story loft interacts with the kitchen below as well as with the living space. The window in the loft is 6' tall, the addition of a scale figure could have made the loft space more clear.
Elevation of the west wall. The fireplace is central. Book cases with storage underneath flank the fireplace and continue up to the ceiling of the loft which is 9'6". Next to the book cases are the reflecting nooks. These provide a space for writing and reading as well as additional seating when necessary. Keeping this section of the space open from front to back maximizes light in the space.
Perspective of the public reading room. This space is large enough to accommodate 40 individuals seated.
Living room looking west. A two point perspective that shows how the stairs, loft, balcony seating area, and built ins work together. Scale figure to the right shows the scale of the space and how open and high the ceilings are.
Living room looking back towards the kitchen on the left, bedroom in through the door on the right. The kitchen is a galley style kitchen and connects the private quarters to the public reading room. The allows the kitchen to function for bot public and private spaces while maintaining a privacy gradient for the more personal spaces.
Second floor loft looking south towards the front of the house. This view shows another reflection nook and writing desk as well as more built ins for storage. The addition of a scale figure would help show how an individual would interact with the space. The distance to the top of the window from the floor is 6', and the distance to the top of the book case from the floor on the right is 5'5".
My original Parti for the project. Reflect is the main concept. Areas of reflection for the writer are key. The environment is very muted and filled with earth tones. The richness and life comes from how one lives in and utilizes the space.


Hann Endowed Lecture: "Estimating the magnitude of direct bird mortality caused by anthropogenic threats in the United States"
Billions of North American birds are killed annually by direct sources of human-caused mortality, including collisions with man-made structures, predation by free-roaming cats, poisoning, and pollution. Because these mortality sources are increasingly abundant and because some can cause large bird die-offs, they have received increased scientific attention and extensive coverage by the popular media. However, quantification of mortality from different direct sources has remained simplistic, and approaches to determine whether mortality results in biologically significant population effects remain underdeveloped.
Dr. Marra's talk will highlight his lab's analytical approaches to advance the state of knowledge about anthropogenic mortality's effects, including quantification of the uncertainty of the mortality estimates and inference of population effects by incorporating mortality estimates into full life cycle population models. Implementation of these advances will lead to more effective regulations that reduce avian mortality and minimize population-level impacts.
Dr. Peter Marra is a Research Scientist with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center in Washington, DC. Urban ecology is a key focus of his research. He created the Smithsonian's "Neighborhood Nestwatch" citizen science program. The program collects data on bird survival and productivity around the nation's capital. Dr. Marra also studies migratory biology and emerging infectious diseases among birds. He earned his PhD from Dartmouth College.


Can you change a trust if it was invalidly executed?
You can reform a trust even after a death if there was a mistake. A recent case deals with a trust that was invalidly executed and how it can be reformed.


I'll just come out and say it. Expecting your investments to consistently pay off big time is just not realistic.Your coworker that has made 40% in their 401(k) last year was lucky (assuming they're calculating their return correctly in the first place), and they're most likely conveniently forgetting how much they have lost in other years. We all have a tendency to remember our successes and forget times we'd rather not relive. The S&P 500 lost over 53% of its value between October of 2007 and March of 2009, and some noted institutional investors went down with the ship, so to speak.In short, hoping to get lucky with investments is not a strategy that will work consistently, so it's simply a bad idea to rely on it. It's time, not timing, that will make the biggest impact. So now that we're depressed about the lack of possibilities, where do we start?
The first step is to understand that all investing involves risk, and to decide to be okay with that. Technically, even choosing NOT to invest involves risk. Bank deposits may be FDIC insured to guarantee the number of dollars you have. Unfortunately, what those dollars can purchase generally is also more or less guaranteed to shrink over time due to that pesky thing called inflation. The reason we invest money is because of the possibility that what we invest in will increase in value over time—hopefully faster than inflation. The higher the expected return on your investment, the more risk you must be willing to accept.
Part of accepting that risk is learning to correctly define it. It's easy to pitch an investment's average return—the US stock market (measured using the S&P500) has had an average return of close to 10% per year over the past 90 years. At that rate, your investments could double every 7 or 8 years. Sounds great, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Achieving that rate included losing over 36% in 2008. Too much loss?Investors that chose to sell their investments after that loss then may then have missed out on significant gains over the coming years (the S&P was up by over 30% in 2013).
Unfortunately, we have no way to tell when up years or down years will occur, so successful investing means being able to stomach the losses. We encourage our clients to think of investment returns in terms of a range rather than a target. Consider setting your goal as "planning to lose less than 10% in a really bad year and being ok with making up to 15% in a really good year," rather than "planning to make 5% per year." Setting realistic expectations will help you to make appropriate decisions and avoid selling out when things get rough.
It's not possible to control returns, but you can control risks to some extent. If you own a single stock, you have a larger potential to "pick the right one" and make a significant amount of return. There's also the chance that the company could go bust, and you could lose your investment altogether. So what if you owned stocks from two companies instead of one? Now, a bad choice may only affect part of your portfolio instead of the whole thing. Owning 50 stocks would be better still.
The next step is to start looking at other types of investments. Rather than simply large U.S. companies, consider small or mid-sized ones. Look into fixed income investments such as bonds, or into real estate or alternative investments. The process of mixing different types of investments into your overall account is called asset allocation. Choosing asset classes that don't relate to the ones in your portfolio can lower the correlation between your returns, and lower your risk—potentially without dramatically affecting your return over time. Some asset classes can also increase your overall risk, so a little knowledge can go a long way towards understanding your choices. There are a lot of asset classes to choose from, and each carries its own costs and behaviors. If you're not sure what to choose or what amounts to place into each asset class, it's time to meet with an advisor. Be willing to learn, never be afraid to ask questions, and once again remember that for most of us it's time, not timing, that makes the biggest difference.


I had the pleasure of performing at the launch of Marc Jacob's Beauty range for Harrods at Park Chinois in Mayfair.
There were an array of people dining and dancing in the opulent oriental Club. Champagne cocktails flowed, and there was even a special performance by Beth Ditto. This was a great event to perform at to start off London Fashion Week!


I like short sentences. I also like long, rambling soliloquiies of prose that take you on a journey of twists and turns, of loops and curls, that almost (but not quite) lose you on their convoluted meanderings only to bring you back safely in to land; sometimes with a bump.
Horses for courses, of course. A short sentence serves its purpose, as does a long one – the key is to know when to use each kind. This quote from 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost explains it beautifully.
Gary Provost is a name that I have only just come across, but I really think I ought to start reading some of his books. In this post on his website Provost says some things that are echoed in points made by Pinker in his new book, on which I commented in this post.
Elements of Style is a small, 'perfectly formed' guide to English usage written in 1918 by William Strunk Jr. an English professor at Cornell University. He was moved to write his guide to "cut the vast tangle of English rhetoric down to size and write its rules and principles on the head of a pin," (Strunk and White 2000: xiii). Half a century later, an erstwhile student of Strunk, E.B. White (of Charlotte's Web fame) refreshed the original volume, updating some of the examples and adding a new chapter.
Strunk enjoins us to write vigorously and concisely; to make every word count. He sets out the rules for what is acceptable in English writing and does so with passion and care. White picks up this theme in his added chapter, but he departs from Strunk's almost formulaic approach and turns to confront the ineffable nature of 'style'. He reflects that "There is no satisfactory explana- tion of style, no infallible guide to good writing … no inflexible rule by which writers may shape their course. Writers will often find themselves steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion," (Strunk and White 2000: 66) before going on to suggest twenty-one principles that may serve as sextants for the brave and literate navigator.
To the casual browser, the book might appear to be no more than the pithy diktats of a linguistic pedant: eleven rules of usage, eleven principles of composition, and some considerations on form and style. But I think that it is much more than that. It is a charming and impassioned treatise on the nature of good writing. It does not hector. It does not berate. It is confident and bold, but never claims dominion over the language. While Strunk clearly liked his 'rules', I prefer White's conceptualisation of them as 'principles'. The beauty of principles is that they are malleable and exist to serve a purpose within a context. This gives us permission to experiment and to make principled choices.
On Tuesday I went to see Steven Pinker talk about his new book The Sense of Style, the latest addition to the field of writerly advice. Pinker started his talk by acknowledging the place in people's hearts that is occupied by Strunk and White, but also by noting that the younger author (E.B. White) was born before the turn of the century – the turn of the 20th century. Pinker's 'thinking person's guide to writing in the 21st century' is intended to bring up to date the The Elements of Style's cherished exhortations and admonishments, so typical of of the genre.
I have read only the first two chapters of the book so I will not attempt to summarise his message. For a feel for thrust of it, this article in the Wall Street Journal is as good a place as any to start – not least because it cites Hanlon's Razor. I will, however, briefly discuss a couple of the points Pinker made in his talk that resonated with me.
First was the notion of The Curse of Knowledge. This curse describes the situation in which possessors of knowledge find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to conceptualise what it is like for people who do not share that knowledge. Pinker illustrated this by describing a psychology experiment where a three year old who is shown the contents of a box assumes that another three year old who has not seen the contents also knows what is contained in it. While this is an extreme example of the curse, which disappears with age, the principle nonetheless remains into adulthood. In the context of writing, this means that adults who are very familiar with their subject matter cannot adequately conceive of the principles of good writing needed to convey that knowledge to someone who knows less about it than them.
This has important implications for anyone who hopes to add to collective knowledge through writing. Indeed, it has important implications for anyone trying to teach anything to anyone via any medium. It is very tempting to think that one's reader possesses a similar level of knowledge to one's self. But, implies Pinker, this assumption risks obfuscating one's writing to the point of making it a waste of time for both writer and reader. This is troubling. If the curse of knowledge is so strong as to make it impossible for writers to put themselves in the shoes of their readers, what is one to do? Because writers can only know that their readers interpret the world differently to them, not to what degree and in what ways, perhaps the only thing to be done is to bear this continually in mind when writing. As a consequence writers might then steer away from technical vocabulary, or think twice about using complex turns of phrase, when the choice to be clearer presents itself.
The point here was not to name call, but to show that the evolutionary process that language is subject to would have seen the passive voice whither on the vine if it did not serve some useful purpose. That Strunk, White and Orwell couldn't even see that they were using the passive to warn against the passive is indicative of the evolutionary force of the device. Pinker went on to give a good example of why the passive can be important in keeping the reader's attention focussed on the important things that the writer wants to say. Forcing the active voice for the sake of 'keeping to the rules' may result in syntax that is strange, unnatural or which otherwise leads to confusion, where clarity is the aim.
Was it the vote that was immediate or the approval? Splitting the infinitive changes the meaning of the sentence, and in the second (split) rendering it is clear that the vote was for immediate approval (regardless of when the vote was taken). A true stickler might suggest putting the adverb at the end: "The board voted to approve the casino immediately", but this hardly makes it any clearer. Also, given that word order helps to suggests the importance of elements in a clause, we might wonder whether it is the approval or the immediacy that the writers considers the focus of his message.
I look forward to reading the rest of the book. But for now those three pearls of wisdom have been excellent food for thought.
My last thought about the evening, however, is on the nature of Q and A in these kinds of events. Most people who asked questions were brief and to the point – and actually asked relevant, interesting questions. However, the nature of the final contributor to the discussion was a boring, self-aggrandising lecture, at the end of which he append the tag "don't you agree?". This slightly sour end to an otherwise brilliant evening put me in mind of this flow chart to help people decide whether to ask a question at a public lecture.


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You are here: Home / Feminism / Feminist Governance / On male victims of domestic violence
On male victims of domestic violence
February 17, 2012 By M. R. Walks 69 Comments
The rationale for government funding being directed to services for male perpetrators and women and children victims of violence is often given as, "men make up such a small percentage of victims of family violence that services should focus on the majority of clients: women and children."
One of my colleagues works at a New South Wales (NSW) Local Area Health Service. She attended a compulsory training session for all NSW Health workers covering the use of a NSW Health domestic violence screening tool. The following is a direct transcription from the one of the presenters:
Well, you will encounter gender issues, obviously, throughout the whole of society. But around domestic violence, because, well as you know, because over 90 per cent, something like 98 or 97 per cent of perpetrators are male in our society, NSW Health decided to focus their Domestic Violence Policy on women, because we only have so much time and resources.
First, it should be noted here that a NSW Government employee is giving staff misinformation about the gender breakdown of domestic violence. There is absolutely no evidence showing that "something like 98 or 97 per cent of perpetrators are male." The most conservative recent estimates [1] (from police reports, which do not cover the vast majority of male victims who never report their assaults [2] show that 82 per cent of offenders in NSW between 2001 and 2010 were male, while 30.8 per cent (almost one in three) victims of domestic assault were male.
I've put myself in my own prison because I don't want to have any interaction with society any more. I feel too vile, too dirty, because the mainstream of society says this kind of behaviour from a woman is OK
Kevin – Male DV victim
Secondly, this rationale is never presented when talking about services for any other sub-population. For example, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) or Aboriginal victims of family violence aren't ignored because they make up a small minority of victims. To the contrary: there are specialist services available for these sub-groups precisely because they are in the minority and need services tailored to their specific needs and circumstances. The same is true of male victims of family violence. It doesn't matter whether males make up 5 per cent, 15 per cent, 35 per cent or 50 per cent of victims of family violence; the fact is that there are no services currently available to assist them. This flies in the face of our international human rights and equal opportunity obligations.
The following statistics demonstrate that at least one in three victims of family violence in Australia is male (perhaps as many as one in two). This figure includes assaults by both male and female perpetrators, and includes family members as well as intimate partners. When reading these quantitative statistics it should be remembered that family violence is extremely complex and doesn't just boil down to 'who does what to whom and how badly.' The context of the violence and abuse is extremely important. Abuse can occur without the use or threat of physical violence.
Recent Australian statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey (PSS, 2006) [3] is the largest and most recent survey of violence in Australia. It found that :
28 per cent (around one in three) people who experienced physical assault by an intimate partner (current partner, previous partner, boyfriend, girlfriend or date) in the last 12 months were male
29.8 per cent (almost one in three) victims of current partner violence since the age of 15 were male
24.4 per cent (almost one in four) victims of previous partner violence since the age of 15 were male
There were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence rates between women and men experiencing physical assault by known perpetrators in the last 12 months (2.6% or 198,500 women and 2.7% or 213,100 men)
In their most recent incident of physical assault by male and female perpetrators in the last 12 months, the difference in estimates for men and women reporting physical assault by a male or female family member/ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend were not statistically significant. However this information does not infer that there were no differences in the overall prevalence of men and women experiencing physical assault by family members/ex-boyfriends/ex-girlfriends.
The characteristics of the location of the most recent incidents of physical assault by males and females in the last 12 months showed that while men experienced almost equal numbers of most recent assaults by male and female perpetrators in a home; and while women experienced almost five times as many most recent assaults by male compared to female perpetrators in a home; the total number of most recent assaults experienced in a home was similar for men and women. It is not possible to generate estimates for the total number of persons who experienced physical assault in a home. ?Significant problems with this survey include, (a) only female interviewers were used, (b) a much smaller sample of male informants was used compared to female informants, and (c) no data was published on types of violence or injuries or threats received by male victims.
I was petrified to come home from work and would see her car in the drive and have to drive away and sit for an hour or so by myself to prepare for the likely barrage to come. I lived in terror walking on eggshells around her for nigh on 20 years. I attempted suicide a number of times.
Dan – Male DV victim
The SA Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Survey (1999)[4] found that 32.3 per cent (almost one in three) victims of reported domestic violence by a current or ex-partner (including both physical and emotional violence and abuse) were male.
The Crime Prevention Survey (2001)[5] surveyed young people aged 12 to 20 and found that:
while 23 per cent of young people were aware of domestic violence against their mothers or step-mothers by their fathers or step-fathers, an almost identical proportion (22 per cent) of young people were aware of domestic violence against their fathers or step-fathers by their mothers or step-mothers
an almost identical proportion of young females (16 per cent) and young males (15 per cent) answered "yes" to the statement "I've experienced domestic violence"
an almost identical proportion of young females (6 per cent) and young males (5 per cent) answered "yes" to the statement "my boyfriend/girlfriend physically forced me to have sex". ?The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR, 2005)[6] found that between 1997 and 2004, 28.9 per cent (almost one in three) victims of domestic assault in NSW were male. Men and women suffered similar percentages of injuries and similar injury types as illustrated below.
Poor dad. I had seen him walking naked in the back yard at night all up- set and embarrassed; and I had seen him crawling under the bed to escape her vicious attacks, and I have seen him nursing his fresh wounds in the toilet, and he would say no word against her.
Son talking about parents
BOCSAR also examined trends and characteristics of domestic homicides in NSW over the period January 2003 to June 2008 [7]. During this time, there were 215 victims of domestic homicide; 115 females and 100 males (almost one in two victims were male). Intimate partners were responsible for 43 per cent of domestic homicide victims (70 females and 23 males – one in four were male).
The Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission (2005)[8] found that 32.6 per cent (almost one in three) victims of family violence reported to police were male.
The Australian Institute of Criminology (2008)[9] found that 48.7 per cent (almost one in two) adult victims of family homicide and 35.4 per cent (over one in three) victims of intimate partner homicide in 2006-07 were male.
The Victorian Victims Support Agency (2008) [10] found that 31 per cent (almost one in three) persons admitted to Victorian Public Hospitals for family violence injuries were male.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies (1999) [11] observed that, post-separation, fairly similar proportions of men (55 per cent) and women (62 per cent) reported experiencing physical violence including threats by their former spouse. Emotional abuse was reported by 84 per cent of women and 75 per cent of men.
A University of Melbourne / La Trobe University study (1999) [12] found that men were just as likely to report being physically assaulted by their partners as women. Further, women and men were about equally likely to admit being violent themselves. Men and women also reported experiencing about the same levels of pain and need for medical attention resulting from domestic violence.
An extensive study of dominance and symmetry in partner violence by male and female university students in 32 nations by Murray Straus (2008)[13] found that, in Australia, 14 per cent of physical violence between dating partners during the previous 12 months was perpetrated by males only, 21 per cent by females only and 64.9 per cent was mutual violence (where both partners used violence against each other).
The Queensland Government Department of Communities (2009)[14] reported that 40 per cent of domestic and family violence protection orders issued by the Magistrate Court were issued to protect males.
A study of risk factors for recent domestic physical assault in patients presenting to the emergency department of Adelaide hospitals (2004)[15] found that 7 per cent of male patients and 10 per cent of female patients had experienced domestic physical assault. This finding shows that over one in three victims were male (39.7 per cent).
The Australian Institute of Family Studies' evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms (2009)[16] found that 39 per cent (more than one in three) victims of physical hurt before separation were male; and 48 per cent (almost one in two) victims of emotional abuse before or during separation were male.
A study of relationship aggression, violence and self-regulation in Australian?newlywed couples by researchers at the University of Queensland (2010)[17]?found that female violence was more common than male violence, with 76 women (20 per cent) and 34 men (9 per cent) reporting to have been violent. In violent couples the most common pattern was for only the woman to be violent (n=48/82 or 59 per cent of violent couples), next most common was violence by both partners (n=28, 34 per cent), and least common was male-only violence (n=6, 7 per cent).
We reiterate: it doesn't matter whether males make up 5 per cent, 15 per cent, 35 per cent or 50 per cent of victims of domestic violence, the fact is that there are no services currently available to assist them and this flies in the face of our international human rights and equal opportunity obligations.
[1] http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/pages/bocsar_mr_bb61
[2] http://www.health.sa.gov.au/pros/portals/0/interpersonal-violence-survey.pdf . http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-224-x/85-224-x2009000-eng.pdf . http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/296149/0092065.pdf.
[3] http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/4906.02005 (Reissue)?OpenDocument
[4] http://www.health.sa.gov.au/pros/portals/0/interpersonal-violence-survey.pdf
[5] http://www.crimeprevention.gov.au/agd/WWW/ncphome.nsf/Page/Publications
[6]?http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/pages/bocsar_mr_cjb89
[7] http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/pages/bocsar_mr_bb42
[8] http://www.cmc.qld.gov.au/data/portal/00000005/content/73653001131400781353.pdf
[9] http://www.aic.gov.au/en/publications/current%20series/mr/1-20/01.aspx
[10] http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/victimsofcrime/resources/e/1/e12b7580438a02bd93bfd7898c252b91/victorian_family_violence_database_nine_year_report-part_1_1999_2008.pdf
[11] http://www.aic.gov.au/en/publications/current%20series/mr/1-20/01.aspx
[12] http://www.mensrights.com.au/page13y.htm
[13] http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID41-PR41-Dominance-symmetry-In-Press-07.pdf
[14] http://www.menshealthaustralia.net/files/Magistrates_Court_data_on_QLD_DVOs.pdf
[15] Stuart, P. (2004). Risk factors for recent domestic physical assault in patients presenting to the emergency department. Emergency Medi- cine Australasia, 16(3), 216-224.
[16] http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fle/evaluationreport.pdf
[17] Halford, W. K., Farrugia, C., Lizzio, A., & Wilson, K. (2010). Relationship aggression, violence and self-regulation in Australian newlywed couples. Australian Journal of Psychology, 62(2), 82-92.
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For an effective and professional e-forms strategy, enterprises must first evaluate the important elements and considerations for an enterprise-wide program. For development purposes, we divide forms into four categories: e-forms (electronic forms), i-forms (Internet forms), p-forms (physical forms) and v-forms (virtual forms).
Development addresses what department(s) and individuals are assigned forms development responsibilities. Frequently, anyone is authorized to create a basic design, describe the requirement and business process(es) supported and submit the request to a professional designer. There is generally a process in place for creating new forms, revising existing forms, declaring forms inactive or obsolete and assigning control numbers, such as form number, edition date and retention requirements. Multiple versions of a form (state, country, language, etc.) and various approvals (legal, regulatory, marketing, etc.) may be required. In addition, the information technology infrastructure must be considered in areas such as database access, server scripts, networks, email compatibility and more.
Deployment strategies include email support, servers, forms portals, user access controls, user submission of fi lled forms, security requirements (secure servers, e-commerce support, encryption, electronic signature support) and more.
Support includes issues such as user training, help desk support, instruction manuals, user guides and designer training.
Software standards must be developed and supported. This generally becomes an important consideration for the design software and any user-required software (i.e., fi llers, browser editions and Acrobat Reader edition). Designer software developed to support the unique requirements for forms design is very important; we would never recommend using general-purpose software. Any business professional must be provided with the required tools, and forms designers need the same consideration.
Output strategy defi nes how users will output the results of their fi ll sessions. One early lesson learned is that users must be able to save and print their work, or they simply will not use the electronic form. This is particularly true for the public doing business with your organization, but it also applies to employees. We generally think in terms of paper being unnecessary (after all, they are electronic forms), but this issue has stopped more than one electronic forms program.
Management reporting should include all statistics necessary to determine extent of use, forms users, development statistics, user requests for enhancements and usage trends. Any established program goals should have concomitant metrics and reports in place. One cannot manage what one does not measure!
Cost-benefit analysis is crucial to the long-term success of any program. For each form, the expected development and maintenance costs should be compared to the expected cost savings, including productivity improvements. ROI should be calculated, including expected payback period. If an acceptable ROI cannot be shown, the form probably should not be converted to electronic form.
Putting all this together into a coherent e-forms strategy statement is the responsibility of the forms management department, working closely with all other departments within the organization.
Ray Killam [rkillam@essociatesgroup.com] is president and CEO of Essociates Group, Inc. and served as former president of BFMA, the association for forms and business process professionals.


text:
Tweek et Craig ( en VO) est le sixième épisode de la dix-neuvième saison de la série télévisée d'animation américaine South Park et le  de la série globale. L'épisode traite des fan arts de type slash, plus précisément les yaoi japonais, ainsi que de l'acceptation de l'homosexualité sur fond de politiquement correct, une thématique centrale de cette saison.

Résumé
Le Principal PC et Wendy Testaburger organisent une réunion dans la salle de sport afin de présenter aux élèves l'art du yaoi, pratiqué par les filles asiatiques de l'école. Elles mettent en scène une histoire d'amour fictive entre Tweek Tweak et Craig Tucker, ce qui les surprend et les met en colère, alors que tous les habitants de South Park s'en réjouissent, pensant notamment que la récente implantation d'un magasin Whole Foods Market dans leur ville y est pour quelque chose.

Stan, perturbé, tente de comprendre pourquoi les asiatiques font ça, et s'inquiète, pensant que ça pourrait arriver à d'autres. Voyant cela, sa mère Sharon demande à son mari de parler à leur fils. Randy le croit préoccupé par l'homosexualité de ses camarades, mais quand Stan répond que c'est à cause des asiatiques qui décident qui devient homosexuel à travers l'art du yaoi, son père est étonné, mais, pour paraître politiquement correct, feint d'en connaître la raison. Il téléphone en cachette Xi Jinping pour demander des éclaircissements sur le yaoi. Le président de la Chine explique que ça vient du Japon, et commence à se plaindre que les Japonais refusent de présenter des excuses à son pays, en référence au viol de Nankin.

Au bar, alors que le père de Craig, Thomas, se demande ce qu'il a bien pu faire pour rendre son fils homosexuel, Randy lui explique qu'il n'est pas responsable, qu'être gay ne relève pas d'une décision personnelle mais que ce sont les Japonais qui décident, à cause des atrocités commises durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.

Après avoir tenté d'expliquer aux filles asiatiques qu'ils n'étaient ni ensembles, ni homosexuels, Tweek et Craig se décident à simuler une rupture, pensant que cela mettra fin au fantasme imaginaire de tout South Park. Cette rupture bouleversera non seulement la petite ville, mais aussi Tweek et Craig. Ces derniers commencent alors à satisfaire l'imaginaire des habitants de la ville en se tenant par la main dans les rues, ce qui les conduira à entamer une véritable relation.

Notes
 Dans la version française, c'est à partir de cet épisode que Gilbert Lévy redonne à Jimmy Valmer sa voix habituelle, qui avait changée durant la saison précédente.
 Butters a une minerve dans cet épisode, se remettant toujours de son saut par la fenêtre dans l'épisode précédent. Il la conservera durant plusieurs épisodes.
 Dans le jeu vidéo South Park : L'Annale du destin, une mission annexe consiste à collecter des fan arts yaoi de Tweek et Craig pour le père de ce dernier.

Production
Pour cet épisode, les producteurs de la série ont fait appel à la créativité des fans en leur demandant d'envoyer leurs œuvres d'art mettant en scène Tweek et Craig dans le style yaoi. Environ  portraits leur ont été envoyés.

La musique diffusée durant la présentation des œuvres mettant en scène Tweek et Craig dans une relation amoureuse est  du groupe The Magnetic Fields, remixée par Peter Gabriel. La musique diffusée lors de la présentation des œuvres mettant scène leur rupture est  du duo A Great Big World.

Accueil critique
Max Nicholson du site IGN donne à l'épisode la note de 8,5 sur 10, indiquant que la thématique du yaoi .

Chris Longo de Den of Geek donne 3 sur 5 étoiles à l'épisode. Il déclare que .

Dan Caffrey de The A.V. Club donne un A- à l'épisode. Il indique qu'il n'était pas au courant de l'existence de fan arts yaoi entre Tweek et Craig avant cet épisode. Il déclare au sujet de ce dernier que .

Notes et références

Épisode de South Park, saison 19

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This site was our very first website completed for DCSNY. The site was designed and built in 2013 using the Genesis Framework for WordPress. This was a mostly straight-forward build, however the client had very specific requirements for SEO. The most time-consuming part of this build was the implementation of Layer Slider on the home page. At the client's request, there were over 100 different elements and layers which all had to be timed correctly.


text:
HARALD KISIEDU - European Echoes: Jazz Experimentalism in Germany, 1950-1975 BOOK
This book is a historical and interpretive study of the movement of jazz experimentalism in West and East Germany between the years 1950 and 1975. It complicates the narratives advanced by previous scholars by arguing that engagement with black musical methods, concepts, and practices remained significant for the emergence of the German jazz experimentalism movement. In a seemingly paradoxical fashion, this engagement with black musical knowledge enabled the formation of more self-reliant musical concepts and practices. Rather than viewing the German jazz experimentalism movement in terms of dissociation from their African American spiritual fathers, this book presents the movement as having decisively contributed to the decentering of still prevalent jazz historiographies in which the centrality of the US is usually presupposed. Going beyond both US-centric and Eurocentric perspectives, this study contributes to scholarship that accounts for jazz's global dimension and the transfer of ideas beyond nationally conceived spaces.
"Few studies have understood how improvised music functions as a complex ecosystem, indeed an interlocking one that overlaps and exchanges with other like ecosystems, not just musical ones, but artistic, political, and social ones as well. Perhaps only George Lewis's A Power Stronger Than Itself and Kevin Whitehead's New Dutch Swing have managed to capture the intricacies of free music – or what Lewis has termed "experimentalism" – in this way, with the depth and feeling that it deserves. Harald Kisiedu's magnificent European Echoes: Jazz Experimentalism in Germany, 1950-75 joins the ranks of these groundbreaking books, adding indispensable substance to the current scholarship. Basing his argument on meticulous primary research that includes many unknown or under-discussed details, Kisiedu moves deftly between biography, history and analysis, ultimately depicting improvised music in Germany as part of a continuum with African American jazz, rather than falling into line with received knowledge, which has tended to treat it as a major break – an "emancipation," to use the problematic language often deployed – from its precursors and contemporaries in the United States. This allows Kisiedu to investigate the complexities of race, in particular, in the emergent new music of both West and East Germany, but also to evaluate the specificity of German improvised music, its relationships to Fluxus and its place in relation to new art and contemporary composed music in Europe, and the political and social contexts of the divided country in which it all emerged. Along the way, Kisiedu provides the most detailed biographical portraits of his principal subjects – Peter Brötzmann, Alex Schlippenbach, Manfred Schoof, and Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky – yet published in English, and the book includes an important trove of newly discovered and previously unpublished photographs." John Corbett, Chicago, author of "A Listener's Guide to Free Improvisation"
256 pp., pb.,


text:
Home > Newsroom > News Search > Computers, Cameras and a Dedicated Staff Save Nearly 3,000 Lives
Computers, Cameras and a Dedicated Staff Save Nearly 3,000 Lives
Cone Health's first-in-the-state tele-ICU marks 10 years of making a difference in the care of thousands of people.
"With intensive care patients, things can change moment to moment," says Rakesh Alva, MD, medical director, eLink. "You need a second set of eyes, and the tele-ICU provides them." That second set of eyes has saved nearly 3,000
Marilyn Watson, Critical
Care Nurse
lives since Cone Health turned on the state's first tele-ICU (intensive care unit) 10 years ago. The tele-ICU allows a team of intensive care specialists to remotely watch ICU patients in multiple Cone Health hospitals from a single clinical operations room.
"It was very, very impressive," recalls Patrick Wright, MD, on seeing a tele-ICU while Cone Health was first exploring the technology. "We immediately recognized the potential this had for our community." Hospital staff routinely monitor the breathing, heart rates and other vital signs of patients in an ICU. But few ICUs have intensive care doctors on hand 24/7. A tele-ICU fills that gap: patient vital signs are sent to the clinical operations room where intensive care nurses watch over them with the help of a computer. The computer runs all of the data through programs that can spot problems before they develop.
"After installation of the tele-ICU system and its staffing, our ICU mortality index fell. It was exciting. Lives were being saved, and they still are today," adds Wright. Cone Health ICUs have 20 percent fewer deaths than would be expected in nonmonitored ICUs. Patients also spend fewer days in intensive care.
Approximately 850 times a year, the computer program and near-constant surveillance by 17 critical care nurses find potential patient problems. High-definition cameras in Cone Health ICUs allow a critical care nurse or doctor to examine a patient – even the patient's pupils – remotely. The remote team can provide advice on a patient whose condition is deteriorating or answer questions bedside nurses may have about a patient in the middle of the night.
Cone Health's tele-ICU monitors 163 beds at Alamance Regional Medical Center, Annie Penn Hospital, The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, Wesley Long Hospital and Women's Hospital. There are also mobile monitoring units that can be quickly set up in Cone Health emergency departments, expanding the vision of those lifesaving eyes to more patients.
Intensive care specialist David Simonds, MD, says the tele-ICU was just the beginning. "The cultural change throughout our ICUs has been so extensive that it is difficult to recall a time when there were not experienced intensive care doctors and nurses immediately available to assist the bedside providers. Our tele-ICU is the hub of ICU medicine at Cone Health."
For media inquiries related to Cone Health, contact:
Doug Allred
On Twitter: @ConeHealthPR
Cone Health


The Founder and the Managing Director of the Law Firm is John M. Tripidakis, a lawyer with 30 years of legal experience. Born in Athens, Greece on 1958, Mr. Tripidakis has been educated and trained in Greece, Switzerland, the U.K, and the U.S. He has worked in Greece, U.S. and Australia. He was born in Greece and speaks English, Greek and French.
Mr. Tripidakis has successfully represented thousands of foreign citizens from the U.S., Australia, Europe and South Africa of Greek heritage on their legal matters in Greece.
As an international Estates lawyer, he specializes in Estate Planning and Administration, as well as real estate property transactions in Greece.
Mr. John Tripidakis is member of the Athens Bar Association and he is an Australian registered foreign lawyer with the Legal Services Boards of Victoria and New South Wales, and an associate member of the Law Institute of Victoria. In other words, he is a Greek lawyer in Australia restricted to the practise of Greek law, but bound by the professional obligations and standards of Australian lawyers.
• Bar-Bri course, in New York City, in preparation for the New York Bar exams.