(OPride) — On December 14, Christine Lagarde, the managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Addis Ababa on a rare official visit to Ethiopia. The trip was significant for many reasons but most importantly for how and when it took place.
The IMF Director's Ethiopia visit calls to mind the classic novel – Alice in Wonderland! Alice's adventure began when she curiously followed a white rabbit and plunged through a rabbit hole to a fantasy world populated with peculiar anthropomorphic creatures.
Madam Lagarde may not be as inquisitive as Alice, but she did parachute into wonderland Ethiopia to talk with the authorities there, whose behaviors and actions are no less strange than those of the creatures in Alice Wonderland.
There are other parallels. Alice was the first real human to visit that utopia; similarly, Lagarde was the first IMF chief to visit Ethiopia in the organization's 72 years history. Understandably, Lagarde's visit to Ethiopia raised many eyebrows. What was the rationale for her visit? More importantly, what explains its timing?
To continue with Alice's analogy, it is useful to know if there was a white rabbit that Lagarde was pursuing. In other words, who was the likely agent responsible for facilitating her Ethiopia visit?
I was surprised to learn that IMF does not have a resident representative in Ethiopia. It is unclear whether it ever had one in the country. On the contrary, neighboring countries – Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, even the tiny Rwanda – each have a resident IMF representative.
That Ethiopia — Africa's second most populous country and one of its largest economies — does not have an IMF resident representative may sound extraordinary at first glance. However, a closer scrutiny underscores why IMF did not find it necessary to have a resident representative in the country.
Interestingly, Ethiopia seems to have a unique and somewhat informal arrangement to install its own "resident representative" inside IMF.
The seed of this cozy arrangement was sown in the early 1990s, when the late Meles Zenawi, who served as Ethiopia's prime minister for 22 years until his death in 2012. A master of political intrigues, in 1994, Zenawi implanted his own agent in IMF, a certain young economist named, Abebe Aemro Selassie.
Abebe was a principal economist in the Presidential Office – an Economic Advisor to Zenawi, when the latter was still President of Ethiopia during the transitional period after the demise of the communist Derg regime in 1991.
It is no coincidence that, only a year after promoting Zenawi's man at the IMF as the Director of the Africa region, Lagarde ventured to Ethiopia, a country that no other IMF leader visited before and one that doesn't even have a resident representative.
The minority regime in Addis Ababa has always found it profitable to invest the country's scarce resources on expensive lobbying firms to seek legitimacy from external sources, notably governments, multilateral institutions, and other bilateral agencies operating in various fields.
Ethiopia's current rulers have relentlessly pursued this strategy since coming to power in the early 1990s. Abebe was perhaps among the first batch of loyalist cronies dispatched around the world on similar missions — to secure support for the minority regime and ensure the latter's indefinite grip on power. Tedros Adhanom, who last year became Africa's first WHO's Director General, is among the latest such surrogates to ascend to global leadership. There are a number of ethnic Tigrayan "experts" who ascended to senior leadership positions over the last two decades at multinational institutions, including UNDP and the World Bank.
Now that we have attempted to answer the question of who might be behind Lagarde's Ethiopia visit, let's turn to the more important question: why now?
For the uninitiated, Lagarde's mission was about economic policy or Ethiopia's IMF-backed double-digit growth myth. However, for serious Ethiopia watchers, the IMF Director's visit has more to do with internal politics than economics. No doubt that Ethiopia's foreign exchange reserve has plummeted in recent months; the country is left with enough to pay for only a few weeks of import bills.
However, to address this crisis, Ethiopia has already done what it was told to do by IMF – devalue the currency. The birr was devalued by 15 percent three weeks before Lagarde arrived. The birr has been devalued umpteen times in recent years without achieving the desired outcome. This tells us that the country's economic malaise had to be found elsewhere – in the domain of politics and governance.
When Lagarde landed in the capital, Ethiopia's political crisis was at its peak. First, the federal government was falling apart. The executive committee of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has been in a tense meeting for a few days in search of a consensus that remains elusive. The EPRDF meeting was preceded by a 35-day marathon session in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray State, to fix differences among members of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant member of the four-party EPRDF coalition.
EPRDF's perennial problem and schism have reached a turning point, with TPLF refusing to share power in key federal government positions, its total control of commanding positions in the armed forces, as well as full monopoly of the country's intelligence services.
Second, a devastating war has intensified along Oromia and Somalia states border, a proxy war deliberately set up by TPLF through its divide and rule policy; deploying Ethiopia's defense forces and the federal police alongside the notorious and murderous militia of Somali Regional State, better known as the Liyu Police; itself funded and trained by TPLF to foment inter-ethnic clashes as a means of clinging to power.
Third, the Oromia-Somali fighting has already caused the internal displacement of over 700,000 Oromos — more than the number of Rohingya's displaced in Myanmar. The TPLF-controlled federal government and its international backers and the media have turned a blind eye to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Oromia.
Consequently, the IDPs are now staying in makeshift camps set up single-handedly by the Oromia Regional Government and supported by resources mobilized from the Oromo people.
Fourth, scores of students have been killed at multiple universities across the country in inter-ethnic clashes instigated by TPLF-dominated dark forces in the security and intelligence forces.
It's in the thick of these political, economic, and humanitarian crises that Lagarde visited Ethiopia and then left without saying a word about the unfolding crisis. It appears that her visit was carefully arranged for the sole purpose of creating a semblance of normalcy, as if Ethiopia's current crisis is only the depletion of foreign exchange reserve. It was a last-ditch attempt by the Ethiopian authorities who leveraged their deep connection at the IMF to persuade Lagarde to fly in and offer some tacit approval to the crumpling TPLF machinery.
Zenawi was farsighted enough to predict the high return on implanting surrogates in positions of power within key global institutions. The returns have been accruing to the EPRDF regime from the work of their man at IMF. Facilitating Lagarde's visit to Ethiopia at a time when the authorities needed a boost was only the tip of the iceberg. Abebe has done monumental deeds for the regime in his earlier position as a deputy director of IMF's Africa Division.
As a deputy, he led the team that works on economic forecasts and production of Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. This publication is a part of the World Economic Outlook, IMF's flagship publication, which is by far the single most important and highly influential document. It is widely read by policymakers, the media, academics, and practitioners all over the world.
As I explained last year, there are serious and inherent flaws with Ethiopia's accounting practices. It has puzzled many who have tried to make sense of the origin of Ethiopia's double-digit economic growth bonanza.
But how badly has Ethiopia's economic data been cooked at IMF?
I have explained at length the problems with Ethiopia's economic data in a piece entitled: Ethiopia's economic growth borrows from ENRON's accounting. I won't repeat the evidences provided in that piece here. Instead, let's look at additional pieces of evidence related to IMF's role in skewing a vital component in economic growth forecasting: population.
As shown in Figure 1, IMF claims that Ethiopia's current population estimated at 92.7 million. However, many internal and external sources, including the widely cited CIA Factbook, show that Ethiopia's population passed the 100 million mark a few years ago.
For example, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which records global vital population statistics, projects Ethiopia's population at 105 million. The July 2017 estimate by the CIA Factbook puts the number at 105.3 million. This means that IMF is underestimating Ethiopia's population at least by a whopping 12.3 million.
That is roughly equal to the current population of Chad or Guinea; and greater than those of 23 Sub-Saharan African countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, Togo, Eritrea, and Sierra Leone.
This isn't a new practice at the IMF. The organization has underestimated Ethiopia's population for years. The gap between IMF and other population forecasts became increasingly wide over the last decade, particularly since early 2000s. It was around this time that Addis Ababa began to aggressively push the rapid economic growth narrative.
The reader may wonder how underestimating a country's total population helps Ethiopia. First, per capita GDP (GDP/Population) is by far the most important and commonly used economic indicator to assess a country's levels of prosperity. Critically, the authorities in Addis Ababa are vying to propel Ethiopia into joining the ranks of middle-income countries by 2025. They seem to think that they could meet that target by simply cooking economic data and doing little else.
Second, in addition to looking better relative to other nations, prosperity of nations is measured by looking at how per capita income —a proxy for standard of living —grows over time. Irresponsible regimes can show progress or prosperity by simply fudging the numbers. This can be done by overestimating the numerator (GDP) or underestimating the denominator (population) or a combination of the two figures.
IMF economic reports seem to have become another battlefield for Ethio-Eritrean war. While generating unrealistically high economic growth figures for Ethiopia, the organization was doing the exact opposite in Eritrea. Eritreans have long alleged that it was Zenawi's man who was cooking data and bending facts at IMF, benefiting the regime in Addis Ababa and hurting Asmara, Ethiopia's archenemy. Eritrean authorities have formally complained to IMF about the unethical standards — something the IMF had apparently admitted and then claimed to have adjusted some figures. But, as shown below, no such adjustments seem to have taken place, at least in the 2017 World Economic Outlook.
There are credible evidences to suggest that Eritrea's economic growth performance was never as bad as it has been presented in IMF publications. For instance, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Abebe Selassie's own former employer, estimated Eritrea's economic growth rate at 7 percent and 8 percent in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
However, according to Eritrea's GDP series reported in IMF's 2017 World Economic Outlook, Eritrea's real GDP growth was negative (-0.24 percent) in 2013 and 1.6 percent in 2014. Similarly, the African Development Bank reported that Eritrea's Real GDP growth was 4.8 percent in 2015 and 3.8 percent in 2016, whereas IMF projected Eritrea's GDP at 1.43 percent and 0.36 percent respectively.
Nothing more clearly indicates the double standard, as well as the extremely low ethical standards, at IMF than the way Ethiopian and Eritrean population data are manipulated. Fig. 2 explains how IMF managed to grossly underestimate Ethiopia's population. The chart is generated using data from the 2017 World Economic Outlook, juxtaposing the two country's population growth rates for the last two decades.
In 1996, Ethiopia's population growth rate was around 3.0 percent while Eritrea's was 2.2 percent. This was much more realistic. Population growth rate comes from two sources – net in-migration (in migration minus out-migration) plus natural population growth rate (births minus deaths). Given that Eritrea has a very high out-migration and given that there is no miraculous way Ethiopia's natural growth could be lower than that of Eritrea, then we expect Ethiopia's population growth rate to be higher or at the very least about the same with that of Eritrea.
In that context, the IMF data in Fig. 2 does not make sense whatsoever. Eritrea's population growth rate was pushed up until it hit the 3.3 percent mark in about three years (1996 to 1999), and then it was frozen at that position. On the other hand, Ethiopia's population growth rate was being pulled down progressively over the years and finally made to plummet to a 1.6 percent in 2008. It has stayed there ever since, leaving a 1.7 percent gap between the two countries' population growth rates. Ironically, the same authorities who use the clout of their agent at IMF to inflate Eritrea's population growth rate, also undertake a huge propaganda campaign about excessive youth out-migration from Eritrea. They want to have it both ways.
In Alice Wonderland, "where is the garden?" Alice kept enquiring, after hearing from one of the creatures about a beautiful garden in that utopia. When she finally arrived, the young Alice saw some strange gardeners doing something rather silly. She was honest enough to tell them the truth: why on earth are you painting a white rose with a red color?
By contrast, during her Ethiopia visit, the French diplomat was extremely economical with the truth. Lagarde chose to visit one of Ethiopia's white elephants — a Chinese built industrial park — the latest obsession of Ethiopia's autocrats, who keep lurching from one mega project to another.
There are many reasons for their steadfast commitment to build one white elephant after another. First, it is all about land grab, "legally" confiscating public or private assets and transferring to themselves, their associates, and foreign firms. Second, mega projects are used as a vehicle for creating opportunities for highly interconnected crony businesses. Third, in the case of industrial parks, their presence gives a semblance of business friendly environment and a manufacturing boom to entice foreign investors and attract FDI.
The likes of Lagarde are quick to run away with only the third factor. I have struggled to find anything of substance to pick from her not so eventful visit to Ethiopia. Of course, she kept throwing around her ideological mantra at every occasion. She remarked, "I am really pleased to have seen some international companies from China and the Netherlands, manufacturing to international standards for export purposes," saying nothing about adverse consequences of the foreign direct investment in Ethiopia. Flexible monetary policy and privatization were running themes of her discussions at gathering of experts from local and international organizations.
Perhaps Lagarde's visit to Ethiopia will be remembered for her cautious but lousy banter that "Ethiopia is doing well in terms of economic growth." As discussed, her organization is responsible for cooking the numbers that generated the high economic growth rate she was talking about. The people of Ethiopia have not felt the effect of that growth; so they find irritating any mention of their country's nonexistent double-digit growth. In that respect, Lagarde, while polite to the Ethiopian elites who hosted her, she was largely tactless and even rude to the ordinary people in Ethiopia.


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3 Craft of Writing: Revamping A YA Classic by Geoffrey Huntington
Today's guest is the author of the beloved Ravenscliff series. First published in 2002, English speaking readers never had the chance to read book 3 in the series, BLOOD MOON. Now, with the re-release and continuation of the series, readers will finally get the chance to find out what happens. Please welcome Geoffrey Huntington!
Revamping A YA Classic
When Diversion Books announced they wanted to revive the RAVENSCLIFF SERIES, I was thrilled — but I also knew we needed to do a little advance planning. It wasn't going to be enough to simply bring the books back. We were going to have to make sure they spoke the same language as today's readers.
When SORCERERS OF THE NIGHTWING was first published by HarperCollins back in 2002, its readers —largely in junior-high and high-school, but we had a lot of adults as well — weren't text messaging back and forth. There was no Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Even mobile phones were big clunky gadgets, and not every one had one. The world was not nearly so interconnected as it is today. Globalization had certainly begun, but trends didn't jump from one country to another quite as fast as they do today (which is, basically, instantaneously.)
So I knew that when new readers picked up Book 1 in the series, they'd wonder why Devon March, alone on a isolated stretch of beach in Maine, didn't just pick up his phone and text his friends back home. It's not so easy to set characters in isolated situations anymore. Mystery and horror writers are constantly trying to devise plausible scenarios that disconnect our characters from the rest of the world. For Devon, it was easy: there aren't many places that aren't covered by cellular networks, but Misery Point, Maine, could believably be one of them.
Still, he had to have that phone in his pocket. Otherwise readers would, quite understandably, be wondering where it was. So I had to bring Devon and his friends up to date technologically.
I also had to bring them up to date socially. At fifteen and sixteen, Devon and Cecily weren't going to be quite as shy, peeking around corners at each other, as they were originally. Teenagers are much more forward and confident in dealing with each other these days. And while Cecily had always been very forthright, she needed to be even more a young woman of the second decade of the twenty-first century. Cecily knows what she wants and she's going for it, and no one's getting in her way.
Likewise, their friend Marcus, who's gay, wouldn't be quite as discreet about it as he had been in the original books in 2002. There's no reason for him to be anymore. To be an authentic gay teen in 2013, Marcus had to be completely integrated into the world around him. His friends see little difference between his world and theirs.
So updating the books to bring them into sync with the times was the first step. The second was letting the diaspora of Ravenscliff fans all over the world know that the series was coming back. When Book 3 failed to come out in the U.S., I received literally thousands of emails and letters asking what had happened. Readers felt cheated, and I didn't blame them. But there was nothing I could do. The original publisher, ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins, had gone under, and other American publishers were leery about picking up a series in mid-run, even though the Ravenscliff books had done quite well, reaching all around the globe, translated into more than ten other languages. A handful of European publishers—including in France, the Netherlands, and Poland—had contracted for three books, so they went ahead and published Book 3 BLOOD MOON. That left English-language readers in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere crying foul, lamenting the fact they'd never learn who was behind the wall at the end of Book 2.
In the meantime, I moved on to other things, and the original Ravenscliff readership grew to adulthood. The emails still came, asking if the series would ever be revived, but as the years went by, they declined in number (though I was still getting the occasional inquiry every few months even up to the beginning of this year.)
So when the offer from Diversion Books came in, we were faced with the daunting task of letting those many, many readers — those devoted fans of Devon March — know that their favorite series from their childhood and young adult years was finally back. I'd kept every email I'd ever received, but an email blast quickly revealed that three-quarters of those addresses were no longer active. So we took to Twitter and Facebook and various other ways online to get the word out. Although our goal was — and remains — to win a new generation of readers, we also knew that our base would always be those fiercely loyal fans who had never given up, who had always hoped to one day read the further adventures of Devon March.
And how gratifying it's been to get responses from those readers on Facebook and Twitter! I'm hearing from people who are simply overjoyed that the series is back. English-language readers are chomping at the bit to finally get Book 3 — while French and Dutch and Polish and Belgian readers are already asking for Book 4. (They know who's behind the wall and want to know who Devon sees at the end of Book 3.) Let's hope that enterprising publishers in those languages step forward to publish the continuing series for those loyal fans. I don't want to leave anyone behind ever again!
Thanks for helping us get the word out that RAVENSCLIFF IS BACK. Our Twitter following (@HuntingtonGeoff) is growing slowly but surely as word spreads. Diversion Books has been so wonderful in this process, and the covers they've designed are awesome. We can bring the series back better than ever! Let's get Devon back out into the world so he can finish his hero's journey through all TEN proposed books, discovering who is, where he comes from, and what his great destiny is supposed to be.
Geoffrey Huntington lives in a house by the sea near to the place where, three hundred years ago, a pirate ship sunk below the waves. The screams of the doomed men can still be heard from Geoffrey's window on windy nights. As a boy, Geoffrey became fascinated by the world that exists on the other side of our own. His inspirations and influences have always been a myriad lot. Lovecraft. Tolkein. Buffy. Harry Potter. Quantum Leap. The original Dark Shadows. The Turn of the Screw. Alfred Hitchcock. The Twilight Zone. The X Files. Dr. Who. Bram Stoker's Dracula. Marv Wolfman's Dracula. Nosferatu. James Whale's Frankenstein films. Anne Rice. Stephen King. Tod Browning's Freaks. The Exorcist. The Blair Witch Project. The Grudge. Silent Hill. Lara Croft. Indiana Jones. Star Wars. Star Trek. Under other names, Geoffrey writes suspense and horror novels as well as many works of nonfiction.
Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook
The mystery of the Tower at Ravenscliff is at last revealed, in the long awaited continuation of The Ravenscliff Series.
A returning threat roams the halls of Ravenscliff Manor, the mad sorceress Clarissa, but she is only one of many problems facing Devon March. His budding relationship with Cecily takes a hit when he discovers she might be his (gulp!) sister, while his pal Marcus is mysteriously linked with the savage, gorilla-like beast that turns up in Misery Point on nights of the full moon.
The only way to solve these mysteries is to take another trip down the Staircase Into Time, with Devon emerging at the Ravenscliff of thirty years ago. A time when his guardian Amanda and the mysterious Rolfe are toddlers, and the Madman, Jackson Muir, is very much alive.
Amazon | Goodreads
Great post: Craft of Writing: Revamping A YA Classic by Geoffrey HuntingtonTweet this! Posted by Adventures in YA Publishing at 6:00 AM
Labels: Craft of Writing
Stephsco October 29, 2013 at 11:45 AM
Very interesting! I do see in the thrillers lately that cell phone batteries run out or the connection is lost. In YA, lots of "ooops I forgot to charge my phone." I think that works. Interesting point about teens not being as shy, though I do think awkward cannot be forgotten. Living life online leads to some rather unsocialized kids (in some cases) when it comes to personal interaction. One of my coworkers college freshman sister came in to our office for half a day and she... well, I just felt for her. She had zero social skills, beyond shy. My coworker said she was really booksmart but mostly spent her time texting and playing games online. Lots of story fodder; just different dynamics.
Fascinating! I think it would be fun to update a series like this, but a LOT of work. I think I will be picking these up to see how this played out. Thanks for telling me about these.
The Play is a murder mystery thriller where a famous theater group in Kolkata is ravaged when the members of the group gets killed one by one in a span of one night. Only three of the members survive. The task of finding out the truth falls on one member, but the answers the member was looking for are not the answers the member will get. Will the truth kill the member or just make the member even stronger. Find out as The Play begins. watch: https://www.facebook.com/theplaythemovie

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Smith ruled out of Ashes test with a concussion
LONDON (AP) — Australia batsman Steve Smith was ruled out of the final day of the second Ashes test at Lord's Sunday with a concussion and is a doubt for the third match of the series starting next week.
Australia's Steve Smith lies on the ground after being hit on the head by a ball bowled b England's Jofra Archer during play on day four of the 2nd Ashes Test cricket match between England and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019.
Smith, who was hit on the side of the neck by a vicious delivery from England paceman Jofra Archer on Saturday, woke with a "bit of a headache and a feeling of grogginess," Cricket Australia said. Smith retired hurt before returning to the middle 40 minutes later after passing concussion tests. Cricket Australia said Smith suffered a delayed concussion.
"As part of the Cricket Australia concussion protocol, repeat concussion testing of Steve Smith was performed this morning and demonstrated some deterioration from his testing, which is consistent with the emergence of the symptoms he was reporting," Cricket Australia said.
"Cricket Australia statistics show that 30 percent of concussions in Australian cricket are delayed. It is not uncommon for players to pass their tests and feel well on the day of an injury and then display symptoms 24 to 48 hours later."
Marnus Labuschagne was approved as Smith's replacement after Australia applied for a concussion substitute, which was introduced to international cricket on Aug. 1. Smith could miss the third Ashes test starting in Leeds on Thursday. It would be a huge loss to Australia, with Smith hitting 144 and 142 in the first test at Edgbaston — won by 251 runs by the Australians — and then making 92 in the first test at Lord's.
"This will be considered over the coming days but the short turnaround to the next test is not in his favor," CA said. "Steve's fitness will be assessed on an ongoing basis."
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Sports,
Cricket,
Athlete injuries,
Athlete health
Oceania,
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Putin cements power as Russian Duma votes for new PM
Putin engineers shake-up that could keep him in power longer
Artist uses snow as canvas for massive geometrical designs
England drops Woakes, picks new-look batting order for Ashes
England, Australia make changes for pivotal 4th Ashes test
Archer's menacing debut changes complexion of Ashes series
Root digs in, carries English hopes of keeping Ashes alive
Stokes becomes national hero after making most of 2nd chance
French chef Bocuse restaurant loses 3rd star after 55 years


I am beginning to explore combining the apparently soft, homely perceptions of quilting with aspects of life that are far from soft and homely. In this instance the phrase took me back to times of teenage angst. The simplicity of the colour scheme is in direct contrast to the colour, mood of those times.
"Reverse machine appliqué, machine quilted.


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Refuting and Correcting BYU's False Doctrine on the Origin of Man #2 - Sampling of Apostolic Quotations Refuting Evolution
(by Dennis B. Horne)
I have thought it prudent, in this lengthy blog series, to place upfront a selection of representative quotations from prophets, seers, and revelators that refute evolution providing for the origin of man. By doing this, readers can perceive (in summary) the overwhelming power and unity of the views of these apostles, without having to read every word of every blog thereafter, although there will be great benefit for those who do. Some readers may not be familiar with the names of some of these apostles because they served in former generations, but they were great leaders and teachers for their time nonetheless. Today, some misled members agitate for ridding the church of the teachings (that they don't like) of past apostles and prophets (by labeling it human tradition instead of revealed doctrine), but what was truth in their day remains true in ours, and always will be. These quotations will probably not cause any evolutionists to forsake their delusions and repent, but they may be of help to those the evolutionists seek to influence with their false theories:
Elder James E. Talmage:
When I see how often the theories and conceptions of men have gone astray, have fallen short of the truth, yea, have even contradicted the truth directly, I am thankful in my heart that we have an iron rod to which we can cling—the rod of certainty, the rod of revealed truth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints welcomes all truth, but it distinguishes most carefully between fact and fancy, between truth and theory, between premises and deductions; and it is willing to leave some questions in abeyance until the Lord in his wisdom shall see fit to speak more plainly. As the result of the combined labors of wise men I learn that man is but the developed offspring of the beast; and yet I read that God created man in his own image, after his likeness; and again, I stand on the word of God, though it be in contradiction to the theories of men. (Conference Report, October 1916, 75)
I do not regard Adam as related to—certainly not as descended from—the Neanderthal, the Cro-Magnon, the Peking or the Piltdown man. Adam came as divinely created, created and empowered, and stands as the patriarchal head of his posterity—posterity, who, if true to the laws of God are heirs to the Priesthood and to the glories of eternal lives. (Church News, Nov. 21, 1931, 8)
On the fundamentals they [the Quorum of the Twelve] are in accord, and one of those fundamentals upon which they are in accord is that Adam is a son of God, that neither his spirit nor his body is a product of a biological evolution.
President Harold B. Lee:
When you find some of our Latter-day Saint teachers who struggle to try to explain how the Creation and the Fall of man took place and can be harmonized with the evolutionary theory of science, the net result is that the teachings of the gospel are destroyed and the theory of evolution prevails.
To accept the reality of the Fall and the Atonement is to immediately defeat the teachings of the theories of the so-called scientific men. . . .
And when you begin to see that, you see how vital to all we are teaching is an understanding of the Fall, making necessary the Atonement—hence the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Recently President J. Reuben Clark and I were talking about some of these things—about some who perhaps claim membership in the Church but who deny the Fall and therefore deny the need for the Atonement and even the Atonement itself. President Clark said, "If they really only knew it, they are not Christians, because they do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world."
President Joseph F. Smith:
Some of our teachers are anxious to explain how much of the theory of evolution, in their judgment, is true, and what is false, but that only leaves their students in an unsettled frame of mind. They are not old enough and learned enough to discriminate, or put proper limitations upon a theory which we believe is more or less a fallacy.
President Rudger Clawson of the Quorum of the Twelve:
Wherever in the Church the discussion takes this phase our young people will be left to choose between Divine Revelation and the claims of science, which latter are often based on theory; And again the scientific theory, or claim, is set forth in the sermon to the effect that man finally emerged, or was developed from and through a line of animal life reaching back into numberless ages of the past, to the protoplasm. This of course is the doctrine of evolution and is as I understand it repugnant to the teachings of the Church of Christ. (Official Quorum of the Twelve Report to the First Presidency)
President George Albert Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve at the time:
It was in the plan of our Heavenly Father that every living thing that he created should each reproduce after its kind. Adam and Eve were the children of God; they were our first parents, and every human being that has lived upon the earth descended from them.
President Heber J. Grant diary, February 10 & 11, 1911:
This afternoon met with President Lyman, Bros Hyrum M. Smith, Charles W. Penrose, Anthony W. Ivins, George H. Brimhall, Joseph B. Keeler, Henry and Joseph Peterson, Ralph Chamberlin and Horace H. Cummings, and we were together until nearly 7 p.m. listening to explanations regarding the teachings of the Bros. Peterson and Chamberlin at the B.Y.U. at Provo. They were very frank in their explanations of their beliefs on Evolution, and as to certain parts of the Bible which they did not believe. They manifested a very good spirit.
Attended the meeting of the Twelve ... and after discussing the status of Bros Peterson and Bro Chamberlin we were unanimous of the opinion that it was unsafe for them to continue teaching at the B.Y.U. We were together until a little after 2 p.m.
President J. Reuben Clark Jr.:
It seems sometimes as if the darkness that surrounds us is all but impenetrable. I can see on all sides the signs of one great evil master-mind [Satan] working for the overturning of our civilization, the destruction of religion, the reduction of men to the status of animals. This mind is working here and there and everywhere. (Conference Report, October 1935, 92; emphasis added.)
Elder Orson F. Whitney:
I believe that when God made man in His own image, He made a man, and not a monkey, nor any other animal out of which man has evolved. I do not believe that the first of our race was a savage, or a cave man, who courted his wife with a club and carried her off by force. Such creatures there may have been, and there may be now. I do not dispute the findings and the facts of science—real science—which is knowledge, not guess-work. But I do deny that the great father of the human family was a creature of that kind.
President George F. Richards, Diary:
The extent to which evolution and higher criticism is gaining ground among our school teachers is something alarming. The effects of such teachings in the Brigham Young University are indeed alarming.
President George F. Richards, Diary, July 29, 1925:
I read Wm Jennings Bryans speech prepared to deliver in court at Dayton, Tenn. in defense of Religion and Christianity and denouncing Evolution. . . . I endorse the article fully and think it should be published in pamphlet form as Mr. Bryan's dying testimony. He died suddenly on the 26th inst. and before the speech was delivered.
President George F. Richards, general conference:
By an understanding of this principle of pre-existence we understand the evolution of man, if that is a correct expression, or his eternal progress, following in the footsteps of the Savior, the Firstborn, being born of God in the spirit, having a spiritual existence and then coming here upon the earth to have an earthly existence, passing on through death to another spiritual existence, and then the resurrection, and through faithfulness and obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel go on to eternal life and exaltation. There is just the one individual from beginning to end. The fallacy of the reincarnation of man theory is here made apparent, as also the doctrine of evolution, in which it is taught that man originated with the lower animals, the very lowest type, and came up by degrees. We rejoice in the knowledge of the Gospel, that we are of noble ancestry, that we are indeed sons and daughters of God; and understanding this we realize what manner of men we ought to be, which could not be understood but for this knowledge of pre-existence. The origin of man is here set forth as well as his eternal progression. The origin of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is hereby understood as taught in the scriptures.
Elder Delbert L. Stapley:
God revealed to Moses that He "created man in his own image and after his likeness." (See Gen. 1:26, 27. ) How lofty and inspiring this knowledge is to his children here on the earth, to know that they have not evolved from some lower organism of life, as teachers of evolution would have us believe, but are the literal offspring of Deity.
Man's evolution does not concern his origin and beginning. God determined the fact of his form and creation; but man's evolution as a son of God is to rise towards the likeness of his Eternal Father in heaven by perfecting his God-given abilities and powers which, in an embryonic state, are like God's, but presently are not fully developed.
There is no salvation in a system of religion that rejects the doctrine of the Fall or that assumes man is the end product of evolution and so was not subject to a fall.
True believers know that this earth and man and all forms of life were created in an Edenic, or paradisiacal, state in which there was no mortality, no procreation, no death.
In that primeval day Adam and Eve were "in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin." (2 Ne. 2:23.)
But in the providences of the Lord, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Ne. 2:25.)
By his fall, Adam introduced temporal and spiritual death into the world and caused this earth life to become a probationary estate.
There are, in fact, five things that came into being and continue to exist because of the fall. None of these things would have existed if there had been no fall, and all of them are essential parts of the divine plan of salvation. They are:
1. Temporal death. This is the natural death; it occurs when body and spirit separate; it results in corruption and decay. Because of the atonement of Christ all men will be raised from corruption to incorruption, from mortality to immortality, thence to live everlastingly in a resurrected state.
2. Spiritual death. This is death as pertaining to the things of the Spirit. It is death
as pertaining to things of righteousness. It is to be cast out of the presence of the Lord. It is a way of life which is in opposition to that of the Father of us all. Because of the atonement, because the Lord Jesus bore our sins on conditions of repentance, we have power to gain eternal life, which is spiritual life, which is a life of righteousness, which is life in the presence of our God.
3. Mortality. Mortal life comes because of the fall. If there had been no fall, there would be no mortal life of any sort on earth. Mortal life is life where there is death. Death must enter the world to bring mortality into being.
4. Procreation. Before the fall there was no procreation. I repeat, for thus saith the Holy Word, before the fall there was no procreation. Adam and Eve, in their Edenic state, could not have children, nor, as we shall see, could any form of life when first placed on the newly created paradisiacal earth.
5. A probationary estate. We are here to be tried and tested, to see if we will believe the truths of salvation and keep the commandments while we walk by faith. After the fall men became carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature, and the plan of salvation calls upon them to put off these worldly snares and to put on Christ. . . .
And so it is that the revealed accounts of the creation of this earth and all things on the face thereof are accounts of the paradisiacal creation. They speak of the immortal state in which all things were first made; they are telling of created things in the day before death entered the world.
Our Tenth Article of Faith says: "We believe . . . that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory." When the Lord comes and the millennial era commences, there will be new heavens and a new earth; the earth will be renewed; it will become new again; and it will return to its paradisiacal state; it will become as it was in the Edenic day. And once again death as we know it will cease.
The accounts of the creation in Genesis 1 and Moses 2 are accounts of the paradisiacal or Edenic creation. They are descriptive of a creation that antedated death and mortality and the fall. They speak of a creation in which—again these are Lehi's words—
All things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. [2 Nephi 2:22]
That is, they would have so remained if there had been no fall. . . .
I am not conscious of expressing a single thought or concept that has not already been said by the Brethren who have gone before. Almost every sentence I have uttered is a quotation or a paraphrase of something said by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Joseph F. Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, Orson Pratt, or some other of the great theologians of our dispensation.
Of the several theories, postulated in one age or another to explain (without the aid of revelation) the origin of man and the various forms of life, none has taken such hold or found such widespread acceptance as the relatively modern so-called theory of organic evolution. Stated generally, this theory assumes that over long periods of times, and through a series of changes, all present living organisms or groups of organisms have acquired the morphological and physiological characters which distinguish them. The theory assumes that all present animals and plants have their origin in other pre-existing types, the distinguishable differences being due to modifications in successive generations. One or more common origins for all forms of life are assumed. . . .
From the day of their first announcement, these theories of organic evolution found themselves in conflict with the principles of revealed religion as such are found recorded in the scriptures and expounded by inspired teachers. (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 139-151.) (Mormon Doctrine, Evolution article)
Obviously, the whole doctrine of the fall, and all that pertains to it, is diametrically opposed to the evolutionary assumptions relative to the origin of species. . . . There is no harmony between the truths of revealed religion and the theories of organic evolution. (Mormon Doctrine, Evolution article)
President Joseph Fielding Smith:
ADAM NOT END PRODUCT OF EVOLUTION. Adam was placed here, not a wild, half-civilized savage, but a perfectly-developed man, with wonderful intelligence, for he helped to create this earth. He was chosen in pre-existence to be the first man upon the earth and the father of the human race, and he will preside over his posterity forever.
Now, the Lord did not choose a being that had just developed from the lower forms of life, to be a prince, an archangel, to preside over the human race forever! Adam, as Michael, was one of the greatest intelligences in the spirit world and he stands next to Jesus Christ. When he came upon the earth, the Lord gave him a perfect form of government. (Doctrines of Salvation)
President John Taylor:
The animal and vegetable creations are governed by certain laws, and are composed of certain elements peculiar to themselves. This applies to man, to the beasts, fowls, fish and creeping things, to the insects and to all animated nature; each one possessing its own distinctive features, each requiring a specific sustenance, each having an organism and faculties governed by prescribed laws to perpetuate its own kind. So accurate is the formation of the various living creatures that an intelligent student of nature can tell by any particular bone of the skeleton of an animal to what class or order it belongs.
These principles do not change, as represented by evolutionists of the Darwinian school, but the primitive organisms of all living beings exist in the same form as when they first received their impress from their Maker. . . . If we take man, he is said to have been made in the image of God, for the simple reason that he is a son of God; and being his son, he is, of course, his offspring, an emanation from God, in whose likeness, we are told, he is made. He did not originate from a chaotic mass of matter, moving or inert, but came forth possessing, in an embryotic state, all the faculties and powers of a God. And when he shall be perfected, and have progressed to maturity, he will be like his Father—a God; being indeed his offspring. As the horse, the ox, the sheep, and every living creature, including man, propagates its own species and perpetuates its own kind, so does God perpetuate his.
Paul, in speaking on the resurrection, refers to the different qualities of flesh as follows: "But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds." (1 Cor. 15:38-39.)
"These different qualities seem to be inherent in the several species, as much so as the properties of silver, gold, copper, iron, and other minerals are inherent in the matter in which they are contained, whilst herbs, according to their kind, possess their specific properties, or as the leading properties of earth, air, and water, are distinct from one another; and hence, on physiological grounds, this principle being admitted, and it cannot be controverted, it would be impossible to take the tissues of the lower, or, indeed, of any order of fishes, and make of them an ox, a bird, or a man; as impossible as it would be to take iron and make it into gold, silver, or copper, or to produce any other changes in the laws which govern any kind of matter. And when the resurrection and exaltation of man shall be consummated, although more pure, refined and glorious, yet will he still be in the same image, and have the same likeness, without variation or change in any of his parts or faculties, except the substitution of spirit for blood." (Mediation and Atonement, 160-161.)
Elder D. Todd Christofferson:
While these considerations are certainly true and important, we know that fatherhood is much more than a social construct or the product of evolution. The role of father is of divine origin, beginning with a Father in Heaven and, in this mortal sphere, with Father Adam.
President George Q. Cannon:
But to the Latter-day Saints who understand the principles of truth, it is the greatest absurdity and folly to state that man has been evolved from an inferior form of animal life, and has progressed step by step through the ages until he has reached his present stage of development. They do not need to spend any time to examine such a proposition for they know better.
President Ezra Taft Benson:
Now, we have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the book to expose and combat the falsehoods in socialism, organic evolution, rationalism, humanism, etc. ("The Book of Mormon is the Word of God," Ensign, May 1975.)
Refuting and Correcting BYU's False Doctrine on th...
Bonus Blog for this series on Refuting and Correct...
Introduction to this 55-Part Series on Refuting an...
Church Leaders and Vaccination


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Bussiness and Economy, corruption, current affairs, International Diplomacy, National issues, politics
Global Fund Grants And Our Dangerous 'Doctors' By Sonala Olumhense
Date: May 23, 2016Author: IkonAllah 0 Comments
It is easy to forget that in the very early years of this millennium, HIV/AIDS threatened to wipe out the African continent, ravenously feasting on its best and strongest.
That was why, in a special summit in Abuja in April 2001, African leaders declared HIV/AIDS a continental emergency.
They went further to call on Africa's friends to make a significant special effort to help, in the range of $5-10 billion (US) to respond to AIDS.
That was the genesis of what became known as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which the United States kicked off with a founding donation of $200 million. Keep in mind: that was just in the month following the meeting of African leaders in Nigeria.
By August, the Global Fund had attracted up to $1.4 billion in one-time contributions. Progress was slow following the terrorist attacks of September that year on the United States, but the work of the Fund carried on.
Naturally, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Fund was Nigeria, principally because of the size of her population; over the next decade, it would invest over US$1.4 billion in the country.
But then came June 2011, when the Fund published its first Country Audit of its grants to Nigeria and uncovered widespread looting of the resources by several organisations.
The Office of the Inspector-General (OIG), which was responsible for the investigation, had begun its review in March 2010, with a focus on the period between 2003 and 2009.
During those six years, Nigeria signed 15 grants totalling $682,149,515. Of that amount, $474,519,260 was disbursed to Nigerian organisations that included: the National Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (NACA); the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP); the Yakubu Gowon Centre for International Co-operation (YGC); the Society for Family Health (SFH); the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH); the Christian Health Association of Nigeria (CHAN); and the CHAN-MEDIPHARM (MEDIPHARM).
What the Fund discovered was that most of the nearly $475m had gone into nurturing the greed of Nigerian officials. In local parlance, they (mostly) ate the money.
In fact, so bad was the "misuse" of the funds that not only did the organisation demand that some of the organisations return vast sums of money immediately, it even threatened to terminate further assistance to Nigeria.
Here are just three examples of the irresponsibility, beginning with the YGC, which was the happy recipient of $172 million during the period. According to the report, YGC carelessly and lavishly—and illegally—transferred nearly $16m to third party foreign bank accounts.
In a similar vein, the Federal Government-owned NACA was found to have been routinely disbursing funds meant for some programme sub-recipients into personal bank accounts. Among others, it incurred $679,000 in unretired expenditures.
For its part, the NMCP did not even maintain a bank account, preferring to write cheques for programme activities in the names of chosen staff. The audit showed $711,000 in unretired staff advances, among others, and the Fund ordered it to refund $132,000 it could not account for.
"The audit revealed an unreconciled difference of $711,793 between the amounts disbursed by the Centre and the amount acknowledged as received by the NMCP staff," the Inspector-General said.
CHAN, somehow, illegally transferred $11.6m to non-programme-related bank accounts abroad that were later trafficked back into its local naira bank account. Among others, it was asked to refund $2.9 million in questionable spending.
In November of that year, Bloomberg News reported that the grant money the Fund was struggling to recover worldwide was about $19.2 million in eight countries, including you-know-which.
"The (Global Fund) reports, which examined $1 billion in grants, expand the extent of fraud and misuse of money discovered by internal investigators," Bloomberg News said. "The organisation said last year it was seeking the recovery of $44.2 million in four nations for "grave misuse of funds."
The report cited how desperate the Nigeria case was, pointing out: "Money was siphoned to a person arrested in 2003 for money laundering and smuggling diamonds that are mined and sold to support the war."
All of that was in 2010, as the sun began to rise on the stealing-is-not-corruption era. Still the so-called Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), shedding crocodile tears as was its character, responded by swearing it would probe seven of those cited in the report, and bring all those involved to justice.
But it was a joke, and the ICPC—far and away Nigeria's biggest institutional enabler of corruption in the past 12 years—sat on its hands. And so we arrive in 2016, and the latest report of The Fund, and to another scandal.
In the report, which investigated grants disbursed in Nigeria between 2010 and 2014, "The auditors found discrepancies of over US$4 million between drugs ordered and delivered; US$20 million paid to suppliers without confirmation of delivery; stock-outs of eight months for critical medicines; and a total of US$7.65 million in unsupported expenditures."
In response to the new scandal, Nigeria's current government this month asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to undertake a full investigation of the misappropriations, and of the Fund's previous audits.
In addition, the government has also set up two investigative panels to look into the affected programmes and the financial transactions. Two panels, the first led by Health Minister Isaac Adewole, will review all of the programmes; while another, led by Auditor General Samuel Ukura, will review all financial transactions during the period.
It is an overkill, but both panels are to submit their reports within four weeks.
The first thing one notices is that following the first report, the Fund clearly downsized its attention to Nigeria. Contrary to the large numbers in the first report, the new one speaks in small figures: "Discrepancies in antiretroviral drugs deliveries of US$3.7 million," or "a total of US$7.65 million of unsupported expenses."
But again, here is a slice of how the government, specifically NACA's Department of Health Planning, Research & Statistics (DPRS), betrayed the national cause: "The OIG…found extensive evidence of systematic embezzlement of programme funds, fraudulent practices and collusion by DPRS staff and consultants assigned to the Global Fund-financed programme…found some form of irregularity or fraud in most vouchers reviewed…(and) seven of the 10 staff and three consultants assigned to the programme were involved or linked to the misappropriation of funds."
The DPRS staff, the report said, misrepresented or inflated hotel expenditures; falsified or inflated receipts related to Daily Subsistence Allowance entitlements and transport; collected funds for travel not made; colluded with and received kickbacks from hotels and suppliers, and inflated the number of attendees at an event, or its duration.
What all of this means is a familiar Nigerian tale: the unconscionable betrayal of a people and a principle by privileged officials.
In this case, the worst offenders are those of the ICPC in 2010, who should be arrested along with those who directly looted the funds, but punished far more severely for crimes of duplicity and complicity.
The lip service of anti-graft officials in the course of justice is far more harmful to a people than those who chose wrong over right in the first place.
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OPEN HOUSE THIS SATURDAY (11/3/18) FROM 1:00-3:00 PM!!!!! Condo is located towards the back of the complex. Large common space just outside the patio. All kitchen appliances remain. Bay window and laminate flooring in living room with gas fireplace.


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Academic medicine and research
Acute Internal Medicine
Clinical Oncology/Radiotherapy
Endocrinology and Diabetes Mellitus
General (Internal) Medicine
Medical teaching
Paediatric Development
Paediatric Respiratory Medicine
Public health (eg alcohol, tobacco, obesity)
Rheumatology & Rehabilitation
SAS professional development
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Patient and carer
Updated NICE guidance will help people in hospital most at risk of VTE
Guidance developed by the National Guideline Centre aims to reduce the risk of venous thromboembolism in people aged 16 and over in hospital.
Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK announces new quality criteria
The Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK announces the launch of a new set of quality criteria for general internal medicine (GIM) and acute internal medicine (AIM) registrars, to be implemented from 1 August 2018.
New programme to improve care by reviewing deaths in hospital
A new programme from the Royal College of Physicians will help hospitals in England and Scotland standardise the way they review adult deaths in hospital.
RCP IBD programme report indicates encouraging moves from trusts and healthcare boards to improve services and care
UK Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) programme has today launched it's Improving quality in IBD services report detailing the process and success of a series of workshops, webinars and site visits.


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Games for all boys?
by Sally
(Dorset)
We played Bludgeoned on Broadway this year on New Years Eve. It was a fantastic night - everyone got dressed up and in the true spirit of things.
It was such fun that my 12 year old son wants to do one for his birthday party later this month. Could you recommend a party that would be good for an all boy cast (I'm not sure how happy they will be acting the part of a girl). I imagine there will be about 10 boys ranging from 12 - 14.
Hope you can help.
Will definitely be back for more games this year. we have all played more 'structured' murder mysteries, but all agreed we like the 'freeform ' style more!
Look forward to your reply
Sally Prendergast
I'm glad you enjoyed Bludgeoned on Broadway - and that you enjoyed the unstructured nature of the freeform style games.
Although I am not aware of a freeform-style murder mystery that is for boys only, you do have a couple of options.
First is Pirate Island by Freeform Games (the guys behind Bludgeoned on Broadway). Pirate Island isn't a murder mystery as such, but a series of pirate themed competitions and games to find the best pirate crew. The pirates are grouped into teams (ship crews) and work together. It's aimed at ages 8 and up - but I've seen adults play and enjoy it.
Second, if you're dead set on a murder mystery, then you might want to take a look at the Mysteries-on-the-Net games, as they have a lot of games suitable for kids. Their games are more structured and mainly concern solving the murder/mystery than the "whole pile of plots and stuff going on" that characterize the interactive games.
I hope that helps - have a good party!
Click here to go to my Kid Party page and learn more about Pirate Island.
Click here to learn more about Mysteries on the Net and their murder mystery party games.
Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Your murder mystery party questions.
Choosing a murder mystery game
Up to 10 guests
11 to 25 guests
Mysteries on the Net
Themed murder mysteries
Tips for Hosts
Tips for Guests
Party Organisers
Here's my suggested quick route through the site:
Step 1 - Go to Choosing a Game to choose the game that suits your party best.
Step 2 - Review the Tips for Hosts for helpful advice.
Step 3 - If you want to keep up to date with the latest murder mystery game news, click on my What's New page.
Step 4 - Once you've had your party - tell me how it went! Click here to tell me your murder mystery party story.
Cost of games
If we purchase one of your murder mysteries - 11 people or so (currently thinking - Way out West or Happy Birthday RJ) how much will it cost? Please let
Multi-room (or multi-location) Murder Mystery game set
I am looking for ideas/recommendations for a script on the site I can buy which would work as a multi-room (or multi-location) Murder Mystery game set
All female Christmas Party for work
I am in the process of organising our annual works Christmas night out and was looking for 'fresh' ideas, a murder mystery being very good fun. It is
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Mollendal is an uninhabited part of Virgin Islands National Park on the island of Saint John in the United States Virgin Islands. The L'Esperance Trail passes through this area.

References

Populated places in Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Luckily Nexus Repository Manager Pro and Nexus Repository Manager OSS support gem repositories. A user can connect to the repository manager to download gems from RubyGems, create proxies to other repositories, and host their own or third-party gems. Any gem downloaded via the repository manager needs to be downloaded from the remote repository, like RubyGems, only once and is then available internally from the repository manager. Gems pushed to the repository manager automatically become available to everyone else in your organization. Using the repository manager as a proxy avoids the overhead of teams and individual developers having to repeatedly download components or share components in a haphazard and disorganized manner.
None of this functionality requires Ruby (or any extra tooling) to be installed on the operating system running the repository manager.
To proxy an external gem repository, like RubyGems, you simply create a new repository using the recipe rubygems (proxy) as documented in Repository Management.
Further configuration details are available in Managing Repositories and Repository Groups.
A private gem repository can be used as a target to push your own gems as well as third-party gems and subsequently provide them to your users. It is a good practice to create two separate hosted gem repositories for internal and third-party gems.
To create a hosted gem repository, create a new repository using the recipe rubygems (hosted) as documented in Repository Management.
A repository group is the recommended way to expose all your gem repositories to your users, without needing any further client side configuration after initial setup. A repository group allows you to expose the aggregated content of multiple proxy and hosted gem repositories with one URL to gem and other tools.
To create a gem group repository, create a new repository using the recipe rubygems (group) as documented in Repository Management.
A typical, useful example would be to group the proxy repository that proxies the RubyGems repository, a hosted gem repository with internal software gems, and another hosted gem repository with third-party gems.
Using the repository URL of the repository group as your gem repository URL in your client tool gives you access to the gems in all member repositories with one URL.
Any gem added to a hosted or proxy repository becomes immediately available to all users of the gem repository group. Adding a new proxy gem repository to the group makes all gems in that proxy immediately available to the users as well.
With this setup completed, any installation of new gems with gem install gemname (e.g. gem install rake) will download from the repository manager.
Set for the current user (/Users/manfred/.bundle/config): "http://localhost:8081/repository/rubygems-group"


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Karen Jonas
Most Anticipated Albums & Rumors for the 2nd Half of 2018
Trigger Reviews 110 Comments
2018 has been incredibly busy with new albums in the country and roots realm, and the 2nd half of the year looks to be just as busy. So to help you keep track of it all and perhaps help separate the wheat from thew chaff, here is a handy guide to some of the top releases to anticipate, a more expansive list of confirmed releases, and a rumor mill.
AHI, American Aquarium, Coco O'Connor, Cody Canada and The Departed, Cody Jinks, DeviDriver, Dillon Carmichael, Hank3, Jim Lauderdale, Karen Jonas, Kinky Friedman, Lori McKenna, Lucero, mmhmm, Rhyan Sinclair, Shooter Jennings, Tami Neilson, Tyler Childers, William Clark Green
2016 Nominees for Saving Country Music's Song of the Year
A song can change a life, and a song can change the world. And if you're a real music fan, you know this to be true because you've felt it, and seen it yourself. We're not looking for fanciful ditties that get stuck in your head here. There is a time and a place for those, but that's not here. We're looking for songs that barrel you over.
Austin Lucas, Brandy Clark, Erik Dylan, Evan Webb and the Rural Ramblers, Justin Wells, Karen Jonas, Lucinda Williams, Lydia Loveless, Matt Woods, Parker Millsap, Song of the Year
Album Review – "Country Songs" by Karen Jonas
It's within the anticipation her first record inspired that the sophomore effort 'Country Songs' from Karen Jonas comes spilling out of her songwriting pen just as fervent and hungry as her first effort, yet with more refined and deliberate results due to the wisdom won through the experience of her debut.
Country Songs, Karen Jonas, Review
Karen Jonas Captures the True Meaning of Country in New Single "Country Songs"
"Country Songs" speaks right to the heart of what true country music is all about. It's there to mend the wounds and help us all commiserate over the misery life invariably throws our way. There's nothing wrong with happy songs either, but country music has always been the best remedy for a sad state of affairs.
Country Songs, Karen Jonas
Saving Country Music's 2014 Artist of the Year
This isn't going to be some long form praising of Sturgill Simpson's work in 2014, or yet another rundown of his long list of successes last year. There's already been plenty of that, arguably too much of it, and I am just as tired of writing about it as you are of reading of it. Yeah yeah, Sturgill Simpson's great, but his name has become the independent country version of click bait.
Hank Williams III, Justin Townes Earle, Karen Jonas, Possessed by Paul James, Ryan Adams, Spencer Cornett, Sturgill Simpson, Tami Nelison
Saving Country Music's 2014 Album of the Year
In 2014, you had two previously-unknown women release towers of country music brilliance in Tami Nelison's Dynamite! and Karen Jonas's Oklahoma Lottery. You had folk blues songwriter Charlie Parr deliver a masterpiece in his instrumental triumph in Hollandale. You had the Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit feature what very well would had been considered an Album of the Year on any other year…
Charlie Parr, First Aid Kit, Jim Lauderdale, Karen Jonas, Matt Woods, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, Sturgill Simpson, Tami Neilson
2014 Saving Country Music Album of the Year Nominees
2014 has revealed itself as the "Year of the Dark Horse" when it comes to compiling the greatest albums released in the last 12-month span. Tami Neilson, Karen Jonas, Charlie Parr, Matt Woods? Who's heard of these people outside of their respective fan bases? And meanwhile the realm of mainstream music can't field one candidate, unless you want to count First Aid Kit.
2014 Album of the Year, Charlie Parr, Don Williams, Doug Seegers, Dynamite!, First Aid Kit, Hollandale, I'm A Song, Jason Eady, Jim Lauderdale, John Fullbright, Joseph Huber, Karen Jonas, Kelsey Waldon, Matt Woods, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, Oklahoma Lottery, Reflections, Stay Gold, Sturgill Simpson, Tami Neilson, With Love From Brushy Mountain, Zoe Muth
Saving Country Music's Best Songs of 2014 So Far
Compared to albums, making picks of songs is such a tough, arbitrary business. This year seems especially tough, not because the field isn't strong, but because many of the best moments are coming from unlikely sources, including a cadre of cover songs that despite the spirit of the "Best Songs" approach being about original compositions, seem almost criminal to omit.
Bob Wayne, Dierks Bentley, Don Williams, Eric Church, First Aid Kit, Hellbound Glory, I'll Be Here In The Morning, Jason Eady, John Fullbright, Karen Jonas, Kirsty Lee Akers, Leroy Virgil, Liberty Bell, Lonely Island, Matt Woods, Melody Williamson, Miranda Lambert, Parker Milsap, Red Eye Gravy, Streets of Aberdeen, Sturgill Simpson, Take Me Back, The Promise, The Secret Sisters, The Wall, There's No Country Here, Turtles All the Way Down, Willie Nelson, Willie Watson, Zoe Muth
Saving Country Music's Best Albums of 2014 So Far
2014 so far has been an interesting year for album releases for sure. Some names we were hoping big things from like Sturgill Simpson and Jason Eady delivered in big ways. Other dark horse names we'd never heard of like Karen Jonas came out of the woodwork to stun. Some names like Don Williams and Charlie Parr put out surprising albums that have to be considered high water marks of their career.
Best Albums So Far, Charlie Parr, Dalight & Dark, Don Williams, First Aid Kit, Hollandale, Jason Eady, John Fullbright, Joseph Huber, Karen Jonas, Matt Woods, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, Oklahoma Lottery, Reflections, Songs, Stay Gold, Sturgill Simpson, With Love From Brushy Mountain, World of Strangers, Zoe Muth
Surprise Artist Karen Jonas Talks New Album "Oklahoma Lottery"
Fredericksburg, Virginia's Karen Jonas surprised everyone in March when she released one of the year's most unexpected, yet critically-acclaimed albums called Oklahoma Lottery. The album showed tremendous musical wisdom for a freshman effort, and scored high marks for songwriting, musicianship, arrangement, singing and guitar playing by Jonas.
Alex Culbreth, interview, Joni Mitchell, Karen Jonas, The Parlor Soldiers, Tim Bray
Karen Jonas Stuns with "Oklahoma Lottery" Debut
Karen Jonas, whether she knew it or not, heeded the advice of the great Ray Wylie Hubbard to all songwriters: don't just listen to The Ghost of Tom Joad, read The Grapes of Wrath. How do we know this? It's not just from the wisdom interwoven in the lyrics, it's from the amount of pain Ms. Jonas is able to capture in her performance.
Justin Townes Earle, Karen Jonas, Oklahoma Lottery, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Review


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14 years ago today: When Brenly Met Bush (again)
Look what I stumbled across...
By Jim McLennan@AZSnakepit Jan 21, 2018, 11:00am EST
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Photo credit should read PAUL J.RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
US President George W. Bush (C) enjoys a simple dinner with a few sports friends at the Tee-Pee Mexican Restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona, 21 January 2004. Artie Moreno, Anaheim Angeles Baseball owner (L), Bob Brenly, Manager Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball (2nd-L) and Jerry Colangelo, Managing General Partner of the Phoenix Suns Basketball, along with Joe Garagiola Jr, (not seen), VP and GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks are attending.
I found the above pic when I was looking for pics of Joe Sr, for last week's piece on the 20th anniversary color commentator, and figured its anniversary would be a nice moment to share this piece of local memorabilia. Of course, it wasn't the first time Bush and Brenly had met. Most obviously, they had done so on the field at Yankee Stadium on October 30, 2001, before Game 3. Bush became the first president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch do so at a World Series in Yankee Stadium for 45 years. Brenly and the D-backs also visited the White House in December that year, as World Series champions, when Bush called Brenly, "Rookie of the Year."
Interesting to see Moreno and Colangelo together. For, of course, Moreno was born and grew up in Tucson, lived in Phoenix, and was one of the original investors in the Diamondbacks - indeed, he tried to buy the team in 2001. However, Colangelo considered the offer too low, and brought in $160 million of fresh funding. According to the Arizona Republic, the pair "had a falling-out," and Moreno sold his 5.3% stake in the D-backs. Two years later - about nine months before the picture - he bought a controlling interest in the Anaheim Angels from Disney, paying $180 million.
As for Bush, he was on a trip to Arizona to talk about the economy, and going to the restaurant "was suggested by a Bush staffer, Sarah Tillman, who grew up in Phoenix and whose family had frequented the restaurant for generations." He had the #2 combination plate, consisting of two enchiladas (cheese for him), rice and beans. As of 2006, a plaque marked the booth where the presidential posterious parked, and his choice was celebrated on the menu as "The Presidential Meal".


Dolfi and friends learn about different ways to keep our bodies healthy.
Dolfi and friends know that it is important to keep ourselves healthy by taking care of our bodies. All of them show us different things that are important to do in our daily healthcare routines. Ami and Stella brush their teeth and Listo takes a bath, showing us things that we need to do to stay clean. Horsi blows his nose into a tissue and coughs in his sleeve so that he doesn't get anyone else sick. Dolfi and all of his friends use sunscreen and bring water when they play, so they can stay hydrated and avoid sunburn. Listo also learns that the healthiest and cleanest way to eat is to use utensils. Last but not least, they all learn to get a healthy amount of sleep every night!
We learn important ways to stay clean and healthy, from daily care routines to what to do when we are sick. We also learn that from the moment we wake up, there are many ways we can take care of our bodies: eating right, playing well, and getting enough sleep are just as important as brushing our teeth and showering.
Child will learn important hygiene routines and practices.
Child will learn how to avoid passing sickness onto others.
In this activity, you and your child will take care of your puppet friends!
In this activity, you and your child will create a care clock!
In this activity, your child will create his/her very own animal costume!
In this activity, your child will make a sock puppet to use when singing songs about health and routines!
In this activity, your child will rehearse self-care habits on a plastic (or washable) playing doll!
In this activity, you and your child will make safety buttons!
Children read the book I Can Do It Myself! by Diane Adams, they discuss things that can do by themselves and times they still need a hand, they create a pretend play "I Can Take Care" script, and organize assigning roles and following the script.
Children read the book All by Myself! by Aliki, they discuss self-care activities and create their own plant pot with pipe cleaners as the stems and the flowers are made of round cards with self-care activities written or glued on.
Children read the book The Bubble Wrap Queen by Julia Cook, they discuss safety and create their own special booklet addressing a safety issue with its cover made of cardboard wrapped in bubble wrap.
Children read the "Color Zoo Board Book" by Lois Ehlert. Children will make masks in shapes of animals' faces. They will create different shapes for the eyes, nose and mouth and use the masks to pretend play.
Children create sock puppets to help remind them to take care and be clean.


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Q: Clicking dynamically created buttons jQuery I have a jQuery datatable where each row has an add to cart button. If I perform a search or I click on another entry of pages in the table, the table will dynamically load new rows & buttons. Therefore, I have two types of add to cart buttons - one for the dynamically created buttons and one for the original buttons:
Click event for dynamically created buttons:
$(document).on('click', 'button.btn.btn-primary.addtocart', function() {
    //add to cart
});

Click event for original buttons:
$(".addtocart").click(function() {
    //add to cart
});

The problem I'm having is if I click the original buttons, the click event fires twice. Does anyone know of a strategy or work around for this?

A: Use event.stopImmediatePropagation() in the button click handler to stop event from bubbling.
$(".addtocart").click(function (event) {
    //                          ^^^^^    Pass event object to the callback
    //add to cart

    event.stopImmediatePropagation();
});

EDIT:
If both the handlers are same, I'll suggest to use only a delegated handler for both dynamic and static elements.
$(document).on('click', 'button.btn.btn-primary.addtocart', function () {
    // add to cart
});

A: It is a easy solution.
Just use on method in jQuery.
$(document).ready(function(){
    $("dynamically_created_element_selector").on("click", function()
    {
        //do whatever u want
    });
});

Demo is here-

$(function(){
    $('button').on('click',function(){
        var r= $('<br/><button class="dynamic_button" type="button">Dynamic Button</button>');
        $("body").append(r);
    });

    $(document).on('click', 'button.dynamic_button', function ()
    {
        alert("Dynamic Element Clicked !!");
    });

});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

<body>
    <button>Insert after</button>
</body>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
A: Support staff
B: Teachers
C:Coordinators
D: Teachers of RE
E: School & System Leaders
LEVEL E: School or System Leader
From the policy
Catholic schools in the Diocese of Broken Bay exist to educate and form students in Catholic discipleship. The ongoing evangelisation and Catholic formation of leaders and staff of Catholic schools holds a central place in the fulfilment of this purpose. As the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education states:
For the Catholic educator, religious formation … must be a part of and a complement to one's professional formation, and … be proportionate … religious formation must be oriented toward both personal holiness and apostolic mission… two inseparable elements in a Christian vocation. "Formation for apostolic mission means a certain human and well-rounded formation, adapted to the natural abilities and circumstances of each person" and requires "in addition to spiritual formation, … solid doctrinal instruction … in theology, ethics and philosophy". Nor can we forget, in the case of an educator, adequate formation in the social teachings of the Church, which are " an integral part of the Christian concept of life ",(49) and help to keep intensely alive the kind of social sensitivity that is needed.(50)
(Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith, 65)
Leadership at this level refers to
Principals, Assistant Principals, Religious Education Coordinators/ Directors and Leaders of Evangelisation and Catholic Formation, and Youth Ministry Coordinators
Certain designated Catholic Schools Office senior staff and Education Officers;
Broken Bay Diocesan Mission Accreditation
In addition to the qualifications and competencies pertinent to their professional role, persons appointed to these roles for 2017 onwards, must:
be practising Catholics accredited to teach Religious Education and appropriately formed to be witnesses to the Gospel
have completed a minimum of six units of study at a Masters level in Scripture, Theology, Religious Education and/or Catholic Leadership in an approved Catholic tertiary institution.
These six units must be in addition to any units completed within a Graduate Certificate. They should not be the same e.g. Introduction to Scripture
Provisional accreditation will be granted for a period of up to four years.
If you meet Mission Accreditation requirements
Apply online for Mission Accreditation and you will receive confirmation of your Mission Accreditation status via email once it has been processed.
Click here to learn more about the Diocese of Broken Bay and its Community of Catholic Schools
If you do not meet Mission Accreditation requirements
Step One: Apply for Provisional Mission Accreditation
A school or system leader may be provisionally accredited for a period of up to four years on the condition of attainment of six units of study at a Masters level in Religious Education, Scripture, Theology, and/or Catholic Leadership in an approved Catholic tertiary institution Apply online for provisional Mission Accreditation and you will receive confirmation of your Mission Accreditation status via email once it has been processed.
Step Two: Research, discuss and decide on a course of study
Research, discuss and decide on a course of study that includes six units of study at a Masters level in Religious Education, Scripture, Theology, and/or Catholic Leadership in an approved Catholic tertiary institution. Click here for advice re post-graduate courses and scholarships.
Mission Accreditation Renewal
All school and system leaders, in addition to maintaining the currency of requirements expected of permanent teachers, are expected to complete the equivalent of a further five days of professional learning, mission formation or formal study every five years specifically related to the Catholic faith, Catholic education, Religious Education and/or Catholic school leadership. School and system leaders are not required to maintain Mission Accreditation logs as they meet these requirements by virtue of their participation in opportunities for professional learning and mission formation provided by the CSO
All school and system leaders are encouraged to participate in Mission Formation programs and other relevant short courses, programs, conferences and events.
Click here for Mission Formation programs.
Click here for regularly updated calendar of short courses, programs, conferences and events.
P: +61 (0)2 9847 0000
E: cso@dbb.catholic.edu.au
W: http://www.csodbb.catholic.edu.au
A: 2/423 Pennant Hills Road, Pennant Hills
S: Facebook
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The New England Patriots are playing against the Minnesota Vikings at TFC Bank Stadium in their second game of the regular season on Sunday. Last week, the Patriots lost against the Miami Dolphins 33-20 in their initial regular season game. The Vikings faced the St. Louis Rams and defeated them with an end score of 34-6. The Patriots are starting the season with an 0-1 record, while the Vikings have gone 1-0 so far.
The key to a Patriots win on Sunday is fixing the numerous problems in their offensive line. Quarterback Tom Brady needs to increase his mobility if he wants to avoid being sacked and his receivers need to make sure they are in the right place and looking to catch the pass when it is thrown. Tight end Rob Gronkowski and receiver Aaron Dobson promise to be big factors in Sunday's game.
If the Vikings defense can get in close enough to harass the Patriots' quarterback consistently, they stand a good chance of winning the game. Last week, the Vikings defense was able to force five sacks and two interceptions in the game against the Rams. Quarterback Matt Cassel played for four years at New England, so he has intimate knowledge of both their offensive and defensive strengths.
On Sunday, the Patriots will be playing without DT Chris Jones and DE Michael Buchanan, who are both out with ankle injuries. LB James Morris has been put on injured reserve due to a knee injury.
The Vikings will be playing without linebackers Brandon Watts, Michael Mauti and Erin Henderson. Running back Zach Line is also out due to an ankle injury. Minnesota defensive lineman Sharrif Floyd, recovering from a shoulder injury, and cornerback Xavier Rhodes, recovering from a groin injury, are both questionable for the game on Sunday.
Latest Line – The Patriots are favored to win by 3.
With multiple injuries hampering both teams, the game will probably remain pretty close throughout, but the Patriots will ultimately end up with the win if their quarterback can complete his passes.