text:
Q: How to keep track of all functionality in a large application As the title says - how to keep track of functionality as the application grows large?
My company use Word-documents where the application has been broken down into chunks called "use cases" - which vary in size and complexity. The problem is that some of them quickly become large and hard to read, as you have to scan between the "happy path" and the edge cases.
We recently started using Visual Studio Team Services for the entire Application Life Cycle - and I wonder if there is a better way than Word-documents - in VSTS or in other systems.
How do you handle this problem in your organization and application? (and if you are using VSTS - do you use any feature of VSTS to tackle the challenge?)
Feeback to answers and comments

*

*Bart van Ingen Schenau Fun answer. I'd like to relate to the application that way - but there are a lot of applications out there that need to be documented. This is one of them.

*Christophe Thank you for you comprehensive answer. From its contents I realize this is a diverse subject and not one that to be answered easily. From the other comments I also realize that there are many opinions. I appreciate your links and the terms you mentioned. I've already started reading about BPMN and Use Case 2.0.

*Ewan I hoped someone would answer something along your lines. I hoped there would be a standard way of writing automated tests and documentation (at the same time) the same way Test Driven Development (TDD) is done. What I would hope to achive is to immediately see when a change breaks an existing contract, so to speak, of what is supposed to happen.
Feedback to Christophe
The documentation in this app/system contains about 400 use cases. We might have put more or less documentation into each use case than what you would. I suspect more.
I would like to be able to convert most of the documentation into end-to-end-tests. Right now we don't have any end-to-end or UI-tests. We have a lots of unit tests though. Imagine the following:

The x.0 use cases are quite straight forward, but there are quite a few of the x.1 use cases - what we refer to as deviations from the happy path. When counting the 400 uses cases in our product, I didn't include all of the deviations.
I'd like to see a way where the documentation would be the test. Perhaps I could use something like the Gherkin syntax?
Feature: Disallow modifying Product Number when Product is in use
The user cannot modify the Product Number when the Product is in use.

Background:
    Given a product with Product Number 123

Scenario: A user attempts to modify a Product Number when the product is in use
    Given the product being associated with an Order Line
    When I try to change the Product Number to 456
    Then I should see "You cannot change the Product Number, as the Product is already being used"

Scenario: A user attempts to modify a Product Number when the product is not in use
    Given the product not being associated with any other entity
    When I try to change the Product Number to 456
    Then I should see "Changes saved"

A: Automated tests. Ideally with human readable descriptions, maybe BDD style.
These are far superior to documentation as the real danger is adding new features which inadvertently break previous functionality.
With documentation you have to read it all and manually test the application still works as documented.
With the tests you can run all the tests and just see they are green.

A: Do you need the documentation ?
Large software systems require indeed to keep track of the functionality in a structured fashion:

*

*I'm not speaking of a system developed by small team where a solid (integration or acceptance) test suite could indeed be sufficient to document what the system does.  If needed, developers could always rediscover/reverse engineer a functionality from the test case before discussing evolutions with a new stakeholder.

*I'm rather thinking of larger systems, like an ERP with over 400 use cases and 60 different roles representing thousands of users. Nobody can know or remember all the details. And different stakeholders may have a different understanding of what the system does or shall do.

*In some cases, you may even be obliged to maintain a documentation (SOX regulation for finance, GMP requirement for pharmaceutical production)

There are two main aspects about documenting functionality:  what the system does for its stakeholders,  and how it is implemented.  There is a third: how to keep it up-to-date.
1. What the system does for the stakeholder ?
Problem 1: keep the overview
Suppose a business stakeholder requests some changes in a screen or a flow actions of a UC.  Typically, you'd ho through your large flat list of UCs.  You'll find the IC. Perhaps you'll identify also some closely related ones that could be impacted as well.  But you might miss some less obvious connections and business side effects if you don't realize what's behind their title.
Solution:

*

*Create a document with the overview of the main business processes in scope (it may be several documents, for large companies organised by domain of activity). Document their decomposition into main steps (typically using some high-level BPMN diagrams).

*Create  a correspondence table, where you link the use cases with the process steps.

You can then navigate from the large, and dig down to the right use case, and, conversely, start with any UC and find the business process (and all other potentially related use cases in the same process).
Problem 2: Unreadable complex use cases
The risk, as you explained it, is that UC can grow very complex, either because they are not at the right level of detail, or simply because there are too many variants and exceptions.
Solutions:

*

*In Writing effective use cases, Alistair Cockburn (one of the author of the Agile Manifesto) explains how to use multilevel use cases, to break down complex UC into several simpler and understandable ones. It's a book with plenty of examples.

*In Use case 2.0 (free ebook), Ivar Jacobson (the inventor of the use case concept and a co-author of UML) proposes a very effective approach, cutting use cases in use case slices.  A variant flow would be in a separate slice, so it's much easier to read.   The approach has some similarity with Jeff Patton's user story mapping, but with a goal driven approach instead of a feature driven approach.

2. How the functionality is implemented ?
In the domain of technical documentation, there is a heavy risk of over-documenting and writing useless prose that is quickly out of sync and obsolete.  You have therefore to be very careful and avoid comprehensive documentation if possible.
The recommendation (an old one from Grady Booch, an OO pioneer and co-autor of UML), is to focus on information that cannot be easily read in the code.  So the idea is:

*

*to explain the main driving principles of the design,

*to give a quick overview on the main components involved

*then focus more on explicing the intent and the main interaction between the components, rather than how a single component works in all its detail (which are already documented BY the code).

Keeping it up-to date ?
If you have a great documentation of a complex living system, after 6 month it'll be outdated.  The only way to keep it up-to-date is to take care of this task as integral part of the development process.  It should be part of the definition of done.
If you follow the advice for the technical documentation, you'd have to update it in rare cases only (new component, major change in the interactions).
For the UC, it's of course an overhead compared to a simple meeting where things are discussed orally with a key user.  But for complex systems, such UC must in general be validated/confirmed by other stakeholders.  So in large organisations, this real-time documentation of use case could contribute in making communication more effective.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Accidental double loops in JavaScript I've built an application wherein you can select a table in a database and then show the data on a Leaflet map. The data has a matching legend.
I want my application to accept a variety of datasets and be able to display them on the map, with minimal programming alterations. This is a new demand and I've altered my previous code, but it's not optimal.
The code I have now loops through the dataset to assign a color to certain value, but it also loops through the dataset to extract the unique values so that I can use them in the legend.
This causes my application to have a loop in a loop, generating unnecessary calculations. This is no problem with a small dataset, 19 records x19 is doable, but 8062x8062...
The for loop in the getColor() function is the problem. I tried relocating the for loop to a new function (getColor v2), but I always end up missing arrayMetKetens. I think getColor() runs before getArray() can return it's value, but because a lot of functions start running once I select a table, I can't really force getArray() to return it quicker. Or is there?
Code for adding color to markers/polygons:
window["mapDataLayer"] = L.geoJson(geojson_dataTable, {
    pointToLayer: function (feature, latlng) {
        var markerStyle = {
            fillColor: getColor(feature.properties.Fastfoodketen),
            color: "#696969",
            fillOpacity: 0.6,
            opacity: 0.9,
            weight: 1,
            radius: 8
        };
        return L.circleMarker(latlng, markerStyle);
    },

     style: function (feature){
         if(feature.geometry.type === 'MultiPolygon'){
             var polygonStyle = {
            fillColor: getColor(feature.properties.Naam),
            color: "grey",
            weight: 5,
            opacity: 1
            };
         }
         else{
             return null;
         }
         return polygonStyle;
     }
}).addTo(map);

getColor function:
function getColor(keten) {
    checkTable();
    var ketens = [];

    for(i=0;i<(geojson_dataTable.features).length;i++){
        ketens = ketens.concat(Object.byString(geojson_dataTable, 'features['+i+'].properties.'+featureVoorSorteer))
    }
    console.log(ketens);
    arrayMetKetens = (jQuery.unique( ketens ));
    var i = arrayMetKetens.indexOf(keten);

    if (i !== -1) {
        return arrayKleur[ i ];
        }
    else {
        return '#999999';
    }
}

getColor v2:
function getArray(){
    var ketens = [];
    for(i=0;i<(geojson_dataTable.features).length;i++){
        ketens = ketens.concat(Object.byString(geojson_dataTable, 'features['+i+'].properties.'+featureVoorSorteer))
        console.log(ketens);
    }
    arrayMetKetens = (jQuery.unique( ketens ));
    return arrayMetKetens.
}

function getColor(keten) {
    checkTable();
    getArray();
    yMetKetens.indexOf(keten);
    if (i !== -1) {
        return arrayKleur[ i ];
        }
    else {
        return '#999999';
    }
    console.log("hij doet het")
}

A: Firs of all, if you don't mind me commenting on the JS programming style, this code is... well... far from perfect :-) Particularly the indirect usage of global variable makes it tricky to read. I'll try to give it a shot and suggest something that doesn't imply "rewrite the whole thing".
I'm going to follow the usage of global variables in functions even though it's commonly considered to be an anti-pattern.
First thing - if the code you submitted as "getColor v2" is the ACTUAL code then there's an obvious bug in it:
function getColor(keten) {
    checkTable();
    getArray();
    //yMetKetens.indexOf(keten);<-- looks like partialy copied code :-)
    // SHOULD BE THIS:
    var i = arrayMetKetens.indexOf(keten);
    if (i !== -1) {
        return arrayKleur[ i ];
        }
    else {
        return '#999999';
    }
    console.log("hij doet het")
}

With that one fixed we still have the call to getArray() every time we call getColor(). But first let's have a look at slightly improved version of getArray():
function getArray(){
    var ketens = [];
    //for(i=0;i<(geojson_dataTable.features).length;i++){
    //    ketens = ketens.concat(Object.byString(geojson_dataTable, 'features['+i+'].properties.'+featureVoorSorteer))
    //    console.log(ketens);
    //}
    //THE CODE ABOVE CAN BE SIMPLY EXPRESSED AS
    for(i=0;i < geojson_dataTable.features.length;i++){
       ketens = keten.concat(geojson_dataTable.features[i].properties[featureVoorSorteer])
    }
    //lets use global variable arrayMetKetens explicitly
    window.arrayMetKetens = jQuery.unique( ketens );
    //return arrayMetKetens <-- we never use the return value of the function anyway...

}

now we can slightly modify our function getColor():
function getColor(keten) {
    checkTable();
    //getArray(); <--REMOVE CALL TO getArray()
    var i = window.arrayMetKetens.indexOf(keten);//<-- explicit use of global variable we initialise in getArray()
    if (i !== -1) {
        return arrayKleur[ i ];
        }
    else {
        return '#999999';
    }
    console.log("hij doet het")
}

And the last thing we have to do is to call getArray() as soon as we have geojson_dataTable object at hand. The code you submitted doesn't have that part so let'd put it here:
getArray();//<-- calling getArray() here will initialise (once) the array arrayMetKetens
           //    which then can be used in the function getColors()
window["mapDataLayer"] = L.geoJson(geojson_dataTable, {
    pointToLayer: function (feature, latlng) {
        var markerStyle = {
            fillColor: getColor(feature.properties.Fastfoodketen),
            color: "#696969",
            fillOpacity: 0.6,
            opacity: 0.9,
            weight: 1,
            radius: 8
        };

That was fun! :-) I hope it helps... ;-)


Danish police have arrested a couple for supplying medicinal oil to patients with cancer. Could this be the beginning of Denmark's cannabis law reform?
Danish police have arrested a couple for supplying medicinal cannabis oil to patients with cancer and other serious conditions. Claus Nielson and his wife could face up to 10 years in prison for illegally distributing cannabis. He had initially admitted to Danish media that he constantly sells medicinal oils and he knew he'd be arrested eventually. Mr. Nielson simply did not care about the current laws because he knew he was helping people.
Mr. Nielson discovered the wonders of medicinal cannabis when he was trying the treat his osteoarthritis. He was so amazed by how well it worked, he couldn't help but try and spread the news.
He wanted others the opportunity to try it as medicine just like he had, so he took it into his own hands.
It should be laboratory technicians, chemists and doctors who do it [sell cannabis for medicinal use] under controlled conditions. I'm no trained expert, but I have some principles and I stand by them.
Mr. Kaya is Claus' attorney and he feels that the case is putting a great amount of pressure on the Danish government to change their current and strict cannabis laws. Under Denmark's Narcotics Law, the couple could both have a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
A recent poll has concluded that 88% of the Danish population are in favour of cannabis legalisation. That poll plus the prospect of someone who is supplying medicine be sentenced to a decade in jail should definitely fuel a political change.


text:
/0 Comments/in Brian's Travel Lists, My Travels /by bthacker
I'm not a taphophile (someone with a love of funerals, graves and cemeteries), but I do like visiting a good cemetery or graveyard when I travel. I've just recently come back from a trip to the States where a spent a few days in New Orleans and while I was there I went to Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. It's the oldest cemetery (1833) in the city, but that wasn't the motivation for my visit – I'd seen it in a movie. The movie was 'Double Jeopardy' and in a big scene from the film Ashleigh Judd ran all around the cemetery before she got locked in one of the large above-ground tombs (the tombs are above ground because the locals learnt the hard way that the dearly departed had the annoying habit of floating up to the surface during heavy rain). And there were certainly enough bodies to float around – the cemetery houses over 100,000 bodies in just one square block.
I loved the place and spent a happy hour wandering around the cemetery checking out all the tombs (and looking for Ashleigh Judd) and, as usual when visiting a cemetery, I got a fascinating insight into the local culture through the city's former residents.
So, because it is almost Halloween, I've compiled a list of my Top 10 graveyards that I have staggered about (oh, and Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. makes it into the list):
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Everyone goes to Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris to visit (and get stoned/drunk on top of) Jim Morrison's Grave. When I was a tour leader in Europe I'd have passengers who would skip seeing the sights in central Paris, so that could spend an afternoon hanging around his tomb. When I visited I spent about a minute at his grave (I'm not a big Door's fan). I was more interested in Oscar Wilde and Edith Piaf's graves. Oscar Wilde's gravestone was the most interesting. It was covered in lipstick kisses from the thousands of people who had kissed his headstone. I wonder what a very gay Oscar would have thought of all those women kissing his gravestone!
Mountaineers' Cemetery
Zermatt, Switzerland
You'd think this cemetery would turn people of attempting to climb the Matterhorn. The place is full of gravestones which tell of untimely deaths on the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Breithorn peaks. Quite a few of the memorial stones reveal the causes of accidents: an avalanche, a rockfall or falling in a crevasse. One carried a simple statement: 'I chose to climb' – although I doubt that he said that after he tumbled to his death.
Memphis, Tennesee, USA
Visiting Elvis Presley's grave was a pilgrimage for me. I'm a big fan, so after hanging out in the Jungle Room at Graceland I finished in the garden at The King's grave (where he is buried alongside his mum, dad and grandma). There are fans that take it very seriously, too – a woman standing next to me was in tears. Plenty of folk have seen his grave – earlier this year Graceland received it's 20th million visitor. Thang you very much.
Anonymous Cemetery
Near Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan
I stumbled upon this cemetery literally in the middle of nowhere. I'd arranged to stay with a family in a lone yurt in the middle of the desert and on a particularly long wander one morning I initially spotted high up on a ridge what looked like a fleet of spaceships on the moon. It was the shiny silver domes of a Muslim graveyard. When I finally scrambled up the steep incline I found hundreds of graves scattered over ten or more hills. Each grave either had a wrought-iron fence around it or was entirely caged. Most of the cages were topped with ornate metal stars or crescent moons. The actual graves looked like ant hills, with a rough chunk of wood poking out the top. And most of them featured a rather chilling photographic portrait of the deceased. It was so eerily quite that if someone (dead or alive) had pooped out from behind a grave, I would have had a heart attack right there on the spot. It was very unlikely that I would have spotted anyone, though – it is not Kyrgyz tradition for the living to frequent the graves of the dead.
British Cemetery
Normandy, France
The British Cemetery at Bayeux is the largest British cemetery in France where over 4,600 Allied soldiers (from the Second World War) are buried. There are so many gravestones, but I found one that summed up the devastating loss of a loved one best. On the tomb of British soldier AJ Cole it read: 'The dearest daddy and husband in the world. We will love you forever, darling.'
It might not be a graveyard, but over 3,300 people are buried or commemorated in Westminster Abbey. It is also a veritable who's who of famous dead people – as well as housing the tombs of Edward the Confessor, Henry V and every Tudor monarch (besides Henry VIII who is buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle), the Abbey is also home to a whole bunch of non-royal luminaries, including Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, T.S. Eliot, the Brontë sisters, Dylan Thomas, John Keats, and Geoffrey Chaucer. Winston Churchill refused to be buried here, though, because 'No-one walked over me in life, and they're not going to after death.' And it's not just a famous dead centre – since its consecration in 1065, the church has also seen the coronation of every English monarch and the celebration of 16 royal weddings.
Holy Trinity Church
Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
This year marked the 400th anniversary of the death of Willie Shakespeare. After visiting all the Shakespeare 'sites' in Stratford-upon-Avon (including his birthplace, school, wife's house and toilet) it made sense to end up where he ended up (he was also baptised in the church). Billy purchased his tomb within the church in 1605 for £440. His tomb carries no name, only a slightly disturbing warning: 'Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones.' Well, someone must have been cursed because apparently his skull was nicked from the grave 200 years ago.
Santa Cruz Cemetery
Dili, East Timor
One of the most infamous incidents during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor was the Santa Cruz Massacre. On November 12, 1991, a peaceful memorial procession to the Santa Cruz cemetery—turned pro-independence demonstration—was fired upon by Indonesian troops. More than 271 East Timorese were killed. An equal number disappeared and were believed dead. This massacre, unlike many others that occurred during the course of Indonesia's occupation, was filmed and photographed by international journalists. The subsequent fallout brought world attention to the conflict and led the way to independence. In the infamous video of the shootings, the cemetery oozed an eerie and frightening atmosphere. But when I wandered into the quiet graveyard, it couldn't have been more different. The cemetery was bursting with flowering Frangipani trees and the blossoms' sweet, melancholy fragrance hung heavily between the white and pale blue graves. It's almost impossible to fathom such cold-blooded violence when you are surrounded by such peace and beauty.
Wallis and Futuna (the two islands lie somewhere between Fiji and Samoa)
You don't often hear graveyards described this way, but the cemetery on the island of Wallis was simply gorgeous. I just happened to wander past then ended up spending an hour happily strolling around the dazzling white graves. Not only were the graves regularly whitewashed, each grave was covered with a forest of brightly coloured flowers and in between the graves lay perfectly raked clean, white sand. It was so lovely people really would be dying to get into the place.
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate is a very grand (and very spooky) Victorian Cemetery located in a rather la-di-da part of London. The older Western section of the cemetery is the most interesting part (which can only be visited by guided tour). It is an overgrown lost world of gothic architecture with moss covered angels, decaying tombs and winding pathways amongst the tall trees and vines. The most famous rotting resident is Karl Marx who is buried in the newer Eastern Section of the cemetery. There were rumours of a vampire in the cemetery in the early 1970', which must be true because I saw it in a movie (the cemetery was the filming location for 'Taste the Blood of Dracula').
Capuchin Crypt
When I was a tour leader I used to take my passengers to visit the Capuchin Crypt in Rome and tell them that it was where the cappuccino was invented. I also neglected to tell them that it was actually a tomb and when Capuchin friars die, their bones were collected and stuck all over the walls and ceilings. Each room is made of different bones. I liked the nice decorative patterns in the 'skull' room and the light fixtures made from leg bones. The passengers would freak out a little – and were disappointed that they couldn't get a cappuccino.
The 10 most exotic places to get married. A grasshopper walks into a bar…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
{{Infobox Classe navire de guerre
 | nom                     = Classe Dosan Ahn Changho
 | image                   = Jangbogo- 1464856891.jpg
 | légende                 = Maquette du Dosan Ahn Changho
 | autres noms             =
 | classe précédente       = classe Son Won-il
 | classe suivante         = ...
 | architecte              =
 | constructeurs           = Hyundai Heavy IndustriesDaewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
 | flotte                  =
 | commanditaire           =
 | début commande          =
 | période de construction = 2016-
 | période de service      = 2020-
 | nb navires construits   = 4
 | nb navires prévus       = 9
 | nb navires annulés      =
 | nb navires actifs       = 4
 | nb navires désarmés     =
 | nb navires perdus       =
 | nb navires démolis      =
 | nb navires inactifs     =
 | nb navires préservés    =
 | type                    = Sous-marin
 | longueur                =
 | largeur                 =
 | tirant d'eau            =
 | tirant d'air            =
 | pont                    =
 | déplacement             = (surface) (plongée)
 | à pleine charge         =
 | port en lourd           =
 | propulsion              = diesel-électrique
 | puissance               =
 | vitesse                 =  (surface) (plongée)
 | profondeur              =
 | blindage                =
 | armement                = *6 tubes lance-torpilles 533 mm
6 VSL
 | aéronefs                =
 | embarcations            =
 | rayon d'action          = 10 000 milles marins (50 jours)
 | électronique            = sonar
 | équipage                = 50
}}

La classe Dosan Ahn Changho (coréen :돌고래 급 잠수정), hanja :) est une classe de sous-marin d'attaque conventionnel de la marine de la République de Corée (ROKN) qui constitue la phase finale du programme sous-marin d'attaque coréen, un programme en trois phases visant à construire 27 sous-marins entre 1994 et 2029. Le sous-marin de tête Dosan Anh Changho a été lancé en 2018. Il a commencé les essais en mer en 2019 et sera prêt à être mis en service d'ici 2020.

 Historique
Cette nouvelle classe aura une version sous-marine de système de lancement vertical K-VLS( qui pourra transporter jusqu'à 10 missiles de croisière d'attaque terrestre Chonyong coréens et des missiles balistiques Hyunmoo'' lancés par sous-marin, devenant le premier sous-marin de la marine sud-coréenne d'avoir ce genre de capacité.

Il aura également de nombreuses autres améliorations par rapport à ses prédécesseurs construits avec un plus grand degré de technologie sud-coréenne, en particulier dans les derniers lots, qui comprendront des batteries lithium-ion Samsung SDI. Mesurés pour peser plus de 3.800 tonnes immergées lors d'essais en mer, ce sont les plus grands sous-marins conventionnels jamais construits par la Corée du Sud. Les navires du lot II augmenteront leur déplacement d'environ 450 tonnes (4.250 tonnes immergées), selon la  (DAPA) . [6]

Lot I de KSS-III
Le deuxième navire du premier lot a été observé en voie d'achèvement dans le chantier naval Geoje de Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering le 12 mai 2019  .

Lot II de KSS-III
Le 25 avril 2016, une séance d'audience au Congrès s'est tenue immédiatement après le lancement de la SLBM en Corée du Nord, ce qui a soulevé d'importantes questions sur les capacités sous-marines de la marine de la République de Corée pour contrer cette menace.

En réponse à la question de savoir si la Marine royale de Corée développait actuellement des capacités pour contrer la menace de missile mer-sol balistique stratégique (SLBM), le ministère a confirmé que le Lot II de KSS-III subirait un processus de refonte avant la construction (qui durera jusqu'au 30 décembre 2018) pour tenir compte de certaines mises à niveau importantes des capacités. Ces améliorations donneront aux sous-marins du Lot II de meilleures capacités à la fois pour attaquer des installations terrestres stratégiques et pour mener une guerre anti-sous-marine.

Selon la récente déclaration du DAPA, l'équipe de projet sous-marin de prochaine génération a tenu une réunion «System Functional Review» sur le sous-marin KSS-III Batch-II fin juin 2017. Grâce à cette réunion, l'équipe de projet a pu confirmer les exigences de conception de celui-ci en cours de développement avec les changements attendus du Lot II par rapport au Lot I :
 Coque allongée (environ 6 mètres)
 Augmentation des cellules VLS de 6 à 10
 Système de combat indigène et capteurs
 Moteur LiB et, éventuellement, supraconducteur à haute température (HTS) pour système de propulsion entièrement électrique intégré.

Unités

Voir aussi

Notes et références

Articles connexes
 Liste des navires de la marine de la République de Corée

Liens externes
 Classe Dosan Ahn Changho - site global security
 Site officiel de la marine de Corée du Sud
 South Korea Navy - Site hazegray.org
 Dosan Ahn Chonho-class - Site Navypedia

Classe de sous-marin
Sous-marin d'attaque conventionnel
Sous-marin de la marine de la république de Corée

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


What a memorable, eye-opening and wonderful few days in Hong Kong.
I was in Kowloon, Hong Kong from Wednesday through until Sunday helping with a international school sports tour. 70 of our young sportsmen and women versed Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong in what would be the third annual tournament of its kind.
It was such an emotional couple of days with countless triumphs, a few defeats, laughter and tears. My highlights were the basketball and netball finals - who knew a school sports game could be so gripping!? I was on the edge of my seat until our teams claimed victory in the last few minutes, resulting in a deafening roar from the rest of the students supporting.
My other highlight was during the prize giving, just as Hong Kong was announced as the overall winner. Instead of acting disappointed or groaning as most teenagers (and lets face it, most adults) would have done in not winning the gold, our teams immediately stood up to give Hong Kong a standing ovation. Completely gracious in defeat.
I think back to how I behaved aged 11-14 and I cannot even begin to compare to how these kids are. The camaraderie, sportsmanship and friendships that developed over the few days were clear to see and the students have all returned to Singapore standing that little bit taller. I was blown away by how respectful each student was throughout the trip and well they conducted themselves. It was incredible to be part of the tour and I feel so proud to work for a school who's students are such well-rounded and mature individuals.
Before the kids arrived a colleague and I had one free evening and the best part of a day to enjoy and explore Hong Kong. We caught a boat from Kowloon to the Island where we ate the most delicious dinner at the Caprice Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel. We chose 'a little bit of everything' cheese platter along with a selection of tasting wines and port.
Once our bellies were full we headed over to the Mid-Levels. The Mid-Levels is a 3km walkway/escalator system running up the side of Victoria Peak. Apparently the escalators travel downwards in the mornings to take commuters to work, and then up in the evenings to take them back again. All along the walkway are cool bars and restaurants with people spilling out of the open doors on to the street. As it's Halloween at the moment, everywhere was decked out with pumpkins, cobwebs and bats. The whole experience of Hong Kong was a far cry from Singapore. Hong Kong felt grittier, more authentic and had heaps of history and character.
The following day we pushed our hangovers to the backs of our minds and trekked for two and a half hours along the Dragon's Back Trail. The views were out of this world - with grassy mountains, the endless ocean and then the juxtaposition of skyscrapers in the distance. The sun warmed our skin and para-gliders floated around above us. It felt so far removed from the hustle and bustle of the Mid-Levels or the fresh food market we'd visited the day before.
We ended our trek at Big Wave Bay and cooled off in the sea before heading back reality - AKA, 70 tired but excited students who had just arrived at the hotel.
I've come back to work this week completely exhausted, but with a new lease of life. I learnt such a lot in the short time I was in Hong Kong and I'm going to remember those few days forever.


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New COVID Strain Associated with Mink in Denmark
Laurie Wiegler
The SARS-CoV-2 mutation seen in Danish mink seems to have emanated from humans, but transmission now goes both ways.
Over 55 million people have been infected by the COVID-19 virus as of November 2020, and about 1.3 million have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
So when a mutation of the virus was discovered in mink, it raised a new alarm.
SARS-CoV-2 variants associated with farmed mink had infected a reported 326 people in Denmark by mid-November. Those infected are between seven and 79 years of age.
Twelve of the SARS-CoV-2 patients from North Jutland, Denmark had acquired a unique variant of the virus, eight of whom had a link to the mink farming industry; four were tied to the local community. This new mutation of the novel coronavirus has been found to be moderately resistant to neutralizing antibodies. Several mink farms in Ireland have also been affected.
The news resulted in a massive culling and killing of mink in Denmark, as well as temporary restrictions on geographical mobility and school closures in North Jutland. Culling efforts across the country are being coordinated by several Danish authorities in concert with their police and Armed Forces.
Having to cull and gas animals is not an easy decision. The Danish government has offered financial incentives to farmers toward this end, yet the press is citing incidences of "botched" kills, making it unclear how many of the animals — and potential transmitters of the mutated virus — remain at large. The concern is that the mutation will reach other countries and that vaccines currently being developed will not be effective for it.
The mutation found in mink operates differently in the human body. "Transmission between humans and mink and back to humans has resulted in a potentially dangerous strain of the virus, which the current vaccines may be less effective in neutralizing," David Bar-Or, an Emergency Medicine specialist in Colorado, told TheDoctor.
Infected mink in Denmark were found to have been infected by humans, but transmission appears to work both ways.
The COVID virus is believed to be linked to bats, but its origin and intermediate host or hosts have not yet been identified. Infected mink in Denmark were found to have been infected by humans, a situation that has occurred around the world with domestic cats as well as big cats, such as infected tigers at the Bronx Zoo.
A spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) told TheDoctor in a statement: "As viruses move between human and animal populations, genetic modifications in the virus can occur, and these changes can potentially have implications for the disease in humans. This is why we follow any changes in the virus closely, and why we want to prevent any transmission between humans and animals and the changes that can result.
"What is of particular concern in Denmark is what appears to have been a continuous and easy spread of different variants of the virus from mink to humans despite attempts by the authorities to prevent and control the spread of the virus among mink farms and from mink to humans," the WHO spokeperson added
It is worrisome whenever any animal virus spills into the human population, or it appears an animal population could accelerate the spread of a virus affecting humans. As viruses move between human and animal populations, genetic modifications in the virus can occur.
These changes can be identified through whole-genome sequencing to determine the ramifications for humans, and Denmark announced that "at a national level, wide-ranging sequencing of positive tests will be initiated across the country, and targeted tracking and tracing efforts will be made to identify and curb the virus mutation in the rest of the country. The sequencing will be geared up to facilitate the sequencing of all positive tests in Denmark."
An article on transmission between humans and mink and mink and humans is published in Science. News about the transmission of the new mutation is ongoing.
Mask Power
The Other Epidemic Heading Our Way
Phony COVID Cures


A dramatic addition to one of the most sought after series in numismatics, the latest issue in the Australian Deadly and Dangerous Series has just been launched! A typically stunning example of the peerless full-colour minting techniques of The Perth Mint, this outstanding new legal tender collector coin honours one of Australia's most dangerous creatures – the Eastern Brown Snake.
The Eastern Brown Snake is fast-moving and aggressive. The venom that the Brown Snake carries is said to be the second most toxic venom of all land snakes worldwide. Considered dangerous to man, bites from this species of snake have caused death within minutes, with even a juvenile potentially delivering enough venom in a single bite to kill 20 adults. The Eastern Brown Snake grows to an average length of around 1.4 metres but has been found at 2.4 metres. Capturing the aggressiveness of this lethal reptile upon the 40.6mm flan, this flawless Silver Proof is a must-have for all colour coin collectors.


And happy mothers' day to all the mothers, mother to be, caregivers, big sisters, grandmoms, adopted moms, guardians and even the dads who had to be mothers.
So although this is not a 'Jamaica' related mailing per se, well by now you should know how I feel about mothers.
So lets salute the moms today ...it is their day!


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← Everyone's a winner, baby.
If mocking Stewart Mandel is wrong, I don't wanna be right. →
Cause for offensive line optimism?
I didn't find much in the way of surprises in Dean Legge's fall camp preview… well, except for this tidbit:
Truthfully, it's hard to know every scenario for the line because none of the spots are really locked down – besides Gates starting – and the Bulldogs are pretty deep. Georgia may be inexperienced on the line, but it is deep. Consider that Xzavier Ward is starting to look like a legit SEC tackle, and he's an afterthought.
This fall will be about the offensive line figuring out who is the best overall combination of five players on the field at one time… once that happens the Bulldogs will be able to rotate in order to keep fresh at the game goes on. Expect no less than seven linemen to get significant playing rotation this fall: Gates, Andrews, Burnette, Lee, Theus, Dantzler, Beard and Houston (?). Don't be stunned to see Ward come along. If Austin Long can stay healthy and contribute it will simply be icing on top of the cake.
Xzavier Ward as an afterthought is a pretty apt description. I don't think he's shown up on anybody's radar to this point. If it turns out he's functional, Houston gets the NCAA's blessing and Theus can make a significant contribution as a true freshman, the offensive line situation may not be as worrisome as I've thought. Although I'm still skeptical about how Andrews' size holds up over the course of an SEC season.
18 responses to "Cause for offensive line optimism?"
Don't forget about Zach DeBell as well. The kid seems to have the body type that could turn into a prototype tackle.
My thoughts exactly. Wonder why we haven't heard his name mentioned more?
Because he's too busy watching North Koreans?
Oh my gawd North Korea is in the Olympics Kim Jun Il let his people go haha
— Zach DeBell (@ZachDeBell) July 28, 2012
I'm always surprised by the stuff you dig up. 😉
There's usually a guard-type who can work at center, too if nothing else, to spell Andrews in practice…didn't we sign a center prospect?
Boss is a gamer. What he lacks in size, he more than makes up for in heart and work ethic.
If we assume that each offensive lineman on the roster has the talent and skill necessary to play SEC football, what's left?
1. Cohesiveness as a unit.
2. Knowledge of the system
3. Desire to improve/ coachability
Experience, in my opinion, is overrated…….or so I learned during the Stacy Searles era of "zone blocking".
The recipe for offensive line success……………A hat on a hat and don't stop until the whistle blows.
As a side note, I watched the replay of the 09 USCjr. game last night………..Richard Samuel brought the pain to anyone that tried to tackle him. He also fell down anytime his legs were touched. If he could learn to run behind his pads he would be a great running back.
"If he could learn to run behind his pads he would be a great running back."
True that! Time on task would help I think.
Xzavier had ACL surgery in Feb-2011, redshirted last season and was limited this spring – due to the same knee. 247Sports reported that he was expected to be limited for practice this fall for the same knee.
He may look the part, but he has a lot of ground to make up to be a contributor at tackle … Pulling for him to do it though.
has Xavier gained any weight since HS?
Wonder what's up with the knee? It's not unusual to go slowly after a repair. I don't think Lattimore was cleared for cutting and contact during his spring camp, but Lattimore's injury was some 8 months after Xzavier's surgery and he's gonna be ready. (so they say).
In HS, he was lsited at 270 and UGA lists him at 264 … So he's probably about the same …
Xzavier Ward was an outstanding lineman for Colquitt County High School. His injury has been a concern. As I recall Buck Belue and his brother are the ones who put the Dawgs coaches on his recruitment. He is a text book blocker and has solid technique.
It is my understanding another lineman out of Coquitt County High School, incoming freshman Preston Mobley, will be in Athens this fall camp. Mobley is a preferred walk-on.
Both Ward and Mobley were stellar in the classroom. Both played in a very tough region and their record in high school play off games in the GHSA highest classification speaks well for them.
For once it is good to see the Dawgs with a deep O line roster. Most of these guys look athletic, smart, quick, and "let's kick-somebodies ass off the LOS" attitude. Coach Friend has some tools and assets to work with. For me O line blocking is fun to watch. I'd like to see some O lines like the Dawgs had in '80 and '81.
Donte Williams you are the man. Thanks for kicking the ass of the news media. That was as good as a "slam-dunk". Good luck to him this season.
Must be Evil Richt setting up the rest of the league to believe this is our uncle's UGA team; weak O-line. When have we ever heard the word O-line and depth used in the same sentence IN A POSITIVE WAY? If we actually have a serviceable O-line what is the limit on what THIS team can achieve?
Oh yeah, I blame Bobo.
I've been saying the same thing as Dean about our OL since the end of last season, the lack of starts is an issue but there is talent there. The most troubling positions to me is still depth at DB, and that was before the suspensions.
Offensive line in the SEC has to be the most difficult job in college sports. When you do your job against position groups that even Pac 12 and B1G coaches admit are the best in the country (defensive front 7), your QBs, RBs and WRs get all the credit. When you get beat on a play (and you're going to get beat), you get all the blame. Yeah, I know that's stating the obvious. Bears repeating.
You said a mouthful when you wondered whether Andrew's size would hold up for an entire season. That's indeed the $64K question.
Given our strength of schedule I believe he will be fine.


I am very disappointed, have tried to contact the store, have left numerous massages and have not been able to contact anyone to get information on items. Definitely something for everyone; and the shop is well organized.
They use innovative furniture construction techniques and choose the materials carefully to deliver the superior quality products that will match with your need and budget. Riverside furniture collections include exquisite furniture for bedroom, dining room, living room, entertainment and home office. The chest arrived on time and the delivery and set up done in a professional manner. It is a very well made piece of furniture.
I get so many compliments on my new bedroom set.


I am Sienna Grace, and this shop is my adventure. I love the ocean, camping in the northwoods, the gelato in Bend, OR, music on roadtrips, and painting with watercolor. I've been an artist all my life, but bringing my art online to share with the world is a new endeavor. I believe art has an invaluable capacity to inspire and heal. So hang these pieces on your bedroom wall, give them to a friend, or let me make something special just for you. Welcome to my shop.


When we think of the values we want to pass down to our children, we also think about how those practically play out in our day to day lives as habits. It's one thing to like the idea of a value, but if it isn't something you have incorporated into your life, it won't likely get passed on to your children.
One of the values we want to pass down to our children is for them to contribute to the family. From the time our children were about eighteen months old, we found places for them to begin helping out. When our son August was three years old, one way he helped around the house was to separate the silverware. We'd get the silverware rack out of the dishwasher and set it beside the silverware tray from the drawer. It was his job to sort all the clean forks, spoons, and butter knives into the tray. Like most new things, the first few times this was an exciting experience for him. He was doing a "big boy job" and was quite proud of himself. Unfortunately for us, after about three days of doing this every morning, the fun started to wear off for him.
Having a child do something they don't want to do is not the most enjoyable experience for a parent. After day three, August did not want to sort the silverware every morning and made sure we knew about it. The fun was gone so he was done, or so he thought. For us, as parents, this "big boy job" was more than just about the silverware; it was about contribution. We want our children to contribute to our family and sorting silverware was a place we decided August would begin. His lack of interest in his new task did not deter us from making sure he continued doing it.
At first, we tried letting him pay us to do the silverware for him. That worked for about 2 days - until he ran out of the money he had saved. Then we tried having him sit in what we call the "no fun" chair until he was ready to help. (A "no fun" chair is a place a child sits when they are not choosing to be fun for others to be around.) He sat in the chair until he decided he'd rather go sort silverware than sit in the chair all day. With this idea, we found a solution which finally worked. He happily went to the chair, because in the moment, the chair seemed much more inviting than the unsorted silverware. But, after about ten minutes, he decided he'd rather tackle the silverware than sit in the chair any longer. The momentary excitement of skipping out on his job was soon dashed by the restriction of sitting in a chair all alone.
It took about a week of giving him the choice of the chair or sorting silverware, but he eventually sorted out in his mind that simply doing the silverware when he was asked was the best option. In the middle of our daily challenge with August and the silverware, it seemed like a big hassle for us to deal with the situation. At times, we were tempted to do it for him rather than push through. It definitely would have saved us time, but we knew we were investing in something bigger. We were creating something in our child that would last his lifetime. Because of this, we were willing to take a week or a month to push through the frustration and inconvenience, no matter how long it might possibly take. We weren't focused on sorting silverware; we were focused on the future. We weren't looking at the short-term hassle of whining and pushing through to be consistent; we were looking at what consistency would produce in us and in our son.
It might sound like we were just typical parents working through how to have our children help out around the house, but what we were really doing is investing in eternity. We are raising world changers in our home. We are raising children who value God, themselves, and others, and who know they have something wonderful to offer the world. One day, they are going to be contributors to society, and we want their contributions to have a positive impact on everyone they influence.
What feels like normal day-to-day life for a parent actually has a much greater impact than here and now. We, as parents, drastically impact the lives of our children. The choices and decisions we make as we raise them will echo into eternity. It's easy to forget that the here and now will touch eternity, but it will. Intentionally investing in our children while they are young is an investment that will pay off one hundred fold in the future. Intentional parenting starts every morning when our children wake up. It might be as simple as following through to have them sort the silverware, or it might be teaching them about who God is and who they are to Him. No matter how small and trivial or how large and substantial daily interactions with your child seem, they all come together to define a child who will one day become an adult in our world making decisions for themselves and impacting those around them.
What are some of the values that you are wanting to pass on to your children? How can you take some practical steps to incorporate them into your family life?


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The way we tend to compose, or hear, poetry these days
A review of 'The Odicy'
David Hadbawnik
The Odicy
by Cyrus Console
Omnidawn 2011, 88 pages, $15.95 ISBN 9781890650520
The title of Cyrus Console's book THE ODICY is a pun that references Homer's epic and Leibniz's 1710 book Théodicée, which coined the term "theodicy," a defense or vindication of God in respect to the existence of evil. As such, it immediately calls into play related, but disparate texts (and indeed, modes of discourse), as well as different cultural-historical moments. And it hints at what is perhaps a fatal overdetermination of elements at work in this book of poems. The poems are written in pentameter. They proceed in six-line stanzas, three stanzas each — except for the third section, which repeats an acrostic on the word "rainbow" — and occasional use of end-rhyme, or near-rhyme. As to theme, there is religion (especially fundamentalist fears about the apocalypse), the dangers of sugar and sugar substitutes (the cover is an image of a giant mound of sugar in a warehouse), and the "personal" odyssey of a narrator variously referred to as Tony and Anthony (and the lyric voice of same).
That's a lot; and the book, even in five sections, is not particularly long at eighty-three pages. With its formal constraints and thematic scope, it recalls long projects like Berryman's Dream Songs, Berrigan's Sonnets, perhaps even Eliot's The Waste Land or Four Quartets. But I was also reminded of W. H. Auden's 1947 book (reissued this year) The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue, written in an approximation of Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse, and exploring in six sections questions about individual identity and spirituality in an industrialized, urban world. There, as here, part of the challenge for both reader and writer is the grappling with an older verse form; there, as here, a prominent feature of the text is the way it dates itself, thematically and formally, to both distance and bring to the surface contemporary issues in the somewhat blurry lens this dating creates. Also, of course — as with any poetry that embraces constraint — another implicit challenge is to justify the need for the constraint; how does the content dovetail with form?
In the case of Auden, there was a strong history with Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse that seemingly justified his delving into it. Auden studied with arch-philologist J. R. R. Tolkien, and his early poems bear the heavy mark of alliterative rhythms. In terms of subject matter, the argument can be made that the form reflects Auden's own linguistic anxieties about transitioning from England to the United States, and the poem's theme of introspective psychological reflection in a changing, alien world certainly echoes with Old English elegies such as "The Seafarer," "The Wanderer," and "The Wife's Lament," etc. — a correspondence with postmodern lyric concerns that makes such poetry both a continuing point of fascination for contemporary poets, and woefully understudied. For Console, the touch is at once lighter and the burden heavier. That is to say, the emphasis on pentameter is not likely to be so overbearing as repetitive, alliterative stress. All the more so, because Console's pentameter is only intermittently iambic: many of the poems actually scan trochaic, with dactyls for further variation. In that sense, it is perhaps more accurate to say that Console works in syllabic verse; but that is part of the difficulty of meter in an age of printed poetry, anticipated by Pound all those years ago — it is simply not the way we tend to compose, or hear, poetry these days.
And that feeds into the burden here, which is that Console's case for the formal constraints he employs seems somewhat artificial, even arbitrary. But perhaps that's only because we've gotten so far from the high-modernist idea (to again reference Eliot and Pound) that "No verse is free for the man who wants to do a good job." Some sense of meter or at least rhythmical pattern is still, one hopes, the concern of well-trained poets determined to work with the line, which Console clearly is. If this book had come out even fifty years ago, it would be no remarkable thing that the author had pursued a more or less regular metrical line. It remains then to examine how regular, and how effective, that line is in its actual deployment.
We have no rest. Wakeful is our enemy
Neither solitude. O he is many
No dark chamber. For iniquity
Is always working. Sad irony
We barter enmity for enmity
Alone. Alone we sing close harmony
Walk away, Anthony. Walk away
Alone among the lilies of the valley
Of the shadow of mortality
On water deleterious to memory
Unaffected by renown or money
Loving every person equally
Go now, Tony. Else you got to stay,
Tony. Fix a stocking to the chimney
Decorate a tree this holiday
Artificial is the only way to fly
Walking is the best activity
In your sleep is the better way (15)
As can be seen from my amateur scansion of the above poem, from section one of THE ODICY, the meter in the poem is far from regular, though discernible patterns emerge from time to time. There is, for example, a faint overtone of the iambic in the first stanza, broken in each line by a tendency to string two unaccented syllables together — and the echoing y sounds at the end of each line practically necessitate a falling stress there, thus giving a dactylic feel to some lines ("enemy," "enmity," "harmony," etc.). In fact, the heave at the start of many lines, and the frequent use of three-syllable feet, reminds one of Gerard Manley Hopkins's rhythms, an acquired taste that, as with Hopkins, the poems will hopefully acclimatize the reader to as he or she goes along. The recurring end-sounds, sometimes rhyming, sometimes not, also exemplify the arbitrary nature of the project from a formal standpoint (there is no obvious reason for them here, and nowhere else is rhyme hinted at so overtly). In these ways, the poem demonstrates the risks and rewards of the project as a whole. The greatest risk is a tendency to swerve into a sort of formal diction and archaic lyric tone. This risk actually pays off (at least to my ear) in the above poem, since the tone set by the first two stanzas makes the sudden switch to the informally voiced "Tony. Else you got to stay / Tony" really pop out.
Therein lies the reward. But I'm left wondering if, given all the determining factors that went into the making of these poems, it's enough to sustain a reader's interest.
A great poet once told me that obsession is the key to a long poem (or series of poems). Clearly, that is the case with Cyrus Console's THE ODICY, in terms of both form and subject matter. But obsession does not guarantee success. I find myself wishing, contradictorily, that the project had been pared down in certain respects and extended in others. Section three, "THE OPHANY," with its "RAINBOW" acrostic structure, tamps down the emphasis on pentameter — there is still a strong sense of rhythm, but some lines include only eight syllables — as well as spirituality, and recalibrates to a less formal tone. Instead, the focus here is the sugar industry and big corporations such as Monsanto. This is by far the most compelling and cohesive sequence in the book, and I wanted a lot more of it.
Diane di Prima in conversation with David Hadbawnik
Against the Mainstream — Dale Smith's 'Susquehanna'
The point of contact they create


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Robert D. Gaines
Top 5 STEM Books for Kids
Top 5 STEM Books For Kids:
A Granddad's Guide to Great Books for the Curious Grandchild
By Robert D. Gaines, author of The Brave Historian and One Christmas Lasts Forever
When I was a kid, my grandmother gave me a book for Christmas. She even signed the inside cover. Naturally, I immediately tossed it aside, in a mad search for toys. But a few days later, I opened the book and was hooked. Seventy years later, I still have that copy of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Sure, I give my grandchildren cool toys. But I also send gifts that will last. My grandkids (ages 10, 8, 7) are probably a lot like yours – curious, creative, fun … and obsessed with books that spark their intelligence (often known to the modern world as STEM gifts).
Here's a short list of great books for bright kids (ages 7-12):
Legend Keepers: The Chosen One by wildlife biologist and award-winning science writer Bruce Smith (Hidden Shelf Publishing House 2021).
What's going on up there with Mountain Goats? I absolutely love this book from veteran wildlife biologist Bruce Smith. His subtle way of blending science with fiction is brilliant. Written for middle grade kids, it's a great read for all ages.
Destroy This Book in the Name of Science by Mike Barfield (Crown Books, 2018)
All successful scientists must be prepared to get their hands dirty in the pursuit of knowledge. This is cool science with activities and projects.
In the Past: From Trilobites to Dinosaurs to Mammoths in More than 500 Million Years (Candlewick, 2018).
Whether your grandchild is intrigued by dinosaurs or will someday be a paleontologist, this illumination of past creatures will capture their imagination.
The Highlights Book of Things to Do (Highlights, 2020)
"But, there's nothing to do …" No, there are hundreds of ways to build, play, experiment, craft, cook, dream, and think.
Calling All Minds by Temple Grandin (Puffin Books, 2019)
While uncovering an array of riveting scientific questions, kids will also learn that they possess the minds of the future.
Books by Robert D. Gaines:
Written by Robert D. Gaines
Robert D. Gaines was raised in California, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Even as a child, he had an obsession for recording his stray thoughts into hundreds of notebooks.
After graduating from San Diego State, Bob spent a decade as an award-winning sports columnist before moving east, eventually retiring from Bucknell University in 2012.
Bob currently resides in the beautiful mountain town of McCall, Idaho where he spends his days writing, hiking, and playing with an energetic goldendoodle, Rocky.
Writing Wrongs– How My Family's History Influenced My Novels
I learned that my fate is indeed tied up with historical moments but that writing helps me understand it and right the wrongs of the past.
I took time to write two novels both involving three-year-old boys. Ironically, the Christy Award winning novel Stars in the Grass, centers around a family and the loss of their three-year-old son.
Like many of you, I'm sweltering through a historic heatwave plaguing the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains. By July 4th, my hometown in Montana has already had more 90+ degree days than we used to have all summer. As the heat dries out forests, wildland fires will follow. We know the pattern.
National Doughnut Day
We are a doughnut loving family! I love that the popular "national days" give us the excuse to indulge in these delicious treats! What better way to celebrate this sweet holiday than sinking your teeth into a tasty tale–featuring our favorite fried delicacy of course!
Grab your favorite doughnut (and a cup of coffee) and start reading!


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The 1942 New Mexico A&M Aggies football team was an American football team that represented New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (now known as New Mexico State University) as a member of the Border Conference during the 1942 college football season.  In its third and final year under head coach Julius H. Johnston, the team compiled a 1–8 record (0–6 against conference opponents), finished in last place in the conference, and was outscored by a total of 223 to 33. The team played its home games at Quesenberry Field in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Schedule

References

New Mexico AandM Aggies
New Mexico State Aggies football seasons
New Mexico AandM Aggies football


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Here's how to tell if another woman fancies you
An LGBTQ+ relationships therapist shares the signs to look out for.
Flirting is an anxiety-inducing minefield. We all know this. But if you're someone who's attracted to women and queer people, it can feel even more confusing. Weirdly, not all LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people walk around waving a rainbow flag and wearing Dr Martens. You could be talking to some hot babe at a bar for half an hour, but totally unsure whether they're straight and just being friendly, or actually want to get into your pants.
Cosmopolitan UK spoke to psychosexual and relationships therapist, and trauma therapist Carolyn Cowan about how to tell if someone fancies you.
"I'm an out lesbian, but from my therapeutic perspective I think there's something very erotic in flirting [between two women]... more so than in heteronormative flirting," says Carolyn. "I think we have much more of a game [than when cis and straight men and women flirt]. It's such fun and that thrill of really properly chatting someone up, and wondering, 'Will they want me? Because fuck I want them'.
"One of the things that makes it difficult to tell if a woman fancies you is you don't have outwards signs like rutting male behaviour. And women play lots of different roles. You might not know someone's LGBTQ+, or they may be femme and you could make a whole load of assumptions about them and think you're looking at someone who's straight."
HEXGetty Images
So, how do know if they're interested in you? Carolyn explains there are some pretty obvious signs to look out for. She also recommends reading The Erotic Mind, by Jack Morin.
They're smiling
If they're "meeting your smile and smiling when you smile," they might be into you, Carolyn says.
They're leaning in
"Attraction is a very large amount to do with body language, closeness and leaning in," she explains. "I think there's quite often subtle touch which isn't always hands, it can be a physical leaning against you." Carolyn says this happens as someone "starts to want to physically experience the person."
She explains when someone fancies you they may also lick their lips, or watch your mouth closely.
You feel an erotic thrill
Carolyn says if there's a mutual sense of attraction, you're likely to feel an "erotic charge". She adds, "It's to do with that really intense desire to physically experience the person. But you've also got the sense of risk, in that the arousal isn't so obvious. Are you about to fuck up and make a huge mistake? That's where the thrill is."
They message you a lot
If you've met someone who fancies you, the texts might then start, she says. "'It was so lovely to see you. I hope I get to see you again soon'. There may be something you can sub read into that. They might send a message saying, 'Let's go to this queer event/club together,' and that's them inviting you into their world.
"That's them inviting you into their world"
"The woman I live with once sent me a playlist of her favourite lesbian singers. Oh my god I fantasised about the fact she might have made that playlist especially for me, and it kept me going for years. It's those small acts that show someone's interested."
They mimic your movements
Again, Carolyn says it's all about the body language. "Imagine you've got two people who are next to each other at a bar. And they're chatting facing the bartender, if one fancies the other they might open and face the other with their chest," she explains.
"That's an invitation. Like going from leaning to being open, or whispering, for example. There may also be accidental touches, like your knees touching under the table. Some people will show their attraction by being 'chivalrous' and letting the other person go first, but different queer women and people will play out different roles."
They're asking you questions
"There can be the invitation into the other person's world via conversation," Carolyn explains. "'I like this thing, what are your thoughts?' for example." If someone is paying an interest in you and asking lots of questions, that's a tell tale sign they're into you she says. "The art is to not reveal too much about yourself."
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text:
#FreeSpeech Under Attack?
by SamuelSThorp	on February 11, 2017 November 17, 2019
A friend and I went took the opportunity to attend the Durham Castle Lecture about Free Speech on Wednesday. The speaker was political historian and free-speech advocate Professor Timothy Garton Ash from Oxford. It was an interesting presentation of two main halves; systems of speech in our interconnected world, and principles for speaking freely with 'robust civility'.
He opened with two quick questions for the audience.
Is there anyone who does not think free-speech is a good and important thing? (One person put their hand up).
Does anyone not have a smartphone (magic box)? (One person didn't).
This set the stage for him to explore just how interconnected the world is becoming. His image was that we are becoming a world of neighbours in a great city. These changes are both physical, with mass migration, and virtual, with the rise of the internet in developing countries as well as in the west.
This greats a 'fantastic chance' for speech and communication, but also risks 'enormous danger'. This is a world where a fatwa from Tehran can result in attempted attacks in London and Paris, a world where a known prankster in South California releases a video called 'The Innocence of Muslims' which results in over 50 deaths in the resulting riots in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
And so the question for Timothy Garton Ash is:
How do we maximise the chances of free speech and minimise the risks?
To answer this requires understanding the significance of the paradigm shift which has happened.
The Old Way of looking at free speech was to follow the rules of the nation states and their court systems. If you travelled you would be subject to different regulations on what you could and could not say – When in Rome, as it were.
But with the Internet, the New Way of looking at it is to realise that Rome is everywhere and what is said there doesn't stay there; it spreads virtually and geographically.
Rather than just being controlled by the power of the state, he identifies four interpenetrating layers of a kind of matrix in which free speech occurs and is shaped by.
There are the international treaties and organisations.
The 'Big Dogs'.
The 'Big Cats'.
The 'Mice'.
The international treaties would include things such as the Bill of Human Rights from the EU or ICANN, which manages and deals with a lot of the stuff that makes the internet 'work' such as the Domain Name System (DNS).
The Big Dogs are the nation states rules and regulations. The First Amendment in the USA is a good example; a government regulation which maintains free speech in a particular geographical location.
The Big Cats would be companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and so on. Their influence is huge. With an impossibly large to imagine number of regular monthly users (1.9 Billion) Facebook has become a dominant force in the world of social media. Below, the Blue is Facebook.
Free Speech Debate Website
This means that for these 1.9 Billion users, much of their online speech is dictated by the Terms of Service provided by Facebook – which is enforced primarily by algorithms.
Internet Terms of Service for social media companies are often:
'non-transparent,
non-accountable, and
non-appealable'.
Timothy Garton Ash illustrated this point by referring to the story of the editor of Norwegian paper 'Aftenposten' who uploaded the iconic Vietnamese war photo of the naked girl fleeing only to have it removed as a violation of the Terms of Service. After a media outcry it was eventually restored. The question is, what about those users who don't have the platform to appeal to preserve their free speech?
Lastly, there's the Mice. And the Mice are us.
What can we do in the face of the megalithic entities and power structures?
"We can do a hell of a lot!"
Timothy Garton Ash pointed to the various successful anti-piracy campaigns such as Stop SOPA (led by individuals such as Aaron Swartz, who more than most has shown the impact that the individal can make when we communicate and organise effectively) to demonstrate his point. I would suggest that the success of the contemporary so-called 'populist' movements which have led to the success of the Brexit and Trump campaigns also demonstrate the ability of the Mice to make their voices heard.
Given these four layers which influence free-speech, then to focus simply on the Law isn't enough. There needs to be a more comprehensive approach.
This is where Timothy Garton Ash's involvement in the Free Speech Debate project comes in.
Their intention is to have transcultural (not simply inter-cultural) discussions on the nature of speech in an attempt to find some basic norms which can help create the chance of free-speech while minimising the dangers. This involves speaking around the world. Last week it was India, next week it'll be Turkey.
He says that there are two important questions:
How free should speech be?
How should free speech be?
The first is a question of 'limits' and 'boundaries' of content.
The second is a question of 'attitude' and 'conduct' of presentation.
These questions are concerned with what he calls 'the gamble of freedom', and the answer is 'Robust Civility'.
Robustness without manners can lead to violence, and manners without robustness can lead to not saying anything at all. The combination promotes a healthy respect for the other whilst enabling a genuine commitment to personal beliefs.
The Free Speech Debate presents 10 Principles to which, balanced out, they believe should help to facilitate free speech in accordance with a slightly modified version of Article 19 from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
We – all human beings – must be free and able to express ourselves, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas, regardless of frontiers.
Here 'and able' is the important distinction from Article 19, recognising the agency of the individual.
Timothy Garton Ash didn't go through each of the ten principles so they're listed below and I'd encourage you to go and have a look at them on the Free Speech Debate website.
Having outlined the structures which influence free speech and presented some key principles for how that free speech should be defined and conducted, Timothy Garton Ash then turned to how free speech is under attack.
It is here that things got interesting.
To start with he compared his experience of speaking abroad in different places five years ago and said that it has become less free to speak almost everywhere other than Burma, which is perhaps having the opposite problem of too much free speech.
Then he turned his attention to the West, and described a recent rise in Anti-liberalism which, in his view, was to a greater or lesser extent a reaction against the financial crash of 2008. It was this reaction which has developed into the fragmentation of the media, the rise of 'echo chambers' and 'fake news'. In essence, free speech is under attack from those who supported Trump, from those who supported Brexit and those who are currently supporting Le Pen (never minding that each of those three situations are distinct and that while there may be those who support all three, they are most definitely not synonymous movements). He stressed the need for a good and honest media as required for democracy. I'll return to these points shortly.
These attacks can be described as three vetos.
The Assassin's Veto
The Heckler's Veto
The "I'm offended" Veto
The first is essentially the threat of violence if someone says or does something. The natural example was that of the attack on Charlie Hebdo.
The second is the simple disruption and drowning out of the other's voice to prevent or disuade them from speaking.
The last is the idea that certain forms of speech shouldn't be allowed because someone will be offended. This was encapsulated in the PREVENT agenda which was initially supposed to tackle radicalisation of students but has been used to ban or no-platform non-violent 'extremists'. One such example was when Germaine Greer was banned from speaking at a university on feminism because of her views (which were not planned to be discussed) on transgender issues. Another would be that of not allowing Tommy Robinson to speak of his experiences in Luton.
Timothy Garton Ash affirmed the idea that safespaces and trigger warnings are helpful in limited contexts on a university campus, but stressed that you shouldn't consider the entire campus to be a safespace. More than that he argued that people like Tommy Robinson should be allowed to speak to students because they would destroy him and take him apart in the Q&As.
He concluded by returning to classical liberal values as outlined at the start and then the floor was open for questions.
Whilst I had been sitting there listening to the presentation I found that there was lots of really helpful elements which he had presented. The four layers and the ten principles with the three vetos were all interesting concepts which seemed on the whole to work well – I still need to reflect further on the rest of the ten principles and see how far I would agree with them or not. However, what had struck me through out was that Timothy Garton Ash wasn't shy about his own political views and opinions, particularly on topics such as Brexit and Trump. The way that he talked about "Fake news" and the Media made it clear that he would consider himself to be 'on their side' – something which he made clearer whilst responding to one of the earlier questions. As such I found myself sitting there wondering to what extent his free speech principles were wedded to his own political beliefs, or whether these two things were separate constructs which met naturally in him as he was the one speaking.
I did not for a moment begrudge him using his lecture to discuss his opinions in a public context, but the way that he presented his case about freedom of speech being under attack resulted in him characterising it as being under attack from 'the right'. So I asked him this question:
I applaud your commitment to trans-cultural dialogue on these topics. I wonder, however, if there's need for a trans-political dialogue as well? You've talked about echo chambers on the right, I wonder if you could talk about echo chambers on the left? For example I know many people were aghast when Brexit occurred because they hadn't seen or known anyone who would have been in favour of it on Facebook etc.
He responded partially, as he was responding to a couple of questions in a row. His response was along the lines that of course there are echo chambers on the left and that the New York Times and the Guardian had found themselves to be out of touch with the white working classes and that this was something that needs to change.
It was nice to hear an acknowledgement that there are echo chambers at the various stages of the political/ideological spectrum however there was no comment on embarking in dialogue with those of other political perspectives to discuss principles for free speech.
I've written about echo chambers on twitter before and I consciously strive to be exposed to arguments and perspectives on all sides of different issues.
One conclusion which I have come to is that Timothy Garton Ash is right when he says that democracy requires a good media. However I suspect that he would view "fake news" as stories presented by 'alternative' media sites which are then 'debunked' by 'Main Stream Media'. I would suggest that the reality is far more complex and that there have been multiple and repeated occasions where the 'Mainstream Media' makes assertions which are then demonstrated to be false. Journalistic Integrity should be a non-partisan value! That's not a counter-claim saying, "No, the left are the ones who are attacking free speech". I would suggest that free speech is not the property of either the left or the right. In the recent past it was the religious right which wanted to ban music and video games which were offensive and today it's largely speaking those on the left who want to police what can and cannot be said. Give it a decade or so and I imagine the pendulum will swing once again. I also wonder where "the media" would fit in the layers. I doubt they would be Big Dogs or Cats, but they're certainly not mice.
My friend and I walked away from the Great Hall of Durham Castle, replete with its high ceilings and larger than life portraits on the walls, having been listening to an Oxford university professor speak to a room of largely white, well educated, generally politically liberal people and wondered whether, as good as it was, this was the living embodiment of academia in its ivory towers.
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Box was founded on a simple, powerful idea: people should be able to access and share their content from anywhere. Since 2005, Box has helped more than 41 million users and 74,000 companies do just that. In fact, more than 59 percent of top Fortune 500 companies trust Box with their content.
Since becoming a customer in July 2011, Zendesk has helped scale Box's customer service through periods of explosive growth and as they've expanded support channels. In a few short years, Box's User Services team grew rapidly, now grouped into multiple tiers and providing omnichannel support by email, web form, web callback, self-service, Twitter, live chat, and phone.
Box initially implemented Zendesk Support in just two months, replacing a feature-packed but cumbersome Windows-based system that required much of the team's time and attention to support. The User Services team hoped to gain back some valuable time and better visibility into the health and life cycle of Box's varied customer base—which spans individual consumers to businesses and developers at differentiated plan levels.
"We have the responsibility to bring the voice of the customer into the organization and force the organization to respond to it," said Jon Herstein, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Box.
"This can take the form of inviting customers into Box's Silicon Valley headquarters for monthly company-wide lunches or regularly sharing customer-reported issues back to the product team to help increase customer empathy. A Customer Advisory team also serves to review groups of customers for a month at a time to reassess the support and services that Box offers.
"You have to innovate around the edges and constantly refine the offerings that you have," Herstein shared. This ongoing refinement is something the User Services team is committed to, especially as Box's use of Zendesk has naturally evolved over the years.
The team began by using Zendesk Support and Guide with integrations into SnapEngage and LiveOps/Serenova, but by 2017, the team replaced SnapEngage with Zendesk Chat.
Before the Zendesk Chat rollout, Box engaged Zendesk's professional services to review the way Zendesk was set up in the past and to look for opportunities to use newer features. As a result, by reconfiguring some of Box's queues, the team was able to begin using the SLA functionality. They also revisited their triggers and business rules to drive better routing.
"As soon as we were able to turn on SLAs for web callback, we really started to get a better measure of how we were doing in real-time," Smith said. "That was from the minute we turned on the new queues, which was a big win." The team was able to see how many callbacks weren't completed within 60 minutes and began to optimize around that to the point that missing the timeframe is now a rare occurrence.
Box's support queues are now organized by plan—free, business, and premium—which makes it much easier to provide the differentiated response times that come with each of the paid plans. "We've seen a dramatic improvement in getting the right response times and are better able to analyze our data around trends in each of those queues," Smith said.
Zendesk Support has helped scale Box's customer service through periods of explosive growth and as they've expanded channels of support.
"A big part of what came out of our services engagement was that we gained a vision for what else might come next. We walked away inspired by the things we can do. Those meetings with Zendesk set off a chain reaction and since then we've been running small, iterative projects to constantly make improvements," Smith said.
Other integrations include Salesforce, the Round Robin app from the Zendesk Apps Marketplace, as well as the Zendesk Prioritizer Chrome extension. Box's Support Engineering Team has also built a handful of custom apps leveraging the Zendesk Apps Framework to further drive agent efficiency.
Box has also developed a customer support health score that leverages Zendesk data to proactively engage customers. Additionally, Box has a custom app that provides agents with visual cues based on the customer's overall engagement and adoption of Box, which is then used to drive business rules. "Leveraging the Zendesk API in this way was incredibly simple and the result has been powerful," Herstein said.
The attention to evolving their support offerings had paid off in dividends for the User Services team at Box. Immediately after switching to Zendesk back in 2011, the team saved 20-30 seconds per ticket and saw a 15-20 percent spike in satisfaction. Since then, their CSAT has continued to climb and holds steady in the face of change. Satisfaction for business customers hovers at 90 percent, on average, and is an impressive 97 percent for Premier customers. Over the years, Box has also realized a 20 percent decrease in first response time.
Not afraid to shift channels in accordance with customer and business needs, Box is looking at its channel mix and anticipates that web callback will soon be the second largest channel, following tickets submitted via web form, which account for 35 percent of Box's 14,000 – 16,000 tickets submitted each month.


EvelineCharles Salons | Spas | Beauty MD is your Total Beauty Destination in Edmonton and Calgary. We are one of the most recognized names in the Canadian hair salon and day spa industry, providing outstanding services and products and Results Driven Beauty.
We are a full-service hair salon and day spa, offering the finest in hair cutting, colouring and styling, esthetics, massage, body treatments, laser hair removal, skin resurfacing, Botox, lip enhancements and more. In addition, we offer the exclusive EC product line, formulated for body care, hair care, hair colour, nail care, and skin care.
With 4 modern locations in Alberta, the EvelineCharles experience fulfils all senses. Whether you are looking for a day at the spa, a lunchtime Beauty MD appointment, or a trendy haircut, we offer a professional team of dedicated staff, unparalleled service, and an experience that embodies style and luxury.
Recognized internationally as a leader in the salon and spa sector, Eveline is the founder and CEO of the multi-million-dollar business – EvelineCharles Salons | Spas | Beauty MD | Academy. She is the first woman to be inducted into the Alberta Business Hall of Fame and was listed in the Top 100 of Ivey School of Business and Soctiabank Group's Canada's Most Powerful Women in 2007. Eveline was also named Marketer of the Year in 2001 by Alberta Venture Magazine, and was consistently listed in the top 50 for Profit Magazine's Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs from 2004 to 2007. Eveline has received two Global Salon Business Awards for Canadian Entrepreneurship, first in 2004 in London, England and then in 2006 in Barcelona, Spain. Throughout her 40 years in the beauty industry, Eveline Charles has been honoured for her leadership, innovation and remarkable business accomplishments. Her countless entrepreneurial awards include Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women of 2011 and Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year.
Eveline started as hairstylist in 1974, and she continued to grow her business in the following years with EvelineCharles Salons | Spas | BeautyMD, after 43 years of business she has expanded to seven locations between Edmonton and Calgary. In 2005, the first EvelineCharles Academy was opened in Edmonton, a beauty institute that that offers cosmetology, esthetics and makeup artistry courses, which is the largest in Canada. In 2010, she opened her new state of the art EvelineCharles Academy in Calgary. EvelineCharles Labs opened in 2016, manufacturing products in the personal care business. The company is now expanding into franchising and plans to franchise across Canada with the Hudson's Bay and Saks Fifth Avenue.
As President of EvelineCharles Salons | Spas | Beauty MD, Lina is responsible for conceptualizing the company vision and implementing corporate strategies to meet revenue, productivity, and profitability goals for the company's six Salons | Spas | Beauty MD, two beauty academies, a company product line, and the newly formed EC Labs. Lina is an independent leader who thrives on creative problem solving and innovation within the company. If there was one word to describe her business personality, it would be persistent. No matter what hurdles have come forth while building the EC enterprise, Lina has always had the ability to maintain the vision that has elevated EvelineCharles to the next level.
In 1995, Lina joined EvelineCharles Salons | Spas | Beauty MD working at the location level, where she was recognized as Spa Manager of the Year by Spa Management Magazine. Over the years, Lina led many departments including product development, marketing, and operations. Her comprehensive understanding of each department makes her an integral member of the executive team. As President, Lina now works in the strategic level, guiding the encapsulated and vertically integrated business and overseeing the company of 215 employees.
EvelineCharles innovative nature is driven by Lina's tenacious need to exceed the beauty industry's boundaries, which is why the company has branched into custom formula design and manufacturing through EC Labs for the health and beauty industry. Throughout the implementation of the EC Labs business model, Lina continues to work with an international team of formulators and chemists as well as with the Alberta Government, in order to diversify the Canadian export industry.
Lina assisted in the implementation of EC Academy, further vertically integrating the company. In addition to the various full-time and part-time courses that EC Academy offers, Lina envisioned bringing the beauty education online. This idea was accomplished through the EC Virtual Classroom, an online makeup course that is offered nationwide. As Lina grew up in the small town of Falher, Alberta, she saw the need for a platform that provided opportunities and education to these remote areas.


text:
Patricia Spittal
Investigator, BC Children's Hospital
Head, Division of Health in Populations, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Associate Director for Research, Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health
Academic Affiliations
Professor, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Research Theme
patricia.spittal@bcchr.ca
950 West 28th Avenue
V5Z 4H4
Globally, Indigenous leaders remain concerned about elevated rates of HIV and blood-borned infections among their young people, particularly those who use drugs and those affected by conflict. Further, addressing barriers to engagement in health care for these key populations remains an urgent global priority.
The Cedar Project involves young Indigenous people in Canada who use drugs at risk of and living with HIV and Hepatitis C. The Cango Lyec Project involves Acholi people in Northern Uganda at risk of or living with HIV in the aftermath of a long rebel-led civil war. These two CIHR-funded studies trace clear links between multigenerational cycles of distress and trauma with current impacts on risk behaviour, morbidity and mortality including HIV and other explosive epidemics. This work has been and continues to be done in full partnership with the respective communities to ensure that the research is relevant and that the findings are implemented.
Currently our team is focused on development of high-impact prevention and treatment approaches for those most adversely affected by HIV and other epidemics. These findings are expected to have significant impact on reducing health care inequities, with the ultimate aim of improving health care and outcomes in Canada and globally.
THE CANGO LYEC PROJECT
The Cango Lyec study is a CIHR-funded cohort involving 2448 conflict-affected Acholi people aged 13-49 in Northern Uganda. It was initiated by Dr. Spittal and a team of Ugandan and Canadian collaborators in response to the need for evidence addressing war-related trauma and HIV vulnerability.
A newly initiated Cango Lyec sister study focuses specifically experiences of girls and young women 13-24 years old. Girls and young women account for 71% of new HIV infections among young people in sub-Saharan Africa, with 380,000 young women newly infected each year. Lack of power, coerced first sex, early marriage, limited health services, extreme poverty, and sexual violence underpin the disproportionate burden of HIV among young women. In addition, they remain a key population experiencing multiple barriers to engagement in HIV care. Our goal is to investigate HIV vulnerability of young women in Northern Uganda and address the individual, socio-cultural, and structural factors associated with their resilience, psychological wellbeing, and barriers to engagement in HIV care. Findings will provide evidence for interventions that address HIV risk and support the strengths of young women experiencing complex adversities of war and its aftermath.
THE CEDAR PROJECT
The Cedar Project uses a community-driven approach to respond to the crises of HIV and Hepatitis C infection and contribute to the health and healing of young Indigenous people who use drugs. Since its inception, The Cedar Project Partnership, an independent body of Indigenous Elders, leaders, and health/social service experts, and researchers, has governed the entire research process. The Partnership provides protection, leadership, support, and ensures that self-determining principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession (OCAP) and Indigenous knowledges are respected. To date, we have had 14 years of continuous funding from CIHR.
We have recently initiated a new Cedar Project initiative to provide culturally-safe, strengths-based case management for the delivery of optimal Hepatitis C care and treatment among Indigenous people who use drugs in Vancouver and Prince George, British Columbia. Hepatitis C infection is a critical public health issue that disproportionately impacts Indigenous people who use drugs. Indigenous leaders, community service providers, and health experts are justifiably concerned about the complex barriers that impede Indigenous people's access to life-saving HCV treatments. Recent advances in direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapies are dramatically changing the landscape of HCV treatment, as they offer shorter treatment durations, higher rates of sustained viral response, and greater tolerability. However, improving HCV treatment uptake among Indigenous people who use drugs will require care that acknowledges the impact of colonization and historical trauma and supports strength and survival in the face of complex adversities. We anticipate that this research will make essential contributions regarding the delivery of HCV treatments among Indigenous people who use drugs in Canada, including demonstrating feasibility and informing best practices.
CIHR Project Grant (2017-2020): Designing targeted interventions to address HIV vulnerabilities and improve clinical outcomes among conflict affected adolescent girls and young women under 25 in Northern Uganda (PI: Spittal, Malamba, Muyinda, Sewankambo)
CIHR Foundation Grant (2016-2022): Reducing HIV risk, increasing access to treatment and promoting resilience in Indigenous communities in Canada and globally (PI: Schechter)
CIHR Project Grant (2016-2019): The Cedar Project: Providing culturally-safe, strengths-based case management for the delivery of optimal hepatitis C care and treatment among Indigenous people who use drugs in Vancouver and Prince George, BC (PI: Spittal, Yoshida)
UBC Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award for Service to the University and Community (2017)
Nominee, U.S. Embassy International Visitors Leadership Program on Indigenous Health (2016)
Ranked First for meritorious activity among UBC School of Population and Public Health faculty (2015)
Research Group Members
Anton Friedman, Research Assistant, Cedar Project
Kate Jongbloed, PhD Candidate, Graduate Research Assistant
Lois Luo, Master's Student
April Mazzuca, PhD Student
Margo Pearce, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Richa Sharma, Research Coordinator
David Zamar, Statistician, Cedar Project
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