text:
GDP outlook
Taxing offshore profits could fill lots of potholes
John W. Schoen	| @johnwschoen
Published 12:37 PM ET Mon, 2 Feb 2015 CNBC.com
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A staff member carries a copy of President Barack Obama's Fiscal Year 2016 Budget outside the Senate Budget Committee hearing room in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015.
To help fix America's broken highways, President Barack Obama wants to tax corporate profits held offshore.
Based on recent estimates, there's enough money to fill a lot of potholes.
The proposal is contained in the White House's latest fiscal 2016 budget, which includes a 19 percent tax on companies' future foreign earnings and a one-time 14 percent tax on the estimated $2 trillion of profits current sitting in overseas investments out of the reach of the IRS.
Under current law, corporations don't pay income tax on profits not transferred back to U.S. accounts. The money can be held offshore as long as it's classified as indefinitely invested abroad. The so-called "transition tax" would be paid on profits sitting overseas now, rather than when companies choose to being profits back home.
The pot of money parked offshore has been growing rapidly as corporate profits have recovered since the end of the Great Recession. Last year, research firm Audit Analytics found that offshore profits invested overseas nearly doubled from 2008 to 2013, based on financial filings for companies listed in the Russell 1000 index.
A separate review of financial filings by Citizens for Tax Justice found that more nearly three-quarfters of Fortune 500 companies had set up more than 7800 separate tax havens as of 2013. The 30 companies with the most money booked offshore for tax purposes operated more than 1,300 tax subsidiaries.
The money is sitting in a handful of popular destinations for U.S. companies looking to minimize their tax bill. Two-thirds of companies with tax-haven subsidiaries have set them up in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands. The list of other popular tax havens includes the Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong and Luxembourg, according the the CTR analysis.
Learn About Tableau
A separate proposal in Congress would let U.S. corporations bring their profits home by giving them a "tax holiday" that would allow companies to pay a tax rate of just 6.5 percent on corporate income held overseas instead of the current 35 percent rate.
Read MoreObama proposes $3.99T budget, rattles Republicans
The plan, offered by Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., would also target the money for highway repairs. But it would give companies five years to bring the money home and restrict how they could use the windfall, limiting payouts for executive bonuses, shareholder dividends and stock buybacks.
Proponents of a tax holiday argue that letting companies bring profits back home will spur investment and create jobs. But studies have shown that the last time Congress gave corporations a tax holiday, in 2004, the move did little to boost the economy.
Instead, companies used their overseas profit pool to better manage the earnings they reported to investors, according to a study last year by accounting experts Michaele Morrow of Northeastern University and Robert Ricketts of Texas Tech.
While the corporate tax proposal will be hotly debated in Congress, there's widespread agreement that the Highway Trust Fund is going broke. At current spending levels, the fund is expected to run dry in May, just as the summer road construction season gets underway.
Last year, Congress debated various fixes to the fund it until August, leaving state highway departments unsure of whether they'd be able to pay for projects already under construction. The stop-gap measure deployed a short-term budget gimmick that allowed companies to defer tens of billions of dollars in pension contributions. The fix was designed to boost corporate profits, and increase taxes, in the short run.
Read MoreRough road ahead for 'pension smoothing'
The Highway Trust Fund, established in 1956 to pay for construction of U.S. highways, is funded by fuel taxes—currently 18.3 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel. But the fund has been running on fumes for years as the tax—which hasn't been raised for more than 20 years—has been steadily losing ground to inflation.
show chapters
White House budget vs. Congress 6:30 AM ET Mon, 2 Feb 2015 | 02:52
Some lawmakers see the recent plunge in plump prices—down more than 40 percent since July—as a timely opportunity to raise taxes at the pump to help pay for the repair of crumbling roads and bridges.
But the idea faces long-standing opposition from both parties. Last July, a bi-partisan proposal to raise the tax gained little traction.
Read MoreGas tax impasse hampers summer road repair
Last month, House Speaker John Boehner said he doubted there were enough votes for a gas tax hike in the new Republican-controlled Congress. "I've never voted to raise the gas tax," the Ohio Republican told reporters.
John W. SchoenData Editor, CNBC Digital
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Training workshop on Dyslexia Assessment for Languages of India (Dali) will be conducted at CBCS ONSeptember 7-8, 2018. CBCS has been conducting research and outreach programs at the centre for many years including training workshops on identification of developmental disorder like dyslexia, ADHD and autism. This workshop aims to equip teachers and professionals dealing with children at risk for dyslexia to enable early identification of the conceras a child may have related to reading/writing difficulties. Pointers for remediation of dyslexia will also be discussed during the workshop. The workshop will have two components: screening and detailed assessment with discussion about the tool and hands on experience with DALI. Dali is the first standardized and validated screening and assessment tool in four Indian Languages: Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and English and is being validated in other Indian Languages DALI consists of a screening tool and the language assessment battery ofr children in grades 1-5 DALI is developed by National Brain Research centre (NBRC), Manesar, Haryana and validated at five centres in India including NBRC, CBCS, AU, Maharashtra Dyslexia Association, Mumbai, All india Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore and Dr. Shanta Vaidya Memorial Foundation, Pune. This Project was funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Abou 40 participants have registered for the workshop including teachers, Psychologists, neuropsychollgists, Counselorss, speech therapists and special educators. CBCS is also in the process of starting an outreach centre with consultancy services for children with developmental disorders and the elderly.
Students seeking admission to Dilpoma courses in Foreign languages French, Germen and Russian are required to submit their application forms in the office of the Department of English & Modern European languages from 7th September, 2018 to 17th September 2018. Application form can be downloaded from the wesite of University link given http:allduniv.ac.in/home/pages/188. First preference will be given to the students who are enrolled in AU: in the current academic year, others may be considered if seats remain vacant.
All the JRF candidates who have applied in CRET- 2018 (Education) and candidates securing 131.6 and above marks in CRET Lecel-1 examination are required to submit their synopsis along with all testimonials in the prescribed format on or before 17/09.2018 (Monday) in the office of the Department of Education.
All those Chess (Women ) players of Allahabad University and its constituent college who are interested to take part in selection and trials of Allahabad Univesity Chess (Women) team for Inter University Tournaments 2018-19 are required to report on 11.09.2018 at 10:00 AM in the office of the Sports Board, faculty of science, AU with Identity Card and latest fee receipt.
For admission in M.A./M.Sc. Geography 2018-19 1st semester the candidates having computed marks 72.50 and above for GEN, 61.20 and above for OBC categories are required to report personaly for admission with all the original and photocopy of their documents, Migration/TC, character certificate certificates of weightage and Income certificate and casts certificateand two coloured passport size photographs in geography department on 07/09/2018 at 11:00am fore noon sharp.admission will be on the basis of merit.


1) Choose the orbital diagram that represents the ground state of N.
3) Identify the element that has a ground state electronic configuration of [Kr]5s24d5.
4) Give the complete electronic configuration for oxygen.
5) How many valence electrons do the halogens possess?
6) How many valence electrons do the alkaline earth metals possess?
7) How many valence electrons do the alkali metals possess?
8) How many valence electrons do the noble gases possess?
10) Give the ground state electron configuration for F⁻.
11) Give the ground state electron configuration for the ion of Ba.
12) Identify the isoelectronic elements.
13) For a particular element, identify the species that has the smallest radius.
14) Identify the elements correctly shown by decreasing radii size.
15) Choose the statement that is TRUE.
A) Outer electrons efficiently shield one another from nuclear charge.
B) Core electrons effectively shield outer electrons from nuclear charge.
C) Valence electrons are most difficult of all electrons to remove.
D) Core electrons are the easiest of all electrons to remove.
16) Place the following in order of increasing IE1.
17) Place the following in order of decreasing IE1.
18) Place the following in order of increasing IE1.
19) Describe the reaction of the noble gases with metals.
20) Describe the reaction of the alkali metals with non-metals.


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package io.hops.metadata.hdfs.dal;

import io.hops.exception.StorageException;
import io.hops.metadata.common.EntityDataAccess;
import java.util.Collection;

public interface CacheDirectiveDataAccess<T> extends EntityDataAccess {

  T find(long key) throws StorageException;

  Collection<T> findAll() throws StorageException;

  Collection<T> findByPool(final String pool) throws StorageException;

  Collection<T> findByIdAndPool(final long id, final String pool) throws StorageException;

  void prepare(Collection<T> removed, Collection<T> modified) throws StorageException;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Пу́чка, щі́пка або дрі́бка — кількість речовини, що можна взяти трьома (рідше — двома) складеними пальцями руки; міра, яка широко використовується в кулінарії щодо сипучих речовин — солі, перцю та інших прянощів, соди, цукру, крохмалю тощо. Як правило в пучках вказують кількість необхідного інгредієнту в рецептах. Ця стародавня міра приблизна, але має достатню для кулінарії точність і використовується в багатьох кухнях світу — слов'янських, французькій, китайській, індійській.

Посилання

Кулінарія
Одиниці вимірювання кількості речовини

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


6 rooms. 8,000 sq. ft. total.
Room Service. Restaurant on Site. Complimentary Morning Newspaper. Valet/Laundry. Fitness Center. Whirlpool. Child Care Available. Bar/Lounge on Site. Pool.
HotelChannel presents hotel summary information for the Courtyard by Marriott Marina Del Rey.


PoE Injectors There are 5 products.
Plug and Show LED Indicators Simply connect the POE-TESTER to the PSE (Power Sourcing Equitment) or the RJ45 outlet and the LED will light up when it detects the PoE voltage via the UTP cable and identifies the PSE to be mid-span, end-span, or even the latest 4-pair 60-watt ultra PoE in a second.
The PLANET POE-400 is a 4-Port IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet injector hub complied with IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u and IEEE 802.3af standards. Equipped with 4 10/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet ports, the POE-400 supports full 48VDC power for any remote IEEE 802.3af powered device (PD) like Wireless LAN Access Point, IP phone, and LAN Camera.


Johnnie and Shulan have been attending North Coast since 2015. Johnnie is a retired pastor and is a caregiver and Chinese translator. Shulan likes to play tennis, travel, and hike. Johnnie likes songwriting, reading, traveling; and playing the guitar. They are involved in missions in China and go there a few times a year to train leaders in the Chinese underground church and teach Marriage and Parenting classes. Dana & Maggie have been attending North Coast since 2008. Dana is a flight attendanct and Maggie is a retired flight attendant. Dana enjoys water sports, golf, and flora and fauna.


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[media-tags media_tags="current, spokane-coeur-d-alene-living-cover" tags_compare="AND"]
Metro Talk
Local Top Five
Lead Spokane
Spokane Rising
Lilacs & Lemons
Prime Living
Woman Living
Catalyst Business
Top Professional
For whatever reason, it seems that many Spokanites have developed an unusual compulsion––especially for such a proudly "four-season" community––to loudly denounce winter, and everything that comes with it. The snow. The cold. The ice. The driving. Perhaps several years of snowfall records in the past decade have taken their toll on our region's collective psyche.
But it's worth a friendly reminder every so often that we are blessed to live in a community with such a vibrant and energetic winter season––and we should take advantage at every opportunity.
Five ski resorts beckon to winter sports enthusiasts within just a two-hour drive, and unlike the big-name resorts of Utah or Colorado, they remain accessible, with relatively inexpensive lift tickets, frequent discounts and well-developed learn-to-ski programs. This combination of abundant terrain, plentiful snowfall, and affordability prompted the skiers' magazine Powder to name Spokane one of four "next American ski towns."
If skiing or snowboarding aren't your style, we're also developing more winter-friendly infrastructure downtown. The new Riverfront Park Ice Ribbon officially opened to the public in December, and the new venue––the first of its kind on the West Coast––starts to give a sense of what might be possible when a city like ours fully embraces the winter outdoors. Outdoor art markets, outdoor concerts, outdoor performances start to become less unthinkable.
But maybe winter recreation isn't for you––you're just interested in getting through to spring.
Well, you might still be interested to hear that there's a whole movement in urban planning toward planning for cities which are livable, inviting and enjoyable during the winter months. Born in northern cities like Minneapolis and Calgary in the 1980s, we see some elements of that vision in Spokane, with our extensive skywalk system and downtown mall. These other cities also worked on ensuring public transit reliability in snow and preventing the chilly wind tunnel effect that results from some skyscrapers.
As Spokane recommits to winter––in particular by placing an innovative, yet permanent skating ribbon at one of its most prominent intersections—let's think about ways we can more properly plan the winter months into our thinking about the city.
Could we heat certain intersections and sidewalks to reduce the need for corrosive deicer and time-consuming snow removal? Are there patio and alleyway spaces which could be heated for outdoor music and events? Do we need to think more critically about the amenities we place at bus stops, when it comes to winter use?
Love the snow or hate it, it's here every year. Whether through outdoor recreation or more thoughtful planning, we might as well embrace the winter months in a thoughtful, creative way—and maybe make our city stand out more because of it.
What else can we do to inspire pride in our livable winter city?
Anthony Gill is an economic development professional and the founder of Spokane Rising, an urbanist blog focused on ways to make our city a better place to live.
5 Workouts to Try in the New Year Mixed Media

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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image width 68.7 mm image height 147.7 mm image depth 8.5 mm screen size 5.8"


We love the idea of these dog's guarding a baby's cot!
Designed by the same Danish family since 1953, Flensted combine beautiful fairy tales and children's stories with their classic simplistic design.
The mobiles are very delicate, so should be hung out of reach of small children.


Ohlogy is a team of dedicated music curators, licensing experts and music supervisors that develop comprehensive music strategies for their clients, many of whom are the world's most innovative builders, creators and leading style pioneers. With offices based in London, Stockholm and Oslo, their work can be seen and heard globally through a variety of retail concepts, advertising campaigns, events and digital content.
Sign up to receive news about Ohlogy.


Glas Cymru launches a second bid for Welsh Water with a £1.8bn offer financed wholly by debt, with debt funding provided by Citibank and Royal Bank of Scotland.Linklaters & Alliance is advising Glas Cymru. Clifford Chance is representing Citibank and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The news follows speculation that Garretts was to close its loss-making Leeds practice, as predicted in The Lawyer (23 October). The 31-fee-earner team joining DLA includes commercial and technology partner Richard Bonnar, transport partner Nick Painter and real estate partner Tim Field. For full story see The Lawyer on Monday 13 November.
HSBC Private Equity sells controlling interest in engineering product company CRP to Barclays Private Equity for £120m. HSBC Private Equity advised by DLA (Andrew Holt). Barclays Private Equity advised by Addleshaw Booth & Co (Jim Tully). Barclays Bank provided debt and capital to its private equity arm and was advised by Eversheds (Nigel Dale).


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© Photo credit: Bundesarchiv - Bild 102-15591
Adolf Hitler next to Leipzig mayor Karl Goerdeler at the laying of the foundation stone of the Richard Wagner Monument in Leipzig
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
Martin Mutschmann
NSDAP flag
NSDAP uniform (with belt)
Wilhelm List
Winifred Wagner
#Joseph Goebbels (29 October 1937)
#Joseph Goebbels (10 February 1937)
#Joseph Goebbels (10 July 1938)
#armband (20 June 1934)
#cornerstone (23 September 1933)
#Joseph Goebbels (4 April 1932)
#armband (7 August 1936)
#NSDAP uniform (with belt) (10 September 1935)
#armband (20 February 1937)
#armband (27 November 1938)
#armband (22 September 1938)
#Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (6 March 1934)


AVAILABLE> Beetle and Bus VW "Air-Cooled" engines..
"without a doubt"- that no one can build a VW air-cooled engine like I can..
You will need to deliver that engine to my shop..
Only "after" it has been disassembled will I be able to quote you a firm price..
A "Genuine VW Shop" dedicated to Classic VW & Porsche air-cooled engines..
I am a factory trained VW mechanic from the early 70's, also a self-taught machinist.
Factory tools and equipment and Factory Training..
Ive been self-employed since 1977 and have only recently put my shop back together on my country property near Comfort, Tx. I can do most machine shop services, and all engine repairs on Air-Cooled Vw's.. Bring your own parts welcome.
I build very high quality VW engines> better than the VW factory engines that were sold new..
I use new Cylinder Heads, new Pistons and Cylinders, Genuine VW connecting rods rebuilt, new Camshafts and Lifters and more.. Lots of options on High-Performance engine components.
Bosch Ignition parts and much more..
From 1600cc to 1776cc Type1/Bug Engines to 2056cc Type 4/Bus Engines.
I build every engine as though I was going to use it for myself, and I don't cut corners.
So if you're shopping for price alone- I may not be your first choice.
Because I charge at least $1500 for my labor and whatever machine work is needed..
I don't have the time or energy to accept every project that comes my way.
So the projects that I do take-on are those where the owner wants 1st class technical and mechanical repairs.. I strive to rebuild engines to a point of perfection using specific machine shop operations and procedures and precise assembly techniques- and of course quality replacement parts (all based on the customers budget).
I enjoy helping people with their projects, giving advise and making recommendations. My shop is a "hobby shop" so I make a little $$ from my labor and used parts, and I pass on all new parts on a cost basis. Also I enjoy educating people with time permitting. You can come for a visit and I will spend an hour showing you how all the pieces come together.
So for those of you who need service to your VW engine- just give me call anytime.
I am a very low-volume/one-man shop and I am over 67yrs old, so don't expect same day service. I also buy used engines. So if you have something for sale give me a call. I am located about 50 miles NW of San Antonio near Comfort TX.
Thanks for looking, Randall Brown..


text:
Aria Jasuru Hasegawa (Saitama, 29 oktober 1988) is een Japans-Iraanse voetballer die uit de voeten kan als een centraal-aanvallende middenvelder.

Carrière
Aria Jasuru Hasegawa speelde tussen 2007 en 2011 voor Yokohama F. Marinos. Hij werd in 2012 getransfereerd naar FC Tokyo, om vervolgens in 2014 een contract te tekenen bij Cerezo Osaka, ook uitkomend in de Japanse J-League.

In de zomer van 2015 maakte Aria Jasuru op 26-jarige leeftijd de overstap naar Europa door een eenjarig contract te tekenen bij de Spaanse club Real Zaragoza, een ploeg in de Segunda División.

Interlandcarrière
Omdat zijn vader uit Iran komt en zijn moeder Japanse is, kan Aria Jasuru uitkomen voor het Japans voetbalelftal of het Iraans voetbalelftal. Tot op heden is hij echter niet genoemd in (voor)selecties van Japan of Iran.

Japans voetballer


Amidst big-budget summer blockbusters like superhero sequels and a Star Wars prequel comes The Seagull, a modest period piece based on an Anton Chekov play. Don't expect this movie to set any box office records. Likely to get lost in the summer release shuffle, the incredibly esoteric but well-acted movie opens on Friday at the Cedar Lee Theatre.
The movie centers on actress Irina Arkadina (Annette Bening) and her teenage son Konstantin (Billy Howle). The kid aspires to follow in his mother's footsteps but has even loftier ambitions. He criticizes her for acting in insipid comedies and valuing popularity over artistic integrity. This makes their relationship remarkably tense, and the two constantly argue as they spend the summer together at a rural family estate.
When Konstantin directs one of his own plays, and Irina provides color commentary that undercuts it, he takes offense and storms off. She doesn't understand why he's so thin-skinned and tries to make up but to no avail.
It doesn't help that Irina has hooked up with Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll), a successful writer who also caters to popular taste. Konstantin regularly clashes with him too.
Things spiral even further out of control after Boris develops feelings for Konstantin's girlfriend Nina (Saoirse Ronan). Nina is clearly starstruck by Boris and tells him as much. He initially dismisses her, telling her that she's naïve and doesn't understand the creative process or appreciate the way that being an author can be both a blessing and a curse. Boris, in fact, regularly takes notes about Irina's family members with the hopes that he'll be able to somehow include them in his next work of fiction. Still, he's flattered that someone as young and beautiful as Nina would find him attractive, and he takes advantage of her desire to impress him.
The love triangle here becomes even more complicated as Masha (Elisabeth Moss) struggles to hide her feelings for Konstantin, who clearly doesn't feel the same way about her. Moss appropriately plays Masha, who wears black, drinks too much and regularly bursts into tears, as a tragically comic character.
As much as the movie's dialogue often feels stilted (that's simply a by product of being based on a play), the sensibilities here are so modern and feel so familiar (jealousy, unrequited love and betrayal are major themes) that they inspire a newfound appreciation of the play. While this movie isn't likely to stay in theaters too long this summer, its arrival is still quite an achievement given the number of times this play has been adapted.


text:
Q: TensorFlow training - matching results with simple one layer estimator I am new to TensorFlow but experienced at analytics.  I am attempting to reproduce in TensorFlow the performance I obtain using a legacy Neural Network trainer, comprised simply of a single hidden-layer, trained using back-prop with momentum update and a mean-squared error objective function.
Unfortunately all my attempts have thus far failed, with TensorFlow models being produced that range from being roughly "only" 10-15% inferior to my home-brewed trainer when using the canned tf.estimator.DNNClassifier, to much, much worse when I try to construct the net myself.
Can someone identify the mistakes being made in how I am calling the tool in the code below?  Using a command line input, I toggle between the "canned_dnn" and my "custom" set up
def get_classifier( model_name, cur_model_dir, feature_columns ):
    if model_name == 'canned_dnn':
        return tf.estimator.DNNClassifier( feature_columns=feature_columns,
                                           model_dir=cur_model_dir,
                                           hidden_units=[18],
                                           activation_fn=tf.nn.relu )
    elif model_name == 'custom':
        return tf.estimator.Estimator( model_fn=my_model,
                                       model_dir=cur_model_dir,
                                       params={
                                           'feature_columns': feature_columns,
                                           'n_classes': 2
                                       })
    else:
        raise RuntimeError()

def my_model(features, labels, mode, params):

    # input layer
    net = tf.feature_column.input_layer( features, params['feature_columns'] )

    # hidden layer 1
    net = tf.layers.dense(net, units=18, activation=tf.nn.relu, use_bias=True, bias_initializer=tf.zeros_initializer(), name='LEARN_1')

    # output layer computes logits
    logits = tf.layers.dense(net, params['n_classes'], activation=tf.nn.sigmoid, name='OUTPUT')

    # compute predictions
    predicted_classes = tf.argmax(logits, 1)
    if mode == tf.estimator.ModeKeys.PREDICT:
        predictions = {
            'class_ids': predicted_classes[:, tf.newaxis],
            'probabilities': tf.nn.softmax(logits),
            'logits': logits,
        }
        return tf.estimator.EstimatorSpec(mode, predictions=predictions)

    # mean squared error
    predicted_classes = tf.argmax(logits, 1)
    loss = tf.losses.mean_squared_error(labels=tf.one_hot(labels, 2), predictions=logits)

    # metrics
    # loss report
    tf.summary.scalar('loss', loss )

    # accuracy
    accuracy = tf.metrics.accuracy(labels=labels,
                                   predictions=predicted_classes,
                                   name='acc_op')

    metrics = {'accuracy': accuracy}
    tf.summary.scalar('accuracy', accuracy[1])

    # EVALUATION MODE
    if mode == tf.estimator.ModeKeys.EVAL:
        return tf.estimator.EstimatorSpec(
            mode, loss=loss, eval_metric_ops=metrics)

    # TRAINING MODE
    assert mode == tf.estimator.ModeKeys.TRAIN
    with tf.name_scope( 'OPTIMIZE' ):
        optimizer=tf.train.MomentumOptimizer(learning_rate=.02,momentum=.5)
        train_op = optimizer.minimize(loss, global_step=tf.train.get_global_step())
        return tf.estimator.EstimatorSpec(mode, loss=loss, train_op=train_op)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
My ADHD 8-year-old
I overcame a violent past, but my kid is testing my limits.
Check out this article! https://www.salon.com/2009/05/28/adhd_kid/
Cary Tennis
May 28, 2009 2:28PM (UTC)
Dear Cary,
I've always considered myself to be the kind of person who handles adversity pretty well. I grew up in a household with a crazy, violent drunk, but I eventually went away to college, got therapy (a lot of therapy) and cobbled together a nice life: good husband, two healthy kids, gainful and occasionally satisfying employment. I try to be proactive, having learned pretty early that no one's going to solve your problems for you.
But lately, I've been feeling stuck and angry about the situation with my oldest child. Our 8-year-old son is a handsome, charming, bright kid -- a character. He's also been incredibly difficult to raise, as he has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, probably some kind of disorder at the "mild" (whatever that means) end of the autism spectrum, and a learning disability. Ever since he was 2, my husband and I have put a lot of energy into getting him the help he needs -- speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, you name it. Those things have made a big difference, but he still hates school (I would too if I struggled all day long), still has moments where he screams and screams and screams at the top of his lungs in frustration, throws things at me and refuses to do basic things like put his shoes on when I really need to leave on time. Last year he got suspended for hitting his teacher, an incident that brought my depression back with a vengeance.
Let me stress that when he's under control, he's a funny, lovely kid. We've started working with a specialist about meds, but I know from my own history that it's trial and error; hit and miss -- but they can help. Some of my family members keep suggesting that this is a parenting and discipline problem -- specifically mine. In other words, if we were more firm and vigilant and took him to church, we wouldn't have these kinds of problems. This is laughable coming from people who stood idly by when I was hiding under the bed from my raging father. It's increasingly difficult not to resent my friends whose children are doing great in school and generally not giving them any problems -- at least that I know of. At a sleepover, one of my son's friends came up to me and said that my kid was going to do poorly on a state standardized test and "probably doesn't do well in school." I wanted to deck him.
I know lots of parents have it much worse. My son is physically healthy, and there's no reason to believe that he won't be able to live a productive, independent life one day. But dammit, he's got a million advantages I didn't have, not the least of which are two loving, engaged parents who don't throw crockery, sleep with guns or forget to pick him up from school because they're drunk off their ass at a bar somewhere. If I could somehow keep it together, get good grades and essentially take care of myself while battling constant anxiety and depression, why can't he just stop being a jerk? It's a ridiculous question; I know. My husband is an optimistic guy who finds great solace in his faith. Unfortunately for me, I don't think God gives a shit, assuming he exists.
I'm just trying to figure out how to reframe things in my head, because I keep trying to "fix" things and feeling dejected when my efforts fail.
I know you don't have kids, but your writing is lyrical and compassionate, and that's good enough for me. Is there a way to simply accept the situation -- even embrace and find some joy in it?
Dear Stuck,
How about this: What if you could have the visceral experience of letting your son go out of control, in a safe environment? What if you found a setting, either some vast, anonymous desert miles from anywhere, or a clinical setting where he can't break anything, and let him act out without intervening? What if you found a place where you felt safe, where your role of parent is not being judged, where the child cannot reasonably hurt himself, where your embarrassment and shame and anger at others can just be, and where you can simply feel those things as they arise and deal with them yourself, without having to control your child and correct his behavior, where you can for once just sit back and let him act out as he has to act out ... where you could even hide from him if need be, as you used to hide from your drunken, raging father? If you could, in this safe, nonjudgmental setting, feel the fear that you feel and take precautions to protect yourself, and experience the freedom of turning away from him and giving the responsibility to someone else, of trusting that in just this instance someone else is going to take control of him? Perhaps you could thereby gain some measure of peace, acceptance and detachment.
And then you could carry some of this detachment into the world with you. Having seen that even in his worst and most out-of-control, annihilation does not occur, the world goes on, he eventually calms down, maybe seeing that would give you something to believe in, something to fall back on in your day-to-day life.
In some areas of life, we can say to ourselves, well, it is not my job to control this situation. And thus we gain some acceptance and detachment. But with an 8-year-old son, you cannot simply say, well, it is not my job to control this person. It is your job to control him. Isn't it?
There lies your dilemma: True control of another person -- even your own son -- is impossible. You can set limits and boundaries and create consequences and routines and hope that he learns things. But we cannot control anyone. We cannot erase otherness; we cannot take over the console.
Many of us struggle with "control issues." We do the best we can. We try to let the other person say what they are saying or wash the dish the way they are washing it or wipe the counter the way they are wiping it and take a step back. We try just observing and we see that the dish gets washed just fine without our expert intervention and guidance. We see that the counter gets wiped just fine and we do not need to supervise. We learn to trust. We learn to back the fuck off.
The way we learn to accept these things is through experience. Yet we believe there are certain things we just cannot let go of because we have real responsibilities, like parenting. We believe there are limits to our detachment. It is often in precisely those areas in which we feel we have made so much progress -- overcoming the trauma of a violent childhood, for instance -- that we find later in life, in some metaphorical way, we are most stuck. There are reasons for this, I think, having to do with how we confuse our own selves with the selves of others.
Acceptance is a bit of a mystery. Yet there are practices that seem to bring it about. And there are rules of thumb.
Generally what we cannot accept is the thing that is right in front of us. In this case, your son is the thing that is right in front of you that you cannot accept. Why is this? Because he is nearly indistinguishable from yourself. It's a bit much for anyone to handle.
So that's my theoretical yet practical suggestion: Experience what it is like to have him completely out of control in a safe environment. See what that is like. See that no real harm comes. Experience the extremities, the edges, and feel the safety that is there when you let go of control. See that life goes on. See that no real harm will come, no shame, no recrimination. Find safety there. Carry it into the rest of your life with him.
Control issues? Sure, we've got that.
Makes a great gift. Can be personalized for the giftee of your choice. Signed first editions on sale now.
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In their classic bestseller, Grace & Forgiveness, John and Carol Arnott open up these two topics, and show us how intertwined they really are. In a world that demands justice, while promoting a perverse idea of false grace, we can only truly understand the beauty of God s grace when we understand his love towards us. Once we grasp the magnitude of his love and the reality of the grace we have been shown, then forgiveness becomes an essential, non-negotiable component of the Christian life.


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Mosquitoes that carry Zika could bring deadlier yellow fever this year
By Larry Barszewski
May 06, 2018 | 10:53 PM
Infected travelers could bring yellow fever disease to South Florida, which has the right mosquitoes for it to spread.
The Zika scare of 2016 could morph into a yellow fever panic this year if South Florida residents let down their guard when it comes to protecting themselves from disease-carrying mosquitoes.
There hasn't been a yellow fever outbreak in the United States in more than 100 years, but state health officials are concerned that a large outbreak in Brazil — and other outbreaks in South and Central America — could lead to infected travelers bringing the disease to South Florida, which has the right mosquitoes and climate for it to spread.
The disease is deadlier than the Zika virus. Zika raised alarms because many infected pregnant women gave birth to infants having microcephaly, a condition that causes abnormally small heads and developmental defects. Yellow fever can kill. Brazil reported 1,131 cases and 338 deaths attributable to yellow fever between July and March.
Most people infected with yellow fever will get symptoms so minor they won't realize they have been infected. Even for those who do notice, the symptoms such as fever, chills and headaches don't make it stand out from many other illnesses.
But for about 15 percent of the infected, the initial symptoms pass and then come back with a vengeance within a day, causing internal bleeding and jaundice — the yellowing of the skin that gives the fever its name — the failure of the liver and other organs. Of those, up to half die, usually within a week or two.
Reducing the threat
The Centers for Disease Control in March warned travelers not to go to yellow fever hotspots in Brazil unless they were vaccinated.
South Florida officials are hopeful that the stepped-up mosquito control efforts already underway here to curb Zika will help contain any potential yellow fever outbreak. Yellow fever and Zika are carried by the same Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can also transmit dengue and chikungunya.
CDC: get vaccinated for yellow fever before traveling to Brazil
By Naseem S. Miller
"If yellow fever is introduced into South Florida, and I suppose it will be, you're not going to see the same explosive outbreak we did with Zika," said Justin Stoler, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Miami who has done global health research with a focus on mosquito-borne illnesses. "There hasn't been prior exposure, but we've kept mosquito populations down, which is a good thing."
Broward County began its first truck spraying of the year April 30 to kill infant mosquitoes that are expected to multiply as the region's heavy rains increase, said Anh Ton, who oversees Broward's mosquito control efforts.
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South Florida's rainy season runs from May 15 to Oct. 15, according to the National Weather Service. The truck spraying is designed to kill mosquito larva in standing water, as opposed to aerial spraying that targets adult mosquitoes.
The Aedes aegypti doesn't travel far from where it is bred. The mosquito, one of more than 40 types in South Florida, gravitates to urban areas and can breed in as little as a bottle cap full of standing water. It bites during the daytime and not just at dusk and dawn, officials said.
Yellow fever and Zika
Yellow fever is a rare disease in the United States, with only one reported case between 2004 and 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Devastating outbreaks killed thousands in Philadelphia in 1793, in Memphis, Tenn., in 1878 and in New Orleans throughout the 19th century, among other places.
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It wasn't until 1900 that the Yellow Fever Commission formed by the U.S. military proved that the disease was spread by mosquitoes, which led to practices such as fumigation and the covering of open water cisterns where the mosquitoes bred. The last U.S. outbreak occurred in New Orleans in 1905.
Mosquitoes in crosshairs as South Florida steps up Zika fight
Zika wasn't on anyone's radar when it struck. The CDC didn't track Zika cases until the virus exploded on the scene in 2016. Infections spiked in Miami-Dade's Wynwood neighborhood, which caused the CDC to issue a travel warning for a U.S. city for the first time ever.
Most of the reported Zika cases came from travel abroad, especially in Brazil where there was a massive outbreak, but local transmissions also surfaced in 2016: 287 cases in Miami-Dade, five in Palm Beach and one in Broward, according to the state health department.
The Zika virus is still out there. Although there is no vaccine for Zika, the number of cases has reduced dramatically in the past two years as South Florida counties increased mosquito-control efforts and more people were protected because of previous exposure to the virus.
Diseases spread by ticks, mosquitoes and fleas more than tripled in the U.S.
By Lena H. Sun
Florida recorded 1,469 Zika cases in 2016, with 298 infected locally. The state numbers dropped to 265 cases in 2017, with only two locally transmitted. There have only been 30 cases and no local transmissions so far this year.
Travel hub in South Florida
South Florida is susceptible to such diseases not only because of its climate and mosquitoes, but because it is a major hub attracting visitors from throughout the Americas for education, tourism, business and commerce, said Bindu S. Mayi, an associate professor of microbiology at Nova Southeastern University.
That's why a World Health Organization report in April identified Miami as one of the global cities susceptible to the spread of yellow fever because the United States doesn't require people arriving from abroad to be vaccinated against the disease. Infected travelers arriving in South Florida could be bitten by mosquitoes here, which could then spread the disease through bites to other people.
"It was inevitable we would get these diseases," Mayi said. "It's remarkable how well we responded."
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The proliferation of a disease can be worse if it is new to an area, because there is no natural immunity, she said.
Lab-bred mosquitoes to fly near Miami to help combat Zika
"These flare-ups happen, especially when you have a large chunk of population that has never seen this virus," Mayi said. "There is nothing initially stopping the body from hosting the virus."
Most people in the U.S. haven't been vaccinated for yellow fever because it is so uncommon. With the recent Brazil outbreak and efforts there to vaccinate large portions of the population, the available supply in the U.S. is limited and the sole U.S. manufacturer doesn't expect to have more available until the end of the year.
The vaccine is being recommended for people traveling to areas known to have yellow fever. It is not recommended for everyone. The vaccine could cause worse problems for infants under nine months old, adults older than 60 and people with compromised immune systems.
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A factor that could limit South Florida's exposure to yellow fever from travelers is the size of the outbreak in Brazil. The number of cases there in recent years has been a few thousand, while Zika infected hundreds of thousands there. That means there's a much smaller pool of people with the potential for bringing the virus to the U.S., said Larry Bush, an affiliate professor of clinical biomedical sciences at Florida Atlantic University.
Dr. Lyle Petersen, the CDC's director of diseases transmitted through insect bites, also said there was low risk of a yellow fever outbreak in Florida.
"We learned with Zika, thousands of people came to the United States with Zika virus which is carried by the same mosquito — the Aedes aegypti mosquito — and only saw very limited transmission down in parts of southern Texas and in the Miami area," Petersen said in a March teleconference.
That's still not a guarantee against the disease.
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"The fact that the [Aedes aegypti] mosquito is widespread in the country, all you need is a person infected with the virus to be the source of the virus," Bush said. "Mosquito control and mosquito bite prevention with repellent is really crucial. We can't overdo it."
What is yellow fever?
Most people infected with yellow fever virus have no illness or only mild illness.
Symptoms, which usually take three to six days to appear, include the sudden onset of fever, chills, a severe headache, back pain, general body aches, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and weakness.
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About 15 percent of cases are more severe. After a brief remission of up to a day, these individuals can experience high fevers, jaundice, internal bleeding and eventually shock and multiple organ failure.
There is no specific treatment. Rest, fluids and use of pain relievers and other medications to reduce fever may relieve some symptoms. Hospitalization is recommended to provide supportive care and observation.
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Certain medications should be avoided. Those include aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen, which could increase risk of bleeding.
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Patients should avoid mosquito exposure for up to five days after the onset of fever to avoid spreading the disease to uninfected mosquitoes.
Source: Centers for Disease Control
lbarszewski@SunSentinel.com, 954-356-4556 or Twitter @lbarszewski
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text:
Home In the Church July Conferences to Elect 11 U.S. Bishops
July Conferences to Elect 11 U.S. Bishops
by The Rev. J. Richard Peck
UMNS Photo by Dean Snyder
Bishop Violet Fisher
United Methodist Bishop Alfred Johnson of N.J. tries to keep the rain out of the Rev. Violet L. Fisher's face during her service of consecration as a bishop.
UMNS Photo by Bill Norton
Bishop Paul Leeland
Bishop Marion Edwards kisses Bishop Paul Leeland upon the latter's consecration in 2008.
The attention of the denomination will be focused beginning July 18 on the jurisdictional conferences, where 11 new U.S. bishops are expected to be elected in three jurisdictions.
Like General Conference, the worldwide legislative gathering that met April 24 to May 4 in Tampa, Fla., jurisdictional conferences meet once every four years. Half the delegates will be lay people, and half will be clergy. The Book of Discipline, the denomination's lawbook, stipulates that each annual conference is entitled to send twice the number of delegates to jurisdictional conferences that it sent to General Conference. There were 606 delegates from U.S. annual conferences at the 2012 General Conference.
The Council of Bishops establishes the beginning dates for the five U.S. jurisdictional conferences. Central conferences –– groups of annual conferences in Africa, Europe and the Philippines –– follow similar procedures to elect and assign bishops; however, they do not meet at the same time, and bishops are not elected for life as they typically are in the United States.
Bishops are elected elders, and they are recommended to a particular episcopal area by a jurisdictional committee on the episcopacy comprising one lay and one clergy member from each annual conference in the jurisdiction. The assembly approves the assignments or asks the committee to go back to work. Simultaneous meetings permit the rare assignment or election of bishops across jurisdictional boundaries.
Number to be elected
Bishops must retire if they reach age 68 on or before July 1 of the year of jurisdictional conferences. They may choose to retire earlier.
General Conference approved a plan that will result in one fewer bishop in four of the five U.S. jurisdictions beginning this year.
The formula now entitles each jurisdiction with 300,000 church members or fewer to have five bishops. Jurisdictions with more than 300,000 members are entitled to one additional bishop for each 300,000 members or major fraction thereof.
The following three jurisdictions will have elections:
The Southeastern Jurisdiction already has one fewer than the formula allows; the jurisdiction will meet at Lake Junaluska, N.C., to elect five bishops replacing five retiring bishops.
The Northeastern Jurisdiction already reduced the number of bishops last quadrennium by assigning a retired bishop to one of the episcopal areas instead of electing a new bishop; the jurisdiction will meet in Charleston, W.Va., to elect three bishops to replace three retiring bishops.
The South Central Jurisdiction will meet in Oklahoma City to elect three bishops, replacing four retiring bishops. The jurisdiction could elect four if Dallas Area Bishop Earl Bledsoe were again to announce his retirement. The South Central Jurisdiction Committee on Episcopacy suggested Bledsoe retire and the bishop agreed to do so. However, on the last day of the North Texas Annual (regional) Conference, Bledsoe announced he had changed his mind.
A jurisdiction's committee on episcopacy may by a two-thirds vote place the bishop on what the Book of Discipline calls retired relation. If the committee were to take this action, Bledsoe could retire, or he could appeal to the Judicial Council, the denomination's equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before any appeal, the bishop would have to be reassigned to the area. If Judicial Council were to uphold the mandated retirement, a retired bishop likely would replace Bledsoe or the South Central College of Bishops could call for a special session of the jurisdictional conference to elect a new bishop. Don House, chair of the South Central Jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy, said the panel will meet July 16 in Oklahoma City for a hearing on Bledsoe before the opening of the conference.
Jurisdictions with no elections
The North Central Jurisdiction will honor Bishop Linda Lee on her retirement. It also will receive a request from the newly formed Dakotas-Minnesota Episcopal Area for funding of the expansion of a comprehensive high-quality video conferencing system to allow the bishop, cabinet, staff and local churches to communicate effectively over the 234,755-square-mile area, and it will nominate people to serve on the jurisdictional and general church agency boards.
The Western Jurisdiction Conference will honor host Bishop Mary Ann Swenson upon her early retirement and will nominate people to serve on jurisdictional and general church agency boards. Bishop Minerva Carcaño will deliver the episcopal address, and the assembly will focus on "extravagant hospitality" as it relates to immigrant brothers and sisters. Delegates also will continue the journey of healing relationships with indigenous peoples begun at General Conference and discuss plans for starting new churches.
There are 44 episcopal candidates now nominated in the 2012 elections. Delegates are free to vote for whomever they feel is most qualified and not bound to support their conference nominee. Each jurisdiction is allowed to establish the percentage required for election. The percentage is generally set at 60 percent of ballots cast.
The voting process differs among jurisdictions, but provision must be made for delegates to vote for people who have not been nominated or endorsed. Conferences must provide information about people who receive 10 votes or 5 percent of the votes cast on any ballot.
Most jurisdictions now use electronic voting rather than written ballots.
The number of required ballots varies from year to year. Occasionally a candidate will be elected on the first ballot, but generally several ballots are necessary. Some jurisdictions drop names of people who receive fewer than five votes. People who receive only a few votes will frequently ask supporters to vote for another candidate on a future ballot. Voting by ballot continues until someone reaches the required number of votes.
The record for lengthy elections was established in 1980 in the Western Jurisdictional Conference. In that year, the Rev. Calvin McConnell attended as chair of a Rocky Mountain Conference campaign to elect the Rev. Jamison Jones to the episcopacy. After 47 ballots, however, McConnell was elected to that office. "I hope no one ever comes near to that many ballots," McConnell told the United Methodist News Service.
The new bishop's consecration service was scheduled for 1 p.m. but, since McConnell was not elected until 5 p.m., the service was at 9 p.m., long after the other four jurisdictional conferences had adjourned. "I had to borrow a white shirt, tie and robe for the service," said the now-retired bishop.
Candidates for bishop do not have to live within the jurisdiction where they are elected. In 1984, the Rev. Leontine T.C. Kelly, who died June 28, 2012, at the age of 92, was serving as pastor of a church in Richmond, Va. –– part of the Southeastern Jurisdiction –– when she was elected bishop in the Western Jurisdiction. She flew from the Southeastern conference to the Western conference when she learned she was a leading candidate in that jurisdiction.
Bishops may be assigned to the same area for up to three quadrennia. Assignments take effect Sept.1, 2012.
A newly elected bishop may not be assigned to the episcopal area in which he or she holds membership unless two-thirds of the committee on episcopacy members decide to ignore that restriction.
In rare cases, an Inter-jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy, elected by General Conference delegates, can transfer bishops across jurisdictional lines if the bishops and the jurisdictions agree.
After the election of new bishops, each jurisdiction committee on episcopacy recommends to the jurisdictional conferences the assignment of bishops to their episcopal areas. New bishops are consecrated, not ordained. They remain elders in the denomination, but they become ordained members of the Council of Bishops instead of an annual conference.
The Rev. J. Richard Peck is a retired clergy member of the New York Annual Conference and former editor of Newscope, Circuit Rider, the International Christian Digest and the Daily Christian Advocate. He now edits UM Men magazine.
United Methodist bishops
Elsie, God bless you for your courage and faithfulness. I think the new bishops will speak out because of handful of the current active bishops are already speaking out. we clergy and laity have to speak out, too.
jeff conn more than 7 years ago
Inclusive like Jesus.
I am an 84 year old out of the closet lesbian, raised in a Methodist Episcopal family and claiming my membership as a child of God who made me. When will the rest of you realize that if any sex had occurred at Sodom it would have been gang rape not a homosexual loving act. Inhospitality and the desire to insult by gang rape (as is often done during war) has nothing to do with sexual orientation. And, by the way, your doctors and marriage counselors can tell you that some heterosexuals practice anal sex. Do we follow Jesus in ministering to all? or follow man made law? When all Bishops become prophetic we will be better followers of Creator God (Father and Mother--Wisdom), Jesus (Master Teacher), and Holy Spirit (Still Speaking).
Elsie Gauley Vega more than 7 years ago
Will the new Bishops have the courage to lead the Church on the issue of gays within United Methodism or will they leave speaking out and exerting leadership to retired Bishops which is where we seem to be?
Rev. C. Richard Cox more than 7 years ago


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SPOILER ALERT by Olivia Dade
Posted on July 22, 2021 Updated on September 6, 2021
Marcus' character on TV's most popular fantasy drama might be nuanced, intelligent, and heroic, but Marcus' public persona is anything but. Perhaps it's the vapid, dim-witted personality he projects or his seeming obsession with his own physical appearance that leads a troll to mention him in a fat-shaming tweet about a female fan's cosplay. Marcus could ignore it–that would probably be the best PR move, the least risk of exposing his true personality and alienating his fanbase–but his conscience won't let him. When complimenting the woman's physical appearance doesn't shut the troll up, he puts his money where his mouth is and asks her out to dinner.
But that turns out to be a mistake. Not because he doesn't like April–quite the contrary. April is gorgeous, funny, and intelligent. So intelligent that she instantly sees through his "pretty-boy" facade. And then comes the final nail in his coffin: it turns out that April is the fellow fan-fic writer that Marcus has developed a friendship with over the past two years. Revealing his public persona is a fake would be one thing, but revealing that he writes fan-fic under an assumed name, and that under that fan-fic handle he's criticized the scripts and the show-runners he works for–that would be career suicide, not to mention legally actionable. But now that they've finally met IRL, the chemistry they both felt on the Internet blossoms into something more than friendship, despite the fact that April still has no idea that Marcus is both personae. The longer he waits to tell April the truth, the deeper they fall in love with one another, and the less likely it seems that this relationship can possibly survive the revelation of Marcus' secrets.
I cannot squeal enthusiastically enough to do this book justice! Scientist by day, fan-fic writer by night (and sometimes also by day), April is a killer heroine, while Marcus' demigod persona on-screen only accentuates his believably human flaws IRL. This book is not-so-secretly about GoT fan-fic, and its exploration of that world is perfect. And then on top of the humor and the fan-fic community, there is some real, gutting content about fat-shaming, learning disabilities, and the far-reaching effects of parental microaggressions on the lives of their (even adult) children. Truly wonderful, and a must-read for fans of steamy contemporary romance, especially GoT/fan-fic fans/writers.
This entry was posted in Fiction, Romance.
THE SILVER BLONDE by Elizabeth Ross
SUNNY SONG WILL NEVER BE FAMOUS by Suzanne Park


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New nuclear, 3D-printed tongue, robot training and more: best of the week's news
Image credit: Reuters/Denis Balibouse
Published Friday, October 30, 2020
E&T staff pick the news from the past week that caught their eye and reflect on what these latest developments in engineering and technology mean to them. For the full story, just click on the headline.
Tim Fryer, technology editor
Brussels won't block new nuclear plants, says EU climate chief
Nuclear energy is always a tricky one for environmentalists. Decades of antipathy won't disappear just because it's low-carbon. I don't think you can view it as zero-carbon, as the power stations are such colossal building projects, and uranium mining and processing all contributes negatively to carbon budgets, but it's obviously orders of magnitude better than energy from fossil fuels. Renewables, possibly coupled with hydrogen technologies, have to be seen as a long-term solution for mankind, but we are certainly a long way from that being the complete solution. Perhaps in the UK we have the natural resources to make this a possibility, but other countries may not be so blessed with our ample supply of wind, waves and tides – although many will benefit from more sunshine.
We possibly do need that 20-40 year stop-gap to provide base loads, and that could be why nuclear will be essential. We have enough experience from around the world to ensure safety (almost) and the link between nuclear energy and nuclear weapons has becomes less of a worry. It remains eye-wateringly expensive and the projects take a huge amount of time – Hinkley C was announced in 2010, construction didn't begin until 2018 and generation won't start until 2025 at the earliest. So if it's going to be the medium-term replacement for fossil-based generation then decisions need to be made pretty quickly. At least it sounds like the EU won't stand in the way of such investments.
I'm not sure about the line in this story about Japan reopening nuclear power stations in the wake of it announcing a 'net-zero' date of 2050. I suspect that nuclear power stations are like old coal mines – once shut down then much of that mine and associated workings are lost forever; it's just not safe to reopen.
Ben Heubl, associate editor
3D-printed human tongue developed for food tests and dry mouth cures
Your tongue is important; not just the organ that serves so many functions but also the one you speak and the accent you have. Last week, I received a press release with the headline 'Yorkshire is the MOST trustworthy accent in the UK: study reveals'. The 'study', commissioned by online marketplace company Onbuy, asked 2,221 people who they trust the most and – critically - the least. I have a ginormous moral problem with polls like this, and the way the results are presented, and do judge news organisations that take the 'finding' at face value. Any use of them without explaining the problems and wider context is attention-grabbing clickbait, and no more.
If you have to think twice about what the problem is you clearly haven't experienced accent-based discrimination. I don't think the way this press release is publicised is healthy. Accent, like other demographics, is something we are virtually born with. Discrimination based on accent (or any way we speak, really) is hurting people every day. All this press release does is to reinforce a negative stereotype. Take this for instance. The OnBuy comms people write that "Birmingham (Brummie) is voted the least trustworthy accent in the UK with only 4 per cent of the votes". See what I did there? By stating a statistic I bestow it with more credibility than it deserves. I immediately encouraged you to attach a label. It's like asking Brits whether Germans are efficient. Some would agree, despite there being no evidence whatsoever that helps judging an individual.
Let's be crystal clear here. The way we speak has absolutely nothing to do with how smart we are. Even a broken foreign accent may serve no use as a proxy to judge literacy or English vocabulary. As a foreigner I have some experience with that.
The press release also states that, for the Yorkshire accent "participants often described the accent as 'intelligent' and 'calming'". Without any context, this is a disservice to the important academic work scientists do about language and discrimination. Speech expert Professor Sophie Scott at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience has discredited such polls by pointing out that when our judgements about people's attractiveness, intelligence or capability are based on their accent, then this cultural baggage we all have has the potential to become discriminatory. "The words people are using are a far better test of ability or competence than the way they are saying them," Professor Scott says.
For good reason in my view, Scott attacked these polls and the fact that they lack scientific evidence.
We have to counteract these click-baity, non-academic surveys by either ignoring them, or attacking them headfirst with ample criticism. To publicise this kind of finding as OnBuy did is appalling. The way it describes the Birmingham accent - as "even the Peaky Blinders association couldn't bump them up. Brummies come in last place" - is disgraceful. The press release does not discuss discrimination or misconception. Therefore, instead of judging accents, like OnBuy says, I advise judging the language in such press releases.
Siobhan Doyle, assistant technology editor
Machine learning accelerated with dog training technique
Dogs can learn things really quickly when properly trained, which includes being rewarded with treats and praise when they do things correctly. This interaction between an owner and their furry companion, known as positive reinforcement, has become the starting point for a new machine-learning technique created by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US. They used the same technique to teach a robot called Spot new skills, including stacking blocks. In this study, the robot was able to 'learn' in just days what would take a month using conventional approaches, suggesting that positive reinforcement could be a feasible approach for training robots for real-world tasks. This goes to show that nature is truly one of our biggest inspirations when it comes to developing more efficient and advanced technologies.
Dominic Lenton, managing editor
Crowdsourced data from motorists could help expedite road repairs
The 'citizen science' concept of using spare capacity on home computers to crunch numbers of data-hungry tasks like the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has been around for a while. There have been a few initiatives that have extended the idea to the smartphones in our pockets, which have as much processing power as a domestic PC would have had not so long ago. Now, researchers at the University of Birmingham are looking at harnessing data from the accelerometers and GPS tracking functions built into any self-respecting new phone for the practical task of spotting stretches of road that are in need of repair.
It's a great idea, particularly when the cost of assessing road quality against the benchmark of the International Roughness Index can be significant. How much better would it be if the millions spent on checking for bumps and potholes could go towards actually fixing them, if the public could be persuaded to install a simple app on the phone that all sensible drivers will have stowed in a place that's safe but out of reach?
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2005年2月19日與27日吳教授分別受到臺灣國立大學音樂研究所與世界醫學科學研究基金會和美國自然醫學研究會等多家學術團體特邀在臺灣大學大會禮堂作了兩場【 生命之樂】 音樂發表會(第二場是在第一場非常成功後被台大教職員工強列呼聲下又一次增加的活動)。Invited by Taiwan University and many other organizations, Prof. Wu successfully conducted two <Music of Life> concerts in Taiwan University. The second was added due to the great success of the first concert.
大會上吳慎用毛巾書法揭開當晚生命之樂演唱會的序幕,並將書寫的巨幅絹絲龍字贈給了:世界 醫學科學研究基金會與美國自然醫學會!由崔玖會長與周德愷董事代表兩會接納了全場散發出 久久不能消失具有丹香的巨幅龍字!Started with his famous huge Chinese calligraphy <<Dragon>>, the concert was a great success and filled with the fragrance from the "Dragon".
Mr. Shiqin Li of Taiwan Univ.highly appraised Wu's Music Healing methods. 會中受到臺灣大學校長李嗣涔先生對吳教授所研【樂先藥後】的學術理論和音樂會的療法給予高度的評價; [生命之樂]音樂發表會閉幕 時由崔玖博士對吳教授這次 來臺灣大學作學術交流期間,對他在醫學領域的高層面的研究成果及貢獻給寶島臺灣給予了高度的總結與評估;並在主席臺上她代表臺灣大學與各種學會和每一位到會的受益者向吳教授親自頒發了【亦樂亦藥】感謝狀給預褒獎!
臺灣東吳大學理學院物理學系著名物理學教授陳國鎮先生在會中他用科學的關念向人們介紹他的細胞是如何受益與吳慎【生命之樂】音樂聲波震蕩五臟的物理現象 ; Prof.Guozhen Chen,Dongwu University of Taiwan, gave speech on how his cells responded to the music waves of Wu's Music.
美國自然醫學會董事周德愷先生代表美國與臺灣自然醫學會的同仁們向吳慎在臺灣大學成功舉辦的 兩場【生命之樂】演唱會深表祝賀!吳慎教授研究的〖亦樂亦藥-樂先藥後〗的醫療哲理是服務於人 類而提高免疫功能的,他的救死扶傷的善意是讓人們遠離SARSB病毒與癌症病魔。使養生醫療的方式傳播于世人來達到以預防醫療爲目的。周德愷先生對他無私的奉獻精神與深厚的學養品德及學術的研究成果和理念給予了高度的讚賞與推崇。 Mr.Dekai Zhou,one of the board of directors of the Natural Medical Association USA, highly appraised Prof. Wu's contributions in the field, for the reason that it will prevent many diseases such as SARS.
會後又有中華民國癌症協會會長林竹松先生的肯定與讚不絕口他將大力支持和倡導人們使用吳慎【生命之樂】音樂科學性的療法,它安全可靠,無任何毒副作用,投資少見效快,它是治療醫學與預防醫學最好的首選,非常利國利民。也能爲社會培訓出一大批優秀醫療學者及專業人才 (其中包括西醫中醫等其他醫療工作者);The president of the Taiwan Cancer Association, Zusong Lin, highly appraised Prof. Wu's "Music of Life" contribution, because of its no side effects, inexpensive, and other benefits.
2000年吴慎教授受臺灣大學与多家团体的邀请,在台首次发表了【樂先藥後】的學術理論活动,在台大师生校院里引起了反响!会上受到了臺灣大學教務長李嗣涔先生對吴慎教授所研究的 【樂先藥後】的學術理論的认可与好评,对吴慎現場音樂會療法的效果給予了高度的評價. 赖女士与包翠英台湾著名影视艺人分别为大会主持人As early as year 2000, Prof. Wu was invited by Taiwan University and many organizations, presented his "Music before Medicine" theory. The theory and his healing concert was highly appraised by the high official Mr. Shiqin Li of the Taiwan University and other people.
吳慎教授在臺灣期間23日午時由聯合日報發行人王效藍女士 ,宴會陪客四星集團公司吳育美夫婦和崔玖教授,周德愷先,蔡瑞龍先生等。在王效藍女士的盛情款待中吳慎當場給發行人書寫了"真善美"三個大字,吳教授書法來表大對王效藍女士給臺灣乃至全世界華人社會做出的巨大的貢獻!又給王悌悟的太太助壽書寫了一幅長長的壽字以示敬意!Prof. Wu was treated with a very fancy dinner by Ms. Xiaolan Wang. He offered his famous Chinese calligraphy to Wang and her mother.


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Elmer Ogawa: After hours with Seattle's forgotten photographer
Posted on December 11, 2015 by Todd Matthews
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is excerpted from Elmer Ogawa: After hours with Seattle's forgotten photographer, a biography written by Tacoma Daily Index editor Todd Matthews. This is the final installment of three parts that began on Mon., Dec. 7, continued on Weds., Dec. 9, and concludes today. More information is available online at wahmee.com.
ELMER OGAWA'S SEATTLE doesn't exist anymore.
The taverns and dive bars Ogawa frequented and photographed are long gone. It's the same story for the mom-and-pop laundries, jewelers, ice cream stands, and appliance shops that Ogawa—a freelance photojournalist who was most active between the late-1940s and the early-1960s, but passed away in 1970 at age 65—photographed as a way for newspapers and magazines, such as the Northwest Times, SCENE: The Pictorial Magazine, and Pacific Citizen to tell the stories of Seattle's hardworking Asian American community. Much the same way that it is difficult to find Ogawa's friends and cohorts still alive today, many of his former haunts have also disappeared.
Tim's Tavern on Pike Street is now a gourmet cupcake shop located on the ground floor of a very modern and sophisticated condominium building. The Klondyke Cafe in Pioneer Square is now a parking lot. The building that was once home to Barney's Cafe near the corner of Seventh Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle was razed long ago, replaced by a massive city-block-sized building that includes a Hyatt Hotel, Starbucks, Cheesecake Factory, and parking garage. Perhaps Ogawa would recognize the former home of the Bamboo Inn Cafe in Chinatown. Although it looks completely different today, the address is now home to Bush Garden, a sukiyaki restaurant with a bar popular among Seattle's karaoke crowd.
Ogawa was buried at Resthaven Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery's history dates back to 1884. Perhaps most notably, it's where Seattle's first and only female mayor, Bertha Knight Landes, was buried in 1943. More than forty years after his death, I visited Ogawa's grave on a warm spring afternoon. I drove through the cemetery and toward the property's eastern boundary past a squat and weathered marble mausoleum that was built for the late and prominent attorney and judge Thomas Burke, who opposed an anti-Chinese movement in Seattle during the late 1880s and later started a railroad company. Around the sloped hillside of Veterans Memorial Cemetery, the grave sites are dotted with pristine white marble headstones and a couple imposing cannons from "Old Ironsides" sit nearby. I drove along a narrow access road that winds between towering and lushly green poplar trees and parked at the foot of a row of graves and headstones where Ogawa is buried. After a short walk over soft grass, some ten rows in from the road, I stopped at Ogawa's grave. Atop a thin, flat slab of granite, the following was inscribed on a sturdy bronze plate: † ELMER OGAWA WASHINGTON SGT CO D 58 INFANTRY WORLD WAR II NOV 9 1905 – JULY 1 1970.
But Ogawa's legacy isn't buried beneath that tombstone. His legacy is captured in the more than ten thousand photographs his brother donated to the University of Washington more than forty years ago. Whether that legacy ever becomes part of the narrative history of Seattle remains to be seen. Most people have never heard of Elmer Ogawa. His contemporaries have passed away, and his photographs have been stored in a basement at the University of Washington—overlooked, untouched, and ignored.
One person who knows Ogawa's photographs well is Nicolette Bromberg, the visual materials curator at the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. Bromberg has worked as a photographic historian and archivist for nearly thirty years. Before she was hired at the University of Washington in 2000, she was the visual materials curator at the Wisconsin Historical Society, as well as the photo archivist for the Kansas Collection at the University of Kansas. She has co-authored two books on Pacific Northwest history, including one about a group of Japanese immigrant photographers who founded a camera club during the 1920s and went on to earn national attention for documenting the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
One afternoon, I meet Bromberg in the main research room at the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. Bromberg appears every bit the archetypal historian and curator—a small woman in her sixties with curly grayish-brown hair and reading glasses—and has an almost giddy enthusiasm for helping visitors navigate the library's vast collection.
Bromberg has been fond of Ogawa ever since a colleague pointed her toward his work shortly after she first arrived at the University of Washington. She pulls up the photographs that have been digitized so far, and starts clicking through a collection of Ogawa's tavern photographs that have been uploaded to the UW Libraries Special Collection Web site.
"When he's in the bars, he's in there," Bromberg says in low tones, so as not to disturb other library visitors. "You know, there's two kinds of photography. There's outside and inside. You're either outside photographing the act of something. Or you're photographing something from within. Elmer was always photographing from within." Bromberg smiles as she thinks about Elmer tucking into a local tavern, setting his bulky camera on the bar, and ordering a cold pint of Rainier Beer. The bartender would pull pint after pint, and Elmer and his drinking buddies would kick back, tap cigarettes into ashtrays, and tell jokes and stories. At some point, Elmer would say, "Hey! Let me get a picture!" and everyone hollered, "Yeah!"
"Look at his photos," Bromberg excitedly exhales, as she continues to click through the images. "They are participating. They aren't scowling at him. Just looking at him, he must have been an effusive character. He must have just drawn people to him. Black, white, or Japanese—they're all having a good time. And he's having a good time. They're relaxed. They're not upset he's taking photographs. Maybe he was charismatic. He probably got people going when they were drinking and having a good time. He could have been an actor!"
Bromberg pauses a moment before she clicks through more pictures. She lands on a series of self-portraits.
"I've always just loved his goofiness and quirkiness," she says, giggling softly as she clicks on a photograph of Ogawa, who leans against a wall and prepares to light a cigarette with a NO SMOKING: CITY ORDINANCE sign hanging on the wall above him. It's Ogawa channeling James Dean.
Photographer Elmer Ogawa in Seattle circa 1950s. (ELMER OGAWA PHOTOGRAPH / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SPECIAL COLLECTIONS)
It's not the only example of Ogawa turning the camera on himself. He appears in scores of his own photographs alongside fellow revelers—smoking cigars, chugging frosty pints of beer, and trying his luck at a game of dice—and just as gleefully intoxicated.
An interesting "Ogawa at Work" series of four photographs taken during the 1950s shows him working as a photographer. In one picture, Ogawa stands in an empty field in front of his bulky camera, which is mounted atop the sprawled legs of a tripod. A boxy suitcase that carries his equipment lies open on the field nearby. Ogawa, whose dark, rumpled suit covers his tubby frame, prepares to load film into the camera. In the next image, Ogawa is bent at the knees, a cigarette pressed between his lips, and peering from behind the camera to set up his next shot. In a third photograph, Ogawa lies on the ground—still dressed in his suit, his black hair still slicked back like the grooves on a record—and positions the camera between the broken slats of a wooden fence. Finally, the last shot shows him standing in front of a wall of frosted glass windowpanes in what appears to be a ground-floor studio or warehouse. Soft light pours through the windows as Ogawa—now comfortably dressed in a dark short-sleeved polo-style shirt and khaki slacks, a rolled-up newspaper poking out of his back pocket—holds up one of his glossy photographs for closer inspection. Clipped to a post behind him are nine prints of his most recent photographs.
Elmer Ogawa developing photographs during the 1950s. (ELMER OGAWA PHOTOGRAPH / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LIBRARIES SPECIAL COLLECTIONS)
Bromberg continues to sift through Ogawa's work, landing on more self-portraits. There is a studio-quality photo of Ogawa: clean-shaven, hair combed, and wearing a gray suit, gracefully leaning in toward the camera. Two 1956 prints show Ogawa dressed as some sort of private detective straight out of a pulp crime novel (fedora, heavy trench coat, neatly trimmed mustache) and holding a camera near his face as he waits for the next surreptitious shot. Another photograph presents Ogawa curled up on a sofa, dressed in dark pinstriped slacks and a long-sleeved dress shirt, presumably napping, yet holding a drink in his left hand. And, finally, a candid shot displays Ogawa in what appears to be an intense conversation at a pay phone at one of the local bars, waving his right hand, cupping the earpiece with his left hand, and speaking into the phone's snoutlike microphone.
Typically, Ogawa made little effort to hide the fact that he was taking a picture of himself. There's almost always a conspicuous cord snaking its way from the camera to one of Ogawa's hands so that he can click the shutter. But that element is missing from most of these self-portraits. It's not clear who the photographer was.
Most of Ogawa's self-portraits as a photographer are refined and carefully crafted—attired in a clean suit, hair neatly combed, carefully setting up his next shot, and thoughtfully considering each photograph he developed. A 1952 self-portrait working his "day job" as a boilermaker in Seattle's industrial yards was just as carefully composed. In one image, Ogawa appears sweaty and tired and grease stained, a clean white cigarette dangling between his lips. He wears grimy coveralls, a white T-shirt visible from behind the dirty fabric, and a small cap with an upturned visor. Beside him is a massive eight-ton, cast-iron metal shearing machine with a "CINCINNATI" logo stamped on its side. The machine is imposing and looks like it could do some real damage at the hands of an amateur. Indeed, a large, dented sign posted to the side of the machine reads, "See your foreman before shearing stainless or other alloys."
Bromberg has studied photographs for decades, and written books and articles about some of the most prominent photographers in the United States. But I had a sense that there was something about Ogawa's lack of artistic pedigree and abundance of DIY spirit that she appreciated in his work. It was almost like comparing a classical orchestra performing in the finest concert hall to a jazz trio ripping it up in the corner of a run-down coffee shop.
In spring of 2008, the University of Washington Libraries devoted a page of its quarterly newsletter to announce a call for donations. "Your help is needed to preserve a collection of unique photographs documenting Seattle life and communities," read the announcement, which included two classic, warm Ogawa photographs: five Caucasian and Asian American teenagers wearing blazers, collared shirts, and khaki pants, hoisting a youth league football trophy during a banquet dinner in 1954; and a Japanese American man, Joe Nam Kun, posing with his wife and two daughters in their Seattle living room in December 1952. "Many of [Elmer] Ogawa's negatives have vinegar syndrome, meaning that the negatives have buckled and the emulsions have begun to bubble and curl so they can no longer be printed. Please help to preserve Elmer Ogawa's photographs. With your support, we can save this important collection documenting the individuals and communities who have helped to shape Seattle's history."
During my visit with Bromberg, I asked if any progress had been made to save his photographs. The only way she knows how to answer that question is to take me on a tour. Bromberg leads me away from the main research room and down a short and dimly lit hallway, where she swipes a key card and pushes open a heavy door to reveal a behind-the-scenes look at Special Collections—a room that appears to stretch out endlessly with islands of low desks piled high with archived boxes, binders, and computer terminals. We zigzag between desks for a bit before arriving at a far corner of the room in front of a cheap, aluminum-framed bookcase whose five shelves sag with the weight of Ogawa's loosely boxed and uncategorized negatives. Some negatives are filed in small shoe-box-sized cases, the way a young boy might file his baseball cards. Other negatives consist of thirty-five-millimeter film loosely coiled on bulk-loaded rolls, like old movie reels, now barely protected by their dented and damaged tin cases.
In total, there are just over eleven thousand Ogawa negatives here; just over one thousand have been lost to acetate deterioration. "There's probably more by now because they are going fast," Bromberg tells me as she begins to open boxes and hold negatives up to a bank of overhead lights to check their images. "Here's one of him in a bar, of course, holding a puppy," she says, peering into the translucent film. The damaged negatives are bubbled and curled, and Bromberg encourages me to smell some of them for that sour, potent signature whiff of vinegar that gives this type of deterioration its namesake "vinegar syndrome." The damage vinegar syndrome afflicts on film—cracking brittleness, buckling, shrinking, and bubbling—can't be undone, and leaves negatives looking like blistered scales.
Beyond the physical damage, there is a fair amount of organizational chaos. You might find a cache of Ogawa's negatives clearly labeled and in chronological order until, suddenly, they're not. "We have a lot of work to do," Bromberg explains. "We would need to go through the negatives and identify them." That's one reason Ogawa's work has been overlooked and ignored by Seattle historians—it's never really been accessible. "I've been working here twelve years and the problem with Elmer's photo collection was that you couldn't get to it because it had never been worked on," Bromberg adds. "It was just the negatives in boxes. Really, you couldn't use it."
Like most archive projects, this one boils down to time and money. The call for donations in 2008 brought in a single check for one hundred dollars. The library was awarded a grant for $500, which helped to organize and label negatives and prints. Bromberg landed another grant for $20,000 to work on the photo collections of Ogawa and two other photographers. The money was used to put scores of Ogawa's negatives in protective sleeves as well as to print some of the film.
Lately, University of Washington students have worked to digitize the images whenever time allows. Seated at workstations equipped with computers and scanners, students open boxes and leaf through photographs, looking for the more interesting photographs that might appeal to a broad audience. After each photograph is scanned, students type in whatever information they can find—date of the photograph, where the photograph was taken, or what kind of event the photograph depicts (usually found on the negative sleeve)—and upload the information to the Web.
"We will not put up all the photos because there are about twelve thousand and some are similar views of the same thing or completely unidentifiable," Bromberg explains. "Someday, we will get a finding aid done for the collection. The finding aid will describe all of the images in the collection, and have hyperlinks to all the photographs that are digitized. That is, if we get a grant or some funding to help get it done."
At the end of our meeting, Bromberg pauses to reflect on Ogawa. "His photos are interesting," she says. "They have this kind of cool feel to them. I just love them."
Perhaps one day more people in Seattle will love them too.
Customers crowd into a booth at the Banquet Tavern near Seattle's Chinatown in 1955. Ogawa's photographs are posted on the wall above the booths. (ELMER OGAWA PHOTOGRAPH / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SPECIAL COLLECTIONS)
Todd Matthews is editor of the Tacoma Daily Index, an award-winning journalist, and the author of several books. His journalism is collected online at wahmee.com.


I had over 75 nights at Starwood properties each of the last two years, several of them at a Westin, yet I had no idea that they offered a New Balance lending program until a trip to the Westin Dublin a few weeks ago. The program has been in the trial phase at select properties since late 2010 but is set to be rolled out brand-wide over the next few months.
At the Dublin property the service was being tested at a charge of five Euro or alternatively could be selected as one of the Platinum welcome gifts. The New Balance gear included a pair of sneakers, a moisture tech tee, shorts, and new socks. So, what are your thoughts on borrowing workout clothes (yes, they are washed of course)? My gym shorts and tees don't take up that much room so I don't know that I plan to utilize the service, but it is nice to know that it's there if I forget something.
You can see a sample of the gear here. There is not yet a detailed listing of properties with the service, though some properties that do have it reflect so on their website, like the Westin St. John.
Reader Question – SPG AMEX or Chase Sapphire Card for Starwood Stays?
I saw this offer recently at the Westin Market St in San Francisco. My first thought was "oh cool…" quickly followed by "I don't want to wear shoes someone else has sweated in, even with new socks". Ewwww.
@Kristina – Haha, i had the same thoughts, though was relieved to see that the program was so new that the gear was still packaged!
Thx for the info. Cool concept. I also was thinking if I want to wear things strangers wore.
Fairmont gives this benefit by addidas free to their platinum, this way it should be for SPG plantinum plus get another amenity.
@udontknow – Agree, i believe some Westin properties are including this in addition to a normal benefit while others are making it the benefit.
Tks but NO Tks!!!! One can say that towels and bed linens are also used by someone else and washed so you can reuse them again. However, washed used gym clothes it is kind of going too far for my taste. How about pillows? I always think about those since they are not washed and by just changing the pillow sham does not make the smell or sweat go away.
@Santastico – Agree with you on the sweat/smell for pillows… hopefully there's other protection that we don't know about. I know several brands are using pillow and mattress protectors now, though you could argue that they too would be exposed.
@ Dan great post! I'm following now, thanks again.


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