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Home Books UK Book Reviews Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi: Medical Grade Music – book review
Books UK
Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi: Medical Grade Music – book review
Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi : Medical Grade Music
White Rabbit Press (link to buy)
The story of one of alternative music's oddest of couples is chronicled in this wonderful double autobiography. It's also a great primer on music that falls outside of the Great Punk Rock War narrative and reveals a golden musical seam among the greatcoats, gloom and grease of the early 1970s. Something Steve Davis stumbles upon by dint of being born at the right time, while his erstwhile colleague spends the early 90's chasing the same vision by skirting the more outré borders and meagre pickings of the early Britpop era with only industrial quantities of LSD to help him see in the dark.
What makes the book work as well as it does are the distinctive voices of both of the protagonists. Davis writes as a working class savant, in one sense inarticulate, or at least unconfident with his own writing, but someone with an uncanny ability to almost effortlessly pick up skills, influences and connections between the people and things that surround him. In an egoless way, he seems to excel at everything he turns his hand to and doesn't find this in any way remarkable. Dominating snooker for over a decade, building modular synthesisers, promoting legendary Kobaïan band Magma's comeback tour, becoming one of the most innovative and eclectic DJ's on the scene; all in a days work. His fame was born of the Thatcher era and all of his successes seem to bear out her philosophy, it just takes a little inspiration and effort and you can be who and what you want to be. In Steve Davis land it seems this is still true, no matter how abstract and avant-garde your aspirations.
While Davis seems enmeshed in British culture to the point of camouflage, Kavus Torabi is a born outsider. The son of a Persian doctor and nurse, and born in Tehran, he seems estranged and adrift from the world around him during his first years in the UK until a mystical vision of The Stray Cats ("arch, deliberate and correct") on Top Of The Pops in 1980 sent him on a lifelong quest for freak perfection, that psychedelic sweet spot, the endless Now. This of course would lead him away from the well-meaning but conventional ambitions of his parents to find obscurity in a succession of ill-fated, if musically adventurous bands until a haphazard blend of accident and acid drove him into the loving, if somewhat stingy, arms of his late heroes Dr Tim Smith of Cardiacs and Daevid Allen of Gong, and eventually into the orbit of Mr Interesting himself.
Whereas Davis seems, at least initially, a little stilted in his recollections, Kavus has a charming and scattershot knack with a narrative which drives his tale along at a belting pace, and a special talent for describing his formative influences: has there ever been a better description of a typical Iron maiden lyric than: "Steve Harris' eagerness to cram in lists of historical facts meant his lyrics scanned in an awkward way, giving the songs a three legged feel. When not documenting specific wars, or war in general, they usually took their title from a book, or more often than not a film, heavy handedly retelling the story while repeating the title over and over in lieu of a proper chorus"
While Kavus' musical journey lurches wide-eyed from epiphany to epiphany, from Maiden to Voivod and eventually to Cardiacs "being shown a film of every dream in glorious technicolour… it was all things. It was life itself" Davis' strength is in the incredible and, let's face it, utterly surprising breadth and depth of the music that he immerses himself in from an early age, without seemingly thinking too deeply about it (or anything!) at all.
From the outer edges of progressive rock in his youth, following the likes of Gentle Giant and Magma, and on into the realms of experimental modern composition, free jazz, developing a daedal insight into the relationships between all of the main protagonists of serious modern music over the last fifty years or so. Davis' contributions to the book touch on so many transcendent obscurities, dropped in in such a naturalistic and uncontrived way, that you get a feel for the unbound and borderless ethos that informed the best of the early 70's era and beyond.
Here, as in his DJ sets, there are no categorisations of taste and type, just whatever fits and has meaning in context, like where he describes dropping Charles Hayward's (of post-prog outfit This Heat) "Speculative Fiction" into a dance tent set at the right point, somehow avoiding incongruity, and getting everyone bouncing along with the rest of it. When I saw him doing a solo DJ set, at one point he was playing bursts of Philip Glass over an angular techno track, not even roughly in time, simply because, from the vaguely engaged look on his face, he enjoyed really the obtuse noise it made. There is no better approach to music than that.
Kavus' grand lysergic musical odyssey, or at least the first act of it, starts in triumph, joining two of his favourite bands and ends with the illness and death of his mentors Smith and Allen in a relatively short space of time, both in quite protracted and awful circumstances. You can feel the pain in the writing at that point, especially with Tim Smith, who he helped care for after a series of heart attacks and strokes left him paralysed, pain but still awe, describing him beautifully as "A magician who enchanted me into his orbit from 200 miles away, who gifted me the adventure of a lifetime"
His redemption comes, to a large extent, through his friendship with Davis, who he met at a Magma concert in 2006 (via his more extrovert wife!) and with whom he has forged a superficially strange, but incredibly loving and creative rapport ever since. Likewise, Torabi opened up a world to the snooker player that he'd only previously observed as an outsider and invited him to participate in it. As Kavus struggled with Tim Smith's illness and Davis with what he was going to do following the death of his father – whose approval seems to have been his professional motivation – and as his proficiency on the baize declined, they supported each other and scoped new vistas for the future.
From here on in, the book becomes more of a conversation and a collaboration, the chronicle of more recent adventures and misadventures undertaken as latter day Freak Brothers, from their Interesting Alternative radio programme for Phoenix FM ("Zeuhl, Rock In Opposition, Avant-Progressive and all stops to the dark side!"), to their joint DJing sets at Bloc, Glastonbury and other festivals, to their arc de triumph, their band The Utopia Strong with Mike York of Coil. Once again, Davis just "has a go" and comes up trumps, quickly learning to build and play modular synthesizers and creating a series of completely improvised albums and live performances of twisted yet accessible instrumental music. Onward!
Theirs is one of the great unlikely bromances, and their enthusiasm for the music that they champion, as fans, curators and creators fizz off the page with the kind of dilated, white knuckle spirit of adventure that created it in the first place. This is a trip into a parallel musical universe and a great primer in the kind of ambitious music that the more conservative punk/pop/rock narratives tend to dismiss. More than this though, it's a roadmap on how to follow your dreams (and trips) to their illogical conclusions and a paean to friendship, and a rollicking read.
All words by Paul Stevens – Author profile here
medical grade music
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Web developer and poet based in Manchester UK. Big fan of the prog. Punk rock denier.


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History never retreats
By Mervyn Bendle - posted Thursday, 27 July 2006 Sign Up for free e-mail updates!
An Australian historian once said: "When people act in the present, they look on the past in creating the future." And indeed identity - personal, national, cultural and religious - is one of the key dynamics shaping global politics, and a sense of identity arises from history.
As a nation, we simply cannot afford the luxury of wallowing in the sludge of self-imposed confusion, doubt, guilt and apologetics. Neither should we continue to entertain the postmodernist fallacy that the time of grand narratives has passed and that we are somehow liberated if we have no sense of who we are, where we come from, what we stand for and where we are seeking to go as a nation.
As a young teacher recently said to me: "The process of stripping away the legitimacy of all major social institutions seems almost complete. Students have been trained to distrust any claim to knowledge or authority. They've been trained to think that being left in ignorance is some form of liberation from oppressive forces. It's not as if it's some sort of conspiracy, it's just the way the system works."
Which is why the Federal Government's sponsorship of the history summit on August 17 in Canberra is such a good idea. Not only is a comprehensive knowledge of history essential for a sense of national identity, it is also essential for students seeking a broad education.
Many first-year university students are frustrated and even angry when they realise they have been cheated at school and denied the essential knowledge they need to comprehend the world. They resent not knowing about important historical events, such as the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the industrial, scientific and communication revolutions.
Much of the debate focuses on (the teaching of) Australian history and this is understandable given the appalling state into which it has degenerated. As it stands, school students are exposed to many loosely related themes and fragments of their national history, and they are likely to arrive at university with some basic knowledge of a range of fairly obvious themes: Aboriginal history, convicts, gold discoveries, Gallipoli, the role of women, immigration and so on.
Regrettably, this knowledge is loosely integrated and presented within a moralising framework, so students know only too well how they are expected to morally evaluate such themes, what they should and shouldn't say or think about them, and what opinions they are expected to have and can safely express.
So it's ironic that the debate is characterised by the claim that schools are teaching critical thinking. This is so obviously not the case. Students are so pressured and constrained under the present system that they focus not on the development of critical skills but simply on finding out exactly what they have to study, do, write and think to pass the various assessment tasks with the best possible mark.
This process is deadening and it is carried over into university.
A few years ago I lectured about 400 first-year education students, most fresh from secondary school. One tutor came up to me and complained: "The students like the way you present so many different views on these topics, but what they really want to know is which opinion they should have."
So much for critical thinking.
But the crisis in history education involves much more than just Australia. We live in an increasingly globalised world and knowledge of national history by itself is not enough. This became obvious for many students who took my course in the history of terrorism this year. An adequate knowledge of the intertwined histories of liberal democracy, socialism, conservatism and totalitarianism, as they have unfolded so violently during the past two centuries, is essential if students are to understand the nature of global conflict. How can they evaluate the ideological claims that are made about Western civilisation if they don't know its history or the histories of the other great civilisations of the world, such as Islam?
The August 17 summit must be more than just a talk-fest, with the players going through the motions of considering the various views, expressing the views of their constituency, enjoying the attention, finding some consensus position, then departing, leaving things just as they are. This must be avoided. And here the organisers have a great responsibility. They need to promote meaningful debate and constructive and scholarly engagement with the subjects. The summit will have little effect if its work is not subsequently supported by an appropriate infrastructure that promotes scholarship and informed open debate.
Ideally, this would include a new journal of historical scholarship and a centre of excellence in history education, together with a program of conferences and professional education for teachers, academics and others involved in historical scholarship and teaching. The Federal Government, in other words, should put its money where its mouth is.
First published in The Australian on July 21, 2006.
29 posts so far.
Mervyn Bendle is a senior lecturer in history and communication at James Cook University in Townsville.
» Santa's apocalypse - December 19, 2011
» 9-11: treason in the academic comfort zone? - September 11, 2006
» The History Wars: now for the hard part! - August 23, 2006
All articles by Mervyn Bendle

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In 2017 the Welsh Dragons and Welsh Warriors set out on a Quest.
The quest was to bring silverware from Norway back to our home country of Wales.
They started their quest with a few training seasons, with one of them being to conquer the Welsh hills of Swansea. One of the highest hills in Swansea city is Constitution Hill with a total elevation of 185 feet.
The Warriors were hard hitting all the way through the tournament and all their hard work and effort found themselves in the final of the Viasport Bowl competition. The manager Keri Harris, and assistants Becky Mullins and Louise Massey were in a tense state when they started there final game, they believed that if the previous results with team U.S.A, they were in a strong position to be able to take the trophy home. The Warriors played with the fires in their bellies needing to win.
The Dragons started the final day of the homeless world cup knowing that if they won their game, they would be guaranteed a 3rd place in the Viasport Bowl. They started there to fight with a strong game and with all there fight and passion they Won, see below pictures of them collecting their medals and 3rd place award. Congratulations to the manager of the Dragons, Wayne Ellaway (Manager) and Ahmed Abdi (Assistant).
Everyone was beyond ecstatic when we all celebrated this momentous victory, as though each and every one of them had been on the pitch playing the game themselves. Entering the pitch and congratulated the Warriors and Dragons. The party went on through the night.
We would like to congratulate the players, volunteers and coaching staff for their achievements on and off the pitch. Without your support all this would not have been a reality, all of us from Street Football Wales would like to pat you on the back and congratulate you on your effort. We also thank Micheal Sheen and Tony for supporting us through the tournament, if you would like to follow him via twitter click on the link - twitter.com/michaelsheen .


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JM | Oct 28, 2022
Basil Dawkins: 49 years and 30 plays later
Basil Dawkins
Playwright and producer Basil Dawkins, who was this year awarded membership in the Order of Distinction (OD), has revealed that he was prompted into the art by his mother as a method of overcoming his shyness.
Dawkins was last Sunday's guest on CCRP Update, broadcast on Sundays on Radio Jamaica, where he recounted his journey in theatre since 1973.
In that year, as an undergraduate student, Dawkins finally accepted the challenge which resulted in him participating in 15 plays during his tenure at the University of the West Indies, Mona.
After completing his undergraduate studies, and with the demanding nature of theatre, Dawkins had to find something that did not conflict with his daily nine-to-five job. This birthed his career as a playwright and today he has successfully written and produced at least 30 plays.
Though he experienced failures along the way, he shared that failure was a part of his journey which taught him many lessons. He had a great support system, and this helped in boosting his confidence.
Dawkins commented that, back then, theatre was more a leisure activity than a business venture.
KINGSTON POTENTIAL TO BE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF CARIBBEAN, SOUTHEAST US
His dream for the future of theatre is for Kingston to be the cultural capital of the Caribbean and Southeast United States.
The playwright said he believes Kingston has the potential, after dark, to turn from corporate to cultural with the integration of the tourism product with cultural offerings.
CCRP Update provides a wealth of information targeted to seniors. Topics are centred around health, nutrition, wellness, retirement, hobbies and the life stories of persons who have made significant contributions to society. It is sponsored by Juici Jamaica Ltd and the JNGI Silver Shield Plans.
CCRP is a non-profit, non-denominational and non-political membership organisation which currently has more than 12,000 members.
Basil Dawkins CCRP Update OD Order of Distinction playwright radio show
Life JM Dec 11, 2022
Don Dada evolves exposure opportunities for Jamaican brands through augmented reality
Reading Time: 3 minutes Innovative, self-taught digital artist Bonito Thompson has been playing a leading role in converging technology and culture through the use of augmented reality (AR) in Jamaica. With digital platforms being…
Life JM Nov 29, 2022
RUBIS InPulse 'Staying Afloat' art exhibition reframes view of nature
Reading Time: 3 minutes Following up on the successful and immersive 'The Fabric of Being" interactive art installation at the Edna Manley School of the Visual and Performing Arts earlier this month, the RUBiS…
Life USA Nov 24, 2022
Jamaican actor Paul Campbell speaks on his film and art career
Reading Time: 2 minutes Regarded by many as Jamaica's most accomplished male actor, Paul Campbell will sit for a fireside-style chat to discuss his work in film and art next Friday.
Life JM Nov 1, 2022
Mandeville Art Fair opens November 10
Reading Time: 2 minutes After a two-year break, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 29th staging of the annual, fundraising Mandeville Art Fair, hosted by the Roman Catholic Diocese, is slated to open November…
Life ESP Oct 19, 2022
Madrid exhibition shines a light on the scars of breast cancer
Reading Time: 3 minutes MADRID (Reuters) An art exhibition in Madrid seeks to shine a spotlight on breast cancer and the physical and psychological scars left by mastectomies. The exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National…
Life JM Oct 12, 2022
JN Foundation launches photo advocacy competition to commemorate Jamaica 60
Reading Time: 2 minutes The 'Greatness through the lens' photo-advocacy competition, which invites persons passionate about photography and community advocacy to enter, was recently launched by the JN Foundation. Claudine Allen, general manager of…


The study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the WaveCrest® Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion System in closure of the Left Atrial Appendage and evaluate reduction of embolic stroke in atrial fibrillation patients who cannot tolerate chronic Oral Anticoagulation Therapy.
The first patient was treated last week at New York University Hospital by Dr. Larry Chinitz, a cardiac electrophysiologist and director of NYU Langone's Heart Rhythm Center in New York City.** The trial will enroll 1,250 patients at approximately 90 hospitals, and follow them for five years.
According to the American Stroke Association, people with AFib have a five times higher risk of stroke than the general population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates 87% of all strokes are ischemic strokes, in which blood flow to the brain is blocked by the formation of a clot. Stroke is one of the most devastating and debilitating diseases, costing the United States an estimated $34 billion each year.
The study is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, active controlled clinical trial of the WaveCrest® Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion System compared to an existing FDA-approved LAA Closure Device for the reduction in risk of embolic stroke in subjects with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.
Although the device is under clinical study and not approved for use in the US, the WaveCrest® Device is CE Mark approved and available in Europe.


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Book Stephanie
Joe Biden needs to push the Equality Act through in his first 100 days as President
Despite our victory in the Supreme Court last year in the Title VII cases (Rest in peace, Aimee Stephens), the only clear path to true workplace equality for transgender and gender non-conforming people is the passage of the Equality Act. The long and far-too-winding road that was the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) needs to come to an end. Our President-elect has pledged to make this a top priority at the outset of his administration, and we need to hold him to that. To be sure, there is much that needs to be addressed in our nation, but that said, this cannot – and will not – be left behind. Read more
Virginia Gov. Signs First LGBTQ-Inclusive Civil Rights Law in South
At last, some GOOD NEWS for the transgender community! A big thank you to the legislature and the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia! Let your leadership and your humanity serve as a model for other states to follow...read more
The Supreme Court Doesn't Understand Transgender People
And this is my biggest concern as we wait until June (!!!) for SCOTUS to rule. I have concerns that the ACLU's argument that Aimee Stephens is an "insufficiently masculine" man who was fired for not adhering to male stereotypes is fraught with risk. Risk in further confusing judges that already do not quite get the gender identity argument at the root of what being trans is. Conversely, it does move the narrative away from gender identity – something that, arguably, a person cannot "see" when they meet a trans person for the first time – to the much more "visual" dimension of gender expression. Rather than looking at these dimensions of gender separately, the much more compelling – and complete – view is to present them together in explaining what the true essence of being transgender is.
Read Article at Slate
© 2021 FOLLOW YOUR HEART | SITE BY GO STUDIO WEB


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Home Taal Volcano update Taal Volcano level 3 alert after phreatomagmatic eruption
Taal Volcano level 3 alert after phreatomagmatic eruption
Philvocs raised Taal Volcano alert to level 3 after it released dark smoke around 3:16 pm today. The said eruption is called phreatomagmatic eruption. It is a sign of magmatic unrest in the main crater of the volcano that may lead to more eruption in the coming hours.
The agency warned the public including those residents near the island and in the municipality of Agoncillo and Laurel in Batangas to prepare for possible hazard and volcanic tsunami.
The island is under permanent danger zone and it is prohibited to enter in the area at any time.
Taal Volcano just erupted on January 12, 2020 which caused a lot of damage to tourism and agriculture in the province and in Tagaytay City. Taal Volcano is one of the 24 active volcanoes in the country and has erupted 33 times since 1572 including the worst eruption in 1911 which claimed 1335 people.
The volcano has calm down at the moment, but it is still on alert level 3.
Get the latest Taal volcano update here.
by AdminLocal NewsTaal Volcano eruptionTaal Volcano update


In keeping with the traditions of French Engineering schools (grandes écoles d'ingénieurs), Ecole Centrale de Nantes trains versatile engineers to a very high scientific and technical level. Equipped with a strong managerial culture, they are capable of placing scientific subjects into a global context incorporating environmental and societal issues.
A member of the Ecoles Centrales Group (Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes and Paris), Ecole Centrale de Nantes delivers a teaching programme of the highest quality to rigorously selected students.
Our extensive links with the world's top universities opens up international study opportunities. The school belongs to one of the most exclusive networks, which is ever expanding, particularly towards India, Japan, Brazil and Russia.
*The university reserves the right not to run new classes based on the number of enrolled students.
With the support of numerous strong institutional and industrial partnerships Ecole Centrale de Nantes produces world-class academic and applied research. At Ecole Centrale de Nantes you will be in tune with the economic world, at the very heart of innovation.
With six renowned research laboratories on campus, Ecole Centrale de Nantes draws on exceptional research facilities. We have developed advanced technological platforms such as a marine test site, which allows the testing of energy recovery systems via floating wind turbines and wave energy. Such unique facilities give our students direct exposure to innovative research activities.
International openness is key to the Ecole Centrale de Nantes vision. 30% of the student population on campus are foreign students from over 70 different nationalities, pursuing double degree or Erasmus Mundus programs, as well as PhDs. Our exceptional and ever-expanding network of international partners includes over a hundred universities in more than 60 countries across the globe.
We work with an extensive group of valuable partners among whom Altran, EADS, EDF, GDF Suez, Orange, SNCF to name a few.


The Johnston Community School District offers a unique and well-regarded Developmental Kindergarten program. To be eligible for Developmental Kindergarten (DK), your child must be 5 years old on or before September 15 of the year they are enrolling.
Our DK program is designed for students who are of kindergarten age, but may need an extra year of development before they are ready for all-day kindergarten. This half-day program (morning or afternoon) focuses on building reading/literacy and mathematics skills, as well as cognitive and social development. Each day, the DK teachers help students prepare for their next year in all-day kindergarten.
DK is held at Lawson Elementary (5450 NW 62nd Ave). Please contact Lawson Elementary principal Tom Bartello at 515-278-0478 if you have questions related to our Developmental Kindergarten program.
Developmental Kindergarten registration follows the same process as our all-day kindergarten registration.
Proof of your legal address or residence (eg: utility bill, lease or mortgage with your name and address on it).
Your child's Birth Certificate or birth record from hospital in order to complete registration.
Regarding adoptions: Do not call the Polk County Courthouse, write or visit the Iowa Department of Public Health.
Mail requests take 30 working days; Personal appearance requests take two working days.
Iowa law requires that all students must be immunized against diptheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus (DPT), polio, rubeola, rubella (measles) before entering school. Three hepatitis B vaccinations are required if the student was born on or after July 1, 1994. At least two doses of Varicella vaccine are required if the student was born on or after September 15, 2003 (reliable history of Chickenpox is also accepted). There must be a physical completed after age 4. Contact your school nurse or physician if you have questions about immunization.
Review the State of Iowa immunization requirements.
Morning DK: For students attending the morning session of DK, those living within the 1-‐mile walk zone of their regularly-‐zoned elementary school will be responsible for getting to that school where they will then take a district-‐provided transfer bus to the designated DK site. All morning DK students will then be bussed home mid-‐day via district-‐provided transportation, regardless of their distance from the designated site.
Afternoon DK: For students attending the afternoon session of DK, they will be bussed from their home mid-‐day via district-‐provided transportation to the designated DK site, regardless of their proximity to the school. After school, they will be shuttled to their regularly-‐zoned elementary school. Those living within the 1-‐mile walk zone of that school will then be responsible for getting home by being picked up or walking from the zoned school site.
If your developmental kindergartner is an open enrolled student, your child's placement will be determined in late July or early August. Placement for open-enrolled students is based on class size and availability of space.


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Saunders hits back at Lee comments
December 17, 2015 irishboxing	Andy Lee, Billy Joe Saunders, Lee v Saunders
WBO World Middleweight title challenger Billy Joe Saunders has fired back at champion Andy Lee who slammed the Hatfield star in an interview today.
With the fight closing in fast this Saturday night at the Manchester Arena, the tension is cranking up between both camps who come face-to-face tomorrow for the final press conference.
In an interview in today's Independent, some of the quotes Lee said about his rival were:
"I don't think it is going to be my hardest fight."
"He's an Olympian but I don't think he did what I did in the amateurs and he hasn't fought anybody of real note yet. I have fought in the States, across Europe, have more experience,"
"He has never lost, not even lost many rounds, so I have to let him know from the start, let him taste the punches, taste the jab, nullify the things he wants to do. A bit of doubt will creep in and then he will get desperate."
"I know what's coming. He doesn't. For the first time in his life he is going to find out that attitude alone won't be enough."
Unbeaten Saunders, who's heading into his first world title fight, said, "He's been in big fights in America, yes, but he's also lost some big fights there as well, Julio Cesar Chavez and Brian Vera. I've not lost yet and I don't intend on losing,"
"He was getting beat by Matt Korobov until his punch power got him out of trouble and he drew with Peter Quillin which I would have been disgusted with, I go in to win, not draw.
"Saturday night is Lee's chance to prove if he is a world champion. I'm the undefeated challenger, if he beats me then I'll be the first to shake his hand, but as I see it right now there's only winner, me,"
"There are no doubts in my head at all and he knows that I'm mentally strong and that he can't get into my head,"
"I've was an Olympian at 18 and beaten everyone put in front of me to come through. I've beaten everyone in Britain and now I just need Andy Lee who's just another scalp on my record."
Remaining tickets for Lee v Saunders priced from £40 are available from frankwarren.com, ticketmaster.co.uk, eventim.co.uk and manchester-arena.co.uk or watch exclusively live on BoxNation. Go to boxnaion.com to subscribe.
← It can be lights out at any time Lee warns Saunders
Quigley not impressed with Eubank Jr? →
irishboxing
Integral part of the Irish boxing community for over 13 years


text:
using System;

namespace Nvents.Services
{
	public interface IPublisher
	{
		/// <summary>
		/// Publishes an event to all subscribers of type TEvent.
		/// </summary>
		/// <typeparam name="TEvent">The event type to publish.</typeparam>
		/// <param name="event">The event to publish.</param>
		void Publish<TEvent>(TEvent @event) where TEvent : class;
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Here I list some useful links.
This web site is an extensive source of tutorials and code examples, not just for java but also for other languages.
This website contain many java notes that cover topics that are not well covered in other resources.


text:
Q: K8S EKS Cluster Autoscaler works without resources requests In a K8S course I watched it was mentioned that Cluster Autoscaler can only work if you defined resources requests.
I deployed this yaml file (without resources requests & limits) to my EKS cluster, and I see that the autoscaler works pretty fine, it scales up and down even though I didn't define resources.
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: php-apache
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      run: php-apache
  replicas: 20
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        run: php-apache
    spec:
     containers:
      - name: php-apache
        image: k8s.gcr.io/hpa-example
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
#        resources:
#          requests:
#           cpu: 999m
#           memory: 256Mi
#          limits:
#            cpu: 1000m
#            memory: 512Mi

My question is:
Is it really necessary to define resources requests for Cluster Autoscaler? If so, how come that I see the CA scales up and down in this case?
My goal is to find a way to skip the resource requests.
Developers in my company define very high resources requests and limits, which causes a waste of actual resources.
I though that if I remove the resources requests and limits, the CA will use the ACTUAL resources that the app needs, and not more than that as the developers define.
So if must define resources requests, how else can I solve the situation described above?
Thanks in advance.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
import numpy
import six

from chainer.backends import cuda
from chainer import function
from chainer.utils import type_check

def _roi_pooling_slice(size, stride, max_size, roi_offset):
    start = int(numpy.floor(size * stride))
    end = int(numpy.ceil((size + 1) * stride))

    start = min(max(start + roi_offset, 0), max_size)
    end = min(max(end + roi_offset, 0), max_size)

    return slice(start, end), end - start

class ROIPooling2D(function.Function):

    """RoI pooling over a set of 2d planes."""

    def __init__(self, outh, outw, spatial_scale):
        self.outh, self.outw = outh, outw
        self.spatial_scale = spatial_scale

    def check_type_forward(self, in_types):
        type_check.expect(in_types.size() == 2)

        x_type, roi_type = in_types
        type_check.expect(
            x_type.dtype == numpy.float32,
            x_type.ndim == 4,
            roi_type.dtype == numpy.float32,
            roi_type.ndim == 2,
            roi_type.shape[1] == 5,
        )

    def forward_cpu(self, inputs):
        self.retain_inputs((1,))
        self._bottom_data_shape = inputs[0].shape

        bottom_data, bottom_rois = inputs
        channels, height, width = bottom_data.shape[1:]
        n_rois = bottom_rois.shape[0]
        # `numpy.zeros` needs to be used because the arrays can be
        # returned without having some of its values updated.
        top_data = numpy.zeros((n_rois, channels, self.outh, self.outw),
                               dtype=numpy.float32)
        self.argmax_data = numpy.zeros(top_data.shape, numpy.int32)

        for i_roi in six.moves.range(n_rois):
            idx, xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax = bottom_rois[i_roi]
            xmin = int(round(xmin * self.spatial_scale))
            xmax = int(round(xmax * self.spatial_scale))
            ymin = int(round(ymin * self.spatial_scale))
            ymax = int(round(ymax * self.spatial_scale))
            roi_width = max(xmax - xmin + 1, 1)
            roi_height = max(ymax - ymin + 1, 1)
            strideh = 1. * roi_height / self.outh
            stridew = 1. * roi_width / self.outw

            for outh in six.moves.range(self.outh):
                sliceh, lenh = _roi_pooling_slice(
                    outh, strideh, height, ymin)
                if sliceh.stop <= sliceh.start:
                    continue
                for outw in six.moves.range(self.outw):
                    slicew, lenw = _roi_pooling_slice(
                        outw, stridew, width, xmin)
                    if slicew.stop <= slicew.start:
                        continue
                    roi_data = bottom_data[int(idx), :, sliceh, slicew]\
                        .reshape(channels, -1)
                    top_data[i_roi, :, outh, outw] =\
                        numpy.max(roi_data, axis=1)

                    # get the max idx respect to feature_maps coordinates
                    max_idx_slice = numpy.unravel_index(
                        numpy.argmax(roi_data, axis=1), (lenh, lenw))
                    max_idx_slice_h = max_idx_slice[0] + sliceh.start
                    max_idx_slice_w = max_idx_slice[1] + slicew.start
                    max_idx_slice = max_idx_slice_h * width + max_idx_slice_w
                    self.argmax_data[i_roi, :, outh, outw] = max_idx_slice
        return top_data,

    def forward_gpu(self, inputs):
        self.retain_inputs((1,))
        self._bottom_data_shape = inputs[0].shape

        bottom_data, bottom_rois = inputs
        channels, height, width = bottom_data.shape[1:]
        n_rois = bottom_rois.shape[0]
        top_data = cuda.cupy.empty((n_rois, channels, self.outh,
                                    self.outw), dtype=numpy.float32)
        self.argmax_data = cuda.cupy.empty(top_data.shape, numpy.int32)
        cuda.cupy.ElementwiseKernel(
            '''
            raw float32 bottom_data, float32 spatial_scale, int32 channels,
            int32 height, int32 width, int32 pooled_height, int32 pooled_width,
            raw float32 bottom_rois
            ''',
            'float32 top_data, int32 argmax_data',
            '''
            // pos in output filter
            int pw = i % pooled_width;
            int ph = (i / pooled_width) % pooled_height;
            int c = (i / pooled_width / pooled_height) % channels;
            int num = i / pooled_width / pooled_height / channels;

            int roi_batch_ind = bottom_rois[num * 5 + 0];
            int roi_start_w = round(bottom_rois[num * 5 + 1] * spatial_scale);
            int roi_start_h = round(bottom_rois[num * 5 + 2] * spatial_scale);
            int roi_end_w = round(bottom_rois[num * 5 + 3] * spatial_scale);
            int roi_end_h = round(bottom_rois[num * 5 + 4] * spatial_scale);

            // Force malformed ROIs to be 1x1
            int roi_width = max(roi_end_w - roi_start_w + 1, 1);
            int roi_height = max(roi_end_h - roi_start_h + 1, 1);
            float bin_size_h = static_cast<float>(roi_height)
                           / static_cast<float>(pooled_height);
            float bin_size_w = static_cast<float>(roi_width)
                           / static_cast<float>(pooled_width);

            int hstart = static_cast<int>(floor(static_cast<float>(ph)
                                          * bin_size_h));
            int wstart = static_cast<int>(floor(static_cast<float>(pw)
                                          * bin_size_w));
            int hend = static_cast<int>(ceil(static_cast<float>(ph + 1)
                                        * bin_size_h));
            int wend = static_cast<int>(ceil(static_cast<float>(pw + 1)
                                        * bin_size_w));

            // Add roi offsets and clip to input boundaries
            hstart = min(max(hstart + roi_start_h, 0), height);
            hend = min(max(hend + roi_start_h, 0), height);
            wstart = min(max(wstart + roi_start_w, 0), width);
            wend = min(max(wend + roi_start_w, 0), width);
            bool is_empty = (hend <= hstart) || (wend <= wstart);

            // Define an empty pooling region to be zero
            float maxval = is_empty ? 0 : -1E+37;
            // If nothing is pooled, argmax=-1 causes nothing to be backprop'd
            int maxidx = -1;
            int data_offset = (roi_batch_ind * channels + c) * height * width;
            for (int h = hstart; h < hend; ++h) {
                for (int w = wstart; w < wend; ++w) {
                    int bottom_index = h * width + w;
                    if (bottom_data[data_offset + bottom_index] > maxval) {
                        maxval = bottom_data[data_offset + bottom_index];
                        maxidx = bottom_index;
                    }
                }
            }
            top_data = maxval;
            argmax_data = maxidx;
            ''', 'roi_pooling_2d_fwd'
        )(bottom_data, self.spatial_scale, channels, height, width,
          self.outh, self.outw, bottom_rois, top_data,
          self.argmax_data)

        return top_data,

    def backward_cpu(self, inputs, gy):
        bottom_rois = inputs[1]
        channels, height, width = self._bottom_data_shape[1:]
        n_rois = bottom_rois.shape[0]
        bottom_delta = numpy.zeros(self._bottom_data_shape, numpy.float32)

        for i_roi in six.moves.range(n_rois):
            idx, xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax = bottom_rois[i_roi]
            idx = int(idx)
            xmin = int(round(xmin * self.spatial_scale))
            xmax = int(round(xmax * self.spatial_scale))
            ymin = int(round(ymin * self.spatial_scale))
            ymax = int(round(ymax * self.spatial_scale))
            roi_width = max(xmax - xmin + 1, 1)
            roi_height = max(ymax - ymin + 1, 1)

            strideh = float(roi_height) / float(self.outh)
            stridew = float(roi_width) / float(self.outw)

            # iterate all the w, h (from feature map) that fall into this ROIs
            for w in six.moves.range(xmin, xmax + 1):
                for h in six.moves.range(ymin, ymax + 1):
                    phstart = int(numpy.floor(float(h - ymin) / strideh))
                    phend = int(numpy.ceil(float(h - ymin + 1) / strideh))
                    pwstart = int(numpy.floor(float(w - xmin) / stridew))
                    pwend = int(numpy.ceil(float(w - xmin + 1) / stridew))

                    phstart = min(max(phstart, 0), self.outh)
                    phend = min(max(phend, 0), self.outh)
                    pwstart = min(max(pwstart, 0), self.outw)
                    pwend = min(max(pwend, 0), self.outw)

                    for ph in six.moves.range(phstart, phend):
                        for pw in six.moves.range(pwstart, pwend):
                            max_idx_tmp = self.argmax_data[i_roi, :, ph, pw]
                            for c in six.moves.range(channels):
                                if max_idx_tmp[c] == (h * width + w):
                                    bottom_delta[idx, c, h, w] += \
                                        gy[0][i_roi, c, ph, pw]
        return bottom_delta, None

    def backward_gpu(self, inputs, gy):
        bottom_rois = inputs[1]
        channels, height, width = self._bottom_data_shape[1:]
        bottom_diff = cuda.cupy.zeros(self._bottom_data_shape, numpy.float32)
        cuda.cupy.ElementwiseKernel(
            '''
            raw float32 top_diff, raw int32 argmax_data, int32 num_rois,
            float32 spatial_scale, int32 channels, int32 height, int32 width,
            int32 pooled_height, int32 pooled_width, raw float32 bottom_rois
            ''',
            'float32 bottom_diff',
            '''
            int w = i % width;
            int h = (i / width) % height;
            int c = (i / (width * height)) % channels;
            int num = i / (width * height * channels);

            float gradient = 0;
            // Accumulate gradient over all ROIs that pooled this element
            for (int roi_n = 0; roi_n < num_rois; ++roi_n) {
                // Skip if ROI's batch index doesn't match num
                if (num != static_cast<int>(bottom_rois[roi_n * 5])) {
                    continue;
                }

                int roi_start_w = round(bottom_rois[roi_n * 5 + 1]
                                        * spatial_scale);
                int roi_start_h = round(bottom_rois[roi_n * 5 + 2]
                                        * spatial_scale);
                int roi_end_w = round(bottom_rois[roi_n * 5 + 3]
                                      * spatial_scale);
                int roi_end_h = round(bottom_rois[roi_n * 5 + 4]
                                      * spatial_scale);

                // Skip if ROI doesn't include (h, w)
                const bool in_roi = (w >= roi_start_w && w <= roi_end_w &&
                                     h >= roi_start_h && h <= roi_end_h);
                if (!in_roi) {
                    continue;
                }

                int offset = (roi_n * channels + c) * pooled_height
                             * pooled_width;

                // Compute feasible set of pooled units that could have pooled
                // this bottom unit

                // Force malformed ROIs to be 1x1
                int roi_width = max(roi_end_w - roi_start_w + 1, 1);
                int roi_height = max(roi_end_h - roi_start_h + 1, 1);

                float bin_size_h = static_cast<float>(roi_height)
                               / static_cast<float>(pooled_height);
                float bin_size_w = static_cast<float>(roi_width)
                               / static_cast<float>(pooled_width);

                int phstart = floor(static_cast<float>(h - roi_start_h)
                                    / bin_size_h);
                int phend = ceil(static_cast<float>(h - roi_start_h + 1)
                                 / bin_size_h);
                int pwstart = floor(static_cast<float>(w - roi_start_w)
                                    / bin_size_w);
                int pwend = ceil(static_cast<float>(w - roi_start_w + 1)
                                 / bin_size_w);

                phstart = min(max(phstart, 0), pooled_height);
                phend = min(max(phend, 0), pooled_height);
                pwstart = min(max(pwstart, 0), pooled_width);
                pwend = min(max(pwend, 0), pooled_width);

                for (int ph = phstart; ph < phend; ++ph) {
                    for (int pw = pwstart; pw < pwend; ++pw) {
                        int index_ = ph * pooled_width + pw + offset;
                        if (argmax_data[index_] == (h * width + w)) {
                            gradient += top_diff[index_];
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            bottom_diff = gradient;
            ''', 'roi_pooling_2d_bwd'
        )(gy[0], self.argmax_data, bottom_rois.shape[0], self.spatial_scale,
          channels, height, width, self.outh, self.outw,
          bottom_rois, bottom_diff)

        return bottom_diff, None

def roi_pooling_2d(x, rois, outh, outw, spatial_scale):
    """Spatial Region of Interest (ROI) pooling function.

    This function acts similarly to :class:`~functions.MaxPooling2D`, but
    it computes the maximum of input spatial patch for each channel
    with the region of interest.

    Args:
        x (~chainer.Variable): Input variable. The shape is expected to be
            4 dimentional: (n: batch, c: channel, h, height, w: width).
        rois (~chainer.Variable): Input roi variable. The shape is expected to
            be (n: data size, 5), and each datum is set as below:
            (batch_index, x_min, y_min, x_max, y_max).
        outh (int): Height of output image after pooled.
        outw (int): Width of output image after pooled.
        spatial_scale (float): Scale of the roi is resized.

    Returns:
        ~chainer.Variable: Output variable.

    See the original paper proposing ROIPooling:
    `Fast R-CNN <https://arxiv.org/abs/1504.08083>`_.

    """
    return ROIPooling2D(outh, outw, spatial_scale)(x, rois)


Although it just barely opened to the public, the word on the street is that Fireside on Regent (126 S. Regent St., Salt Lake City, firesideonregent.com) is destined to be a hit. Talented chefs Steven Garner and Michael Richey are behind this new downtown eatery (adjacent to the Eccles Theater), specializing in house-extruded artisan pastas, Central Italian-style wood-fire pizzas and a well-cultivated wine list. Pizza options from the imported Italian Valoriani oven include the Pink Pine (with house mozzarella, pork belly, ricotta and roasted shallots) and the Milk Run (featuring hen of the woods mushrooms, leeks, fontina, burrata, mozzarella and olive tapenade). As for pasta, I've got my eye on the gold potato gnocchi with langoustines, brown butter, cherry tomatoes, lemon, chile flakes and bread crumbs. Small plates such as arancini and fried squash blossoms are also offered, along with a quartet of salads.
SlapFish, "A Modern Seafood Shack" (slapfishrestaurant.com) franchise is expanding into Utah, with a new location slated to open March 11 at 3320 N. Digital Drive in Lehi. Founded as an Orange County, Calif., food truck by chef Andrew Gruel in 2011, SlapFish is known for unique dishes like their clobster (half crab/half lobster) grilled cheese and chowder fries. I'm looking forward to getting my claws around Slapfish's Lobster Grinder!
In celebration of the Southern Hemisphere's wine harvest, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar (20 S. 400 West, Salt Lake City, 801-355-3704, flemingssteakhouse.com) is highlighting vineyards and flavors from New Zealand, Australia and Argentina. Chef/partner Jeremiah Hester's meat options include New Zealand rack of lamb paired with (optional) Yalumba Barossa Patchwork Shiraz from Australia; and filet mignon with Southern Hemisphere-inspired sides of mole and Cabernet butter sauces, plus chimichurri and black lava salts, with a suggested pairing of Argentina's Catena Mendoza Vista Flores Malbec. Fish lovers might opt for Ora King salmon with Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand.
Quote of the week: "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he'll sit in a boat with a fishing pole and drink beer all day."


What hardworking student, overworked colleague or sick friend wouldn't love receiving this Sampler of snacks? Filled with everyone's all time favorite treats like Fritos corn chips, Planters peanuts, Famous Amos chocolate chunk cookies, Plain and Peanut M & M's candies and more. Packed in a Midnight Munchies gift box and topped with a handmade bow this gift is the perfect pick me up. The Midnight Munchies Gift Pack includes: Fritos corn chips, Chex mix, Cracker Jacks with peanuts caramel corn, TGI Fridays potato skins chips, Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, ACT II microwave buttery popcorn, Ritz cheese filled mini crackers, Combos cheese filled pretzels, Oreo cookies, Lifesavers gummy candies, Blue diamond lime and chili almonds, Nestle crunch milk chocolate candy bar, M & M's milk chocolate plain candies, M & M's peanut candies, Skittles fruit candies, Hershey milk chocolate bar, Rice Krispies Treat. Comes packed in a black gift box as a care package with a Midnight Snacks graphic and a hand tied bow. Actual gift box measures 9" in length by 6" in width and 5" tall.


The claims of the NDP and UCP on balancing the budget.
A prairie boy reads a prairie poet.
Who Keeps the Honey Industry Alive?
Is Home Schooling in the Public Interest?
Paul van den Bosch and Larry Booi respectfully disagree.
A gold star for Shannon Phillips.
Parks Canada is today almost entirely captive to the tourism industry.
by Mike Bridge, 2016. Edmonton.
Alexandra Zabjek is an Edmonton-based journalist. In 2017 she co-founded The Broadcast: A Podcast about Women and Politics, which ran for 4o episodes. Her Previous AV article was "A Gendered Lens". These days she contributes most often to CBC.
Graham Thomson has worked in radio, TV and print as a reporter, producer, and political columnist, and wrote for the Edmonton Journal from 1995 to 2008. He is now a columnist for Alberta Views as well as a contributor to CBC and iPolitics.
Guillaume Nolet returned to school in photojournalism after more than a decade as a petroleum geologist, and interned with Canadian Geographic. He now works as a freelance photographer documenting society. He lives in Calgary with his wife and son. You can view more of his work on his website http://www.guillaumenolet.com/.
Kevin Van Tighem is a former superintendent at Banff National Park and the author of Bears Without Fear (RMB 2013). He has written many stories and essays on conservation and wildlife. His books include The Homeward Wolf (2013), Heart Waters (2015) and Our Place: Changing the Nature of Alberta (2017), all published by Rocky Mountain Books.
by Mike Bridge 2016. Edmonton.


Food Fotografie Tipps. food fotografie mit tageslicht tipps wie man food einfach in szene setzen kann. so baust du dir tolle food fotografie hintergr nde diy food fotografie tipps ig fotografie. food fotografie die f nf profi tipps nah ran rezept. food fotografie mit dem smartphone ifolor. food fotografie wie setze ich das essen richtig in szene lichtblicke fotografie lisa doneff. food fotografie fotobuch infos. food fotografie 56 tipps f r verf hrerische food fotos koch und k chenblog. food fotografie 5 tipps um euer essen in szene zu setzen. food fotografie tipps tricks fotonomaden com. food fotografie 6 tipps die appetit machen bonnyprints magazin. [Letsdonothingtoday.com].


text:
Q: How to catch exception in JSX I have object that returns the icon object based on the icon name. For proper MaterialUI icon name, the function returns the proper icon object. For incorrect name, this function should returns error icon. My code doesn't work. When I put incorrect icon name, I have error stack on browser. How can I catch this exception i JSX?
import React from 'react';
import ErrorIcon from '@material-ui/icons/Error';
import * as Icons from '@material-ui/icons';

export default function DynamicIcon({iconName}) {
    try {
        let Icon = Icons[iconName];
        return (<Icon />);
    } catch (e) {
        return (<ErrorIcon color="error" />);
    }
}

A: There is a nice example on React Blog:
class ErrorBoundary extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = { hasError: false };
  }

  static getDerivedStateFromError(error) {
    // Update state so the next render will show the fallback UI.
    return { hasError: true };
  }

  componentDidCatch(error, info) {
    // You can also log the error to an error reporting service
    logErrorToMyService(error, info);
  }

  render() {
    if (this.state.hasError) {
      // You can render any custom fallback UI
      return
Something went wrong.
;
    }

    return this.props.children;
  }
}

Then, in JSX:
<ErrorBoundary>
  <MyComponent />
</ErrorBoundary>

This should avoid to implement error check for every compoent.
You can also wrap your entire app in this component.

A: You can check whether an icon exists before you create an element like so without needing to catch an error.
export default function DynamicIcon({iconName}) {
  const Icon = Icons[iconName];
  return Icon ? <Icon /> : <ErrorIcon color="error" />;
}

This checks if Icons[iconName] is truthy, i.e. whether an icon with the name exists, and returns the Icon element, else returns the ErrorIcon.


text:
Just four lower house MPs voted against legalising same-sex marriage. AAP/Lukas Coch
From postal survey to parliament: how Australia legalised same-sex marriage
December 7, 2017 5.49pm EST
Amy Maguire, University of Newcastle
Amy Maguire
Senior Lecturer in International Law and Human Rights, University of Newcastle
Amy Maguire is a Co-Chair of the Indigenous Rights Subcommittee of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and a member of Amnesty International.
University of Newcastle provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.
The Australian parliament has passed legislation to permit same-sex marriage.
The Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill passed the Senate on November 28. It was then passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday by an overwhelming majority: around 130 MPs voted in favour, just four voted against, and a small number abstained.
To confirm the new statute as law, it went to the governor-general for royal assent. This formality made the bill an act of parliament.
Attorney-General George Brandis has said that same-sex marriages will be permitted from January 9, taking into account the one-month notice period required under the Marriage Act.
Further reading: Flood of same-sex weddings in January, after historic parliamentary vote
Origins of the reform
Thursday's lower house vote followed a drawn-out debate in parliament. But prior to the bill being introduced to parliament, the government arranged for the Australian Bureau of Statistics to conduct the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.
This voluntary, non-binding expression of opinion came at a cost of around A$100 million. The survey results, released on November 15, showed 61.6% of respondents supported changing the law to allow same-sex marriage.
That evening, Brandis moved a private member's bill in the Senate to begin the necessary legislative reform.
Liberal senator Dean Smith was the key proponent of this bill. It emerged from a cross-party Senate inquiry which concluded that legislation to permit same-sex marriage should also ensure some protection for religious freedoms.
The substance of the act
The new law changes the definition of marriage in the Marriage Act by removing the words "a man and a woman" and replacing them with "2 people". This was the minimum required reform to enable same-sex marriage.
However, the bill goes beyond that minimalist change. It will insert a section into the act that reads:
It is an object of this act to create a legal framework:
a) to allow civil celebrants to solemnise marriage, understood as the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life; and
b) to allow ministers of religion to solemnise marriage, respecting the doctrines, tenets and beliefs of their religion, the views of their religious community or their own religious beliefs; and
c) to allow equal access to marriage while protecting religious freedom in relation to marriage.
There are three main features of the marriage reform law that attempt to balance marriage equality with religious freedoms.
First, some gain the capacity to be identified as "religious marriage celebrants". To meet this definition, a person must be both a registered marriage celebrant and a minister of religion. This category covers people who are not ministers of religion of a recognised denomination, but regardless identify as ministers of religion.
An exceptional case is also permitted for people to identify as religious marriage celebrants even if they are not ministers of religion. The criteria for this case require a person to:
be already registered as a marriage celebrant;
give notice within 90 days of the new law's assent that they wish to be identified as a religious marriage celebrant;
confirm that this wish is based on their religious beliefs.
Second, the law sets out circumstances in which ministers of religion and religious marriage celebrants can refuse to solemnise marriages. Although the grounds for refusal are not limited to same-sex marriages, these provisions have been included in the bill so that ministers and religious celebrants cannot be required to solemnise same-sex marriages.
Ministers of religion may refuse to solemnise a marriage where any of the following conditions apply:
a) the refusal conforms to the doctrines, tenets or beliefs of the religion of the minister's religious body or religious organisation;
b) the refusal is necessary to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents of that religion;
c) the minister's religious beliefs do not allow the minister to solemnise the marriage.
Religious marriage celebrants may refuse to solemnise a marriage "if the celebrant's religious beliefs do not allow the celebrant to solemnise the marriage".
There is a parallel exception for armed forces officers who are authorised to conduct marriage ceremonies.
Third, the law permits bodies established for religious purposes to refuse to make facilities available or provide goods and services in relation to the solemnisation of marriages. The circumstances in which this applies are if the refusal:
a) conforms to the doctrines, tenets or beliefs of the religion of the body; or
b) is necessary to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents of that religion.
So, for example, a same-sex couple could be refused the use of a church or church hall for their wedding ceremony, if that refusal meets the above conditions.
The marriage reform law also makes amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act. These changes ensure that no complaints of unlawful discrimination can be made in relation to refusals to solemnise marriages that are permitted under the Marriage Act.
Amendments defeated
Soon after the survey results were announced, Treasurer Scott Morrison said that more than 4 million "no" voters were coming to terms with being a minority on the question of same-sex marriage. But, as parliament has recognised, a law serving all Australians did not require elevating the rights of a minority over the rights of all.
A state-recognised institution – marriage – was closed to some members of the population on discriminatory grounds. In attending to that problem, there was no sense in arguing for multiple new forms of discrimination.
It was fortunate that parliament had a well-established bill to consider following the postal survey outcome. This meant that various amendments seeking to extend "protections" for religious freedom did not gain majority support, because most MPs were already satisfied with the Smith bill.
Further reading: Labor is right to block 'religious freedom' amendments to protect same-sex marriage bill
As it is, the new law already goes well beyond what was necessary to permit same-sex marriage. It would have been unconscionable to amend the bill in ways that privileged religious freedom over rights to equality and non-discrimination.
Nevertheless, the debate about the protection of religious freedom will persist. Prior to the passage of the marriage reform bill, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced an inquiry into "religious freedom protection in Australia". Chaired by former MP Philip Ruddock, the inquiry is due to report by March 31 next year.
George Brandis
LGBTQi+-inclusive sexuality education reduces negative stereotypes and biases, creating a safer school environment for LGBTQi+ students. Shutterstock
We have marriage equality, now we need LGBTQi+-inclusive sexuality education in schools
MPs clapped and hugged each other after the private member's bill went through. Lukas Coch/AAP
Flood of same-sex weddings in January, after historic parliamentary vote
The fight for LGBTI people to live lives free from discrimination will continue. AAP/Dan Himbrechts
Australia has finally achieved marriage equality, but there's a lot more to be done on LGBTI rights
Bridget McKenzie beat several other candidates in the race for the Nationals' deputy leadership. AAP/Lukas Coch
Nationals elect Bridget McKenzie as new deputy


text:
2006 Letter to NZ Council
The Councillors of all
Regional, District and City Councils in New Zealand
DRAFT LONG TERM COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLANS (2006)
PSRG affirms the majority public concern about genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) being released into the environment. Notwithstanding claims of the adequacy of national-level regulation under the HSNO Act, we maintain that in the interests of local democracy, Councils have a responsibility to their region –
• to protect their ratepayers from having to bear the costs of unexpected damage caused by the release of GEOs approved by ERMA, costs which are effectively 'socialised' under the HSNO Act on the public purse and ratepayers at national or local levels.
• to protect GE-free production, and
• to protect human health, and New Zealand's biosecurity and unique biodiversity.
We ask that you consider the following as well as the attached documents in any long term plans. (N.B. for the purposes of this letter, genetic engineering and genetic modification are synonymous.)
PSRG believes that a precautionary approach is essential towards GEOs and to keep GEO land use out of the Council's area. We commend the Northland peninsula authorities and urge you to review the reports they recently commissioned, which indicated protective measure options for ratepayers (refer Appendix 1). These included:
• Making GEO land use a prohibited/restricted activity
• Requiring notification to Council of any proposed GEO land use and the payment of a bond for clean-up/compensation
• Having a mandatory inclusion on LIMS reports of GEO use on a site to protect future users of that land.
PSRG maintains that scientific evidence shows that there should be no releases of GEOs into the environment, and that an approval by ERMA for release may well expose local communities to undesirable hazards, outcomes and costs in ways which ERMA is not set up to prevent at the local level. We attach examples of recent studies that confirm the risks of release (Appendix 2).
We ask that you consider adopting the decision made by Whangarei District Council: "Council will adopt a precautionary approach to the management of biotechnology in general and to GMO land uses in particular. It will continue to investigate ways of maintaining the district's environment free of GMOs until outstanding issues such as liability, economic costs and benefits, environmental risks, and cultural effects are resolved." (p. 64, Whangarei District Council adopted LTCCP.)
Under current New Zealand law the costs of damage resulting from an officially approved GEO may fall on the local community. The Environmental Risk Management Authority, which applies the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, admits that once it officially approves a GEO, as long as the user does as directed the costs of accidental damage are likely to become a socialized risk and fall to the public purse.
New Zealand does not have a national strict liability or bond-system in place to ensure that the cost of damage can be covered, thus exposing local communities to the costs. Here, we can learn from what is happening overseas. In Europe more than 3000 regional and local authorities have taken action to protect GE-free production in their area or declare GE-free Zones. Germany and Denmark have introduced bonds payable by farmers needing compensation to clean up GE contamination.
A coalition of Northland peninsula councils funded major reports that signalled the importance of local and regional authorities taking action to protect ratepayers from costs arising from damage caused by GEOs. PSRG asks that you please table these reports for your Council.
The Waikato District Council also recently received a report from its Planners that risks from GEOs "could be serious and long lasting or irreversible," that there is "a risk that Councils may face environmental clean up costs" and offering the option that, "a high level of financial accountability by GMO users for ecological damage could be achieved through the use of well framed RMA consent conditions."
We draw Councils' attention to the following:
1. We already have examples of where GEO trials in New Zealand have resulted in potential costs to local ratepayers or long-term impact on land use: e.g. 3000 genetically engineered sheep had to be slaughtered near Whakamaru when the biotech company running the project (PPL Therapeutics) went into liquidation. There has been no subsequent monitoring of the soil where these animals were grazed and there are reportedly no funds to test the site. A similar question has arisen with transgenic animals being trialled at Ruakura in Hamilton.
2. In Northland, the HortResearch trial of GE tamarillos was found to have been inadequately contained. The 2000/2001 Royal Commission on Genetic Modification found that the public concern was justified and stated that all transgenic material at the site should be cleaned up. To date, this has not occurred.
3. There is potential for contamination to occur naturally and out of our control. For example:
a. In 2004, a flood washed away an onion crop (The Listener 6-12 March 2004). These were not genetically engineered. However, New Zealand is trialling genetically engineered onions and in a flood situation we would have no control over how far such a crop would travel and thus potentially contaminate other crops. Onions are NZ's fourth largest export crop and a not insignificant portion is produced organically. Our customers want GE-free produce.
b. A report in the Hawkes Bay Times (October 2003) described how an experienced pilot, flying "in a thermal at 7000 feet altitude over a corn field that was being harvested" was "surrounded by corn husks that were being sucked up by the thermal." Pine pollen has been shown to travel at least 600 km from the closest pine trees (Singh et al., 1993), and a storm can lift air masses, and thus pollen grains, skywards several kilometres and carry that pollen for hundreds of kilometres (Emberlin et al; Mandrioli et al., 1984; Faegri & Iversen, 1989).
4. It has been indicated that land values overseas have fallen because of the use of GEOs at certain growing/trial sites. This has been highlighted in at least one site used for GEO field trials in the UK.
5. We can take heed of the Insurance Council of Australia, which has warned that the food industry could face "asbestos-like" lawsuits over GEOs in the future. Insurance companies generally will not insure clients for GEO contamination.
6. The rulings of the US Food and Drug Administration is relied upon largely for decisions made by most of nations' regulatory authorities, including New Zealand. The FDA has admitted that effects that were not foreseen or planned occur in genetically engineered plants "at frequencies up to 30 percent" and that "some undesirable effects such as increased levels of known naturally occurring toxicants may escape breeders' attention."
PSRG asks Councils to take the socially responsible step to put safety before industry profit and protect its residents from the potential risks of GEOs.
The Trustees of PSRG would appreciate receiving an acknowledgement of receipt of this communication and a statement of Council's position on the release of genetically engineered organisms. We would also appreciate having periodic reports on any changes to Council's position. Thank you.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees of PSRG
Jean Anderson - Secretary
The Trustees of Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Genetics -
Paul G Butler, BSc, MB, ChB, Dip. Obst. (Auckland), FRNZCGP
General Practitioner, Trustee PSRG, AUCKLAND
John R Clearwater, BSc, MSc, PhD
Principal Scientist, Clearwater Research and Consulting, Trustee PSRG, AUCKLAND
Bernard J Conlon, MB, BCh, BAO, DCH, DRCOG, DGM, MRCGP (UK), FRNZCGP
General Practitioner, Trustee PSRG, MURUPARA
Elvira Dommisse, BSc(Hons), PhD
Former Research Scientist, Trustee PSRG, CHRISTCHURCH
Michael E Godfrey, MBBS, FACAM, FACNEM
Director, Bay of Plenty Environmental Health Clinic, Trustee PSRG, TAURANGA
Neil Macgregor, BSc, MSc, PhD
Soil Microbiologist, Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University,
Trustee PSRG, PALMERSTON NORTH
Peter R Wills, BSc, PhD
Associate Professor, University of Auckland, Trustee PSRG, AUCKLAND
Robert G Anderson, BSc, PhD
Lecturer retired, Trustee PSRG, TAURANGA
Jean Anderson
Businesswoman retired, Trustee PSRG, TAURANGA.
Appendix 1 – Guidelines to Councils' decisions
Council may be guided by the actions that the Northland peninsula councils have already undertaken:
GEO policies have been adopted by local government in Adopted LTCCP's. Northern Regional Council: Adopted Long Term Council Community Plan- content* P. 41 LTCCP.
"The Regional Council is a member of a Northland inter-council working group to discuss a common approach to the management of genetically modified organisms in Northland. Until this group has completed its work, the council has decided to adopt a precautionary approach. This means that there should be no further development and field testing of transgenic organisms envisaged for agriculture, horticulture and forestry in Northland, nor any commercial release, until the risk potential has been adequately identified and evaluated and a strict liability regime put in place."
P42 LTCCP Priorities for Indigenous Biodiversity Supporting Agency to participate in a Northland inter-council working group to discuss a common approach to the management of GMOs in Northland and supporting agency to support a precautionary approach to GE by the Environmental
Risk Management Authority (ERMA).
P43 LTCCP Measuring Progress No GE applications approved by ERMA for Northland until the risk potential has been adequately identified and evaluated, and a strict liability regime put in place.
"Council will adopt a precautionary approach to the management of biotechnology in general and to GMO land uses in particular. It will continue to investigate ways of maintaining the district's environment free of GMOs until outstanding issues such as liability, economic costs and benefits, environmental risks, and cultural effects are resolved."
(p. 64,Whangarei District Council adopted LTCCP)
"Support precautionary approach towards GE" Community Priority under the Theme of "Kaipara District's special character and healthy environment."
(p. 88, Kaipara District Council adopted LTCCP)
PSRG calls your attention to the following material that qualifies the public's concern about genetically engineered organisms (GEOs). The risks of growing GE crops potentially endanger the environment and human health.
1. Regulation, safety testing and monitoring of GEOs
New Zealand largely relies on the approval process of US government agencies. This reliance raises concerns because the companies that develop and promote GE food crops generally (a) carry out toxicological studies on the effects of consuming them and (b) often claim that their crop will not contaminate crops grown nearby. Industry studies are meant to be double checked by regulators, but the criticism is that the experiments are simply not reproduced, even though industry studies often show adverse biological and environmental impacts. For example:
1.a. The FDA declared that GE foods are substantially equivalent to conventional foods. It ignored the warnings of its own scientists and put in place food rules that assume no unforeseen effects will occur and, therefore, no safety testing is required, for genetically engineered foods. This premise has been well proven to be wrong.
1.b. Early in 2000, German scientists discovered that antibiotic resistant marker (ARM) genes from engineered canola were transferring their resistance to the bacteria found in the guts of bees that had consumed pollen from the plants.
Earlier European Union studies had revealed that ARM genes found in genetically engineered foods could transfer into bacteria in the human gut as well as soil bacteria
(www.organicconsumers.org/ge/genemarker.cfm).
Concerns were raised as long ago as 1999 when the British Medical Association called for a global moratorium on GE crops. The BMA were concerned that ARM genes would cause antibiotic resistance to develop in bacteria by horizontal gene transfer. Such resistance would serve to erode the effectiveness of antibiotics for humankind. Crops are still produced using ARM genes.
1.c. A recent report found that the US Department of Agriculture has failed to properly oversee field trials of GE crops, including plants engineered to produce chemicals for medical and industrial uses. The report says that the USDA "lacks basic information" on field trial locations and what happens to the crops after harvest. For example, auditors located two harvested pharmaceutical crops in storage, about which the USDA knew nothing nor had it approved. The two-year safety audit by the United States Office of Inspector General1 also found that: "Current (USDA) regulations, policies and procedures do not go far enough to ensure the safe introduction of agricultural biotechnology."
In 2006, agricultural economist, Dr Charles Benbrook - a former advisor to the Carter, Reagan and Clinton administrations - warned of serious concerns over safety in respect of generically engineered foods.2 He claims that these food crops should be re-tested using Australian food safety technology developed by the Australian National University. The failed pea trials were tested using it
To the Councils of New Zealand 18 April 2006
Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Genetics Appendix 2/2
2. Health concerns for genetically engineered crops
It has been claimed that some crops will only be used in animal feed. However, it has been shown that these can find their way into human food products. PSRG maintains that it is intrinsically unwise to allow GE animal feed into the human food chain. For example:
2.a. In June 2004, a study was released by the Research Centre for Milk and Foodstuffs in Weihenstephan, Bavaria that showed that parts of the gene construct from RoundupReady soybean and from Bt176 maize was found in milk from cows fed these genetically engineered plants. The report says the gene segments may have got into the milk via feed or dust from the feed in the air. No further studies have been made to clarify the exact means by which the DNA fragments got into the milk.3
2.b. A study commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency4 (FSA) and carried out at the University of Newcastle, demonstrated that DNA from a genetically engineered food – in this case soybean in the form of a burger and a milkshake - found its way into the gut bacteria of human volunteers.
The long-term effects of ingesting material from transgenic sources on a daily basis have not been assessed. With contamination a proven risk, control over ingestion may not be an option.
3. Studies on Monsanto's MON 810 GE corn5, 6, 7
Monsanto's MON 810 corn produces an artificial, truncated version of a Cry toxin derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. This family of toxins has a pathogenic effect on insects.
3.a. A study spanning several years has monitored the quantity of Cry1Ab toxins in DK-440 BTY (MON 810) corn. Cry toxins are compounds that have gained acceptance in pest control (i.e., in bio pesticides such as DIPEL). However, genetically engineered plants are not equivalent to these bio-pesticides from the aspect of environmental analysis and ecotoxicology. The principal difference with regard to toxin release is related to the extent and duration of exposure: while bio-pesticide applications release a small quantity of the toxin on a single or several occasions, the GE plant produces the toxin protein on a continuous basis, unnecessarily, during its entire vegetation cycle, as long as the gene section(s) added artificially to the plant and responsible for encoding the protein are active.5
3.b. Székács et al5 have confirmed that the Cry toxin is produced in the plant during the whole period of growth. That is, in a dry plant, under moderate temperature, the toxin remains biologically active for several years. Post-harvest the maize stubble contains a significant quantity of Cry toxin. Cry toxin, over-wintering in the stubble, can be detected in plant residues after a period of one year.
3.c. Székács et al5 compared the quantity of Cry-toxin proteins produced by the Bt-plant with the doses registered and permitted for their use in bio pesticides, and determined the toxin quantity in DIPEL. They found that MON 810 Bt-corn produces 1800-3000 times more Cry1Ab toxin than the Cry1Ab toxin dose corresponding to a single treatment with DIPEL. They also found that only part of the toxin from the Bt-plant is decomposed during the growth period. Further, a significant part of the remaining quantity in the stubble enters the soil, where it may affect soil life (animals and micro-organisms).
3.d. A study (Darvas et al)6 carried out over several years looked at the possible effects of the pollen of DK-440 BTY corn grown in Nagykovácsi, Júlia-major, a valley where no maize was grown during the years concerned. The distance of the intra-specific hybrid formation was examined on white, tassel-free maize and the results showed that pollen transfer could occur at 800 metres. This poses risks for organically grown maize where zero tolerance is accepted for GE-hybrids. Seeds developing from a traditional female blossom pollinated with cry gene- containing pollen (i.e., from MON 810), have a high probability (1/3) of acquiring the capability of producing the Cry1Ab toxin.
3.e. Around fields planted with Bt-corn hybrids, the Bt-pollen settled on weeds, presenting a danger to the hatching caterpillars of protected varieties of butterflies. This means that in the case of extensive Bt-corn cultivation, butterfly species could recede. A study by Béla Darvas and Éva Lauber7 found that insects developed resistance to the toxin content in Bt-corn leaves. The conclusion is that this will generate a growth in the number of insect populations on which Bacillus thuringiensis products – used almost exclusively in organic farming – will no longer have a suitable effect.
4. Non-food products produced using food crops
There is especial concern about food crops engineered to produce pharmaceutical and industrial non-food products. There is potential for contamination of other engineered, conventional and organically grown crops,1 and for these non-food products to enter the food chain as did the Cry9C protein in StarLink corn in 2000.
In 2004, the US Department of Agriculture oversaw 67,000 acres of biotech field trials, some of which involved producing non-food products in a food crop. Corn is the most utilised food crop for engineered traits because it is easy to work with and produces a lot of grain.
(N.B. Some people react differently to proteins that are genetically engineered as against equivalent proteins that are produced naturally. For example, GE technology is not as precise or as predictable as producing drugs chemically. Even the subtlest of changes in the process can have unpredictable results.)
5. GE trees may potentially contaminate natural forests.8, 9, 10
A study identified pine tree pollen at 600 km from the closest pine trees (Singh et al., 1993), and another showed that a storm can lift air masses, and thus pollen grains, skywards several kilometres and carry that pollen for hundreds of kilometres (Emberlin et al; Mandrioli et al., 1984; Faegri & Iversen, 1989). The danger arises for contamination at great distances from trees engineered to grow faster, to contain less lignin, to have more uniform characteristics, be resistant to agri-chemicals or contain their own pesticide, for tolerance to salt, cold, wet and drought, and to be more resistant to disease; also from trees engineered for so-called phytoremediation, taking toxic waste from the environment, for example, engineered yellow poplars which possess a "merA" gene that can grow in an environment of normally toxic levels of ionic mercury.
The risks are multiplied by trees engineered with multiple traits, called gene stacking, which create additional complex and unpredictable effects. Dr Ricarda Steinbrecher, a geneticist, describes some of the potential complications of gene stacking. "While 'simple' traits such as herbicide resistance or insecticide production already interfere with the plant's own internal biochemical pathways and gene regulation, creating unpredictable side effects, this is likely to be exacerbated for complex traits."
Commercial pressure may further risk our unique flora. Almost 50 percent of cut timber goes into paper production, half of that for packaging, and junk mail using another large portion. Demand has depleted supplies. Free trade agreements and increased consumption have encouraged the wood pulp industry and the biotechnology industry to work together, and has led to claims that engineered trees grown for wood pulp are the answer to environmental concerns such as forest decline, pollution from paper mills, and the use of chemicals in forestry plantations.
6. Terminator technology
Of particular concern is New Zealand's support for the development of terminator technology. Plants are complex organisms, genes inter-relate to express different traits, activated and deactivated at various times in a plant's life due to external and internal stresses.
In respect of trees, the probability of a permanently sterile tree is practically zero and under unusual conditions - e.g., where a mate is not available - organisms have been known to compensate. For example:
6.a. German field trials of transgenic aspens, engineered to be sterile, were approved for a five-year period on the understanding that aspens typically flower around year seven, but the aspens began to flower after only three years.11
Scientists' knowledge of the complex inter-relationships of trees and under-story plants, insects, animals, fungi, bacteria and soil micro-organisms is only just developing. There is concern, for example, about using engineered exotic species that may become invasive and displace native species.
Trees are not an annual crop. They live hundreds of years, exposed to many stresses such as frost, fire, drought, storm and insect attacks. No risk assessment can predict the interference that genetic engineering will have on the stress response and the aging of trees.
1. DesMoines Register, Philip Brasher, www.desmoinesregister.com, 30 December 2005.
2. Canberra News Bureau, Rural Press Agricultural Publishing; 'GM crops: US expert wants crops re-tested with latest technology,' by Michael Thomson, 30 November 2005.
3. See http://news.bbc.co.uk.
4. See the FSA Report on www.foodstandards.gov.uk.)
5. 'Production and decomposition of DK-440 BTY corn,' András Székács, Erik Maloschik, Éva Lauber, László A Polgár and Béla Darvas, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Plant Protection Institute, Department of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Analysis, Budapest.
6. 'Conflicts of DK-440 BTY corn pollen' Béla Darvas, Éva Lauber & László A. Polgár, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Plant Protection Institute, Department of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Analysis, Budapest.
7. 'Cry1Ab-resistance pattern on Indian meal moth,' Béla Darvas & Éva Lauber, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Plant Protection Institute, Department of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Analysis, Budapest.
8. Rural Vermont Report, Vol. 13, # 3, June-July 2001; Salt, D . et al. 1995. Pytoremediation: A novel strategy for the removal of toxic metals from the environment using plants. Bio/Technology, 13:468-474; Verrengia, J B, Hybrid poplar trees suck up heavy metals and solvents, Associated Press; Steinbrecher, Dr Ricarda, The Ecological Consequences of Genetic Engineering, in Brian Tokar, ed., Redesigning Life? The Worldwide Challenge to Genetic Engineering, London: Zed Books, 2001, p. 89-90.
9. China's GM trees get lost in bureaucracy, Fred Pearce, New Scientist, 18 September 2004, <http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996402; GE Trees: Myths Vs. Reality, Anne Petermann, Global Justice Ecology Project; Sedjo, R., Biotechnology and Planted Forests: Assessment of Potential and Possibilities, Resources for the future discussion paper 00-06, Washington, 1999, p. 8, 20, 22.
10. The Case against GE Trees by Maria Tomchick
11. Scheirmeier, Q. "German transgenic crop trials face attack," Nature Vol. 394, Aug. 27, 1998; Steinbrecher, Dr Ricarda, The Ecological Consequences of Genetic Engineering, in Brian Tokar, ed.., Redesigning Life? The Worldwide Challenge to Genetic Engineering, London: Zed Books, 2001, p. 89-90.
Other references sources:
Manuela Malatesta, cellular biologist, Histological Institute of the University of Urbino, Italy, European J. Histochemistry, 2005, p. 237.
Vanessa Prescott et al., J. Agriculture and Food Chemistry, 2005, p. 9023; Selina Mitchell and Leigh Dayton, The Australian, 18 November 2005, www.theaustralian.news.com.au.
European Food Research and Technology, January 2006, p. 185.
'New Suspicions about GMOs,' by Herve Kempf, Le Monde, 9 February 2006.
<www.clinicaltrials.gov>.
March 2005 Nature Immunology, Vol 6, p 271;
'New drug trial puts six men in intensive care' 18 March 2006, http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8852;
'Human guinea pigs speed up drug development' 9 April 2005,
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624945.500;
'Up to 140,000 heart attacks linked to Vioxx' 25 January 2005,
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6918; http://www.tegenero.com/research__development/drug_development/index.php;
Leukaemia Research Fund, UK, http://www.lrf.org.uk/en/1/home.html;
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency,
http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=5;
'Trial and Terror: the story of a genetically engineered drug trial gone bad,' The Observer, UK, by Robin McKie and Jo Revill, 19 March 2006, http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,1734447,00.html;
'The Disasterous Clinical Trial in London: Chapter 2,' the Times of London, Stephen Latham, 20 March 2006;
'Catastrophic immune response may have caused drug trial horror,' 17 March 2006, New Scientists, Shaoni Bhattacharya and Andy Coghlan, NewScientist.com.
'Mortality rate for new-born rats six times higher when mother was fed on a diet of modified soya,' the Independent on Sunday, 8 January 2006, Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor, http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article337253.ece.


As the days are getting colder (this morning it is 50 degrees Fahrenheit / 10 degrees Celsius here, the same temperature as in Chicago!) we are getting near the end of our 2011 season. Our last day on the tell will be on Thursday, December 8th. During the next few days we will be busy in packing up everything on site and do the last drawings and recordings. Natasha, Janelle and Lindsey are taking care of the large amount of pottery sherds which will be packed according to their respective archaeological contexts in plastic bags and cardboard boxes before getting put into the pylon of the temple which is their temporary storage location until we come back next year.


Written submission to the national Department of Social Development, 11 August 2008.
Proudlock, P., Meintjes, H., Moses, S. 2008-08. Children's Institute submission on the draft regulations to the Children's Act 38 of 2005. University of Cape Town.


Happy New Year's Eve! As 2015 draws to a close, I can't help but reflect on all of the many memories I have made over the past 364 days. Our dog Kya passed away, our newest dog Cannon joined our family, we celebrated our one-year anniversary on a Caribbean cruise, we finished college at College of the Ozarks, Duncan was accepted into two medical schools, and there were countless other challenges and fun times!
I cannot wait to see what 2016 has in store. We will celebrate our second year of marriage, Duncan will begin medical school, and other than those things, I really have no idea what this year will look like. When I was brainstorming a resolution or goal for the coming year, nothing came to my mind right away, especially because of all the unknowns. The more I thought about it, the more I realized no matter how many unknowns there are in this new year, I do know for a fact that God will walk with me through every minute of every day and that He has a plan for my life and the coming year.
In order to be truly successful, we must meditate on the Word of God. We cannot know God or how to move forward in life without reading and knowing the Bible. Joshua was appointed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land after the death of Moses and needed God's direction, encouragement, and guidance; the same Truth God spoke to Joshua applies to us: we must meditate on the Word of God and be careful to obey everything written in it.
When we know Jesus and are changed by Him, we keep His commands, and in order to know His commands, we must read His Word!
I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Eve and a Happy New Year!