text:
Despising freedom while celebrating Independence Day is quintessential of Hindutva fascism
Mon, Aug 12 2019 Mon, Aug 12 2019 Tanmoy Ibrahim Opinion
As 15th August, the much-celebrated Indian Independence Day is approaching, its quintessential can be seen clearly. On one hand is a regular heightening of security and checkings by the security forces throughout the country, especially in the metro cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, which clearly bears an anti-Muslim signage as it says that it's conducted against Muslim suspects who could carry out sabotage, while on the other hand, one can see how strongly the onus of proving their loyalty towards India is imposed on the minority Muslim community, who are viewed as pro-Pakistan by the Hindutva-infected media houses as well as the bigot state machinery.
While the story will continue more or less on the same lines this year too, the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, especially its forceful annexation by the ruling Hindutva fascist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into India by scrapping of Article 370 and its bifurcation into two union territories, will fan new level of hyper-masculine Hindutva-incensed jingoistic fervour on the day, as well as intensify protests in the Kashmir valley, where the Kashmiris, unrelenting before the military might of New Delhi, will try to exhibit their opposition on the streets and demand Azadi (freedom).
New Delhi is decorated with colours every 15th August to superimpose the beauty of a free nation to ensure that the people believe that they are indeed free, despite them not being free in the true sense of the world. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the day is crucial too, as he will deliver a speech from the Red Fort, which was ironically built by the Mughals whom his Hindutva fascist ideology loathes extremely, and tell the people how good his government is in all fronts and how the annexation of Jammu & Kashmir by scrapping the essentials of its temporary merger with India will benefit the Kashmiris.
He will not talk about the Kashmiris raising the slogans of freedom from Indian colonisation, rather talk about how his government has checkmated Pakistan, which ironically profiteered due to India's dishonouring of an agreement that was internationally accepted. Despite all tall talks about how great India is or has become under him, neither Modi nor his paternal organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will clarify to the people why they have been allergic to the concept of freedom since the colonial era. Why the word freedom irks them? Why the demand for freedom triggers their panic button?
History and many historians have proved repeatedly how the RSS and the entire Hindutva fascist camp was a brainchild of the British imperialism to protect its hegemony over colonial India. Since its inception in 1925 as a separate paramilitary organisation than the more political outlet Hindu Mahasabha, the RSS has been instrumental in preserving imperialist domination over India by siding unapologetically with all reactionary imperialist powers, be it the British imperialism between 1925 to 1947, or the US imperialism-led international imperialist camp from 1950 onwards. It's no wonder that the Independence Day that Modi is celebrating with full fanfare at the Red Fort by turning Delhi into a military fortress, got nothing to do with the RSS or the Hindu Mahasabha, from which the founder of the BJP's precursor Bharatiya Jan Sangh — Shyama Prosad Mookerjee — came.
None of their men sacrificed anything for the sake of Indian independence during the colonial period but tried hard to ensure India never becomes free from imperialist domination because due to their class-caste position the RSS men always despise the idea of freedom and equality.
Ironically, the entire history of Indian Independence Movement is laced with the blood of the working class, the peasantry, who fought under different socialist or Marxist organisations, the Congress party and a large number of revolutionary terrorist organisations that struck panic across the hearts of the colonial rulers. In principle, the RSS, the BJP and Modi despise them all. The RSS and its minions are ideological enemies of Marxists, the Congress party and the revolutionaries who fought and died during the colonial era. The RSS not only betrayed them by siding with the British imperialism, but it also helped the British in identifying and persecuting the revolutionaries and civil activists of the Congress party.
One of the remarkable cases of RSS's betrayal can be found in former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee's story when he became a government approver against Quit India Movement activists. The cases of endless mercy petitions from VD Savarkar, the ideological father of Hindutva fascism, to the British government, where he offered his unconditional services to the British rulers, are already infamous and quite an inconvenient story that the RSS and the BJP want to cast into oblivion.
No wonder such leeches, such bootlickers of imperialism will continue with their anti-freedom and anti-democratic policies even now, especially when they have a thumping majority in the Indian parliament and a tight grip over all states from north to south. Freedom is now twisted and often stamped out as a negative, "anti-national" term. So, it's quite predictable that the same Modi who will laud "freedom" from the Red Fort's dais will, therefore, send more troops to Kashmir to crush the people's demand for freedom from his tyranny, freedom from Hindutva fascist occupation and freedom from dehumanising colonial rule.
This is indeed a matter of prestige for the BJP and the RSS to celebrate Independence Day in Kashmir by clamping down on people's freedom of expression, freedom of speech and freedom to assemble without weapons. The BJP will laud its celebration of Independence Day in the valley when the international mainstream media will show how the Modi regime tramples the Kashmiri people's aspiration for freedom under its military jackboots. Celebrating freedom without any penchant for it is an extreme level of hypocrisy epitomised by the Sangh Parivar.
India remains a land of wonders, mysteries and, of course, irony. The fact that freedom in India is only reserved for the elite and the urban middle-class, who belong to the upper-caste Hindu society, can be found in the agony suffered by its brutalised, exploited and persecuted majority — the workers, peasants, toiling people — who mostly belong to Dalit, backward classes, tribal, Muslim and other minority communities. The freedom and independence that the rich and the urban middle-class from the privileged castes celebrate, has no existence in the lives of the poor and the exploited. Hence, the latter's demand for freedom from exploitation, oppression and dehumanisation is identical with the Kashmiri's demand for freedom from colonial occupation or the tribal people's demand for freedom from the tyranny of big mining corporations.
Thus, India is now an epicentre of freedom struggles waged by different classes and social groups to assert their rights on the national resources and their own lives. It's a complex web of struggles waged by the exploited, the oppressed, and the persecuted people against the core group of a handful of big comprador capitalists, feudal landlords, usurers and their agents, political and otherwise. This struggle is a freedom struggle; the real freedom struggle of the oppressed against the oppressors who enjoy the slice of freedom that India got at the stroke of midnight. The demand for freedom in broad daylight, which will neither come through any generosity of the colonial rulers nor will be centred among the haves, but the one that will be the freedom of the have-nots to rule and lead the society according to their vision and wish.
From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and far beyond, freedom is an inspirational and encouraging term. The leap from the reign of necessities to the reign of freedom is what people aspire for. Freedom is a state of being, a goal in itself that drives the political aspiration of the ruled, the exploited and the oppressed and it's time that we look beyond the criminalisation of the term by the Sangh Parivar that tries to nib all thoughts of freedom in the bud's stage. The Sangh Parivar and Modi may boast upon their present control over the state machinery and the absolute power they wield, however, they won't be able to stall the wheel of history from moving forward, be it in Kashmir or anywhere else in the country. Alike Swaraj, freedom is the birthright of every human being and no toxic ideology, polarisation, vitriol or state terror can force the oppressed and exploited to give up the dream of freedom.
Being servile agents of colonisers and neo-colonisers themselves, the RSS or the Modi regime can't fathom the power of people's aspiration and desire to unshackle themselves from the bondage of exploitation and oppression. With time, under their repressive regime, the exploited and oppressed people from all over India will arise with the demand for freedom from hunger, poverty, feudal oppression, crony-comprador capitalist exploitation, corporate loot and plunder, caste system, communalism, Brahminical patriarchy, colonial expansionism, toxic masculine-nationalism and Hindutva fascism. It will be the beginning of the end of this gargantuan Hindutva fascist structure that Modi and his associates are building. It will be the beginning of a new dawn that millions have been aspiring to see.
Tagged BJP free speech freedom Freedom of expression Independence Day
Kashmiri students in AMU refuse to join VC's Eid lunch citing valley situation
Jinnah resurrected in Modi-fied India by the Hindutva fascist rampage


Jerry is a local US Army Veteran who grew up in Houston. He graduated from St. Mary's University, began serving and culminated a successful 26 year military career right here in San Antonio. He is married and has a son and daughter who are both currently attending Texas A&M University at College Station.
Driven by his own lifelong experiences of buying, owning, and selling homes, he started HomeTeam Inspection Service of San Antonio in order to provide a better and more professional inspection service with the highest levels of integrity. He also wanted to continue his service to the local community and to help employ other high quality Veterans who share a passion for helping and serving others.


School heads and governors have warned of real cuts to schools in Sevenoaks.
Within two years the existing schools in our town will lose £1.2 million a year - that's up to 30 teachers.
The next generation needs the best education for all, to give everyone the skills they need to succeed.
Liberal Democrats - in Kent and at Westminster - will back proper school funding.
Only the Liberal Democrats have announced they will invest nearly £7 billion more in our schools and colleges over the next parliament.


Loving you was the greatest moment of my life.
My name is Femi and I shared the greatest love of my life with a beautiful lady called Amina. I remember there were people that said beautiful things about our relationship.
They called it a Cinderella story, something beyond perfect. But sadly, the relationship had to end. In February this year, my lover, Amina, finally told me that there was more going on than I thought between her and the Alhaji from Kano.
I had been in a long distance relationship for 3 years with Amina, and I thought things were working and that the relationship was leading to marriage. But the truth was that Amina was only interested in dating any man that has a lot of cash to spend on her.
Her list of boyfriends included several white men and black Nigerian sugar daddies especially rich Muslim men from the Northern part of the country.
Initially, a friend of Amina had sent me emails, telling me how Amina and one particular Alhaji were always seen together.
I demanded to hear the truth from Amina herself. But Amina avoided my questions and kept torturing me with thoughts of her and Alhaji actually making love.
After a week she finally admitted the story was true, and that was the moment our relationship ended.
I loved her so much that I was actually willing to forgive her if she still wanted me, but without words she let me know that she preferred Alhaji to me.
I had been in love with Amina for so long, thinking I was indispensable to her, and foolishly believing that what we shared was true love. But to her, I was dispensable, something she could exchange for a rich man.
I cried my eyes out for love of Amina, because she was my life. I had given her so much of my life that when the relationship ended I didn't even remember who I was anymore.
After Amina broke up with me, I developed a minor mental problem. I became a crippled monster that needed love to walk. I was addicted to Amina like cocaine, and I couldn't live without her.
Amina called me after we broke up, saying that she wanted us to remain friends. But I told her that it would be better we remain enemies.
That's because when you have dated for that long and loved someone with all your heart, friendship is like knowing a sword has pierced your heart, and yet you pretend that it didn't and keep deceiving yourself.
I stopped receiving Amina's 'friendship' calls altogether, even when I knew she was trying to talk Alhaji into getting me a job with an oil company as a way of consoling me for breaking my heart.
But on April 24th, I received the news that Amina had died in a ghastly motor accident on her way to Kaduna state to inform her parents of her upcoming marriage to Alhaji. She was to be Alhaji's fourth wife.
I was devastated at the news of Amina's death. But I noticed that Alhaji went about as usual with his girlfriends as if nothing had happened.
I wonder why girls don't love guys that love them, but fall for rich men who don't love them. I was dying for Amina, but instead of dying for me, she was dying for Alhaji.
Amina died for love of Alhaji and ruined my life. How can I ever love again? I wish I had married Amina before she died. I wish things had turned out differently, like in the Cinderella story. Part of me has died with Amina.


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The lifting roller stand "Safe & Comfort" has been especially developed to increase the safety when processing the installation and re-installation of large trampolines and to make it more comfortable. Through the new hydraulic pump system the trampoline can be easily moved up and down by using an integrated pedal. With the lifting roller stand "Safe & Comfort" therefore the transport height of a trampoline can be adjusted from 2,20 m to 1,97 m, that's why all the trampolines can pass through normed doors of 2 m height.


At such times, in place of the voice of duty which no longer peaks in men's hearts, the cheifs are forced to substitute the cry of terror or the lure of some apparent interest by which they deceive their creatures. At such times one has to have recoruse to all the petty and contemptible ruses they call maxims of state and secrets of the cabinet. Rousseau Discourses on Political Economy….


Elliptic filters offer steeper rolloff characteristics than Butterworth and Chebyshev filters, but they are equiripple in both the passband and the stopband. Of the four classical filter types, elliptic filters usually meet a given set of filter performance specifications with the lowest filter order.
ellipap sets the passband edge angular frequency ω0 of the elliptic filter to 1 for a normalized result. The passband edge angular frequency is the frequency at which the passband ends and the filter has a magnitude response of 10-Rp/20.
ellipap uses the algorithm outlined in . It employs ellipke to calculate the complete elliptic integral of the first kind and ellipj to calculate Jacobi elliptic functions.


If you haven't heard, there's a live stream from New York that the humans are all watching. It's April the giraffe who's due to give birth any day. She lives at Animal Adventures Park in Harpursville, New York. We have no idea why humans would spend their time watching a giraffe walk round a pen, but humans are strange. We briefly spoke with April to get her thoughts.
Cheeseland: How long have the humans been watching?
April: I really don't know. It feels like forever. They're always around, and they never stop talking.
Cheeseland: Why do you think you're so popular?
April: One of the vets said that the humans want to see me give birth.
April: Can you believe it? It's such a personal moment, and all those people want to watch.
Cheeseland: Some people put really personal stuff of their own out there for everyone to see.
April: Ewww. Humans are so weird.
We decided to talk to some of the cats whose videos have gone viral. We asked them to share what happened after their moment of fame. Names and faces have been altered to protect their privacy.
Aftermath: The humans thought I was hilarious and posted it. The dog was not amused. He kept trying to get even and push me into the pool. He ended up skidding into the pool several times. That was hilarious. I wish the humans had been around. Now he just sits in a chair by the pool.
Advice: People will leave you alone after a while. Just don't let them put a panda-cam on the baby.
Aftermath: The big humans laughed but the little human wouldn't stop crying. Human Mom had to pick her up and told her I was a bad kitty. The little beast called me "bad kitty" for days. She's lucky I'm not really a bad kitty.
Advice: Don't trust what the humans say while the camera is on. And never agree to a panda-cam for the baby. The poor thing will have no privacy.
Aftermath: The humans said I was fat. They made me eat disgusting food that gave me gas and wouldn't let me have treats. I was hungry all the time and was really grumpy. They finally gave up and let me have my food back. They also discovered they had installed the cat door wrong.
Advice: Break the camera. They're going the save the most embarrassing parts because they think you're "cute". And no panda-cam!
Aftermath: They acted so impressed while the camera was on. I don't know why. Ice cubes are not good prizes. I got my paw wet for something that I couldn't eat, and they wouldn't let me play with it. Not only that, they won't let me around their water anymore.
Advice: Don't trust humans. Particularly if they want to put your baby on a panda-cam.
We hope the advice helps April. We couldn't understand why pandas with cameras were such a problem. We never see pandas around here, with or without cameras.
They're right April. Beware the panda-cam!


A Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®) is used by vendors to report the extent to which a digital material or technology product meets federal accessibility compliance standards for people with disabilities. As indicated by its title, a VPAT is voluntarily made available by vendors, making it a self-report.
The VPAT was developed as a standard format to help U.S. federal government agencies determine how well the products they purchase meet the Section 508 accessibility standards. Many organizations outside the federal government now require the submission of a VPAT in their procurement process, especially if they receive any kind of federal funding. This includes K-12 schools and institutions of higher education, both of which must comply with civil rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. You can learn more about these laws on our Laws, Regulations and Guidelines page.
What are some of the benefits of the VPAT®?
Provide a standard format for determining and comparing the accessibility of multiple products under consideration in the bidding process. For example, if a district is accepting proposals for a learning management system, each product's VPAT can be considered individually, and the collection of VPATs can be used to make a cross-comparison of product accessibility.
Offer an entry point to engage in discussions with vendors. While reviewing a VPAT, a procurement team can gather questions about the product. The AEM Center's Is It Accessible? Questions to Ask is a helpful resource for preparing for conversations with vendors.
Document accessibility claims from vendors in order to promote accountability. Contracts can include language requiring vendors to submit an accurate and up to date VPAT as a condition of purchase. If inaccuracies are identified later as a result of students experiencing access barriers, the documentation in the VPAT can inform efforts to resolve the identified issues.
Increase awareness of accessibility standards and promote best practices among vendors and developers.
What are some of the limitations of the VPAT®?
Just because a vendor produces a VPAT for a product doesn't mean that the product is in compliance with accessibility standards.
A review of a VPAT should be combined with other strategies and tools for ensuring the procurement of accessible digital materials and technologies. See Acquisition of AEM on the AEM Center website for more guidance on procuring accessible materials. Usability testing by learners who have unique access needs, such as AT users, is highly recommended.
The quality of a VPAT is limited by the expertise of the person completing it. Some companies have accessibility experts on staff while others designate people who may not have the necessary knowledge and skills.
Versions of the same product can significantly differ. When receiving a VPAT, confirm that it matches the product being considered for purchase. The date on the VPAT should also be consistent with the release of the product.
What does a VPAT® look like?
The VPAT® includes two major sections. The first section includes extensive instructions for completing the VPAT, including essential requirements, best practices, and frequently asked questions. Upon completion, the vendor removes the instructions, leaving only the Accessibility Compliance Report (ACR). The ACR is what is made available as documentation of a product's conformance to Section 508.
In the remainder of this section, we will be referencing a VPAT's ACR for a fictional company called Online Learning Systems that develops and markets an online learning management system for schools, called Online Learning Environment.
Product Description: Online Learning Environment is a learning management system (LMS) educators can use to author and deliver online learning courses.
Notes: This VPAT reflects the update of Online Learning Environment to version 2.0 on December 15, 2018.
The contact information should point to someone who is not only familiar with the product's features but also its support for a variety of accessibility features. Ideally, it should be someone on the accessibility team. The information in this section should be as specific as possible to help the person reading the VPAT determine which version of the product the VPAT covers and when it was last updated.
Online Learning Systems contracted with Accessibility Audit Company to conduct a full third-party audit of the Online Learning Environment platform upon launch. Additional testing of updated components was conducted when Online Learning Environment was updated to version 2.0. Testing was performed with both an automated accessibility checker as well as a range of assistive technologies and web browsers: JAWS 18 and Internet Explorer 11; NVDA and Firefox 60; VoiceOver and Safari 11. Keyboard-only testing was also performed.
This section should include both automated as well as manual testing methods used to determine the product's accessibility. Keep in mind that automated tools can only capture about 25-30% of accessibility errors, while testing with assistive technology will depend on both the capabilities of the tool as well as the skill of the person doing the testing. A variety of methods, both manual and automated, will provide a thorough and more robust evaluation.
Level A is the minimum level of accessibility a product should have. Not meeting Level A will result in significant barriers for people with disabilities that could keep them from using the product at all.
Level AA is the level of accessibility required in most national laws, such as the revised Section 508 in the U.S. It refers to a level of accessibility that should be reasonable for most developers to attain.
Level AAA is the highest level of accessibility, but it may not always be attainable due to the nature of some websites and applications.
On this VPAT®, Online Learning Systems states that their product Online Learning Environment 2.0 will meet WCAG at Level AA, which is required by most national laws and recommended as a target level for procurement decisions. Because the three levels build on each other, conformance at Level AA also means meeting Level A.
The latest version of WCAG is WCAG 2.1, which includes additional success criteria for mobile accessibility and for improving the experience for people with low vision and those with cognitive and learning disabilities. WCAG 2.1 is backward compatible with WCAG 2.0, and includes all of the WCAG 2.0 criteria.
Section 508 is the U.S. federal law that requires government agencies to provide people with disabilities equal access to electronic and information technology. Section 508 was updated in 2017 to include WCAG by reference. Because Online Learning Systems has chosen to report conformance to the updated Section 508 standards, conformance to WCAG is also necessary. This is best practice in VPAT® development. However, note the version of WCAG referenced in the updated Section 508 is 2.0 instead of 2.1.
The rest of the ACR focuses on how the product meets the specific requirements under each standard.
How is conformance to accessibility standards reported in the VPAT®'s ACR?
Supports: The product has at least one method that meets the criterion without known issues.
Does not support: The majority of the product does not meet the criterion.
Not evaluated: The product has not been evaluated against the criterion (this conformance level can only be used for WCAG 2.x Level AAA).
Web: Supports Authoring Tool: Supports Web: Alt text is used for all icons and images throughout Online Learning Environment 2.0. Authoring Tool: For images imported by a course builder, alt text can be provided by the author.
Web: Does Not Support Web: The video conferencing component in Online Learning Environment 2.0 does not support live captioning. This functionality is on the roadmap for a planned spring 2019 release.
The availability of some of the features described in this document will vary according to the selected license type of Online Learning Environment 2.0.
For the Level A table, Online Learning Systems has reported that alternative text for the images and icons is not only available in the Online Learning Environment interface ("Web: Supports"), but can also be provided for any images course authors import into their courses ("Authoring Tool: Supports").
For the Level AA table, a feature of Online Learning Environment 2.0 does not support a criterion, but the vendor has provided helpful information on when the specified feature will be available for review and testing.
The rest of the Online Learning Environment 2.0 VPAT would follow a similar pattern. Vendors can choose to leave out a table from their ACR if that level of conformance will not be reported. This is typically done for WCAG Level AAA.
To further streamline the VPAT by reducing the number of pages in the ACR, separate editions corresponding to individual standards (WCAG, Section 508 and the European EN 301 549 standard) are now available for download from the Information Technology Industry Council. ITI is the industry group that maintains the VPAT.
The legal disclaimer is easy to overlook, as it comes at the end of the ACR following a number of long tables. A vendor may use this disclaimer to explain certain limitations that have not been mentioned elsewhere on the ACR. In this case, Online Learning Systems has reported that different licenses of their product are available, and the feature set will vary according to the license.
The VPAT® was developed to provide a standard reporting format and make it easier for procurement departments to conduct a preliminary assessment of a product's conformance to accessibility standards. However, as a voluntary report, there are a number of limitations of the VPAT that should be kept in mind. The VPAT should thus be one component of a robust procurement process that also involves in-depth conversations with vendors, testing with assistive technology users, and regular reviews to make sure the information provided is up to date.


Mary knows what she likes. At the age of 80, she has learned a thing or two about how she wants to live. She would describe it as an ordinary life, nothing unusual. Except that lately, it's been anything but.
Mary loves so many things about her life in Chicago. She loves the restaurants and the museums. She's been to every Greek eatery in town and she's been a docent at the Art Institute for nearly 20 years. She was a teacher for many years with Chicago Public Schools, which allowed her to combine her interest in art with her love of teaching. Every year, she would bring her students to the Art Institute to gather inspiration for a student-made mural. Before Chicago, she taught in Ohio during desegregation. Before that, Cuba. With her every step of the way was her husband, James, who passed away from a heart attack in November after 56 years of marriage. The two have a daughter, Debbie, who lives in California.
"I just really live an ordinary life," said Mary. "Just a very happy life." And with her surgery and the support of Northwestern Medicine, breast cancer won't change that. With a customized care plan, informed by recent research that suggests less treatment may be more beneficial for certain patients, Mary can keep doing all the things she loves. Whether that's getting involved with new projects, running when she wants or spending time with her many friends, Mary's everyday is upbeat, active and happy.


text:
The Angel of Grozny: Orphans of a Forgotten War
Asne Seierstad, , trans. from the Norwegian by Nadia Christensen. . Basic, $25.95 (340pp) ISBN 978-0-465-01122-3
In this searing journey through a traumatized Chechnya, two children orphaned by the civil war—Timur, a violent street urchin, and his sister Liana, a waif molested by her uncle who becomes a kleptomaniac—symbolize their country's agony, abandonment and lingering dysfunctions. Norwegian journalist Seierstad (The Bookseller of Kabul ) includes them in a gallery of portraits drawn from her reporting—sometimes undercover—from the region. These include a kindly childless woman who runs Grozny's last orphanage; a Russian soldier suffering from brain damage caused by a rebel mine; survivors of Stalin's expulsion of the Chechens to Kazakhstan in WWII; and a family whose daughter joined an Islamist sect and died in the spectacular terrorist takeover of a Moscow theater. Even more disturbing is her chilling, absurdist depiction of the regime of Moscow-backed Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, which combines torture and disappearances with a saccharine cult of personality. (One of Kadyrov's youth groups distributed roses on his behalf to every woman in Grozny.) There are many victims but few heroes; the author finds chauvinism and Islamist misogyny to be among the reliable reflexes of the dispossessed in this wounded society. Seierstad's vivid, unsparing reportage makes this distant tragedy very personal. (Sept.)
Genre: Nonfiction
Hardcover - 340 pages - 978-1-84408-395-4
Paperback - 288 pages - 978-1-84408-516-3
THE BOOKSELLER OF KABUL
Asne Seierstad
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Kjartan Flogstad, Kjartan Flgstad
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Dina's Book
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Sultan Rules the Roost
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Journalist Kenneally (The Invisible History of the Human Race) paints a beyond disturbing picture of human cruelty in this shocking exposé of decades of abuse of children housed Continue reading »
Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society
Arline T Geronimus
Neither genetic differences nor unhealthy lifestyles are at the root of racial health disparities in the U.S., according to this powerhouse study. Geronimus, a professor of Continue reading »

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Snoring, is one habit you know irritates the people around you. Whether in a sleepover or whether at home snoring can cause a lot of issues.
According to an estimate about 45% of adults snore and you may be one of them. But you do not need to worry as there are many things that can you try to stop yourself from snoring.
A small change in simple things can help you get rid of this problem and reduce snoring issues.
It's not something incurable, something many factors add up to get us snoring. You just need to eliminate them one by one to have a peaceful sleep for yourself and others.
The way you sleep affects the position of your breathing. When you sleep on your back the palate and the tongue lay down on the throat which makes a vibrating sound. Sleeping on your side will eliminate this and you can sleep without snoring.
Your weight also is a major cause of your snoring and reducing it can help you dramatically. Thought, it has helped a lot of people but has not worked in the favour of others.
When you gain weight you gain it al around and this means around your neck as well. When you lose weight the neck stops pressing your throat and this is how you can reduce snoring.
Now is you are a late sleeper than it will definitely effect your sleeping habit and this means that you would need to change your sleeping pattern. You need to have some particular time of sleeping and waking up as this effects your snoring a lot.
Keeping yourself well hydrated is another way to stop snoring as dehydration can effect a lot in you and your body changes dramatically.
This has helped a lot of people and what actually happens is that once you start hydrating your body parts remain moist rather than being dry. Your nose secrets liquid enough to keep it moist and it can stop snoring.
While we say that any pillow will work that is not the case. Pillows are objects that support your neck and head while you sleep. A hard pillow gives you a flat like surface to put your head but it may not be comfortable enough.
A soft feathery delight can help you rest and keep your head balanced with your neck without putting pressure on either one.


At first blush, text mining may seem like the umpteenth lofty technicality or piece of terminology you as an ecommerce business owner can live without. But is that true? Actually, text mining will satisfy something you, as merchant, have always craved -- the ability to read your customers' minds. Is this possible? How this gift is channeled and how to use it gainfully in your ecommerce business are among the topics we'll explore.
Text mining is one of the constituent techniques of an area of knowledge known as Natural Language Processing (NLP). This technology is currently making rapid headway enabling systems and appliances to understand human language the way a human would. Creating immense opportunities in a number of verticals and fields, NLP allows ecommerce merchants to monetize its achievements immediately. It lets them derive unparalleled, direct marketing insights from the whole spectrum of their interactions with the consumer. The bottom line is that you can learn your customers' likes or dislikes about your product or service, which of your product's features influence their purchases, what they are seeking, and, even, predict what may be of further interest to them. In the increasingly competitive market of ecommerce, Text Mining and Artificial Intelligence are regarded as the features that will propel most of the action in the coming years.
What Media Can You Use to Look Into the Minds of Your Audience via Text Mining?
You can use the whole lot of information that floats around your ecommerce business and its product offering, including blogs, incoming emails, chat bot messages, on-the wall communications in social networks, search engine queries, and forum posts. You can monitor and analyze all of these media -- by means of a single complex NLP solution that can be added to your ecommerce application.
How Can You Monetize the Insights Gleaned from Your Data Using Text Mining?
The opportunities that answer this question are staggering, so we will examine a few.
Text mining makes it possible for you to optimize your inventory by introducing items that are sought after or predicted to be in demand shortly. Further, to better match your audience's preferences, you can team up with your products' manufacturers to modify some of the product features or properties.
By emulating human understanding, NLP allows your app to capture the meaning behind a search engine query or some other phrase in its entirety. As a result, you can effectively offer your visitors a matching complementary product at the right moment. If your visitor adds to his cart a man's blue shirt that is stunning when paired with that orange bow tie of the same brand, why not let him know about that? They don't shop for bow ties every day. Does your shopper have soft spot for printed t-shirts with a specific design? Offer him your newest one, and, odds are, he will be excited to add it to his collection.
You can text-mine your data and learn in advance which part of your incoming inventory is likely to be in greater demand. This ability will allow you to start offering it to interested users with an instant discount. You can even offer several similar items, emphasizing the product of interest and tempting them with a discount.
If you are thinking about expanding your product offering, Text Mining can aid in this goal, too. Text mining identifies which search engine queries are totally out of sync with your current inventory, groups them together, and determines if shoppers who have used those queries have, actually, given you a valuable suggestion. Apparently, more than one person considered your store to be the right place to shop for that stuff.
Any beef your customers may have with you can well go public these days and impede your sales. You can text-mine your data to right some grievance and protect your reputation. For example, upon finding a stinging remark on a forum, you could reach out to a patron with an apology, a discount, or both. When done in time, this might even improve your reputation.
Also worth noting is that competitor's data can prove to be no less important for your ecommerce business than your own. You can mine the Web to identify product popularity trends, brands that draw negative feedback, or products that are acclaimed by your potential clientele.
Who Can Implement Text Mining for Your Ecommerce Application?
In order to implement an NLP capability that would allow you to perform text mining, you would need a seasoned, professional team. This team must include at least one NLP engineer and one software engineer with a solid grasp of one of the several scripting languages (e.g., Python, Java). Typically, an NLP implementation project team consists of two or three NLP engineers, two or three software developers, one to three computational linguists, one or two QA engineers, a business analyst, and a project manager.
Your NLP team does not have to be based in or around your vicinity. Instead, choosing a remote team can give you several advantages. Looking beyond your borders could save up to 50% of your budget and equip you with professionals with a global perspective and additional languages. Although the technology is generally language-neutral and does not require a native command of a language, a good grasp of another language would be required if you want to be able to perform text-mining in this language.
As the competition in ecommerce persists, text mining has become the cutting-edge method for a business to stay in the running. Next to mind-reading, text mining with NLP provides the most opportunities to capitalize on buying trends and reach your business potential.
For an ecommerce service provider, time has a different meaning. The inability, or inadequate ability, to reach out to each individual online shopper with the right offer at the right instant results in exorbitant abandonment and conversion rates. Not surprisingly, in 2016 the great majority of ecommerce providers reported a staggering 60-70% abandonment rate. If you engage in ecommerce, we are sure you could improve your conversion rate as well.
Every marketer's dream is to be an economic seer and prophet. Essentially, they strive to look at people's and businesses' wants and needs through the crystal ball of segmentation theory, use a miscellany of sophisticated tools as magic wands and, ultimately, try to outgun one another in this intricate trade. In a nutshell, up until recently, secondary indicators of an audience's interest in whatever these marketers' companies produce or sell were the main source of Marketing insights.
While banks have been comparatively conservative business entities, in recent years they have found themselves in a business space that is usually more competitive than other verticals. Mobile and digital technology, the fading of customer loyalty, and the dramatically reduced consumer attention span have all spurred much financial institutions into giving up their traditional business approaches. In corporate banking, decision makers are often occupied or out of reach.
There are several problems that may hamper your sales to overseas markets and can be solved by multilingual chat bots. Chatbots are swiftly gaining ground but are still seldom conceived and developed to sell to foreign-speaking markets. Just how much opportunity can be there, speak more than one language and is it really worth the bother to make your forthcoming chatbot multilingual?
No longer conjecture, chat bots are here changing things big time. You think you need one? Are you a newbie to this stuff? Then it's high time you learn something about them before you miss the boat. Still less unique than humans, chat bots vary no less than automobiles. A city sedan, a jeep, a sports car, or, perhaps, a heavy truck? Careful -- they are not completely interchangeable.
Artificial Intelligence developing full-bore, chatbots are, currently, a rage. If having one developed for your business has crossed your mind, you should be aware that sole reliance on the provider you choose may not be the best approach. There are several reasons why you'd better have an idea about the do's and don'ts of the business before getting the show on the road. First off, while being sufficiently ripe by now, the technology still falls short in some respects. Secondly, chatbots vary widely. An unsophisticated chatbot, partially assembled from prefab parts, would be a far cry from a multilingual one that is based on a powerful Natural Language Understanding layer and allows your customers to add an order to cart or perform some other action.
Is it not that difficult to size up the amount of time and funds you need to commit when you know exactly what you need. But what if you don't? Asking how much a chatbot costs is akin to asking how dear a car or a dress can get: it all hinges upon your needs and wants. Let us see if we can define those and try to make some calculations. In making these calculations, we will use the rates, quoted by Eastern-European software providers.
What does it take a Healthcare institution to harness the ETL technology the right way, derive insights from their data, stay fully compliant with the numerous regulations and not botch the whole thing up? What is the best way of approaching the issue? What should Healthcare decision-makers be aware of prior to the kick-off?
Data Mining & Text Mining are gaining a foothold across many verticals, including eCommerce. While many retail merchants are already aware that this Data Science and NLP techniques can benefit them online, they barely have any idea about how much of a boon they could be for their brick-and-mortar business. Nevertheless, making friends with Data & Text Mining can pack a wallop for you, as a retailer, across the board. Moreover, some of the more intricate applications of Data and Text Mining are suitable for both eCommerce and brick-and-mortar stores and you can use them in parallel in order to enhance the effect.


During the summer, the Forest Stewardship team has been sporadically busy in the forest, despite the very wet weather. Rutgers graduate students have completed spring and summer assessments of vegetation in their 6 study plots scattered throughout the Nature Center. Three of the six research plots will be protected within 3 separate 8-10-acre deer exclusion fences. The other 3 research plots will be left outside the fencing to allow us to compare and determine the effectiveness of deer exclusion. You may notice the abundant pink and yellow flagging through the woods. In a few months we expect vinyl fencing to be erected along these flag lines.
A presentation of the project has been made to the Mayor and Council, and we received their appreciative endorsement for our plans to protect this Borough-owned forest.
Come explore the trails of the Nature Center. See the sights, meet the animals and have some fun outside this September!
https://register.communitypass.net/Closter and you will be taken to Community Pass, our online registration and payment system.
If you would prefer to register in person, please call Marc Gussen at (201) 750-2778.
SPECIAL PROGRAM: BATS, BATS, BATS!
Throughout the world, bats have been misunderstood and persecuted, causing a serious decline in the bat population. The program "BATS, BATS, BATS!" was established to bring this matter to the public's attention. Find out why bats are now being protected because of their vital role in virtually every environment on earth, and learn, for example, about their importance in insect maintenance and rainforest regeneration.
Suggested donation of $5 per person for non-members and $3 per person for members. Light refreshments will be served.
Sunday, October 7th, at 2 PM – BATS, BATS, BATS!


I hear family and friends who live in Europe or the US talk about looking forward to the arrival of summer. Here in India, where I live, the summer is probably my least favourite part of the year. I look forward to summer's bounty, especially mangoes watermelon and guava, but I could do without the heat that also comes along.
Summer's bounty out here includes the Jackfruit which is something I don't particularly right. That's right. I'm the anomaly from Kerala who does not like Jackfruit (and raw plantain, elephant yam and other local tuberous and starchy vegetables). I love Jackfruit Chips/ Wafers and Chakkvaratti (Jackfruit Jam wih jaggery and ghee) but that's how far I will go. To my mind, Jackfruit smells a little odd, is sticky and messy to clean and doesn't taste all that great especially when raw. My husband doesn't quite understand this dislike of mine for Jackfruit because he loves it, raw and ripe.
In some sort of cosmic vengeance, we have been inundated with Jackfruit this past couple of months, all gifts from very well meaning family and neighbours. The latest was a huge slice of a really large specimen of Jackfruit. This one turned to be at a stage where it was no longer raw and just beginning to ripen. A stage we refer to in my mother tongue as "Chenechathu", where the fruit has just a hint of sweetness. The fruit pods must be firm, a pale yellow and crunchy to eat.
Since I don't like Jackfruit very much, I avoid eating it whenever I can. For this reason I have to confess to ignorance about traditional recipes that cook with the raw fruit. I do know we make Thoran (a stir-fry style preparation with coconut) and Erisseri (this one uses a spicy coconut paste and also toasted coconut).
Moving from bottom left in a clockwise direction – Jackfruit on the tree, Cut sections of Jacfruit at the market, and Jackfruit Pods.
My husband and I were talking about this and he mentioned a Chakka Curry that his mother used to make, especially with Jackfruit that has just started ripening. I also remembered something similar in Ammini Ramamchandran's Grains, Greens, and Grated Coconuts. I found her Chakka Madhura Curry (Sweet Jackfruit Curry) was something similar, though it uses fully ripened fruit. My version of Chakka Curry is a mildly sweet preparation of just ripening jackfruit cooked in a coconut gravy spiced with cumin and dried ginger.
Of course, there are different versions of this recipe. This particular recipe (and Ammini's recipe), uses an unusual combination of cumin and dry ginger. Others use only cumin. As I mentioned earlier, some use fully ripe Jackfruit. Some recipes don't do a tempering or "tadka" like I do and just finish the dish off with a drizzle of coconut oil. Some use chillies in the coconut paste or chilli powder while cooking the Jackfruit for a little bit of fire, but I let the ginger alone do its thing in my Chakka Curry.
A mildly sweet curry from Kerala, India of just ripening jackfruit that's cooked in a coconut gravy spiced with cumin and dried ginger.
Put the diced jackfruit in a pan with just enough water to cover it. Add turmeric powder and salt to taste and stir. Bring it to boil, and then let it simmer for about 10 minutes or so until just cooked.
In the meanwhile, grind together the coconut and the cumin seeds, with a little water into a somewhat thick and fine paste.
Stir in this paste, powdered jaggery and the powdered dry ginger into the cooked jackfruit pieces. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes and it should be done. You should have a thick gravy curry. Transfer this to a serving dish.
In a tempering pan or very small pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds and when the splutter, add the lentils. Stir till they start to turn golden brown and then add the broken red chillies. Stir a couple of times, then throw in the curry leaves and take it off the heat. Immediately pour it into the Chakka Curry.
Cover the dish and let it sit for about 15 minutes for the flavours to develop. Then gently mix everything together and serve warm on the side with rice and Sambar or Rasam.
wonderful recipe, will try it for sure…..
I don't use green chilies here, but you can if you wish.
I really like your blog. I came across it by accident. I was posting greetings for Happy Thiruvadharai n saw your blog. I am a Pallakad Iyer married to a Maharashtrian. Never had time during my College years to learn much Cooking. It's great that I came across your blog. Am going to pick up all these wonderful Recipes. So thankful to u dear. The history that you give on your blog is awesome. My Mother was a wonderful cook. She is no more. But all your Recipes remind me of my Childhood n Teenage years. Have you published a Cook Book by any chance? I am sure it will sell like hot cakes. Love n Blessings. Prameela Balan.
Hello Pramila. Thank you for your kind words. One of the reasons I'm sharing traditional recipes is because I don't want them to die out.


A SPACIOUS FOUR BEDROOM, THREE STOREY, VICTORIAN TERRACE HOUSE OVERLOOKING THE BYES PARKLAND AREA AND RIVER SID AND IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO SIDMOUTH TOWN CENTRE AND THE SEA FRONT ... /gravelled) with brick outbuilding and timber summer house. Free/unreserved on road parking adjacent house. Double glazing throughout.
The average house price for terrace houses in Sidmouth is currently £295,490, 22% lower than the national average value for all homes which is £376,935.
There are 20 properties available immediately for terrace houses in Sidmouth, compared to 7 in Bowd Corner.
Similar ads to terrace houses in Sidmouth can be found nearby in Bowd Corner, followed by Sidbury.


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Have you ever consider the geographical location of Nain (or Nein) where Yeshua resurrected the widow's son, and the village of Shunem (where Elisha resurrected the son of the Shunammite women)?
Both village are separated by a hill and are barely at 3 KM from each other. It is a strong argument to associate both events (stage of death: body is cold). It is fascinating to think that Elisha went to one side of the hill while Yeshua went to the other side and both performed a resurrection.
Thank you for the information. I did not know the two villages were that close. In any case, the phrase "he gave him back to his mother" is found in both the Nain story and the resurrection of the son of the widow of Zaraphath by Elijah, which is the precursor to the resurrection performed by Elisha (1 Kgs 17:23; Luke 7:15). In any case, this is part of the filtering of Luke versus Matthew. Matthew is Judah-centric, and much of Matthew's special material has allusions to or contacts with the history of Judah (southern kingdom) and the dynasty of David. The special material in Luke, such as the Nain story, more often than not has allusions to or contacts with the history of the house of Joseph (northern kingdom). The Elijah-Elisha cycle is, of course, part of northern kingdom history. For a small example, compare Matt 13:57 with Luke 4:24-27, and note what Luke includes that Matthew lacks.


text:
Oil and gas drilling set for at least a 20-year low in 2020, plans for new wells fade
By Zachary Frazier, RPL
Rystad Energy – The COVID-19 pandemic has stymied oil and gas activity, a phenomenon that has now affected the drilling market both in terms of wells drilled and in terms of related demand for drilling equipment. A Rystad Energy analysis shows the number of drilled wells globally is expected to reach around 55,350 this year, the lowest since at least the beginning of the century.
The decline is a staggering 23% fall from 2019's number of 71,946 wells. Our forecast, which extends to 2025, does not find it likely that last year's number will be met or exceeded within the considered time frame. Drilled wells are expected to partly recover to just above 61,000 in 2021, as governments ease travel restrictions, boosting oil demand and prices. Then numbers will rise further to just above 65,000 in 2022 and remain just below 69,000 until the end of 2025.
North America is likely to be most affected, with the country's rig count already down to historic lows just a few months into the downturn. Although modest recovery is possible in 2H20, drilling activity will remain more than 50% below the levels seen at the same time last year.
From the 55,350 wells to be drilled in 2020, 2,238 are offshore and 53,112 onshore. Before Covid-19 struck, Rystad Energy had expected total wells to rise year-over-year to 74,575, of which 2,896 would be offshore wells and 71,679 onshore wells.
"Both new wells and drilling lengths will be pared down as E&P's scale down investments, affecting the entire supply chain associated with these services. This includes drilling tools, which will decline by 35% in 2020 compared to 2019," says Reza Hassan Kazmi, energy services analyst at Rystad Energy.
Learn more about Rystad Energy's WellCube.
When looking at drilling tools, we include blowout preventers (BOPs), downhole drilling tools, drill bits, drill pipe, jars, drill collars, and other drilling tools except downhole pumps used for artificial lift, under the generic service segment.
Drilling length, another key driver for drilling tools, especially for drill pipes, drill collars, heavy-weight drill pipes, and drill bits, is also estimated to drop by 25% this year before improving in 2021. At a more granular level, such as the regional or country level, the percentage decrease in wells will not always result in a proportional reduction in total drilling lengths, as drilling depths per well could greatly vary between different regions and countries.
From the demand standpoint, we expect that onshore and offshore purchases for drilling tools will drop from $16 billion in 2019 to $10 billion in 2020. Besides North America, Africa and Russia will be the biggest contributors to this loss, where purchases will drop by 36% and 27% respectively this year.
Russian operators are likely to delay the drilling of new wells on mature assets to ensure compliance with agreed production cuts, while Sonatrach will cut back most of its spending on projects such as Hassi Messaoud and Tin Fouye-Tabankort. In the medium term, however, as major E&Ps resume developing their lineup of offshore projects in Africa, we expect the demand for drilling tools (especially for drilling risers) to increase.
Overall, onshore markets are expected to recover as early as 2021 and grow at a rate of 7% annually towards 2025, while offshore markets will see some highs and lows and will maintain an overall flattish level towards 2025.
Despite the overall stagnant growth, Brazil, Australia and China will continue to offer exciting opportunities in the short term with 20% to 40% growth prospects for offshore drilling in these countries while the United Kingdom, Guyana, and Mexico look promising in the medium to long term. The United States remains the hotspot for spending on drilling tools onshore, while Norway is expected to top the list for offshore drilling tools spending.
In the onshore market in the US, more than 80% of spending on drilling tools will be spent on shale drilling. The Permian and the Appalachian basins will drive 60% of total shale spend on drilling tools followed by some conventional activity in other basins. Off the coast of Norway, Troll, Balder/Ringhorne, and Johan Sverdrup will drive the demand for drilling tools.