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$750,000 Given to Better Connect Workforce, Education Data
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD), the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE) and Indiana Business Research Center (IBRC) have together received a $750,000 grant as a first-round winner of the Democratizing our Data Challenge.
The data challenge is a program from the Coleridge Initiative and is an opportunity to build on the progress made by state and federal governments to better connect education and workforce data systems and support more equitable outcomes.
The initiative will better serve the employers, students and parents, jobseekers, and people who want to change careers and develop a career pathway plan.
The challenge was created so that government agencies can collaborate, develop, and scale tools and practices—such as dashboards, reemployment portals, training programs, and data models—with the goal of improving access to timely, local, and useful data to inform education and workforce policy.
"This work to bring more transparency to employment data is important to job seekers and employers alike because data silos have been a major impediment for both education and workforce data, "said DWD Data Officer Diana Barrett. "Initiatives like Coleridge and Democratizing our Data can help eliminate those barriers. Our project in Indiana will also work to create transparency around credentials for workers in their industry."
DWD's, CHE's, and IBRC's "Indiana Credential Outcome Transparency" proposal was one of 10 awardees chosen from 21 government agencies and seven universities.
It creates a technical blueprint for mapping the Credential Engine schema to wage, employment, and training provider data, and a prototype "Return on Credential Investment" app that enables youth, unemployed, displaced, and transitioning workers to better understand high-demand career pathways.
The Return on Credential tool is anticipated to be available to the public sometime mid-2023.
"Credential transparency allows learners to make informed decisions regarding higher education," said Ken Sauer, CHE's Senior Associate Commissioner and Chief Academic Officer. "The Coleridge Initiative will give Hoosiers the tools and information needed to obtain high-demand degrees and credentials needed for Indiana's jobs of today and tomorrow."
Carol Rogers, IBRC Director, said: "What makes this especially timely for Indiana is our focus on the transportation equipment industry—automakers and suppliers, EVs, batteries and advanced processes—and we will ask employers directly about the skills and credentials they need now and into the future, while making our work on filling that pipeline more visible to them."
The winning proposal applies a mixed method research (qualitative and quantitative analyses with predictive analytics). Most states do not undertake quantitative analysis due to costs. Also, the proposal creates a blueprint (detailed methodology and steps) to share with other states so they can replicate the process.
The Coleridge Initiative is a not-for-profit originally established at New York University that is working with governments to ensure that data are more effectively used for public decision-making. It achieves this goal by working with government agencies to create value for the taxpayer from the careful use of data, by building new technologies to enable secure access to and sharing of confidential microdata, and by training agency staff to acquire modern data skills.


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Policy Forum Podcasts
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Israel Policy Forum Podcast
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Podcast by Israel Policy Forum
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The following interview was done by Olivier Lungwe Fataki, a member of the Young Peace Journalists. This story is about the experiences of Nizeyimana Edouard, a Burundian refugee living in DR Congo. It is the latest entry in the Young Peace Journalists project featuring the stories and voices of refugees.
Nizeyimana Edouard is part of the first convoy of Burundian refugees who settled in the Lusenda camp in 2015. The convoy's settlement in this camp experienced disturbances which were, at first, notably related to their cohabitation of the area with local residents. At its roots, the issues were caused by the local inhabitants' anger over the destructive effect the refugees' practice of felling trees immoderately had on the environment and their fields. This problem found a peaceful solution through the mediation of UNHCR, its partners, and the local administrative authorities and through the use of "Ziganya", small artificial embers stoves called "biomass briquette", which are used instead of firewood.
The socio-political situation in Burundi was intensely critical in 2015 when the President of the Republic, Pierre Nkurunziza, chose to run for the third term. This decision prompted all the political parties to join with civil society and the people to denounce what was described as a violation of the constitution and the Arusha Agreement. This situation has since escalated into unrelenting protests, targeted assassinations, and night abductions.
This is why Nizeyimana Edouard had to flee to DR Congo: "The young people of the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD, commonly called imbonerakuré, did not stand anyone from an opposition party or be neutral for those not interested in politics like me… many of my relatives have been victims." In April 2015, he embarked with his family on a boat to a transit centre in Luvungi (DR Congo) where they were welcomed by the National Commission for Refugees (CNR) and then transferred to Lusenda Camp.
After Nizeyimana Edouard settled in Lusenda camp in 2015 as part of the first convoy of Burundian refugees, he was elected head of one of the villages. "As soon as we arrived," says Edouard, "the UNHCR had already prepared tents for us and gave us food consisting of small weight, the beans, the corn flour, the rice and the oil, and also a very small quantity of firewood that was sometimes not enough to prepare food for a single day." Refugees were formally prohibited from selling property received from UNHCR or other humanitarian partners operating in Lusenda camp.
This way of life isolated the refugees from the rest of the community in the surrounding area, which was not without consequences; local residents tended to consider themselves discriminated against in that assistance was only provided to refugees.
In 2016, a violent confrontation caused by the cutting of trees by the refugees arose, and a refugee died. Conflict expanded in other ways as well. "The natives had marched against the policy of the UNHCR that they considered discriminatory towards them in that they did not benefit from any humanitarian assistance, yet they need it even if they are not refugees," adds Edouard with a smile.
Solving this issue required the intervention of several actors including UNHCR, the local administrative authorities, and the National Refugee Commission (CNR). "We were invited to the common meetings to be aware of peaceful cohabitation," informs Edouard. Both the local administrative authorities and the heads of the refugee villages in the Lusenda camp took part in these meetings, and they committed themselves, each one as far as they were concerned, to widely spread the message by repeating it to their subordinates.
Strategies were employed to bring the parties involved in the conflict closer together. "Beyond prohibiting us from going to cut the woods in forests, it was organised football games in common, frequenting the same market and the same churches according to one's religion … and it was created a structure called 'Local Dynamics for Peace', in the framework of which we could sit with the residents and exchange about our mutual problems, and we were forced to plant at least one tree each one at home camp," says Nizeyimana Edouard complacently.
As an alternative, some humanitarian organisations came to make the refugees aware of improved stoves. "Many refugees have obtained furnaces made of mud surrounded by a round-shaped metal with a hole of air, and using artificial embers called biomass briquette, from the mixture of goat excrement, ash mixed with lubricant and palm crumbs", explains Edouard.


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Video: DESIGN STORIES Carl Johan Engberg/Stavfel Produktion 2018. At the Swedish Nationalmuseum 13 oktober 2018 – 17 februari 2019
Interview with Petra Wadström
It is a chilly morning in Stockholm. Here, from a small, very cosy office, Swedish microbiologist and artist, Petra Wadström (1952), skypes daily with NGOs and governments from all over the world. Petra is the inventor of a cutting-edge water treatment and heating system, which has won many international awards and which is saving thousands of lives across the planet.
This enterprising woman has managed to harness the power of sunlight in order to purify and heat water for those who are in greatest need, especially those communities living off the grid. She has succeeded in designing a simple, but highly effective, system which is now improving the lives of many people in the developing world. This water treatment and heating system is designed like a 10 litre jerry can. Basically, it is a portable container which opens out into two halves, like a book. These sections have transparent lids which expose the water to direct sunlight and this simple procedure is the secret of her invention.
As the sun rays pass through these transparent lids, they break the linkeages of the DNA of toxic micro-organisms. As a result, the water becomes safe within a few hours of exposure. At the same time the warmth of the sun is absorbed by the can and it heats up the water to a high temperature thus making it safe for hygienic purposes. Midwives and doctors in Mali, Kenya and other African countries use Solvatten water for their medical procedures and operations.
Petra and her team know they are saving lives. They work tirelessly to reach those who live in challenging circumstances, such as those who are in refugee camps in countries like Jordan and Kenya. Despite her 67 years Petra is extremely active and bubbling with enthusiasm. She's the kind of person who never misses the chance to talk to people at government level, or with embassies, aid agencies, NGOs and UN programmes in order to make her invention known and accessible to the most impoverished people in the world.
Last April, Petra was thrilled when a group of Sudanese women from the University of Ahfad signed a contract to take the Solvatten jerry cans to the rural areas of the country enabling Sudanese midwives to access safe water when they work. Further good news came during one of the most critical political turmoils of this East African country when, the long-serving ruler Omar al-Bashir, was overthrown. Since then Sudan has been embroiled in a political crisis. Security forces killed dozens of people last June in the capital, Khartoum. All this started about a year ago. Last December cuts to bread, together with fuel subsidies, led people to take to the streets in protest. Now, after months of instability, food security is compromisedin this troubled Nile basin country.
Petra is concerned. She has been following the events in Sudan closely for the past year. The first thing she says is: "many historical humanitarian crises start with a rise in the price of bread and very little is done".
In your view, what could governments do to stop bread inflation?
Well, in countries, where wood is still the main source of fuel, we can use the sun, which is free. In the Western countries we take our bread and water for granted, but in arid and semi- arid countries in the developing world, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, that comes at a huge cost to the environment. Earlier in the year we visited Kenya and talked to women who sold the bread they produced thanks to the hot water from the Solvatten jerry cans. The water which is treated by sunlight reaches the optimum temperature for yeast to rise. One enterprising Kenyan mother earns up to $300 a month by selling the bread she makes with Solvatten water. The money she saves is spent on firewood. Moreover, she has more profits and can spend more time selling her bread on the streets instead of looking for, fetching or buying firewood. In addition, she's contributing to environmental protection by preserving trees and thus improving the lives of her children.
Is clean energy part of the big picture to end poverty?
Of course it is. For example, at Solvatten, we are committed to advance the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We tackle all of them. We work hard with aid agencies, development programmes, governments and NGOs to ensure that our technology is used in a positive sense thus creating a strong environmental and social impact. That said, it's true that clean energy should play a bigger role in some of the SDGs. For example, with the SDG 6 (Water and Sanitation) the link between clean energy and hygiene is not being sufficiently addressed. In fact hot water fails to be an indicator in terms of hygiene in SDG6. The indicators used to show the progress of this goal focus on people having access to soap and water. However soap does not dissolve as well in cold water as it does in hot water, and cold water is unsafe when washing vegetables contaminated with parasites.
Why is hot water not included in the SDG6?
I don't know, but I have raised this question many times. In fact the hygiene aspect in the SDGs is not well developed. This may well be because the link between water and energy has not yet been fully addressed. We have demonstrated that, by harnessing the sun, we can access hot water and this is something huge if we want to improve hygiene. In New Zealand, for example, a study was conducted in a school whereby some children used hot water and soap to wash their hands. Other children washed their hands with cold water and soap. Both groups were separated. It was shown that the number of infections was reduced when hot water was used. This is very simple. Not only does soap dissolve better in hot water, but children spend more time washing their hands with hot water. Also, washing vegetables with hot water is much safer for families, particularly if they want to avoid diseases related to intestinal parasites, etc.
But people can use iodine, chlorine or bleach to wash vegetables, can't they?
When water is boiled or chlorinated it looses some of its most important properties. And we should remember that poor quality water affects nutrition. If children do not get enough nutrients they are more vulnerable to diseases. This is especially important for children under five years old. In Kakuma, Kenya, we carried out studies on how Solvatten water had affected public health and we observed that the number of intestinal parasites, cutaneous and ocular infections was reduced. In addition, the cold water with soap that is mentioned in the objective of sustainable development for water and hygiene does not take into account the main food washing cause of transmission of cholera and dysentery. In many cases, water is left under the sun to disinfect, which means that some micro-organisms continue to multiply. Often, in the discussions about access to safe water, it appears that too much attention is paid to giving access to improved water rather than to the actual quality of the water. This is noticeable when it comes to hygiene.
From the visits that you have made all over the world, which objectives have been met?
[Without hesitating Petra points to a photograph on the wall of a young African woman with a baby]. That picture is of a mother with her newborn baby in a village north of Bamako in Mali, just outside the maternity clinic. The water well that supplied this clinic previously was contaminated with parasites. Seeing the mothers return safely with their healthy babies was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. I have four children and, as a mother, I understand perfectly what it means to protect a baby. In these moments you realize that we are all equal, and that gives me a lot of energy to try to bring my invention to those who need it most. Hot water is still not on the agenda in sustainable development goals, but it is a crucial factor in the prevention of disease. I insisted on raising this issue when I was a panelist in the Nobel (Prize) Week Dialogue, which took place last year in Stockholm. We have also shown how NGOs can educate farmers on how to milk their cows with clean hands, in order to make the milk safer and last longer.
This invention is designed for poor families who do not have access to running water or electricity. However, it costs around 90 euros and this may be relatively high for these families. How do you ensure that these jerry cans are affordable to the recipients?
The Solvatten jerry cans are usually marketed in a subsidized manner through international institutions, governments and NGOs because they have to reach the neediest. My non-profit company usually visits the projects in which the NGOs distribute the jerry cans in order to ensure that families can afford them and are making the most of them
Greta Thunberg has become a global icon for environmental activism and climate justice. You vindicated the concept of climate justice at the famous Climate Change Summit, COP21, which took place in Paris in 2015. You work with large Swedish corporations and international organizations. What have you learnt from your experience when connecting the economies of Northern Europe with the development challenges of the less developed nations ?
There are several low energy solutions aimed at generating enough energy to produce light or charge a mobile phone. But is that really what people in rural areas need? Or should we work harder to bring clean energy to help them refrigerate their food? Now to do this, you need to have enough energy to refrigerate food, to put a kettle on and then you need up to four solar panels or four sets of twelve batteries. All this relates to time. Women in developing nations should be freed from some of their time-consuming family burdens, of the time so that they can truly develop and become more empowered. In addition, access to hot water is a matter of dignity and it should be available to everyone. We need to listen to people and to understand what they really need. We must be more respectful and more humble.
In an interview with the BBC, you mentioned the importance of securing renewable energy resources for poor developing families. This included solar panels and water treatment systems like the one you created. Can your invention inspire people in developing counties to introduce more integrated systems of power generation and water treatment?
I have participated in numerous discussion panels in order to inspire future entrepreneurs to take advantage of solar energy. If there are problems, there must always be solutions, but these have to be modest. For example, at an Ugandan university, water is sold in glass, as opposed to plastic, and the water source was purified by solar energy. This kind of environmental care is extremely important.
Finally, if you were allowed to draft a global regulation for the United Nations on sustainable development, what would it do?
One of the fundamental points in environmental development relates to the search for gaps. When you draw a sketch, you must locate the gaps, the empty spaces. Imagine that you are you drawing a sketch for sustainable development; making time for women is one of those gaps, and values are the empty spaces, while the body of your plan would be the return of social investment. For example, in Mali, it was proved that cows that were able to shelter under shade of the trees produced up to four litres of milk, while those that did not have access to shade produced less than two litres. People need to understand that this issue of shade is crucial and valuable. These challenges are the consequences of climate change. In addition we have to protect the forests. When women in developing countries have more time they will be able to create a real impact. Basically, family burdens must be reduced so that woman can develop and be more empowered. There was a study in Canada, in the 1950s, which showed that women spent 56 hours a week doing housework. However, currently in Canada, they only spend 14 hours a week doing housework. But the Canadian situation of the 1950s still exists in many developing countries. The washing machine, for example, is one of the inventions that liberated women. The developing world needs the example of those women who have access to these labour and time saving devices.
A Microbiologist's Journey Aimed at Saving Lives and Bringing Dignity
A trip to Indonesia changed the life of Swedish microbiologist and artist, Petra Wadström (a 67 year old from Stockholm) who had escaped from the long, gloomy Swedish winters and travelled to Australia with her young family. From there she grasped the opportunity to travel around many Southeast Asian countries. As a mother of four children she witnessed with concern, and at first hand, the appalling conditions in which disadvantaged rural women gave birth. At the same time, a question which had been with her for the years following her arrival in Australia kept on bothering her. The question was: 'why not take advantage of the abundance of the sun to purify and heat water?'.
Following this, she began to put into practice her vast knowledge of microbiology. After years of research, laboratory work, and carrying out pilot studies, Petra found the solution to her problem. It is interesting to note that she had already worked at the Swiss University of Lausanne with Jacques Dubochet, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry of 2017 for his work in the field of cryptology.
At first glance her invention is simple. It is a black jerry can which opens out into two halves, each half is protected by a transparent cover. So, once its drum is filled with water, it opens like a book and is then put in direct sunlight so that the water is exposed to the light coming through the covers. After a few hours the water is heated to an optimum temperature so that it can be safely used for surgical operations, simply because it is now free of toxic organisms and capable of maintaining the properties necessary for human health. Currently, Petra's amazing invention is operating in twenty countries, and the United Nations distributes it in refugee camps such as the one in Kakuma, in Kenya and Azraq in Jordan.
Petra receives endless invitations asking her to participate in forums and on expert panels in places as diverse as New York, Qatar and Delhi. Despite her aimiable and straighforward persona, she is a woman who features in the Forbes list and who Barack Obama personally chose to talk about her ground-breaking invention. Most importantly, her creation has benefited more than 350,000 people worldwide and saved millions of trees.
Despite the positive global impact of her invention Petra remains uneasy with the situation facing those rural women in developing countries who she continues to visit regularly. The microbiologist is clear: sustainable development is only possible if women are given more time to themselves.
Author: Jordi Albacete
Produkten Solvatten
Köp 10 liter Solvatten
Prenumerera på Solskenshistorier
Företagssamarbete
Föreningar och Insamlingsorganisationer
Climate Solver
Klimatprojekt i Kenya
Räkna med Impact
Solvatten Charitable Foundation USA
Solvatten Insamlingsstiftelse, Sweden
Solvatten AB, Sweden


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Volunteer Lawyers Program honors Goldsmith for community service
PHOENIX – Richard Goldsmith, a partner at Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP, was named Pro Bono Lawyer of the Month for January by the Volunteer Lawyers Program, a joint venture of Community Legal Services and the Maricopa County Bar Association.
Goldsmith is an attorney in the firm's Business Transactions practice group. Mediation is the primary focus of his current work with the Volunteer Lawyers Program.
"Matters I have handled for VLP have been incredibly rewarding," he says, commenting on the exceptional gratitude his pro bono clients have always shown. "Successful outcome or not, every one of my VLP clients has expressed appreciation for my efforts."
Goldsmith has a longtime commitment to pro bono service. He is a former chair of the pro bono committee at Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, and in 2004 received the firm's John P. Frank recognition award. He was named one of the Top 50 pro bono attorneys in Arizona by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education in 2007.
"Even an abbreviated version of his biography would reveal a host of professional achievements and prestigious awards, but attorney Richard Goldsmith takes none of it for granted. Rather, he seems to live in the awareness of his good fortune, continuing each day to seek knowledge, share his expertise and, in his words, give back to the profession," writes VLP Coordinator Peggi Cornelius. "Over four decades, he has assisted pro bono clients in a wide range of civil matters, including homeowner, consumer and tenant rights."
Richard N. Goldsmith
Media Relations Manager
kjones@lrrc.com


Under the MoU, from today onwards both organizations will collaborate to strengthen academic capacity in PSDS's syllabus on volunteer management as well as practical learning for students regarding volunteer for development. Furthermore, researches and pilot projects will be jointly conducted. The partnership will draw on the strengths and experiences, knowledge and resources exchange between Thammasat University and VSO.
The MOU signifies the joint aspirations of Thammasat University and VSO International Thailand to develop a strategic alliance to promote volunteering for development in Thailand. The MOU was signed by Assistant Professor Dr Jitti Mongkolnchaiarunya, Dean of Puey Ungphakorn School of Development Studies and Ms Hattaya Wongsaengpaiboon, VSO Country Manager, Thailand.
VSO is a leading organization in promoting volunteer management under volunteer for development framework. Linking experiences of global volunteering for development standard, VSO commits to support a growing volunteerism movement in Thailand, with local partners like academic institutions in contribution to sustainable development.


Today is a good day for all Sony FE camera users. For all of us using the Sony A7, A7II, A7S, A7RII and A7SII. We are all missing an wide angle lens with nativ FE mount.
Well, today on October 12, 2015 Zeiss Germany, based in Oberkochen announced the Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21mm Distagon lens with nativ FE mount. The lens itself is an all new lens design. As you can see by the name the lens design is a Distagon. Not like the first two first Zeiss Loxia lenses, the Loxia 2/35 or the Loxia 2/50 which are based on older lens designes. Don´t get me wrong, I love those lenses. Especially the Loxia 2/35 which I reviewed quite some time ago. You can read my review on the two Loxia lenses following this LINK.
But that is not the topic of today.
The Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21mm is what´s up today.
Unfortunately I have not yet had the chance to test the lens on my Sony A7II yet. I do hope that I will get a copy of the lens soon.
So today I can share some lens pictures and the official Zeiss lens specs. As soon as I get my hands on the Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 I will take it through it´s paces.
First some pictures of the lens itself. As you can see the new Loxia lens has the same 52mm filter thread as the two first Loxia lenses. This is a very good thing as we don´t need to buy new filters. Secondly take a look at the new lens hood. This is a new designed petal shaped lens hood. Zeiss has also kept the DeClick function for all the videographers. Well done Zeiss.
Notice the blue ring on the lens mount? It is a weather sealing. The Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21mm is weather sealed. And like the first Zeiss Loxia lenses this one also has the electronic contacts which enables the automatic zoom when turning the manual focus ring is turned and the lens also send the exif information to the camera.
So Zeiss, c´mon. Send me that evaluation copy so that I can do a real world review of this 21mm f/2.8 lens.
Tagged 2.8/21, A7, A7II, Full Frame, Gear, Lens, Loxia, Photography, Review, Sony, Zeiss.


NextTop 15 Most Dangerous Cities in the World- Is Your City on the List?
I like your emphasis and explanatory words in the passages , thanks so much ..
I am almost finished with my second volume of End Time prophecy. Many of the topics are not being covered or known about.
One of my premises is that many of the Olivet Discourse prophecies that are recorded in the Synoptic Gospels are dual-type prophecies. This means that they were fulfilled in measure in the "Last Days" of the Jewish Polity, and that they will also be exhaustively fulfilled "exhaustively" in the "End Times" or "last days" of the Gentile Polity. Such events in respective "polities" are similar and consistent with a judgment of a "polity." Hence, for example, there were many "false prophets" in New Testament times before the destruction of the Jewish Polity in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. As well as many "false christs." This is not only documented somewhat in our Bible record, but also the Jewish historian Josephus adds a good deal more in recording such a paradigm that emerged then.
In our post-modern times, especially since the year of 1967, continuing to just before the destruction of the Gentile Polity, which the United States is the leading power (which position does not portend well), you see the same phenomenon, with many of the "false prophets," "false christs," et cetera, or "date-setters" or "date teasers" being commonly known Evangelical "celebrity" preachers and televangelists!


Lauren is an associate attorney in the Firm's Tampa office. She focuses her practice on Banking and Finance and Litigation. She also has experience counseling clients on bankruptcy, insurance defense, and personal injury matters.
Lauren grew up in New Hampshire and moved to Winter Park, Florida, in 2007 to attend Rollins College. She graduated from Rollins with her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2011 and went on to receive her Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law in 2017.
Prior to becoming an Associate at GrayRobinson, Lauren practiced insurance defense in Tampa, Florida, as an in-house Trial Attorney for Allstate. Prior to attending law school, Lauren was a bankruptcy paralegal at several prominent law firms representing creditors, debtors, and trustees. During law school, she served as an Extern for the Department of Justice Office of the U.S. Trustee, and as a Judicial Extern to Chief Judge Michael G. Williamson at the United States Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida.
Lauren is an active member of the community having participated in Street Law, Inc., the Stetson Law Review Mentoring Program, The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Mentoring Program, and the Gulfport Elementary School Mentoring Program. She also founded the Stetson Law Transfer Scholarship in June of 2018. During her free time, Lauren enjoys doing yoga, playing basketball, and fishing.


As long as American breweries keep tapping into old European beer styles, the craft beer industry will continue to meet the thirst for something new. Berliner weisse, a classic German summer favorite, is the latest style to be "discovered" by American craft beer drinkers. Leinenkugel's BeerGarten Tart taps into that tradition with its latest summer seasonal.
Brewer says: Departing a bit from a traditional Berliner weisse, BeerGarten Tart is higher in ABV, a bit less sour and not as dry. The beer starts out with a snap of tartness balanced by a subtle sweetness from pale-malts. It pours light gold with a bright white foam, mostly clear with a very slight haze.
Details: 4.8 percent ABV. Available in 6-packs of bottles, 12-packs of bottles and cans, and on draft through the end of July.


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Q: Using spinner inside a Dialog in an Non actvity class I'm trying to implement a spinner inside a Dialog, it is named UserClassDialog.java(non activity class), as shown below:
public class UserClassDialog extends AppCompatDialogFragment {
 @NonNull
    @Override
    public Dialog onCreateDialog(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState)  {
        AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(getActivity());

        LayoutInflater inflater = getActivity().getLayoutInflater();
        View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.layout_dialog, null);

        Spinner spinner = view.findViewById(R.id.spinner);
        ArrayAdapter<CharSequence> adapter = ArrayAdapter.createFromResource(this, R.array.courses);
}

But, of course it would be an error because using "this" would be an error inside a non activity class.  My question is, how can use this spinner in an Non activity class? Is it by using a constructor? If yes, how?
Also this is my code for the mainactivity(named UserClass.class) which calls the dialog box, as shown below:
public class UserClasses extends AppCompatActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_user_classes);
}
@Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        MenuInflater inflater =getMenuInflater();
        inflater.inflate(R.menu.class_menu, menu); //Layout for the dialog
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(@NonNull MenuItem item) {
        switch (item.getItemId()){
            case R.id.add: // the add icon on the class_menu layout to open the dialog
                openDialog();
                return true;
            default:
                return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }

    }

    public void openDialog() {
            UserClassDialog userClassDialog = new UserClassDialog();
            userClassDialog.show(getSupportFragmentManager(), "user class dialog");

    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Judge Blocks the DOL's New Overtime Rule - Allen Norton & Blue, P.A.
Late in the day on November, 22nd, a federal judge in Texas entered an injunction temporarily blocking the Department of Labor's new rule governing minimum salaries required to qualify an employee as exempt from overtime compensation. The new rule, which was slated to go into effect on December 1, would have raised the minimum weekly salary from $455 to $913. With the ruling, the minimum required salary will remain at $455. In announcing its decision, the Court held, "This Court concludes that the governing statute for the [FLSA's white-collar exemptions] is plain and unambiguous and no deference is owed to the Department regarding its interpretation." The injunction is effective nationwide.


If there was such a thing as a drinking grade card, yours would have a little note at the bottom saying drinks well with others. You are an asset to any bar or party. You get along with anyone, when it comes to having a few beers.


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Q: Why do I get NaN from this function? I'm trying to calculate the total price from an array with multiple objects, but somehow my function returns NaN.
It will show all the different prices if i use this.totalPrice = this.items[i].amount, but when i add the + to get the total sum, it returns NaN. Does anyone here know why?
 items: ICartItem[] = [];
 totalPrice: number;

getTotalPrice(){
    for (let i = 0; i < this.items.length; i++) {
      this.totalPrice += this.items[i].amount * this.items[i].movie.price;
      console.log(this.totalPrice);
    }
  }

(2) [{…}, {…}]
0:
amount: 4
movie: {id: 18, name: "Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain", description: "null", price: 100, imageUrl: "null", …}
1:
amount: 3
movie: {id: 16, name: "The Dark Knight", description: "null", price: 199, imageUrl: "null", …}

I expect this.totalPrice to return the total sum of all the objects in the array.


I just love a nice hot cup of cocoa, especially as the weather gets colder, snuggled up in my dressing down and a blanket, watching films on TV. I can't wait for the Christmas films to start coming on TV. It's one of the things that makes me feel all Christmasy along with listening to lots of Christmas songs. I'm so excited it's Christmas. How cute is the reindeer Christmas tree ornament in the photo above. It's one of my favourites, I just had to take a photo of it. I do have some more photos of the Christmas tree, so I will posting them on the blog. I'm really enjoying doing Blogmas, I'm also enjoying reading other peoples Blogmas posts too. It's nice to post throughout December, It will be great to look back at what I wrote up until Christmas. That's one of things I really love about having a blog, being able to look back at previous posts from a few months ago to a couple of years ago and to see what I have wrote.
Home Alone 1, Home Alone 2, The Santa Clause, Elf, The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Nightmare before Christmas, The Grinch, Fred Clause, Christmas with the Kranks.
Home Alone 1 and 2 definitely go at the beginning of my list. They make me laugh so much. I think out of the two, the first one is my favourite. I really the The Santa Clause films and Elf. One of my most favourite films, which has been since I was little is The Muppets Christmas Carol, I love singing along to the songs. Next on the list is The Nightmare Before Christmas, once again I love the songs in this one, they are so catchy. Lastly on the list is The Grinch, Fred Clause and Christmas with the Kranks. I actually watched Christmas with the Kranks a couple of weeks ago.
Day 5 on the advent calendar opened.
Here is another Christmas playlist for you. This one is my favourite, it's a Disney one.


Turkey Flat's Barossa vineyards include some of the oldest Shiraz vines to be found in the world. Dating back to 1847, these extraordinary gnarled and twisted old vines continue to produce exceptional quality. They were originally propagated from cuttings taken from Hermitage in the Rhone. Turkey flat has been family owned for most of its 169 yr history but it is only since 1990 that wines have been bottled at the property. Previously, they were suppliers to famous producers such as Rockford, St Hallet and Charlie Melton.


BERLIN/TRIPOLI (Own report) - Berlin is energetically insisting on the appointment of a government of national unity in Libya in preparation for expanding two Bundeswehr missions. The future government, according to internal documents, should extend an "invitation" to the EU, to expand its Mediterranean anti-refugee defense all the way onto Libyan territory. It should set up armed forces that will be trained also by the Bundeswehr to go to war against the "Islamic State" (IS/Daesh). The USA, Great Britain, and France recently began operations ranging from air strikes to Special Forces operations, expanding the war against Daesh to Libya. However, without the ground troops, that the future Libyan government is supposed to organize, there can be no durable victory, according to military experts. While US media is speculating on the establishment of a pro-western regime in Tripoli, with the enthronement of a king, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is strongly insisting on the UN-constituted government of national unity being installed in office. Experts are already predicting its failure.
Steinmeier's demand is the result of the current controversy over the list of the future unity government's cabinet members, which is being drawn up, within the framework of the United Nations' Libya Negotiations, under the supervision and massive pressure of the UN Special Envoy, Martin Kobler, from Germany. Now, it must be accepted by the "Tobruk Parliament," the elected "House of Representatives," which has been installed in Tobruk, in eastern Libya, since it was forced to flee Tripoli and the Islamist militias. Strong objections to the cabinet list are being raised from within their ranks, because Kobler insists on using it to obtain the integration of the Islamist forces, who, earlier, had forced the Tobruk parliament to flee. Experts are warning that Kobler's government has no durability. "Granting recognition to a government that has insufficient backing will condemn it to irrelevance," according to the International Crisis Group, an internationally operating western think tank. In spite of the warnings, Kobler has maintained his pressure and gotten 100 Tobruk parliamentarians to tentatively consider agreeing to the cabinet list. (The obligatory majority is 99.) However, because of threats, the parliamentarians were forced not to participate in Tuesday's vote on the unity government. Kobler, the German Foreign Ministry and representatives of other western powers are raging. They insist that the vote be repeated and the government be immediately installed.
The West sees the situation as urgent for two reasons: One is the planned expansion of the EU's defense against refugees. According to the EU's FRONTEX border authorities, last year, in spite of the efforts made within the framework of the EU's naval operations in the Mediterranean ("EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia") 154,725 refugees still reached Europe via the "central Mediterranean route." Around 91 percent of them departed from the shores of Libya. To prevent the refugees from leaving Libya in the future, the naval operation, which, at the moment, is limited to international waters ("Phase 2A") should be extended to Libyan territorial waters ("Phase 2B") and, ultimately, to Libyan territory ("Phase 3"). As a recently Wikileaked internal report of EUNAVFOR MED commander Enrico Credendino confirms, the military is long since prepared to carry this out, but is waiting for an official "invitation" from a legitimate Libyan government. On the one hand, this is considered essential for providing a legal framework to the operations on foreign territory. And on the other, it is necessary to clarify how the EU military is supposed to handle apprehended smugglers, writes Credendino. Because they can hardly be released, they must either be turned over to Libya for prosecution or an agreement be reached with the Libyan authorities, wherein "they waive their right to prosecute suspected smugglers in Libya." However, only a legitimate government can enforce or waiver its rights of sovereignty.
Credendino makes also the plea for combining the useful with the desirable and offer the eventual Libyan unity government, in exchange for its invitation to have EUNAVFOR MED intervene, to provide support in setting up a coast guard and possibly even a navy. Libya, in any case, needs a powerful coast guard capable of protecting "its own borders therefore preventing illegal migration from Libyan shores" writes the Rear Admiral. He had discussed the issue already in November with a member of the cabinet drawn up under Kobler's supervision. The Libyan minister-to-be showed sympathy toward EU support measures for setting up a Libyan coast guard and navy. Credendino also reported that he had met with representatives of the current Libyan Coast Guard, in Tunis. These men are probably partners of the EUBAM Libya, an EU Border Assistance Mission, sent to Libya back in May 2013 to train and develop the remaining segments of Libya's Coast Guard, still in tact. EUBAM Libya has since fled into exile to Tunis to escape the combat, and for safekeeping for future assignments. Just ten days ago, its mandate was extended to August 21. If necessary, it can be activated on short notice.
The expansion of the war on the "Islamic State" (IS / Daesh) is the second reason, why the western powers are insisting on the establishment of a government of national unity in Libya. Daesh has established itself in Libya, taken control of the port city, Sirte, including a surrounding area of - as the German government reports - "approx. 300 km in length and 200 km in depth"  and is systematically expanding to other cities. The United States, Great Britain, and France have begun to expand their operations against the organization to include Libya. Back in November, US fighter planes bombed an alleged location of a Daesh leader in Darna, a jihadi stronghold in eastern Libya. According to Paris, French ground work had been essential in paving the way for the attack. Last Friday, the US Air Force bombed a Daesh camp in Sabratha in Western Libya. As was made known in the middle of the week, French Special Forces and secret service agents are on mission in Libya. US and British elite forces are also operating there.
However, western military strategists predict that air strikes and Special Forces alone will be as little effective against Daesh in Libya as it had been in Syria and Iraq. Native ground troops similar to the Peshmerga in northern Iraq are also needed. Apparently, test runs were initiated. According to reports, French elite troops had been involved in the combat on the side of the Tobruk government troops, commanded by General Khalifa Haftar, which, over the past few days, drove Daesh units out of Bengasi. However, throughout the entire western part of the country, Haftar, one of the most powerful Libyan military commanders, is not acknowledged by the Islamists. His troops could quickly transform a campaign against Daesh positions in western Libya, into a war on all of the Islamists in power in Tripoli. In the eyes of the western powers, this is an additional cause for urgency in building a government of national unity, with whose military an offensive against Daesh could be waged throughout the country.
As the German government recently announced, the Bundeswehr is foreseen as one of the militaries in line to train the Libyan armed forces. "We have agreed that Germany stands ready to support a new Libyan government in the creation of state structures," declared Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in late January. This would include measures in the "security sector." Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen had previously made a similar declaration. If UN Special Envoy Kobler has success in officially getting the government of national unity instated in office, the Bundeswehr mission could begin at any time.
Given the fact that observers assume that the future unity government will fail, US specialists recently proposed to mask the prevailing chaos by enthroning a king. Mohammed al Senussi, a descendant of the former autocrat Idris al Senussi, currently living in exile in London, is considered a candidate. Only, the "restoration of the monarchy" can give Libya hope, it was opinioned, - five years after NATO began its 2011 intervention, which, in the West, had been largely celebrated as the liberation of the country, when in fact this set the state and population on a direct route into havoc.
 Kareem Fahim, Suliman Ali Zway: Libya's Rival Factions Sign Deal for Unity Government. www.nytimes.com 17.12.2015.
 Libya unity government vote stalls after threats. gulfnews.com 25.02.2016.
,  Sophia End of Month 6 Report. EEAS(2016) 126. Brussels, 28 January 2016.
 Antwort des Staatssekretärs Dr. Markus Ederer auf eine Anfrage der Abgeordneten Katja Keul (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) vom 8. Februar 2016. Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 18/7510, 12.02.2016.
 French forces arrive in Libya to support Haftar in Benghazi. www.middleeastmonitor.com 23.02.2016.
 Parlament lehnt Einheitsregierung ab. www.tagesschau.de 25.01.2016.
 Declan Walsh: A Radical Idea to Rebuild a Shattered Libya: Restore the Monarchy. www.nytimes.com 24.02.2016.


The best breakfasts sometimes (most of the time!) have something a little bit unique about them. Toulouse Petit takes unique in a Southern direction with New Orleans-style breakfasts! If you're in the mood for something sweet and small, go for the beignets or Crème Caramel French Toast. For savory, you've got a range of choices to suit your every Creole foodie desire—from the Bayou Fisherman's Breakfast to Andouille sausage with red beans and eggs. Given the many cocktails that originated in New Orleans, don't miss spiking your breakfast with a little something extra either. The cocktail menu features Sazeracs, Hurricanes and more.
What makes it stand out: New Orleans-style breakfast menu items!


Water from any source in your home could indicate to potential signs of damage. It can be bust, leak or any source could lead to a lot of damage to your home and the surroundings. Water damage repair San Antonio would solve the problem with potential ease. The main thing would be that you need to act quickly in order to solve the problem. Below are some of the water damage tips that would help you to combat the situation and prevent problems arising in the future?
If water damage does occur to your premises you would need to act in a quick way. There is some water cleaning services that provide with 24-hour emergency services round the clock. The moment you notice a problem if you get in touch with the experts the issue of water problem would be dealt with. So that mold growth does not occur you might have to damp and clean the area within 24 hours. It all depends upon the extent of your damage as you might want to get in touch with home insurance companies so that the process of claim starts.
The moment you figure out any water problems at your home there are a few steps you might have to take. If the levels of water are high you might need to turn off your electricity. Do not commit the mistake of using regular home appliances like a vacuum cleaner in order to drain the water. If you figure out that the water is contaminated, you might have to leave your home so that you are not going to fall sick in any way. If you figure out that the leak is from a source try to locate the source so that further damage would be something that you can keep off.
In case if you are dealing with a burst pipe it would be really hard to ignore it. In some other cases of water damage, the sign could be subtle and you can miss it. To combat such damage looks out for regular leaks in your kitchen or the bathroom. Do look out for the damp spots in these areas and figure out the areas around the washing machines. Pay attention to the hot spots on the walls as this could point to some signs of hidden damage.
It all depends upon the extent of water as you are going to have a couple of methods associated with water removal. For small situations let a damp space to air dry might be a good option. This is a slow approach as far as the process of water removal evolves. In order to dry a wet room do open all the doors and windows. At the same time let the fans in the room circulate with full speed. If there is a lot of water you might have to rely on the services of a professional.


ANJALI NAIR's Campaign To Help DMD Patients.
I am ANJALI NAIR, 17-years-old & in the 12th grade at DPS Bangalore North. Help me to raise funds for treatment of DMD patients.
Hi, I am Anjali Nair a student of Class 12th of DPS, Bangalore North. Anjali literally means "offering" and just as my name suggests i have been all for making a difference in my own little way . A few days ago, our school had a program where the team from Fueladream.com told us about a crowdfunding program which is going to help raise funds for children who are suffering from Muscular Dystrophy. My own batchmate who i have known a few years now ,who suffers from the same has been my inspiration and sheer motivation towards being a part of this initiative. In this era of modern technology where everything has a fix i believe every little effort and contribution from our end can make this world a happier place for all . The fact that a contribution of just Rs 20000 can fund the treatment of an underprivileged child suffering from DMD for an entire year made me realise that there is much more to life that is beyond our own happy , comfortable bubble . I believe that we can help children suffering from DMD and so i'm requesting you to fund my campaign and do your bit towards making a difference.


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It was extremely interesting for me to read that post. Thank you for it. I like such topics and anything that is connected to them. I definitely want to read a bit more soon.
I love Barcelone, and I promised myself I'd go back some day.. Hopefully soon! Hope your year has been great so far!


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Canon Michael Wilson MA MBA 2001-02
Born in Batley, West Yorkshire, Michael Wilson studied German at Liverpool University (BA), and then the Theological Tripos at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (BA, MA), and completed his theological studies at Westcott House, Cambridge, while later gaining at MBA from De Montfort University.
His first Church appointment was as Assistant Curate at Worksop Priory (1969-71) and Assistant Curate at Great Malvern Priory (1971-75). He came to Leicester as Vicar of St Anne's in 1975, serving in that office to 1985, when he became Team Rector (1985-88). From 1988 to 2009 he was Residentiary Canon Treasurer of Leicester Cathedral.
Other Church and public positions serving as Proctor in Convocation from 1980-95, Chair, Leicester Board of Mission and Society Responsibility, and as Chairman of the Gateway College FE Board.
Canon Wilson joined Lit. & Phil. in1986, and served on Council for more than a decade including his year as President, retiring from Council in 2010.
Presidential Address: The Making of a Cathedral. Trans. LLPS vol. 96 (2002), pp. 2 – 4.


Can tag and category clouds be put on pages?
I'm building an Archives page, and I'd like to be able to include tag and category clouds on the page itself, not just using the sidebar widget. Can this be done, and if so how do I go about it. There doesn't appear to be a shortcode for this.
The blog I need help with is aconvertedheart.net.
Have you opened the Tag Cloud widget ? Some widgets have visibility settings which means you can select exactly which pages the widgets display on.
Volunteers answering questions on the support forums do not have access to premium themes and cannot work with them in test blogs. However, premium theme purchase comes with support from the theme designer in the premium themes support forums.
If you are not successful when searching there is a link for the specific Premium Theme support forum for your theme under Appearance -> Themes in your blog's Dashboard, but do note that the premium theme must be active and you must be signed in as the user who purchased it in order to see it and post to it.
Yes, I have looked at the visibility setting of the widget, but again it appears that widget itself can only be embedded in the sidebar or footer, not on the actual page itself. I was just wondering if there was a shortcode for that.
There are no themes that I am aware of (I have been here over 7 years) that allow widgets to be embedded into any area other than sidebars or footer areas for widgets.
Thanks, I think I've found an alternative solution to the problem.
There used to be a tag cloud code at http://engtech.wordpress.com that worked, so you could try that. It's several years old, though.
That's good news. Best wishes with your blog.
The topic 'Can tag and category clouds be put on pages?' is closed to new replies.


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Q: How to install a mmc certificate on Windows? I am not familiar with Windows very much, and I have trouble installing a MMC certificate. I am following this description to use MMC to create a certificate, but I cannot complete the step labeled ' Install or view the certificates under:'. There is nothing unter 'ConsoleRoot' -> 'Certificates (Local Computer)' -> 'Personal', and when I try to find the certificate I cannot find it.
There is another page with nice screenshots, which works until step 9 when I am about to choose the certificate file. I do not know where this file is been created, if at all.
How can I create/install/import this certificate? I require this in order to use the powershell Enter-PSSession from a remote machine...

A: Well for starters you do not create certificates with MMC. You have to have a certificate file, know where it is in the filesystem, and then you have to add the console snap-in if you want to handle certificates graphically
When You've added the MMC snap-in you then install/import the certificate


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Evidence and exasperation
In the comments, Doug gets exasperated with some recent posts of mine:
"Isn't it amazing how everything seems to provide evidence for evolution? The brain shrinks in some form of pygmy homo erectus. Thats evolution! Ancient genes survive millions of years unchanged. That's evolution?! Women have orgasms. That's evolution! Although not all women have orgasms and they still manage to reproduce hmm luckily with the right spin…That's evolution! We live in a civil society with people working for cooperative goals. That's evolution! Unfortunately some people murder and rape. Just an unfortunate side-effect, but that's evolution.
"Not only is everything evidence for evolution but evolution explains everything! No its not circular reasoning its Evolution! Thank goodness we don't need to resort to God to explain the world around. Now we have Evolution! Its the all-encompassing answer to the ultimate question (I always thought it was 42). The evolutionist has reached the omniscient nirvana. maybe we should start meeting at the biology lab on Sunday mornings. We can sing some Evolution Hymns. Do they exist? Don't worry they'll evolve. I'll just start selectively pressing some keys on the organ and type a few letters while blindfolded. Okay I'm getting a little carried away…chalk it up to evolution." [sic]
I find that in situations like this, it helps to step back for a moment from evolution and look at the other major scientific theories of the past couple centuries that explain a lot about the natural world. You could translate Doug's complaints about evolution into complaints about any of them.
Take the theory of plate tectonics. According to this theory, the Earth is covered in plates of crust. Each plate grows along one margin with molten rock that rises from the Earth's interior. The margin on the other side of the plate is cold and sinks down into the interior, where it is remelted and mixed up with the rock down there. Continents ride on top of these plates. In some cases they crash into each other, such as India and Asia, forming mountains. In other cases, a new rift splits a plate apart, pushing continents away, as with Africa and South America.
From the 1920s to 1960s, geologists put together this theory as a way to explain patterns on the Earth. They couldn't actually see the continents crash into each other like bumper cars, because the process takes millions of years. Instead, they had to develop hypotheses that they could then test by looking at the Earth. For example, they calculated the age of rocks around mid-ocean ridges. The rocks closer to the ridges were younger than the ones further away. Years of studies both in the field and in the lab have strengthened the theory, but they've also led scientists to expand it from its original form. The original theory didn't account for what was driving hot rock up from the interior in the first place, for example. Yet new ideas for these sorts of things do not invalidate the realization that the continents move.
Now imagine a blog about plate tectonics (I wish there was one). The blog is dedicated to new research into how all the dizzying variety of landscapes on the planet, from jagged cliffs to undersea volcanoes, are produced by the Earth's geological engine. It could even have a few posts about how plate tectonics helps explain some things you might never expect geology to explain, such as why it is that some animals in Africa and South America are surprisingly similar. Answer: their common ancestors lived at a time when the two continents were still joined together.
Imagine the sort of exasperated comments such a blog would get:
"Isn't it amazing how everything seems to provide evidence for plate tectonics? Continents split apart. That's plate tectonics! Continents crash into each other. That's plate tectonics?! Plates sink under other plates. That's plate tectonics. Although some plates actually slide past each other. That's plate tectonics. Not only is everything evidence for plate tectonics, but plate tectonics explains everything! No it's not circular reasoning, it's plate tectonics! Thank goodness we don't need to resort to God to explain the world. Now we have plate tectonics!"
Any theory that would explain the Earth's landscape has to be able to account for a huge variety of features. The same goes for any theory that would explain the Earth's biological diversity. Just consider fish. There are fish with eyes and fish without. Most fish only swim, but some fish can fly and some can crawl on dry land. A theory that could only shed light on one kind of fish wouldn't be much of a theory at all.
The theory of evolution explains this variety, but not in an arbitrary way. Fish descend from a common ancestor, and along the way they have been modified, primarily through natural selection, into different forms. Flying fish do not have wings made out of balsa wood. Their wings are actually modified fins. The fins that some fish use to crawl on land are also clearly modified from the fins other fish use to swim. Fish without eyes still retain the genes required to form eyes, but they have been modified so that the eyes never fully develop. If these fish really did evolve from a common ancestor, you'd expect that their DNA would reflect this common kinship. And it does. If these fish really did evolve from a common ancestor, you'd expect that the fossil record would be consistent with their descent. And it is.
As a result, the specific examples that Doug brings up are not circular, but rather are particular cases of well-studied patterns in evolution.
Dwarfing is not an idea that someone came up with when Homo floresiensis was discovered. It's been documented in many animals. Is there a compelling explanation for how full-sized elephants come to islands and then become the size of cows other than evolution? Let's hear it.
The genes Doug refers to are the ones found in jellyfish and humans. As animals, we descend from a common ancestor. We have lots of genes in common with jellyfish—genes for building cells, proteins, and DNA, for example. Now it turns out that some body-building genes are also conserved in humans and jellyfish. But these genes are not carbon copies of one another. They have been modified in each lineage, just as you'd expect if life did indeed evolve.
Doug's example of female orgasms raises another important point: an overarching theory about the history of life or the Earth does not automatically give you all the answers about that history. How did the Andes Mountains form? If a geologist simply says, plate tectonics, that's not a very satisfying answer. Yes, plate tectonics were involved, but how? It turns out that the best explanation geologists have is a staggeringly complex interplay of continental collision, flowing rivers, and climate change. But the issue is still very much in debate. Orgasms are also an open question, as are the precise evolutionary origins of many things in nature. Natural selection may well turn out not to have much to do with human female orgasms. We'll see.
If a scientific theory can explain an aspect of the natural world, withstand scrutiny, and lead to important new insights into how the world works, we really shouldn't hold its success against it. No one's asking for evolution hymns—certainly no more than they're asking for gravity hymns or hymns to the periodic table of the elements.


Conveniently positioned close to shops, schools and medical facilities, this weatherboard home is ideal for first homebuyers or savvy investors.
Set well back from the kerb, in a well established neighbourhood with easy access to Newcastle Rd, this three-bedroom home offers the chance to enter the property market with ease.
This solid home has been updated and features an on-trend, latte toned colour scheme, air conditioning, a modern kitchen and multiple, versatile living spaces.
A traditional floor plan sees you enter into a formal entry hall, which branches off to the large, light-filled living room on the left hand side, while the master bedroom, with built-in robes, is off to the right.
A picture window fills the living room with natural light, while a split-system air conditioner keeps the temperature perfect all year round.
At the end of the living room awaits the third bedroom, but this space could also be used as a study or children's playroom. The choice is yours.
High, decorative ceilings catch your attention in the living room and master bedroom, while plush carpet lines the floors in all but the kitchen and bathroom.
The kitchen features a classic black and white colour scheme, accentuated with timber-look laminate flooring.
There is no shortage of bench or cupboard space in the kitchen, with open display cabinets, white subway tiled splashback and upright electric oven with gas cooktop among the other highlights.
The kitchen overlooks the generous dining room, which flows out to a peaceful sunroom, which has large windows on two sides and provides the perfect spot for reading and relaxing with the paper and a morning coffee.
The central bathroom is flanked by the master bedroom and bedroom two, with all bedrooms having ceiling fans.
The bathroom features classic, white subway tiles, a separate shower and bath and a separate toilet.
The property is located just a short walk from local shops and eateries, as well as Hillview Playground, Lambton Park and tennis courts and a range of medical facilities.
Nearby schools include Lambton Public School, St John's Primary School, Waratah Public School and St Philip's Christian College.
Other features at the property include a pebblecrete driveway leading through gated side access to a double garage with an attached, single carport.
SMS 73Veru to 0428 166 755 for a link to the on-line property brochure.