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Most popular articles (Since May 04, 2015)
The hijras of India: A marginal community with paradox sexual identity
Sibsankar Mal
January-March 2018, 34(1):79-85
DOI:10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_21_17
Transgender people in India, commonly known as the Hijras, who claim to be neither male nor female, are socially excluded in Indian society. The uniqueness of Hijras lies not only in their existence beyond social structure but also in Indian society's historical acceptance of that position. This study aims to understand the sociocultural exclusion of Hijras, depending on their gender identity disorder and their paradox sexual appearance. An exploratory cum descriptive research design with a nonrandom purposive sampling including the snowball technique was adopted, to collect information from 51 Hijras at Kharagpur town from the state of West Bengal, India. The study shows that although Hijras have a sort of sanctioned and visible place in Hindu society, but in the contemporary Indian context, it is the gender nonconformity of the Hijra that has a major impact besides lack of a gender recognition, sexual expression, employment, decent housing, subsidized health-care services, and as well as the violence they suffer, especially when they choose to take up formal works. Therefore, Hijras are controversial and minacious community in Indian society and their existence disrupts essential ideas about sex or gender. They need to be recognized as having a space on society's gender continuum. Vertical interventions of rights are greatly needed to address the unique needs of this marginalized group and recognizing them as equal citizens of India.
DEBATE/PERSPECTIVE/VIEWPOINTS
The biopsychosocial approach and global mental health: Synergies and opportunities
Emmanuel Babalola, Pia Noel, Ross White
October-December 2017, 33(4):291-296
The biopsychosocial (BPS) approach proposed by Engel four decades ago was regarded as one of the most important developments in medicine and psychiatry in the late 20th century. Unlike the biomedical model, the BPS approach posits that biological, psychological, and social factors play a significant role in disease causation and treatment. This approach brought about a new way of conceptualizing mental health difficulties and engendered changes within research, medical teaching and practice. Global mental health (GMH) is a relatively new area of study and practice that seek to bridge inequities and inequality in mental healthcare services provision for people worldwide. The significance of the BPS approach for understanding mental health difficulties is being debated in the context of GMH initiatives. This paper critically evaluates strengths and weaknesses of the BPS approach to mental health difficulties and explores its relevance to GMH initiatives.
AWARD PAPER: DR. G. C. BORAL AWARD I
Study of mechanisms of coping, resilience and quality of life in medical undergraduates
Mansi Somaiya, Swapnil Kolpakwar, Abhijeet Faye, Ravindra Kamath
Introduction: The period of undergraduation in the medical field is challenging, and the medical student is exposed to various stressors. Aims and Objectives: This study was designed to identify the mechanisms of coping, resilience and quality of life (QoL) and their correlations in medical undergraduates, so as to find some factors which can help to make some positive changes in medical curriculum. Methodology: Totally, 250 medical students representing all academic years of medical college were provided with questionnaires investigating their sociodemographic profile, coping skills, resilience, and QoL. Using appropriate statistical tests, the parameters were studied along with a search for the factors affecting them. A comparison of all these factors was also done among the students of all the academic years of medical school. Results and Discussion: Problem-solving and fatalism was more in immigrant students than native students of Mumbai. Problem-oriented mechanisms of coping, resilience, and QoL were higher in students doing internship. However, students of 3 rd year part 2 were less resilient, used emotion-focused ways of coping and had a lower QoL. There was a good shift of positive ways of handling stress with an increase in the academic year. Problem-oriented mechanisms of coping positively correlated with resilience and QoL. High resilience was also found as a positive factor for good QoL. Conclusion : Along with the clinical component, an equal emphasis should be given to improve the social and personal life of a medical student helping them to cultivate more problem-based coping and increasing their resilience so as to ultimately improve their QoL.
Caregiving and caregivers: Challenges and opportunities in India
R Srinivasa Murthy
Caregiving of persons with mental illness is challenging as sometimes it is demanding and at other times, it is fulfilling to caregivers. In India, family members are the caregivers for persons with mental illness as there are extremely limited alternative facilities and family members are preferred for caring. The changing social milieu in India such as urbanization and nuclear family is placing significant burden on family members. This article will discuss about the emotional dimensions of caregiving, importance of care receivers, utilizing the caregiving situations to address prevention of mental disorders, promotion of mental health, and fight stigma of mental disorders. In India, majority of the research is on the burden of caregiving on family members and there is less or no research on caregiving in different communities, population groups, and develop programs to make caregiving a positive experience on caregivers and caregiving. In India, there is a need to develop systems of sharing of skills, support, and supervision to caregivers in providing care to the individuals with chronic illnesses. This can minimize the stress of caregiving and maximize the positive feelings of caregiving.
SUB-THEME 1: SOCIAL CHANGES IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH: DEBATE ON SOCIAL CHANGES & MENTAL HEALTH - FOR
Social changes in the 21st century have differentially affected the mental health scenario in the developing world
Harischandra Gambheera
July-September 2016, 32(3):238-242
The effects of social development in the 21st century have affected different countries and different social groups differently. Although social development upgraded life standards of a sector of population, it has affected adversely on poor socioeconomic groups in different parts of the world. Even though the economic status of urban cities in developing countries has gone up, standards of living have not risen parallely. The social structure has changed and risk factors for common mental illness have increased whereas poorly developed mental health services remain unchanged. Resource allocation for the development of mental health services in developing countries still appears to be minimal.
A survey of suicidality and views on suicide in an Indian sample of adults
Nilamadhab Kar, Jagadisha Thirthalli
Background: Suicide is a major public health concern in India. There is limited information regarding views about suicide and suicidality in the community. Aims: It was intended to study the suicidal cognitions and behavior in a sample of adults in India along with views about suicide. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based, anonymous survey conducted in four tertiary level medical centers. The subjects included patients and their attendants and health professionals in the organizations. The questionnaire included items on suicidal cognitions, suicide attempt history, current and past physical and mental illness, stress, views on suicide and the interventions along with information on the sociodemographic variables. Results: A considerable proportions of participants reported lifetime suicidal cognitions: Life not worth living, 44.2%; death wish, 26.9%; suicidal ideas, 24.6%; made suicidal plans, 12.4%; and 7.1% had a history of suicide attempt. These cognitions were significantly associated with suicide attempt. There was a general awareness of risks and supportive measures. The finding that 29.7% of participants might consider suicide for themselves in certain circumstances suggested the degree of acceptability of suicide in the community. Contrasting views were also present where suicide was considered as a sin by 66.2%, but 10.4% felt that their religion allows it in certain situations. The majority of participants felt that suicide is preventable. Conclusions: Suicidal thought and behaviors were common in the community. The results suggest that there is still a need for public education increasing awareness about the risks, support systems available in the local community and timely help-seeking that may improve the scope for suicide prevention.
Advocacy in mental health: Offering a voice to the voiceless
P Joseph Varghese
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SUB-THEME 1: SOCIAL CHANGES IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH: PERSPECTIVE
A virtual reality: Technology's impact on youth mental health
Benjamin Ian Perry, Swaran Singh
2016 will mark as the year when commercially available virtual reality headsets first become available across the world. This is set to be a landmark development and will revolutionize the way we interact with technology, which is already eating up more and more of our time, and is now inextricable from day-to-day life. Adolescents, at a critical stage in both physical and psychological development, are often the first to adopt advances in technology, and therefore also any associated impact on health. We discuss some of the current and important research on the positive and negative implications of technology on the mental health of children and adolescents, and briefly outline how future technological advances may further affect how we diagnose, monitor, and manage our young patients in the psychiatric clinic.
Sexual knowledge, attitude, behaviors and sources of influences in Urban college youth: A study from India
Siddharth Dutt, M Manjula
Background: The study was undertaken as there is very less literature related to sources of influence for sexual knowledge and attitude toward sex and sexual behaviors of youth in India. Aim: The objectives of the study were to explore sexual knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and the sources of influence and also to examine the relationship between sexual knowledge, attitude and behaviors in the youth. Method: The sample was selected from colleges using purposive sampling method and from the community using snowball method (n = 300). The tools used were sociodemographic data sheet, Sexual Knowledge and Attitude Questionnaire (SKAQ-II) and Sexual Behavior and Sources of Influence (SBSI) scale. Results: Descriptive statistics and correlation was done to analyze the data. The youth had poor sexual knowledge; there was positive relationship between sexual knowledge and attitudes. Sexual behaviors through media and with self or others were found to be low. Internet was found to be the major source for gathering information and was considered the most reliable source. Conclusion: Indian college youth continue to have poor sexual knowledge. Internet is a major source of information and is considered as the most reliable one among youth. More knowledge about sex is associated with liberal attitude toward sex.
SUB-THEME 1: SOCIAL CHANGES IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH: REVIEW ARTICLE
How are social changes in the twenty first century relevant to mental health?
Krishna M Prasad, Hareesh Angothu, Manila M Mathews, Santosh K Chaturvedi
Mental health problems occur in a psychosocial context. Social dimensions significantly impact psychiatric practice and research. The twenty first century has seen dramatic urbanization, globalization, rapid advances in technology, and communications. These among several other social changes, such as nature and shift in family systems, newer patterns of relationships, migration, and social mobility will bring about novel challenges for diagnosing and managing mental health problems; nevertheless this may at the same time throw newer means and opportunities to intervene, particularly with the advancements in technology. There is likely to be greater awareness about mental health problems. The rights based and recovery oriented approaches will change the way psychiatry is practiced. Many of these changes will positively impact policies of the government and access to care. This article focuses on the social changes in the twenty first century and the impact this has had and will have on mental health, especially in India.
THEME SECTION: STIGMA IN PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS: REVIEW ARTICLES
April-June 2016, 32(2):134-142
DR. VENKOBA RAO ORATION
Are social theories still relevant in current psychiatric practice?
Ajit Avasthi
January-March 2016, 32(1):3-9
Current psychiatric practice is being influenced by advances in the field of molecular biology, genetic studies, neuroimaging, and psychopharmacology and the approach has become "biological." Social theories of mental illness had once revolutionized the field of psychiatry and are currently being somewhat ignored under the dazzle of biological sciences. Main social theories are functionalism, interpersonal theory, attachment theory, stress theory, and labeling theory. Each of these theories had tried to explain the genesis of psychiatric disorders in their own way. However, each theory has its own limitations and critique. Still, for a holistic approach to treat persons with mental illness, it is essential to take a biopsychosocial approach which can only be done if one understands the contribution and relevance of social theories. Nonpharmacological management has been the cornerstone of treatment of any psychiatric disorder and social theories also form the basis of various nonpharmacological modes of treatment. Overall, social theories are still very relevant in current psychiatric practice and should not be neglected. Efforts should be made to integrate social theories with other theories of mental illness for better understanding and treatment.
ORATIONS: DR. N. N. DE ORATION
From rape to sexual assault: Legal provisions and mental health implications
RC Jiloha
January-June 2015, 31(1):9-18
Sexual assault in various forms has been recognized as a crime by almost all religions and cultures throughout the recorded history. It is a crime against basic human rights of an individual and a most common crime against women in India. In India, "rape laws" began with the enactment of Indian Penal Code in 1860. There have been subsequent amendments, and the main issue of focus remained the definition of rape which has been recently broadened to include a wide range of sexual activities. The inclusion of "marital rape" in the ambit of rape remains a matter of debate. With a long history, the sexual offence in the form of sexual assault has been discussed from legal and mental health perspective in this presentation. Social and psychological impact of sexual assault on the victim has also been discussed.
Knowledge and attitudes of secondary and higher secondary school teachers toward mental illness in Ahmedabad
Nimesh Parikh, Minakshi Parikh, Ganpat Vankar, Chintan Solanki, Girish Banwari, Prateek Sharma
Background: Teachers can be trained in early identification of possible mental illness and referral which is well-established in the west and lacking in India. Hence, we attempt to study the knowledge and attitudes of secondary school teachers toward mental illness and probable gender differences in these measures. Materials and Methods: Five hundred and twenty teachers from English medium schools of Ahmedabad city were assessed by a self-reported, predesigned and pretested 25 item questionnaire, the first 15 of which assessed their knowledge about mental illnesses and the remaining 10 pertained to negative attitudes. Results: 79.4% of teachers were 45 years or less, 77.5% were female teachers and 86.9% were married. 76% of teachers scored <7 out of 15 which points toward majority of them having inadequate knowledge. 63.6% scored 5 or more on the negative attitudes questionnaire, which points toward high prevalence of negative attitudes. Females had comparatively more knowledge than males about symptoms and management of mental illness, although there was no significant gender difference in the attitude toward mental illnesses. Conclusion: The knowledge of teachers about mental illness is insufficient, and they hold a lot of stigma against mentally ill as demonstrated by their low score in attitude.
Study of internet addiction: Prevalence, pattern, and psychopathology among health professional undergraduates
Sachin R Gedam, Santanu Ghosh, Lipsy Modi, Arvind Goyal, Himanshu Mansharamani
Background: Internet has become an essential part of our daily life, especially among adolescents and youth. It is mainly used for education, entertainment, social networking, and information sharing. Its excessive use among health care providers is becoming a major concern. Aims: The aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence, understand the pattern, and to determine the association between psychopathology and internet addiction among health profession undergraduates. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 846 students of various faculties from Deemed University. Students were assessed with semi-structured data, Internet Addiction Test and Mental Health Inventory, after giving them brief instructions. Students were classified into normal students and addicted students for comparison. Results: The total prevalence of internet addiction was 19.85%, with moderate and severe addiction being 19.5% and 0.4%, respectively. Internet addiction was associated with gender, computer ownership, preferred time of internet use, login status, and mode of internet access (P < 0.05). It was also associated with anxiety, depression, loss of emotional/behavioral control, emotional ties, life satisfaction, psychological distress, and lower psychological well-being (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Significant association was found between psychopathology and internet addiction. Male gender, login status, emotional ties, and psychological distress were found to be important predictors of internet addiction among students. Hence, these parameters should be taken into consideration while promoting awareness of problematic internet use and educating students regarding healthy internet use.
VIEWPOINT/PERSPECTIVES (THEMESECTION: MENTAL HEALTH CAREBILL, 2013)
Recent developments in community mental health: Relevance and relationship with the mental health care bill
Rakesh Kumar Chadda, Bichitra Nanda Patra, Nitin Gupta
Community mental health refers to the treatment of persons with mental disorders in the community. In the earlier periods, treatment of patients with mental illness was limited to the mental hospitals or asylums. This paper traces the beginnings of community psychiatry in India from the time Dr. Vidya Sagar initiated his famous experiment of treating patients with mental illnesses along with family members in tents outside the mental hospital, Amritsar. It then discusses the role of the National Mental Health Program and the District Mental Health Program. The role of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability in leading onto the development of the current Mental Health Care Bill, 2013 is discussed. Authors critically evaluate some of the merits and drawbacks of the Bill as related to recent developments in community mental health in India.
"The wind of change…"
Nitin Gupta, Abhijit R Rozatkar
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Integrating persons with mental illness in the society
Rakesh K Chadda, Siddharth Sarkar
A study to assess the prevalence and pattern of substance use among male adolescents in suburban area of Delhi
Liza Thankam Daniel, Ganesh Krishnan, Sandhya Gupta
Aim of the Study: To assess the prevalence and pattern of substance use among male adolescents in Sunder Nagari, New Delhi. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was designed to assess the prevalence and pattern of substance use among male adolescents in New Delhi. One hundred and ten adolescents were conveniently selected from Sunder Nagari, New Delhi. Adolescents aged more than 11 years and able to read and write Hindi or English were included in the study. A structured questionnaire for demographic variables was developed by researchers. To assess the prevalence and pattern of substance use, a structured questionnaire was prepared with the reliability coefficient of 0.94 (test-retest reliability) with a content validity index of 0.90 between the experts. Data were collected from the subjects after getting their written consent. Data analyzed using statistical package SPSS version 17.0. The level of significance was set as P < 0.05. Results: The study findings revealed that nearly more than half (55.6%) of the male adolescents reported the use of one or more substances in their lifetime. About 44.26% of the adolescents started to use substances before 13 years of age. Most common reason specified by the subjects to take substance were to be liked by friends (57.38%), to feel like an adult (24.6%), and few of them reported: "like the feeling of substances" (13.11%) as reason for taking substances. Common substances used by the subjects were any kind of tobacco (77.05%), inhalants (26.23%), and alcohol (11.47%). Most of the subjects were getting substances from their friends (85.25%) and only a few (14.75%) by themselves. Association analyses revealed that adolescents who studied less than 10th standard reported more usage of any kind of substances than who studied more than 10th standard. More prevalence of substance use was seen among adolescents who were from nuclear family. Subjects who had less than two siblings reported more substance use. Conclusion: Early onset of substance use is seen among adolescents. Low educational status and the nuclear family are associated with their substance use. Friends are the key source of substances and their initiation of substance use. Based on these findings, following recommendations can be considered. (i) Maintaining the substance use control through legislation by which controlling of selling substances under 18 years of age and prohibition of substance use in public places seem to be effective and (ii) early onset of substance use calls for effective measures directed against the younger age groups. Therefore, educational intervention at the school level appears to be the most feasible measure to prevent the initiation of substance use among adolescents.
Restraint and seclusion in India
Sudhir K Khandelwal, Koushik Sinha Deb, Vijay Krishnan
Psychiatric management in India often includes the practice of restraint and seclusion of violent and difficult to control patients, both in inpatient medical facilities and in places of traditional healing. However, without any informed guidelines and regulation, these practices have flourished from necessary last resort to accepted ways of control. The upcoming draft mental health bill have now provided with a set of basic guidelines for preventing restraint. The scientific literature is also sparse on the subject from India, despite a robust body of evidence being available from the Western literature. This review, summarizes the evidence from India, looks into the causes and outcomes of restraint and seclusion and also discusses methods and stratagems that might be beneficial for reducing restraint and seclusion in the country.
AWARD PAPERS: BALINT AWARD 2014
Understanding emotional turmoil and resolution of disturbed family relationship issues in a suicidal patient
Gurvinder Pal Singh
In this article, a truly personal experience of a therapist-patient relationship is being described. This is the experience with a patient Ms. A, who attempted a suicidal act. The nature of demands, difficulties, and emotions the therapist was exposed to while managing this patient is depicted. The therapist-patient relationship was believed to influence critical care of the patient, and a positive therapeutic relationship was associated with continuity of care and favorable treatment response. Human emotions are based on ideas, and control of emotional turmoil may be achieved by changing one's ideas. This presentation will describe the need for us to focus on the specific integrative skills required in handling relationship issues in suicidal patients. The intervention efforts focused on decreasing the suffering experienced, while simultaneously building a patient's capacity to cope with difficulties from an emotional perspective.
Subjective burden, psychological distress, and perceived social support among caregivers of persons with schizophrenia
Elangovan Aravind Raj, Sahana Shiri, Kavita V Jangam
Background/Objectives: Caregivers of persons with schizophrenia experience more stress due to the nature of the symptoms as well as the prolonged duration of illness. The current study is an attempt to understand the subjective components of burden, distress, and social support in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia in Indian context and its linkage with their sociodemographic profile and patient's illness profile. Methodology: Thirty-two caregivers of patients with schizophrenia from a psychiatric inpatient facility of a multidisciplinary hospital were studied using descriptive research design. Results: The result shows that negative symptoms of patients, subdomains of burden (burden on well-being, marital burden, burden on relations, and burden due to perceived severity) were the predictors of subjective burden. Burden on well-being and respondent's age were predictors of psychological distress. Conclusion: Inclusive treatment services would enhance the quality of life of the caregivers and would help them in ensuring long-term care for the patients with schizophrenia.
Involuntary admission and treatment
Anirudh Kala, Kunal Kala
Provisions for involuntary admission proposed in the Mental Health Care Bill, which is currently before the parliament, are discussed. Concerns about feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the postadmission judicial review, which is a novel feature in the Indian context, are put forward.
Research on family caregiving for mental illness in India and its impact on clinical practice: Are we doing enough to help families?
Subho Chakrabarti
Families of Indian patients with mental illnesses have always been involved in their care. Such involvement arises both from choice as well as the compulsion of being a part of an inadequately resourced mental health system. Regardless, families have had to pay a heavy price for undertaking the task of providing care. An extensive body of Indian research on caregiver burden in a number of mental illnesses shows that providing care for a relative with mental illness is associated with considerable distress and burden for the family caregiver. However, much of this research has not made the shift from the somewhat outmoded concept of caregiver burden to the currently prevalent practice of considering the caregiving experience in its totality. Moreover, most of the research is not driven by contemporary theories of caregiving such as the stress coping model. Indian psychiatry has also had a long tradition of supporting family caregivers while they provide care for their ill members. Nevertheless, the Indian evidence for the efficacy of formal family-based interventions remains inadequate and lacks methodological precision. Finally, day-to-day practice in clinical settings does not seem to have made use of the ample body of research evidence in this area to help families in distress. Despite all these problems, progress is being made in the area of family caregiving for mental illness in India. Despite all these problems, slow but steady progress is being made in the area of family caregiving for mental illness in India. It can be hoped that some day in the near future, this progress would translate into mental health professionals forging a true partnership with families providing care for those with mental illnesses.
Demonetization, economic crisis, and social psychiatry: Learning from the past?
Nitin Gupta


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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President-elect Biden's Community Development Agenda
By Howard Wial, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, November 2020
The development of under-resourced communities and communities of color is a moral and economic imperative. It is a moral imperative because systemic racism and concentrated poverty impede the ability of community members to gain income and build wealth, denying them equal opportunity and dignity. It is an economic imperative because high unemployment and concentrated poverty waste human resources, reducing the nation's standard of living and quality of life. The challenges of the current moment underscore these imperatives. The coronavirus and its economic fallout have disproportionately harmed the health and livelihoods of low-income people and people of color.[i] Small businesses owned by people of color have been hit especially hard,[ii] putting the goal of closing the nation's racial wealth gap further out of reach. The Black Lives Matter movement has drawn national attention to the persistence of systemic racism, not only in policing but throughout American society.
For these reasons, it is especially important to examine President-elect Joseph Biden's community development agenda. Although Biden's plans for fighting the coronavirus and spurring macroeconomic recovery have been the headline-grabbing policy issues during the last week, his plans for helping low-income people and people of color build income and wealth and improve their communities deserve equal attention. Drawing on information from his campaign website, this policy brief summarizes the president-elect's key community development policy proposals.
Biden's overall approach to community development embodies four general principles:
More spending. Increase federal spending on local economic and workforce development in general and especially on the programs and agencies that serve low-income communities, communities of color, and the small businesses that serve and are owned by the residents of those communities.
Redirected spending. Direct a higher share of overall federal spending—including spending on priorities such as procurement and manufacturing support that are not inherently race- or place-specific—toward those communities and businesses.
Partnerships. Fund public-private and public-private-nonprofit partnerships to address problems that neither the federal government nor markets alone can solve.
Regulation. Use regulation to correct market failures and reduce systemic inequalities.
These principles resemble those of the Obama Administration, and some of Biden's proposals mark a return to Obama-era spending and regulatory priorities that President Trump reversed. Others, however, break new ground.
The remainder of this brief shows how Biden's policy proposals in 14 major community development policy areas reflect these principles. The majority of Biden's proposals concern support for small businesses, especially small disadvantaged businesses. This suggests that Biden believes strengthening those businesses is key to revitalizing under-resourced communities.
Create a better-targeted Paycheck Protection Program. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that expired earlier this year provided a lifeline to many small businesses during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic but it also left many behind. Small businesses that lacked relationships with participating lenders or information about how to navigate the application process had difficulty obtaining loans through the program. Some were unable to obtain loans at all.[iii] At the same time, loopholes in the law enabled some larger businesses to obtain PPP loans.
Biden advocates a new round of PPP lending targeted toward small businesses. He would reserve half of all PPP funds for businesses with 50 or fewer employees and provide technical assistance to help small businesses apply for funding. To monitor the extent to which small businesses, especially those owned by women and people of color, were receiving loans, he would create a weekly dashboard showing which businesses were obtaining PPP funds and include a breakdown of businesses by the owner's race and gender.
Fix some major flaws in the Opportunity Zone program. Opportunity Zones, created as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, are the major community development initiative of the Trump administration. The program lacks critical safeguards to ensure that investments are made in the under-resourced communities that needed them, that they meet the priorities of community residents, that they prioritize operating businesses over real estate, and that basic information about investments and their impacts are publicly disclosed.[iv] Early evidence suggests that the program is primarily funding real estate projects rather than operating businesses and that the sponsors of the types of projects for which Opportunity Zones are intended are having difficulty connecting with QOFs.[v]
Biden advocates regulatory changes that are intended to fix some of the program's major flaws. He would create incentives for Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) to partner with nonprofit and community organizations to produce a community benefit plan for each investment, have the Treasury Department review Opportunity Zone benefits to ensure that they are producing economic, social, or environmental benefits to low-income communities, and require QOFs to disclose information about investments and their benefits to local residents.
Expand small business technical assistance. The coronavirus crisis has exposed the inadequacies of the nation's fragmented small business technical assistance system. Although there are many organizations that help small business owners obtain basic services and knowledge, business owners have trouble navigating the system, determining what kinds of assistance they need, and obtaining services at affordable prices. The federally funded Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) go only part of the way toward filling this gap.
Biden proposes to increase federal spending on small business technical assistance to create a national network of small business assistance providers that relies heavily on a public-nonprofit partnership model. He would fund nonprofit incubators and innovation hubs that provide free assistance to small businesses (including shared office and manufacturing space; business coaching; opportunities to collaborate with national laboratories and commercialize federally funded research; legal, human resources, accounting, regulatory compliance, and other services). These organizations would assist individual small businesses for a period of up to two years. New hubs would be co-located with SBDCs, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Biden would also offer new federal grants to public community colleges and two-year HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs to offer one-semester business development classes.
Improve and expand government procurement opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses. Biden would use federal procurement as a means of creating more business opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses that offer high-quality jobs. He would do by directing more federal procurement spending toward those businesses and by using regulation to improve the quality of jobs offered by federal contractors and to shift some non-federal procurement toward those businesses.
Specifically, Biden would require 15 percent of federal procurement spending to go to small disadvantaged businesses (up from the current 5 percent goal) and enforce existing federal law that requires federal contractors to subcontract to those businesses. To provide more opportunities for small businesses to bid on federal contracts, he would conduct a government-wide review of contract bundling (the practice of putting multiple small contracts out for bid as a single unit, which can make it difficult for small businesses to bid). Biden proposes to create incentives for state governments and private businesses to contract with small disadvantaged businesses and require U.S.-based international development organizations to increase international contracting opportunities for businesses owned by people of color. To improve the quality of jobs offered by federal contractors, he would require all companies receiving federal procurement contracts to pay a minimum wage of $15 per hour, provide paid leave and fair scheduling and overtime, and guarantee their employees the choice of whether or not to unionize.
Direct other federal spending toward under-resourced communities. In addition to setting more ambitious federal procurement targets for small disadvantaged businesses, Biden would direct federal spending in general, and infrastructure spending in particular, toward under-resourccd communities. He would require 10 percent of spending on all federal programs to go to neighborhoods that have had poverty rates of at least 20 percent for at least three decades. His ambitious infrastructure plan includes a goal that 40 percent of the benefits of investment in clean energy and energy efficiency, transportation, affordable housing, workforce development, environmental remediation, and clean water infrastructure go to disadvantaged communities.
Expand Community Development Financial Institution capacity. Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are an important source of loans for homebuyers and (to a lesser extent) small businesses in under-resourced communities, many of which have no bank branches. Biden proposes to double their direct federal funding and expand their capacity to offer small business loans, including micro-loans for startups. Using a partnership model, he would also create an "innovation fund" from which groups of CDFIs, cities, or nonprofits may seek funding for small business lending programs that disproportionately benefit businesses owned by people of color.
Strengthen the Community Reinvestment Act. Research has shown that the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) increases bank lending to small businesses in low-and moderate-income neighborhoods.[vi] Biden would reverse the Trump administration's regulatory changes, enacted earlier this year, that weakened the law's impact. In addition, non-bank lenders are becoming increasingly important sources of capital in under-resourced neighborhoods but are not currently covered by the CRA. Biden favors expanding the CRA to include mortgage and insurance companies in addition to banks.
Expand the Minority Business Development Agency. ICIC's analysis of Census Bureau data show that Black people, who are 13 percent of the U.S. population, own only 2 percent of businesses with employees.[vii] The Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is the only federal agency devoted to assisting businesses owned by people of color but its authority has been too restricted and its funding too low to enable it to play an important role in increasing small business ownership by people of color.
Biden favors increasing the MBDA's funding and expanding its authority. In addition to increasing the MBDA's overall budget, he would provide it with $5 billion per year in lending and investment authority for minority-owned businesses and infrastructure benefiting communities of color. He also proposes to give the agency the authority to offer new business development grants and to coordinate all federal agencies charged with reducing barriers to federal procurement for under-represented groups. To increase the agency's stature, he proposes to make the MBDA director an assistant secretary in the Commerce Department.
Strengthen Small Business Administration support for small disadvantaged businesses. The Small Business Administration (SBA) guarantees bank loans to small businesses, including PPP loans, and administers other small business support programs. In addition to ensuring "adequate" SBA funding, Biden proposes to strengthen two SBA programs designed to assist small businesses located in low-income communities and those owned by people of color. He would make permanent SBA's Community Advantage loan program, which provides capital to small businesses in underserved communities through CDFIs and other mission-driven lenders. He also favors expanding SBA's section 8(a) contracting program for small disadvantaged businesses, increasing the length of time a business may participate in the program, helping graduates transition out of the program when their eligibility expires, and requiring disclosure of the demographics of participating business owners.
Expand tax credits that support small businesses located in low-income communities. Research shows that he New Markets Tax Credit has been successful in encouraging private investments in operating businesses and real estate in low-income communities[viii] and in helping improve neighborhood conditions in those communities,[ix] Biden advocates expanding the credit and making it permanent.
The State Small Business Capital Initiative provides federal funding to state programs that expand capital access for small businesses. Biden proposes to extend the Initiative through 2025, double its funding, and direct it to target small businesses in low-income communities.
Provide universal broadband. The coronavirus crisis has shown that broadband service is essential to full participation in today's economy and full access to essential educational, health care, and public services. Without broadband, remote schooling and telemedicine are inaccessible during the crisis, access to information about essential government services is limited, and working from home is impossible for most workers whose jobs enable them to work remotely. After the crisis subsides, the need for broadband will not. Yet, as ICIC research has shown, residents of high-poverty neighborhoods and neighborhoods, whether located in cities, suburbs, or rural areas, are less likely to have broadband access than residents of low-poverty or predominantly white neighborhoods.[x] To eliminate this gap in access, Biden favors federal support for universal broadband.
Increase Manufacturing Extension Partnership funding. Despite the large manufacturing job losses of the first decade of this century, manufacturing remains an important source of high-wage jobs for workers without bachelor's degrees,[xi] including residents of under-resourced communities. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program, part of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology, helps small and medium-sized manufacturers become more productive and competitive. Research has shown that the program increases productivity and employment in firms receiving services from the program.[xii]
Biden would quadruple MEP funding. Some of the additional funding would go toward helping small and medium-sized manufacturers compete for Buy American contracts and modernize.
Expand workforce development programs, including those that involve businesses, and improve job quality. Biden's approach to workforce issues is designed to meet employers' needs for skilled workers who do not have bachelor's degrees, help those workers gain more skills, and improve the quality of jobs available to them. To achieve those goals, Biden would rely on a combination of increased funding, new public-private-nonprofit partnerships, and regulation.
To help workers gain more skills, Biden favors guaranteeing up to two years of tuition-free community college or other high-quality training program and allowing students to use Pell Grants and other aid to cover expenses other than tuition and fees. He also supports giving states incentives for community colleges to collaborate with community organizations to provide wraparound services to students. (The latter are especially important for low-income students.)
To identify and meet employers' skill needs more directly, Biden would fund workforce partnerships between businesses, unions, community colleges, state and local governments, and universities. This partnership model builds on the sectoral workforce partnership policies that, as of 2017, existed in 32 states.[xiii] Biden also proposes to increase federal funding for high-quality apprenticeships, including those jointly run by unions and employers (another form of workforce partnership). In addition, he would fund pre-apprenticeship programs to provide the additional preparation and support that some workers, especially some workers of color and some from low-income communities, need to enter and succeed in apprenticeship programs.
Finally, Biden advocates policies to raise wages for low-wage workers and close the racial wage gap. He favors a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour, up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave and up to seven days of paid sick leave for all workers, enhanced protections against employment discrimination, and legislation to make it easier for workers to join unions. Research suggests that policy changes such as these are likely to benefit low-wage workers and workers of color disproportionately.[xiv]
Combat housing discrimination. Exclusionary zooming and land use policies, racial discrimination in lending and real estate brokerage, and the continuing effects of historic redlining policies are among the types of systemic racism that are responsible for maintaining concentrated poverty and racial segregation in under-resourced communities.[xv] Biden proposes a multi-faceted regulatory approach to combat these practices. He would require states receiving Community Development Block Grants or Surface Transportation Block Grants to develop inclusionary zoning strategies, prohibit lending practices that have racially disparate impacts, require local governments receiving federal housing funds to identify and address policies with racially disparate impacts (restoring an Obama Administration rule), restore the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's authority to enforce settlements against discriminatory lenders, create a national standard for housing appraisals and train appraisers to eliminate implicit biases and create a credit reporting and scoring division within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as an alternative to private credit bureaus whose credit-scoring algorithms have racially disparate impacts.
President-elect Biden's community development agenda is wide-ranging and ambitious. Much of it is supported by research evidence. However, the composition of the Senate, which won't be known until January, makes Biden's ability to implement many of his proposals uncertain. Proposals that rely on new funding or on new legislation to create regulatory authority require the approval of Congress. Because there appears to be bipartisan interest in a new round of coronavirus small business assistance, disclosure of information about Opportunity Zone investments, and perhaps infrastructure investment, Biden's plans for new spending or regulation in these areas have a chance of being enacted. The fate of his other major spending initiatives as well as of such initiatives as raising the minimum wage and expanding the CRA to cover non-bank lenders, will likely depend on which party controls the Senate.
Yet there is still much that Biden can do through executive action to redirect existing funding, create partnerships, and regulate. At least some of Biden's proposed policy changes to Opportunity Zones, small business technical assistance, federal procurement, geographic targeting of federal spending, CDFIs, the CRA, the MBDA, SBA, and housing policy do not require congressional approval. These are the parts of the Biden community development agenda that are most likely to be implemented.
[i] See, e.g., Kilolo Kijakazi, "COVID-19 Racial Health Disparities Highlight Why We Need to Address Structural Racism," UrbanWire blog (Urban Institute), April 10, 2020, https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/covid-19-racial-health-disparities-highlight-why-we-need-address-structural-racism.
[ii] The number of active Black business owners fell by 41 percent, the number of active Latinx business owners by 32 percent, and the number of active Asian business owners by 26 percent between February and April 2020, while the total number of active business owners fell by 22 percent. Robert Fairlie, "The Impact of COVID‐19 on Small Business Owners: Evidence from the First Three Months After Widespread Social‐Distancing Restrictions," Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, vol. 29 (2020), pp. 727-740, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jems.12400.
[iii] For evidence that the PPP generally improved small business survival and employment, see R. Glenn Hubbard and Michael R. Strain, "Has the Paycheck Protection Program Succeeded?" NBER Working Paper 28032 (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2020), https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w28032/w28032.pdf; Alexander W. Bartik et al., "The Targeting and Impact of Paycheck Protection Program Loans to Small Businesses," NBER Working Paper 27623 (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2020), https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w27623/w27623.pdf. However, the smallest businesses lacked information about the application process and, as a result, were less likely to apply and to have their applications approved. See John Eric Humphries, Christopher A. Neilson, and Gabriel Ulyssea, "Information Frictions and Access to the Paycheck Protection Program," Journal of Public Economics, vol. 190 (2020), 104244, https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0047272720301080?token=90006B71FD8EDE40025FDD5EEABEF6072C5DB7123872DD9E6D17AED6588E906D972C6AFA07447CA915EB5624D60E7E36. Businesses with stronger pre-existing connections to banks were also more likely to have their applications approved. See Bartik et al, "Targeting."
[iv] See Howard Wial, "What It Will Take for Opportunity Zones to Create Real Opportunity in America's Economically Distressed Areas" (Boston: Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, 2019), https://icic.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ICIC_OZ_PolicyBrief.pdf. .
[v] See Brett Theodos et al, An Early Assessment of Opportunity Zones for Equitable Development Projects (Washington: Urban Institute, 2020), https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/102348/early-assessment-of-ozs-for-equitable-development-projects_1.pdf.
[vi] See Lei Ding, Hyojung Lee, and Raphael Bostic, "Effects of the Community Reinvestment Act on Small Business Lending," Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Working Paper 18-27 (Philadelphia: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 2018, revised 2020), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3295495. A similar result has been found for small businesses located in neighborhoods of color. See Timothy Bates and Alicia Robb, "Has the Community Reinvestment Act Increased Loan Availability Among Small Businesses Operating in Minority Neighborhoods?" Urban Studies, vol. 52 (2014), pp. 1702-1721.
[vii] ICIC analysis of 2018 American Community Survey data (population) and 2017 Annul Business Survey data (business ownership).
[viii] See Martin D. Abravenel et al., New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program Evaluation Final Report (Washington: Urban Institute 2013), https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/24211/412958-New-Markets-Tax-Credit-NMTC-Program-Evaluation.PDF.
[ix] See Matthew Freedman, "Teaching New Markets Old Tricks: The Effects of Subsidized Investment on Low-Income Neighborhoods," Journal of Public Economics, vol. 96 (2012), pp. 1000-1014.
[x] See Peter Eberhardt et al., Not the Great Equalizer: Which Neighborhoods Are Most Economically Vulnerable to the Coronavirus Crisis? (Boston: Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, 2020), https://icic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ICIC_Coronavirus_EconVul_Brief_web.pdf.
[xi]
[xii] See Mark A Ehlen, "The Economic Impact of Manufacturing Extension Centers," Economic Development Quarterly, vol. 15 (2001), pp. 36-44; Ronald S. Jarmin, "Evaluating the Impact of Manufacturing Extension on Productivity Growth," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol. 18 (1999), pp. 99-119; Eric S. Oldsman and Christopher R. Heye, "The Impact of the New York Manufacturing Extension Program: A Quasi-Experiment," in Philip Shapira and Jan Youtie (eds.), Manufacturing Modernization: Learning from Evaluation Practices and Results (Atlanta: School of Public Policy and Economic Development Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1997).
[xiii] Bryan Wilson, Sector Partnership Policy: 50-State Scan (Washington: National Skills Coalition, 2017), p. 4, https://www.nationalskillscoalition.org/resources/publications/file/Sector-Partnership-Scan-1.pdf. Current law allows but does not require states to use their federal workforce development funds for such partnerships. However, because there are other workforce development activities on which states are required to spend those funds, federal funding is not currently sufficient to support a national system of workforce partnerships.
[xiv] On the role of the minimum wage in reducing the racial wage gap, see Eliana Derenoncourt and Claire Montialoux, "Minimum Wages and Racial Inequality," Quarterly Journal of Economics, forthcoming, https://gspp.berkeley.edu/assets/uploads/research/pdf/Minimum_Wages_and_Racial_Inequality.pdf. On the role of unionization in reducing the racial wage gap, see Jake Rosenfeld and Meredith Kleykamp, "Organized Labor and Racial Wage Inequality in the United States," American Journal of Sociology, col. 117 (2012), pp. 1460-1502, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4300995. Research shows that Latino workers, immigrant workers, employees of small businesses, and low-wage workers are especially likely to lack paid sick days, suggesting that paid sick leave would disproportionately benefit them. See Institute for Women's Policy Research, Paid Sick Days Access and Usage Rates Vary by Race/Ethnicity, Occupation, and Earnings, IWPR Briefing Paper #B356 (Washington: Institute for Women's Policy Research, 2016), https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/B356-paid-sick-days.pdf.
[xv] See Peter Eberhardt, Howard Wial, and Devon Yee, The New Face of Under-Resourced Communities (Boston: Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, 2020), especially p. 9 and accompanying references.


text:
Cole, Arlett bid farewell to county council
By tom.maglio@coas... ()
Thursday, December 13, 2018 - 4:09pm
Tuesday, Dec. 11, was the last day on the dais for Sussex County Councilmen George Cole and Rob Arlett.
Cole, a Sussex County native elected to the council in 1986, is its longest-serving member in the modern era. His family has a history of serving the people of Sussex County, as his father, Charlie Cole, was elected to serve on the council in 1974. His mother, Kitty, was appointed to the council in 1985, upon Charlie Cole's passing.
While Cole said he flirted with the idea of not running for council for a few election cycles, he made the decision to end his reign and not run in the 2018 election.
"As Bob Hope used to say, 'Thanks for the memories!'" said Cole on his final day serving on council.
Rob Arlett, who was born in Rhode Island but grew up in California, moved to Delaware in 2005. He was elected to represent District 5 in 2014. He chose to not run for re-election this year, and instead sought the office of U.S. senator. While the Republican received 37.81 percent of votes, he was beat in that race by incumbent U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat.
"Being an elected official is just not that easy," said Arlett. "You have to make good, quality decisions, and sometimes you think you do, and sometimes maybe you think you don't. … This council — there's only five. There's only five individuals that vote on the future of this county. It's a pretty hefty responsibility."
Arlett thanked God and his wife, and noted that holding office was not one of his life goals.
"It has truly been an honor to work with the council," he added. "It's great that we can all respect one another. I think more bodies of government in this state and in this nation should heed what we do here in Sussex County…
"The time is coming to an end… It's just been an honor to serve the residents of this great county."
Cole said that, while it may sound funny, serving on County Council was the only job he'd had where he didn't work for himself.
"I was always so proud to hear when the County did something right," he said.
County Attorney J. Everette Moore said that, looking around the room, he could easily say he's worked with Cole longer than anyone else.
"I started working with him prior to him coming onto County Council… His mother, Kitty Cole, came on, and she was a joy to work with. I enjoyed very much working with her," recalled Moore. "During his campaign, I worked with George a lot. It was a very youthful campaign. George and I are the same age, and we were very aggressive in the campaigning, and we won… I've enjoyed working with you and your family over the years."
Council President Michael H. Vincent said he had offered to have Cole chair his last meeting; however, Cole chose not to, so as to be able to speak a little more freely.
"George cares about this county, the people of the county, and everything he's done he's tried to do, in his mind, was the right thing to do," said Vincent. "I consider George a friend, and that's a valuable thing to have.
"Rob has been here a shorter period of time… I'm sure we'll see him somewhere down the road — probably at the White House or somewhere. It's been a pleasure."
Sussex County EMS Director Bob Stewart presented Cole with a personalized fleece and hat.
"Twenty-eight years ago this coming January, our paramedics service started right here in Georgetown," said Stewart. "George is the last sitting councilman who was here when we opened for business.
"We opened with one unit and 10 paramedics. Our department now has grown to 115 employees… We thank you for your support."
Former County Administrator Joe Conaway said that, while he wasn't able to work with Arlett directly, "You sure can draw a crowd."
"But I want to talk about 34 years at this time," said Conaway. "I had the pleasure of serving with George's mom and dad… I had the pleasure of serving for 12 years with the Coles. The Cole family is to be commended. I don't know if we'll ever see a family who will serve 44 years — that's as long as the Cole family has been sitting at this table."
Former administrators and council members also spoke, including Dave Baker, Bob Stickles, Dale Dukes and Lynn Rogers.
Georgetown attorney Robert Witsil wrote an ode in honor of Cole's departure, ending the afternoon's tribute.
For your thirty-two years following Charles and Kitty,
We can't thank you enough in this little ditty.
So we've all gathered 'round to witness your plight,
Though I'm sure we're quite blurring, what given your sight.
And forgetting for the moment your meager pension,
It really is our sincerest intention,
To wish you good times with family and friends who are true,
All of whom declare, 'Happy Retirement' to you.
By Maria Counts


text:
5 Burning Questions About Tomorrow's Oscar Nominations, Plus Our Wild and Crazy Predictions
By Jeff Sneider on	 January 22, 2018 5 - AWARDS & FESTIVALS NEWS, Awards, Jeff Sneider, Oscars
It may be last-minute, but I couldn't let the site go without a completely unnecessary set of Oscar predictions. Honestly, I have no idea what to make of this awards season, which seems more political than ever, but perhaps that's just my imagination. My personal favorite films don't seem to be serious contenders for Best Picture, or really any award besides the two screenplay categories, and with the race being so close, I'd like to see the Academy spread the love around and shake things up a bit, rather than follow the guild winners and the Golden Globes.
In a perfect world — at least one I could live with — Lady Bird would win Best Picture, Guillermo del Toro would win Best Director for The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards and Call Me by Your Name would split the screenwriting prizes, but the Academy is a fickle and unpredictable beast. Will they zig where others have zagged, or will it be another night of chalk?
That decision is in the hands of the Oscar Gods (and hopefully a different Pricewaterhouse executive), and while we wait for the nominations to come down the movie mountain, here are five burning questions to ponder before the big announcement, as well as our wild and crazy predictions.
Be sure and come back tomorrow morning for the full list of nominees.
1. Will the James Franco scandal cost him a Best Actor nomination?
This one is tricky, and further complicated by the fact that it's a weak year for the category (would you rather vote for Franco, or someone whose work doesn't really merit an Oscar nomination? ), but I suspect it will cost him. It's entirely possible that the allegations broke too late, but I'm also betting that many Academy voters had already heard the whispers, and I just don't see how female voters could feel good about endorsing him. We'll see, though. He hasn't gone into hiding, likely knowing what's at stake.
2. Will Steven Spielberg make the cut, or is The Post toast?
Remember this summer when The Post was the Best Picture frontrunner and prognosticators were heralding a Spielberg vs. Nolan race? Well take it from me (and the precursors), neither is winning the Oscar this year, which is going to be on Guillermo del Toro's mantle by March. It's possible that Spielberg could manage to score a nomination in a difficult year, because directing actors talking in rooms is harder than it sounds, and Spielberg makes those dialogue-driven scenes soar. Unfortunately, The Post has lost some heat over the past month, and a lot of voters may shrug and think, "Steven made another good movie. So what?"
3. Are Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell really locks to win?
I completely understand wanting to recognize Oldman for his overall career, especially given the ridiculous fact that he's never even been nominated. But his cigar-chomping turn as Winston Churchill was far from Oldman's finest work, and it's possible the Academy could hold Oldman's past comments about Jews (he defended Mel Gibson at one point) against him. Meanwhile, I love Sam Rockwell. You probably love Sam Rockwell, too. I think we all love Sam Rockwell. And he's very good in Three Billboards. But is he really that much better than any of the other likely nominees, including his co-star Woody Harrelson? I don't think Rockwell blows these guys off the screen, so why aren't Richard Jenkins and my personal favorite, Michael Stuhlbarg, at least in the conversation to win? Why would a nomination be considered the win for those guys? The Shape of Water may chronicle a romance between a woman and a fishman, but Jenkins' gay illustrator Giles is its beating heart, while Stuhlbarg knocks his closing monologue out of the park in Call Me By Your Name. This shouldn't be a runaway victory for anybody!
4. Will Greta Gerwig crack the Best Director field for Lady Bird, or does Jordan Peele stand a better chance for Get Out?
It's hard to say whether one, both, or neither will be nominated for Best Director this year. I mean, Ben Affleck wasn't even nominated the year that Argo won Best Picture. Does that mean the Academy has a bias against actors who direct? Does it matter than Peele and Gerwig didn't star in their films? Does that make them seem like more legitimate filmmakers? More importantly, is there even room for both of them? There are a lot of strong contenders in the category this year, many of whom have been Academy favorites for decades. Are Gerwig and Peele really going to knock Spielberg off his throne? It's totally possible, so keep your eyes "peeled" on this nail-biter of a race.
5. Will Mudbound's Rachel Morrison become the first female cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar, and regarding the same category, is this finally Roger Deakins' year?
Deakins has been nominated 13 times, but he has never won. He's responsible for some jaw-dropping images in Blade Runner 2049, but did voters like the film enough to nominate it, or will they lean in favor of a smaller, more intimate film — Netflix's Mudbound. Yes, it hails from the streaming service that awards prognosticators have trained readers to be suspicious of, but practically everyone in Hollywood is in business with Netflix, so I don't see voters holding that association against Mudbound. In fact, Mudbound cinematographer Rachel Morrison has a chance to become the first woman nominated for this award. In my opinion, she totally deserves it, and that's based solely on the work, not any political agenda or the #MeToo movement. She delivered on a modest budget, and I can't wait to see her work on Marvel's Black Panther.
And now for the Tracking Board's last-minute, ill-considered Oscar nomination predictions…
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
4. Get Out
5. Call Me by Your Name
6. Dunkirk
7. The Post
9. The Big Sick
10. I, Tonya
Analysis: It feels like an eight-nominee kind of year, though you never know… there could be seven or even nine nominees, given how fractured the field is. The Shape of Water feels like the film to beat, to me, but if you put a gun to my head right now (please don't), I might predict Lady Bird for Best Picture, especially given what has transpired in the industry over the past few months. I don't think Darkest Hour has much of a shot — it feels like the kind of movie that would've made the cut before the Academy diversified its membership. There's plenty of support for Phantom Thread and Wonder Woman in some corners, but those two films might need a miracle to crack this field, which is relatively deep, even if there isn't a clear-cut frontrunner.
1. Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
2. Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
3. Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
4. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
5. Sean Baker, The Florida Project
Analysis: The directors branch is a funky bunch, and they always throw a wrench into Oscar morning. This year, I'm guessing that wrench will result in either Greta Gerwig or Jordan Peele being snubbed — not that I really think either should be nominated, but one or both certainly seems to be in the cards. But Sean Baker and Luca Guadagnino are lurking on the outside and the Academy would have to be heartless to overlook both of them.
1. Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
2. Timothee Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
3. Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
4. Jake Gyllenhaal, Stronger
5. Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Analysis: Listen, this all comes down to two things — whether you think the Academy will still go for James Franco, and whether voters actually believe that Daniel Kaluuya merits a nomination for Get Out. That's right, folks! I'm trusting that the actual actors in the Academy — people who are professional performers and know how hard a job it is — will actually see the merit in Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in Stronger, and not only that, but Denzel Washington's strong work in Roman J. Israel, Esq. Now, is it true that hardly anybody saw those movies in theaters? Yes. But actors are sent screeners, and I don't know how you watch a film like Stronger and not think Gyllenhaal didn't give one of the best performances of the year. It's all about whether people bothered to watch the screener, and I'm willing to bet they did. Gyllenhaal also had critics in his corner, which helped keep the conversation alive.
1. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
3. Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
4. Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
5. Meryl Streep, The Post
Analysis: OK, so these predictions aren't that crazy. This is the projected field, and personally, I'd be surprised to see Jessica Chastain or Michelle Williams get in. Jeez, remember when we were talking about Kate Winslet and Annette Bening as contenders? I wish Diane Kruger (In the Fade) stood more of a chance, but I think these five are practically locked in.
1. Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
3. Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
4. Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
5. Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me by Your Name
Analysis: A lot of people don't think Michael Stuhlbarg will get in for some reason but the strength of that closing monologue should be enough for him to beat out Christopher Plummer, who could still find himself with a nomination if voters opt against including two actors from Three Billboards. Rockwell's expected nomination and likely victory may be enough recognition for a single film in this category. And don't try and tell me that Armie Hammer should get in ahead of Stuhlbarg, because you're wrong.
1. Allison Janney, I, Tonya
2. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
3. Holly Hunter, The Big Sick
4. Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water
5. Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip
Analysis: All due respect to SAG Award nominees Mary J. Blige and Hong Chau, but I refuse to believe they're going to receive Oscar nominations tomorrow morning. Blige was fine in Mudbound, but hers was, like, the fifth-best performance in that film. Meanwhile, Downsizing was nearly unwatchable, while people loved Girls Trip, and I can totally see Tiffany Haddish crashing the party. It hurt to leave off SAG-nominated actresses of color, but I think those slots will go to two other actresses of color. Either way, don't expect another repeat of #OscarsSoWhite. Denzel could still get blanked, but one way or another, this category will represent.
3. Jordan Peele, Get Out
4. Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick
5. Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, The Post
Analysis: I wouldn't be shocked if I, Tonya wound up taking out The Post, but the timely parallels between the Pentagon Papers drama and what's happening with the Trump Administration should be enough to appease Hollywood liberals eager for any sign that can be perceived as a victory against our President. Of course, that leaves The Shape of Water on the outside looking in, which seems strange for a film that is the perceived Best Picture frontrunner. I suppose Peele is susceptible to falling out here, but something tells me the writers branch will reward him should he be snubbed by the directors branch.
1. James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name
2. Aaron Sorkin, Molly's Game
3. Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist
4. Virgil Williams and Dee Rees, Mudbound
5. Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green, Logan
Analysis: It's entirely possible that I'm predicting the wrong superhero movie here, and that Wonder Woman will declaw Logan, but the latter was just so obviously superior from a screenwriting perspective, given WW's third-act problems. The other four seem like pretty safe bets, even with crowdpleasers like Wonder and Victoria and Abdul lurking on the outside.
Sundance Film Festival 2019 Party and Event Grid
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Sundance Film Festival 2019 Party and Event Grid (EXCLUSIVE)


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AGRIGENTO - In the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento was built the longest nougat in the world that, with 660 meters in length, enters in the "Guinness World Records". At 3.30 PM, in front of the temple of Concord, the official notary, Justine Bourdariat, Language & International Marketing Manager Inglese Guinness World Records, who came from London for the occasion, approved the new record. The record was conceived and organized in detail by the entrepreneur Giovanni Parisi and over 400 cooks, several workers and students of the two hotel and catering colleges. The previous record belonged to Camerino (Macerata) with a nougat of 404 meters. To prepare the cake, it took 1500 kilograms of almonds and 1000 kilograms of sugar.


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The Riverside Conference Centre is ideally situated directly opposite to the front entrance of the hotel, ensuring conference delegates staying at the hotel have easy access to their rooms should they so require. For day delegates there is plenty of secure parking within the hotel grounds and, with the hotel being centrally located, it allows for easy access to nearby attractions no matter where your delegates are travelling from.
Tying the knot? Riverside Hotel's wedding venue is one the most idyllic wedding venues in Durban. Your wedding ceremony will go off without a hitch with our wedding co-ordinators planning your special day for you.
If you're seeking a conference venue in Durban, the Riverside Hotel Durban conference centre is located directly opposite the entrance to the hotel ensuring delegates staying at the hotel easy access to their rooms. For day delegates there is plenty of secure parking within the hotel grounds and with the hotel being so centrally located it allows for easy access.
There is no shortage of things to do during your stay at the Aha Riverside Hotel. Visit uShaka Marine World, the enormous Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Umgeni Bird Park, play a round at the Windsor Golf Course, or catch a game at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Whatever you're into, you'll find it situated within a few minutes travel from the Riverside Hotel.
Stunning river views and abundant bird life on the Umgeni Estuary below the hotel, sets the perfect scene for rest and relaxation. The Windsor Park and Durban Country Club golf courses are within easy access of the Riverside Hotel, while to the north and south lies the splendour of the KwaZulu-Natal Coast.
Dining at the Riverside Hotel is an experience tailored to suit your mood. Dine in style at the Mojo's Seafood and Grill or have a snack and a drink while you unwind from the day's stress at Mojos Cocktail bar. Why not make a booking for tonight when your call is returned to and come enjoy the splendors of the Riverside Hotel.
After a busy day at the office, on the beach or simply enjoying all that Durban has to offer, Riverside Cafe poolside cocktail bar is the perfect place to unwind. The bubbly atmosphere explodes weekdays at 17h00 until 18h00 and on Fridays we have Live entertainment, Worsrolls and Burger stands as aha Riverside Hotel Durban guests can enjoy the Riverside Cafe happy hour.


September 2011 - Corporate & Commercial. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
This publication covers basic topics within the legal aspect of corporate governance and some "hot topics" subject to concurrent changes and discussion both nationally and internationally.
September 2011 - Real Estate & Property. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
The publication covers key legal matters relating to the acquisition and operation of commercial real estate in Norway, predominantly intended for a non-Norwegian audience who owns Norwegian real estate or is considering acquisitions in Norway.
September 2011 - Projects, Energy & Natural Resources. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
This article outlines in broad terms the legal framework of the natural gas sector in Norway and covers regulation of production, transportation, storage, distribution, sales and trading of natural gas, and a number of related business issues.
February 2011 - Corporate & Commercial. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
November 2010 - Corporate & Commercial. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
Amendments to the Norwegian Code of Practice for corporate governance.
November 2010 - Intellectual Property. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
På forespørsel vil jeg i denne artikkelen gjengi og illustrere det forslag til endring av privatkopieringsregelen i åndsverkloven § 12 som fremsettes i min egen doktoravhandling fra 2009.
November 2010 - Litigation & Dispute Resolution. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
Limitations on the applicability of the parties' choice of law under Norwegian conflict-of-law rules.
September 2010 - EU & Competition. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
Article by Frode Støle and Kaja Breivik Furuseth in Norwegian energy industry journal No. 6/2010 about the proposed Norwegian implementation of the EU Remedies Directive (Directive 2007/66/EC).
September 2010 - Corporate & Commercial. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
Article by Frode Støle and Marco Lilli in Norwegian energy industry journal "Energi" No. 5/2010 about the price control regime for Norwegian district heating companies. The regulator, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, is currently evaluating its price control practice.
August 2010 - Corporate & Commercial. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
July 2010 - Projects, Energy & Natural Resources. Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
Description of domestic sector: Describe the domestic natural gas sector, including the natural gas production, liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage, pipeline transportation, distribution, commodity sales and trading segments and retail sales and usage.
April 2009 - TMT ( Technology, Media & Telecoms). Legal Developments by Kluge Advokatfirma DA.
Technological measures are increasingly used by rightholders in order to protect their intellectual property rights in digital content. The effect of such measures is to restrict the access to and the use of digital content, by associating pre-defined and self-executing usage rules with it. Within an increasing number of legislations, technological measures enjoy legal protection against circumvention. However, these new rules have been subject to rather severe criticism, especially from a copyright law point of view, the general claim being that anti-circumvention protection threatens to ruin the delicate balance of interests cast in the provisions of copyright law.


1847 x 1 = 1847 руб.
The solid stand for iwatch/iPhone is constructed of premium aluminum, precise charger, cable openings support the iwatch at a stable display and quick charging, the iPhone charging stand provides comfortable viewing angle for watching, reading, or facetime. It's a nice choice for your iwatch and iPhone as well as a nice gift.


text:
package service

import (
	"context"
	"strconv"
	"time"

	"go-common/app/job/main/sms/dao/chuanglan"
	"go-common/app/job/main/sms/dao/mengwang"
	smsmdl "go-common/app/service/main/sms/model"
	"go-common/library/log"
	"go-common/library/sync/errgroup"
)

const (
	_callbackSize = 100
)

func (s *Service) dispatchCallback(provider int32) {
	switch provider {
	case smsmdl.ProviderChuangLan:
		s.waiter.Add(1)
		go s.callbackChuangLanproc()
	case smsmdl.ProviderMengWang:
		s.waiter.Add(1)
		go s.callbackMengWangproc()
	}
}

func (s *Service) callbackChuangLanproc() {
	defer s.waiter.Done()
	log.Info("callbackChuangLanproc start")
	group := errgroup.Group{}
	cli := chuanglan.NewClient(s.c)
	for {
		if s.closed {
			log.Info("callbackChuangLanproc exit")
			return
		}
		group.Go(func() error {
			callbacks, err := cli.Callback(context.Background(), s.c.Provider.ChuangLanSmsUser, s.c.Provider.ChuangLanSmsPwd, s.c.Provider.ChuangLanSmsCallbackURL, _callbackSize)
			if err != nil {
				time.Sleep(time.Second)
				return nil
			}
			s.sendChuangLanCallbacks(smsmdl.TypeSms, callbacks)
			return nil
		})
		group.Go(func() error {
			callbacks, err := cli.Callback(context.Background(), s.c.Provider.ChuangLanActUser, s.c.Provider.ChuangLanActPwd, s.c.Provider.ChuangLanActCallbackURL, _callbackSize)
			if err != nil {
				time.Sleep(time.Second)
				return nil
			}
			s.sendChuangLanCallbacks(smsmdl.TypeActSms, callbacks)
			return nil
		})
		group.Go(func() error {
			callbacks, err := cli.CallbackInternational(context.Background(), _callbackSize)
			if err != nil {
				time.Sleep(time.Second)
				return nil
			}
			s.sendChuangLanCallbacks(smsmdl.TypeSms, callbacks)
			return nil
		})
		group.Wait()
		time.Sleep(time.Second)
	}
}

func (s *Service) sendChuangLanCallbacks(typ int32, cbs []*chuanglan.Callback) (err error) {
	ts := time.Now().Unix()
	for _, cb := range cbs {
		if cb.NotifyTime != "" {
			if t, e := time.ParseInLocation("060102150405", cb.NotifyTime, time.Local); e != nil {
				log.Warn("sendChuangLanCallbacks(%+v) parse time error(%v)", cb, e)
			} else {
				ts = t.Unix()
			}
		}
		s.sendUserActionLog(&smsmdl.ModelUserActionLog{
			MsgID:    cb.MsgID,
			Mobile:   cb.Mobile,
			Status:   cb.Status,
			Desc:     cb.Desc,
			Provider: smsmdl.ProviderChuangLan,
			Type:     typ,
			Action:   smsmdl.UserActionCallback,
			Ts:       ts,
		})
	}
	return
}

func (s *Service) callbackMengWangproc() {
	defer s.waiter.Done()
	log.Info("callbackMengWangproc start")
	group := errgroup.Group{}
	cli := mengwang.NewClient(s.c)
	for {
		if s.closed {
			log.Info("callbackMengWangproc exit")
			return
		}
		group.Go(func() error {
			callbacks, err := cli.Callback(context.Background(), s.c.Provider.MengWangSmsUser, s.c.Provider.MengWangSmsPwd, s.c.Provider.MengWangSmsCallbackURL, _callbackSize)
			if err != nil {
				time.Sleep(time.Second)
				return nil
			}
			s.sendMengWangCallbacks(smsmdl.TypeSms, callbacks)
			return nil
		})
		group.Go(func() error {
			callbacks, err := cli.Callback(context.Background(), s.c.Provider.MengWangActUser, s.c.Provider.MengWangActPwd, s.c.Provider.MengWangActCallbackURL, _callbackSize)
			if err != nil {
				time.Sleep(time.Second)
				return nil
			}
			s.sendMengWangCallbacks(smsmdl.TypeActSms, callbacks)
			return nil
		})
		group.Go(func() error {
			callbacks, err := cli.Callback(context.Background(), s.c.Provider.MengWangInternationUser, s.c.Provider.MengWangInternationPwd, s.c.Provider.MengWangInternationalCallbackURL, _callbackSize)
			if err != nil {
				time.Sleep(time.Second)
				return nil
			}
			s.sendMengWangCallbacks(smsmdl.TypeSms, callbacks)
			return nil
		})
		group.Wait()
		time.Sleep(time.Second)
	}
}

func (s *Service) sendMengWangCallbacks(typ int32, cbs []*mengwang.Callback) (err error) {
	ts := time.Now().Unix()
	for _, cb := range cbs {
		if cb.ReportTime != "" {
			if t, e := time.ParseInLocation("2006-01-02 15:04:05", cb.ReportTime, time.Local); e != nil {
				log.Warn("sendMengWangCallbacks(%+v) parse time error(%v)", cb, e)
			} else {
				ts = t.Unix()
			}
		}
		s.sendUserActionLog(&smsmdl.ModelUserActionLog{
			MsgID:    strconv.FormatInt(cb.MsgID, 10),
			Mobile:   cb.Mobile,
			Status:   cb.Status,
			Desc:     cb.Desc,
			Provider: smsmdl.ProviderMengWang,
			Type:     typ,
			Action:   smsmdl.UserActionCallback,
			Ts:       ts,
		})
	}
	return
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


To generate a significant change in the efficiency of the UK construction industry through reducing the amount of errors made in construction.
To undertake research to identify, evaluate and prioritise the principal systemic errors in the construction process.
To develop a strategy to address these errors and in particular to address deficiencies in skills. To develop new training products and processes to address the skills deficiencies (To be covered in a later phase).
All materials on this site are protected by copyright and intellectual property laws and are the property of The Get it Right Initiative Ltd.


Mrs. Bodame's class excitedly went on a field trip to watch the play "Rainbow Fish" at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan this past Wednesday. The following are a few pictures of this fun experience!
Building a community for our youngest learners.


text:
Michelle Guthrie pursues legal action on ABC
Michelle Guthrie
It has been confirmed that former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie will be taking the national broadcaster to court after she was sacked last month.
Guthrie has started legal proceedings against the ABC, lodging a complaint with the Fair Work Commission. However, an ABC spokesperson say that the "details of the complaint are not a matter of public record."
Guthrie's contract was terminated mid-way through her five-year tenure reportedly over tensions between her and the chairperson Justin Milne.
Her exit from the broadcaster triggered chaos at the ABC with Milne resigning soon after and pressure being applied to the ABC board to also resign.
According to the ABC Guthrie will claim the board "had no reason to trigger the termination clause".
In other news at the broadcaster, director of ABC regional and local Michael Mason revealed he will be leaving the ABC in December.
In a statement Mason said his decision was unrelated to the exit of Guthrie and Milne, saying he had made the decision a month prior to the leadership turmoil.
"I am aware that we have just experienced significant change at the highest levels within the ABC," Mason said.
"I am also keenly aware of the incredible depth and talent that exists in both the ABC's executive leadership team and the regional and local executive team and it is for this reason that I believe now is the right time for me to step down as Director."
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.


text:
Q: Sort ArrayList by Date in Java I'm trying to sort a list of Product objects by their useby Dates, but some of the objects may have their Date useby = null
What I want to do is sort the list by "useby" Dates, and put all the Objects that has Date useby = null on the bottom or on the top of the list.
public static void sort() {
        Collections.sort(list, new Comparator<Product>() {
            public int compare(Product o1, Product o2) {
                if (o1.getUseDate() == null || o2.getUseDate() == null) {
                    return 0;
                } else {
                    return o1.getUseDate().compareTo(o2.getUseDate());
                }
            }
        });
    }

This is my code and I don't know how to fix this.

A: if (o1.getUseDate() == null || o2.getUseDate() == null). Here you are checking if either of the two Product's has a null date. If even one of them does the return result of 0 means that the Comparator will see them as equal. Even if just one of them has a null date. Here you probably want to do some more in-depth checking. The following code will result in Product's with null Dates being put at the start.
if(o1.getUseDate() == null && o2.getUseDate() == null)
    return 0; //They are both null, both equal
if(o1.getUseDate() == null && o2.getUseDate() != null)
    return -1; // The first is null and the second is not, return the first as lower than the second
if(o1.getUseDate() != null && o2.getUseDate() == null)
    return 1; //The first is not null and the second is, return the first as higher than the second
else
    return o1.getUseDate().compare(o2.getUseDate()); //Return the actual comparison

This is obviously a little verbose, but it should give you an idea as to what you should actually be looking for.

A: return 0; means that compared elements are equal (in other words you shouldn't swap them).
In case of nulls consider

*

*returning 0 if both values are null (first value is same as second value - don't swap)

*returning -1 if first value is null but second is not null (first element is lesser than second - don't swap)

*returning 1 if second value is null and first is not null (first element is greater than second - swap them)

A: From compare javadoc:

Compares its two arguments for order.  Returns a negative integer,
      zero, or a positive integer as the first argument is less than, equal
      to, or greater than the second.

But from this line of your code:
if (o1.getUseDate() == null || o2.getUseDate() == null) {
   return 0;

we can see that you're practically telling the comparator to consider useDates as being equal when at least one of them is null, and this is not what you want.
Since null means "nothing", it's quite weird to compare the concept of nothing with a date, but if you want to allow null values, then you have to handle this situation properly, resulting into a more vorbose code:
if(o1.getUseDate() == null){
    return o2.getUseDate() == null ? 0 : -1; //or +1 if you want null values at the bottom of your list
}
if(o2.getUseDate() == null){
    return o1.getUseDate() == null ? 0 : -1; // or +1 ...
}
return o1.getUseDate().compare(o2.getUseDate()); // 2 non null dates, do a real comparison

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Potato Masher & Potato Ricer There are 11 products.
Round Professional Masher with Plastic Handle, 4" X 18"
• Stainless Steel. • Heavy-duty. • Masher can be used for all root vegetables. • Chrome plated handle with textured PP handle sleeve.
Square Professional Masher with Plastic Handle, 4-1/2" X 17-3/4"
Round Professional Masher with Plastic Handle, 5" X 24-1/2"
• Heavy-duty. • Stainless Steel. • Chrome plated handle with textured PP handle sleeve.
Square Professional Masher with Plasitc Handle, 5-1/4" X 24"


Wear a symbol of romance with this sweet PANDORA Shine necklace pendant. Inspired by flower buds, this pendant is crafted from 18k gold-plated sterling silver and adorned with a 'pod' of glistening stones. Pair it with a PANDORA Shine chain for a timeless look. Available online and in concept stores.


Will mega-dams destroy the Amazon?
150 new dams may destroy connectivity of the Amazon River to the Andes and drive deforestation.
Construction of a canal for the Belo Monte Dam project, near Altamira taken by Daniel Beltrá for Greenpeace. Once completed, the Belo Monte Dam will be the third largest in the world. It will submerge up to 400,000 hectares and displace 20,000 people. Image © Daniel Beltrá / Greenpeace.
More than 150 new dams planned across the Amazon basin could significantly disrupt the ecological connectivity of the Amazon River to the Andes with substantial impacts for fish populations, nutrient cycling, and the health of Earth's largest rainforest, warns a comprehensive study published in the journal PLoS ONE.
Finer and Jenkins note that the Andes are a critical source of sediments, nutrients, and organic matter for the Amazon river, feeding the floodplain that supports the rich Amazon rainforest. The Amazon and it tributaries are critical highways for migratory fish that move to headwaters areas to spawn.
Finer and Jenkins conducted a meta-analysis of river connectivity and infrastructure to produce an "ecological impact score" for all 151 dams. 47 percent of the dams were classified as "high impact" while only 19 percent were rated "low impact". Eleven of the dams would directly affect a conservation area.
Planned dams in the Amazon Basin, according to the new paper. Click image to expand or here for a very large version of the map.
The hydroelectric projects would also have social impacts. Forty dams would be constructed "immediately upstream or downstream" on an indigenous territory.
Worryingly the authors conclude that there is seemingly no basin-wide policy assessment of the potential social and ecological impacts of the dam-building spree.
Finer and Jenkins warn that the perception dams in tropical forest areas are a clean energy source could lead to perverse subsidies for the projects via the carbon market.
Phil Fearnside, an esteemed researcher at the National institute for Research in Amazonia (INPA) who wasn't involved with the paper but has conducted extensive analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from Amazon dams, agrees.
Study author Finer says that governments need to take a hard look at current plans for dam development, which could affect the long-term productivity of the very ecosystems that sustain Amazon rivers.
"As governments of the Andean Amazon region are prioritizing hydropower as the centerpiece of long-term energy plans, strategic planning is needed to mimimize impacts of a planned wave of new dams in the most biologically diverse zone on Earth," he told mongabay.com.


As we can see the storage bins image shown right above, the Home Source Brook Microwave Cart, based on the many pageview counts this storage bins image has got, it clearly tells us that this home source brook microwave cart is one of viewers' most-favorite storage bins inspiration. This single storage bins is furnished with many awesome stuff, including solid white finish, wooden microwave stand with storage, and few more such as the tall microwave cabinet, easy to open durable glass doors, and bottom double drawer and shelf, along with the laminate wood composite and glass material.
This storage bins photograph, which was found here, is of course not just the only one we would want to recommend to you. There are countless storage bins images just like this storage bins gallery set. In the next page, we have Charming Bedroom sporting vintage brown wooden flooring and manly brown painted walls; tagged with special rubbermaid closet design topic. While in previous page — categorized under closet organizer galleries — is the Women Bedroom Furniture which features deluxe yellow lighting ideas for your closet with line shape and stainless steel hanging rods.


Aside from selfies, the OPPO F7 bings a 6.23" FHD+ Super Full Screen display, 12nm Octa-Core processor with 2 dedicated AI cores, and a 3400mAh battery with A.I. management. Additionally, OPPO F7 is available in three trendy colors of Solar Red, Moonlight Silver, and Diamond Black with its glossy design.
The new OPPO F7 is now officially available in the Philippines. The latest selfie expert smartphone is priced at SRP PhP 17,990.00 while the more powerful OPPO F7 128GB is priced at PhP 21,990.00. Customers may choose from three stunning colors of Solar Red, Moonlight Silver, and Diamond Black in all OPPO concept stores or authorized resellers nationwide.
Check out OPPO F7's "Capture the Real You" roadshow at SM Megamall Fashion Hall on April 28-29 to experience the latest OPPO smartphone as well as the fun and exciting activities in store. Also follow OPPO Philippines' official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OPPOPH/ for more news about the selfie expert brand.


The online gambling industry keeps on breaking all records. In year 2015 the annual money flow passing through online casinos will reach at least $28 billion. So apparently they have a good reason to be happy. They are rising as they have never before in the history. Even twelve years ago when the industry was just appearing and there were no restrictions applied whatsoever, no one even dreamed of such a future to come. There are also no reasons why this rise should stop in the following few years.
Casino games of all types are highly popular online. More and more players choose online casinos over going to Monaco, Macao or Las Vegas and this truly means something. The main reason for this happening lies obviously in the fact that land casinos cannot offer as many bonuses to choose from and such high payments. So it happens that online casinos are much more flexible and they do not need to pay to countless stuff for cleaning rooms for instance. For this reason also they can spend more on implementing new games to their list, mobile titles included.
While casinos online keep growing in numbers and constantly developing land gambling industry is slowly dying. Which would even be ok with most player if it was not for one very important fact – land casinos and online casinos are not competitors, but rather two sides of one coin. Also, as more casinos keep appearing online there is more chances that some of them will be not quite reliable. So this is a new challenge for the players to track unworthy casinos and help in banning them.