Healthy businesses are strong businesses.
In a competitive landscape, more businesses are realizing that their workplace can be a strategic business tool and its care is vital to protecting its most valuable asset—its workers.
Recent studies have shown that sustainable buildings, or buildings that go green, have measurable financial gains due to employee health, productivity, and retention as well as lower operating costs. And, as more and more businesses benefit from green cleaning, their individual impact grows exponentially to reach a global scale.
Green cleaning is one of the easiest and fastest ways for building managers to make their facilities healthier for employees, not to mention their contribution to the overall environment. Plus, it offers the ability to earn LEED® points in the process.
Switching to ServiceMaster of Yorkton green cleaning is an easy way to get your building and business on the path to saving money, being healthier and getting green-certified. Achieving LEED Certification is perhaps the most recognized way to improve your business image and performance in environmental stewardship.


Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in an immunodeficient child treated medically with combination antifungal therapy.
Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis is a rare fungal infection with a poor prognosis when using conventional antifungal therapy in the absence of neurosurgical intervention. We present a case of a pediatric patient with inoperable Cladophialophora bantiana cerebral abscesses. To our knowledge, this child's case is the first reported to be treated with the combination of the newer triazole voriconazole and the new echinocandin caspofungin. Although our patient subsequently died, the natural rapid progression of the disease seemed to be altered by the antifungal combination alone, in the absence of surgery. Despite the fatal outcome for our patient, we encourage other clinicians to try unique medical approaches for this historically life-threatening infection when adjunctive surgery is impossible.


If you've seen a few ants scuttling around on the floor, they could be just having a look around. However, they might be the sign of a larger ant infestation. Here are 3 tell-tale signs that will tell you if you have an ant infestation within your premises. As ants are most active during sundown, do pay particular attention for signs of ant activity during these hours.
Call Rentokil today for advice and to schedule an ant inspection of your home or business or contact us now.
Live ants - If you're seeing large numbers of live ants then you may well have a problem. If you find them in your kitchen or in areas where you prepare food, then you need to do something about it fast.
Ant pathways - ant trails in and out of your home or premises are another sign. Some ant species will lay down a pheromone trail to a food source. This trail leads other ants from the colony to the food source.
Ant nest - A nest site can look like a small pile of soil or dirt. Some species of ant like to make their home in walls or other quiet, dark places, which are more difficult to spot.
Our Pest Control Service Technicians offer methods of ant control that are targeted to specific species. They can solve the problem quickly and, needless to say, they're perfectly safe for your family and pets. Call us now at 2430309 or our hotline 7297131 or 8220088 or contact us here for a FREE consultation.


Visit Ashfield for teeth cleaning in Sydney?
Our teeth cleaning procedure complements the daily dental care habits you have. This should include twice daily brushing of your teeth.
When you visit the dentist, your dental check-up will include teeth cleaning. Teeth cleaning is part of oral hygiene and involves the removal of hardened deposits called calculus (i.e tartar) from teeth. The tartar may develop even with careful brushing and flossing. It cannot be removed by routine cleaning at home. In our practice at Ashfield Dental Centre, the dentists use a special instrument to loosen and remove the deposits from the teeth for you.
They will also polish your teeth giving you a fresh smile. It is important to have a regular clean with the dentist to prevent gum disease, which is an infection of the gum which leads to bone loss. Regular teeth cleaning also helps the dentist to detect oral cancer as these appointments are also used to screen for oral cancer.


Fire Cider Vinegar can be used to flavor your food or to knock out an illness.
It can increase circulation and help with congestion & immune function.
Either way it'll bring a lot of spicy heat into your life!!!!
Grate and chop the first 4 ingredients. Place ingredients into an appropriate size jar. Then cover all ingredients with the Apple Cider Vinegar; about 1 inch above the top of ingredients. Put a cover on the jar, making sure it will not leak when shaken. Also if using a metal lid, you will need to put a layer of plastic between ingredients and the lid, so the vinegar doesn't corrode the lid. Then label and date the jar and store in a cool, dark place. Let this sit for 4 weeks, then strain. Sweeten to taste with Honey or not!
***Take 1 tsp. every ½ hour or as needed.
Fill a glass jar ¾ full of the above ingredients and then fill the jar with Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. Cover (as in the above recipe) and shake vigorously; top off the jar with more vinegar if necessary. Label and date the jar; then store in cool, dark place. Begin this formula on the New Moon and strain on the Full Moon; this can be the 2 week cycle or the 6 week cycle.
Shake every day or so, making sure the ingredients always stay covered with vinegar.
Filter the mixture through a clean piece of cotton, bottle and label.
***Dosage: 1 tsp. 3 times daily to 1 Tblsp. every ½ hr.
Follow the Schultz's =equal parts recipe MAKING SURE THAT YOU PUREE ALL INGREDIENTS! When the Fire Cider is finished and strained, SAVE THE PULP and use it in the following recipes.
INSTANT FIERY Deviled Eggs = simply cut boiled eggs in half and put a big dollop of Fire Cider Mustard on top! Top off with a bit of Cilantro and enjoy!!
Fire Cider Spicy Sweet Sauce = simply mix some of the saved pulp into Peach, Apricot or Tomato jam. This makes for a fiery barbecue glaze or for dipping eggrolls. Wonderful on home-smoked ham. Great in a cheddar cheese sandwich!
Fire Cider Stir-fry Sauce = used the above mix (pulp & jam) but add some Tamari or Shoyu (soy sauce) to it & maybe a bit of vinegar.
ADD SOME OF THE PULP TO YOUR FAVORITE MEAT LOAF OR BURGER RECIPE. or TO YOUR VEGETARIAN BEAN or GRAIN BURGERS.


On Saturday, April 28, 2018, a team of 14 people—ranging in age from 26 to 82—from Garden Spot Village and Mount Gretna United Methodist Church, traveled with purpose to Tarboro, North Carolina to provide hope and help.
During Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 the Tar River, which runs between Tarboro and Princeville, overflowed its banks, flooding the town and leaving hundreds of people homeless. Over the 24 months since then, volunteers from United Methodist Volunteers in Mission have worked tirelessly to restore houses and help people return home.
When Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas in August 2017 Linda Dodge, director of development at Garden Spot Village and a member of Mount Gretna United Methodist Church, explored the possibility of organizing a group trip to help with relief and rebuilding. She connected with Chaplain Chet Yoder, who affirmed her vision.
Her search led her to United Methodist Volunteers in Mission and eventually to Tarboro. Tarboro's proximity to New Holland—within-a-day's drive—coupled with its established and comfortable dormitories for men and women, adequate showers, dining facilities and common gathering spaces felt like a good match for Garden Spot Village. In faith Linda reserved 20 beds before inviting others from Garden Spot to join her.
The volunteer group from Garden Spot Village included residents, staff, and family members as well as Pastor Mike Remel from Mount Gretna United Methodist Church. They shed their normal roles in the community and served side by side. They worked long hours, finishing and sanding drywall, painting, cleaning up properties and installing flooring.
Myrna, a resident of Princeville, across the Tar River from Tarboro, was extremely blessed by the team who worked to improve her home. She visited each day to see their progress. Just before the Volunteers in Mission arrived to help her, Myrna had been ready to give up, sell her home and move on. But the team's presence reassured her that Princeville was home and God was going to take care of her.
On the Sunday morning after the Garden Spot team arrived in Tarboro, they visited St. Luke Church of Christ in Princeville. Members of this African American congregation welcomed the group and expressed their appreciation for the team's work to rebuild the community.
In the evenings the group enjoyed time to play games, relax and learn to know each other better. Eun Hee and Jee Hyun, International Visitor Exchange Program participants, taught the group about life in South Korea. Memories made and shared across generations and cultures created a sense of community and left a lasting impression.


text:
Home Breaking News WATCH: Scientists used light to turn mice into stone-cold killers
WATCH: Scientists used light to turn mice into stone-cold killers
You've never seen such a sight in your life.
A team of scientists used brain control to turn about a dozen ordinary mice into killing machines. They employed a technique called optogenetics that manipulates neurons using light to make the fluffy critters go all Hulk on prey.
With the switch off the light, the mice were mostly chill, sometimes even scurrying around their cages to avoid prey or toys made to resemble prey. But when the switch was on, things got ugly. Crickets in cages were attacked and beheaded, and plastic toys that looked like prey received powerful bites that would've been lethal.
The scientists are not trying to create a monster. "Basically, we are trying to understand how large brain networks work," said Ivan de Araujo, an author of the study, published Thursday in the journal Cell. Araujo, an associate professor of psychiatry and physiology at Yale University, and his co-authors, Wenfei Han of Yale and Milton Canteras, a neurobiologist at the University of São Paulo, sought to answer a long-standing question in their field: What parts of the brain trigger certain motor responses.
In neurobiology, studying the complex brain functions that govern predatory behavior is a good way to do that.
Predatory behavior involves complex motor actions, and studying it can help neurobiologists determine how different parts of the brain organize the see-how-they-run impulse to hunt, track, pounce, bite and kill. Over the three years of the study, Araujo observed signals that controlled the necks of the mice, their head positioning and movement of their jaws.
"We . . . targeted the groups of neurons that control predatory hunting, pursuit, capture and killing," Araujo said. The team attached a sensory device to the rodents' heads and pulsed blue light that activated neurons that had been engineered to respond to light, triggering the killing instinct.
A question had to be asked: Was there a broader purpose to this research, such as expanding the use to humans to, say, create better warriors? Araujo said the question was perfectly understandable, then flatly answered no. While humans have brain regions analogous to those in other animals such as mice, optogenetics doesn't appear to have a military application.
"We didn't see mice attacking other mice," he said. "It produced very strong, aggressive behavior toward other animals." And mice didn't appear willing to bite off more than they could chew. "They didn't attack other mice or something too large to be reasonable prey. There are some constraints," Araujo said.
But heaven help the bite-size prey of a mouse that has seen the blue light. Not only were they more vicious than mice whose neurons were not manipulated, but they also were more eager hunters. Mice usually paw at their insect prey seeking the head before delivering a fatal bite. The lab mice didn't seem to care about the head – they wanted to rip out the first body part they touched.
Even toys weren't safe when the light was on, whether they were motorized or lying still. When the researchers left the light on for them, "They changed completely from avoidance to motor behavior displayed when they naturally hunt an insect."
It was the kind of "you won't like me when I'm angry" transformation that Bruce Banner underwent when he became a raging green monster.
"Their bite force is kind of powerful and pretty sufficient," Araujo said of normal mice. "When we stimulated these neurons, we observed that the muscles were contracting much more strongly, the bite force was more powerful."
(c) 2017, The Washington Post · Darryl Fears / Featured Image by: Monica Akhtar — The Washington Post
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Are we on terror target? A serial blast threat email received on the 14th Feb night on info@hiranandani.net by an unknown person sent from karmavisva@yahoo.com has sent the authorities in a spin. The email went unnoticed until Monday on the 16th when it was discovered. The Hiranandani group's admin dept immediately reported the matter to Powai police and Zone X Deputy Commissioner of Police.
While speaking to the DCP he revealed that the police have issued instructions to all CHS in Powai jurisdiction to list out residents by name in their respective housing societies, now it shall be enforced. People renting out flats will have to inform police, this is being made mandatory as it would entail police verification. He could not reveal any further progress in the investigation at this stage but maintained they would be able to nab the email sender with the help of Cyber Crime Cell of Mumbai Police. It would be too premature to rule out any thing.
Not only that, he emphasised the support of residents in reporting suspicious movement of persons, their identity and doubtful items or vehicles in any area. He maintains, no doubt intelligence is being beefed up in the area but it has to be complemented with public support.
It may be recalled, a few years back in Kashmir some photographs of Hiranandani Gardens were recovered from an arrested terrorist. Apparently, he had done recce of this complex. That time too intelligence was beefed by police up for the security of the complex.


The Board of Education shall ensure that procedures are established to identify all gifted students. The District follows the identification eligibility criteria as specified in Section 3324.03 of the Ohio Revised Code and the Operating Standards for Identifying and Serving Gifted Students as specified in the District Plan.
"Gifted" means students perform or show potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of their age, experience, or environment and who are identified under division (A), (B), (C), or (D) of section 3324.03 of the Ohio Revised Code.
performs at or above the ninety-fifth percentile at the national level on an approved individual or group standardized achievement test of specific academic ability in that field.
A student may be identified as gifted in more than one specific academic ability field.
Exhibited sufficient performance, as established by the department of education, on an approved checklist of creative behaviors.
approved checklist of behaviors related to a specific arts area.
After any initial gifted identification made in conformance with this rule, a student shall remain identified regardless of subsequent testing or classroom performance.
Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test Third Edition (NNAT 3) Grades 1 and 4; Naglieri Ability Index Score (NAI score) of 126, screen score of 125.
A specific score is required on the NNAT 3 for possible identification using the GATES 2.
Grade 1 and 4: NAI of 110 to qualify for possible Creative Thinking Identification using Gates 2 checklist.
Gifted and Talented Evaluation Scales 2 (Gates 2) Just Creative Thinking Section, Questions 21-30.
Screening range score of 57-77 items 41-50; Identification 78 or above on items 41-50.
March: ID. ODE Rubrics, Score that is within ID range on display of work Student Portfolio , Qualifying score on forma; screening using GATES.
Checklists Creative Thinking Ability GATES 2 with qualifying NNAT 3 Score for CT/ Screening VPA.
Notify parents of results of screening or assessment and identification within 30 days.
The district ensures equal access to screening and further assessment of all district children, including culturally or linguistically diverse children, children from low socio-economic backgrounds, children with disabilities and children for whom English is a second language.
When the screening assessment has been completed, if the data obtained is from an approved identification instrument and the score meets cut-off scores specified in department of education guidance, the identification decision is made and student's educational needs are determined. Identification scores remain in effect for the remainder of the student's K-12 school experience.
When the screening assessment has been completed, if the data is from an approved screening instrument or from an identification instrument on which the student is within a district-specified range below the identification score, re-assessment for possible identification occurs.
The superintendent or designee will convene a meeting with the parent/guardian, which may include other school personnel. The superintendent or designee will issue a written final decision within 30 days of the appeal. This written notice should include the reason for the decision(s).
The Grand Valley Local School District delivers all gifted services in accordance with the Ohio Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code. These codes require public school districts to identify students who are gifted; however are not required to provide gifted education service. The district does ensure that equal opportunity for all district students identified as gifted to receive any services offered and available by the district. Grand Valley acknowledges that gifted students have unique needs and strive to offer a continuum of options as appropriate for students.
Service Subject Acceleration (i.e. Alg. 1) Reg. Classroom Teacher with support from GIS Written Education Plan (WEP), WAP Year one.
*Service providers shall receive specialized training in gifted education in accordance with the Ohio Standards for Identifying and Serving Students Who are Gifted.
When students identified as gifted are reported to parents and the Ohio Department of Education as served, they must have a Written Education Plan in compliance with the Operating Standards for Identifying and Serving Gifted Students.
If at any time a student wishes to withdraw from gifted programs or services the request should be written by the parent or child to the building administrator. If children request to withdraw, parents will be notified.
Enrichments are activities purposely designed to expose students to a wide variety of disciplines, issues, occupations, hobbies, persons, places and/or events. They may expand the score of the regular curriculum or introduce topics not covered in the general education program. Any staff member may be the originator of enrichment, and the student audience will vary depending on interest and ability. Enrichments are not reported to the Ohio Department of Education as gifted services.
District identification and service plans must be sent to the Ohio Department of Education as a part of the annual self-report. The department will review the plans within 60 days of submission. Changes in identification and/or service plan procedures must be reported to the Ohio Department of Education immediately upon revision. The department will review and notify the district within 60 days of receipt of revisions.
If you have questions, please contact your building Principal or Coordinator of Gifted Services for Grand Valley Local School District at 440-576-9023.


Ghent, Norfolk: Fantastic Ghent location just blocks from Colley Ave, EVMS, and downtown! This charming condo offers a unique private entrance, updated kitchen, ceramic tile & laminate floors, 2 bedrooms each with their own baths, and great storage. Reserved off-street parking & a low condo fee make this the one to buy! 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 885 square feet. Offered for $180,000.


The prize awarded to Rosbash, 74, and two others was for their discoveries about molecular mechanisms controlling the body's daily rhythm.
Michael Rosbash of Brandeis University, whose parents fled Nazi Germany and the son of a cantor, was one of three American scientists to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
The prize awarded to Rosbash, 74, and the others announced Monday was for their discoveries about molecular mechanisms controlling the body's daily rhythm. Jeffrey Hall of the University of Maine and Michael Young of Rockefeller University in New York joined Rosbash in receiving the prize.
They used fruit flies to isolate a gene that controls the rhythm of a living organism's daily life. The biological inner clocks regulate functions such as sleep, behavior, hormone levels and body temperature.
Rosbash, 74, came to Brandeis in 1974 and is the Peter Gruber Endowed Chair in Neuroscience and professor of biology at the Jewish-founded nonsectarian school.
"This morning's unexpected announcement certainly affected my circadian rhythms," Rosbach said in a statement from Brandeis. "I am thrilled to join Jeffrey and Michael in this recognition. I am grateful to my colleagues at Brandeis and to the unusual environment here that allows researchers to explore without boundaries while also engaging students in the process of discovery. This is a very special — perhaps unique — university," His parents were immigrants who fled Germany in 1938. His father was a cantor at Temple Ohabei Shalom, a Reform synagogue in Brookline, Massachusetts, not far from the Brandeis campus.
Rosbash and Hall started at Brandeis together in 1974; Hall is a professor emeritus there.


text:
If you want to have URL update actions dispatched via Redux as shown in [this example](https://github.com/pbeshai/react-url-query/tree/master/examples/redux-with-actions), you need to use this Redux middleware. It intercepts actions where `meta.urlQuery` is true and passes them to the configured `reducer` (by default [urlQueryReducer](urlQueryReducer)) to be interpreted.

If you are using [react-router-redux](https://github.com/reactjs/react-router-redux), you will want to read `location` from the store. The default setting for `readLocationFromStore` does this. If you want to read `location` from another place in the store, specify a different `readLocationStore` in the options.

Default settings result in URL actions not making it to the final Redux store, so listeners to the store won't be notified of a change. This is because usually there is something else listening for changes to the URL and causing the components to update, so we'd end up with an unnecessary second render. If you want the store to be notified, you need to set the `shortcircuit` option to `false`.

#### Arguments

1. [`options`] (*Object*): The options for configuring the middleware. They include:
  * `reducer` (*Function*): A function that takes `action, location` and updates the URL. If not specified in `options`, it is read from the [configuration](configureUrlQuery.md), and finally defaults to  [urlQueryReducer](urlQueryReducer) if no value is provided.
  * `readLocationFromStore` (*Function*): A function that takes `state`, the Redux store state, and returns the current URL location to pass to the reducer. If not specified, defaults to reading from `react-router-redux`'s default location.
  * `shortcircuit` (*Boolean*): A flag on whether or not we should pass on to the next Redux middleware, and thus eventually receive notifications from the Redux store.

#### Returns

(*Function*): A redux middleware function.

#### Remarks

* You must instantiate `urlQueryMiddleware` with options. You cannot run `applyMiddleware(urlQueryMiddleware)`. If you do not want to supply options, you can run: `applyMiddleware(urlQueryMiddleware())`.

#### Examples

```js
import { createStore, applyMiddleware } from 'redux';
import { urlQueryMiddleware } from 'react-url-query';
import './myUrlQueryReducer';
import './rootReducer';

// get the new create store with middleware
const createStoreWithMiddleware = applyMiddleware(
  urlQueryMiddleware({
    reducer: myUrlQueryReducer
  })
)(createStore);

// create the store
const store = createStoreWithMiddleware(rootReducer);
```

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Hand of Fate is a genre-blending title from Brisbane-based studio Defiant Development that was partly funded on Kickstarter in late 2013. Has the Aussie studio come up with the goods? Chris Brown has the deal.
What happens when you combine a rogue-lite dungeon crawler, a deck-building game, and the action elements from Shadow of Mordor together? You get Hand of Fate, a mostly entertaining hodgepodge of ideas held together by beautiful presentation and the luck of the draw.
At its core, Hand of Fate is a dungeon crawler. You traverse a number randomly-generated maps, encounter various creatures which either help or hinder or attack you, and pick up incrementally more powerful items to better stave off death in more taxing environs. It's a design that's been a staple of games for about as long as there has been an industry, but this is not your father's dungeon crawler. The folks at Defiant Designs have taken the tried-and-true approach and peppered in more tried and true from other genres, but they have cobbled it all together in a way that is truly unique.
Illuminated by a single candle, you'll initially find yourself sitting across a table from a mysterious stranger known only as The Dealer. He is the narrator, game master, and your primary opponent. Found within his ever-expanding deck of cards are all the encounters, items, quests, and locations that you will discover as you work your way through his call sheet of increasingly powerful enemies.
Every level starts the same: you select your deck, and if you so desire you can also select The Dealer's base deck as well. He will then flavour it with his own special additions, before laying out a rudimentary game map using his cards as grids. As the game progresses, these maps will increase in length and complexity, just as the foes you encounter within become more powerful and more plentiful.
To explore a level you move your counter to an adjacent card. This will consume one item of food from your limited supply, and activate the card just landed on. Each card might be a location where you will be tasked with a mini-quest or the choice to explore, an NPC who offers you assistance based on how you respond to their questions, or an such as a weapon, armour, or something a little more exotic. There are also merchants to trade with and various types of enemy to battle.
There are a surprisingly large number of unique cards in Hand of Fate, and the random nature of each map keeps things fresh – until the later stages of the game at least. Every level or dungeon offers a different challenge, and while the final bosses start off rather simple, they do become more and more challenging the deeper in the deck you travel.
The deck-building side of the game is a little rudimentary. You unlock new cards by completing quests and earning tokens from special cards, and once a level has been completed, these tokens are traded for new cards that you can add to your deck and then your hand for subsequent levels. These cards vary from items to unique events to encounters, and the idea is to stack your deck as best you can to counter anything The Dealer may throw at you.
By its nature it's all very reactive though, and as you have no control over when each card can be played, the ability to actively counter an opponent's play is absent. That's a shame – it feels like a missed opportunity to add another strategic element to the metagame.
However, Hand of Fate might just be one of the most instantly-atmospheric games this reviewer has ever encountered. The dank, dimly-lit room and single table is suitable dingy, and The Dealer is wonderfully detailed, animated, and voiced. In fact, the presentation of the game as a whole is quite an achievement, and demonstrates not only the talent that Defiant Designs possesses, but also its attention to detail and obvious passion for the project.
The cards themselves are wonderfully detailed with an art style reminiscent of adventure game books from the '80s and '90s, and any fan of Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf will see the obvious inspiration painted on the card faces. These touches help to give depth to the game world and move it past its very gamey roots.
Sadly, Hand of Fate does lose its lustre after about the midway point. The combat is a simplified derivative of the Batman Arkham system, so the move list is rather limited, and after games like Shadow of Mordor, it feels very shallow.
Mechanically it's sound, but the one area where the lack of budget shows is in the animations for combat. There is a lack of weight behind attacks, and the dodges and counters feel floaty and work against the flow of combat. As the difficulty begins to peak in the final levels, this lack of reactivity reduces the combat to a messy, mashy misfire more often than not.
Even so, Hand of Fate is greater than the sum of its parts, not to mention half the price of the aforementioned games at launch. It only really becomes tedious down the stretch, when repetition sets in and the combat grows stale. Until then, it's a unique concoction with a wonderfully lively Dealer and some interesting ideas.
Hand of Fate is a fresh take on the rogue-lite genre that starts off flush with unique ideas, but by the final few hands it's out of trump cards.
Ups Exceptional visual presentation in most areas. The Dealer is a delight. Initially very compelling.
Downs Combat never really satisfies, and in the final stages feels more like a chore. Deck-building feels somewhat gimmicky.


text:
Islam, Women and Feminism ( 11 Aug 2020, NewAgeIslam.Com)
Calling All Female Artists: UAE Arts Award for Painting, Photography, And Digital Artworks
• IFC Supports Afghan Women's Access to Financial and Non-Financial Services
• US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Holds Off Primary Election Challenger
• Nomadic Women Climb Mountains Every Day To Earn A Living
• Israeli Women Excluded from Decision-Making on Coronavirus
• Woman Dies After Being Set On Fire By Man In Latest Femicide In Turkey
• Indonesian Woman Sentenced to Hang for Drug Possession Escapes the Gallows, after the Federal Court Here Accepted Her Appeal
• UK Ambassador Welcomes Appointment of First Saudi Woman as Cultural Attache
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-and-feminism/new-age-islam-news-bureau/calling-all-female-artists-uae-arts-award-for-painting-photography-and-digital-artworks/d/122604
An artist at the Noon Arts Award 2019, organized by the Collage Talent Center.
Now being held for the fourth consecutive year, the Noon Arts Award is open for submissions. Organized by the Collage Talent Center at the Sharjah Ladies Club, this award is presented to UAE-based female artists who are working in the fields of painting, photography, and digital artworks.
This year the theme of the competition is the phrase "Because I can," chosen in recognition of the difficult times the global community has lived through as a result of COVID-19. The artworks submitted need to showcase the positive impact the artist has made through supporting, inspiring or offering hope to others, or overcoming obstacles and challenges in their own lives.
Fatima Alnaqbi, assistant manager at Sharjah Ladies Club, said: "This year the Noon Arts Award is all about recognizing those who have made a positive impact on the world around them. We want to celebrate both women's art and the power of humanity, their ability to give the light of hope to others who are suffering. 'Because I can' is a timeless phrase. It's about empowerment and benefitting society, and we can't wait to see how this phrase inspires the female artists of the UAE."
Submissions will be accepted until October. The competition is open to all women artists based in the UAE and who are over the age of 18. Paintings, photographs, and digital artworks will all be accepted and judged on their adherence to the theme and the skill and enthusiasm they convey.
The first-place winner will receive a prize of 7,000 dirhams ($1,900), with second place earning 5,000 dirhams and third place being awarded 3,000 dirhams. There will also be a "People's Choice" category, with the winning artist receiving a prize of 2,000 dirhams.
While this year's competition will be held remotely due to the pandemic, this is the first time the entire event will be held online. The virtual exhibition will allow people from across the region to view the artworks from the safety of their own homes, while the awards ceremony itself will be live-streamed to avoid people congregating.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1718191/corporate-news
IFC Supports Afghan Women's Access to Financial and Non-Financial Services
IFC will leverage its global expertise and knowledge to support Ghazanfar Bank in becoming a women's banking champion in Afghanistan
More than an estimated 5,000 women are expected to directly benefit from a new initiative led by Ghazanfar Bank, one of Afghanistan's leading commercial banks, to improve Afghan women's access to financial and non-financial services. It aims to serve as a demonstration model and set a standard for commercially viable businesses owned by women.
The move follows the signing of the first-ever advisory agreement between Ghazanfar Bank and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and aims to help Ghazanfar Bank develop a new market in the country through the financing of women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The IFC's advisory services project is supported by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), a multi-donor funded facility that supports women entrepreneurs by scaling up access to finance, markets, networks and mentors and information.
"This is a landmark project for Afghanistan and we, along with all stakeholders are honored to partner with IFC for the development of an SME segment, the prime engine of industrial development," said Khisrow Fazli, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Ghazanfar Bank. "The engagement also recognizes the consistent support provided by the Bank to women entrepreneurs for the economic growth of our country by focusing on women-owned SMEs."
Overall, access to finance is very limited in Afghanistan. Only two percent of firms take out loans and only seven percent of adult Afghan women have an account at a formal banking institution. It's estimated the unmet demand for financing from micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Afghanistan is about $4.7 billion, which includes $113.5 million in unmet demand from women-owned enterprises. By expanding access to finance for women-owned MSMEs, financial institutions can help empower women by improving their economic and social inclusion.
"IFC will leverage its global expertise and knowledge to support Ghazanfar Bank in becoming a women's banking champion in Afghanistan," said Qamar Saleem, Financial Institutions Group, Advisory Manager for Asia & Pacific. "We consider women entrepreneurs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to be an important part of the local economy, and helping to ensure they have access to finance is a critical tool to boost women's economic and social empowerment. This agreement is part of IFC's core agenda to create a market for enabling women MSMEs in countries where there is a dire need for finance for women."
IFC is supporting women's economic participation in Afghanistan through financial inclusion and capacity building. Forty-eight percent of participants in its Business Edge management training program were women and 16 percent of the borrowers of the First Microfinance Bank, where IFC is a shareholder, are women. Currently, the World Bank Group is supporting the government's Women's Economic Empowerment National Priority Program. Through this program, IFC is working on identifying the legal barriers that hinder Afghan women's entrepreneurial activities and providing recommendations that can address these obstacles.
https://www.khaama.com/ifc-supports-afghan-womens-access-to-financial-and-non-financial-services-87976/
US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Holds Off Primary Election Challenger
U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar won the Democratic primary nomination on Tuesday to run for reelection in Minnesota's 5th district
WASHINGTON: US Representative Ilhan Omar held off a well-funded challenger Tuesday and won the Democratic primary in her congressional district, putting her on track for re-election in November along with other members of the "Squad" of four liberal freshmen.
Omar defeated attorney Antone Melton-Meaux, who had accused her of prioritizing her celebrity over her constituents, and several other challengers, the New York Times said.
One of the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress in 2018, Omar won 57.2% of the vote Tuesday compared with 39.4% for Melton-Meaux in Minnesota's 5th district, the Times said. She is likely to win again in November in the solidly Democratic district.
"In Minnesota, we know that organized people will always beat organized money," Omar, 37, said in a statement. "Despite outside efforts to defeat us, we once again broke turnout records."
Progressive Democrats have generally done well this primary cycle. With Omar's victory, all four members of the liberal group of congresswomen nicknamed the "Squad" are expected to be re-elected in the autumn.
The best-known "Squad" member, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, dispatched a primary challenger in June. Last week Representative Rashida Tlaib won her primary, and the fourth Squad member, Representative Ayanna Pressley, is running unopposed in her primary in Massachusetts next month.
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Vermont and Georgia all held primary elections for Congress on Tuesday. The outcome will help set the stage for November elections to the House of Representatives and Senate that will determine the balance of power in Washington.
Melton-Meaux, an attorney, criticized Omar for her comments on Israel, some of which have been seen as anti-Semitic, as well as her failure to show up for some House votes. His campaign raised over $4 million and received support from pro-Israel groups.
Omar has apologized for some of her statements about Israeli lobbying power, and her campaign said she had good reasons for missing some votes.
Police reforms were a top campaign issue in Omar's district, where George Floyd, a Black man, was killed in police custody in May, touching off nationwide protests. Omar called for restructuring the police department, while Melton-Meaux said the police function should be "more narrowly focused."
A refugee from Somalia, Omar quickly became a target of conservative critics after she was elected in 2018. Republicans rebuked her left-wing politics, and President Donald Trump has falsely accused her of supporting al Qaeda. Members of both parties chided her for her comments on Israel.
In Georgia, a Republican businesswoman who has made inflammatory comments about Muslims like Omar and expressed support for QAnon, Marjorie Taylor Greene, defeated neurosurgeon John Cowan in a primary runoff for an open House seat.
QAnon is a fringe belief propagated online that claims "deep-state" traitors are plotting against Trump.
In videos released in June by Politico, Greene suggested that Omar's election in 2018 was part of "an Islamic invasion of our government." Republican leaders denounced the comments.
The Republican in the conservative district will likely be elected in November.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/squad-sweep-as-us-congresswoman-omar-holds-off-primary-election-challenger/articleshow/77501862.cms
Nomadic women climb mountains every day to earn a living
In terms of commutes, few could be described as more punishing: Every day, nomadic women in Ağrı brave elements to cross valleys by donkey to obtain milk from their husbands, who spend all season grazing sheep on high-altitude pastures.
"Women go to milk sheep under harsh conditions from time to time in rain and storms," said Naciye Yeçik, a woman who has come to Ağrı this year for the first time to graze her animals.
Five families from Bitlis' Tatvan district have come to Ağrı's high pastures this summer with up to 60,000 animals for a hard season devoid of modern conveniences like electricity.
Women get started with the first light of morning, setting out on a challenging journey with donkeys to reach the mountainous areas where their herds are located.
Sometimes the women have to overcome scorching summer heat to reach the pastures; at other times, they have to deal with torrential rain.
For Yeçik, this year has been particularly difficult due to heavy rain. "It has rained a lot this year and the berivans [milking women] are coming back and forth to the sheep in the rain," she said.
Every day, nomadic women fill the milk provided by their husbands in jugs, load them on the backs of their donkeys and return to lower elevations where they have their tents.
The women then typically cook the milk on a wood fire before making dairy products such as cheese and butter to sell or consume in winter.
"In this tradition, women hold the sheep's head and men milk it. Berivans make cheese with the milk they bring," she noted.
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/nomadic-women-climb-mountains-every-day-to-earn-a-living-157312
Why are females banned from working in tourist destinations in Raqqa?
"Umm Abeer" used to work in a cafe in the city of Raqqa, to provide for her five children, the oldest of whom is 16 years old. However, she lost her job after the Kurdish- Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) issued a decision, that prevents women from working in tourist sites and facilities.
The family has no other source of income, because "Umm Abeer" is a divorced woman with five children living in a house that she has to pay its rent every month, taking advantage of her salary of 3,500 Syrian Pounds ( 2200 SYP = 1 USD ) in exchange for ten hours of work per day.
A circular released by the "Women's Committee" in "the NES-linked Civil Council of Raqqa" on 4 August, in coordination with the "Culture and Antiquities Committee," strictly banned the employment of female attendants and waitresses in tourism sites and establishments including restaurants, cafes, and hotels. Anyone who breaches this decision shall be held accountable, paying a fine estimated at 500,000 Syrian Pounds (215 USD).
No another source of income
"Umm Abeer", who declined to mention her exact name for security reasons, complained about the new resolution, saying that it targets poor female workers only. She also demanded the resolution makers allow women who are committed to standards of public morality to work and to expel the women who make violations of moral standards at the workplace.
"Umm Abeer" denounced allowing women in the NES-controlled areas to carry weapons, attend training military camps, and work in mixed-gender checkpoints, wondering, "Why is women's labor force being fought in this humiliating way? And why are women's livelihoods and the livelihoods of their children being disrupted as well?"
An ill-considered decision
Youssef al-Jasem, a cafeteria worker in the city of Raqqa who uses a pseudonym for security reasons, considered that the decision to stop the work of waitresses and female attendants is a new policy to put pressure on civilians into their work, and abuse the rights of the privacy and freedom of women.
He told Enab Baladi that both men and women are entitled to work, pointing to the need for female workers in Raqqa, and that is why women from the city join the military checkpoints and battlefronts of the "Women's Protection Units", one of the factions affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Abu Issa al-Othman, the owner of a "cafeteria" in the city of Raqqa, considered that the decision issued by the NES was not well- studied, as work does not diminish the value of women in the city, as he put it, and women are with men in all workplaces.
Al-Othman told Enab Baladi that women work together with men in all the institutions run by the NES, asking, "Why did not similar decisions prevent women from working?"
He sees no reason for preventing waitresses from working in "cafeterias" and cafes that adhere to laws, regulations, and moral and ethical rules.
"For the preservation of women dignity"
This decision was released after "the Civil Council of Raqqa" and "the Health Committee" issued Resolution No.5 at the end of last July, which prohibits public gatherings in catering facilities—cafes, cafeterias, and restaurants—and provides that people should take extra precautions, and make social distancing in parks and public places to help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Osama al-Khalaf, a journalist in the "Raqqa Civil Council," explained to Enab Baladi.
Al-Khalaf said that the reason behind the issuance of the decision is the expansion of the phenomenon of waitresses working in the city, and the "fear" of the young women group being "dragged behind these places," as he put it, even though the "tourism control" tours were conducted to ensure that the conditions of the waitresses' work in catering facilities were appropriate and safeguarded.
He added that the decision was proposed before the lockdown, and was issued for "logical and moral reasons that protect and preserve the dignity of women at work, and prevent the exploitation of the phenomenon of their work as "waitresses."
This decision is "a rights-oriented vision against bullying in society that can be practiced on waitresses in tourist sites" and was adopted after a long marathon of discussions with the owners of cafes and "cafeterias," who offered positive feedback.
Article 120 of the Syrian Labor Law No. 17 of 2010 stipulates that the Minister shall determine, by ministerial decision, such activities, instances, and circumstances where women shall be allowed to perform night work, as well as harmful, immoral, and other activities prohibited to women.
As an alternative for women with no academic degrees that entitle them to work, the "Women's Committee" in the NES and civil society organizations operating in the region organize projects, especially for widowed/divorced women and elderly women.
"The Youth and Sports Committee opened educational courses in nursing, first aid, and computer sectors for young women. Besides, the "Women's Committee" carried out programs for traditional baking and pastry and cultivating legumes, in addition to sewing and embroidery courses, after which the graduates were given sewing machines to work. Furthermore, other self-awareness and personal development courses were held to support women, according to al-Khalaf.
Given that "The work of women as waitresses in cafes and restaurants is totally unacceptable by the tribal and religious community of Raqqa," according to al-Khalaf. Women have other alternatives and areas where they can work. For instance, illiterate women can work in the agricultural sectors, mainly in the woodland and plant nurseries, kindergartens, and nursery schools. Plus, they can work in the field of cleaning and sterilizing in private and public hospitals.
Al-Khalaf indicated that the "Civil Council of Raqqa" and the "Women's Committee" are concerned with providing women with job opportunities that contribute to "uplifting women and safeguarding their rights."
Al-Khalaf pointed to the difference in wages and salaries earned by women in the NES-controlled areas according to the entity with which they work. Female workers in the "Civil Council" institutions and centers receive a salary of 233,000 SYP (102 USD), while the salary of women working in projects supported by civil society organizations is between 200 and 300 USD.
https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2020/08/why-are-females-banned-from-working-in-tourist-destinations-in-raqqa/
Israeli women excluded from decision-making on coronavirus
The government decided July 26 to reduce the coronavirus Cabinet — a small forum of ministers whose portfolios touch on the coronavirus outbreak — from 16 to 10 members. Two weeks later, on Aug. 10, the government decided to add members to this Cabinet again. The special forum now includes two of the ministers who had been excluded in July — Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman and Social Equality Minister Meirav Cohen. Thus, the change in number brought also another change: The coronavirus Cabinet now includes one female member.
Indeed, the July 26 decision raised quite a lot of anger from several opposition and coalition members, as none of the remaining 10 members were women. At the time, Cohen said, "There are no women in the [coronavirus] Cabinet; I'm not talking about me personally. I understand the desire for efficiency, but it makes no sense for there to be no women among 10 representatives."
Opposition leader Yair Lapid also criticized the decision, stating, "The biggest government in the history of the country and they did not put one woman [in the coronavirus Cabinet]. Disconnected chauvinists."
Several human rights and women rights groups joined the outcry. Na'amat — one of Israel's most veteran and biggest women groups — issued a statement at the time, saying, "[We] recommend to the prime minister and the alternate prime minister, who always compare our situation to the rest of the world, to look at the common denominator of countries that have successfully subdued the epidemic — in all of them, women are in the decision-making elite."
The decision to reinstate Cohen to the coronavirus Cabinet was hailed by Na'amat Chair Hagit Pe'er. Still, Pe'er noted that the mere necessity of public pressure to get women into the decision-making process in Israel of 2020 was embarrassing.
One explanation for the exclusion of women from the current decision-making process could be the Israeli perception of the anti-coronavirus campaign as a military/male operation. Early in the pandemic, the Israel Defense Forces were called to assist with the management of the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak, hit hard by the first coronavirus wave. Former Defense Minister Naftali Bennett saw his popularity rise, after proposing military-style measures to counter the spread of the pandemic.
In contrast, the Foreign Ministry hosted on July 27-28 an international online conference for female leaders. The conference has been held in Israel every two years since 1961, according to the vision of then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir to empower women. This year's conference focused on the social and economic ramifications of the coronavirus outbreak on women and girls, with women from across the globe participating and sharing experiences. It was a clear demonstration of female leaders engaged in battling the coronavirus health crisis and its effects on, for instance, women's employment and entrepreneurship.
The Foreign Ministry made a point of including in the conference women of the highest leadership level. Israeli professor Frances Raday, former special rapporteur for the United Nations Human Rights Council, participated in the first panel on analyzing the global economic impact of COVID-19 and women and girls, together with Henrietta Fore, the executive director of UNICEF, and other top-level UN women. Participants made sure to mention the female leaders of Germany, Finland, New Zealand and Denmark, who have achieved excellent results in managing the coronavirus crisis so far.
Apart from decision-making, Israeli women are affected daily and more directly by the coronavirus-induced crisis. Shai Oxenberg, policy and legislation director at the Israel Women's Network lobbying group, told Al-Monitor that the coronavirus pandemic affect Israeli women mainly in two fields: employment and domestic violence. The women who suffer most are those of the ultra-Orthodox and Arab minority groups — women who are more vulnerable even during normal times. She said that pregnant women were also subject to various hardships.
"Apart from suffering from unemployment and domestic violence, Israeli women were confronted with the heavy burden of caring for the children — as the result of the decision to shut down the education system. All this happened while women were conspicuously excluded and absent from the decision-making process," Oxenberg added.
Oxenberg's claims are backed by statistics. A report drafted by Yael Hasson and Hadas Ben Eliyahu and published June 1 by the Adva center states that "by the first week of April, 21% of working women in Israel found themselves out of work, compared with 16% of men. Among women, this was the situation of 30% of ultra-Orthodox women and 18% of Arab women."
Another report published June 18 by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies also shows that the coronavirus pandemic resulted in higher rates of unemployment among Israeli women. Author of the report Liora Bowers writes that in the immediate term, a significantly larger share of unemployment claims have been submitted by women since March 1 — 56% compared to 44% of men. "It appears that Jewish women — in particular, ultra-Orthodox women — have been hardest hit. Furthermore, in 18 out of 19 industries more women have lost jobs disproportionately to their share of positions in that industry,'' Bowers notes.
Still, Bowers highlights also some positive changes, such as the division between men and women on caring for their children, especially in small families. "In a survey conducted by researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, men reported a 10% increase in the amount of time they spend with their children during the coronavirus crisis versus the period before," Bowers writes.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/08/israel-knesset-coronavirus-pandemic-unemployment-women.html
Woman Dies After Being Set On Fire By Man In Latest Femicide In Turkey
Yet another woman has been murdered in Turkey when she succumbed to severe injuries after being set on fire by a man who she reportedly lived with in the Black Sea province of Ordu's Fatsa district.
The man, Soner Durgun, 22, poured fuel on Merve Yeşiltaş, 31, and set her alight after they reportedly had an argument on Aug. 10. The two were living together, according to local media reports.
Durgun later set himself ablaze too and is now in critical condition in a hospital.
The two were taken to hospital after their neighbors notified the fire to the authorities.
Yeşiltaş's murder comes after 235 women were killed by men in Turkey this year.
Some 235 women were murdered this year so far, according to Anıt Sayaç, an online epitaph of all women murdered by men in the country.
Femicides in Turkey have become an epidemic which feminist groups say is not fought against adequately.
Women's rights groups and feminists are demanding the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty that obligates member states to fight violence against women, be fully implemented amid debates that Turkey could withdraw from it.
In a country where hundreds of women get killed every year, debates on whether the country should withdraw from the convention are unacceptable, the groups have said.
Yeşiltaş's name was a top trending topic on Twitter on Aug. 11, with tens of thousands tweeting in anger at femicides which have become a daily reality in the country.
"I'm now scared to click on the name of a woman on the [trending topic] TT list [on Twitter]…" said one prominent
Twitter user, referring to names of murdered women that often appear on Twitter's trending topic list.
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/woman-dies-after-being-set-on-fire-by-man-in-latest-femicide-157320
Indonesian Woman Sentenced To Hang For Drug Possession Escapes The Gallows, after the Federal Court Here Accepted Her Appeal
KUCHING, Aug 12 ― An Indonesian woman who was sentenced to death by hanging for possessing drugs had her initial sentence replaced with 19 years in prison after the Federal Court here accepted her appeal today.
A panel of judges chaired by Judge Datuk Rohana Yusuf along with Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli set aside the death sentence imposed on the appellant Eva Syliviana, 53, for syabu trafficking in 2014.
"After examining the submissions of the prosecution and the appellant, the court unanimously sentenced the appellant to 19 years' jail.
"The sentence runs from the date the appellant was arrested on November 5, 2014," said Rohana in a conference which was conducted online.
The appellant, who hails from Jakarta, was sentenced to hang to death by Kuching High Court Judge Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang on October 11, 2016 after she was found guilty under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Through her lawyer Ranbir Singh, she wrote to the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) to amend the appellant's charge to Section 39A(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
The appellant was charged again today based on the amended charges and she pleaded guilty after the charged were read out to her by a court interpreter.
Based on the amended charge, the single mother of six was charged with possessing syabu weighing 4,874 grams on November 5, 2014 at the Special Examination Unit Office of the Kuching International Airport at 11.30pm.
She was charged under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and sentenced under Section 39A(2) of the same Act.
Authorities found the drugs in the luggage of the appellant who boarded a flight from Hong Kong and was transitting in Kuala Lumpur before arriving here.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Musli Abdul Hamid. ― Borneo Post
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/08/12/indonesian-woman-sentenced-to-hang-for-drug-possession-escapes-the-gallows/1893252
UK Ambassador welcomes appointment of first Saudi woman as cultural attache
RIYADH: Britain's ambassador to Saudi Arabia on Thursday welcomed the appointment of Dr. Amal bint Jameel Fatani as cultural attaché to the UK.
Fatani was appointed as one of the Kingdom's first female cultural attaches by the Saudi Minister of Education Dr.Hamad bin Mohammed Al Al-Sheik earlier this month.
Ambassador Neil Crompton tweeted Thursday: "#Congratulations to Dr Fatani @FataniAmal for her appointment as Cultural Attaché to the #UK. Delighted she is a UK alumni herself. Wishing her the very best in her new role and looking forward to strengthening the people to people links between the UK and Saudi Arabia."
Fatani holds a doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Strathclyde. She obtained her master's and bachelor's degrees in pharmacology and toxicology from the College of Pharmacy at King Saud University (KSU), where she is currently an associate professor.
She has previously worked at the Ministry of Higher Education and KSU, and was among the first female pharmacy graduates in the Kingdom.
After receiving her doctorate she was appointed vice chair of the pharmacology and toxicology department. She is the first female dean of the nine scientific and medical colleges, and has worked with the rector, deputies, and deans of male colleges to build a unified strategic plan for gaining accreditation, a higher global ranking, and implementing best international practices in higher education.
Saudi Arabia and the UK have an important and long-standing relationship, strengthened through the strong individual connections that Saudis enjoy with the UK through their attendance at academic institutions. Hundreds of Saudi scholarship students have graduated from top UK educational institutions.
The two countries are key strategic partners in the Kingdom's Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan, and have reaffirmed their commitment to building and developing trade and investment as well as achieving shared prosperity for their citizens.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1716136/saudi-arabia
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism


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Archives @ DU Catalog
Search Special Collections and Archives
Bill from C.D. Spivak for S. S. Garson, 1909 October 12
Identifier: B002.01.0101.0135.00032
Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society Records
Patient Records, 1904-1989
Box 101 - Patient admit dates: January 1909-November 1909, 1906-1915
JCRS Patient #1234 Simon Fuchs, 1909-1910
Handwritten bill from C. D. Spivak in Denver, Colorado, to S. S. Garson. The total is $11 for two weeks of room and board to Simon Fuchs. It states that Spivak received the payment on October 19, 1909 signed by S. S. Garson.
Spivak, C. D. (Charles D.), 1861-1927 (Producer, Person)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: The records are primarily in English, but some materials are in other languages, including Hebrew, Yiddish, German, and Russian.
Copyright restrictions may apply. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
1 items (bill)
From the Series: This series of patient records includes medical reports and histories, statistical data of patients, x-rays, and death certificates. The patient files include applications, correspondence and some may also contain photographs and personal items.
Title supplied by archivist.
Birmingham (Ala.)
Denver (Colo.)
Fuchs, Simon
Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (U.S.)
Spivak, C. D. (Charles D.), 1861-1927 (Recipient)
Part of the Special Collections and Archives Repository
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Bill from C.D. Spivak for S. S. Garson, 1909 October 12. Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society Records, B002.01.0101.0135.00032. Special Collections and Archives. https://duarchives.coalliance.org/repositories/2/archival_objects/131169 Accessed July 16, 2019.
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Love it! it reminds me of H.R. Giger.
This is real awesome! It reminds me of the great pixel wizard carrion.
Looks great. Very alien and mildly Lovecraftien-esque.
This looks sick dude, I really like the mysteriousness of the piece, It takes a while to work out what it is and got me thinking and looking at the details.


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text:
The impact of caregiver deaths due to COVID-19: 1.5 million children lost a primary or secondary caregiver
We've lost a lot of people in the pandemic. A study published in The Lancet this summer shows that more than 1.5 million children around the world are estimated to have lost at least one parent, custodial grandparent, or grandparent who lived with them due to death related to COVID-19 during the first 14 months of the pandemic. The authors, Susan Hills et al, warn that orphanhood is an urgent and overlooked consequence of the pandemic and emphasizes that providing evidence-based psychosocial and economic support to children who have lost a caregiver must be a key part of responding to the pandemic.
From the press release (bold by me):
The analysis used mortality and fertility data to model rates of COVID-19-associated orphanhood (death of one or both parents) and deaths of custodial and co-residing grandparents (ages 60-84) from March 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021, across 21 countries. This study was funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
In the paper, "COVID-19-associated deaths" referred to the combination of deaths caused directly by COVID-19 and those caused indirectly by other associated causes, such as lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and movement, decreased access or acceptability of health care and of treatment for chronic diseases.
Traumatic experiences, such as the loss of a parent or caregiver, are associated with increases in substance use, mental health conditions, and other behavioral and chronic health conditions. NIDA supports research aimed at understanding the impact of trauma on young people, preventing substance use after experiencing hardship, and treating substance use in populations that experience trauma.
"Studies like this play a crucial role in illuminating the COVID-19 pandemic's long-lasting consequences for families and the future mental health and wellbeing of children across the globe," said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. "Though the trauma a child experiences after the loss of a parent or caregiver can be devastating, there are evidence-based interventions that can prevent further adverse consequences, such as substance use, and we must ensure that children have access to these interventions."
To estimate pandemic-associated orphanhood and caregiver deaths, the study used excess mortality and COVID-19 mortality data for 21 countries that accounted for 77% of global COVID-19 deaths during 2020 and early 2021. These include Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, England and Wales, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, United States, and Zimbabwe.
The authors estimate that 1,134,000 children lost a parent or custodial grandparent due to COVID-19-associated death. Of these, 1,042,000 children were orphaned of a mother, father, or both — most lost one, not both parents. Overall, 1,562,000 children are estimated to have experienced the death of at least one parent or a custodial or other co-residing grandparent (or other older relative).
The countries with the highest numbers of children who lost primary caregivers (parents or custodial grandparents) included South Africa, Peru, United States, India, Brazil, and Mexico. The countries with rates of COVID-19-associated deaths among primary caregivers (>1/1000 children) included Peru, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Iran, United States, Argentina, and Russia.
The study found that for every country, COVID-19 associated deaths were greater in men than women, particularly in middle- and older-ages. Overall, there were up to five times more children who lost a father than who lost a mother.
"We know from our research that loss of a parent or caregiver can upend children's lives and potentially affect their development if they are not in a stable home setting. If we take into consideration variants of concern or possible severity of illness among youth, we must not forget that the pandemic continues to pose a threat to parents and caregivers — and their children," said Chuck A. Nelson, III, Ph.D., study author, Boston Children's Hospital.
While research on the science of substance use and addiction remains the primary focus of NIDA's work, NIDA is supporting COVID-19 research, and has issued over $15 million in funding for COVID-19-related projects since the start of the pandemic that could leverage current infrastructure, projects, or scientific knowledge and resources.
Abstract of the study:
The COVID-19 pandemic priorities have focused on prevention, detection, and response. Beyond morbidity and mortality, pandemics carry secondary impacts, such as children orphaned or bereft of their caregivers. Such children often face adverse consequences, including poverty, abuse, and institutionalisation. We provide estimates for the magnitude of this problem resulting from COVID-19 and describe the need for resource allocation.
We used mortality and fertility data to model minimum estimates and rates of COVID-19-associated deaths of primary or secondary caregivers for children younger than 18 years in 21 countries. We considered parents and custodial grandparents as primary caregivers, and co-residing grandparents or older kin (aged 60–84 years) as secondary caregivers. To avoid overcounting, we adjusted for possible clustering of deaths using an estimated secondary attack rate and age-specific infection–fatality ratios for SARS-CoV-2. We used these estimates to model global extrapolations for the number of children who have experienced COVID-19-associated deaths of primary and secondary caregivers.
Globally, from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, we estimate 1 134 000 children (95% credible interval 884 000–1 185 000) experienced the death of primary caregivers, including at least one parent or custodial grandparent. 1 562 000 children (1 299 000–1 683 000) experienced the death of at least one primary or secondary caregiver. Countries in our study set with primary caregiver death rates of at least one per 1000 children included Peru (10·2 per 1000 children), South Africa (5·1), Mexico (3·5), Brazil (2·4), Colombia (2·3), Iran (1·7), the USA (1·5), Argentina (1·1), and Russia (1·0). Numbers of children orphaned exceeded numbers of deaths among those aged 15–50 years. Between two and five times more children had deceased fathers than deceased mothers.
Orphanhood and caregiver deaths are a hidden pandemic resulting from COVID-19-associated deaths. Accelerating equitable vaccine delivery is key to prevention. Psychosocial and economic support can help families to nurture children bereft of caregivers and help to ensure that institutionalisation is avoided. These data show the need for an additional pillar of our response: prevent, detect, respond, and care for children.
September 24, 2021 PedroAt home, Research
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Q: Is it possible to write HERE flexible-polyline directly into Postgis? Is there a Possibility to directly write a HERE flexible-polyline into my Postgis/Postgres Database without Decoding, converting to Text and then make a Geometry using ST_MakeLine(ST_MakePoint(...) ? I am afraid that there is no possiblilty (other than with Google-encoded-Polyline). Or is there something to use?
Background: I am testing the HERE-API for routing. I have found the Java-source to Decode the resulting Polyline from Github: https://github.com/heremaps/flexible-polyline. Therefore I can read the coordinates from this flexxible-polyline-String

*

*flexible-Polyline: BG8_9j7Cy11iXsBlBoBrEnBrErJrJzF3DnGvC7GnBvHoBjNkI7BrE7GvR7BjDrEvH_E3I_EvHvCrE3SnajNrTjIjNvHjN7G_OvHjSnGnQ_EzP_E_TrEnVrErYjDvWrEvgB7BnLjD_TvCjXjDvgB5D9qB

*this results in the coordinates: (47.774718 / 12.102489) (47.77474 / 12.10247) (47.77476 / 12.1024) (47.77474 / 12.10233) .... (in the South of Germany)

*or as Postgis-Request: ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(12.102489 47.774718, 12.10247 47.77474, 12.1024 47.77476, 12.10233...
My Request is:

*

*https://router.hereapi.com/v8/routes?transportMode=car&return=polyline,summary,travelSummary&routingMode=short&departureTime=2021-02-10T06:40:00&apiKey=******&origin=47.77494541091896,12.103053452705371&destination=47.77202596545944,12.095115520523986
But now I wanted to convert this Point-List to Postgis. I hoped to use an existing function, e.g. ST_LineFromEncodedPolyline from Postgis. Unfortunately this does not return valid results as it is based on the Google encoding/decoding algorythm. Results from ST_LineFromEncodedPolyline are (which clearly shows that it is a huge difference between these Polyline-compressions):
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromEncodedPolyline('BG8_9j7Cy11iXsBlBoBrEnBrErJr.....
--Result:
SRID=4326;LINESTRING(0.00004 -0.00002,0.0042 -0.00015,0.00422 -0.00405,0.00431 -0.00104,0.0048 ...

Is there some way e.g. using a multiplier to get this geometry from the HERE-String?

A: As I couldn't find an answer or a working solution, I wrote as I hoped not to ... My results are the following:

*

*Java Jackson-Parser
ObjectMapper oJacksonObjectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
IOUtils.copy(oRespIputStream, oStringWriter, Charset.forName(StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name()) );
JsonNode oJsonNode = oJacksonObjectMapper.readTree(sJsonString);

*RoutingHereSection.java
@JsonProperty("polyline")
private String polylineString;
private List<LatLngZ> listeLatLonCoords;
private String listeLatLonCoordsAsPostgisString;

*PolylineEncoderDecoder.java (from Github) added Method:
public String getKoordinatenMitSpaceFuerPostgis() {
   return ""+ lng +" "+ lat;   // => not lat/lng for Postgis
}

*parse the Coordinate-String
  this.listeLatLonCoords = PolylineEncoderDecoder.decode( this.polylineString );

*Loop to create LINESTRING
        this.listeLatLonCoordsAsPostgisString = "";
        if (this.getListeLatLonCoordsAnzahl()>0) {
            String sGeom = "LINESTRING(";
            for (int ii=0; ii<listeLatLonCoords.size();ii++) {
                if (ii>0) { sGeom +=", "; }
                sGeom += listeLatLonCoords.get(ii).getKoordinatenMitSpaceFuerPostgis();
            }
            sGeom += ")";
            this.listeLatLonCoordsAsPostgisString = sGeom;
        }

*INSERT into using Jdbc
String sSql = "INSERT INTO mytable ST_GeomFromText( ? ,4326) "
Object[] oParam = new Object[] { oSectionReturn.getListeLatLonCoordsAsPostgisString() }
int[] oType = new int[] { java.sql.Types.VARCHAR }
getJdbcTemplate().execute( sSql )

that's it ... more or less.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Well, in the eternal dance of whether Jerome Valeska is or is not The Joker, we seem to have come up with a definitive answer.
And that's with Jerome's apparent end.
That's Entertainment, like Jerome's plan, seems a stall for time before moving on to hopefully bigger and better things. It also seems a weird rehash of the 1989 Batman film to where one wonders if anyone in the production wasn't aware of it.
Jerome the "not" Joker (Cameron Monaghan) has abducted the interim Mayor, the Commissioner, the Catholic archbishop and the head of a 'good society' organization as part of a major plan. That plan involves blowing the heads off each of these hostages until his demands are met.
Those demands are that his twin brother Jeremiah (Monaghan in a dual role) and Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) be brought to him. Captain Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is reluctant to do that. For once, Bruce's valet Alfred (Sean Pertwee) and his on/off gal-pal Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) agree that Bruce shouldn't do it. Bruce, however, believes it is the right thing to do.
All this is actually just one part of an even larger scheme that Jerome has cooked up with his Legion of Horribles: Mr. Freeze (Nathan Darrow), The Mad Hatter (Benedict Samuel), Scarecrow (David W. Thompson) and Firefly (Michelle Ventimilla). Their plan is to unleash Scarecrow's madness gas on the citizens.
For once, however, one of the criminal masterminds, Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) is horrified when he finds out the entire scheme. He does not want anything to do with all this madness, but Jerome already knew he was wavering. He has Pengy put on the blimp that will release the gas to see them all die.
Gordon, however, with help from Lucius Fox (Chris Chalk) and even from Pengy manages to stop the slaughter. However, at long last, Jerome appears to die from a combination of getting shot and falling off a building.
In our subplot, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) is still feeling her way with her powers as the Demon's Head. Power, along with her League of Assassins' Amazonian Guard, goes to her head. Bonkers Babs now has convinced herself she is a virtual goddess, but she wants to use her powers to merely enrich herself.
This does not sit well with Tabitha (Jessica Lucas), who thinks the whole thing is deranged, even for Bonkers Babs. As befits a goddess with a private army, Babs dumps Tabitha and has her thrown out.
However, there is hope on the horizon, for a renegade group of League of Shadows group want to remove Barbara, and take Tabitha with them as part of a secret plan.
As I mentioned, I said the answer to whether Jerome is 'the Joker' is definitely maybe only because in what is meant as a surprise, Jeremiah has been given a special brand of Scarecrow's toxin that seems to have made him bonkers too. As such, it seems that the entire character of Jerome was just one long con, and the 'twin' a convenient way to keep things going.
I don't think it is particularly original to have the twin essentially take on the other's role, especially since Monaghan was playing a variation on Heath Ledger's iconic take on the Joker.
I have stated many times how no actor following Ledger in the role of The Joker can ever escape his shadow, and while Monaghan has done a great job as the proto-Joker, he still faces that daunting task of following in Ledger's footsteps.
Monaghan has shown his range with playing these dual roles, but it is interesting that for the idea that this is a Legion of Horribles, there was really room for only two of them: Jerome and Penguin.
Nothing shakes my belief that Robin Lord Taylor is among the very best things in Gotham, and That's Entertainment shows what mastery he has on the role of Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin.
We see something we haven't seen from Pengy: actual human emotion divorced from his drive for power or revenge. He's willing to go along with any crime that gets him either, but the wholesale slaughter of people just for the 'joy' of killing is one bridge he cannot cross.
In his fear of this madness down to the comedy of seeing Pengy attempt to fly a blimp and frustration of being stuck on it after all this has happened, RLT shows he can handle both drama and comedy so well.
Let's face it: what can be funnier than seeing that Penguins CAN Fly!
It's a shame that the other members of the Legion had smaller roles, though they did them well. I do wish Darrow's Mr. Freeze had a larger role, but one can't top his entrance to the Wayne Enterprises' lab.
Fair warning: the cinematic nature of the raid was fantastic, but it could cause epileptic seizures with all the flashing lights to where I think a warning should have been made.
Another warning should have occurred with regards to a longstanding issue: the violence. Even with the shaky-cam and quick cuts, we can see people's heads explode, and I still am highly troubled by this.
We still see a strong group of performances: McKenzie's steely Gordon, Bicondova's Selina, our anti-heroine, Donal Logue's quippy Bullock, Mazouz's moral Bruce. He and Bicondova make such a wonderful pairing that I'd be happy with a show about Bat-Cat separate from everything else.
As for the subplot, Richards has not failed ever since she went from bland Barbara to Bonkers Babs. It isn't her fault that the subplot itself is pretty wild even for Gotham.
There were other issues apart from the violence in That's Entertainment. The plot bears a striking similarity to Batman (the poisoned gas, the 'Joker' falling to his death, even the gift). The gift itself is so obviously in Jerome's taste that Jeremiah must be stupid to not think his twin would not be behind it.
That's Entertainment had some good performances that lifted it slightly from the story that seemed filler for a larger plan. I can't fault it for that, although it is still troubling in its graphic nature.


How did I get this blessed?
When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "Just sweeping up the room, Mom. I put away all the toys, and it's gonna be totally spotless by the the time I'm done in here." He didn't look for praise. He didn't ask for help, and he didn't wait to be asked to help, either. He just saw a job that needed doing and he did it. I was so amazingly proud, and I felt so amazingly small.
As a mom and a homemaker, I find that I don't always do things unprompted, and I don't always do them with no thought of praise, either. Sometimes, I let the dishes pile up in the sink for days because I just don't feel like dealing with them, especially when I know that no one will notice if I do them and will probably only notice if I don't. Sometimes, I forget to sweep ignore the Cheerios and crackers that are crunching under my feet in the kitchen. And sometimes, I scold my children for, let's face it, behaving the exact same way. So when I walk into a bedroom that I am fairly certain was practically trashed like a hotel room after a rock star convention and saw the above, pretty spotless room, I felt first, hugely proud of my little man and second, about three inches tall. I guess this means I should work harder at both fulfilling my own tasks with cheerfulness and without ulterior motives AND that I should be happy that, even if I don't feel as if I've had much to do with it, I have an amazing son, amazing children, and that I am truly blessed to share in their childhoods.
So now, I want to know, have your children ever surprised you by being the person you hope to be when you grow up?


text:
package com.github.pockethub.ui.issue;

import android.accounts.Account;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.util.Log;

import com.github.pockethub.R;
import com.github.pockethub.ui.ProgressDialogTask;
import com.github.pockethub.util.ToastUtils;
import com.google.inject.Inject;

import org.eclipse.egit.github.core.Comment;
import org.eclipse.egit.github.core.IRepositoryIdProvider;
import org.eclipse.egit.github.core.service.IssueService;

/**
 * Task to delete a comment on an issue in a repository
 */
public class DeleteCommentTask extends ProgressDialogTask<Comment> {

    private static final String TAG = "DeleteCommentTask";

    private final IRepositoryIdProvider repository;

    private final Comment comment;

    @Inject
    private IssueService service;

    /**
     * Delete task for deleting a comment on the given issue in the given
     * repository
     *
     * @param context
     * @param repository
     * @param comment
     */
    public DeleteCommentTask(final Context context,
            final IRepositoryIdProvider repository,
            final Comment comment) {
        super(context);

        this.repository = repository;
        this.comment = comment;
    }

    @Override
    protected Comment run(Account account) throws Exception {
        service.deleteComment(repository, comment.getId());
        return comment;
    }

    /**
     * Delete comment
     *
     * @return this task
     */
    public DeleteCommentTask start() {
        showIndeterminate(R.string.deleting_comment);

        execute();
        return this;
    }

    @Override
    protected void onException(Exception e) throws RuntimeException {
        super.onException(e);

        Log.d(TAG, "Exception deleting comment on issue", e);

        ToastUtils.show((Activity) getContext(), e.getMessage());
    }
}


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text:
using OpenTK;
using OpenTK.Graphics;
using StorybrewCommon.Mapset;
using StorybrewCommon.Scripting;
using StorybrewCommon.Storyboarding;
using System;

namespace StorybrewScripts
{
    public class Tetris : StoryboardObjectGenerator
    {
        [Configurable]
        public int StartTime = 0;

        [Configurable]
        public int EndTime = 0;

        [Configurable]
        public double BeatDivisor = 1;

        [Configurable]
        public string SpritePath = "sb/sq.png";

        [Configurable]
        public double SpriteScale = 0.625;

        [Configurable]
        public Vector2 Offset = new Vector2(320, 240);

        [Configurable]
        public Vector2 ShadowOffset = new Vector2(4, 4);

        [Configurable]
        public double Rotation = 0;

        [Configurable]
        public int GridWidth = 10;

        [Configurable]
        public int GridHeight = 20;

        [Configurable]
        public float CellSize = 20;

        [Configurable]
        public int BlockLength = 4;

        [Configurable]
        public int Blocks = 1;

        [Configurable]
        public bool Wait = true;

        [Configurable]
        public bool Dumb = false;

        [Configurable]
        public Color4 Color;

        public class Cell
        {
            public int X;
            public int Y;

            public OsbSprite Sprite;
            public OsbSprite Shadow;

            public bool HasSprite { get { return Sprite != null; } }
        }
        private Cell[,] cells;

        public override void Generate()
        {
            var beatDuration = Beatmap.GetTimingPointAt(0).BeatDuration;
            var timestep = beatDuration / BeatDivisor;

            cells = new Cell[GridWidth, GridHeight];
            for (var x = 0; x < GridWidth; x++)
                for (var y = 0; y < GridHeight; y++)
                    cells[x, y] = new Cell() { X = x, Y = y, };
            for (var time = (double)StartTime; time < EndTime; time += timestep)
            {
                for (var i = 0; i < Blocks; i++)
                    addBlock(time - timestep, time);
                if (clearLines(time, time + timestep))
                    time += Wait ? timestep : 0;
            }

            for (var x = 0; x < GridWidth; x++)
                for (var y = 0; y < GridHeight; y++)
                    if (cells[x, y].HasSprite)
                        killCell(EndTime, EndTime + timestep, x, y);
        }

        private void addBlock(double startTime, double endTime)
        {
            var brightness = (float)Random(0.3, 1.0);
            var color = new Color4(Color.R * brightness, Color.G * brightness, Color.B * brightness, 1);

            var heightMap = new int[GridWidth];
            var bottom = 0;
            for (var x = 0; x < GridWidth; x++)
            {
                for (var y = 0; y < GridHeight; y++)
                {
                    if (cells[x, y].HasSprite)
                        break;

                    heightMap[x] = y;
                }
                bottom = Math.Max(bottom, heightMap[x]);
            }

            var dropX = Random(GridWidth);
            while (!Dumb && heightMap[dropX] != bottom)
                dropX = Random(GridWidth);

            var dropY = heightMap[dropX];

            fillCell(startTime, endTime, dropX, dropY, color);
            for (var i = 1; i < BlockLength; i++)
            {
                var options = new int[] { 0, 1, 2, 3 };
                shuffle(options);

                foreach (var option in options)
                {
                    var nextDropX = dropX;
                    var nextDropY = dropY;

                    switch (option)
                    {
                        case 0: nextDropX++; break;
                        case 1: nextDropY++; break;
                        case 2: nextDropX--; break;
                        case 3: nextDropY--; break;
                    }

                    if (nextDropX < 0 || nextDropX >= GridWidth || nextDropY < 0 || nextDropY >= GridHeight)
                        continue;

                    if (cells[nextDropX, nextDropY].HasSprite)
                        continue;

                    if (heightMap[nextDropX] < nextDropY)
                        continue;

                    dropX = nextDropX;
                    dropY = nextDropY;
                    fillCell(startTime, endTime, dropX, dropY, color);
                    break;
                }
            }
        }

        private bool clearLines(double startTime, double endTime)
        {
            var anyCombo = false;
            var dropHeight = 0;
            for (var y = GridHeight - 1; y >= 0; y--)
            {
                var combo = true;
                for (var x = 0; x < GridWidth; x++)
                    if (!cells[x, y].HasSprite)
                    {
                        combo = false;
                        break;
                    }

                if (combo)
                {
                    anyCombo = true;
                    for (var x = 0; x < GridWidth; x++)
                        killCell(startTime, endTime, x, y);

                    dropHeight++;
                }
                else if (dropHeight > 0)
                {
                    for (var x = 0; x < GridWidth; x++)
                        if (cells[x, y].HasSprite)
                            dropCell(startTime, endTime, x, y, dropHeight);
                }
            }
            return anyCombo;
        }

        private void fillCell(double startTime, double endTime, int dropX, int dropY, Color4 color)
        {
            var shadow = GetLayer("Shadows").CreateSprite(SpritePath, OsbOrigin.TopCentre);
            var sprite = GetLayer("Blocks").CreateSprite(SpritePath, OsbOrigin.TopCentre);

            cells[dropX, dropY].Sprite = sprite;
            cells[dropX, dropY].Shadow = shadow;

            var targetPosition = new Vector2(dropX * CellSize, dropY * CellSize);
            var startPosition = new Vector2(targetPosition.X, targetPosition.Y - CellSize * GridHeight);

            sprite.Rotate(startTime, Rotation / 180 * Math.PI);
            sprite.Scale(startTime, SpriteScale);
            sprite.Color(startTime, color);
            sprite.Move(OsbEasing.In, startTime, endTime, transform(startPosition), transform(targetPosition));

            shadow.Rotate(startTime, Rotation / 180 * Math.PI);
            shadow.Scale(startTime, SpriteScale);
            shadow.Color(startTime, 0, 0, 0);
            shadow.Fade(startTime, 0.5);
            shadow.Move(OsbEasing.In, startTime, endTime, transform(startPosition) + ShadowOffset, transform(targetPosition) + ShadowOffset);
        }

        private void killCell(double startTime, double endTime, int dropX, int dropY)
        {
            var sprite = cells[dropX, dropY].Sprite;
            var shadow = cells[dropX, dropY].Shadow;
            cells[dropX, dropY].Sprite = null;
            cells[dropX, dropY].Shadow = null;

            sprite.Scale(startTime, endTime, SpriteScale, 0);
            sprite.Color(startTime, Color);

            shadow.Scale(startTime, endTime, SpriteScale, 0);
        }

        private void dropCell(double startTime, double endTime, int dropX, int dropY, int dropHeight)
        {
            var sprite = cells[dropX, dropY].Sprite;
            var shadow = cells[dropX, dropY].Shadow;

            cells[dropX, dropY].Sprite = null;
            cells[dropX, dropY + dropHeight].Sprite = sprite;

            cells[dropX, dropY].Shadow = null;
            cells[dropX, dropY + dropHeight].Shadow = shadow;

            var targetPosition = new Vector2(dropX * CellSize, (dropY + dropHeight) * CellSize);
            var startPosition = new Vector2(targetPosition.X, dropY * CellSize);

            sprite.Move(OsbEasing.In, startTime, endTime, transform(startPosition), transform(targetPosition));
            shadow.Move(OsbEasing.In, startTime, endTime, transform(startPosition) + ShadowOffset, transform(targetPosition) + ShadowOffset);
        }

        private Vector2 transform(Vector2 position)
        {
            position = new Vector2(position.X - GridWidth * CellSize * 0.5f, position.Y - GridHeight * CellSize);
            return Vector2.Transform(position, Quaternion.FromEulerAngles((float)(Rotation / 180 * Math.PI), 0, 0)) + Offset;
        }

        private void shuffle(int[] array)
        {
            var n = array.Length;
            while (n > 1)
            {
                n--;
                var k = Random(n + 1);
                var value = array[k];
                array[k] = array[n];
                array[n] = value;
            }
        }
    }
}