text:
Northern local division
S v Amunyela (CC 13 of 2020) [2022] NAHCNLD 130 (13 December 2022);
Court name
CC 13 of 2020
Media neutral citation
[2022] NAHCNLD 130
Criminal law – Murder – Evidence – Circumstantial evidence – Court must be satisfied that the inference sought to be drawn is consistent with all the proved facts; and that the proved facts should be such that they exclude every reasonable inference from them save the one sought to be drawn – Found that the only inference that can be drawn and is consistent with the proven facts is that the accused murdered the deceased with direct intent.
Headnote and holding:
Both the accused and the deceased left Omunegongo cuca shops to go home on the evening of 23 December 2018. The deceased was the girlfriend of the accused. A witness who was also from the Sem cuca shops found the accused seated next to Kaarina Ngula who was lying on the ground by the road. The deceased was found dead the next day. The police were summoned to the scene and they followed the footprints of the person that was around the body of the deceased and who had left the scene. The accused could not be traced that day. He was only arrested on 26 December 2018. Accused allegedly admitted to police officers that the jacket found covering the deceased and the nike tekkies were his. The accused denied strangling the deceased save for stating that he was assaulted by the two men and he ran for his life. The post-mortem report shows that the deceased died of strangulation, and also an observation of fine linear abrasions on the skin of the neck which were possibly caused by nails. The court found that from the facts found proven the only inference to be drawn is that the accused murdered the deceased. Consequently, the accused is found guilty of murder.
Held that, no onus rests on the accused to convince the court of the truth of any explanations given even if the explanation is improbable, unless the court is satisfied that the explanation is false beyond reasonable doubt.
Held further, that accused's explanation was not only improbable but also false beyond reasonable doubt.
Held further that, the direct and circumstantial evidence led proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused murdered the deceased with direct intent.
Salionga J
HIGH COURT OF NAMIBIA NORTHERN LOCAL DIVISION
HELD AT OSHAKATI
Case no: CC 13/2020
In the matter between:
MARTIN NAMBARA AMUNYELA ACCUSED
Neutral citation: S v Amunyela (CC 13/2020) [2022] NAHCNLD 130 (13 December 2022)
Coram: SALIONGA J
Heard: 19, 20, 21, 22 July 2022; 12 and 19 August 2022; 23, 28-29 September 2022; 10-11 and 13 October 2022
Delivered: 13 December 2022
Flynote: Criminal law – Murder – Evidence – Circumstantial evidence – Court must be satisfied that the inference sought to be drawn is consistent with all the proved facts; and that the proved facts should be such that they exclude every reasonable inference from them save the one sought to be drawn – Found that the only inference that can be drawn and is consistent with the proven facts is that the accused murdered the deceased with direct intent.
Summary: Both the accused and the deceased left Omunegongo cuca shops to go home on the evening of 23 December 2018. The deceased was the girlfriend of the accused. A witness who was also from the Sem cuca shops found the accused seated next to Kaarina Ngula who was lying on the ground by the road. The deceased was found dead the next day. The police were summoned to the scene and they followed the footprints of the person that was around the body of the deceased and who had left the scene. The accused could not be traced that day. He was only arrested on 26 December 2018. Accused allegedly admitted to police officers that the jacket found covering the deceased and the nike tekkies were his. The accused denied strangling the deceased save for stating that he was assaulted by the two men and he ran for his life. The post-mortem report shows that the deceased died of strangulation, and also an observation of fine linear abrasions on the skin of the neck which were possibly caused by nails. The court found that from the facts found proven the only inference to be drawn is that the accused murdered the deceased. Consequently, the accused is found guilty of murder.
The accused is found guilty of murder with direct intent read with the provisions of the Combating of Violence Act 4 of 2003.
Salionga, J:
[1] The accused is indicted on a charge of murder read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, Act 4 of 2003. In that on or about 23 December 2018 and at or near Omugulugonime village in the district of Ondangwa the accused did unlawfully and intentionally kill Kaarina Ngula by strangulating her.
[2] The summary of substantial facts reads as follows:
'At the time of the commission of the crime the accused and Kaarina Ngula (deceased) were in a domestic relationship as they were or had been involved in an actual or perceived intimate or romantic relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend. On the 23 December 2018, the accused strangled Kaarina Ngula to death near Oshangwena Primary School at Omugulugonime village. After strangulating her to death, the accused left her body at the scene and disappeared. The body of the deceased was discovered thereafter lying near the path.'
[3] The State was represented by Mr Matota and the accused was represented by Mr Shipila from the Directorate Legal Aid.
[4] The accused pleaded not guilty. He gave a detailed plea explanation in terms of section 115 of the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977 (CPA) as follows:
'1. I, the undersigned, Martin Nambara Amunyela do hereby state that
1.1 I am an adult male Namibian;
1.2 I am the accused person in this matter;
2. I am indicted on a count of murder.
3. I plead not guilty to all the charges against me.
4. My defence is that I did not strangle the deceased to death as alleged, nor did I do anything to cause her death.
5. 'In amplification of my defense, I wish to place the following on record;
5.1 The deceased was known to me during her life time.
5.2 She was my girlfriend, Kaarina Ngula.
5.3 We cohabitated for some time at Omugulugonime village.
5.4 Our relationship became strained towards the end as it appeared to me that Kaarina was either in a relationship with other men or she was seeing another person.
5.5 This became apparent to me when I found her at home with another man in the bedroom.
5.6 When we argued about this however, she told me that the said man had raped her and that they were not in a relationship at all.
5.7 I proceeded to take her to the clinic from where she was later referred to the Hospital
5.8 This was around October 2018 but unfortunately, I no longer recall the date when this happened though I do recall that her face was swollen.
5.9 I also recall that around that time, she was given a form by the Police for the doctors to go and complete in relation to her rape.
5.10 To my surprise however, she was not very keen on taking the matter any further.
5.11 We had another argument about the incident and I started to wonder whether she was really raped or whether she was in a relationship with the man I found her with.
5.12 She insisted she was raped and that her assailant beat her and caused her face to swell up.
5.13 I had my doubts about what she was saying but I really could not dispute it
5.14 I opted to believe her.
5.15 On or about 23 December 2018, Kaarina and I went to the cucashops at Omunegongo village.
5.16 We went to charge my cell phone, to socialize and to have a few drinks.
5.17 On the way to the cuca shops, Kaarina had asked me for my jacket saying that she felt cold.
5.18 I obliged and gave it to her.
5.19 While there I did not notice anything out of the ordinary.
5.20 We stayed at the cuca shops until after dark.
5.21 I must have been around 20h00 when we left although I cannot be sure of the time now.
5.22 On our way home, as we were passing Oshangwena Primary School, I noticed two men approaching us from the behind.
5.23 I looked like they were also coming from the cuca shops and they were walking quite fast towards us.
5.24 They came to us and one of them asked why I am always with his girlfriend.
5.25 I was surprised by what he said as I had no idea what he was talking about.
5.26 I asked him who his girlfriend was and he replied that he was talking about Kaarina.
5.27 Just after his reply, both men started assaulting me.
5.28 They beat and kicked me.
5.29 I became scared and ran for my life.
5.30 Kaarina was just standing and looking on as they assaulted me so I left her there.
5.31 The following day I heard that Kaarina's body was found near Oshangwena Primary School.
5.32 I dispute that I strangled or assaulted the deceased in any other manner that lead to her death.
5.33 I put the state to the proof of its case.
5.34 I confirm that I have consulted with my lawyer prior to making this statement.'
[5] The following was recorded as admissions in terms of section 220 of the CPA:
'5.1 The identity of the deceased as Kaarina Ngula;
5. 2 That, the deceased was my girlfriend and thus that there was a domestic relationship between her and I.'
[6] The following documents were handed up as exhibits by consent: The indictment as exhibit 'A', The section 115 CPA plea explanation as exhibit 'B', Summary of substantial facts and the list of witnesses as exhibit 'C', The State's pre-trial memorandum as exhibit 'D' ; Accused's reply to the State's pre-trial memorandum dated 18 May 2021 as exhibit 'E', Accused's reply to the State's pre-trial memorandum dated 28 May 2021 as exhibit 'F', The pre-trial review conference memorandum as exhibit 'G', Certified copy of the Namibian Identification card of Ngula Kaarina (deceased) as exhibit 'H', Identification of corpse of Kaarina Ngula (Pol 51) by Julius Ngula as exhibit 'J', Affidavit in terms of section 212 (4) by Doctor Godwin M. Zishumba (Pol 52) A.19 dated 28 December 2018 as exhibit 'K', Report on A medico- legal post –mortem examination with death Register No 267/208 by Dr Godwin M Zishumba dated 28 December 2018, A21 P as exhibit 'P', Affidavit in terms of section 212 (4) Act 51 of 1977 by Erwin Nestor Kavela (Pol 54), A20 dated 23.12.2018 as exhibit 'L', Photo plan and key thereto compiled by DWO Elifas Amutenya in respect of Okatope CR 50.12.2018 Omuthiya negative 278/2018 as exhibit 'M', Record of proceedings in terms of section 119 of the CPA 51 of 1977 under case number ; Ondangwa OND-CRM-3868/2018 as exhibit 'N', Okatope CR 50.12.208 (Sem Shipale statement) as exhibit 'O', Entries from OB Monday 24-12-2018 Pol 10 'Q' and 26-12-2018 (379) Pol 10 as exhibit 'R'.
State case
[7] Sem Shipale testified that he knew the accused person as Martin and the deceased as Nambata prior to this incident. He used to see the accused at Omugulugonime village. According to this witness, the deceased was the girlfriend to the accused and resided in the Sem house of Nikela ya Nangolo a grandfather of the accused.
[8] Shipale further testified that on Saturday the 22nd December 2018 at around 22h00, while walking on the path road on his way from Omungonyati cuca shops going to the water point, he saw two persons on the road[1]. One was lying on the back while the other one was seated. He walked closer at the distance of 4 steps and saw that Martin was the one seated and Nambata now the deceased was laying on her back. He was able to identify them clearly because of the moon lit. He did not talk to the two persons he found, he just passed by and went straight to open the water tanks at the water point. After he opened the water tank he did not pass through the Sem route, he just went home.
[9] The next morning, the 23rd December 2018 around 8 o'clock, Shipale walked the Sem path taking the cattle to the water point. On his way he saw a group of people gathered at Oshangwena Primary School and he went there. He stood at a distance of 19 steps and observed a person lying on her back with her face covered with a blue jacket. He also saw Pieter in that vicinity. He proceeded to the water point. He only came to know later that the person who was lying on the ground was Martin's wife, Nambata.
[10] According to Shipale he saw the accused wearing the Sem jacket at the cucashop on the 22nd December 2018. Shipale came at the cucashop at 11o'clock and accused might have come around 12 o'clock because he found him there and accused was in the company of Nambata (the now deceased). He was together with the accused at the cuca shops since 13h00 until 20h00 p.m. when the accused and the deceased left. He identified the blue jacket depicted on photo 10 of exhibit 'M' as the jacket the accused was wearing on 22 December 2018 and the Sem jacket he saw covering the deceased's face on 23 December 2018.
[11] In cross-examination Shipale disputed accused's instructions that while he and the deceased were walking past Oshangwena Primary School on their way home, two men approached them of which one of them asked the accused why he was always walking with his girlfriend and that these men attacked and assaulted the accused while the deceased stood by and looked on, that the accused fled the scene leaving the deceased with the two men at that spot. He denied the accused's version that the sky was overcast and that it was about to rain when the accused and the deceased were walking past the school and said the sky was clear. He also denied accused's instructions that he gave his jacket to the deceased to wear on their way to the cuca shops stating that he saw the accused wearing the blue jacket at the Omungonyati cuca shops. He conceded though that he did not see the accused strangling or assaulting the deceased.
[12] Pieter Bernardo testified that on Sunday the 23 December 2018 around 06h27 he left the cattle post so that he could take his cattle to the water point. When he reached Oshangwena Primary School while following the cattle behind, he observed that the cattle were moving from the road going towards the fence of Oshangwana Primary School. He wanted to see why the cattle were leaving the road. He then saw something dark in front and went closer at a distance of about 17 steps away where he saw a person lying on her back on the road. Close to the body of this person he also saw dry sticks which he estimated to be 6-7 sticks in number. He called his neighbour Ms.Tuuliki one of the State witness to inform her that he had found something strange, who advised him to rather go and report to Mr Shikangala. According to the witness the distance from the scene to Mr Shikangala's house was about 8 minutes' walk. He did as advised and thereafter he and Mr Shikangala later came to the scene. Mr Bernado testified that he remembered having seen the deceased with the accused drinking at the Ongondjati cuca shop on or before the 23 December 2018. He estimated the time he arrived at the cucashops to be around 16h00 pm. He did not know when the accused and his wife arrived there but they found him at the cucashops and he did not know them before. After the police arrived at the scene he informed them that he was the person who discovered the body of the deceased.
[13] Sem Ndinelago Amwenyo is a Sergeant Class two in the Namibian Police stationed at Okatope police station. He testified that he arrested the accused person on 26 December 2018 when he met him at Osipita location around 15h00 pm. Officer Amwenyo testified that he knew the accused was a suspect in a murder case committed near Oshangwena Primary School on the 23 December 2018 in which Kaarina Ngula was killed. The witness also knew Kaarina before the incident because their villages were adjacent to each other.
[14] According to Amwenyo, he and the accused are from the Sem's village, in the area of Onyaanya. On 26 December 2018, when he saw the accused, he recognised and called him by his name, Martin, but he ignored him as if he did not hear or that Martin was not his name. The witness called him again "Mbushe" the nick name they normally call each other. Accused responded by looking at him. Before he asked him anything the accused said; 'I was already on my way coming to you at Okatope where the witness was working. He was the one taking by himself saying in connection with crime which they said apparently he was the one who commit it at Oshangwena School.'(SIC) It must be noted that from the digital recording I listened, the following was said: Before I ask him anything, accused said I was on my way to you at Okatope where you are working in connection with a case they are saying I committed." According to the witness they were close to each other at a distance of about two steps and he identified the accused as the wanted suspect in the murder case. Thereafter he informed the accused of his legal rights and arrested him.
[15] It was Amwenyo's evidence that on the day of the incident, Sergeant Oscar Sileze informed him of a person who was killed on 23 December 2018 at Omugulugonime village close to Oshangwena School. He accompanied Sileze and upon their arrival at the scene they found a group of people gathered. He also saw a body of a person lying with the face looking up and facing the school gate. The person lying was covered with a jersey or a jacket. Amwenyo testified that it was a body of a female person and close to the body there were a lot of sticks. They also observed one shoe print at the scene that passing around the body although it looked like it rained a bit. The same footprint walked away from the body to the northern direction. On the body itself they saw some marks on the neck, at the back or shoulder and on the leg which were swollen and a bit red. The marks on the neck looked like the person was strangled. The person wore a bra and a red skirt. The body was later loaded in a police van and taken to Omuthiya police mortuary.
[16] After the body was taken from the scene, the witness, Sileze and other members of the force followed the shoe prints for about 10 kilometers from Oshangwena Primary School to the area of Omuntele. He described the tekkie shoe prints they followed as having dots under the sole. According to him some people were following the prints by feet but he was driving a vehicle and was taking people from one place to another until other cars came from Okatope. In cross-examination Amwenyo stated that at the time he called the accused and questioned him about the alleged incident he knew that he was a suspect and that he was a Sgt class 2. He confirmed that he observed at least 5 different shoe prints at the scene. However he explained that the shoe prints counsel for the accused was referring to, were for people who took pictures and for his colleagues when they were investigating the case. When counsel put it to him that some footprints at the scene could be for members of public, the witness said he only knew that most of those footprints were for police officers. On whether Sem Shipale could not have left the footprints the previous night, the witness replied that he walked far not that close to the body.
[17] Tuuliki Pinehas was the fourth State witness. She corroborated the other two witnesses' evidence in that, the accused came at the cuca shops with Nambata on 22 December 2018. However contrary to Sem Shipale's evidence that he saw accused wearing a jacket, she testified that she saw Nambata wearing a blue jacket at the cucashops. Her testimony further corroborated the witness Pedro Bernado's evidence in as far as the report he made to her after he discovered the dead body next to the Oshangwena Primary School. She also testified that she was at home when she got the said report and advised Pieter Bernado to report what he saw to Mr Shikangala.
[18] Oscar Sileze's testimony was that on Sunday the 23 December 2018 while on standby he was summoned by Omuntele police to attend to a murder report. He testified that he was called because he was a Unit Commander of the uniformed investigators in that area. After receiving a report together with Sem Ndinelago Amwenyo they went to attend the scene. According to this witness upon their arrival at the scene there was no other police officers around. He saw a saw a body of a female person lying on the ground on her back without shoes. This person was wearing a red shirt and the face was covered with a blue jacket and near the head there were broken dry sticks. He also observed red bruises around the neck, on the arm and on the left leg. He further observed a tekkie shoe print next to the body and described the prints of the tekkie as having dots. At a distance of about 30 meters, he could see a piece of a cloth which looked like the red skirt worn by the person lying on the ground. He walked to where the piece of cloth was and observed a pair of black sandals, one piece of broken dry stick, some struggling marks, bare foot and tekkie shoe prints similar to the ones he was following from where the person was lying up to where a piece of cloth was.
[19] Sileze, testified that while they were still investigating some other members of the community arrived whereby Johannes Nikela recognised the blue jacket as belonging to Martin Nambara the accused person. Julius Ngula, another member of the community identified the body of the deceased as that of Kaarina Ngula. The witness walked through the scene and observed one tekkie shoe print leaving the scene to the northern direction. As they had already alerted the scene of crime and mortuary personnel of Omuntele and Omuthiya respectively before they went to the scene, the said officers also arrived and joined them. According to Sileze, the mortuary personnel arrived after an hour and the scene of crime officer arrived about 30 minutes after. After the body was inspected, it was handed over to sergeant Kavela who transported it to Omuthiya police mortuary. At the scene he collected 13 sticks altogether, the blue jacket and the one pair of black sandal which were handed to Sergeant Hans Nambahu for safe keeping.
[20] It was Sileze's testimony that after the body and the exhibits were given to the responsible officers some of them followed the footprints up to almost 500 meters. Thereafter the prints disappeared due to wet surface as it rained the previous night and there was grass. At that point Amwenyo said he knew the suspect was from Elambo and suggested that they should go there. The officer from Omuntele accompanied them to accused's mother's village Elambo which is about 10 kilometers in order to trace the accused. On their way to Etambo at a certain cucashop they again found shoeprints which looked like the ones they found at the scene, however they also disappeared after about 10 meters. They proceeded to his mother's place but accused was not there. They searched at other villages such as Elambo, Onyaanya, Omugulugonime and Omugandji but they could not trace him that day. He identified the exhibits found at the scene such as the shoes visible in photo 12 of exhibit 'M' as that of Officer Amutenya the Scene of Crime Officer and that of the investigating officer himself Mr Sileze.
[21] Godwin M Zishumba who is a medical doctor testified that he examined the body of a 41 year old female. The body was identified to him by Sergeant Kavela of Forensic Unit as that of Kaarina Ngula. He compiled the report number 267/2018 marked exhibit 'P'. The Doctor further testified that during his examination he observed small haemorrhages on the white part of the eyes, finger nail scratch marks on the front neck of the deceased, abrasions around the neck posterior surface. According to doctor Zishumba, the small haemorrhages around the white parts of the eyes were signs of suffocation. He recorded the cause of death as strangulation. He explained that because of the position of the irregular abrasions which were traversely across the neck, he opined that the person inflicting them was from behind. He was not able to explain the causes of the other abrasions the deceased sustained on her body.
[22] Zakaria Hans Nambahu was a charge office driver at Okatope Police Station. On 23 December 2018 he received a report that they should go to an incident at Omuntele, Omugulugonime village. After the report was made in the office, four of them went there. The other three officers were Sergeant Amwenyo, Warrant Shilumbu and Sergeant Sileze. They went with two cars and he went with Warrant Shilumbu. Upon their arrival at the scene he observed a lady lying dead and she was covered with a man's jacket. They found members of the public standing about 17 steps away and they did not find police officers at the scene. He also observed broken sticks at the surroundings where the body was lying. Some sticks were close to the body and some were about one step away. The body was then removed by the mortuary officers of Omuthiya. Sileze gave the witness the sticks, a pair of sandals and a jacket found covering the face of the deceased so that he could go and record them in the books. He went with the exhibits to the office and locked them up in the safe as it was knock off time. The next morning he entered the exhibit in Pol 7 number 379/2018. He was able to identify the entry number 1458 he made which is a serial number. These exhibits were booked in under Pol 7 number 379/2018 on 25 December 2018 and marked exhibit 'Q' and 'R' respectively.
[23] The last witness called by the State was Lenah Elago, a Constable in Nampol and stationed at Okatope. She testified that she works with books such as OB, Pol 9, Pol 7, Pol 10 and others. She explained that pol 7 is a book where one records the exhibits and on 24 December 2018 she made several entries in pol 7. She further explained that pol 7 does not belong to a particular officer but to the office in general. One of the entries she made is CR 50.12.2018 which she got from Sergeant Sileze the Investigation Officer in this case. She took the court through the entries she made. She was able to explain the three signatures on that entry, one being for the Investigator, in this case for Sergeant Sileze, her own signature as the person who wrote down exhibits in the book and the signature of a person who will keep or deal with pol 7. She further testified that the items she booked in on that day were pieces of palm and Mopani sticks, a navy blue jacket and a pair of Hainnavasia plaakies which she identified in court.
[24] After the state had closed its case, counsel for the accused applied for a discharge in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. He argued that there was not enough evidence presented against the accused to show that he committed the offence referred to in the indictment. Counsel argued that the State did not successfully discharge the onus that rested upon it. Therefore the court should enter a verdict of not guilty at this stage and discharge the accused person.
[25] On the other hand counsel for the State submitted that the decision whether to discharge or not is a judicial decision. In this case the evidence presented by the State can only be ignored if it was of such a poor quality that no reasonable person could possibly accept it. According to counsel the evidence of Sem Shipale that he found the deceased lying on her back and the fact that the following morning the body was found in the same position should not be ignored because it was not challenged. Counsel pray that accused be placed in his defense.
[26] Thus, section 174 application was then dismissed on the following reasons. The inquiry in an application for a discharge was not, and has never been whether the evidence was cogent, plausible or constituted proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Supreme court in S v Teek[2] in para 7 also re-affirmed the generally accepted view that, although credibility is a factor that may be considered during the section 174 application, it plays a very limited role. It is only relevant if the evidence is of such poor quality that, in the court's opinion, no reasonable court could accept it as reliable.
[27] Section 174 of the Act makes plain that the court, at the close of the case for the State, has discretion to return a verdict of not guilty if it is of the opinion that there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence charged, or can be convicted on any of the competent verdicts applicable. The words 'no evidence' has been interpreted in our Namibian Courts in S v Nakale and others[3] to mean no evidence upon which a reasonable court acting carefully may convict (also see S v Teek[4] ).
[28] In the instant matter the State led evidence that on 22 December 2018 the accused in the company of Kaarina Ngula now deceased found Sem Shipale at the cuca shops and left home together. The next day Kaarina was found dead at the road near Oshangwena Primary School. That was the same place where Shipale testified that he saw the accused seated next to Kaarina who was lying on her back. Although accused in his plea explanation disputed to have strangulated the deceased he admitted that he was with the deceased on that particular night. He explained that he was attacked while the deceased was watching and he ran away for his life leaving her there. He also admitted that he was only arrested three days after the incident. Accordingly the plea explanations by the accused cannot be used as versions to discredit state witnesses to the extent mentioned in this regard[5]. Neither can in my view accused's instructions to his counsel which were put to witnesses in cross-examination of what he alleges do this.
[29] In determining whether the State led evidence on which a reasonable court acting carefully may convict, this court was convinced that the evidence adduced by the state up to that stage was not of such poor quality that no reasonable court may convict. Unless contradicted, it established sufficient prima facie evidence to place the accused on his defence.
[30] After delivering the ruling, accused elected to testify under oath and had no witnesses to call. In his evidence accused testified that he knows nothing about the killing. He further testified that on 22 December 2018 he went to the Omunegongo cuca shops with Kaarina Ngula around 16h00. He knew Sem Shipale a witness in this case and they found him there. He disputed Sem Shipale's evidence as not true save for admitting that they were together. By being together he meant that they were in the same area, sitting at different places not together with him. He denied that he was socialising with Sem Shipale on that day. He admitted to have left the cucashop at around 20h00 pm in the company of Kaarina Ngula his girlfriend and the deceased in this case.
[31] While on their way home, and at or near Oshangwena Primary School, two unknown men came from behind and approached him. One of the two unknown men asked the accused why he was walking with Kaarina Ngula who is allegedly the girlfriend of the unknown man. Before he could ask or answer the unknown men started assaulting him by beating, kicking and assaulting him. At that time Kaarina was just there watching him being assaulted. The accused then left the scene walking to save his life as he could not fight the two men. He left Kaarina Ngula talking to those unknown men but did not hear what they were talking about. He stated that he could not have gone with Kaarina as she was talking to them and the two men fought him because of her. It was his evidence that the next day at eight o'clock he heard from a neighbour that Kaarina's body was found at that school. Accused testified that he was arrested by Sgt Amwenyo on 26 December 2018. He also testified that the blue jacket exhibit 'P' belongs to him which the deceased was wearing on that fateful day and a pair of plakkie sandals exhibit '2' belongs to the deceased which he had given her.
[32] In cross-examination the accused testified that he left his girlfriend with two unknown men; that he never informed anybody that he was assaulted by two unknown men on the night of 23 December 2018. That he was taken by Okatope police to the hospital. He testified that the next morning of 24 December 2018 he was told that the body of his girlfriend was found near Oshangwena Primary School. He denied to have left the scene running as he stated in his plea explanation, saying he merely walked away to save his life; he denied to have told Amwenyo that he wanted to go to Okatope to report but got lost from the scene. He further testified that from the scene he knew how to get to the village and to the farm where he was residing with Kaarina Ngula; he stated that he used to pass by the school many times about six to seven times;
[33] The accused admitted that a pair of black Nike tekkies with blocked or squared prints marked exhibit 5 belongs to him. He also confirmed that he was wearing the same tekkies on 23 December 2018 and on 26 December 2022 the day of his arrest. These were the same tekkie D/Sgt Sileze testified that he seized from the accused. He however denied that he was seated next to Kaarina Ngula on the night before her body was found. He denied to have made admissions to Amwenyo. He maintained that it was him instead who was looking for Sgt Amwenyo because he wanted to go and report at Okatope Police Station and not vice-versa. He did not dispute that the deceased died of strangulation.
Submissions by the State.
[34] Mr Matota submitted that the evidence of Sem Shipale was clear and satisfactory in all material respects and complies with the requirements of section 208 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. He further submitted that Sem Shipale knew the accused and the deceased three months prior to this incident. He further submitted that, not only that Shipale knew the accused before the incident but he had also seen the accused and the deceased on the 22 December 2018 at the cucashops in that regard, his evidence was corroborated by that of the accused. According to counsel, because of the moon light and Shipale was at a close proximity of 4 steps from them, the witness was able to identify and describe the position he found them. On the defence's submission that it was cloudy and rained, counsel submitted that it could only rained late that night. In making reference to case law counsel submitted that Sem Shipale placed the accused at the scene where Kaarina Ngula was found dead the next morning.
[35] He further submitted that the evidence of Sem Shipale was corroborated by that of Pieter as he discovered the body the next morning near the same school and the jacket found covering the face of the deceased was that of the accused. Counsel contended that Sileze and Amwenyo also saw the body in a position described by Shipale and Pieter. The evidence of Sileze and Amwenyo that they saw the tekkie prints around the body and same leaving the scene in this regard is credible when regard is had that accused testified that he was at and left the scene after he was attacked. Counsel thus submitted that the accused's defence that he was assaulted and left the deceased with two unknown men was a fabrication and should be rejected. It was counsel further submission that the fact that accused did not tell anyone about the assault until he was found by Sgt Amwenyo three days after the incident is not reasonable and questionable. That was despite, the knowledge that the body of his girlfriend was found at a spot where he left her with the so-called unknown men the following morning. For the aforesaid reasons, counsel submitted that the behaviour of an accused after an event can serve as an indication as to his state of mind at the time of the commission of the crime. Therefore his evidence that he was attacked should be rejected as fabrication and be found guilty of murder read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act 4 of 2003.
Submissions by Defence
[36] Mr Shipila in referring to case laws[6] submitted that the State failed to disprove the defence raised by the accused in his plea explanation save for Shipale who disputed the version of the accused without any basis. He submitted that Sem Shipale was not a credible witness in that his claim that he was in the company of the deceased and the accused on 22 December 2018 at Omunegongo cuca shops and that he had seen the accused seated next to the body of the deceased near Oshangwena Primary School is so poor that it cannot be accepted by a reasonable court. With regard to Amwenyo's evidence where he claimed to have called the accused, questioned him pursuant to his knowledge that he is a suspect regarding the incident counsel submitted that such admissions are inadmissible. Further that even if it were found to be admissible that is evidence of a purported admission, such were not reduced in writing, nor was it made to a justice of peace nor was the accused given an opportunity to confirm or deny the veracity thereof. He argued that this further vitiated the admissibility of such evidence against the accused. On Sileze's evidence counsel submitted that the court should reject it as an afterthought, that the evidence before court does not support the inference that the accused person killed the deceased and even if the court finds that it supports such an inference, it is not the only inference to be drawn from the facts.
[37] In substantiating his argument counsel submitted that Sem Shipale's evidence is in conflict with that of Pieter Bernardo with regard to the time the accused and the deceased arrived at the Omunegongo cuca shops and that Shipale was in the company of the accused and the deceased. He further submitted that the State led evidence to the effect that the killer wore the shoes with a dotted shoe print which was followed from the scene however the shoes that the accused was wearing did not match that description. He thus submitted that the inference that it is the accused who killed the deceased is not consistent with the proved facts. Therefore counsel is asking this court to acquit the accused, order his immediate release from custody and the return of his items being marked exhibits 1 and 5.
Court analysis and findings
[38] In the instant matter the only issue for determination is who murdered Kaarina Ngula whose body was found on 23 December 2018 next to Oshangwena Primary School. It is trite that there was no eye witness to the actual killing of the deceased. However the State is basing its case on the evidence that the accused was seen seated next to Kaarina Ngula who was lying on her back, the admissions accused allegedly made on the date of his arrest as well as circumstantial evidence. I must state that the approach this court must follow when dealing with evidence of a single witness and the circumstantial evidence is fairly articulated in a number of case law[7].
[39] The court is alive that Sem Shipale was a single witness in respect of the events that he had been called to testify about. In evaluating his evidence I cautioned myself of the danger of convicting an accused on such evidence. He at no stage appeared to be biased against the accused. He knew the accused and the deceased three months prior to the incident. Not only that he knew both accused and the deceased, he was also with them on 22 December 2018 at the cucashops. He had seen the accused and the deceased leaving the cucashops and at a distance of about 4 steps from them he was able to identify them as the two people he found at the road. He described the position in which he found them that the accused was seated next to Kaaria Ngula who was lying on her back. This is the position the body of the deceased was found lying the next morning. Surely the visibility ought to be good for him to make those observations when he passed by the scene on the night in question.
[40] In the instant matter counsel for the defence profoundly argued that Shipale deviated from his police statement and was not credible witness. This court in S v Xaba[8] held that it is a well-known fact that police statements are as a matter of common experience not taken with the degree of care, accuracy and completeness. The approach to such evidence or deviation was articulated in S v Mafaladiso[9] that not every error by a witness nor every contradiction or deviation severely affects the credibility of a witness and non-material deviations are not necessarily relevant. In his statement to the police Sem Shipale stated that he saw the accused and his girlfriend at the cuca shops happily together and did not see them arguing. In his evidence under oath Shipale testified that accused was in a company of the deceased when they came at the cuca shops. While in cross-examination he testified that he was with the accused at the cuca shops and accused's girlfriend was seated under the tree. When regard is had to Shipale's statement at the police, his evidence under oath in court, and having applied the approach applied in Mafaladiso en andere[10], it is my respective opinion that the said deviation was not material to reject his entire evidence. Shipale as a witness appeared to be a relatively credible and intelligent and find that Sem Shipale's evidence notwithstanding some shortcomings was satisfactory and reliable.
[41] Coming to the evidence of doctor Zishumba that the deceased died of strangulation, same was not disputed nor was it displaced in cross-examination and the court will consider that as conclusive evidence.
[42] It is common cause that the evidence of Pieter on what he observed while herding cattle to the water point was also that of a single witness. He gave crucial evidence on a number of aspects such as the position in which he saw the deceased lying on the ground. His evidence to some extent corroborated the evidence of Sem Shipale in that the body was lying on its back and was covered with a blue jacket. I am mindful of the salutary warning expressed in S v Snyman[11] that even when dealing with the evidence of a single witness, courts should never allow the exercise of caution to displace the exercise of common sense.
[43] Equally important is the sentiments of the court in S v Sauls and Others[12] that there is no rule of thumb test or formula to apply when it comes to consideration of the credibility of the single witness. The court must consider the merits and demerits of the testimony and having done so will decide whether it is trustworthy and whether despite that there are shortcomings or defects or contradictions in the testimony he is satisfied that the truth has been told. Equally as Pieter's evidence was not challenged in cross-examination the court found that he was an independent and trustworthy witness and accepted his evidence.
[44] Counsel for the accused again took issue with the admissions allegedly made by the accused to officer Amwenyo. Counsel correctly argued that this witness knew that accused is a suspect in this matter and that although they followed the shoe prints, no shoe print was traced to the accused person. He contended that the court should not attach any weight because Sgt Amwenyo in cross –examination stated that he called and questioned the accused about the alleged incident well knowing that he is a suspect. It is trite that there are prerequisite before admissions made by a suspect to a police officer can be admitted into evidence. In casu I was privileged enough to listen to the transcribed record of proceedings because the transcribed record was not clear. From the digital recording, Amwenyo is quoted verbatim as follow; 'Before I ask him anything, accused said I was on my way to you at Okatope where you are working in connection with a case they are saying I committed'. I am not satisfied that, what was said here was admissions and I will not consider them as such nor will I attach any weight on such evidence.
[45] Having found as above, what remains to be considered is circumstantial evidence. In so doing, the court is guided by various legal principles in determining whether the charge against the accused has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. In S v Reddy and others[13] the court held that in assessing circumstantial evidence one needs to be careful not to approach such evidence upon a piece meal basis and to subject each individual piece of evidence to consideration of whether it excludes the reasonable possibility that the explanation given by an accused is true. The evidence need to be considered in its totality. It is only then that one can apply the often quoted dictum in R v Blom[14] where reference is made to two cardinal rules of logic which cannot be ignored. These are; firstly that the inference sought to be drawn must be consistent with all the proven facts and secondly the facts should be such that they exclude every reasonable inference from them save, the one sought to be drawn.
[46] On Sileze's evidence counsel for the accused also submitted that the scene was contaminated, Sileze testified on a number of aspects in the course of their investigation of the case. The evidence of footprints may in the same way as fingerprints provide circumstantial evidence of identity and is therefore admissible evidence. However it has been said that courts must be cautious of relying upon such evidence especially where it is the only evidence against the accused, and the cogency of such evidence must depend upon all the circumstances of the case. One of such circumstances is whether the imprint left by the shoe in question has some distinctive character eristic or pattern (see S v Mkhabela 1984 (1) SA 556 (A) at 563)
[47] In his testimony, Sileze testified about his observations at the scene of crime. Sileze's evidence on the observations at the scene was corroborated by the scene of Crime Officer who compiled a photo plan marked exhibit 'M' and by the evidence of officer Amwenyo in material aspects with an exception of who arrived first at the scene.
[48] From the evidence of police officers who attended the scene, this court did not get the impression that their evidence was false or that they had ulterior motives to implicate the accused. Save for not corroborating each other regarding who first arrived at the scene. Counsel for the accused submitted that such contradiction is material in as far as it relates to the description of the shoe prints found on the scene. Counsel went further to state that if there were other people at the scene as testified by Amwenyo then the shoe prints found and followed by the police could have belonged to any of those people. In the same vein counsel contended that if there was no-one at the scene as per Sileze's evidence then one wonders who discovered the body of the deceased and alerted the police. Counsel argued that Amwenyo and Sileze's evidence left a lot of doubt as regards whose shoe prints were at the scene.
[49] I for one do not agree with counsel for the accused that no explanation at all was given regarding the foot/shoeprints found at the scene. Amwenyo testified that although the ground looked disturbed due to reasons given in his evidence, it was only one footprint around the scene which they followed. He explained that the footprints in photo 3 were for the police officers they met/found at the scene including that of himself and that was corroborated by Sileze. Amwenyo's evidence that the police from Omuntele were first at the scene was corroborated by that of Hans Zakaria Nambahu. Amwenyo further explained that the footprints for other members of the community who were at the scene were not close to the body and this piece of evidence was confirmed by Pieter who testified that they stood at about 17 steps away.
[50] I find it strange for counsel for the accused to profoundly contend and insist that the evidence of shoe prints the police followed were that of the accused is hearsay and inadmissible evidence. Such evidence should not have been in dispute when regard is had that accused placed himself at the scene of the crime. The accused testified that he was with the deceased when he was allegedly attacked and that he fled the scene. To argue and contend that the evidence of the shoe print is hearsay is displayed and baseless. In my view the only issue in dispute in casu was the identity of the perpetrator.
[51] Accused admitted in cross-examination that the pair of Nike tekkie shoe found was his which Sileze seized from him after he was arrested. The accused apart from confirming a pair of tekkies, also confirmed the blue jacket exhibit '1' to be his. Accused also admitted that he was wearing a pair of Nike tekkies exhibit 5 on 23 December 2018. The police searched for him on the 23 December 2018 without success and was only arrested on the 26 December 2018. Even if it is true that he was then attacked by two men and fled the scene, the least accused could do was to report the culprits the next day especially when he was informed that the body of his girlfriend was found near Oshangwena Primary School.
[52] I remind myself that there is no onus on the accused to prove the truthfulness of any explanation which he gives or to convince the court that he is innocent. Any reasonable doubt the court might have regarding his guilt must be accorded to the accused. In case where accused opted to offer an explanation which is improbable, the court may still not convict him, unless it is satisfied that the explanation is false beyond reasonable doubt. (See R v Difford 1937 AD 370 at 373).
[53] Having considered the merits and demerits of both the State and the defence case as well as the probabilities, the only inference to be drawn from the evidence in its totality is that the accused's explanation that he was attacked by two men and fled the scene, is not only improbable but also false beyond reasonable doubt and is rejected as an afterthought. Further that his behaviour after the incident, the manner in which the deceased was murdered and the nature of the injuries sustained showed that the accused had direct intention to kill the deceased.
[54] In the result:
Accused is found guilty of murder with direct intent read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act 4 of 2003.
J T SALIONGA
For the State: Mr L Matota
Office of the Prosecutor-General, Oshakati
For the Accused: Mr L P Shipila
Directorate of Legal Aid, Oshakati
[1] See page 15 lines 26-27 of the transcribed record
[2] (SA 44/2008) [2009] NASC 5 (28 April 2009)
[3] 1994 NR 262 (HC)
[4] 2009(1) NR 127 (SC)
[5] Ibid
[6] S v Shivute 1991 NR 123 (HC), 1991 (1) SACR 656 and S v Ananias 2014 (3) NR 665 (HC)
[7] Boois v S (HC-MD-CRI-APP-CAL-2019/00063) [2020] NAHCMD 128 (22 April 2020) and S v HN 2010 NR 429 (HC) 442 E-F
[8] 1983 (3) SA 717 (A) at 730B-G
[9] S v Mafaladiso en andere 2003 (1) SACR 583 (SCA) at 593e – 594 h
[11] 1968 (2) SA 582 (A) at 585 G
[12] 1981 4 All SA 182(AD); 1981 (3) SA 172 (A) at 180 E-F
[13] (416/94)[1996] ZASCA 55 (28 May 1996)
[14] 1939 AD 188 at 202-203
Download as doc
Similar Judgments
Amutenja v Amutenja () [2020] NAHCMD 322 (30 July 2020);
High Court Main Division
Nakambunda v Mwetulundila () [2020] NAHCNLD 98 (30 July 2020);
Iithete v Markus () [2020] NAHCNLD 99 (30 July 2020);
Bicon Namibia Consulting Engineers v Nkurenkuru Town Council () [2020] NAHCMD 323 (30 July 2020);
Freedom Square (Pty) Ltd v The Social Security Commission () [2020] NAHCMD 327 (31 July 2020);


Dana Broach; Civil Aeromedical Institute.; United States. Office of Aviation Medicine.
Air traffic controllers -- Training of -- United States.
Air Traffic Controllers' Strike, U.S., 1981.
Employee selection -- Data processing.
Title from title screen (viewed on Jan. 1, 2011).
"Performing organization, FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute"--Technical documentation page.
The Federal Aviation Administration was confronted in 1981 with the challenge of rebuilding its core, technical, and highly-trained air traffic control specialist (ATCS) workforce following the PATCO strike. From late 1981 through mid-1992, the FAA rebuilt this critical workforce through a large-scale testing, screening and training program. By mid-1992, recovery of the controller workforce was complete, and it was no longer necessary for the FAA to conduct a large-scale hiring program. The six papers presented in this report represent the first major retrospective analysis of the complete data set describing the recovery of the FAA's en route and terminal ATCS workforce following the 1981 controller strike. The first paper describes the personnel processes, focusing on recruitment and hiring programs for the en route and terminal options. The second paper presents a detailed description of the aptitude test battery used to evaluate over 400,000 applicants between 1981 and 1992. The third paper offers a definitive statistical portrait of the FAA Academy Screening programs as predictors of field training outcomes. On-the-job training (OJT) programs in en route and terminal facilities are described in the fourth paper. These four papers, taken together, provide a definitive description of the processes used to recruit, test, screen, and train persons for the ATCS occupation between 1981 and 1992. The fifth paper draws on FAA organizational survey data to describe controller perceptions of the organizational climate in which the workforce recovery occurred. The sixth paper analyzes current controller workforce demographics and technological trends in air traffic control to identify potential areas of future research.
Add tags for "Recovery of the FAA air traffic control specialist workforce, 1981-1992". Be the first.
Air traffic controllers -- Training of.
Personnel Management and Labor Relations.
library:placeOfPublication <http://experiment.worldcat.org/entity/work/data/436244475#Place/washington_d_c> ; # Washington, D.C.
schema:location <http://experiment.worldcat.org/entity/work/data/436244475#Place/washington_d_c> ; # Washington, D.C.


text:
BIG to design 2016 Serpentine Pavilion, alongside smaller "Summer Houses" by Kunlé Adeyemi, Barkow Leibinger, Yona Friedman and Asif Kahn
By Nicholas Korody
Feb 10, '16 3:29 PM EST
BIG will design this year's Serpentine Pavilion (center: Bjarke Ingels; portrait by Jonas Bie) and four practices were asked to design smaller Summer Houses (clockwise): Yona Friedman at work in Los Angeles; Asif Khan, portrait courtesy Adriano Mauri / Design Indaba; Barkow Leibinger, portrait by Benedikt Kraft; Kunlé Adeyemi, portrait by Reze Bonna.
The Serpentine Galleries in London announced earlier today the designer of the 2016 iteration of their annual Pavilion series: Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG, the Copenhagen and New York-based global powerhouse.
This summer marks the 16th Pavilion of the acclaimed program, which began in 2000. Conceived initially by Julia Peyton-Jones, the outgoing co-director of the Galleries, the Serpentine' Pavilion commission is awarded each year to noted architects who have never built in the UK.
As Peyton-Jones' swan song, this summer's program will be expanded to include four other 25 square meter structures, or "Summer Houses", scattered on the lawns of Hyde Park in close proximity to the Galleries. These will be designed by Kunlé Adeyemi – NLÉ (Amsterdam/Lagos), Barkow Leibinger (Berlin/New York), Yona Friedman (Paris) and Asif Kahn (London).
Since its inception, the Serpentine Pavilion has drawn large crowds, garnering public attention for practitioners whose reputations had not necessarily exceeded the limits of the discipline yet. It ranks among the top-ten most visited architectural exhibitions in the world.
BIG, helmed by the flamboyant and media-savvy Bjarke Ingels, has collected a wealth of high-profile commissions in the last few years, helping them to achieve far greater public recognition than the past two designers of the Pavilion, the Madrid-based SelgasCano or the Santiago-based Smiljan Radic.
Known for their crowd-pleasing and photogenic work, BIG will have 6 months to design and realize the 300 square meter Pavilion. By day, the structure will house a café enabled through a collaboration between the Galleries and Harrods. At night, the Pavilion is intended as a space for "learning, debate and entertainment."
There is no budget for the project, which relies instead on sponsorship, help-in-kind support and the sale of the Pavilion. So far, only a proposal by MVRDV has exceeded the fiscal limits of the program.
The four Summer Houses introduced this year are intended to respond to the nearby Queen Caroline's Temple, a classical-style summer house built in 1734. There is little word on their program, besides providing visitors an "unrivaled, first-hand experience of contemporary architecture". The expanded program will be submitted later this month to the Westminster City Council Planning Office and District Surveyor's Office.
Kunlé Adeyemi is a Nigerian architect and the founder of NLÉ. Alongside built work, NLÉ serves as a strategy advisor, making use of their extensive research on urban systems in the rapidly-growing economies of the developing world. Like Bjarke Ingels, Adeyemi began his career working under Rem Koolhaas at OMA.
Barkow Leibenger, founded Regine Leibinger and her partner Frank Barkow in 1993, has offices in Berlin and New York. Known for their research-based, material-sensitive design practice, Barkow Leibenger have realized a wide range of built projects, including the Stadthaus M1 in Freiburg and the Tour Total tower in Berlin.
At 93, Yona Friedman, the Hungarian-born French architect, is the oldest of the Pavilion designers this year. A survivor of the Holocaust, Friedman first achieved recognition in the late 1950s during the so-called "age of megastructures" with his theoretically-charged speculative projects. A profoundly influential urban thinker, Friedman has little built work besides models.
"Architecture is not simply the art of building: it is rather that of space management," Friedman once stated. While his influence is visible even in the work of development-friendly practices like BIG, the radical holism of his thinking remains largely unrivaled to this day, and for some, his commission will be the most eagerly anticipated.
Asif Khan, a London-based architect whose practice operates across the fields of architecture, industrial and furniture design, recently won the 2014 Cannes Lion for Innovation Gran Prix. His project, "MegaFaces," a pavilion for the Sochi Olympics that incorporated a kinetic facade that recreated the faces of visitors. Khan's entry for the Guggenheim Helsinki competition was shortlisted and included a translucent, "smart" glazed skin.
At this point, no designs or further details have been announced about any of the designs. Likewise, it is not clear to what degree – if at all – the Pavilion and Summer Houses will be in dialogue.
"All projects have been thrilling to commission and will be equally exciting to realize," state Peyton-Jones and Obrist. "We cannot wait to unveil them all this summer."
Want to learn more about past Serpentine Pavilions and their designers? Check out some older Archinect coverage:
Architecture at the limits of instability: an interview with Smiljan Radić
The Serpentine Pavilions from the past: Where are they now?
After 25 years, Serpentine co-director Julia Peyton-Jones is leaving
Serpentine Galleries launch Build Your Own Pavilion for (really) young architects
BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group is hiring!
Similar articles on Archinect that may interest you...
Touring BIG's 2016 Serpentine Pavilion and the new Summer Houses
Sou Fujimoto discusses limbo, dichotomies and nature in his architecture
'To be with architecture is all we ask.' – interview with Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of the...
SelgasCano unveils designs for the 2015 Serpentine Pavilion
Bird's Nest Collaborators, Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron, selected for 2012 Serpentine
Smiljan Radic to design 14th Serpentine Galleries Pavilion
serpentineserpentine galleryserpentine pavilionpavilionbigbjarke ingelsasif khanyona friedmanbarkow leibingerkunle adeyeminlÉhans ulrich obristjulia peyton-jonesserpentine pavilion 2016
Related Archinect Profiles
BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group
NLÉ
Nate Hornblower
Asif Kahn to design 2016 Serpentine Pavilion.... Who are we kidding.... Let's do this, corrupt media!
Feb 10, 16 4:37 pm
Olaf Design Ninja_
Yona Friedman and Bjarke should design something together, I bet no one would critique that one.
Back to News List...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


After a few rousing chants of "free the spores," a small group of roughly 20 citizens filtered into the Denver city and county building Monday for a meeting with city officials and emerged knowing they may soon have the all-clear to gather signatures on a measure to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.
A 2005 appeals court decision in New Mexico effectively legalized the cultivation of psilocybin. Last year, Oregon reduced possession charges for many illegal drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor. California voters approved a similar measure in 2014.
Another state may beat Colorado to the ballot: California may vote on a similar measure later this year.
Although to the uninitiated any drug identified as "psychedelic" conjures up visions of wild-eyed naked hippies running through the forest in hot pursuit of elves/gods/whatever it is they're seeing at the time, in truth the effects of psilocybin mushrooms are quite mild with little to no danger of lethal overdose or addiction. It's certainly nothing you would want to operate machinery under the influence of, but on objective scale of public safety hazards, magic mushrooms rate low enough that in the era of legal marijuana it's just not something to get worked up about–not to mention the benefits some users cite from consumption.
If this passes, the next generation of hippies might have yet another reason to include Denver on their gap year world tour! Please trip responsibly.
Hell no! . . .
. . . "like Peter Tosh say, legalize it"!!
Is there a mushroom-based equivalent to Reefer Madness?
This is going to send Moderatus into a tizzy.
Nope it just proves again what I've always said about Colorado Pols. Lawless druggies and liberal trash.
Turn Denver into Amsterdam for all I care, I live in the suburbs.
I know. Only members of the Gross Old Perverts who sexually harass people and crazed gunmen should be allowed to be above the law and live consequence free.
Ha! You call that living?
Of course Nutlid would reject science. Why use something natural that works when we can keep these souls addicted to prescription drugs?!?
We're in this odd situation where one of the most promising therapies also happens to be a Schedule 1 substance banned by the [Drug Enforcement Administration]," said retired Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, who until 2010 was the highest-ranking psychiatrist in the U.S. Army.
"… wild-eyed naked hippies running through the forest in hot pursuit of elves/gods/whatever it is they're seeing at the time,.."


Toronto, Ontario – NCM Investments (NCM) is pleased to announce that NCM Pension Portfolios are available for Canadians starting today, October 1, 2018.
NCM Pension Portfolios consist of three unique funds each designed to provide pension style investing for all Canadians.
"We are proud to continue our tradition of product innovation at NCM that support advisors and investors, from award-winning investment mandates to the first flat fee pricing model for mutual funds and now pension style investing for all Canadians" says Alex Sasso, CEO.
"The NCM Pension Portfolios provide access to award-winning managers, low fees and global diversification in a one ticket solution" says Wan Kim, Senior Vice President, National Sales & Marketing.
For over 20 years, NCM has been one of Canada's leaders in actively managed investment products. With an in-house Portfolio Management team and a family of actively managed funds, NCM has earned multiple awards to recognize its investment success. NCM is an independent Canadian investment firm with offices in Calgary and Toronto.


Not long ago, Google search rankings more or less went to the highest bidder. Simply by building links and pages bloated with keywords and saturating your page with pay-per-click traffic, it was easy to ascend to the top of a Google search in your industry for years. But as marketing and sales have steadily digitized, the stakes have been raised for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). There was simply too much spam; now, Google is constantly developing new search and PageRank algorithms to thwart brute force SEO practices and encourage "organic" content online.
Needless to say, this development has blurred the line between conventional SEO and marketing in general. SEO is no longer an isolated feature that is tacked onto websites as an afterthought. In fact, it is the foundation of digital content today; web design, development, and marketing are now largely driven by SEO best practices established by Google.
Google's algorithms are sensitive to everything from URLs and backlinks to organic traffic and clickthroughs, not to mention that the parameters are always changing. Although it is now much more complicated to build a digital presence optimized for Google, with the right strategy it is actually easier than ever to connect with and convert leads into customers online.
Your website is a great platform to attract potential clients and augment the visibility of your business. But building a website is only the first step to establishing an enduring web presence. You need new content produced rapidly to generate and sustain the traffic that will keep you at the top of the first page of searches in your industry.
Working with a digital agency can help you tailor your website and produce content campaigns that abide by Google's stringent guidelines. This not only allows you to focus on providing your clients the best services possible, it boosts sales and brings people through your door every day.
If you are a business in Chicago, you want to connect with local customers. That's obvious, right? Fortunately, Google makes it easy to draw local traffic to your website by connecting with Maps and favoring location-specific content.
As a Chicago-based online marketing and SEO company, we know the city and the surrounding suburbs, and can help you generate content that caters to your present, past, and future clients. We deliver everything from web design and development to branding, social media, and content campaign strategies.
Interested in adding Inbound Marketing to your efforts?
Schedule a consultation with our Inbound Marketing specialists.


text:
Carnival Champions
BARUCH ENTERTAINERS 2019
ABOUT BARUCH ENTERTAINERS
The organization is spearheaded by the company Baruch Marketing Management Solutions, who over years have always been involved in community upliftment projects and aiming to enhance culture within Cape Town and the broader South Africa.
It is an increasing concern that our communities are being overshadowed by criminal activity, drug abuse, HIV and Aids, and much more negative influence on the youth and young people of South Africa. Music, Dance and Sport has always been an active option to help rid our society of wrong influences. To bring positivity, build sound relationships, and develop positive social experiences for the future of our city and country.
With what we are doing it is our ultimate goal to add value to people in the purest form, especially young children and youth, who are the future of our country. We promote culture and unity, and we embark on ventures to create these opportunities for others.
Baruch Entertainers are minstrel participants, where we enable the less privileged to learn, develop and showcase talents as part of creating opportunities for them, that in today's times are not easy to come by. We understand the cape culture and we embrace its legacy, that lest we forget where originality stems from.
We remain true to ourselves and the people of Cape Town, and strive to promote Unity Through Culture.
In conjunction with Tehillah House in Elsies River, we offer rehabilitation service, for all types of social issues.
We also do HIV and Aids awareness drives, and educational sessions on these issues that we are faced with in todays time.
Included in our initiative is to provide an opportunity to teach music. This includes reading musical notes as well as playing music instruments. We develop potential talents and create opportunities for them to further or pursue opportunities in music. The Music School is directed by Carlton Adams, a young man from the Elsies River community who has developed into on of the best Young Trumpeters in Cape Town. His vast experience and skill at a very young age, has placed him on the forefront of one the leading future professional jazz trumpeters. His willingness to teach others less privileged has not just been inspirational but heart warming and encouraging in dire times. Contact the numbers on the site to further enquire about lessons.
Embracing Change since 1996
CONNECT WITH TEHILLAH
January26 2019
Minstrel Carnival Day 3
People love Baruch Entertainers. Join us !
Baruch Entertainers is spearheaded by the company Baruch Marketing Management Solutions, who over years have always been involved in community upliftment projects and aiming to enhance culture within Cape Town and the broader South Africa.
Tweets by baruchentertain
Baruch Entertainers
Address: Old Avenwood Primary School,
May Street, Avonwood
Cape Town 8001,
Contact Us: 021–2680482
All Rights Reserved | Designed by signtodesign.com


Submitted by pastordoug on Sat, 03/17/2012 - 15:19.
Submitted by pastordoug on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 20:32.
This is a study on benevolence. My objective is to cover the biblical references and teaching regarding Christian benevolence.
Submitted by pastordoug on Tue, 03/25/2008 - 00:36.
Submitted by pastordoug on Mon, 03/17/2008 - 18:46.


text:
Q: Aggregating fine resolution raster to coarser resolution such that pixel value of coarse pixel is proportion of unique pixel value in fine res raster I have a raster with pixel values 1 or NA (first image below) with specifications includedr after image. I want to coarsen to 10km*10km resolution such that the new pixel value in the final coarse pixel is proportion of pixels with value=1 (last image below).

raster1
class       : SpatRaster
dimensions  : 33301, 32538, 1  (nrow, ncol, nlyr)
resolution  : 100, 100  (x, y)
extent      : 7590450, 10844250, 902100, 4232200  (xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax)
coord. ref. : WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator (EPSG:3857)
source      : spat_PDvNPPxCooNIh09_2584.tif
name        : pred
min value   :    1
max value   :    1

How would I do this in R? I primarily use terra R package. Thank you!

A: Example data
library(terra)
r <- rast(nrow=2, ncol=2, vals=c(NA, 1, 1,NA))

Solution
a <- aggregate(x, 2, mean, na.rm=TRUE)

Illustration
values(a)
#     lyr.1
#[1,]   0.5

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I seem to have a lot of irons in the fire right now, and I'm trying to figure out how to simplify and move forward. Today: some odds and ends.
The big project of enigmatic mystery is progressing, and while it won't be ready before winter is over, as originally promised, it will be ready. It just means more rounds of writing, editing, arranging, and so on. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be better than we thought.
I've been participating in an awful lot of things lately — not just organizing Expired Film Day, but also joining in on the #InstantApril fun, #BIFscale16, judging for the Ultra Polaroid Boogie 2016, 120 Love Day, Holga Week 2015, and helping out with Kate's Katchabird Knits YouTube channel.
At the same time I'm trying to divest myself of some cameras that didn't make the cut to live on the wall permanently, considering setting up a storefront for prints and such, and, somewhere in there, hoping to make more actual photographs and start printing them.
Another contest/event (and another iron in my fire), No Gear No Fear asks film photographers to level the playing field by competing with nothing but a single-use camera. You don't even get to develop the film — just buy the camera, shoot it, and send it in!
Start with an Ilford HP5 Plus one-time-use camera, and use your 24 (actually, 27) exposures to get 6 photos in each of the following four categories: Street, Architecture, Landscape and Portrait. Get multiple cameras if you want to run through some tests beforehand.
Send the camera to Ribnar and he'll process them, scan them, and upload them to a shared location where you'll get to take a look and pick out the four best in each category to enter in the competition. There's film for the winners, and the judges are some pretty awesome blokes.
The whole thing takes place in May-June — the shooting, specifically, runs May 1-21. Then you'll have until June 5 to get your camera mailed in (you might plan on mailing it early if you're overseas!).
I'm testing out one of these cameras right now. I did a little research and found that the thing has a 30 millimeter lens (roughly), a fixed f/9.5 (ish) aperture, and a fixed 1/100 second shutter speed. There's a button to activate a built-in flash, which is supposed to turn on the flash when you hold it down for 1-2 seconds (my first one doesn't seem to work that way consistently, so I've just been holding the button in when I want flash).
So I did a little calculating: ASA 400 film, at f/9.5 for 1/100 second is something in the range of three or four stops overexposed in bright sunlight, right?
So now it's got a big, red Nikon 25A filter strapped on the front with gaffer tape, because I figure 1-2 stops overexposed in full sun is plenty, and I can shoot in partial shade with the flash on without having to take the filter off. Probably. We'll see when I process the first roll!
They led with a recipe for Ansel Adams' Eggs Poached in Beer, which I tried this weekend.
I followed the directions pretty closely. One issue I had was not being sure when the beer was just shy of boiling … it developed such a head in the microwave that I couldn't tell if there were any bubbles underneath it. This being Colorado, I used Ancho chili powder as one of the un-explained "spices," along with garlic salt and my recent favorite, Penzey's Pepper.
It was terrible. Sorry, Ansel.
Look, a lot of factors could've gone wrong here — not least of which was my selection of beer. Bull and Bush's ESB is only so-so to start with. A little too much malt for my taste, but I thought maybe it would fit the bill. Too much or too little heat, the fact I poached the eggs a little harder than I would've liked, the spices… Maybe Ansel was just pulling one over on us? It was really, really awful.
I tried to rescue it by pouring some emergency Hatch green chilis, diced onions and Monterey Jack cheese over the top, smothering it with southwestern goodness, but to no avail. I hate to waste food, but it went in the oubliette.
Fortunately the breakfast sausage I stumbled on while grabbing the other ingredients was a hit, so I didn't starve.
After these remaining contests and events are over, I'll be stepping back a bit from that kind of thing. I'll still be around on Twitter and pop into the relevant hashtags, sure, and I may even participate in some of the quick things. But I need to focus on making pictures and moving forward with serious things.
To that end, I'm also going to back off on reviewing old cameras. Don't worry — I've still got plenty in the hopper, and I'm not going to stop entirely. But once my current backlog and camera stash is gone through, reviews will become less frequent and probably only happen when there's something especially awesome or unique to write about.
I've probably got enough cameras and test photos to keep posting regular reviews for the rest of 2016, so this is something that's going to happen little-by-little. I hope to transition to writing more about photography itself, and would welcome any input on the kinds of things you'd like to see on my blog in the future.


text:
HIT Happenings: Harm Index Improves Patient Safety
By Rosemary Baczewski, RN, MA, LSSMBB
Most adult Americans are familiar with the health care dictum "First, do no harm."
Yet as we all know, harm in some form occurs all the time in even the best hospitals and with the best clinicians. It's always been assumed to be an unavoidable byproduct of care, enabling administrators and clinicians to think in terms of "acceptable levels."
But if you put a face on that harm—your spouse, your child, your neighbor—reducing it to nil takes on greater urgency.
That was the starting point for Greater Hudson Valley Health System's (GHVHS) implementation of a Harm Index. With three main facilities and dozens of provider offices serving the residents of southeastern New York State, we are not just faceless providers; our patients are often people we know personally.
GHVHS believed developing a Harm Index—a concept sponsored by the American Hospital Association (Center for Healthcare Governance), Health Research & Educational Trust, Trustee magazine, and the Partnership for Patient Safety—and the processes around it would enable it to document and evaluate every patient harm and near-miss. GHVHS could then use Big Data analytics to track trends to determine whether the efforts to improve the quality of care and patient safety were making a difference. The health system committed to building it in 2014 and launching it January 1, 2015.
The first step was to define exactly what is meant by harm. In that vein, a hierarchy was created that implemented standards based on or reported from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Quality Forum, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the top level, then the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and finally New York State.
Next came populating the Harm Index. GHVHS' internal occurrence reporting program (both declared and anonymous reports), infection control surveillance program, and data fed from the EMR system to Axiom clinical analytics software from Kaufman Hall were used as sources. The analytics are used in real time to answer queries about performance in key areas such as hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (Stage III, IV, and unstageable), injuries from falls (eg, fractures, concussions), obstetrical adverse events (eg, serious injuries to mothers and/or neonates during delivery), postoperative venous thromboembolisms, surgical complications, and unexpected deaths.
Once gathered, the data can follow one of two workstreams (see figure) depending on the nature of the incident. The two workstreams ultimately converge, and events are evaluated weekly by a team of experts to determine whether there was an actual harm based on the previously mentioned standards. If so, the event is added to the Harm Index. If not, it goes back for peer or quality review, where it may lead to disciplinary action or other remediation.
As the process was being developed, internal systems were revised to transition coding from being a finance function to a quality function. Prior to the Harm Index, coders were instructed to put as few codes as possible on the bill to get it out the door as quickly as possible. By putting coding under quality, GHVHS was able to focus on ensuring it accurately represented the condition of the patient while he or she was in the facility.
GHVHS also worked with its physicians to help them think of care in terms of "care is rendered, care is documented, care is coded, and then care is billed." This change in thinking helped them get on board with clinical documentation improvement efforts by demonstrating how better documentation leads to better outcomes with a reduction in patient harm. Additionally, clinicians and nonclinical staff were taught to embrace Big Data and the critical information it can provide.
Huge Gains in Harm Reduction
Using the clinical analytics platform with 2014 as the baseline year, the results were nothing short of remarkable. In the first year of the Harm Index (2015), there was a 35% decrease in total harms. From 2014 to 2018, the total reduction was 50%.
Since the goal is zero harms, however, it was decided to dig deeper to examine how the trends appeared per 1,000 discharges. As it turns out, the numbers were similar, with a 34% decrease from 2014 to 2015 and a 53% decrease through 2018.
Finally, GHVHS mined the analytics to measure risk-adjusted mortalities using the 3M All Patient Refined Severity of Illness and Risk of Mortality measure, the organization's proxy for externally calculated risk-adjusted mortality. Additionally, any mortality that comes across as less than a 7 is reviewed in depth for optimization of clinical documentation and clinical care gaps.
The data were once again impressive: a 52% decrease from 2014 to 2015, and a staggering 80% decrease from 2014 to 2018.
Ongoing Program
GHVHS still has a long way to go to get close to zero, and the closer it gets, the more difficult it will be. But through a continuous commitment to education and clinical documentation improvement, and the use of Big Data analytics to identify and understand trends, GHVHS strongly believes the Harm Index can help it achieve the "First, do no harm" standard with every patient at every care site.
— Rosemary Baczewski, RN, MA, LSSMBB, chief clinical officer at Greater Hudson Valley Health System (now known as Garnet Health), is responsible for quality management, performance improvement, patient advocacy, and ensuring compliance with The Joint Commission standards, and Institute for Healthcare Improvement and National Quality Forum initiatives.


text:
This One's for Blanton! is a studio album by the American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, duetting with Ray Brown, recorded in December 1972 and released on the Pablo label.
The title refers to early Duke Ellington collaborator and influential yet short-lived double bass player Jimmy Blanton.

Reception
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow called the album "delightful and often-playful music".

Track listing
All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated
 "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me" (Ellington, Bob Russell) - 5:36
 "Pitter Panther Patter" - 3:06
 "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" (Mercer Ellington) - 4:00
 "Sophisticated Lady" (Ellington, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish) - 5:30
 "See See Rider" (Traditional) - 3:07
 "Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass: First Movement" (Ray Brown, Ellington) - 4:51
 "Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass: Second Movement" (Brown, Ellington) - 5:11
 "Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass: Third Movement" (Brown, Ellington) - 3:40
 "Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass: Fourth Movement" (Brown, Ellington) - 4:58
Recorded at United Recording Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 5, 1972.

Personnel
Duke Ellington – piano
Ray Brown - bass

References

Pablo Records albums
Duke Ellington albums
Albums produced by Norman Granz
1974 albums

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
#BalanceforBetter - WIR's International Women's Day Event!
By Admin in Recruitment
In honour of International Women's Day our CEO Hannah Donaldson joined a panel of inspirational women at WIR's event earlier this week! Here are the key messages from the session:
#BalanceforBetter - the theme of International Women's Day 2019 - is all about building a gender-balanced world. According to IWD this years theme was chosen because balance is not a women's issue, it's a business issue - essential for any business to thrive. To mark the occasion Women in Recruitment held a panel debate to discuss how we can #BalanceforBetter within the recruitment industry.
The panel featuring our CEO, Hannah Donaldson, was chaired by Natasha Clark and included Janine Chidlow, Yvette Cleland and Jenine Ward. Together these inspirational women discussed gender balance in business, the perception of female leaders and how we can all drive change.
The event started with a one-on-one interview with Janine Chidlow. Janine is a huge advocate for women supporting women in the workplace, she believes that's key to achieving more balance in business. Her message is that as a minority, it's women's responsibility to support and help each other in the workplace, by having that network of support we can collectively raise awareness of the issues that are still causing a gender imbalance in business.
Then the panel kicked off the discussion by sharing their top tips for succeeding in the recruitment sphere. An industry that is made up of 53% women but still has very few women in director level positions. How can we create a better balance? From working with a mentor to having the stamina and resilience to get through the difficult days, the panel had a wealth of experience and advice to offer the audience.
Interestingly all of the women talked about confidence; whether that was having a natural confidence or proactively working to build up their confidence. A lack of confidence and doubt are symptoms of the common phenomenon imposter syndrome, something that our CEO Hannah Donaldson talks openly about battling with. The panel all agreed that over coming this and finding confidence in what you're doing is one of the toughest skills you can learn in business but doing so is the key to reaching your potential, whatever your gender.
Jenine Ward advised taking a step back and looking at your job specification as a way of reminding yourself of everything that you can do. Echoing that, Hannah suggested asking yourself the question, 'why am I the right person to do the job?' - because you have to believe it yourself before anyone else does.
Another really key theme of the session was authenticity and being your authentic self in the workplace. The women discussed how difficult it can be to do this, not just for women but everyone. But, authenticity is key to having a greater diversity in senior level positions. Janine Chidlow used silence as an example; she use to feel the need to speak up in a meeting just to feel present, but she now uses the power of silence. Her advice: get comfortable with silence, don't say something just to say something but wait until you've got a point, then your voice becomes much more powerful.
It takes bravery to be authentic and confidence to #BalanceforBetter but these inspirational women are evidence of just how that's done.
I consent to my data being stored by Meet Recruitment in line with our Privacy Policy. *


text:
Greek Corruption, Fraud, Evasion and Public Worker Job Security
(p. A11) Mr. Angelos, a former Journal correspondent, travels through Greece as a journalist first, and a native son second, to conduct a mostly unpleasant archaeology. By way of background, however, he first tackles the pervasive issues of disability and pension fraud, rampant tax evasion, and public worker job protections. These are the very problems that Greece's European lenders sought to remedy through a series of supposedly helpful but also punitive and ineptly administered reforms. Mr. Angelos dismantles the facile narrative accepted by many in the eurozone, in which hardworking Germans must clean up a mess made by their lazy and "Oriental" southern neighbors. But he is equally tenacious when it comes to exposing the misconduct of Greek politicians, not to mention the country's corrupt system of career tenure and its, well, truly Byzantine bureaucracy.
Mr. Angelos's book allows us to see how these problems play out, sometimes farcically, in the lives of actual people. There's a cranky grandmother on the island of Zakynthos who receives generous blindness benefits even though she can see perfectly well. There's the arrogant former prime minister who accepted millions of euros in bribes to buy useless submarines on behalf of the Greek government.
. . . the book's single most flattering portrait is of Yiannis Boutaris, the tattooed, wine-making, freethinking mayor of Thessaloniki, who courts Turkish tourism, refuses to kowtow to the church and publicly acknowledges the crucial role of Jews in the city's history.
For the full review, see:
CHRISTOPHER BAKKEN. "BOOKSHELF; How Greece Got to 'No'; On the island of Zakynthos, a grandmother receives generous blindness benefits–even though she can see perfectly well."The Wall Street Journal (Tues., July 7, 2015): A11.
(Note: ellipses added.)
(Note: the online version of the review has the date July 6, 2015.)
The book under review, is:
Angelos, James. The Full Catastrophe: Travels among the New Greek Ruins. New York: Crown Publishers, 2015.
Author Art DiamondPosted on March 22, 2016 Categories Books, Economics, Government, Greece, Labor Economics
Previous Previous post: Ugly, Invasive, Depressing Federal LEDs Disrupt Sleep and Increase Risk of Breast Cancer
Next Next post: Japan Population Down a Million in Five Year Period


text:
San Francisco Classical Voice: The Dizzying World of György Ligeti
…Woolf's illustrative music [for Act without Words I], as does her 2013 silent film score Suspense, skillfully augments the performers' movements. Short motivic bursts illustrate the sudden actions of the man falling off a box and throwing himself against a wall, for example—but when he cradles the length of rope, contemplating the sweetness of death, Woolf trades terse gestures for long, legato tones…
BY REBECCA WISHNIA
The accordion, Renaissance motets, and Samuel Beckett — it's an improbable festival that brings these things together — but then, György Ligeti's interests were unusually eclectic. The composer, who died in 2006, earned popular recognition through the films of Stanley Kubrick, yet he never stopped searching for new sounds.
A figure this omnivorous formed the basis for a rich inaugural season of Bard Music West, the younger sibling of the Bard Music Festival that features a different composer each year…
…If Friday's experience wasn't particularly fulfilling, however, Saturday was like a different festival. The great performances began in the afternoon program, on the theatrical and absurd, with the premiere of a fabulous new production: Samuel Beckett's mime play Act Without Words I, scored for solo clarinet by Montreal-based composer Luna Pearl Woolf and directed by West Edge Opera's Mark Streshinsky.
In Beckett's work, a man finds himself stranded in the desert, flung backward by invisible forces each time he tries to leave. Streshinsky's starkly minimal setting swaps the desert for a metal frame swathed in several layers of plastic wrap: a prison invisible to the man (Michael Mohammed), and one that allows the audience to see into the action. Outside, the Technician (Kate McKinney) perches on a ladder, ready with a fishing rod to dangle various objects into the space, and clarinetist Renata Rakova stands below.
An outburst rouses the sleeping man. Subsequently, and throughout the play, Rakova points her instrument toward the objects being introduced — scissors, rope, and, most tantalizingly, a water bottle — as if to help the man notice them (though the objects ultimately provide only frustration). In fact, Woolf's illustrative music here, as does her 2013 silent film score Suspense, skillfully augments the performers' movements. Short motivic bursts illustrate the sudden actions of the man falling off a box and throwing himself against a wall, for example — but when he cradles the length of rope, contemplating the sweetness of death, Woolf trades terse gestures for long, legato tones.
Mark Streshinsky | Credit: Matt Mayfield
Streshinsky's production also charms with its purely physical touches. Mohammed bobs after the water bottle, trying to position his mouth at the spout; after it's cruelly jerked upward, his whole body, down to his expressively wiggling fingers, grows long. These dance-like motions are full of grace, but there's also humor: at various points, Mohammed impishly mimics Rodin's The Thinker and flips off the clarinetist. Moments after he throws himself against the invisible wall, the despairing motion of his body's slackening is undermined in seriousness by the unmistakable pop of his unsticking from the plastic. The ever-present fishing rod is a choice piece of imagery: the audience isn't sure whether the man is being terminally held, or if it's merely catch-and-release.
Renata Rakova and Michael Mohammed in Act Without Words I. | Credit: Kevin Fryer
Rebecca Wishnia recently earned her master's degree in violin from UC Santa Cruz, where she studied with Roy Malan. A passionate chamber musician, she has performed in a variety of ensembles around the Bay Area, in addition to studying and teaching chamber repertoire at festivals each summer.
Read at San Francisco Classical Voice
March 21, 2017 September 12, 2018 oxingalemusicBard Music West, Beckett, C4NM, clarinet, Incidental music, mime, staged
Previous Previous post: Center for New Music: Interview with Luna Pearl Woolf about Act Without Words I
Next Next post: NOVUS NY performance: After the Wave


Birds like any other living creature have their own way of communication. They produce different sounds communicating different messages to other birds. The good thing about their sounds is that it can communicate to people. For example Hawk Sounds, Eagle Sounds alert on approaching enemy or it can be an indication of prey. They produce laud sounds which are heard over long distances. For bird keepers it is necessary to learn their sounds to communicate to them. That is why as human we can decide to download birds' sound and use it to communicate to them.
There are different families of hawks but they have similarities in their mode of communication. These birds produce wheeling and whistling sounds to indicate presence of tall woods in the forest. They can also whistle as an indication of watery areas nearby. The birds hunt their prey from high distances in the sky and they use the sound to identify and tell the distance of their food. An example of a sound is the "kee-ahh" with a sharp ending. Another is a long whistle which has the intention of claiming and alerting other birds of their territory. Females are the most common with the soft "kee" sound especially when on the nest. It therefore becomes necessary for those who share their environment with the hawks to study and have a record of these sounds.
They all give similar response and it completes their communitarian, however other Eagle species like the Golden Eagle are silent most of the time. They produce their sounds during breeding and when nestling. The adult will produce a "wip" or a "wonk" sound when announcing about food deliveries. These sounds are high pitched enough to be heard several miles away.


text:
import unittest
import sys
import os
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))

import test_map
import test_style

def suite():
    suite = unittest.TestSuite()
    suite.addTest(test_map.suite())
    suite.addTest(test_style.suite())
    return suite

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Make her Mother's day truly special with the most exquisite pink blooms, expertly arranged to create a beautiful hand-tied bouquet. Light pink roses, pink eustoma, and deep pink carnations are perfectly accented by gypsophila and fresh seasonal foliage. Lovingly created by a local florist and delivered by hand, this bouquet is sure to delight.


"I am the Wind beneath your wings, holding you up. Lift your voice in praise, because I am lifting you up. The silent working of My plan will be revealed. The words of prophecy will suddenly be fulfilled. Every fear that you have battled will be confronted by My goodness. I am your helper, in whom all things hold together.
Come to Me for refuge, I will keep you safe. With complete trust, fall in my love. I will raise you up on new wings. I will hold you up, to stay above the ground. The difficult journey you have walked has been a set up for you to receive the wealth of my blessing. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God beside Me who acts on behalf of those who wait.
You will stay above the ground, lifted up to higher levels. You will no longer appear empty from lack and poverty. Abundantly above all that you ask or need, I will provide, as you fully lay your weight on Me. Come up higher with Me, surrender in perfect trust. Cast every worry to Me, you are being filled with the fire of My love.
Be refreshed in pools of sheer grace. Your life will have a new appearance. As a bridegroom rejoices over His bride, I rejoice over you, as a diamond crown in My hand. Shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery? No more will you live on just enough, but you will eat from the extravagance of My promise, drinking deep the water of Heaven. Trust Me when it doesn't make sense by what you see in the natural realm.
This is the trust fall of faith. Sometimes letting go, need only to happen in your mind. That I may see the evidence, as you crown me Lord of your life. Trust me with your life and with everyone you hold close to your heart. I will lift you up and hold you, by the power of My hand. Prepare your plans in faith and I will determine your steps. The pit prepared you for the glory of the palace and who you are designed to be.
Be strong and have courage. Do not fear, you will not fall. I am here to catch you, as the hero who comes along. Your wings are ready, I am calling you up to radically bless you, in the sight of those who judge you. Lift up in trust, I will be the source of all you need. Up above the ground, you will fly away. Like the indulgent wings of a butterfly, your new life will be nothing like before. No longer will you be grounded in the dirt. You will be draped lavishly in the royal inheritance of the King and lifted up in the establishment of your double blessing".


text:
Lori Silverbush Quotes
The thing about kids is that they don't have the broader perspective of what's happening on a national level. Anything that's going wrong in their world, they somehow assume is unique to them and they're somehow to blame. It turns into an issue of shame.
Lori Silverbush
Kids, Unique, Issues
Source: www.interviewmagazine.com
A lot of people in this country are obese because of a form of malnutrition. One thing I'd like to do is to help people understand the correlation between a steady diet of empty calories - though you may not experience hunger pangs, you can't really function well if all you're eating are things like ramen noodles, or chips, cookies, and sodas, things that are quite typically inexpensive and affordable because of the way we subsidize the ingredients that go into them.
Country, People, May
The prices of really unhealthy food are kept artificially low, and that contributes to obesity.
Unhealthy Food, Obesity, Lows
I'm sure there are people who just assume we can't have hungry people in America because so many people are obese, but once you start to understand that a major cause of obesity is inadequate nutrition, it really changes that conversation.
America, People, Causes
Until we express ourselves, tell our elected officials what we expect from them, we can't expect them to do it on their own.
Elected Officials, Officials
Tom Colicchio
Michael Skolnik
Tom Colicchio Chef
Michael Skolnik Executive producer
Gail Simmons Television personality
Raj Patel Journalist
Joy Williams Singer-songwriter
Occupation: Film director