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Vietnam's Temporary Release of Priest Goes against Trend
Government granting leave to Father Ly is said to be tightening control overall.
DUBLIN, March 30 (CDN) — Vietnamese officials have in recent months tightened control over those they regard as dissidents, and the temporary release of Catholic priest Thadeus Nguyen van Ly on March 15 was a rare exception, according to Amnesty International (AI).
Officials on March 15 released Ly, now 63, from prison for one year so that he could receive medical treatment.
An outspoken advocate for religious freedom, Ly was sentenced to eight years in prison in March 2007 for "spreading propaganda" against the state. He had previously received 10- and 15-year sentences on similar charges.
"The release of Father Ly appears to be a one-off, related to his health," Brittis Edman, Asia researcher for AI, told Compass by phone.
Human rights lawyer Le Thi Cong Nhan was released on March 6 after serving a three years in prison. Officials have sentenced 16 other "perceived dissidents" since last September.
"Those 16 are people whose names are in the public domain," Edman added. "There are probably others we're not aware of."
Edman confirmed that Ly was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, although few details are available on the prognosis or the availability of treatment. Fellow priests told the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) that Ly had suffered three strokes in May, September and November of last year, partially paralyzing his right arm and leg and making it difficult for him to walk, write or feed himself.
Following urgent requests from diocesan priests and family members, officials on March 14 granted Ly one year's reprieve from his jail sentence. On March 15 they transported him by ambulance from Ba Sao prison camp in northern Ha Nam province to a home for retired priests in Hue, central Vietnam.
Under pressure from international advocacy groups including AI, the government may have granted Ly's release to ward off potential embarrassment should he die in prison, Edman said.
"He's a very public figure, and the Vietnamese government is not comfortable with being criticized."
Religious Rights Campaigner
Ly was first jailed for one year in 1977 when he distributed a Church statement decrying the arrest of Buddhist monks and the treatment of Catholics in Vietnam, according to an AI report.
This was followed in December 1983 by a 10-year sentence served from the time of his arrest in May 1983 until his early release in July 1992. Prior to his arrest, Ly wrote a seven-point document urging officials to cease harassing Christians and announced that he was willing to be martyred for his faith.
In November 1994 Ly issued a "Ten Point Statement on the State of the Catholic Church in the Hue Diocese," criticizing the lack of adequate training for would-be priests, the state's interference in church teachings and its appropriation of church property.
He also became an advisory board member of the U.S.-based Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam (CRFV), according to AI.
In 1999, authorities objected when Ly coordinated relief projects for flood victims in partnership with CRFV. In November 2000, while U.S. President Bill Clinton and a CRFV delegation were in Vietnam, Ly reissued his ten-point statement and later made further appeals for religious freedom.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom in February 2001 invited Ly to address a hearing on Vietnam. Though unable to attend, Ly submitted written testimony stating that the Vietnamese government had "stripped all churches of their independence and freedom" and urging that the U.S. Congress not ratify a long-negotiated U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement.
State-owned media then accused Ly of inviting "foreign hostile forces to intervene in Vietnam's internal affairs" and inciting Catholic followers against the state.
Officials in May 2001 seized Ly during a church service and sentenced him to 15 years in prison for allegedly spreading anti-government propaganda. He was released under house arrest in February 2005 but arrested again in February 2007 and sentenced to eight years for organizing a pro-democracy event.
When the government released over 5,000 prisoners to mark Vietnam's National Day last Sept. 2, Ly was omitted from the list despite vigorous international campaigns for his release. In a state media report quoted by UCAN, Vice Minister of Public Security Le The Tiem declared that the priest was "still in good enough health to serve his sentence."
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MEXICO: CHRISTIANS JAILED FOR ACTEAL MASSACRE WIN RELEASE
Supreme Court rules their rights were violated; violence threatened in Chiapas.
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 13 (Compass Direct News) – At least 20 men accused of participating in a massacre in Chiapas state in December 1997 left prison early this morning – amid concerns over threats of violence at their home communities near San Cristobal de las Casas – following a Supreme Court ruling yesterday that their convictions violated fundamental norms of justice.
The release of the 20 men, most of them evangelical Christians, came after Mexico's Supreme Court ruled in a 4-1 decision that they had been convicted in unfair trials in which prosecutors fabricated testimony and illegally obtained evidence. Area evangelicals view the imprisoned Christians as caught between survivors clamoring for convictions and government police and military forces eager to shift blame away from their minions following the Dec. 22, 1997 killing of 45 civilians in Acteal village.
"Acteal is a double tragedy," attorney Javier Cruz Angulo reportedly said after the ruling. "On the one hand you have an abominable massacre, and on the other more than 50 human beings imprisoned without proofs."
The court will review the cases of another 31 men convicted in connection with the massacre, and six more will be given new trials, according to news reports.
The identities of those released were not immediately known. As 32 of those imprisoned for the crime were Christians and another 15 received Christ while in prison, most of the previous total of 57 prisoners are Christians.
"In prison, the majority of us converted to the Presbyterian faith," Tomas Perez Mendez, 60, told El Universal before the Supreme Court decision; at press time it was not known if he was among those released.
He told the Mexican newspaper that he bears no resentment even though his imprisonment led to illnesses that contributed to the deaths of family members. "My wife is ill, my father and one brother died from sorrow at seeing us here in prison . . . I no longer feel anger or resentment against those who accused me, and I plan to preach."
Authorities had told a total of 57 prisoners that they would be freed after their paperwork was reviewed, a source in Chiapas told Compass.
"Naturally, those prisoners who had been informed of their impending release last week are extremely disappointed, as well wondering if they will ever be released," said the source, who requested anonymity.
Two brothers, Pablo and Juan Hernandez Perez, reportedly said that they have no home to return to; their house was burned to the ground while they were in prison. Another hoping for release, Javier Vazquez Luna, told El Universal he played no part in the crime, and that indeed his father was one of the victims of the massacre.
The Supreme Court justices stated that they were not ruling on the guilt or innocence of the men, only on the violation of due process.
"During the investigation, their constitutional rights were violated," the court said in a statement. "The majority of cases … were based on the use of illegally obtained evidence."
In recent months relatives of the imprisoned men ratcheted up citizen campaigns seeking their freedom, backed by many others. For several years Presbyterian churches have carried banners outside their buildings requesting justice for those wrongly convicted in the Acteal violence. The Chiapas government had said it could do nothing because the case was under federal jurisdiction.
Pressure to reopen the case has intensified each December with remembrances of the massacre. In spite of intense political pressure to the contrary, the Supreme Court finally agreed to review the facts.
Amid statements by survivors of the Acteal crime that tensions could heighten in the area – and a grim warning from a former leader of Las Abejas, a supposedly non-violent group sympathetic to rebel militants whose members were killed in the massacre – defense attorneys and family members of the released men appealed to authorities to provide security and guarantee social peace.
"A former leader of the Abejas made a public declaration that if the men returned to their homes, the Abejas would be waiting for them, and the released prisoners would be repaid for the pain they caused 12 years ago," the Chiapas source told Compass. "Tensions exist, and with statements like he made, the government is nervous about letting the men return to their homes due to possible violence. At this point, there are still no violent actions, but the threat of an outbreak is real."
At press time authorities had prevented the released men from returning to the Acteal area, keeping them in a hotel in Berriozabal after loading them onto a truck through a back door of the El Amate prison at 3:35 a.m., El Universal reported.
Initially the prison director refused to see the men's lawyers when they arrived at El Amate prison in Chiapas near midnight with orders for their release, the Compass source said.
"When he finally relented and met with the lawyers, it was only under extreme pressure from the Mexico City lawyers who refused to be dissuaded," the source said. "There was an extended time of wrangling before the warden eventually released the prisoners, only under threat of returning to the Supreme Court and the Human Rights Commission about his intransigence."
The released men had been promised there would be a government-paid bus waiting to take them to San Cristobal de las Casas, he said, but instead they were taken to the hotel in Berriozabal.
"The men were to meet with government officials today in Tuxtla, and we are still awaiting word on their arrival in San Cristobal after some five hours of waiting," the source said. "It appears there are delaying tactics, hindrances and lack of cooperation in the entire release process."
Some of the released men were able to meet with family members, and most expressed desire to return to the Acteal area, but the prison director said that authorities had determined that it was not safe for them to go back to their communities, according to El Universal. Authorities have reportedly proposed the possibility of providing them land parcels to avoid their returning to the area of the original conflict.
The evangelical Christians convicted were serving 25- or 36-year sentences and had exhausted all appeals. Some of them say they were arrested because rebel sympathizers with whom they had been embroiled in years of land disputes named them. Others said they were simply nearby when authorities made random round-ups.
Of the 34 men originally convicted, one died in prison and another had been released as a minor.
The family of one prisoner, Agustin Gomez Perez, tried to visit him in 2005. He told El Universal that they had an accident on the way, killing one small child and putting his wife in the hospital for 20 days – leaving their other five children without parents during that period.
Controversy over who killed the 45 people has revolved around whether there was a "massacre" by numerous "paramilitary" villagers or a "confrontation" between a handful of neighboring peasants and Zapatista National Liberation Army rebels. Historian Héctor Aguilar Camín has argued that there was both a confrontation and a massacre, with some overlap between each, but that they were largely separate incidents.
Five confessed killers have testified that they and four others engaged only Zapatista militia to avenge the death of a relative, while the federal attorney general's office charged that at least 50 pro-government "paramilitaries" descended on a relief camp hermitage full of displaced peasants bent on killing and robbing them. The testimonies of the five confessed killers – four others remain at large – agree that the nine avengers were the only ones involved in the firefights, and that the decision to attack the Zapatistas was a private family decision made with no involvement from government authorities.
They also agree that the sole motive was to avenge the assassination of a relative – the latest of 18 unprosecuted murders by Zapatistas over the previous three months, according to Aguilar Camín.
Government prosecutors unduly dismissed much of the testimony of the five confessed avengers, Aguilar Camín wrote in a 2007 article for Nexos, noting that the killers testified that state security forces were nearby and did nothing. He highlights the judicial irregularities of the round-up and conviction of the peasants – apprehensions without evidence or warrant, charging 83 people with homicide when only 45 people were killed and lack of translators and attorneys for the suspects, Tzotzil Mayans who did not know Spanish.
The Supreme Court pointed out those violations in its ruling. Arturo Farela Gutierrez, head of the National Association of Evangelical Christian Churches, praised the court decision.
"We are in the presence of a court different from that of 12 years ago," he said, according to El Universal. "The court is strengthened without fear of anything or anyone, and it's the court that democratic Mexico needs."
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VIETNAM: ALLEGED MURDERER OF CHRISTIAN STRIKES AGAIN
Local authorities complicit or turn blind eye to assaults on Christians.
LOS ANGELES, May 11 (Compass Direct News) – A Hmong man in Vietnam's Northwest Mountainous Region who murdered his mother in February because she had become a Christian has assaulted another Christian, leaving him critically wounded, according to area Christian sources.
Lao Lia Po on April 25 allegedly attacked Koua Lo of Meo Vac district, Ha Giang Province because he had become a Christian, according to a local church leader. Koua sustained severe head injuries; according to witnesses, his head was split open in two places with parts of his brain visible.
Koua was taken to a hospital, but after three days doctors said they could do nothing more for him and sent him home. As his injuries were life-threatening, those close to Koua did not expect him to recover.
The alleged attacker, Lao, is still at large and has not been charged. The assault took place in Sung Can Village, Sung Tra Commune, Meo Vac district, Ha Giang Province.
In the same area two years ago, a 74-year-old woman became the first Christian in the village. Today there are about 100 families who follow Christ, but the cost has been high. Stories of harassment and abuse of Christians in Meo Vac district have circulated for several months, with local Christians saying government officials are either complicit or look the other way.
On Feb. 3, local Christians said, Lao murdered his mother in a similarly brutal fashion, smashing her head until she died. Police only held him overnight before releasing him without charge. The day he was released, local sources said, he again threatened Christians with death.
A Vietnamese pastor petitioned the government to investigate – with no result. Another leader informed U.S. diplomats of the details. Some Vietnamese Christians have complained to Vietnam diplomatic missions abroad, all to no avail.
Advocates of religious freedom in Vietnam say such impunity puts a serious blot on Vietnam's slowly improving religious liberty record.
Following heavy international scrutiny of Vietnam's oppression of religion in general and Protestantism in particular, Vietnam promulgated new religion legislation in 2004 and 2005. To date this has led to the legal recognition of six church/denominational organizations, raising the total to eight out of about 70. Additionally, a few hundred of Vietnam's thousands of house church congregations have been given interim permission to carry on religious activities, and large-scale government campaigns to force ethnic minority Christians to recant their faith have ceased.
High hopes for improvement following the new religion legislation led the U.S. Department of State to take Vietnam off its blacklist of the worst violators of religious freedom in late 2006, which enabled the U.S. government to endorse Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization. And Christian support organization Open Doors this year dropped Vietnam to No. 23 on its World Watch List ranking of religion persecutors. In eight of the last 12 years, Vietnam had been placed among the organization's top 10 worst religious persecutors.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), however, found exceptions to progress so widespread that it again recommended naming Vietnam a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) this year. The recommendation by USCIRF, responsible for monitoring state department compliance with the U.S. 1998 Law on International Religious Freedom, was announced on May 1.
The commission's report recognizes progress but notes, "There continue to be far too many serious abuses and restrictions of religious freedom in the country. Individuals continue to be imprisoned or detained for reasons related to their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy; police and government officials are not held fully accountable for abuses; independent religious activity remains illegal; and legal protections for government-approved religious organizations are both vague and subject to arbitrary or discriminatory interpretations based on political factors."
Given the uneven pace of religious freedom progress after removing Vietnam from the list of CPCs, continued detention of prisoners of conscience, and an overall deteriorating human rights situation, USCIRF recommended that Vietnam be re-designated as a CPC.
In Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta Region of southern Vietnam, another Christian was murdered on April 5. Thugs ambushed Thach Thanh No, described as a young and enthusiastic church elder, on his way home from Sunday worship, according to local Christian sources. His family was unable to find him quickly, and he died from his injuries as he was transported to a hospital.
The congregation in Ngoc Bien Commune to which he belonged has long been harassed and threatened by local thugs supported by militant Buddhists, according to area Christians, who emphasized that authorities have done nothing to intervene.
Indeed, in Thach's case, rather than prosecute the killers, the Ministry of Public Security's World Security newspaper published an article on April 24 – concocted without any factual basis, according to area Christians – which portrayed him as dying from crashing his motorbike while drunk. His motorbike, however, was found entirely unmarked without any signs of a crash, and his body showed clear signs of a vicious beating, according to area Christians.
"In one case the law winks at the murder of a Christian and does nothing to punish the murderer – in another, authorities actively work to cover up a murder with elaborate lies," said one long-time advocate for religious freedom in Vietnam. "Such behavior on the part of authorities convinces many Vietnamese Christians that their country's top officials are still not sincere about improving religious freedom for all."
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PAKISTAN: LAWYER THREATENS TO KILL CHRISTIAN CHARGED WITH 'BLASPHEMY'
Bail denied to Christian activist for his own safety; judge also under fire.
ISTANBUL, May 6 (Compass Direct News) – A Pakistani Christian charged with abetting blasphemy against Islam was denied bail for his own safety last week after an Islamist lawyer allegedly threatened his life in a court hearing.
Hector Aleem, 51, remains in Adiyala Jail in Rawalpindi, near Pakistan's capital of Islamabad. Judge Mustafa Tanveer dismissed his bail application at a court session on Thursday (April 30).
"If the judge does not punish Aleem according to the law, then [we] will kill him ourselves," said Tariq Dhamal, an attorney for the unnamed complainant, according to a report by the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).
Police arrested Aleem last November when a Muslim scholar received a text message insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Authorities charged Aleem with blasphemy and abetting blasphemy, sections 295(c) and 109(bb) respectively of the Pakistani criminal code.
Court evidence shows the text message came from an unlisted phone number, not Aleem's. At an April 25 hearing, Investigating Officer Zafer Ikbal said he had concluded that evidence proved Aleem's innocence. Ikbal's investigation, along with a February judicial decision, resulted in charges of blaspheming Islam being dropped. The charge of abetting blasphemy still stands.
Nevertheless, at the April 25 hearing prosecuting attorneys asserted that Aleem was guilty of blasphemy on grounds that "he is a Christian and can make blasphemous comments about the prophet Muhammad," according to Katherine Sapna, a field officer for CLAAS.
Aleem's lawyer, Malik Tafik, said he has filed for upcoming hearings to be closed to the public for fear that Muslim fanatics could try to kill his Christian client. Tafik will present another bail application in the high court of Islamabad on May 14.
Tafik, a Muslim, has come under pressure from the Rawalpindi Bar for taking on the case of a Christian accused of blasphemy. The bar has filed an application against him for handling the case.
Dhamal, the lawyer who allegedly made the death threat against Aleem, is a member of Sunni Tehreek, an Islamist political movement involved in violent sectarian clashes in the last decade.
In the April 25 hearing, five lawyers and 180 Islamist protestors gathered around the courthouse. Tafik said he believes the crowds hoped to intimidate the judge into declaring Aleem guilty. More than 100 protestors have congregated at previous hearings, shouting that Aleem's life would not be spared and he should be handed over to the police.
Tafik said the judge is afraid to rule in favor of Aleem for fear of his life from Rawalpindi Islamists.
"The judge is under pressure and not deciding the case based on merits," Tafik said. "He is ready to hear on merits, but the lawyers are just [acting] on the basis of Islamization."
Pakistan's blasphemy laws have come under heavy fire from international rights groups. Any private citizen can file blasphemy charges, and they have been used in petty disputes as a means of retaliation as they can destroy reputation, livelihood and possibly lead to the death penalty in the conservative Islamic country.
Before his arrest, Aleem led human rights campaigns on behalf of Christians, particularly a land dispute between a congregation and the Rawalpindi Water and Sanitation Agency, which wanted to demolish their church building.
More Muslims than Christians are charged with blasphemy in Pakistan. In 2008 there were 13 cases registered against Muslims in Punjab province, where Aleem resides, and only six against Christians.
Boy Dies
Insulting Islam is a dangerous activity in the conservative nation of 170 million, but with the spread of the Taliban, non-Muslims fear their very existence will make them a target to fundamentalists.
On April 22 Christians in Taiser town, near Karachi, noticed on the walls of their church graffiti that read, "Long Live the Taliban" and calls for Christians to either convert to Islam or pay the jizye, a poll tax under sharia (Islamic law) paid by non-Muslims for protection if they decline to convert.
Armed men arrived on the scene and opened fire on Christians who were erasing the graffiti, injuring five. An 11-year-old boy shot in the attack, Irfan Masih, has reportedly since died from his injuries (see "Taliban-Inspired Attacks Hit Christians," April 27).
Security forces fear that sectarian violence could erupt in the port city of Karachi. They have banned public gatherings and processions, according to Release International aid agency.
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PAKISTAN: TALIBAN-INSPIRED ATTACKS HIT CHRISTIANS
Armed militants fire into crowd, seriously injuring three; jizye tax imposed in Orakzai.
ISTANBUL, April 27 (Compass Direct News) – As Taliban control hits pockets of Pakistan and threatens the nation's stability, Christians worry their province could be the next to fall under Islamic law.
Violence on Tuesday night and Wednesday (April 21-22) near the port city of Karachi – some 1,000 kilometers (nearly 700 miles) from the Swat Valley, where the government officially allowed the Taliban to establish Islamic law this month – heightened fears. Christians in Taiser town, near Karachi, noticed on the walls of their church graffiti that read, "Long Live the Taliban" and calls for Christians to either convert to Islam or pay the jizye, a poll tax under sharia (Islamic law) paid by non-Muslims for protection if they decline to convert.
As members of the congregation erased the graffiti, armed men intervened to stop them. Soon 30-40 others arrived as support and began to fire indiscriminately at the crowd, leaving several injured. Among those seriously injured were three Christians, including a child, according to a report by advocacy group Minorities Concern of Pakistan: Emrah Masih, 35, Qudoos Masih, 30, and Irfan Masih, 11. A Pashtun named Rozi Khan was also among the injured.
Policemen and military forces arrested seven suspects at the scene and recovered an arms cache of semi-automatic pistols and a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
The Taliban is an insurgent movement of primarily Pashtun Islamists ousted from power in Afghanistan in 2001. Pakistani media portrayed the Karachi violence as a sectarian clash between Christians and Pashtuns that escalated into a gunfire exchange and that Christians committed arson attacks. The Daily Times claimed that the Christians protested the graffiti by setting ablaze some shops, including roadside stalls and pushcarts.
But a legal advocacy worker told Compass that police scattered the Christians when they began their protests and stood by as a Taliban-assembled mob attacked them.
"The Christians do not have guns, they do not have weapons, but only a little bit of property and the few things in their houses," said Sohail Johnson, chief coordinator of Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan. "They are poor and have no courage to fight them. How can Christians, who lived like animals here, stand against them?"
Johnson said that local Christians, terrified over recent Talibanization campaigns, may not pursue legal action against the arrested men, although Asia News reported that Qudoos Masih filed an initial report at the Sarjani town police station. The Christians fear inciting violence by taking a stand against elements connected with the Taliban, Johnson said.
Eyewitnesses to the attacks against Christians in Karachi said they were religiously motivated. A representative of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) regional party told Compass that after firing on the crowd, the Taliban went through Christian houses, ransacked them and burned one down. He said they also burned Bibles and beat women on the street. Reports of two execution-style killings of Christians could not be verified.
Karachi police and administration reportedly claimed that the Karachi attack came not from the Taliban but from Pashtuns who resettled in the area from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The MQM, however, has long suspected Taliban presence in Karachi.
Expanded Campaign of Violence
Local officials are worried that the Taliban is making inroads into Karachi, the financial center of Pakistan, in the same way it did within the Swat Valley in the NWFP.
In mid-February Pakistan's fertile Swat Valley turned into a Taliban stronghold ruled by sharia under a "peace agreement," but instead of honoring the accord with an end to bombings and other violence, the Islamic militants have expanded their campaign to outlying areas and other parts of the country. Of the 500 Christians remaining in Swat Valley when sharia was initially established in February, many have migrated to other provinces while those who stayed live in fear of a rise in violence against non-Muslims.
In the Federally Administered Tribal Area adjacent to the NWFP, the Taliban this month demanded a jizye payment of 50 million rupees (US$625,000) from Sikhs living in Orakzai Agency. Those who did not flee paid a combined total of 2 million rupees (US$25,000), and Christians worry they could be next. Relegating non-Muslims to dhimmi status – the second-class state of those subject to an Islamic administration and its jizye tax in exchange for protection – is part of the writings of the founder of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Assembly of Islamic Clergy), one of Pakistan's main Islamic parties with ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan and similar parties in Bangladesh and Egypt.
Last week the Taliban effectively took control of Buner district, just 60 miles from the capital of Islamabad, and it has begun battling government soldiers in Malakland Agency.
Non-Muslims make up 3 percent of the population in the Muslim-majority nation of 176 million. They are frequently marginalized, particularly in the sharia-influenced justice system that gives precedence to Muslims. But they fear Taliban infiltration will accelerate their marginalization in a stealth manner, as they cannot tell the difference between a Taliban fighter and a community member.
"We cannot identify who is a Taliban fighter because there are an uncountable number of people who have a beard and wear a turban," Johnson said. "We cannot recognize who belongs to the Taliban because they penetrate every corner of Pakistan."
The MQM official in Karachi said many of the Christians in the area are poor and illiterate. They are on the lower rungs of the social ladder and have nobody to protect their interests except for the church.
"Nobody is going to help them," he said. "The church can help them get education, but they are not also able to give them [security] help."
His statements were backed by MQM leader Altaf Hussein, who called on Pakistan's Interior Ministry to take emergency preventative measures to ensure the safety of minorities against the "rising activities of armed lawless elements," according to The News International.
A local teacher said that during the looting police only stood by, making no effort to stop the Taliban as they ransacked Christian houses.
"Rather than stopping them, they allowed them to burn the houses, [harass] the Christian women and burn Bibles," he said.
Although Pakistani politicians and security forces have said openly in recent weeks that the Taliban was closing in on Islamabad and could trigger a government collapse, they claimed the pro-Taliban slogans in Karachi were scrawled not by the Taliban but conspirators wanting to incite violence.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, an Islamist party leader, said talk of the Talibanization of Karachi was merely a ruse to allow the United States to invade Pakistan as it had done to Afghanistan.
"Those raising this slogan are trying to create another Osama for America in this part of the world," he said, according to The News International.
The Karachi attacks were part of escalating violence throughout the country. The government informed the National Assembly on April 20 that 1,400 people had been killed in terrorist attacks in the last 15 months.
Posted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Christianity, Egypt, Islam, Pakistan, Taliban, USA, War on Terror	| Tagged ;province, ablaze, accelerate, accord, according, action, activities, adjacent, administration, advocacy, Afghanistan, agreement, allowed, Altaf Hussein, America, animals, area, armed, arms, arrested, arrived, arson, Asia News, assault, assembled, Assembly of Islamic Clergy, attacked, attacks, backed, Bangladesh, battling, beard, beat, began, begun, belongs, Bibles, bombings, Buner, burn, burned, cache, calls, campaigns, capital, center, chief coordinator, child, Christian, Christianity, Christians, church, city, claimed, clash, closing, collapse, combined, committed, community, congregation, connected, conspirators, control, convert, corner, country, courage, create, crowd, Daily Times, decline, demanded, dhimmi, difference, district, education, effectively, effort, Egypt, elements, emergency, Emrah Masih, end, ensure, erased, escalated, escalating, establish, except, exchange, execution, expanded, eyewitnesses, fall, fear, fears, Federally Administered Tribal Area, fertile, fight, fighter, filed, financial, fire, firing, flee, forces, founder, frequently, government, graffiti, group, gunfire, guns, harass, heightened, help, hit, honoring, houses, icluding, identify, illiterate, imposed, incite, inciting, indiscriminately, infiltration, influenced, informed, initial, injured, inroads, inspired, insurgent, interests, Interior Ministry, intervened, invade, Irfan Masih, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic, Islamists, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, jizye, justice, Kalashnikov, Karachi, killings, ladder, law, lawless, leader, legal, live, living, local, long, looting, lower, main, Malakland Agency, manner, marginalization, marginalized, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, measures, media, member, members, men, migrated, militants, military, minorities, Minorities Concern of Pakistan, mob, motivated, movement, MQM, Muslim, muslims, Muttahida Quami Movement, named, nation, national assembly, next, nobody, non-Muslims, North West Frontier Province, noticed, number, NWFP, officially, officials, openly, Orakzai, Orakzai Agency, Osama, ousted, outlying, paid, Pakistan, Pakistani, part, particularly, parties, parts, party, Pashtun, Pashtuns, pay, payment, peace, penetrate, people, Persecution, pistols, pockets, police, policemen, politicians, poll, poor, population, port, portrayed, power, precedence, presence, preventative, primarily, pro-Taliban, property, protect, protection, protested, provinces, pursue, pushcarts, Qudoos Masih, raising, ransacked, read, recent, recognize, recovered, regional, relegating, religiously, remaining, report, reportedly, representative, resettled, rifle, rise, rising, roadside, Rozi Khan, ruled, rungs, rupees, ruse, safety, Sarjani, scattered, scene, scrawled, second-class, sectarian, security, semi-automatic, seriously, setting, Sharia, Sharia Law, Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan, shops, Sikhs, similar, slogans, social, Sohail Johnson, soldiers, stability, stalls, stand, state, statements, station, status, stayed, stealth, stop, stopping, street, stronghold, style, subject, support, suspected, suspects, Swat Valley, system, Taiser, Taliban, Talibanization, tax, teacher, terrified, terrorist, The News International, things, threatens, ties, Total, town, trigger, turban, uncountable, United States, USA, verified, violence, walls, weapons, women, worker, world, worried, worry, writings | Leave a comment
ARMENIA: TWO YEARS' IMPRISONMENT FOR ORGANISING SHARING OF FAITH?
If two draft Laws which began passage through Armenia's Parliament on 5 February are adopted, spreading one's faith would be banned, Forum 18 News Service has learnt.
Those who organise campaigns to spread their faith would face up to two years' imprisonment, while those who engage in spreading their faith would face up to one year's imprisonment or a fine of more than eight years' minimum wages.
Gaining legal status would require 1,000 adult members, while Christian communities which do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity would be barred from registering. "These proposed Laws contain violations of all human rights."
Russian Orthodox priest Fr David Abrahamyan told Forum 18. Religious affairs official Vardan Astsatryan told Forum 18 the government backs the draft Laws "in general". He declined to explain why the government has not involved the OSCE in preparation of the draft Laws.
Posted in Armenia, Christianity	| Tagged accept, adopted, adult, affairs, Armenia, backs, banned, barred, began, campaigns, communities, contain, David Abrahamyan, declined, doctrine, draft, engage, explain, face, faith, Father, fine, gaining, general, government, human rights, imprisonment, involved, laws, legal, members, minimum, official, organise, organising, OSCE, Parliament, passage, preparation, priest, proposed, registering, religious, require, Russian Orthodox, sharing, spread, spreading, status, Trinity, Vardan Astsatryan, violations, wages | Leave a comment


California Cricket Academy is the first cricket academy and youth league for children from 6 to 17 years in USA. CCA is federally recognized 501c3 organization. Academy provides comprehensive cricket coaching in multiple cities in Northern California since July 2003. The Academy has state of the art equipment and facilities like worldclass bowling machine, Incrediballs, Kanga kits, 3 batting cages with different types of wickets and two match grounds with center pitches.Our coaches are professionally trained and impart world class coaching and leadership training to young Boys and Girls.
What did CCA boys do Summer 2014?
We went to various part of the Country/World and won many a matches/tournaments.
- U17/19 kids who were selected in various US teams, played in West Indies.
And now, we are preparing for the big annual tournament which will have 21 games across different age groups.


The power of local media as an advertising medium in print and digital is to be highlighted to Camelot next week, as part of Local Media Works' programme of meeting with media agencies and advertisers.
LMW head of marketing Justin Fenton will brief the marketing team at Camelot on key industry trends such as the high levels of trust placed in local media, compared to the social networks.
Local press in print and digital is the most trusted source for local news and information, way ahead of search engines and social media, according to YouGov.
Local newspapers, which are read by 42 million GB adults in print and digital, scored highest for trust with 74 per cent of respondents agreeing that they trusted the news and information in their local newspaper.
Local papers are the most trusted of all the other sources, coming ahead of local commercial TV and local commercial radio (both 73 per cent), search engines (43 per cent), social media (22 per cent) and other websites (39 per cent).
LMW, the local marketing arm of the news media association, has a programme of meetings with agencies and advertisers. Recent meetings have included MGOMD, Wavemaker and the Department of Work and Pensions.


text:
Season so far / squad
Author Topic: Season so far / squad (Read 616 times)
So, three games in and two home defeats without a goal for the Walks faithful (those that are left) to cheer what are people's early season thoughts? Personally I am reasonably happy, (bear with me) particularly as some of the big problems of last season seemed to have been addressed -
* we now look like all (most) of the squad are on the same page
* we have a more commanding keeper, although I would still like him to come and collect crosses a bit more
* the centre of the defence looks pretty solid, given Bowry's contribution yesterday we now look like we have four genuine NL standard players to select 3 from
* Denton and Barrows have done OK and the swap in formation seems to play on their strengths rather than times last season where they were asked to do too much, both attacking and defensively, and came up sort plus Jones must be close to full fitness to add to the competition
* in midfield, I thought Coleman was excellent yesterday and Rowley had a good game vs Southend and also took plaudits from Yeovil and was sorely missed yesterday. I thought Clunan did OK yesterday but he isn't a driving/attacking midfielder that we are crying out. Sundire and Gyasi were both well off where we needed them to be yesterday and when they came on vs Southend, lets hope it is just a case of adjusting to the step up for Sundire. Gyasi is a different case - he played almost half a season last year but doesn't appear to have much idea about how to beat NL standard defenders or much else - Culverhouse has always looked for players with 'football intelligence' and unfortunately I don't think Gyasi is learning quickly enough. The new lad from Ipswich struggled to get into the pace of the game yesterday but hopefully with more time with the squad and game minutes he can stake a claim for a starting spot.
* up front is difficult to assess as yet with Morias' sending off limiting IC's options and Linton missing yesterday didn't help, we still look light here but just hope that at some point Omotayo has someone to play alongside him otherwise it is going to be a long season for the lad, I don't think you can doubt his effort but its been a pretty thankless task so far at home. As others have said elsewhere, getting NL standard forwards isn't easy or cheap so if the current crop don't work out it may be we have to look to get another loanee
* off field still looks step 3 at best with so much seemingly reactive rather than having the right people in the right positions to make the right decisions at the right time. Running a club at step 1 with a predominately volunteer workforce is almost impossible but Lynn seem intent to continue with this model. I appreciate this probably means more money, than would otherwise be the case, for the playing budget but it just isn't sustainable and could easily be argued that it is already having a negative financial impact.
Re: Season so far / squad
Yes largely agree Tony. Only 3 games in, but I am also happy so far...ran Southend close, took the chance offered at Yeovil, and competed very well against Chesterfield, with the odds firmly stacked against us after journey time, in juries, suspension and ineligibility.
Have been pretty competitive in the first 3.... and if that continues, we will be fine.
I know King is considered a potential key player, but.it would be nice for the situation to be resolved soon, if at all possible.
Let's hope we can pick up something in each of the next two matches, to keep the belief building.
It's very clear that we now have a genuine NL standard club on the pitch........and that's a huge relief.....the rest of the match day experience still requires much input, as you mention.
I think that's a decent summing up of the situation 10 days into the new season. IC has put together a squad, with the budget given that will be the match of maybe 12 clubs in this League. I'm sure the squad will get tweaked as the season progresses.
Off the field it still looks one big mess. How many teams at our level run without having a CM? SC said the money coming through the gate is the bulk of the income. So the Clubs future is in the hands of the fans. What's that 1100 people?
The fans don't seem to be buying into it. Monday, a Bank Holiday, attractive opposition, us on the back of a great result Saturday. The weather not warm enough to send fans heading for the beach yet still not a great turn out from the fans.
If this is the way it's going to be then once SC has burned through the loan money has he the ability to carry on funding it himself ? If not then what does the future hold ?
For the life of me I cannot understand why SC doesn't bring in some extra fire power behind the scenes. Someone (S) who can offer the financial support needed.
Nigel1505
Supporting from afar here. Three games in, all against previous league teams, who have all had years of experience at this and above, level. Teams that have been full time since who knows when. Little ol ' Kings Lynn, still finding their feet in this league, only gone full time a month or so ago. Let's wait until we play the teams like Eastleigh, Boreham Wood and see what happens then. Last season we were getting beat 4 and 5 nil, in some games. Not happened yet, and my opinion it won't this season. I C is one of the best astute managers this club has had in my living memory, which goes back a long way. He is not going to let this club descend into the team being the easy option for three points. If players are not up to the mark, then he will change things. He has a reputation to uphold and obviously will be looking at his future in management as well. Let's give it a few more games against the "lesser" teams, then see where we are. Eastleigh on Saturday will be a good marker, get best 5-0 then delete this post. If so I never posted this.
Maybe it's too much of a mesh for anyone with lots of money and interest in football to take it on?
Very good B&G. If only him or someone like him would jump onboard.
happymondays
If S.C brings in another investor they will want to have a very very close look at the accounts before investing....maybe that's why we haven't invited anyone else on board.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


If your school uses Schoolworx you can export class and student data in a format that Atomi can use to simplify the setup of your account. This means there's less work creating classes and managing users.
If you contact the schoolworx helpdesk and ask for an 'Atomi Export' their friendly team can help guide you through the steps necessary to downloading a csv export in the required format.
Once you've downloaded or recieved the csv file, simply send that file to your Atomi account manager or to schools@getatomi.com . The Atomi team will use that file to setup your classes and invite your students and teachers. It's that easy!


text:
Q: Logic Pro updates from 9.1.8 I have Logic Pro 9.1.8.  Can I update or upgrade this to Logic Pro X?
If so, how, and is there any cost?

A: Logic Pro X is available on the Mac App Store for $200/£150.
There is no upgrade pricing for having purchased Logic Pro 9—everyone pays full price.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Loads4Less is much more than a simple A to B transport business. It provides low-cost house removals, UK and European deliveries, shipping, packing, storage and furniture recycling.
Adam Soall explains how his business has grown with support from Nwes.
It was in the middle of the recession in 2010 when I spotted a gap in the market for low cost removals. With a variety of career experiences and a passion and drive to succeed, Loads4Less was born.
Tell us about your business and what makes it unique?
The business is much more than a simple A to B transport business. It provides house removals, UK and European deliveries, shipping, packing, storage and furniture recycling. I have built foundations on attempting to get everything right first time.
I source professional operational staff who are focused on customer service. I attempt to carefully coordinate jobs to save on carbon emissions and enable savings to be passed onto my customers. The business also offers an hourly rate on local moves to allow customers to exactly manage their removal needs. A close relationship with Big Yellow Storage group, which has 86 stores nationwide, can also be a great help for my customers.
The support from Nwes and Future50 has been superb. We have benefited from excellent business advice and coaching, and we were awarded a grant which has assisted in growing the fleet of vehicles. Through networking at Future50 functions, I have agreed a deal with Naked Wines, which has improved the offering my customers enjoy with using Loads4Less. I've been supported by Nwes Business Consultant Richard Voisey throughout.
The business, which employs 12-15 staff based on seasonality, was recognised in 2012 with a Best of Norwich award, and bronze winner for the Scoot awards. In 2015, we were acknowledged as an innovative, growing, investing business in Norfolk with membership to Future50, a business growth programme that is designed to recognise Norfolk and Suffolk's most innovative companies.
I have a huge amount from running a business that I feel so passionate about. Although it can be stressful at times, there are so many highlights, such as developing a team, making new contacts and developing both as a business and an individual. Having an energetic and passionate team is crucial to our business and the success we have achieved.
Loads4Less continues to go from strength to strength and I have recently formed a relationship with the charity EACH (East Anglia's Children's Hospice) by donating furniture. Having set a conservative target of raising 10k in three years, the charity's sales have already tripled in the first two weeks of the scheme and benefited to the sum of £1,100.
My plans for the future include expanding nationwide and I hope to have eight locations within the next two to three years.


Kona Kai Condominium in downtown Kailua-Kona is a leasehold property featuring several 2-story buildings and a swimming pool. It is located on Palani Road near the Kona Coast Shopping Center (KTA Grocery Store, Pier One Imports) and Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Kona Kai condos for sale offer great value and the convenience of in-town living.


These presentations are classified and categorized, so you will always find everything clearly laid out and in context. You are watching Read Nebraska Courthouses: Contention, Compromise, Community (NE) (Images of America) (Oliver B. Pollak ) Ebook Online presentation right now. We are staying up to date!


Read this analyst case study on how the Interac organization used Splunk to centralize and correlate monitoring data across its diverse IT landscape. Learn the details of how the Interac organization realized an annual ROI of over $500k.
We all know the wisdom of monitoring familiar key performance indicators (KPIs). Turns, gross margin return on investment (GMROI), sales, inventory measures, and other metrics will tell you how your business is faring—and that's pretty important if you want to keep your hardware store in business. However, just staying in business isn't enough in a rapidly evolving retail world, so achieving improved KPI results is essential. In this Epicor eBook, you'll learn about eight easy-to-use tools that go beyond traditional KPIs to quickly improve business results, including: •	Reviewing store-to-store sales •	Identifying your top 100 items •	Monitoring excess inventory •	Viewing items with cost change and no retail change Learn more about these tools, and discover what else you can do to improve your KPI results by downloading this Epicor eBook. Download now and go beyond retail KPIs.
We all know that attracting top talent takes time—and money, but how much is too much? In a competitive recruiting environment, managing the metrics of talent acquisition can help talent leaders identify opportunities for improvement as well as areas of best practice. What metrics really matter and how can you set up manageable methods of tracking, and reporting on, results that resonate with the C-suite?
An introduction to electronic signature technology for banks: What it is, why you need it, how it works and who in the banking industry is using e-signature solutions to automate customer-facing transactions. This guide answers common questions, shares ROI metrics and outlines best practices based on 20 years of transforming business processes and customer experience with electronic signatures.
Enterprise marketers have larger sends and bigger budgets, which increases their need to A/B test new techniques, layouts, and messaging for lead generation campaigns. Optimizing and improving conversion rates can make a big difference in marketing ROI, and lead to proven tactics and techniques organizations can adopt over time.
5 Major Social Marketing Myths – Busted!
As marketers the world over share conflicting stories of social triumph and trial in the pages of leading industry pubs, rumors run rampant across this largely uncharted marketing territory. We're busting 5 major social marketing myths that have made their way into mainstream marketing lore, and revealing proven facts and strategies to help guide your social efforts and execution.


Hey up (me duck), I didn't know you were still writing a personal blog. I can assure you the revolutionary control method works a treat for Zelda - the only thing I miss is extra camera control (you can centre behind you but not spin round, so you have to turn and centre to get a good look at something), and the bow and boomerang aiming is great.
yup, the Wii version is just a port of the Gamecube one, with different controls and some tarted up graphics. I hear via an ubernerd I know that the next Wii-specific Zelda is already in progress.


text:
Q: Add label to column chart of Highchart I am trying to make this chart using Highchart.js. Now I have to add labels in the format shown in the following picture. Can anyone help me out please. I am using ASP.net MVC and jquery for this.

The view is

And JS file is
Highcharts.chart('hourlyChart', {
    chart: {
        type: 'column'
    },
    credits: false,
    title: {
        text: ''
    },
    legend: { enabled: false },
    xAxis: {
        categories: label
    },
    yAxis: [{
        min: 0,
        title: {
            text: ''
        }
    }],
    legend: {
        shadow: false
    },
    tooltip: {
        shared: true
    },
    plotOptions: {
        column: {
            grouping: false,
            shadow: false,
            borderWidth: 0
        }
    },
    series: [{
        name: 'Target',
        color: 'rgba(189, 195, 199, 1)',
        data: target,
        showInLegend: false,
    }, {
        name: 'Achieved',
        color: 'rgb(242, 38, 19)',
        data: achieved,
        pointPadding: 0.2,
        showInLegend: false
    }
    ]
});

From this I am getting this much result

Thank you in advance.

A: Use data-labels and position them by y property. Example:
    plotOptions: {
        column: {
            ...,
            dataLabels: {
                verticalAlign: 'bottom',
                allowOverlap: true,
                enabled: true,
                inside: true
            },
        }
    },
    series: [{
        dataLabels: {
            color: 'rgba(189, 195, 199, 1)',
            y: -310
        },
        ...
    }, {
        dataLabels: {
            color: 'rgb(242, 38, 19)',
            y: -330
        },
        ...
    }]

Live demo: http://jsfiddle.net/BlackLabel/hvxbpqj5/
API Reference: https://api.highcharts.com/highcharts/series.column.dataLabels


text:
6 March 2019 0 Comments
Royds Withy King wins Best Managed Firm at MPF Awards
Posted by Graham Street, Partner
Royds Withy King has been crowned Best Managed Firm at the Managing Partners' Forum Awards. The firm was presented with the award at a ceremony last night (5 March), beating off competition from four other short-listed legal and financial services …
Royds Withy King has been crowned Best Managed Firm at the Managing Partners' Forum Awards.
The firm was presented with the award at a ceremony last night (5 March), beating off competition from four other short-listed legal and financial services practices.
Graham Street, managing partner at Royds Withy King, said:
"We're thrilled to have won this award which reflects the ambitions and hard work of everyone who has helped to steer our business through a period of considerable growth while managing the significant investments and changes needed to ensure we remain a great place to work and continue to provide our clients with the exceptional value and solutions they are looking for.
This award is for our people who have supported the firm on its journey and continue to play a crucial role in our success."
Royds Withy King's entry focussed on what made 2018 a standout year. This included the firm's commitment to its culture and making it a great place to work, investment in its brand, significant client wins and the launch of several client-centric initiatives, including Life Safe® – an online vault to help clients manage their wealth for themselves and future generations.
The firm also described its extensive internal change programme and the work that has gone on over the last 24 months to embed these changes at all levels within the business for the benefit of their people and their clients.
The firm has also been short-listed in the WealthBriefing European Awards 2019.
For more information about this please contact Lucy Smith
01225 459989 Email uslucy.smith@roydswithyking.com
Keeping you informed about News news, events and opinion.
Graham StreetPartner
View articles by Graham


A4 to A0 and larger!
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Introduction: Studies about vitamin D [25(OH)D] stability in plasma are limited and preanalytical variables such as tube type may affect results. We aimed to evaluate effect of storage conditions, sample type and some preanalytical variables on vitamin D concentration.
Materials and methods: Blood samples from 15 healthy subjects were centrifuged at different temperatures and stored under different conditions. Serum and plasma 25(OH)D difference, effect of centrifugation temperature and common storage conditions were investigated.
Results: There was no difference between serum and plasma vitamin D concentration. Centrifugation temperature had no impact on vitamin D concentration. 25(OH)D is stable under common storage conditions: 4 hours at room temperature, 24 hours at 2-8 °C, 7 days at -20 °C, 3 months at -80 °C.
Conclusion: Vitamin D does not require any special storage conditions and refrigeration. Both serum and plasma can be used for measurement.
25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is the most important vitamin D form in the circulation and the most reliable indicator of vitamin D storage (1). The half-life of 25(OH)D is approximately 20 days and therefore it is considered as the parameter that best reflects the vitamin D condition (synthesis, uptake and consumption) in the organism. Vitamin D is found mostly as 25(OH)D3 in the blood, which is the main form of storage (2).
Older studies about long-term stability of vitamin D reported that samples stored at -20 °C showed 10% decrease in vitamin D concentration after 3 months (3,4). In addition, after evaluating short-term vitamin D stability in serum and plasma samples, one older study reported absence of significant change at 24 °C during 72 hours (5). However, these studies have some limitations such as small sample size and imprecision of the assay used. Stability studies conducted in the last decade evaluated vitamin D metabolites only in serum in a limited number of samples (6-8). Multiple freeze thaw cycles and delayed centrifugation were reported not to affect vitamin D concentration (9), though measurement may be affected by some other preanalytical factors, like capillary sampling, prolonged direct sunlight exposure, and in some assays, the choice of collection tube (8,10,11).
Although vitamin D is considered as a relatively stable analyte, effect of preanalytical conditions and stability of vitamin D in serum and plasma needs to be identified clearly due to the limitations of previous studies. Also, as vitamin D is a test not determined in every laboratory and samples are very often shipped for analyte determination, it has been considered that optimization of storage and transfer conditions is necessary to minimize pre-analytical errors.
Therefore, objectives of this study were: i) to investigate the difference between serum and plasma, as well as the effect of centrifugation procedures and the effect of standing conditions in normal routine run on the vitamin D concentration measurement; ii) to evaluate the storage conditions for samples not to be run on the same day and to be shipped to an external laboratory.
The study was performed in Tepecik Training and Research Hospital Biochemistry Department, Izmir, Turkey, between February and May 2012. Fifteen voluntary laboratory employees aged 27-63 years were enrolled in the study. Subjects were healthy adults, with no known diagnosis of cancer, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. Information about the study was provided for all participants. Participants have completed an informed consent form. The study was approved by the Tepecik Training and Research Hospital Ethics Committee and complies with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Sample collection was completed within two days. Each participant was present at laboratory in the morning of sampling day, after fasting for 8-12 hours without taking any medicine. Each participant rested in a seated position prior sampling. Blood sampling was performed by one experienced laboratory technician.
Venous blood was collected into two 8.5 mL serum separator tubes (BD Vacutainer; Becton Dickinson, Meylan, France) with clot activator and three 2 mL EDTA tubes (BD Vacutainer; Becton Dickinson, Meylan, France). Samples were divided into two sets: low temperature conditions and normal laboratory conditions (Figure 1). At low temperature conditions, EDTA samples were centrifuged in refrigerated centrifuge (2-8 °C) immediately after blood collection. Serum samples were placed at 2-8 °C for 30 min to allow proper clot formation, and then centrifuged in refrigerated centrifuge. At normal laboratory conditions, all samples were centrifuged at room temperature: EDTA samples immediately and serum tubes after 30 minutes in upright position. All collection tubes were centrifuged at 3000 x g for 10 minutes. Immediately after centrifugation, both serum and EDTA samples of normal laboratory conditions were aliquoted into 3 vials. Time intervals and storage conditions for aliquots of normal laboratory conditions were as follows: 1) one vial for zero time measurement, 2) 4 hours at room temperature, and 3) 24 hours at 2-8 °C.
Both serum and EDTA samples of low temperature conditions were aliquoted into 4 vials. Time intervals and storage temperatures for aliquots of low laboratory conditions were as follows: 1) one vial for zero time measurement, 2) 24 hours at -20 °C, 3) days at -20 °C, and 4) 3 months at -80 °C.
25(OH)D concentration was measured on Cobas E 411 immunoanalyzer (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany). Prior to determination of vitamin D concentration for each study period, device was calibrated with original calibrator and verified with internal quality control serum (Cobas PreciControl Varia). The within-run and within-laboratory coefficients of variation were 5.1% and 8.5% at 37.5 nmol/L, 3.1% and 5.2% at 70 nmol/L.
Data analysis was done using SPSS version 15 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Normality of distribution was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. As the data did not follow normal distribution (P = 0.036 for plasma, P = 0.046 for serum), Wilcoxon signed rank test and Friedman repeated measures ANOVA were used for comparison of dependent samples. Results were presented as median and interquartile range. P values ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Explanatory variables included centrifugation method (two categories), collection tube (two categories), and storage time. In our study, all comparisons were made against zero measurements(plasma, serum, normal centrifuge, refrigerated centrifuge).
Plasma and serum 25(OH)D concentrations for samples subjected to normal and low temperature at different time intervals are shown in table 1 and table 2. In normal temperature conditions, plasma concentration of vitamin D did not differ from serum concentration at zero time (P = 0.088). There was no statistically significant difference between zero time, storage for 4 hours at room temperature and 24 hours at 2-8 °C (Friedman-ANOVA, P = 0.145 for plasma, P = 0.516 for serum).
Table 1. Median and interquartile range values of hour 0, hour 4 (room temperature) and hour 24 (4 °C) results after centrifugation of plasma and serum samples at room temperature.
Table 2. Median and interquartile range values of hour 0, hour 24, day 7 and month 3 results of plasma and serum samples at low temperature conditions.
In low temperature conditions, plasma concentrations of vitamin D were not significantly different from serum vitamin D concentration at zero time (P = 0.061). There was no statistically significant difference in vitamin D concentration between zero time, storage for 24 hour at -20 °C, for 7 days at -20 °C and for 3 months at -80 °C (Friedman-ANOVA, P = 0.610 for plasma, P = 0.489 for serum).
No significant difference was observed between normal centrifuge and refrigerated centrifuge for both plasma and serum samples at zero time (P = 0.464 and 0.731, respectively).
In this study, we have investigated common storage conditions: 4 hours at room temperature, 24 hours at 2-8 °C and -20 °C, 7 days at -20 °C and 3 months at -80 °C. 25(OH)D concentration did not show significant differences during the investigated time and temperature intervals. We found vitamin D to be a stable analyte consistent with other studies (5-7).
This was the first study evaluating the effect of centrifugation temperature on vitamin D concentration. No differences were observed between refrigerated centrifuge (2-8 °C) and centrifuge at room temperature. Centrifugation delays were investigated by another study and no significant differences were reported up to 96 hour after blood collection (10). It seems that vitamin D requires no special attention in terms of centrifugation.
Current study investigated both serum and plasma samples and the results showed that sample type did not affect stability. Both serum and plasma can be used for storage. The difference in 25(OH)D concentrations according to tube type in some assays was reported by another study for heparinized plasma (10).
The main limitation of this study is the storage conditions investigated. Storage conditions are short time intervals but our objective was to examine possible conditions that could be encountered commonly.
In conclusion our data confirmed that vitamin D is stable under common storage conditions. There is no significant difference between serum and plasma vitamin D and centrifugation temperature has no effect on vitamin D concentration.
The authors are thankful to Roche Diagnostics for providing reagents for this study.
This study was sponsored by Roche Diagnostics Turkey A.S.
1. Davenport ML, Uckun A, Calikoglu AS. Pediatrician patterns of prescribing vitamin supplementation for infants: Do they contribute to rickets? Pediatrics 2004;113:179-80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.113.1.179.
2. Vieth R. Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;69:842-56.
3. Norris RLG, Thomas MJ, Craswell PW. Assessment of a two-step high-performance liquid chromatographic assay using dual-wavelength ultraviolet monitoring for 25-hydroxyergocalciferol and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol in human serum or plasma. J Chromatogr 1986;381:53-61.
4. Ocke MC, Schrijver J, Obermann-de Boer GL, Bloemberg BP, Haenen GR, Kromhout D. Stability of blood (pro)vitamins during four years of storage at -20 degrees C: consequences for epidemiologic research. J Clin Epidemiol 1995;48:1077-85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0895-4356(94)00232-F.
5. Lissner D, Mason RS, Posen S. Stability of vitamin D metabolites in human blood serum and plasma. Clin Chem 1981;27:773-4.
6. Wielders JP, Wijnberg FA. Preanalytical stability of 25(OH)-Vitamin D3 in human blood or serum at room temperature: Solid as a rock. Clin Chem 2009;55:1584-95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1373/clinchem.2008.117366.
7. Lewis JG, Elder PA. Serum 25-OH vitamin D2 and D3 are stable under exaggerated conditions. Clin Chem 2008;54:1931-2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1373/clinchem.2008. 111526.
9. Antoniucci DM, Black DM, Sellmeyer DE. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is unaffected by multiple freeze-thaw cycles. Clin Chem 2005;51:258-61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1373/clinchem.2004.041954.
10. Yu CL, Falk RT, Kimlin MG, Rajaraman P, Sigurdson AJ, Horst RL, et al. The impact of delayed blood centrifuging, choice of collection tube, and type of assay on 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations. Cancer Causes Control 2010;21:643-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9485-x.
11. Dayre McNally J, Matheson LA, Sankaran K, Rosenberg AM. Capillary blood sampling as an alternative to venipuncture in the assessment of serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2008;112:164-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2008.08.006.


USA, July 1951 edition, pp. 399-403.
Original Title: "Kernels of Wisdom".
One of the first marks of decline in the course of human civilization is a growing sense of irresponsibility in men for the things that happen in society and in their own lives. Willingly and without complaint we accept the pleasures and privileges of life, as though they were the natural heritage of the human race, the indisputable right of every living soul.
The question of whether such blessings are deserved or not, or of the need for gratitude to those through whom they come, seems never to disturb the serenity of complacent, self-righteous minds. But when sorrows and troubles arise, and the tide of life washes up to our feet experiences that are difficult to meet, it is an altogether different matter. Not only do we question and complain - we rebel, and in many instances accuse Great Nature of being fickle, cruel, unjust. Upon the approach of trial, we oftentimes put ourselves in such states of mental and psychic unbalance that it becomes practically impossible to see our true duty, and to learn the lessons which the events of life invariably hold.
"Why should this happen to me?" we say.
As proof of the fact that these questions are put from the lower, selfish parts of our natures, it is to be noted that we seldom complain about the miseries of other people. Friends and acquaintances may go through the most trying of circumstances, may suffer mercilessly at the hands of fate, without even a murmur of protest from us, so long as we ourselves are healthy, happy and well fed.
According to the American Declaration of Independence, it is the inalienable right of every human being to engage in the "pursuit of happiness". This wonderful promise of freedom has been interpreted by some to mean that every single individual, every living citizen, without exception, is entitled to happiness, regardless of whether the blessing is deserved or not. But how can this be so? How can a man expect to experience peace and contentment of mind without having first set in motion the causes that lead to the effect? How can any person enjoy happiness while others suffer, and without a feeling of responsibility for the needs of those around him? Man's only right, in the eyes of Karma, and even in the eyes of the Declaration of Independence, once it is correctly understood, is the right to pursue happiness, the right to perform such acts, to live such life, to set up such causes, in short, as shall result eventually in the condition of mind he wishes to achieve. Otherwise, however much one may take his privileges for granted, however much he may expect as a free American citizen, sorrow, despair and disappointment will be his lot.
One of the greatest delusions of our age is the belief that peace, freedom and happiness can be legislated by law, that all that is required for the attainment of Nature's grandest prize, is the signing of a document, the demanding of a right, the expression of a desire. But a desire, says William Q. Judge, "is not a condition", and what we have to do it to create the condition through which the effects we wish to accomplish may flow.
Few individuals stop to consider the means by which true happiness can be attained. Few seem to realize that there is such a thing as unlawful as well as lawful pleasure, that with the inalienable right to pursue happiness comes also a certain inalienable responsibility - a responsibility for the well-being of others. The Laws of Divine Humanity which nourish and sustain a man throughout the whole of his life will not allow him to long continue his round of selfish desire. The Laws of Universal Brotherhood weld all things and beings in the Kosmos into a common community of souls, and any pleasures gained selfishly or to the hurt of others are unlawful, and will result ultimately in sorrow, pain and dis-pleasure. The privileges growing out of the bond of brotherhood are simply one side of the coin, the other being that of duty and responsibility.
The reward of unlawful pleasure is always lawful pain. Why do we consider our pleasures to be right and just and our pains to be cruel and extremely unjust? Is it because we take the position of separateness, because we labor under the belief that the world owes us happiness and that anything that interferes is unlawful? Not until men gain some concept of universal Law or Karma will they come to see that it is impossible to act selfishly, inconsiderate of the good of others, without a lawful rebuff from Life.
Since the founding of the present Theosophical Movement in 1875, millions of people, perhaps, have heard of the doctrine of Karma. Of this number, thousands have given the idea some thought - at least to the extent that, in their eyes, it is the only logical explanation of the many mysteries of life. But how many individuals, among those who accept the doctrine theoretically, apply it as a key to their own lives? How many see it as the cause for their birth, with whatever it holds of weal or woe? How many actually use the Law, just as they would a principle of physics or chemistry, for the purpose of correcting faults in themselves, of remedying defects, and of strengthening character? Once Karma is applied thus, each event, however painful or pleasurable, becomes the lawful working-out of Divine Justice.
Karma is said to be the law of equilibrium and harmony in which the universe rests, or is sustained. Having its roots in Spirit, which is the divine essence of all things and beings, whether of an atom, a solar system, a mosquito, or a man, and operating through the Divine Ideation of Universal Mind, its adjustments are always effected from the point of view of the Whole. How else can equal justice be achieved? Karma knows neither preference nor enmity, for on the plane of its repose all things and beings are one. And the man who learns its ways and works with it finds a friend more trustworthy than the most faithful of relationships between men. The co-worker with Nature experiences a joy far above and beyond the usual kamic or emotional pleasures of sense. He has learned the magic formula of conforming his ways and wills to the pleasure and disposition of the Divine Will. Work for the principle of Universal Brotherhood results ultimately in peace and everlasting joy.
Imagine, for the sake of illustration, that the great spiritual plane of consciousness is a universal Ocean of Water, extending everywhere and interpenetrating all things and beings, and that Karma, or the Law of Harmony, is the tendency in that Ocean to restore calm and equilibrium. And let the physical plane on which we live and move be represented by that portion of the Ocean which is visible to our sight - that is, the surface, with its waves and ripples, and whatever floating objects there may be. In the attempt to restore harmony in our lives, most of us unfortunately concern ourselves exclusively with the waves and ripples, with the multiform objects of debris as they bob up and down upon the surging sweep of time. Ignoring the vast depths of man's invisible nature, and its fundamental identity with the Soul of Humanity, with whatever It feels from the winds of fate, we quibble with effects. How is it possible to calm a floating log on the water, so long as the Ocean itself is disturbed? How can a single unit of the race go into a state of bliss or personal salvation while others suffer?
Knowledge of the Law of Karma leads men to see that they cannot violate the principle of unity and progress, that it is impossible to live in the pleasure-grounds of sense without doing injury, both to themselves and to others, and that any infringement of the purposes of Soul, however personally enjoyable, can but lead to pain.
Wide distinction is to be made therefore between the psychic pleasures of the personality and the true pleasure and disposition of the Soul. The former is a product of Lower Manas, and is artificial, temporary, skin-deep, of the nature of amusement and emotional gratification. Higher Manasic pleasure, on the other hand, is enduring and noble above all other experiences. In its highest sense, true happiness is closely related to bliss, which has been defined by all religious mystics as blessedness, felicity, rapture. The great tragedy of modern civilization is the fact that men search for true happiness in the turbulent waves of Lower Mind, in the desires and ambitions of the personality. We ceaselessly deceive ourselves with the delusion that heart aspiration and yearning can be satisfied through the acquirement of things, or on the plane of emotion or sensation. With each new acquirement or experience, we think that now, at last, the object of our heart's desire has been fulfilled, only to wake up, sooner or later, to the fact that all objects of sense must eventually turn to dust and ashes in the mouth. Yet, on and on the Law of Karma leads us, moved by the force of our own souls, which will never allow us to rest content with less than divinity for the whole man, and for all.
True happiness can be known only when the individual adjusts his own attitude of mind, so that instead of taking all he can get from life, he asks what it is he can give; instead of viewing the Law as punitive and restrictive, he sees it as a power that works for his good; instead of thinking that Karma is to be feared, he sees it as something to be trusted and revered. What would we think of a world in which no man could receive help from another, in which each was required to labor just for himself? How would we like the idea of a universe without Law and order? Those who recount their blessings soon come to see that the Law of the Universe is their truest friend, a reality that we can and do trust, to some degree, every moment of our lives. Universal adjustment and lasting joy will be achieved only when men, in their turn, become as trustworthy as the Law, equally concerned for the good of all as for their own advance.


text:
Cécile de Normandie (* um 1054; † 30. Juli 1126) war wahrscheinlich die älteste Tochter von Wilhelm dem Eroberer und Mathilde von Flandern. Sie wurde in jungen Jahren der Frauenabtei Ste-Trinité in Caen übergeben, einer Gründung ihrer Eltern. Dort war sie seit 1112 bis zu ihrem Tode Äbtissin.

Literatur
 Kenneth J. Panton: Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy,  Scarecrow Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0810857797

Rollonide
Äbtissin
Person (Caen)
Normanne
Geboren im 11. Jahrhundert
Gestorben 1126
Frau

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Taiwan Province of China
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Great Western Riesling 2019
RRP (750 mL)
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During 150 years of winemaking, Seppelt has built a reputation of innovation and dedication to quality. The Seppelt approach is to harness the strength and characteristics of each region and create wines which are varietally and regionally expressive – wines with a 'sense of place'.
The Great Western area of the Grampians region has a long history of producing classic, age-worthy aromatic Riesling. The 2017 vintage has produced a wine with delicate perfumed aromatics combined with a mouth-watering acid structure, superbly balanced with an off-dry finish.
Alc/Vol
Peak Drinking
Now - 2033
Adam Carnaby
Cured Meat
Taste Description
Aromas of mulberry and blue fruits with exotic spices and a lifted floral nose.
Flavours and Palate
The palate shows lemon-lime fruit and red apple with a hint of spiced ginger. Textural elements combined with chalky acid result in a wine with balance and delicacy.
Viticulture Vintage & Winemaking
Grampians, Victoria
Viticulture dates back to the 1850s Victorian gold rush in the cool and dry Grampians. The golden nugget of this stunning terroir is delicate yet intensely flavoured Shiraz with compelling fragrance and spice.
Vintage Conditions
A wet winter with above average rainfall was followed by cool, dry spring conditions, resulting in good fruit set and lower than average yields. Summer temperatures were cool with little rain, resulting in a long growing season and exceptional quality.
Adam Carnaby - Seppelt Winemaker
As a Hospitality Manager at Melbourne's Hilton Hotel, Adam's affinity for the wine industry became so apparent that he enrolled in a Bachelor of Wine Science degree at Charles Sturt University, graduating in 2003. In 2001 he was appointed Assistant Winemaker at Yering Station in the Yarra Valley where he remained for five years, gaining vintage experience in Burgundy in-between. Then in 2007 he moved to Margaret River to be a Winemaker at Xanadu Wines for a further five years. These days Adam proudly dons two winemaking hats, creating outstanding cool climate wines from across Victoria: in 2011 he commenced as Seppelt Winemaker and in 2016 added the responsibilities of being Winemaker for T'Gallant. He relishes the challenge of being in charge of two great Australian wine producers – Seppelt with its 165 year history and focus on cool climate sparkling, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Riesling from the Grampians, Heathcote and Henty regions; and the more eccentric T'Gallant, pioneers of Pinot Grigio and Gris in Australia based in the Mornington Peninsula.
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