text:
Home / News / Treatment & Doctors
Immunotherapy Vaccine for Mesothelioma Gets High Marks
Written By: Tim Povtak,
Immunotherapy vaccine CRS-207 is moving closer to changing the way malignant pleural mesothelioma will be treated in the future.
CRS-207 produced a startling 94 percent disease control rate when combined with a chemotherapy cocktail of cisplatin and pemetrexed in a recent, multicenter clinical trial.
Thoracic oncologist Dr. Thierry Jahan of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center detailed the results last week at the 2016 European Lung Cancer Conference.
"We've seen a really impressive response," Jahan said. "It's an impressive signal for a study like this."
The CRS-207 vaccine is a form of Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that is weakened and genetically modified to produce an anti-tumor response without causing disease or serious side effects.
The study involved 38 patients with advanced, unresectable pleural mesothelioma. Each patient received two doses of CRS-207 every two weeks, then six cycles of pemetrexed and cisplatin every three weeks. They were followed by two more vaccine infusions in three-week intervals.
Patients were assessed every eight weeks until disease progression and given maintenance doses of CRS-207. There was stable disease in 35 percent of the patients and partial response in 59 percent.
Pleural Mesothelioma Tumor Shrinkage
Tumor shrinkage was reported in 85 percent of the patients. Median progression-free survival was 8.5 months, compared to the 5.7 months previously reported with only the chemotherapy regimen. One patient experienced progressive disease.
"CRS-207 is an exciting agent for patients with mesothelioma," Jahan said. "Our preliminary results are encouraging, suggesting superior clinical activity when added to standard chemotherapy. We have data suggesting that this immunotherapy works synergistically with chemotherapy."
The vaccine is designed to target mesothelin, an over-expressed antigen in several types of tumor cells such as mesothelioma. Higher levels of mesothelin are found in virtually all cases of epithelioid mesothelioma but rarely in sarcomatoid mesothelioma.
Find Immunotherapy Clinical Trials
Learn how to access mesothelioma clinical trials for immunotherapy.
Randomized Clinical Trial Is in the Works
Patients in the study were required to have the epithelioid mesothelioma or the biphasic form with less than a 50 percent component of sarcomatoid.
The study involved patients from the UCSF's cancer center, the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, the University of Chicago Medical Center, the Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia and the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
In the presentation, Jahan told the audience that a randomized clinical trial already is in the planning stages, which could move the vaccine toward U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and make it part of standard-of-care treatment for the disease.
Before the study was complete, an earlier presentation at the International Mesothelioma Interest Group conference reported similar impressive results.
"It could change the paradigm in the management of mesothelioma. It is very promising," said oncologist Dr. Tawee Tanvetyanon at the Moffitt Cancer Center. "This is an exciting therapeutic avenue that will save lives and provide extra quality time for mesothelioma patients."
The FDA in 2015 granted orphan drug designation to CRS-207, which provided a variety of incentives for pharmaceutical companies to speed the drug's development. The designation encourages the development of drugs for rare cancers.
Mesothelioma, caused by inhaling asbestos fibers, is diagnosed in an estimated 3,000 people annually in the U.S. By comparison, lung cancer is diagnosed in more than 200,000 people every year.
Jahan emphasized the minimal side effects from the vaccine, making it a low-risk, no-downside venture for anyone considering a future clinical trial.
Several trials with other tumor types and other combination of drugs already incorporate the vaccine, and no significant side effects were reported.
"It really does appear to be safe and was well tolerated," Jahan said.
Medically Reviewed by Top Mesothelioma Doctors
Free Mesothelioma Guide
Mesothelioma Specialty Centers Factor in 2021 Best Hospital Rankings
Virtual Symposium to Focus on Mesothelioma Treatment Advances
Mesothelioma Treatment Program Expanding in Central Florida
FDA Grants Orphan Drug Designation to Novel Mesothelioma Treatment
Mesothelioma Clinical Trial to Involve Drug Studied for COVID-19
Doctor Match Program
Find a Top Mesothelioma Specialist Near You
Powers, V. (2016, April 15). Novel Vaccine Added to Chemotherapy Improves Patient Outcomes in Mesothelioma. Retrieved from http://www.onclive.com/conference-coverage/ELCC-2016/novel-vaccine-added-to-chemotherapy-improves-patient-outcomes-in-mesothelioma
©2022 by Asbestos.com and The Mesothelioma Center. All rights reserved. | Last Modified December 22, 2020


text:
Exponential 2020
Regional – Washington DC 2019
Regional – Southern California 2019
Regional – Bay Area 2019
Regional – Houston 2019
Regional – Chicago 2019
Regional – New York City 2019
Regional – Boise 2020
Resource Kits
Made for More Church Campaign Kit
FREE Multiplication Assessment
FREE Multiplication Course
Digital Access Passes
National Prayer Call
A Church in Every 'Holler'
What can we learn from Clarence Greenleaf and his vision for multiplication throughout the Appalachians?
In his new eBook, Sending Church: Stories of Momentum and Multiplication, Dan Smith shares the journey that his church plant, Momentum Christian Church, has taken to be a church-planting church that sends both people and money. In the epilogue of the eBook, Smith shines a spotlight on a pastor and church that mastered the art of multiplication decades ago. Listen in to Greenleaf's story and ask yourself, What are we doing to forcefully advance the Kingdom?
Recently, I visited my alma mater, Kentucky Christian University, and popped in to see my old prof and friend, Dr. Robert Ford. As we chatted, he told me that Momentum's story and vision of multiplication reminded him of the late Clarence Greenleaf, a preacher from the mid-20th century.
Dr. Ford explained, "Greenleaf was a minister in Grundy, Virginia. When his church grew to 550 people, he would send out 50 of them to start a new church. When they grew back to 550, he'd do it again."
Momentum has never come close to an attendance of 550 people, but the story fascinated me. Very few people ever tell me, "Hey! Momentum's vision for sending reminds me of another church." I started digging. Eventually, I got my hands on an obscure biography about Mr. Greenleaf and the phone numbers of some churches in Grundy. What I've learned hasn't disappointed.
Clarence Greenleaf (1915-2004) was a great visionary who ministered in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia at Grundy Church of Christ. In the early 1940s, the church decided they would not be satisfied with addition growth alone. They would multiply their church. They wanted to spread the Good News of Jesus to all areas of the county. Greenleaf's vision was that everyone in Grundy would be within walking distance of a church. In his biography Preacher Greenleaf, he told author Joseph O'Neal, "Between Grundy and fifteen miles away, you might have three mountains to go over."
To accomplish the vision, Grundy Church sent 25 to 50 people to be the nucleus for each new congregation.
"That's the best way," Greenleaf insisted. "It's hard on the Grundy church, but the best way in the world to start New Testament evangelism and New Testament churches is to send 25 of your best members to a place down the road to begin a new church. Send the members with the most money—now, that will deflate you."
Man, I love this guy! Greenleaf easily could have led Grundy Church to be the largest church in the area with people coming into it. Instead, he kept his ego in check and insisted they distribute their church's resources and wealthiest people to other churches throughout the region.
One of Grundy's members commented on their church's sending culture, saying, "This tells you a lot about the man, Clarence Greenleaf. He could have made a big name for himself and built an empire right here in Grundy, or he could do what would win the most people to Christ."
Grundy Church had many strategies for multiplication. For instance, they sent a bus to one target area to bring in a dozen or more people to their services. That sounds like a typical church growth strategy, right? Nope. Eventually, when the bus was full of people from that area, they stopped sending the bus and just started a church there. Grundy didn't see the busload of people as a way to pad their attendance statistics; they saw it as the nucleus for a new congregation. Then they sent the empty bus to a new target area to do it all over again!
Grundy Church started churches in a house, a schoolhouse, a jailhouse and a bus. They also scraped bubble gum off seats and walls to meet in a theater. Does any of that sound familiar, church planters? We're not as innovative and cutting edge as we think we are, right? Apparently "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecc. 1:9).
Grundy spun off Haysi Church of Christ in 1956, Vansant Church of Christ in 1957, Poplar Creek Church of Christ in 1957, Garden Creek Church of Christ in 1959, Breaks Church of Christ in 1960 and Kelsa Church of Christ in 1961—to name a few.
Mike Rife is currently the senior minister at Vansant Church of Christ, four miles away from Grundy Church. He knew Greenleaf personally and worked with him a great deal. Mike told me, "Grundy Church spun off over 25 churches between 1940 and 1960. Those churches are all in the same county within walking distance from one another. You can walk out of one church building and travel two miles to get to the next. Walk two more miles, and you'll find another." Grundy multiplied until there was a church in every "holler." Greenleaf's church-planting vision became a reality.
Greenleaf went to be with the Lord in 2004, a year before we moved to Cleveland. I selfishly wish he hadn't. I'd love to hear more of his stories. I'd ask him dozens of questions about his vision, mission and strategies. Instead, I'll have to settle for being one of his posthumous disciples.
How many people are following Jesus—or in Heaven—today because Clarence Greenleaf led Grundy Church to send buses, money and people? How many will be in Heaven because one of Grundy's spinoff churches impacted their entire family tree? I'd bet my Xbox that the number of people this church has reached is far greater than it would be if Grundy had relied on addition growth versus multiplication.
My hope is that God will use Momentum to be a "Grundy Church" in Greater Cleveland, making disciples and launching spinoffs. On the other hand, maybe our role is to help start churches that will have the kind of impact Grundy Church had. Maybe my children, Zion, Azlan and Journey, will be leaders in those churches and in their communities. That's the magic of multiplication. There's more than one opportunity to create a spark.
How about you? What is your vision for your church? What about the region surrounding your church? What is your dream for future generations? Will you release money and people to forcefully advance God's Kingdom?
A lot of future church planters need a generous partner church. A lot of church leaders need to hear this kind of story or see this kind of example. A lot of broken people outside of your immediate area need to hear about the love and grace of Jesus. You can do something to help all of these people—something that might just ignite a culture of multiplication.
This article is excerpted and adapted with permission from the Exponential eBook Sending Church: Stories of Momentum and Multiplication by Dan Smith.
Dan Smith is a church planter and the lead minister at Momentum Christian Church in Greater Cleveland. He also leads the "CLE Network," a church-planting network that is part of Kingdom Synergy Partnership (KSP) and Stadia. From 2011 to 2014, Dan served as main stage programming leader and emcee/"Fungi" for the Exponential conferences. In 2012, he won an Ohio Hip-Hop Award and in 2013 was nominated for the hip-hop album North Coast Patriarchs. "Smitty" is also a comedy music writer, having written and performed the viral song/video "Baby Got Book." His comedy albums include The Caucasian Invasion and D.E.B.'S. Kid. All of his songs can be found on iTunes under the worst rapper name ever: Dan Smith.
Dan lives in Garfield Heights, Ohio, with his wife, Shannon, and their three kids, Zion, Azlan and Journey. Together, they cheer loudly for the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Dan's website is whiteboyDJ.com. You can follow him through social media on Twitter: twitter.com/whiteboyDJ; Facebook: facebook.com/whiteboyDJ; and Instagram: instagram.com/whiteboyDJ
CATEGORY:: All News, Church Planting, eBooks, Featured | TAGS:: church multiplication, church planting, Exponential Resources Series, Featured, leadership
Your Church's Multiplication Assessment: The Key Starting Point
Lindy Lowry
Resource Type:: post
Three Essentials of Kingdom Multiplication | Exponential
Todd Wilson
From New Church to Level 5 Multiplication | Jeff Christopherson
Jeff Christopherson
A Biblical Metaphor for Multiplication | Dave Rhodes
Dave Rhodes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Yes, I'm finally home. I got home late Tuesday night and I've spent the day doing laundry, staring at my piled-up e-mail, and petting cats. This column will not be that complex because I thought I'd have a day between getting home and writing the column. Ah, the airlines changed that plan and left me with a mighty case of jetlag. So I'm not going to trust my brain with a complicated topic. I'll save that for later.
So instead, I'm going to make some observations.
The first time I went overseas, in 1977, I was in high school. I had just turned 17 and I had spent the entire summer working as a waitress to pay for my senior trip. We had a choice between going to London and going on a trip to Washington/New York. I chose London, and have never regretted it.
For two weeks, we could not call home. We had no contact with our families and friends. My mother, a perpetual worrier, must have been frantic. She hated traveling, and hated it when people were late coming to visit her. I have no idea what she went through waiting for me to get home. I don't even think I phoned her when I arrived at the airport in Minneapolis, three hours from home. I think she had to wait until the bus bearing all of the tired but happy teenagers arrived at the school. I do recall that she took me out for a hot fudge cake at Country Kitchen (where I worked) so she could hear all the details. My father was bowling, I think, which makes our return on a Friday night. Apparently he wasn't worried, but that was typical.
Still, incommunicado for two weeks. England really was another country then.
I didn't make another overseas trip until 2001, just after the 9/11 attacks. I was a guest at a convention in Nantes, France, along with Mike Resnick, Gardner Dozois, and several other Americans. We met in Paris, then took a train to Nantes, then came back to Paris. Dean didn't come along for reasons now lost to the mists of time.
By this point, everyone had cell phones. But overseas calls were next to impossible. I carried my phone for the U.S. travel part of the trip, but tucked it in my luggage for the European part of the trip. Dean and I stayed in touch through landlines, making two calls per day, one to wake him up, and one to wake me up. We had a hell of a phone bill when I returned, and we purposely kept our calls short.
In addition to staying in touch with each other, we also had to keep each other informed of all the business changes going on. Business doesn't stop just because someone is traveling.
Although I was traveling with friends, both Mike and Gardner were also my editors on various projects. I met three of my French editors, as well as the Italian publisher of my novels. And I made all kinds of contacts.
I checked my e-mail at the convention, using the free internet computers the con provided. (And using the French keyboard—very different from American keyboards.) I could only check the e-mail on the web, not download anything. Dean checked my e-mail at home and kept me up to date.
Again, I kept a travel diary by hand. I also brought five books with me to read. I brought books I could abandon in the hotel room once I had finished, mostly Nora Roberts and her pen name J.D. Robb, because, I figured, if I loved the books, I could buy new copies when I got home.
A lot happened on that trip, and I felt more connected than I had been in 1977. Some of that was choice. As a teenager, the thought of not communicating with my parents for two weeks was absolute heaven. As a woman in love, the thought of not talking to my husband for ten days was a nightmare.
Even so, we weren't in touch as much as we liked, and I still felt like I was very far away from home—both physically and mentally.
In the fall of 2007, Adrian Phoenix and I went to France, Italy, and England. We had planned that trip for months. My French mystery editor e-mailed in June and asked if I could do a book tour that fall. We agreed to tack it onto the front half of the trip I was going to do with Adrian. Instead of being gone for two weeks, I was gone for an entire month.
I planned to take my cell phone. When I purchased it, I asked the authorized Verizon rep if I could use the phone in Europe. He said yes. I didn't verify until a month before the trip, and only then did I learn he was wrong. It took some work to figure that out, because everyone I spoke to at Verizon told me I could use the phone for business in Europe. It wasn't until I talked to a manager that I found out it would cost me $500 plus a refundable deposit for a satellite phone to make my Verizon account work in Europe.
I bought a second cell with AT&T, used their international plan, and remained in cell phone contact with Dean, as well as my editors here in the States. I sold two novels on that trip—here in the States—and did much of the negotiation by phone.
I also brought my laptop. I wrote e-mails home to a small circle of friends. I also continued my business e-mails as if I had never left home. I had wireless connections in France and in London, but none in Italy. I had to go to an internet café there. We were in Italy for five days, and I spent a good two hours every day in that café.
Still, I remained in touch and got a lot of work done while traveling. I wouldn't have been able to do so, however, if I hadn't done two things before I left. First, I ordered the international plug-in kit for my Macbook from Apple. That way, I could switch out the plugs for my laptop so that I could plug the machine in no matter where I was.
Second, I went to an electronics store and got less specialized plug-ins for my phone and other appliances. It cost a pretty penny, but it was worth it. Adrian also did this, and I have vivid memory of the two of us sitting in our gigantic hotel room in London, typing away at our laptops.
We were connected, but we were unusual, and people often commented on our laptops and our phones.
My travel diary in this case was both online and on paper. There were times when it wasn't feasible to use the laptop so I just took notes by hand. I brought 10 books on that trip, jettisoning the first in New York. I had two copies of Scott Turow's One L, which I had never read before. I brought the junky copy with me and finished it on the plane, then gave it to a friend when I got to NYC. I abandoned books all over Europe, but I bought several as well. I also opted not to buy the latest Ian Rankin mystery because I couldn't get it home easily. The same with Robert Harris's The Ghost which came out while I was in London.
Again, I did a ton of business on that trip, but as far as the business world was concerned, I hadn't left home. I didn't miss a day of e-mail, and if someone needed to call me, all they had to do was dial my AT&T cell (which I gave to the people who needed it).
I carried a camera, but didn't use it much. I just fancied myself not much of a photographer. Mostly I took good research notes, and it took me a month to type them all up when I got home.
Fast forward to this trip.
I'm still with AT&T, but I got a smart phone last summer (an iPhone, but any smart phone would have done the job). I had a new laptop, but the plugs I bought still worked from the previous trip. I had no worries about connectivity at all.
Some other things had changed: I had a Kindle. As I mentioned in one of the travel blogs, I put fifteen books on that Kindle. I also brought 2 J.D. Robb books, but I only opened one once. If my Kindle broke down, as happened to a friend on a cruise, I could have used my Kindle app on my laptop to continue with the book or the Kindle app on my iPhone.
I did use the Kindle app on my iPhone more than expected. Whenever I was done people watching and I was alone in a café or restaurant, I read a book on my phone.
That phone made a huge difference in the trip. For someone who says she's not a photographer, I took nearly 400 photographs and five videos on the trip, just because I had my phone with me and it was convenient. Having that phone made a great deal of difference. I recorded some experiences I might have forgotten. It was lovely.
I had the laptop as well, only this time, I was able to use it instead of my cell phone to stay in touch with Dean. Free internet phone calls as opposed to the AT&T plan. We still used the cell, but not nearly as much. And we video conferenced—at weird times, mind you. Two in the morning his time, or real early morning my time. But we managed to see each other even when we were miles apart.
Despite the fact that I told everyone I'd be out of town during the past 11 days, I still had a lot of business to do. I got a mountain of e-mail, much of which I diverted until I got home. Not because I lacked internet connectivity. Even in the hotel in Leipzig had great wireless. It just didn't extend to the rooms because the old Soviet era hotel was made of concrete and so the signal didn't reach. My limited time on e-mail came because I was so busy with the trip itself—staying at the convention until all hours, doing research, making notes, blogging. If I wasn't careful, I wouldn't have slept.
But that wasn't the only change. The biggest change happened not to me, but to the rest of the world. In Nantes in 2001, the guy who was supposed to take our crew and all our luggage to the train station after the convention never showed. He might have been fashionably late or he might have overslept. We'll never know. We had no way to contact him. After waiting half an hour, we called a cab and barely caught our train.
This time, I got the "mobile" numbers of two people at the convention via e-mail before I even arrived. When Thomas dropped me at the hotel that first evening, he and I took a few minutes to update our iPhones. He took my cell number, I got all of his numbers as well. Then we both updated our calendars so that we synchronized our appointments.
Throughout the trip, I did the same thing with new contacts, new friends, and people I needed to reach. Everyone had a phone, and almost every German I synchronized information with had an iPhone, which startled me. Several had the new upgrade, the 4G.
I saw at least a dozen iPads while traveling as well, mostly at the train stations. Everyone on the airplanes had cell phones. Most of the passengers had MP3 players as well. A lot of people read their e-readers, but even more read regular books.
And…when I got to the airport on Friday, September 10, I saw something rather starting. Those plug-ins, so hard to get just three years ago, were on sale in every single airport I visited. I could get a special plug for the country I was going to, or I could get an all-in-one plug for every country in the world. (You had to take the thing apart like a jigsaw puzzle depending on which country you were going to.) I could get a mini version of it for my razor or for my MP3 player. All of the versions were cheaper than anything I could find three years ago.
In other words, the world had caught up to my way of traveling. Not only that, but the devices and the connectivity made the world seem small. One afternoon while I sat in the lobby of my Nuremberg hotel watching people go by while making my notes, three other people sat near me, updating their e-mail, talking to friends in other countries, and reading their hometown newspapers—all on their smart phones.
Connectivity had become the watchword.
Again, I did a lot of business on this trip. The only thing that created a barrier between me and the people I needed to contact was the time zone. Instead of three hours separating me from New York, it was six hours in the opposite direction. But that was dealable.
A lot of commentators lament the level of connectivity that we have now, saying it becomes impossible to shut off and wind down. That becomes a matter of choice. But I have to say, having the mighty phone with its various features, having the widespread availability of wireless connections (and not having to explain why it was important, which I had to do to the hotelier in Italy), and having the ease of contact with my friends/business partners in other countries, made this trip an absolute joy.
The world is getting smaller in that we can communicate with each other quicker, easier, and in similar ways no matter where we are in the developed world. But the world is also getting bigger. The more I can stay in touch, the more likely I am to take a long trip somewhere because I know I can do the all-important business e-mail or make important research observations and back them up off-site without much effort. I used to have to Fed Ex my printed notes and disks home every day so that I would have a back up for my research. Now I just e-mail everything or store it on a server somewhere.
The changes have had an impact on more than just travel, however. I spoke to a number of people in Germany about working together on various projects, something I never would have considered without e-mail and internet phones and the ability to send large data packets without crashing a server.
I'm amazed at all of this. I feel like I began my overseas travels in the Dark Ages. The difference between the travels of my teen years and the travels I took this month are profound. Even the difference between 2001 and now are amazing. And I think we will continue to see changes in the way people of various countries do business with each other as a result.
Next week I'll get into the nitty gritty of ways people run their businesses, again inspired by the trip. Within the month, I'll get to questions people have asked about various topics. (By then, I hope my jet lag will be gone.) Thanks to everyone who e-mailed and commented on the last business blog.
And please do donate a bit to keep me focused on business. I'm doing these blogs during my usual fiction writing time, so I'd appreciate the financial encouragement to keep me writing nonfiction.
"The Business Rusch: Small World" copyright 2010 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
@Kris – Glad you had a good trip and returned home safe.
Communications are indeed shrinking the world. I've traveled to different countries at various times and agree with you as to how much things have changed/improved.
However, the big noticable impact for me has not been from travel, but in how business is done. In the 90's when I worked for MCI we would go to a special Video Conference Room and have a meeting with co-workers in a similiar room across the country.
Five years ago I was working with a factory in China on new product development. Using Skype we were able to reduce the long and expensive process of sending problem samples back to China by showing them on camera and discussing the needed changes.
My last job was with Verizon and I hosted daily conference calls and computer presentations with people from all time zones in the US, plus Argentina and India. And I was able to do that from the comfort of my home office.
The world is shrinking, but it is also bringing us closer together. It is easier to do business and keep in touch with friends. I remember the days when a friend moved more than a few blocks away you lost touch with them. Now my children keep in touch with friends that have moved all across the country. Cool.
I love that as well, Alan. LIke you and Maggie, I see technology that's keeping us in touch instead of driving us apart. The methods are just different. I'm back in touch with high school friends, college friends, and childhood friends, and that's wonderful. We still have things in common besides our shared past, which is also grand.
Thanks for the link, Ortwin. I can't wait to see all the pictures!
Glad your trip was almost effortless for communication. It is a new world in electronics and I'm very happy for it. I travel fairly frequently, though not as much overseas as I used to. The ability to talk for free and see each other (Skype), find any business I want in an unfamiliar city (iPhone or Android apps), and easily carry a hundred books with me whenever I travel (Nook) makes it so much easier to travel light.
I also disagree with those who believe our electronic connection means we disconnect from each other. I find it to be quite the opposite. I'm more connected than ever before. Once I moved to another town, correspondence with friends would slowly dwindle to the annual Christmas letter and then often die. Now I have the option of keeping up with email, facebook, or twitter. Better yet I can decide how much time to spend keeping up with them–never stuck at a dull party or visiting for an evening to only find out we no longer had anything in common.
As for talking in coffee shops or meeting f-2-f, the truth is I didn't do much of that before the advent of this electronic world. Instead I had my face in a book, much preferring the interaction with fictional characters to most "normal" people. I knew my book characters would always work to overcome their challenges, defeat evil, and save the world and themselves in the end. Real people? Not so much.
@Kris, glad you made it back safe. To nurture your memories I'll post some picture to my facebook account.
Russ, you definitely hit the point I was trying to make. If we're heads-down in our e-readers/e-mail/Facebook, are we missing the world? I know that I lament how much time I seem to "have" to spend on the computer now, keeping up with things.
OTOH, I'm friends with a friend's daughter on Facebook, and I'm fascinated by how much time she can spend "with" her friends in the evenings/on weekends. When I was growing up, I lived outside town and saw most of my friends only at school and occasionally on weekends. My father was a realtor so my phone time was limited. What I wouldn't have given for texting and FB and Skype back then!
The rate of technologic change can be so surreal. When I left on my bicycle trip in March 1993, e-mail was only used outside the business' walls by a few crazies on CompuServe. AOL had made some inroads, but only for home use. External e-mail wasn't even a consideration in the system's design I'd just finished, I was considered pretty cutting edge for implementing internally from 1985-1992. Part way through my trip, a friend sent a letter to a General Delivery address I'd be hitting suggesting I get e-mail for staying in touch, I couldn't imagine why.
When I got home in Sept 1994, the Internet was up and running. By 1995 I was negotiating business over the Internet, and CompuServe, Prodigy, AOL, etc. were on their road into history.
The rate of change in technology is called the "refresh cycle." How often does technology generationally replace itself. When I started in IT in 1985, the cycle was 4 years. What I designed in 1985 wasn't cutting edge in 1989, but it was only a generation behind. When I left in 1993 it was down to 18 months. When I finally quit IT and became a user in 2002, most were measuring it at 6 months. (Interesting side note: Marketing was literally having to develop campaigns and packaging for products that didn't exist yet because the viable time at market once developed was so short that you couldn't afford to waste time in marketing & packaging design.) Now, that refresh cycle is so short it's mind-bending. As you saw. The change from 2007 to 2010 is almost as big as your 1997-2001 stretch.
Glad you're back safe and had fun!
Great point, Matt. I hadn't thought of the changes in measurable terms, but you're right. I used to write about that in F&SF editorials, always thinking of my grandmother, born in the 1890s, died in the 1990s–born before toasters, died after space flight. I guess we're going through extreme change as well.
Yes, indeed very interesting how technology has changed the world of communication. I see more and more iphones, ipads, e-readers, mp3 players, and sophisticated cell phones that make ST communicators look like Stone Age tools.
You have to wonder where all this is headed. I have a concern that people are becoming more isolated from the community they live in than connected to it. Sure they can communicate internationally but they ignore the people right in front of them.
In fact when I sit in my local coffee shop talking to someone the people around us are physically there but often far away on laptops, or texting on cell phones (btw the Brits call cell phones mobiles which seems a better description somehow), listening to mp3 players etc.
In my own office people e-mail each other yet sit only a few feet away. I sometimes have the feeling people prefer to remain behind their sense of anonymity that e-communication can create as their motivation to use e-communication rather than picking up a phone, or actually speaking to someone.
I'm not against advances in technology, I think some are quite useful and in some ways seem like magic, but I think we need to be aware of the possible isolation they may cause in some people.
I feel healthy communication practices are as important as healthy eating habits.
Anyway, thanks for the trip report . Sounds like you had a wonderful if exhausting time.
I did have a good time, Russ. I'm sure many stories will come from this trip, not just the story I planned.
Travel has changed a lot. Last year I went to Ireland to visit family. My mother-in-law came to Canada around 1953 and the boat trip took about 7 days. We crossed the Atlantic by plane and it took about 7 hours. Everything has changed. I live in an old school house built in 1902. Sometimes I get a bit spooked as I'm sitting there watching something on my hi-def satellite wide screen tv when I think about what the students had at the turn of the last century. We found a history of the school and there's a note that it wasn't even wired for electricity until about 1945. Who knows what the next 50 years will bring!
All if this sounds so familiar!
My first European trip was to study in England for six months in 1987. I took my electric typewriter, having been assured that I could buy a converter for it. That was a Big Fat Lie. I borrowed a manual typewriter and also used the college's computer lab (I had an Apple IIe at home). My parents had to call me on a dorm phone on the ground level of a three-level old building, or call the porters in the main building to leave a message. I, too, still have the hand-scrawled notebook from my time there, complete with castle layout sketches.
I had a clunky old laptop in Wales, but I didn't take it with me when we traveled Britain or the rest of Europe. That went into several notebooks.
The thing I now wished I had when we lived there (or earlier), hands down? A digital camera. We have so few photos (relatively speaking), and many of them are poor, but we keep them because they're the only shot we have of something or someone.
I think it's easy now to miss out on things because we're attached to our phones or laptops or e-readers, but if we're able to put them down and experience our travels, they're amazing, essential tools to keeping in touch with family, colleagues, friends, and the world. I also regularly bless the Internet for making the world a smaller place, since I can easily and regularly correspond with my friends all over the world.


Give a gift that is original, fun and will be treasured for a lifetime. With a range of letter and number combinations and styles we have a plate for everyone!
Tasplates gift vouchers are available in different denominations or full purchase price.
Place your order online or give us a call on 1300 787 060 and we'll place the order for you. Please note that our gift vouchers can only be redeemed by calling us on 1300 787 060.


Sign up for our twice-monthly newsletter highlighting campus success stories, upcoming events, and media mentions of the college.
NMC students, faculty and staff are up to all kinds of cool stuff.
Take a virtual tour of NMC's campuses.
To unsubscribe from Intercom or Student News emails, contact the NMC Publlic Relations department at publicrelations@nmc.edu.


What is the sensibility you share with Forevermark?
I've alligned myself with Forevermark because of the the line and presicion and quality of their design. They are a part of the De Beers Group and the quality is exceptional. I've been talking to them for a while and they were in my radar for a while. We will be using about five to seven pieces in the show.
How did you pair the jewellery with the clothes?
The whole idea this season is this bold girl with a liberated spirit yet very luxe. I am looking forward to pairing these beautiful jewels with day pieces. I like the idea of using really high-end, fine jewellery with everyday pieces like maybe a trench coat or a day dress to make it look cooler and younger. I want to make a case for luxury jewellery being cool; that it can be worn during the day and not just at night.
This collection is inspired by Annemarie Minna Renée Schwarzenbach who was a Swiss-German journalist and a photographer from the 1930s and was a style icon who experimented with her style. She was often seen men's clothes even before Marilyn Deitrich and Katherine Hepburn were seen in trousers. She drove from Europe to Afghanisthan, Iran, she was a nomad at heart. She went against the grain a lot times and that sincerely made her who she was. She passed away at an early age but after that her journals and photographs were published and she became an icon.
Does that mean the collection verges on androgyny?
There are a lot of pants and jackets but its really about capturing Annemarie's spirit in the collection. She was inspired by the Bauhaus school and you can tell from her clothes that she was into geometry and simpler lines and looking at her photographs you can tell that the clothes she wore were very linear and modern.
What's the show music like?
It's going to be two vocals and it's going to be very uplifting and powerful and emotional at the same time. It has a very celebratory feel to it. We are showing at one of the newer venues of New York Fashion week and its hosted by IMG.


Ethicsready is the culmination of 30 combined years in Clinical Trial Coordination, Clinical Trial Administration, Ethics Coordination and Compliance Officer experience. Ethicsready professionals have worked across Sponsored, Collaborative Group and Investigator Initiated Clinical Trials in Human Research.
Ethicsready has been developed to provide Sponsors, Contract Research Organisations (CRO), Clinical Trial Sites and Investigators with practical guidance, document content development and Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) submission preparation and/or submission services.
Ethicsready streamlines the ethical administration of research whilst complying with all applicable Ethical and Regulatory guidelines.


Stuart was born in Port Navas, son of Sydney and Iris Hodges and the youngest of 1 brother, 4 sisters and 7 half sisters and brothers. He lived in Chestnut Cottage in the centre of Port Navas, a former pub called the 'Jolly Sailor'. His elder brother Leonard was, just as grandfather and father before, manager of the Oyster Farm so Stuart joined him where he learnt how to dredge and cultivate native Helford oysters.
Having gained carpentry skills by spending time with a carpenter in Port Navas, Stuart used these skills to renovate two cottages in Well Lane, Constantine which he and his wife Jill bought after their marriage in 1965. He made the two cottages into one and stayed there with Jill and their two sons, Lee and Adrian until 1975. He left the oyster farm and they all went to Falmouth where they bought and ran Wentworth Guest House for 13 years.
Stuart loved the sea and was proud of the boats they owned, 18ft gaff rigged sloop, 16ft oyster punt and a 12ft rowing boat, all clinker built and moored in Port Navas.
After retirement Stuart developed his skill of painting. His love of the sea and the Cornish countryside is featured in all his paintings. He made authentic stone engine houses, the smallest of which measured 12 inches by 10 inches. They were built of local stone and slate. Stuart had cards printed from his paintings and together with these, his paintings and engine houses, he took them to local craft fairs where he sold many. So his memory lives on.
Towards the end of his life he decided to draft an account of some of his early life and oyster farming. The subject of oyster farming is now dying out and he wanted the methods used to be preserved, but sadly he could not finish the project.


amount of material that can be delivered at one time.
high-density storage requirements and meet other requirements for deposit.
Bound periodicals from local storage, brittle paper but intact text blocks.
deliver the materials to MLAC. The actual date will depend on MLAC workload.
delivery of material to MLAC. MINITEX will assist in arranging delivery if requested.


Do you have a festival, town cleanup, corporate party or event in need of waste removal?
A few events we've covered include: Taste of Tippecanoe, Tippecanoe County Fair, Germanfest, events for Lafayette Chamber of Commerce.
Temporary front-load containers and roll-off containers are also available for your events.
No event is too large or too small!!


text:
Q: Not refreshing custom renderer Xamarin forms maps I created a map with custom marker with real-time location update. But after adding a new pin to the map its not applying the custom renderer. If I zoomed-in or zoomed-out on the map its applying that custom renders for markers. Here is my code.
This Code is in Xamarin.Droid project
     public class CustomMapRenderer : MapRenderer, IOnMapReadyCallback, GoogleMap.IInfoWindowAdapter
{

    GoogleMap map;
    List<Position> routeCoordinates;
    List<CustomPin> customPins;
    Action<CustomPin> onInfoWindowClicked;

    public void OnMapReady(GoogleMap googleMap)
    {
        map = googleMap;

        //map.InfoWindowClick += OnInfoWindowClick;
        map.SetInfoWindowAdapter(this);

        var polylineOptions = new PolylineOptions();
        polylineOptions.InvokeColor(Android.Graphics.Color.Blue);

        foreach (var position in routeCoordinates)
        {
            polylineOptions.Add(new LatLng(position.Latitude, position.Longitude));
        }

        map.AddPolyline(polylineOptions);

    }

    protected override void OnElementChanged(Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.ElementChangedEventArgs<Xamarin.Forms.View> e)
    {
        base.OnElementChanged(e);

        if (e.OldElement != null)
        {
            map.InfoWindowClick -= OnInfoWindowClick;
            // Unsubscribe
        }

        if (e.NewElement != null)
        {

            var formsMap = (CustomMap)e.NewElement;

            routeCoordinates = formsMap.RouteCoordinates;
            customPins = formsMap.CustomPins;
            onInfoWindowClicked = formsMap.OnInfoWindowClicked;
            ((Android.Gms.Maps.MapView)Control).GetMapAsync(this);
        }
    }

    protected override void OnElementPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnElementPropertyChanged(sender, e);

        if (map != null)
        {
            map.Clear();

            foreach (var pin in customPins)
            {
                var marker = new MarkerOptions();
                marker.SetPosition(new LatLng(pin.Pin.Position.Latitude, pin.Pin.Position.Longitude));
                marker.SetTitle(pin.Id.ToString());
                marker.SetSnippet(pin.Pin.Address);

                if(pin.UserType == global::Common.Models.UserType.Driver)
                {
                    marker.SetIcon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.FromResource(Resource.Drawable.car));
                }

                else if (pin.UserType == global::Common.Models.UserType.Rider)
                {
                    marker.SetIcon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.FromResource(Resource.Drawable.person));
                }

                map.AddMarker(marker);
            }

        }
    }

    void OnInfoWindowClick(object sender, GoogleMap.InfoWindowClickEventArgs e)
    {
        onInfoWindowClicked(GetCustomPin(e.Marker));
    }

    private CustomPin GetCustomPin(Marker marker)
    {
        return customPins.Find(x => x.Id.ToString() ==marker.Title.ToString());
    }

    public Android.Views.View GetInfoContents(Marker marker)
    {
        var inflater = Android.App.Application.Context.GetSystemService(Context.LayoutInflaterService) as Android.Views.LayoutInflater;
        if (inflater != null)
        {
            Android.Views.View view;

            var customPin = GetCustomPin(marker);
            if (customPin == null)
            {
                throw new Exception("Custom pin not found");
            }

            view = inflater.Inflate(Resource.Layout.MapInfoWindow, null);

            var infoImage = view.FindViewById<ImageView>(Resource.Id.markerInfoImage);
            var infoTitle = view.FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.markerInfoTitle);
            var infoSummary = view.FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.markerInfoSummary);

            System.IO.Stream ims = Context.Assets.Open(customPin.Image);

            // load image as Drawable
            Drawable d = Drawable.CreateFromStream(ims, null);

            // set image to ImageView
            infoImage.SetImageDrawable(d);

            //File file = new File(customPin.Image);
            //var image  = Android.Net.Uri.FromFile(file);
            //var resource=ResourceManager.GetDrawableByName("driverLogActive_icon.png");
            //infoImage.SetImageResource(resource);
            //infoImag = customPin.Title;

            infoTitle.Text = customPin.Title;

            infoSummary.Text = customPin.MobileNo;

            return view;
        }
        return null;
    }

    public Android.Views.View GetInfoWindow(Marker marker)
    {
        return null;
    }
}

This code is in Xamarin.Forms project
    public class CustomPin
{
    public Pin Pin { get; set; }
    public Guid Id { get; set; }
    public string Title { get; set; }
    public string MobileNo { get; set; }
    public string Image { get; set; }
    public string UserName { get; set; }
    public UserType UserType { get; set; }
}

public class CustomMap : Map
{
    public static readonly BindableProperty RouteCoordinatesProperty = BindableProperty.Create(nameof(RouteCoordinates), typeof(List<Position>), typeof(CustomMap), new List<Position>(), BindingMode.TwoWay);
    public static readonly BindableProperty CustomPinsProperty = BindableProperty.Create(nameof(CustomPins), typeof(List<CustomPin>), typeof(CustomMap), new List<CustomPin>(), BindingMode.TwoWay);

    public List<CustomPin> CustomPins
    {
        get { return (List<CustomPin>)GetValue(CustomPinsProperty); }
        set { SetValue(CustomPinsProperty, value); }
    }

    public List<Position> RouteCoordinates
    {
        get { return (List<Position>)GetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty); }
        set { SetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty, value); }
    }

    public Action<CustomPin> OnInfoWindowClicked;

    public CustomMap()
    {
        RouteCoordinates = new List<Position>();
        CustomPins = new List<CustomPin>();
    }
}

This is how I use the custom map to render pin in Xamrin.Fomrs project
    private void RenderPin(string longitudeCoordinate, string latitudeCoordinate,bool canMoveToLoacation, string lable,UserType userType,string mobileNo,string image,string userName)
    {
        double latitude = 0;
        double longitude = 0;

        double.TryParse(latitudeCoordinate, out latitude);
        double.TryParse(longitudeCoordinate, out longitude);

        var position = new Position(latitude, longitude);

        var pin = new CustomPin
        {
            Pin = new Pin
            {
                Type = PinType.Place,
                Position = position,
                Label = lable,
            },
            Title = lable,
            UserType = userType,
            MobileNo = "Mobile No:" + mobileNo,
            Image = "profile_images/" + image,
            UserName = userName,
            Id = Guid.NewGuid()
        };

        map.CustomPins.Add(pin);
        map.Pins.Add(pin.Pin);
        if (canMoveToLoacation)
        {
            map.MoveToRegion(MapSpan.FromCenterAndRadius(new Position(latitude, longitude), Distance.FromKilometers(2)));
        }
    }

A: If you install the Xamarin.Forms.Maps pre-release (2.3.5.255-pre5), you can now just override the CreateMarker() method in MapRenderer.  It's much more elegant, and it fixes this problem with pins not being updated when added after map creation.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
News Archive / Tagged: National Institute of Aerospace
NASA solicits ideas for innovative technology that could send crews to Mars
Tomasz NowakowskiSeptember 30th, 2016
Last week, NASA announced a call for submissions of innovative ideas that could be essential for future exploration of the Solar System, including crewed missions Mars. The initiative, known as iTech, engages the public, universities, the space industry, and U.S. government agencies to offer technology solutions necessary for space exploration.
International Space Station Crew to Connect with Virginia Students
Press ReleaseJanuary 7th, 2014
Students in Newport News and Williamsburg, Va., will begin 2014 by talking with astronauts in orbit aboard the International Space Station.
NASA Extends Deadlines for Student Exploration Design Challenge
Press ReleaseDecember 23rd, 2013
NASA is extending deadlines for its Exploration Design Challenge, an educational program connected to Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) — the first mission for NASA's new Orion spacecraft, scheduled to launch in September 2014 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.


Newborns are definitely my favorite subjects and what I've become known for in New Jersey. Due to the demand, newborn sessions should be booked at least 3 weeks in advance (during your last trimester) in order to secure a spot on my calendar. Newborn sessions are done during the first 3 weeks because at this young age they are sleepy and easy to curl up in order to capture their brand newness! Newborn sessions take place at my studio where we have all we need for the session. All you need to bring is your diaper bag and baby and I will take care of the rest.
When should I schedule a Session?
During most of the year I typically book about 1 month in advance. The fall is my busiest time of year and so if you would like photos during fall foliage it is best to contact me before September.
How should we prepare for our session?
We will have a consultation (at the studio or on the phone) prior to your session to go over what you are looking for in your portraits and discuss all the details. You will also receive access to a client site which includes tips on what to wear and design ideas for how to display your portraits.
What is a session like with toddlers and kids?
Sessions are very relaxed and it is best to schedule the session around nap/meal schedule so that babies and children are in their best mood. I will engage with your child and capture their personality while they do what they do best- just being a kid. It's ok and perfectly normal for your toddler to run around while we are at a park so don't worry!
Christie Adams Photography has been featured in several publications including Bergen Health & Life Magazine and The Rigewood News. She has also been commissioned for commercial work by baby clothing manufacturers. In September 2011 Christie Adams Photography was voted best photographer in Bergen County in Bergen Health & Life Magazine. For more information, click HERE to read the press page.
Click HERE for Christie Adams Photography Reviews and Testimonials from clients over the past 11 years.


text:
Hans Henrich Maschmann, född den 6 maj 1775 i Kristiania, död där den 19 november 1860, var en norsk ekonomisk författare.

Maschmann övertog 1796 ett apotek i sin hemstad och fick 1808] professors titel.  Som ledamot av åtskilliga kungliga kommittéer för behandlande av frågor rörande medicinal- och apoteksväsendet, som medlem av direktionen för Selskabet for Norges vel samt som författare av åtskilliga kemiska och ekonomiska folkskrifter inlade Maschmann stora förtjenster. Han utgav tillsammans med Christopher Hansteen och Gregers Fougner Lundh tidskriften Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne.

Källor

Norska kemister
Norska apotekare
Norska innehavare av professors namn
Kemister under 1800-talet
Norska forskare under 1800-talet
Forskare från Oslo
Födda 1775
Avlidna 1860
Män

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


A lawyer by initial training, Kate progressed into HR via various client-facing roles at organisations including RBS and Lloyds TSB. Kate, appointed HR Director by new CEO Paul Abberley, joined Charles Stanley at a time of losses and profit warnings. Passionately believing in the power of the people to affect positive change, Kate and Paul worked tirelessly to introduce a high engagement culture to turnaround organisational performance.
Kate & Paul were Winners of the Business Culture Leadership Category 2017.
Amina progressed her career through a number of leadership roles within M&S over 22 years, before joining RHP in 2008. With their cultural change programme 'Iamrhp', the company has achieved high engagement and outstanding commercial results by launching a diverse and innovative set of initiatives. By believing that people and service are closely linked, high levels of trust and engagement have accompanied lower levels of customer complaints in the midst of unprecedented change in the housing sector.
RHP were Winners of the Business Culture Small Business Category 2016.
Brett has a strong HR background including roles at the BBC, Post Office, Pentland and presently Revium Group, which comprises a portfolio of award-winning companies. Among these is Retail Marketing Group, which sought to increase engagement across a remotely based and rapidly expanding workforce by successfully launching an engagement app whilst the group underwent two large restructures.
Revium Group were Winners of the Business Culture Technology Category 2017.
Check out our other events and speakers: 20 March, 25 April, 17 May, and 7 June.


Today's Petrol price in Etah (Uttar Pradesh) is Rs. 72.22 per Litre. Last change in Etah petrol price was on April 19, 2019 and it was increased by +0.06 rupees. In addition, we bring you the most recent petrol price changes in Etah city. The petrol price is inclusive of Uttar Pradesh state taxes.


text:
The amazing new Swiss mountain train that can jump rail tracks
Jennifer Jennifer
(CNN) – Combining elegance and comfort with 21st-century technical masterpieces, Switzerland's newest panoramic train journey will begin on December 11, three years after it was planned and 150 years after it was first offered.
The new Golden Pass Express (GPX) directly connects three of the country's most important tourist destinations: Montreux, Gstaad and Interlaken, made possible by a revolutionary new train capable of changing wheel size and truck body height. .
Thanks to the unique design of the new train, passengers can sit in their comfortable seats for three and a quarter hours and enjoy the ever-changing scenery through the huge panoramic windows.
The spectacular journey takes in some of Europe's most beautiful lakes, valleys and high mountain passes, following trade routes dating back to the Middle Ages through central Switzerland.
The result is a truly memorable journey for travelers, but has always been a challenging task for railway engineers and operators.
Until now, the Golden Pass Express concept has been a marketing exercise by three rail companies connecting tourist hotspots such as Montreux, Interlaken and Luzern, but requires two train changes.
As a result, GPX has never captured the imagination of tourists like the legendary Glacier Express.
From December, one of these disruptions will disappear, and the Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB) railway is confident that the stylish new GPX panoramic trains will boost the route's popularity, especially for international visitors who want a seamless experience.
In a matter of seconds, trains will switch from MOB's metric gauge to the Swiss standard's 1435 millimeter gauge, eliminating the need for passengers to change trains en route. Between Zweisimmen and Interlaken, trains run over Switzerland's largest private railway, the Bern Lotchberg Simplon (BLS).
Trains that can change gauge (the distance between the wheels) are nothing new — Spain's Talgo trains have been able to switch between standard gauge (1,435 millimeters) and wider Iberian tracks for decades — but GPX trains have an added level of complexity. making them world first.
A memorable experience
The new train will be put into operation in December 2022.
Along with the gauge change, the complex trucks under each cart raise the body height to match the elevated platform of the BLS station.
Gauge changes are made easier by designing the truck with two half-frames that can slide sideways 435 millimeters apart. To do this, they are equipped with a pair of independent wheels without axles between the two sides of the truck.
Also Read : Transatlantic travel soars as Americans make most of strong dollar
The stylish carriages are a collaboration between Swiss train manufacturer Stadler, global transport giant Alstom, which designed and built gauge-changing carriages, and legendary Italian design studio Pininfarina.
Known for its automotive creations from Ferrari to Peugeot, Pininfarina is not new to the rail industry. It was responsible for the exterior of the Italian high-speed train ETR500 and the exterior color scheme of the Eurostar, and in 1993 Pininfarina and MOB collaborated on an earlier generation of trains known as the Crystal Panoramic Express.
"The implementation of new safety standards has encouraged rather than limited our creativity," said Alfredo Palma, design project manager at Pininfarina.
"In every project, automotive, transport, architecture, etc., our goal is to create beautiful objects while overcoming technical and regulatory barriers. Together with MOB, we have created a train that offers a travel experience that is in complete symbiosis with natural beauty. environment."
Just 23 cars cost $93.5 million (89 million Swiss francs) and are an expensive solution to a problem that dates back 150 years when direct service between Montreux and Interlaken was first offered.
However, this cost is offset by the obvious benefit of providing a more convenient direct service, which is likely to attract additional passengers. Many of those passengers will be international tourists from North America and Asia, who are used to paying premium prices to experience Switzerland's alpine beauty from its countless scenic railways.
A technological challenge
It is hoped that this train will help develop tourism in Switzerland.
Despite delays due to production problems and the Covid-19 pandemic, MOB and its partners BLS, the cantons of Bern, Fribourg, Vaud and the Swiss Federal Transport Office believe that the investment will make an immediate contribution. regional economy.
"With Gold Pass Express, we're taking on the incredible technological challenge of going from fine gauge to standard gauge," said George Oberson, general manager of MOB.
"We also wanted this tourist train to be beautiful and elegant, which is why we commissioned Pininfarina, one of the most prestigious design companies in the world."
Passengers have a choice of three classes: 2nd Class, 1st Class, or the luxury of Prestige Class leather seating for 28 lucky people per journey. First and Prestige Class travelers can order locally produced food and beverages to enhance their journey.
Also Read : England vs Germany predictions: Southgate faces further heartache
Initially, the new GPX trains will run from Montreux to Interlaken and vice versa only once a day, leaving Montreux at 9:35am and Interlaken at 9:08am.
From 11 June 2023, the service will operate four return trips a day, departing from Montreux at 7:35am, 9:35am, 12:35pm and 2:35pm, with departures at 9:08am and 11:00am. will return. 8 am, 2:08 pm, 4:08 pm
The train departs from Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva.
What can travelers expect from a GPX tour and how does it compare to other scenic railways?
The journey east begins on the shores of Lake Geneva in the beautiful city of Montreux, home to world-renowned jazz festivals and generations of musicians and artists. A tourist hotspot for over 150 years, it remains very popular with international tourists and is an ideal base for exploring western and central Switzerland.
The MOB trains quickly climb the hillside from their downtown station, the train makes a 180-degree turn through the vineyards and sidesteps the lake to reach the heights, and the spectacular view of the lake continues to grow.
Eventually, if no further climbing is possible, the line plunges into the 2.5km long Jaman Tunnel, emerging in the majestic Hongrin Valley of the Gruyère region, famous for its dairy cows and the cheese and chocolate made from their milk.
High mountains tower over verdant valleys as the MRC passes through carefully tended farmland and equally pristine Alpine villages.
After leaving the Montbovon Junction station, the line climbs again, passing the Château d'Oeux to the world-famous resort of Gstaad, a winter playground for the rich and famous.
Passengers can connect to the railway line north of the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch, Europe's highest railway station.
NICHOLAS RATZENBOECK/AFP via Getty Images
Bridging the language gap between the Swiss-German-dominant French-speaking Cantons of Vaud and Canton of Bern, the railway winds its way through sparsely populated mountainous terrain to reach the top of the line before descending in a series of loops to Zweisimmen.
Previously, GPX passengers had to change from their MOB panoramic train to the larger, more traditional BLS train to continue their journey, but now they can relax in their seats as the train passes over the next gauge change complex.
Also Read : Gareth Southgate, you're the one for England, are you still?
As the name suggests, Zweisimmen is located at the confluence of the Gross Simme and Klein Simme rivers of the Simme River. Our route takes us 35 km north along the river Schönberg, then through the beautiful Simmental in the east, to the shores of Lake Thun in Spiez.
Spiez is a major railway junction where our route crosses the main international line from Basel and Bern to Italy via the Lötschberg and Simplon tunnels.
Day-trippers can change here and take the spectacular Lochberg first route to Brig in the Rhône Valley before heading straight back to Montreux.
Unforgettable trips
Gstaad is located on the GPX routes.
But the GPX continues past Lake Thun, gradually descending to the water's edge, until its final, unforgettable finale to its destination and the Swiss tourist hotspot of Interlaken.
Interlaken, which literally means many German place names, is a city located on a narrow strip of land between Switzerland's two largest lakes, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.
It's a landmark in itself and the starting point for one of Switzerland's most memorable hikes — a three-stage journey across the north face of the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch, Europe's highest railway station at 3,454 meters (11,332 feet). ).
You can also take the Zentralbahn panoramic train to Luzern via Meiringen and the Bruni Pass. Meiringen is a "must-see" for Sherlock Holmes fans, near the Reichenbach Falls, where Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional hero and his nemesis lost their lives.
Like many scenic railways in Europe, the MOB relies heavily on tourism. It has been hit hard over the past three years by restrictions on international travel and a lack of visitors from key Asian markets. According to recent studies, passenger numbers are not expected to return to pre-Covid levels until 2024 at the earliest.
However, MOB has added some great new GPX trains to the Golden Pass route, which will surely allow many new visitors to experience this underrated travel gem.
Best photo credit: MOB
Tags: Amazing new Swiss mountain train to jump off the rails - CNN, Travel
England and France fans eye World Cup glory as quarter-final tie looms
Britain Braces For Weeks Of Air And Rail Strikes, Set To Disrupt Christmas Travel


text:
Q: publish dist folder to github pages My Code

I want to publish to github pages
I use vue-cli version 4.x
When I enter my github page, I can only see my README.md.

github page link

A: A publishing source for GitHub Pages can be:

*

*the master branch content

*the gh-pages branch content

*the doc subfolder

The public/ subfolder is never considered for publication.
See Vue.js GitHub Pages for an example of deployment.
Also "GitHub Pages + Vue CLI 3" from Manuel Mejia Jr..


On the horizontal axis we have price.
On the vertical axis we have demand in units.
we also see a straight line.
That's basically capturing how price is impacting demand.
In particular if you notice, the coefficient in front of price is -0.9.
As price goes up by one dollar, sales is expected to come down by 0.9 units.
The fact that it's negative makes a lot of sense.
sales is expected to come down.
if your price is at zero, close to free, about ten units would be sold.
So that's what we get with the regression line.
We also see something called an R squared.
That's a number that's from zero to one.
It captures basically how good is your regression.
of capturing how demand is changing the price.
unfortunately the regression is not doing a very good job.
R square is quite high.
That's a very high R square.
Typical R squares, 70 to 80%.
we can start using this regression to make predictions.
That's what we are after.
What we are after is how do we make demand predictions at different prices?
That's what we will do next.
So for doing that, we can take multiple steps.
which is what we had shown earlier, and start inserting different prices.
making predictions from the regression, is comparing with actual data.
That's what is shown first.
the predictive regression line are quite close to each other.
which measures how good that regression is, is quite high.
What we can also do is to go one step further.
And that's the power of regression.
at prices that were not there in the dataset.
And that's what I do next.
Look at the prices on the top right.
When you look at those prices, these are prices that are not there in the dataset.
This is when a manager can start thinking about how to use regression.
Make predictions of demand for prices that he has not tested as yet.
is that regression can make predictions for demand at those prices as well.
So that's the beauty of regression.
you can start understanding how quantitatively demand relates to prices.
Look at the fit of the regression, that's 2r square.
you can start using that regression to make demand predictions.
Once you can make demand predictions, optimal prices are just one step away.
And the intuition is the following.
we can start looking at the revenue and profit at those different prices.
to make the maximum revenue or maximum profit, if you know your underlying costs.
So the beauty of regression is, we start from overall data.
We start quantifying the relationship between variables.
Once we have that, we start looking at how to make demand predictions.
weighting prices to figure out what your demand is going to be.
But of course, regression can be expanded to cover multiple independent variables.
The general idea is the following.
Again on the left hand side we have Y, which is your dependent variable.
On the right hand side we have the Xs which are your independent variable.
In the bottom of this page, you see an example.
price might not drive everything.
Regression can handle as many independent variables as you want.
The idea there is exactly that same.
how much do they contribute to overall sales.
Now regression, as I mentioned, is just one example of making demand predictions.
making demand predictions, talking about optimal prices.
But there are many, many other examples.
So regression is one way we can start thinking about things like cart.
You can start thinking about things like networks.


AldoneLiveX . BarbaraTx. AlexyBelle. Divanight1.
BeautyNiceCollegeBruneteWildDoll18VictoriaMadison .AriaBonasorttiDomeRikiDomeRikiAlexyBelle .NaughtyBabyD0llSofiaScottXMiaaLoveVanessaGio .Hot69MilfMayaP0shBennwilkinsBrandiEvans .MooreWantsMoreVictoriaMadisonAlexyBelleMishelWox .vickythailTSNancyHornyBELLANEFERNEITHANANDLOGAN1 .soldiercock9bigdaizeTOPACIOLUNAPinayOBSESSIONs .walterwhitecocktinaaahotelisemissxkarlaxhornyxxx .Arianna33Arrecho9604LucyndaBarbaraTx .MiaaLoveDarieangelIanwithLivANNIEandBENNY .NaughtyBabyD0llHot69MilfCassandraBellaaJacqline .
walterwhitecockvickythailTSeroticaLATINAMMSultryBeautyMM .AnitaCortezWizardDanielleJamparaleKingdomPriNcess .tinaaahotBarbaraTxMishelWoxSofiaScottX .tinaaahotTOPACIOLUNAtinaaahotJacqline .FeenBiancaBlakeDivanight1lovetooome .TastyGuyCocklloyd3Hot69MilfVictoriaMadison .DonnaGarciaSexyGuysKingdomPriNcessLoVEorSEXx .Arianna33WizardDanielleSandraDreamcamilaMaddy .GulyBoomMishelWoxCarmelSwirlzCarmenSummers .CarmenSummersHot69MilfVictoriaMadisonFeen .LatiinHotttinaaahotsusanbakerAliceEbonyy .


text:
St Kilda Brass
Posted on July 14, 2010 July 6, 2018 by Kimberley
City musicians land telling blows – ODT
Courtesy of ODT – 14 July, 2010.
Three Dunedin musicians are national champions after the New Zealand Brass Band Championships in Dunedin at the weekend.
The triumph was all the more remarkable for Rose Evans (16), of St Kilda Brass, who won the junior flugelhorn section at her first attempt.
"I was really pleased. It was my first national title and my first national competition," she said yesterday.
At the other end of the scale, Fred Knopp (82), of St Kilda Brass, won the masters (75-84) cornet for the fourth time.
"I usually mainly get seconds and thirds, so it was nice to get a first," he said.
John Lewis (36), representing Daelwool Auckland Brass, won his fourth open championship cornet title.
"It's been a difficult couple of years. There's been a lot of upheaval in my life, but things are settling down again and I'm really pleased with the way I'm playing at the moment," he said yesterday.
"I've got a busy year ahead with CD recordings and concerts in Auckland and more contests in Australia later in the year.
Somewhere in between, I hope to fit in a few concerts here in Dunedin."
Other successes for local musicians were. -Tim Walsh, of St Kilda Brass, was second in the open tenor trombone; Rene Spoors, of St Kilda Brass, was third in open Eb bass; and John McAdam, representing Pelorus Trust Wellington Brass, was third in the open baritone section.
The 130th New Zealand Brass Band Championships featured 27 bands and nearly 1000 musicians.
Nigel Benson – ODT
CategoriesArticle
Previous PostPrevious Newsletter – April
Next PostNext Newsletter – September
© St Kilda Brass
Dunedin, 9054,


1. Combine marinade ingredients in small bowl. Place beef steak and 1/3 cup marinade in food-safe plastic bag; turn to coat. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator 6 hours or as long as overnight, turning occasionally. Refrigerate remaining marinade. 2. Remove steak; discard marinade. Brush bell peppers with some of remaining marinade. Place steak and peppers on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill flank steak, uncovered, 17 to 21 minutes for medium rare to medium doneness (top round steak 16 to 18 minutes for medium rare), turning occasionally. Grill peppers 12 to 15 minutes or until tender, turning occasionally. Brush steak and peppers occasionally with remaining marinade; do not brush during last 5 minutes. 3. Carve steak across the grain into thin slices. Season with salt. Serve with peppers.


text:
One of the World's finest Sopranos Joanna Forest to perform a special intimate Christmas Concert
Glasgow-Scotland-UK July 24th 2019.
On Friday December 20th, Newlands Global Events proudly welcomes one of the world's most talented sopranos, UK Classical Album number one bestseller Joanna Forest to perform a special intimate Christmas Concert at Sherbrooke Mosspark Parish Church in the leafy suburb of Pollokshields in the South of the City as part of The Rising Stars of Classical Music Concert Series 2019/20.
This unique concert will see performances of all your festive favourites along with a showcase of hits from Joanna's two number one albums, including the latest 'The Rhythm of Life'. Joanna received great praise for being the first independent artist to achieve a number one classical album. She has performed at some incredible venues including 'The Palace Theatre in London with Paul Potts, Joint headlining the Castle Howard Proms with Blake and performing on the same bill as Kylie Minogue and Paloma Faith to raise money for Breast Cancer now. On the concert Joanna said, "I can't wait to perform at the Christmas concert in Glasgow. As the song goes "It's the most wonderful time of the year" and I look forward to entertaining the audience with my own festive take on many wonderful Christmas tunes and songs from my own repertoire including my two Number 1 albums."
Managing director of Newlands Global Events Neil Wilson, said of the concert, 'For many people, including myself, Christmas is the best time of the year and I can't wait to welcome Joanna to the Southside to perform what will be a fantastically festive concert which will showcase the brilliance of Joanna's voice and put everyone in the Christmas spirit.'
More information is available on Joanna via her official website, joannaforest.com and her twitter feed @joannaforest.
In Christmas concert with Joanna Forest is on Friday 21st December at 7:30pm at Sherbrooke Mosspark Parish Church. Tickets are priced at £30 (Inclusive of Taxes and booking fees) and can be purchased online now at newlandsglobalevents.com
Joanna Forest
Joanna shot to fame in 2017 when she broke records becoming the first independent artist to go straight to Number 1 in the Official Classical Album Charts with a debut album, "Stars Are Rising". Her 2nd album, "The Rhythm of Life", released in 2019, also shot straight to the top of the classical charts on release. Both albums received critical acclaim across TV, Radio and National Press including Album of the Week in The Sunday Mirror.
Joanna entered the world of classical crossover in 2014 following a successful West End and TV career. Her first public performance as a crossover artist was in duet with Britain's Got Talent megastar, Paul Potts, at The Palace Theatre, London who later also guest duetted with Joanna on "The Rhythm of Life" with a new arrangement of Boccelli's "Because We Believe".
Further recordings included a classical Number 1 single with "The Royal Platinum Love Song", released to celebrate 70 years of marriage between The Queen and Prince Philip, a Top 10 classical Christmas hit, "That is his Story" and a lead appearance on the Sir Paul McCartney backed "Choirs with Purpose" Stand Together album backed by a 600 strong choir.
No stranger to high profile performances, Joanna has sung on the pitch at Premier League and Championship Football Grounds, on BBC's Songs of Praise performing "Ave Maria", as lead soloist at the prestigious Bedford Park Proms and York's Castle Howard Proms, theatres up and down the UK and on her own nationwide tour.
As a result of Joanna's chart success she was awarded the first ever "Future Classic Women" Award in May 2019.
Newlands Global Events is a live entertainment and event management company focused on excellence, specialising in creating, organising and promoting unique, innovative events across a broad spectrum of areas from intimate private parties to stadium concerts.
Name: Neil Wilson
E-mail neil.wilson@newlandsglobalevents.com
Rising Stars of Classical Music Series 2019/20
Newlands Global Events created the Rising Stars of Classical Music series to showcase the incredible talents that are out there in the classical music world and provide intimate performing opportunities. We are bringing these sensational artists to the heart of local communities, providing access to world class performers for the Southside of Glasgow and beyond. We have a varied and exceptional list of concerts scheduled for the 2019/20 season and are certain both the artists and our audiences will thoroughly enjoy them.
For more events in The Rising Stars of Classical Music Series please visit newlandsglobalevents.com


text:
Category Archives: Arab League
Arab League, Arab NATO, Arab Politics, Donald Trump, GCC, Human Right, Muslims, Persian Gulf
Viva Trump y Allahu Akbar: an Arab Islamic International Day of Democracy…….
September 15, 2018 Mohammed Haider Ghuloum
They say today is considered the International Day of Democracy. Top leaders of the US State Department celebrated the day, as did many other organizations.
They say the Arab League, the Gulf GCC, and the Organization of Islamic States are also celebrating this International Day of Democracy, each in their own unique, eccentric, unprecedented way. While awaiting the final demise of Mr. Trump's ill-fated un-original money-focused idea of an Arab Nato. You can say what you want: cheeky, chutzpah, etc.
A spokesman for one of these groups opined that: Alhamdulellah (Allah be Praised), without our own unique Islamic Arab form of democracy we would not have such great leaders as we now have. They can lead us forward, backward, and sideways, as circumstances require.
Another stressed that the region's rulers, and hence its peoples, have no beef with "a government of the people, by the people and for the people", as long as it is far away across the Atlantic Ocean.
He concluded with: Viva Donald Trump and Allahu Akbar (God is Greater), possibly in that order for the time being (pending certain upcoming elections and a certain ongoing investigation).
Another one was quoted:Viva Kushner y Greenblatt y Friedman. Turned out it was not Mahmoud Abbas of the PLO.
An Egyptian voice in the background squeaked: Viva Generalissimo Al Sisi, restorer and father of our democracy.
Happy democracy day everyone, and good luck…
Allahu AkbarDemocracyGulfMiddle EastMuslimsTrump
Arab League, Arab Politics, Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Iran, Middle East, Persian Gulf, U.S. Foreign Policy
Dhahran Summit of the Incompetent and the Impotent and General Sisi's Plastic Missiles……..
Arab leaders started their annual summit yesterday. This year it is in Dhahran (Zahran), Saudi Arabia, right on the Persian Gulf, right over the oil fields. Right across the waterway from Iran and the scowling ayatollahs. One can imagine that you can see the mountains of Iran if you squint hard enough, if you can see through all the Western naval warships clogging my Gulf.
These Western warships that are there presumably to deter an alleged Iranian attack that will never materialize, that has not materialized in over two centuries.
So far in my lifetime (and in my father's and my grandfather's lifetime), the only aggression in my Gulf has been committed by one Arab country against another, in one case by one Arab country against Iran:
Kuwait was invaded from what is now called Saudi Arabia at least twice, last time in the 1920s.
Kuwait was often threatened and then actually invaded and occupied by Baathist Iraq in 1990. Only the USA and Western allies liberated it, with some token Arab forces.
Yemen was invaded at least twice from Saudi Arabia. Large chunks of its territory were annexed, Israeli-style, by the Saudis during the last century.
Yemen has been, still is, the target of daily bombing and genocide by Saudi Arabia with active British-American help for the past three years.
Bahrain has been the beneficiary of a joint Saudi-UAE expeditionary force that helps the ruling family crush a popular uprising and the popular calls for reform.
Qatar was the target of a Saudi-instigated coup in the 1990s. It failed and several high Saudi intelligence officials were jailed in Doha for years. Now Qatar is again the target of a Cuba-style economic and total blockade from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Bahrain and Qatar have had their territorial disputes and clashes for decades.
Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, starting a war that lasted eight year. That losing war bankrupted Iraq and was the beginning of the end of the Baath regime of Saddam Hussein.
And there is more….
This Dhahran summit was weakly-attended: several Arab leaders sent second or third or even fourth rate representatives. The Emir of Qatar was smart enough to stay home; he probably did not want to be taken hostage by the fellow Arab princes of Riyadh. He remembers what happened to Lebanon's Saad Hariri last year. Algeria, Oman, Morocco, even the UAE downgraded their delegates.
Bashar Al Assad would not stoop to attend the summit even if he were invited. There was no mention of the GCC crisis, of the Arab blockade of Qatar, of the Western attack on Syria.
The Saudi king declared that the Dhahran Summit will be called the Jerusalem Summit (presumably to celebrate his new friend Trump's move of the US embassy).
In recent decades, Arab summits have been impotent gatherings of incompetent leaders. In the shadow of the huge American and British armadas and military bases, the Saudi king talked against "foreign" interference in Arab affairs. As if the NATO military forces and bases dotting my Gulf region were purely Arab forces.
In my lifetime, I have never seen the Arab world in such disarray and weakness, largely controlled by outside powers: be they American, Iranian, Israeli, or Turkish. This was probably the worst summit of them all, and the most hypocritical.
Its incompetence was summarized by Egyptian dictator Generalissimo Al Sisi, who raged against what he called "plastic" missiles being fired from Yemen in retaliation for constant Saudi bombing. I believe Al Sisi meant "ballistic" missiles. But he was onto something, inadvertently. The huge Arab armies, very expensively armed by the West to face a non-existing enemy across the Persian Gulf, are almost like "plastic" missiles. They are useless without Western help, guidance, and management. And very likely they also need imported personnel to operate them…
Cheers (if you can)
Arab LeagueArab SummitPersian GulfSaudi ArabiaZahran Summit
Arab League, Donald Trump, Israel, JCPOA, MENA, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy
After JCPOA and UNESCO: Will the USA and Israel Join the Arab League?…….
President Donald Trump has taken the USA out of a whole bunch of international institutions, agreements, and deals. From the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) to the Paris Climate Accord, to the United Nation's UNESCO organization (Mr. Trump and Israel both withdrew this week).
He is on the verge of breaking and violating the JCPOA (the international community's nuclear deal with Iran). He is also threatening the NAFTA deal with Canada and Mexico. Early in his term he threatened US ties with NATO, the bedrock of the Western Alliance since after the last world war.
For most of the rest of the world Mr. Trump is not the usual credible American president. He has very little credibility. He is not liked (to put it politely) anywhere in the world, with the exception of Israel and some Arab royal palaces (and maybe in Manila). Predictably Netanyahu made a short speech welcoming Trump's non-withdrawal from JCPOA, while the controlled Saudi media cheered on.
So here is a suggestion: why not declare the United States, and Israel, as members of the Arab League. They can start as observer-members. It is all an incredible fantastic circus anyway……….
Arab LeagueDonald TrumpIsraelMiddle EastUSA
Arab League, Arab Politics, Bahrain, Human Right
An Arab Human Rights Court in Bahrain? 'Arbeit Macht Frei' in Arabic……..
July 6, 2016 Mohammed Haider Ghuloum
There are more recent reports of something called an Arab Human Rights Court, what I (and anybody with sense) would call Mother of All Contradictions. Reports that the Arab League's current owners have chosen Bahrain as headquarters of the so-called Arab Human Rights Court are apparently not a joke or a prank.
There is or will be an entity called the Arab Human Rights Court. I am guessing, an expensively educated guess, that its specialty will be to prosecute human rights advocates in the Arab countries. And to try and bully foreign and international NGO's who support them.
The report of its location in Bahrain? Just adding a bit of insult to injury, telling the Arab peoples what their rulers think of them and of their level of intelligence. But then they don't care what their peoples think anyway.
It is aimed at the outside world. An Arab court can and will always issue verdicts in support of these despotic regimes. Friendly Western media from the Washington Post to CNN, and friendly Western regimes like the one in Britain can point to these verdicts and repeat them like mindless zombies, as alibis.
Terrible. Yet when I first read about this project months ago I could not help laughing. Imagine four terms: Human Rights, Justice, Arab League, Bahrain. How can they all fit in one sentence, one paragraph, or even one page without provoking frustrated mirthless laughter?
Frustrated mirthless laughter is supposed to be more seemly, for men at least, than frustrated weeping which would be the more honest relieving reaction.
This is the equivalent of having a huge sign hanging over the whole bloody Arab World:
Arbeit Macht Frei……..
Arab LeagueArbeit Macht FreiGulfHuman Rights
Arab League, Arab Media, Culture, Free Speech, Haiku, Middle East
A Dummy's Haiku Guide to Free Speech in the Middle East: from Islamic to Nomadic to ……..
January 11, 2016 Mohammed Haider Ghuloum
About Free Speech…
Can it be free at a price?………..
Tell our leaders…….
So what is this "free speech" that many constitutions claim to allow but few actually do? Especially in the Middle East:
The Arab League considers free speech, to the extent that it considers anything seriously, as whatever each existing government in power wants it to be. Especially those regimes with deep pockets.
In Egypt, free speech is whatever does not criticize the president and insult the armed forces (apparently there is some difference), or mentions Mohammed Morsi without adding the term "deposed" as a prefix. Or anything that does not point out that Egypt (or even Cairo) are not, as the natives and a few Arabs claim, Mother of the World.
Al-Azhar sheikhs in Cairo define free speech as their interpretation of the Holy Quran, the Hadith, and more importantly whatever the current president of the country says.
Less stable and more violent Arab countries have a more flexible definition of free speech. In Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, free speech is more nomadic: it depends on which part of the country you are in (and on who you are). Which might be considered by some as an improvement over what it is in other Middle East countries.
In Somalia, Sudan, and Djibouti, also considered "Arab" countries, you ask anyone about free speech and he or she might respond: WTF is that?
Free Speech in the whole "Persian-American" Gulf region will be covered in the next post, right after this one.
Western powers consider free speech in the Middle East as whatever encourages the ruling avaricious oligarchs to spend more money on weapons of death and repression.
Ist das klar?
Arab LeagueArab mediaFree SpeechGCCHaikuIran
Arab League, Europe, Human Right, Saudi Arabia
Saudis Reject Swedish Monkeys, Recall Their Own………
"Saudi Arabia has refused to accept four tiny Amazonian monkeys from a Swedish zoo because of a diplomatic row, Swedish media report. The pygmy marmosets at Skansen zoo in Stockholm had been destined for a Riyadh zoo. "They didn't want the monkeys anymore because of the political situation," said Skansen zoo boss Jonas Wahlstrom. Last month the Saudi ambassador to Sweden was recalled, after Sweden ended an arms deal in a human rights dispute. Weighing just over 100 grams (3.5 oz) each pygmy marmosets are the smallest primates in the world. "It's a little comical. I'll just have to wait until they grant visas to Swedish businessmen again. Maybe monkeys will get visas then too," said Mr Wahlstrom…………."
It started when the Saudis vetoed a scheduled speech by the Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallström to an Arab League meeting. The princes, who fancy they own the Arab League (they do), feared that the female minister would remind the Arab potentates and their minions of the HR words, Human Rights. So the dispute started and escalated.
The Saudis have not only refused to grant visas to the Swedish pygmy monkeys as well as to Swedes in general, they have also recalled their own marmoset ambassador from Stockholm, who is not a pygmy. Besides, my incredible source report that one famously loquacious traveling prince snorted, tongue-in-cheek, that "We don't need them and their f–king monkeys. We have thousands of our own within the family".
m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com
Human Rightsmarmosetspygmy monkeysSaudi ArabiaSweden
Arab League, Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Humor, Media
Arab Media Outlets: a Rainbow from the Mad to the Angry to the AIPAC to the Smart…….
April 1, 2015 Mohammed Haider Ghuloum
New Arab media sprout almost every day. Both online and offline. I am only listing some with the word "Arab" in them. Otherwise there are more, many many more. Briefly, here are some that exist now, some that will exist, some that should exist, and some that should not exist:
Al-Quds Al-Arabi (=Arab Jerusalem):London-based. Used to be Qatari-funded but pro-Palestinian. Now totally Qatari-owned and nicely sectarian.
New Arab: sounds like Qatari or Emirati-funded propaganda website. I would guess more Qatari, tentatively.
Free Arabs: Not really 'free', me thinks. U.S. based, a bit cutesy. Seems more like it should be renamed AIPAC Arab or some other pro-Likud or Mujahideen Khalq or Neoconservative funded group.
AlArabiya: owned by an in-law of the Saudi royal family. Has close ties with Asharq Alawsat which is owned by Saudi King Salman.
AlArab:news network owned by Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal (he sued Forbes for underestimating his wealth). Now looking for a home base after being kicked out of Bahrain on its first and last day of broadcasting.
Angry Arab: I don't know who the hell funds this one. Almost certainly self-funded from the sale of non-Israeli hummus.
Mad Arab: partly owned by Alfred E. Neuman and his wife.
Arab Garlic: partly owned by The Onion but based in Gilroy, California.
Humorless Arab: you'd think it is a Jordanian outlet, but t goes deeper than tat……
Pissed off Arab: just about anybody between Bahrain and Casablanca who is not a ruler, relative of a ruler, or minion of a ruler.
Stoned Arab: almost certainly headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Dumb Arab: probably based and operated by the League of Arab Nations (Arab League).
Smart or Thinking Arab: in exile, in prison, dead, or ruling the rest of them.
Alfred E NeumanArab mediaArab Politics
Arab League, Europe, European Union, Human Right, Saudi Arabia
Swedish-Saudi Wars: Arab League as Chopped Liver……..
March 11, 2015 Mohammed Haider Ghuloum
Sweden is one of a few 'Western' nations that has had good relations with almost all Muslim or Arab countries. They even recently recognized "a" palestinian state, whatever that may happen to be. That is not to say that I like all their successive governments. Sweden has even started dabbling in arms-for-money deals with despotic absolute Arab regime, including Saudi Arabia, in recent years.
The foreign minister of Sweden was invited to speak to a meeting of the Arab League (actually it is a Saudi-UAE League) a few days ago. The Saudis decided to prevent her from speaking, and they did. Shows you who "owns" the Arab League. The rest of the Arab delegates were as silent as chopped liver. They were afraid that, being a Suédoise, she would mention the unmentionable: "human rights", "corruption", and maybe even worse. The shaikhs may have fatwa-edd that uttering some of these words would send anyone straight to the fires of hell.
Now Sweden has decided to review its policy of supplying arms to the Saudi regime. Which pissed off the Saudi princes, who usually feel entitled because they believe their money makes them entitled to a lot of special European 'consideration'. The princes have recalled their ambassador to Stockholm. Which has depressed the ambassador, since he will have to spend not only St. Patrick's Day and Easter, but also the coming beautiful Swedish summer in the arguably the most boring capital in the whole wide world, Riyadh.
That is where things stand now…..
m.h.ghuloum@gmail
Arab LeagueSaudi ArabiaSverigeSweden
Arab League, Arab Revolutions, Yemen
From Yemen to Somalia: Failed Arab States and the Sectarian Tribal Narrative…….
October 4, 2014 Mohammed Haider Ghuloum
"The capital of Yemen, the Arab world's poorest and perhaps most chronically unstable nation, has new masters. Anti-American Shiite rebels man checkpoints and roam the streets in pickups mounted with anti-aircraft guns. The fighters control almost all state buildings, from the airport and the central bank to the Defense Ministry. Only a few police officers and soldiers are left on the streets………."
This title of "Arab world's poorest and perhaps most chronically unstable nation" is debatable. The Arab world includes other candidates for this honor that are also members of the Arab League: Somalia, Mauretania, Sudan, Djibouti, the Comoros. So, there are several candidates for this honorary title. And if the unrest and war and mayhem continue to spread, several more Arab states may also join the competition. Libya, liberated by NATO and Bernard-Henri Levy and John McCain in 2011, may be well on its own merry way toward that list.
This piece looks like it could have been edited by Saudi and UAE censors before its final version was approved. I like the part about "Anti-American Shiite rebels": a cute but useful touch. They tend to use the "sectarian" angle whenever they can, these Persian Gulf princes and potentates. I am not sure the Houthis actually think of imitating Hezbollah, they have their own very complex Yemeni issues to deal with. The sectarian narrative is not as powerful or clear-cut in Yemen as it is in Lebanon and Iraq and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, for example. It is complicated by tribal and regional issues. And they don't have the Israeli military on their border as a further distraction.
But I can see the temptation, at least from a Western point of view, to simply declare them the "new Hezbollah". One size fits all: it is simpler that way.
HezbollahHouthiSomaliaYEMEN
Arab League, Caliphate, U.S. Foreign Policy, Uncategorized
ISIS and the Arabs: a Standing Joke of a League…….
Back to my last post about President Obama's ISIS speech:
One or two of the experts, in their post-speech comments, lamely suggested the Arab League, a useless gathering of mostly dictators and absolute tribal kings with little moral standing. It is now dominated by the same princes and potentates who spawned and nurtured groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS and their ilk.
Among many ordinary Arabs, the only standing the Arab League bureaucracy has is as a standing joke. A place to bury aging senior Arab (especially Egyptian) bureaucrats before they die. Only Western, specifically American politicians and pundits would suggest the Arab League as a mover and shaker, and with a straight face. But that is probably only because it can be useful to them as a fig leaf.
Don't get me wrong, the idea of an Arab League can eventually be a good one, nay a necessary one. But that can be only after all member states hold free and unfettered elections. You figure out the timetable.
Arab LeagueBarack ObamaIraqSyria