where the feature stated, "I hate political poems," as he then proceeded to read what may or may not have been construed as a "political poem." But this begs the question: Is there a place for politics in poetry?
I would argue that any thought-provoking topic has a place in poetry (or art), be it nature, religion, unrequited love, or even politics. I would argue that the problem is whether or not politics is approached with open-mindedness by both the audience and the artist.
Yes, that's right. The artist too.
Exhibit A. I once attended a reading where this very issue became more than just a hypothetical question. A young man, who said he had never attended a poetry reading before, stood up to read during the open mic portion of the evening. He introduced himself as just having returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, and he read a few very sincere pieces about his personal experience with war.
The very next open mic reader of the evening stood up and read a bombastic, anti-war piece.
Shortly thereafter, the young veteran stormed out the door. I've never seen him at a reading anywhere around town since.
Exhibit B. I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but often at readings, I'm approached by people (often those who don't know me very well) who begin a political monologue with me. Regardless of whether or not I agree with the speaker, I'm immediately made uncomfortable because the speaker almost always approaches in such a way that he or she assumes that I automatically agree. I generally answer with polite silence, and the person strolls off happily, assuming, still, that I agree.
Yes, I know that as writers, we're supposed to espouse the values of freedom of speech and all that entails. Yes, I know that, as artists, we need to be open-minded to other, often conflicting opinions.
But isn't open-mindedness a two-way street? Doesn't the poet need to be open-minded enough to recognize that even though someone may disagree, he or she shouldn't be made to feel immoral, ignorant, stupid, evil, Neanderthal, or insert your disparaging adjective of choice here. Opinions can be stated and complex issues SHOULD be discussed, but in such a way that there is enough wiggle room left for someone to state an opposing opinion without being subject to—pardon the reference—a pre-emptive strike.
Dogmatism, whether you're talking about religion, politics, or the best brand of ketchup, does nothing to improve inter-human relationships. And more often than we care to admit, I think political poetry unfortunately veers into dogmatism. Shouldn't poetry be opening the doors to discussion and free exchange rather than closing them to maintain a pool of homogenous opinions?
or passed over at the proper time.
terror, so many routine cries.
of harmless fires drifts to my eyes.
This is plenty. This is more than enough.
So, check out the "longest poem in the world": Romanian student Andrei Gheorghe wrote a 'bot that grabs the real-time twitter feed, selects out posts that rhyme, and aggregates these into a continuous feed, with about 4000 verses added every day.
I bought the wine and gushers. You bought the broken heart.
Ready for the summer to end and fall to start.
No, not really "poetry" in any real sense, but like a lot of auto poetry, it can be weirdly hypnotic. The tweet poem is a window into the collective consciousness, a look at an instantaneous zeitgeist which is equal parts quotidian and philosophical, romantic and mundane and cynical.
And every now and then there'll be a good line.
I used to have a handle on life. And then it broke.
Desperately trying to cut down on the booze and smoke.
*Maybe because I'm too lazy to actually write poems.
"Scifaiku" is a poetic form codified by Tom Brinck with his 1995 Scifaiku Manifesto. Cleveland's notable haikuist Joshua Gage* just put together a little flyer, "The Universe in Three Lines," a sampler of scifaiku that was handed out at both the recent Haiku North America conference in Ottowa and also the recent Science Fiction world convention on Montreal.
If you're interested, check it out. Josh notes "It's a neat little tri-fold sampler with some cool 1950's graphics and really excellent scifaiku."
Or check out the scifaiku.com website.
Poetry Back in the Woods begins its season with a presentation by ten women poets.
Mary Biddinger is the editor of the Akron Series in Poetry, and the director of the NEOMFA. She is also co-editor-in-chief of Barn Owl Review.
Susan Grimm`s poems have appeared in The Journal, Poetry East, Crab Orchard Review, and others. Her book of poems, Lake Erie Blue, was published by BkMk Press. She edited Ordering the Storm: How to Put Together a Book of Poems which was published by Cleveland State University Poetry Center.
Bonnie Jacobson is Whiskey Island's creative non-fiction editor and author of two poetry collections, Stopping for Time (GreenTower Press) and In Joanna's House (Cleveland State University Poetry Center); and two chapbooks, On Being Served Apples (Bits Press) and Greatest Hits (Pudding House invitational). Her poems have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Rattle.
Laura Kennelly, associate editor of BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute at the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music, is an arts columnist in the Cleveland area.
Amy Kesegich teaches English at Notre Dame College of Ohio. She has published poetry in Whiskey Island, California Quarterly, Frost Notes, Poetry Motel, White Pelican Review and Rubbertop Review. She has a chapbook, Spare Change, published by Bits Press.
Lynn Powell has published two books of poetry, Old & New Testaments and The Zones of Paradise. Her poems have been included in 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day and The Norton Introduction to Literature (forthcoming) and have won recent awards from the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Jessica Schantz teaches composition and creative writing at Cleveland State University.
Karen Schubert is the author of The Geography of Lost Houses, and her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in 42opus, Fifth Wednesday, Zoland Poetry, Redactions, Reconfigurations and others. She received nominations for a Pushcart Prize and awards from American Academy of Poets and dA Center for the Arts.
Amy Sparks,editor at the Cleveland Museum of Art, is the author of serious red (Cleveland State University Poetry Center) and queen of cups (Burning Press), and has published in Barn Owl Review, DMQ Review, Hobble Creek Press, Harpur Palate, and more.
Jennifer Sullivan, Department Head of English at Barberton High School, is a poet from Akron, Ohio. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in American Poetry Journal, Barn Owl Review, DIAGRAM, The Laurel Review, New York Quarterly, and Nimrod.
Continuing the discussion of poetry of science, poets have found star-gazing to be a source of inspiration for years. In the era of Hubble images, exoplanets, and new discoveries in cosmology, there's more to astronomical poetry than just Keats' watcher of the skies and Whitman's learn'd astronomer.
I just got a note from editor Emily Gaskin, announcing that Astropoetica just launched their summer issue. Astropoetica is a web 'zine devoted to poetry of astronomy, and the summer '09 issue features poetry from John Bennett, F.J. Bergman, P.S. Cottier, Mary Cresswell, Neil Ellman, Kendall Evans, Andrei Dorian Gheorghe, Taylor Graham, Tim Jones, S. A. Kelly, me, John Mirisola, Dan Mitru, Rae Pater, Dave Shortt, and Meg Smith.
They also have a nice list of links to other sites with astronomy-based poetry.
from a long weekend in Montreal*, where-- among other things-- I met poet Amal El-Mohtar, the other winner of the 2009 Rhysling for best poem. (photo of Amal and me); not to mention a number of other speculative poets, too many to name**.
Amal is one heck of a poet. (She's also one of the three editors of the internet quarterly Goblin Fruit, which features mythic and fantastic poetry***). She won for her poem "Song for an Ancient City," a love-letter to the city of Damascus.
What strikes me most about Amal's poem is how deeply and beautifully it is evocative of place.
Amal placed third for the long poem Rhysling as well, collaborating with Cat Valente (a former Clevelander) on "Damascus Divides the Lovers by Zero," another poem deeply evocative of place.
So I've been thinking of poetry of place recently. There is some body of poetry of place about Cleveland, of course-- in fact, the Deep Cleveland poem o' the week is a long-running attempt to capture the city in all its myriad fragmented poetic angles, somewhat channeling the spirit of D.A. Levy.
Windfall has a nice little essay essay discussing poetry of place.
"Paul Shepard thinks that the lack or denial of our connection to the plants and animals in a given place makes us crazy. Rootless, detached people are dangerous. On the other hand, sanity happens when people understand that where they are is who they are. "
Any thoughts on poetry of place from the clevelandpoetics cabal?
*for those of you who look for my usual post on clevelandpoetics every Sunday or early Monday, that's why I didn't post last week.
**I was originally going to list them all, but it occurs to me that with my sketchy memory I'd probably leave somebody out, and that person would then assume I was snubbing them deliberately.
***"fantastic" is often used as a generic adjective meaning "really good," but in this case I mean it in its literal sense (not that the figurative sense isn't also applicable). If I were Edgar Allen Poe, perhaps I'd say "phantasmagorical."
The dogs eat hoof slivers and lie under the porch.
in a long mounting whine around her forehead and ears.
terrible exhales from a tired horse.
and no one explains the long uneasy afternoons.
like the sides of horses in the hot pasture.
rock to their feet and race or graze.
the lonely, happy child home.
of cicadas and the manes of horses.
Kathleen Calby, Mike Goldstein and Brian Taylor will read & perform, followed by open mic.
Kathleen Calby is a poet, but she won't be reading tonight. Instead she will bring quartz gem crytal bowls, ancient Tibetan singing bowls and Solfeggio tuning forks to create sound environments, what she calls poetry without words. Kathleen has been working with sound and harmonics for over ten years ----it will be a fascinating aural experience.
Mike Goldstein writes that he will read satirical poems about current events and serious poems about Buddhism. He also will bring along his saxophone and bassoon and play them in unflattering positions. Mike has been a regular at Mac's readings for many years and was first featured in 1994.
Brian Taylor is a poet, photographer and rider of his bicycle all around town. He has been writing and reading his work at venues throughout Cleveland since the early 1990's. He has competed in the Haiku contests at the National Poetry Slam and has participated in several Haiku Death Matches.
This phenomenon was uncovered by Andy Woodruff, a cartographer (who lives in Massachusetts, damn fur'ner). Woodruff was driving through our state when he suddenly realized that Ohio has 88 counties, a piano has 88 keys, and, well, the next step is obvious..............create a musical map of our state on which each county is assigned one of the 88 piano notes. Woodruff's map can play you through the drive from Cleveland to Cincinnati or through a variety of data-based organizations of the counties, from average family size to number of farms.
But wait. Does this have anything to do with poetry? I think that any symbolization or substitution of one thing for another that transforms the original is poetic, but I'd like to know what you think.
But wait again. Before you tell me what you think, I've borrowed Woodruff's idea of using Ohio's counties to create something else, but I've done it with words rather than musical notes. Is it poetry? Again, I'd like your feedback.
In my first pass at it, I found a poem with 88 words, including the title. Disappointment, by August Kleinzahler (a poet I highly recommend reading). I assigned each word of the poem to each of Ohio's counties – the words of the poem in the order of the poem, starting with the title, and the counties in alphabetical order. Then I made what I'm going to call poems.
I'll let you read bottom up to enjoy the poems of the return trips.
Lastly, sound poems. Trying reading them aloud and attending to how you feel as you do it before you dismiss them.
What I'm getting at here are really questions about creativity (What is it? Does it serve a purpose and if so, what?) and meaning (Must creative work have meaning? Must it have the same meaning for everyone? Since humans are meaning-creating machines, can a poet leave it to others to create the meaning in a poem?).
As a reward for reading through this post and thinking about these questions, please enjoy this rendition of She Blinded Me With Science, sung by online dictionaries.
The main reason we didn't have a Blind Review Friday Poem this week is because I lost our submission. I picked up my E-mails while on the road and accidently erased two days of correspondence into the emptiness of cyber nothingness.
So, if you had a piece submitted for Blind Review Please re-submit. And if you've just been thinking about sending in a piece – please do so. We will resume our regularly scheduled BRF next week.
I've had an inclination and interest in Eastern thought for many years. Long before I became a writer or a poet. And have found its teachings and practices a resource I go back to over and over for inspiration in a lot of areas of my life.
A recent article I read in Shambhala Sun Magazine, the September 2009 issue reminded me it also could be a wonderful source of inspiration and creativity for writing.
The article that stimulated those thoughts for me is titled, "Love, Lose and Anxious Times", written by Norman Fischer a poet and Zen teacher from San Francisco.
Unfortunately, the online link to the article is a mere teaser to the real thing, they really wish for you to buy the magazine. So I'll have to share here, as briefly as I can, what I thought so interesting.
The crux of the article deals with relying on spiritual practice to initiate change and deal with loss. The central idea being that when we feel most challenged is when we should most rely on simple regular practices that can support us, help us grow and help us get through tough times.
The thought came to me in reading the article that these practices are especially useful to us as writers when we struggle; and some of them are already commonly recommended by writing experts for good writing. For many poets and writers our muses are often fickle and unreliable. Disappearing at times because of illness or stress or for absolutely no reason at all--seemingly coming and going with the wind. Often when we have trouble feeling inspired we stop writing rather than writing through the difficulties.
Several practices are highlighted in the article which I feel can be relevant to a writer who is going thru a period of struggle.
The first is journaling, an old standby for any writer. But here it is suggested with the purpose of removing blocks and negative thinking that obstruct by writing those thoughts and feelings down. An important point I think for someone trying to fight through writer's block or move into a new area of creativity. Confronting, accepting, and "being" with the negative thoughts and feelings is a recommended way of working through them to the other side in eastern thought.
Emptying out the mind by free writing for 10-20 minutes a day is also recommended, writing down what ever comes to you… unfiltered. The regular practice of carrying a notebook for writing down ideas and thoughts throughout the day is mentioned, and jotting down arresting words and phrases that catch our attention to use as writing prompts. Cueing off things you've read or written, writing down what you've been thinking or feeling in a coherent stream of thought, all of these act to free up stuck thinking and help creativity to flow again.
Active listening and sharing is also an idea that was mentioned. Taking a thought or an idea prompt and bringing one or more friends together in a small group, after 5 minutes of silence and collecting your thoughts, have each person in turn share their thoughts spontaneously for 5 to 7 minutes… uninterrupted. The others just listen--no questions, no comments. Afterwards, one person simply reviews for the speaker in their own words what they heard him or her say. Listening to what you've said repeated back to you in another's voice can be extremely illuminating.
And meditation, even in its simplest form, quietly sitting, noticing the breath, noticing the thoughts and feelings, perhaps also the sound of the room, the stillness there, helps to allow other things to come to the fore. A reawakened sensitivity to your inner and outer environment is always good for a writer. I think often we start to have problems with inspiration when we've stopped hearing and seeing things that are naturally there in our environment; all those things that give texture and nuance to our writing. Sometimes, for one reason or other we lose touch with that.
The New York Times blog TierneyLab ran a guest post on the Poetry of Science, focusing on the poems of Kimiko Hahn, and most particularly on her book Toxic Flora, coming out from Norton next year, a collection of poetry inspired by the science section of the New York Times.
I'm a great fan of science poetry, as anybody who's read my work most likely already knows (about half of the poems in Iron Angels are about science, or science fiction, or both).
There is an innate tension between science and poetry, the reflection of our society's perception of an opposition between the literary and the scientific ways of viewing the world; between, as C.P. Snow would put it, the "two cultures" of humanities and science. Yet (as I posted in a comment on the Tierney blog), poetry and science also go together; in their way, they are similar ways of doing the same thing: At its best poetry combines insight into the workings of the world with metaphors based on combining diverse observations– and science is a superb generator of both observations and insights.
As I read Hahn's poetry, I'm struck by the insights she finds in biology, and in how apt and particular the correspondences between biology and day to day life. Her poetry deals with bumble bees, and Moray eels; with plants, and planets.
"Others read the story of a pond or a patient the way she [Hahn] reads a poem. Interested in experiencing something foreign, she reads essays on science, on the world and on language. Whatever she finds intriguing and frightening becomes a poem. She writes a lot about extinction. She is writing a collection of poems inspired by science, called Toxic Flora. "There is poetic truth and factual truth," she said. She is respectful of science and how the writers of science get their information correct. She is an artist because of the license to be irresponsible." (from Robert Flynn).
Is there a contradiction between science and poetry, or a consilience? Do you find insights for poetry in the workings of science?
As writers in general, we always hear, "you gotta work on your craft." There have been many times where I've questioned what that meant. As a poet, I'm starting to hear this more often. What does 'working on your craft' mean? Specifically. What is the best advice, without using this statement, you could give to a new poet?
I'm sure the responses will be interesting.
Collected Poems 1912-1944 by H.D.
I've included three bilingual books both because I love their poetry and because their inclusion will be good for maintaining and refreshing my rusty Spanish. Why should I stop multitasking just because I'm on a desert island?
Now it's your turn. Which ten books of poetry would choose to have on your island? And why?


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Podcast: China as a 'near-Arctic' state
Episode two of China's Polar Frontiers by Sustainable Asia looks at how climate change is opening up new opportunities in the frozen north
Marcy Trent Long, Sam Colombie	 December 20, 2019
A Chinese research team sets up an ocean profiling float near the icebreaker Xuelong (Snow Dragon) in the Arctic ocean (Image: Alamy)
As rising global temperatures melt the polar sea ice, new routes and opportunities are opening up in the Arctic. China is keen to position itself as a stakeholder, recently declaring itself a "near-Arctic" state and last year publishing an official Arctic policy. But unlike Antarctica, the North Pole is ringed by sovereign lands and their territorial waters, all jostling for control over the frozen international waters. While China's arrival has raised concerns, the investment it's bringing is not unwelcome. So how is China going about establishing itself in the Arctic, and what are its ultimate goals?
Find the series on APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | YOUKU
Find out more on Sustainable Asia
More from this series:
Episode 1: China's interest in Antarctica
Zhao Huiyu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Marc Lanteigne, Arctic University of Norway
Anne-Marie Brady, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Liu Nengye, University of Adelaide
Henry Huntington, Ocean Conservancy
Shi Yubing, Xiamen University
Mia Bennett, University of Hong Kong
Peter Winsor, WWF
Marc-André Dubois, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
Timo Koivurova, University of Lapland
Production credits:
Executive producer and host: Marcy Trent Long
Producer: Samuel Colombie
Sound engineer: Chris Wood
Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin
Marcy Trent Long: Welcome to China's Polar Frontiers, a podcast series by Sustainable Asia. My name is Marcy Trent Long.
This is episode two of China's Polar Frontiers. In this series we look at why climate change has piqued China's interest in the polar regions. As we learned in episode one, China seeks to secure new fishing grounds in the Antarctic waters to feed its growing population. This puts them in direct opposition to conservationists trying to close off large areas of the ocean from distant-water fishing. But as we also learned, with proper scientific monitoring and research, sustainable use could be a viable strategy even in these frozen habitats vulnerable to climate change.
Now, in part two, we head north to the Arctic.
Zhao Huiyu: The rapid economic development in China over the past few decades has had a definite impact on the Arctic.
Marc Lanteigne: I've been very interested in how the Arctic has turned into, I wouldn't say a primary foreign policy concern for China, but certainly one which is growing in importance.
Marcy: Dr Zhao Huiyu of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Dr Marc Lanteigne from the Arctic University of Norway have been studying China's strategy in the Arctic for years. Along with other experts, they'll help us figure out why China is so interested in the Arctic and how China's advance into this highly political landscape is being received by Arctic nations.
Marc: If you compare China to, let's say, the UK or France or Germany, China does not have a very long history in the Arctic, and it's been very sporadic. So I would say that China only really got serious about the region about 10 years ago.
Marcy: In 2015, China announced that the poles were one of their four "new strategic frontiers". Dr Anne-Marie Brady of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and author of the book: China as a Polar Great Power.
Anne-Marie Brady: The new strategic frontiers that China has identified are areas of the world that are either international spaces, or have undetermined sovereignty, or are places where there are opportunities for countries to move into without having sovereignty over them. So the new strategic territories are the deep seabed, the Arctic and Antarctic, outer space and cyberspace. So China is looking to where it can expand and where there are resources that it can access.
Marcy: Dr Liu Nengye of Adelaide University explains this further. You may remember him from our first episode on the Antarctic.
Liu Nengye: Because of the advancement of technology, climate change [and] shifting geopolitical landscapes, the rules governing those frontiers are changing as well. That's exactly where China sees how they can play a bigger role in global governance so that the rules that govern those new frontiers will to a large extent represent or reflect China's interest in those frontiers.
Marcy: And that approach is all well and good in the Antarctic, as we learned in episode one. The South Pole region is largely empty of active territorial claims. There are a few scattered islands that belong to old colonial powers, but the Antarctic mainland and much of the surrounding ocean is an international common area where mining and military activities are banned. But the Arctic is a completely different story. Dr Henry Huntington of Ocean Conservancy explains.
Henry Huntington: Every speck of land in the Arctic belongs to one of the countries that's already there. There's nothing left.
Marcy: When we say the Arctic, we're usually referring to the area within the Arctic circle, the 66th parallel that runs just north of Iceland. So the term "the Arctic" includes territorial waters and land that belong to the United States, Canada, Denmark's Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. These eight countries are sometimes called the Arctic Eight. The only area of the Arctic that doesn't belong to the Arctic Eight is a mostly frozen area called the central Arctic ocean. So when China announced the Arctic as one of its "new strategic frontiers", it ruffled some feathers.
Henry: I think the Arctic countries are understandably very concerned about their sovereignty and unlikely to give much or any of that up.
Liu: They were worried [about] what would be China's real intentions [and] whether China would respect the existing legal framework in the Arctic. Why do they want to get involved in the Arctic? How are they going to do that?
Marcy: So in January 2018, China tried to ease everyone's worries by releasing a white paper detailing its intentions in the Arctic. Zhao Huiyu breaks down the three main points of China's Arctic policy.
Zhao: We're very concerned about the common interest of the Arctic, including the environment. That's why, in this policy paper, our official policy is: protect the Arctic environment and respond to climate change, make sustainable use of the Arctic resources according to international law and increase our exploration and understanding of the Arctic.
Marcy: While China does not have any sovereign territory in the Arctic region, they've recently rebranded themselves as a "near-Arctic state" with great interest in the sustainable development of the Arctic. To understand how China seeks to increase its role in the region, we'll take a deeper look at these three policy points, starting with the first: responding to climate change.
Temperatures in the Arctic are heating up faster than anywhere else on earth. According to the latest report by the UN panel on climate change, the last few winters in the Arctic were 6C warmer than average. The polar ice caps are receding at a rate of 13% each year, and as frozen groundwater thaws, large sinkholes form on land, forcing entire indigenous villages to relocate southwards. And the effects of a warming Arctic are felt around the world.
Marc: In China, there is mounting proof that what is happening in the Arctic in terms of climate change is having a knock-on effect in China through various ways. So Beijing has argued that: "Look, we are seeing the results directly of Arctic climate change, we would like to know more, and we would like to be able to do that in cooperation with Arctic actors."
Shi Yubing: Climate change in the Arctic will directly affect climate change in China, which will cause environmental problems in China. So on this issue, China sees itself as a stakeholder.
Marcy: That was Dr Shi Yubing, a professor at Xiamen University in China. He explained how China participates in climate change research in the Arctic.
Shi: Much of our energy is devoted to conducting marine research in the Arctic waters. We also have a scientific research station. So that is an example of how China aims to gain a better understanding of the Arctic.
Marcy: On to the second point of China's Arctic policy: sustainable use of resources.
Marc: China is seeing the Arctic as a very important place for economic development. And that includes mining, fossil fuels, fishing, shipping… Just, essentially, the opening up of the Arctic is something that China very much wants to keep an eye on from an economic viewpoint.
Marcy: To gain access to these resources, China is developing a network of shipping routes and infrastructure investments along the Russian and Scandinavian Arctic coastline. They call it the Polar Silk Road, an extension of their massive investment plan, the Belt and Road Initiative. This string of investments connecting Asia with Europe is often regarded with suspicion. Observers are worried that some of these loans can lead to debt traps in developing countries. But in the remote Arctic, China's interest is welcomed with open arms. Dr Mia Bennett, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, has travelled all along the Polar Silk Road.
Mia Bennett: I do think that there is a real desire in these places that have been ignored by their own governments and other foreign governments in terms of receiving investment. Now this is a chance to develop and gain infrastructure and capital. So I don't think this animosity towards Chinese investment is necessarily widespread in the places where the Belt and Road is touching. I think there are certainly places that are excited about these opportunities presented.
Marc: China cannot say that [they] have any kind of sovereignty there. It is very dependent on the goodwill of Russia and the other Arctic states to develop this kind of economic activity. So China has been stressing that: "We want to be a partner, we want to help develop all kinds of different joint ventures."
Marcy: One of these joint ventures is the Yamal liquified natural gas project on the frozen shores of northern Russia.
Mia: So this is on the Yamal peninsula, which sticks out like a sore finger in the middle of Siberia up into the Arctic ocean. And it's just chock full of natural gas, and this has been known for decades, and there's been extraction going on for a while. But as that extraction has ramped up in the past decade or so, as the Russian gas industry has moved farther north, the Russian industry needs more investment.
Marcy: Because of sanctions against Russia, European Union investment was limited, and Moscow naturally turned to their eastern neighbour for funding. China jumped in through its state-owned National Petroleum Corporation and a US$15 billion loan from the Silk Road Fund. Since December 2017, 15 Russian icebreakers carry natural gas to clients east and west.
Mia: The shipping of that gas is interesting, because in wintertime it goes west, towards Europe. But then in the summertime, the gas is able to be shipped along the north coast of Russia all the way to Asia.
Marcy: Traditionally, only icebreakers can withstand the heavy sea ice along Russia's northern coastline to make it all the way across to the Pacific. But that's likely to change soon. Two years ago, a specially-built Russian gas tanker made it from Norway to South Korea without the help of icebreakers. While this is a sad reminder of the state of the Arctic sea ice, it does provide an opportunity for Pacific manufacturing hubs to ship wares to markets along the Atlantic coast both faster and cheaper. Shi Yubing and Liu Nengye explain.
Liu: The Chinese shipping industry is also quite curious and interested in using the northeast passage because that connects the two big markets. On the one hand is the East Asian market: China, South Korea, Japan. And on the other end, it's the European market: Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg.
Shi: At the moment, China's main international shipping channel passes through the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca before heading west.
Liu: China relies heavily on the Strait of Malacca to connect China with the European market. That is an area which can be geopolitically not stable from time to time.
Shi: In the future, going via this new international shipping channel, we could save ten days' time and a lot of fuel.
Marcy: Shipping along the Polar Silk Road is still limited. In 2018, just over 800 ships applied for a permit to sail in Russia's Arctic waters, and over half of those were tugboats and support vessels for oil rigs in the area. But as the route sees ice-free summers more regularly, shipping is likely to increase, and we can expect a larger impact on the Arctic environment. Peter Winsor is director of the Arctic programme at WWF.
Peter Winsor: The amount of shipping is increasing rapidly, and with that comes a number of concerns for us within WWF. One is that the ships themselves are contributing to air pollution and also contributing to soot particles. Soot particles, or black carbon, is something that locally makes the ice and snow cover darker, which actually helps to melt the ice and snow itself.
Marcy: When soot particles land on Arctic ice, they cover the white plains in a dark blanket, warming up in the sun and causing the ice to melt even faster.
Peter: [An] even greater concern, maybe, is that there will be a catastrophic event at some point. We are concerned about the current inability for the Arctic nations to deal with a potential catastrophic spill in the Arctic.
Marcy: In case of a spill, liquified natural gas shipped from Yamal would evaporate, so the environmental damage wouldn't be too tragic. But when it comes to offshore oil drilling, like with China's mobile drilling rig Nanhai-8, we're still underprepared to deal with spills and human casualties in this unforgiving region of the world. So it's very important to regulate Arctic shipping before this northern sea route starts competing with the alternative routes as a transport artery. After a short break, we'll look at existing safety regulations, and China's contribution to the protection of the Arctic.
Break to thank sponsors.
Shi: The legislation on shipping in the Arctic is actually completed. For example, you may have heard of the International Maritime Organization, the IMO.
Marcy: This is Shi Yubing again. The International Maritime Organisation regulates shipping under the United Nations.
Shi: In 2015, they passed a regulation called the Polar Code. Any ship that sails in Arctic waters has to stick to Polar Code requirements on environmental protection and safety. These requirements are pretty strict. This is a way to ensure that when you sail through the Arctic, marine pollution can be minimized.
Henry: The Polar Code is a set of guidance or regulatory or advisory measures.
Marcy: Henry Huntington of Ocean Conservancy tells us more.
Henry: And this includes both the capabilities of the ships to make sure we didn't have ships in remote areas that really shouldn't be there, because they would wind up needing help of some kind that would be hard to get, and also training for crews so that they knew what to expect going into Arctic waters, which may give them very different conditions and challenges than they would get elsewhere.
Marcy: But not everyone is equally happy with the Polar Code. Remember the black carbon Peter Winsor of WWF mentioned earlier? It causes soot particles to cover the ice, melting it even faster.
Mia: In Antarctica, ships can't use what's called heavy fuel oil, which releases a lot of black carbon.
Marcy: Mia Bennett of the University of Hong Kong.
Mia: But in the Arctic, they're still allowed to. And that exception is because I think basically, it would have been too hard for companies to suddenly switch to more expensive types of shipping fuels. So I think still the commercial interests are driving, maybe, a lack of environmental protection in the Arctic.
Peter: There is a lack of regulatory structure for shipping in general. There's good work being done. But actually what's in place now, it's not sufficient for the current state of the Arctic, and definitely doesn't account for the increased shipping that we know is going to happen here within the next five years.
Marcy: But even within the International Maritime Organisation, calls are made for a stricter Polar Code, and Chinese companies like shipping giant COSCO are also strong advocates for a strengthening of these regulations.
Henry: Part of the reason for that is, if there's some kind of a disastrous accident, let's say a ship runs aground or breaks apart and spills oil along the coast, in public opinion, they won't be making a distinction between the company that had the problem and all the other companies that didn't have that problem and have been doing their best to avoid having problems. Public opinion will just paint the entire shipping industry and all of Arctic shipping with the same brush. And if you're trying to be a responsible operator, like COSCO, that would be a real shame that your efforts are being undermined by the poor practices and behaviour of somebody else.
Marcy: But will a strong Polar Code also be enough to safeguard the fragile Arctic ecosystem?
Peter: I think [in] the end, there will be parts of the Arctic that are too valuable from an ecosystem sense that you [will] actually have to ban some areas from shipping altogether.
Marcy: While the International Maritime Organisation regulates shipping in the region, most other Arctic issues are actually overseen by another international body, the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council brings us to the third point in China's Arctic policy: China wants to increase their understanding of the Arctic and gain a larger influence in the way the region is governed. Mia Bennett and Marc Lanteigne can tell us more.
Mia: Originally, you have just countries managing their northern territories, the eight countries. Then in the 90s, following the end of the Cold War and the greater desire among these eight states to cooperate and protect the region, whose environment they saw as vulnerable, they decided to form this Arctic Council.
Marc: What it is designed to do is to be acting as a nexus of various ideas and policies to deal with social development, with environmental conditions, to deal with northern maritime issues, to act as a place for debate for indigenous peoples. It was essentially designed to be a meeting place, if you will.
Mia: So you have each of the governments represented as permanent members. And then what's quite unique about the Arctic Council is that they also incorporate six indigenous peoples' organisations as permanent participants. So there are six permanent participants representing various indigenous groups throughout the Arctic.
Marcy: Every two years, the Arctic Council comes together to review and update existing agreements or to listen to the latest research reports prepared by one of the many working groups.
Marc: Most of the serious day-to-day work by the Arctic Council is actually done by the working groups. Now, these are special select committees that have been created to deal with very specific Arctic areas. Many of them are working on climate change, some of them are monitoring climate conditions, some are dealing with specific types of pollutants.
Marcy: Marc-André Dubois worked with WWF as an observer to one of these working groups.
Marc–André Dubois: It's really fun to work within the Arctic Council because, first, it's a small community of people, but also because you get to travel to really remote and crazy areas. I think there is definitely a sense of community within the Arctic Council structure and working groups.
Marcy: In the late 90s and early 2000s, the Arctic Eight and the indigenous groups were joined by a few European states who gained observer status at the meetings. Many of these countries, like Spain and the UK, had long-distance fleets that would fish in sub-Arctic waters like the Barents Sea north of Scandinavia, so it made sense for them to be involved in Arctic governance. But after a while, a few of the Asian fishing nations started wondering why they too were not included in the Arctic group. China was one of them.
Mia: I think there was a general consensus, at least within China, that the country was rising in prominence as an economic actor, as a political actor, that wanted to be involved in global governance and seen as a good citizen within that world. And the Arctic, as it became increasingly this "poster child" region for climate change, as a place where a lot of the world's governments felt that interventions needed to be made, I think China did not want to be left out of those discussions.
Marcy: So in 2013, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore joined the Arctic Council as observers. They had no voting power in the general meetings, but they became involved in the working groups, which discussed scientific research into climate change, pollution and wildlife conservation. I asked Dr Timo Koivurova, an Arctic Council delegate from Finland, how China has contributed to the work of the council.
Timo Koivurova: My own personal observation, on the working level, they can be very active, especially if it is something of interest to China. The Arctic migratory birds initiative is a good example. The idea is that those birds that breed in the Arctic region, many of them, of course, are also going through China, and the measures done in China are also very important from the viewpoint of their health in the long term.
Marcy: Marc-André Dubois was also working with the Arctic Council when the Asian nations joined.
Marc–André: From what I could see, it was a steep learning curve for those delegations in terms of understanding the very specific processes, where you have the concept of permanent participants, which are actually international, indigenous organisations that are at the same table [as] the Arctic states. Many Asian observer states to the council mostly brought forward their scientific knowledge. I think there is a lot of work to identify what Asian countries can bring to the table, actually.
Marcy: While some are sceptical about China's Arctic ambitions, most nations agree that China's presence in the Arctic Council is a good thing, as it offers the opportunity for dialogue about issues of conservation and development. Russia is China's greatest partner in the region, and the two countries work together to develop the Polar Silk Road, increasing shipping and extraction activities along Russia's Arctic coast. The Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland are also open to Chinese investment in their Arctic space.
Marc: You're seeing a general sense of enthusiasm for the potential [of] the Belt and Road to assist with their economies. Iceland has a free-trade agreement with China, it's been in place since 2014. Norway, after a long period of diplomatic freeze, the talks are back on, and there's even the possibility that an agreement might be struck by the end of this year or early next. And the other Nordic states are also wondering: "OK, what are the potential economic benefits, if you will, of China playing a greater role in the Arctic?"
Marcy: No surprise, there is one Arctic player that does not share that positive attitude towards China's northern interest.
Marc: The United States has been concerned that what China is really seeking to do is to create an Arctic identity where none exists. Just over the past few months, we've seen really strong signs from the Trump government that attempts to challenge China's role in the region. There's been all kinds of references by US policymakers to say: "We are the Arctic states, you are not, therefore your plans lack a certain amount of legitimacy."
Marcy: In May of 2019, Timo Koivurova was in the room when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a scathing speech to the Arctic Council.
Mike Pompeo speech: China's words and actions raise doubts about its intentions. Beijing claims to be a near-Arctic state. Yet the shortest distance between China and the Arctic is 900 miles. There are only Arctic states and non-Arctic states. No third category exists, and claiming otherwise entitles China to exactly nothing.
Timo: He was accusing both China and Russia. China for being too much present and regarding itself as a near-Arctic state, and also perhaps having a long-term military agenda in the region, which seems to be a fairly far-fetched argument.
Marc: For starters, yes, the trade war between the US and China and overall poor relations are playing a role. I think the US is feeling that it has to check China's influence wherever it may. I think this is also a product of the fact that, up until this year, the Trump government has largely ignored the Arctic. And there's a sense that we need to make up for lost time. And I think a third point is that, with the US government stressing up and down that climate change does not exist, pointing to China, and more specifically pointing to the Russia-China relationship, has been a way for the US to at least attempt to change the narrative, to say: "No, no, the real security issue here is the Russia-China partnership. That is the biggest challenge to the Arctic."
Marcy: This comes at a time when the Arctic really needs strong cooperation to mitigate and adapt to climate change. There's no overarching treaty system like in the Antarctic, which acts as a platform for all countries to manage their interests in the region, whether that's fishing, mining, shipping or scientific research. Marc Lanteigne and Henry Huntington.
Marc: The Arctic is opening up, and the Arctic is going to be subject to a great deal of scrutiny and a great deal of increased economic activity. I think there will need to be something – call it an Arctic treaty, call it whatever you want – that is going to have to be looked at very carefully, because otherwise the current system of having a lot of Arctic affairs being overseen by simply eight countries, may not be sustainable for much longer.
Henry: I don't know whether we'll ever see an Arctic treaty like the Antarctic one, even for the central Arctic ocean, but what we see are a number of steps that together combine many of the elements that you would want to see. So my hope is that we will continue to see this emphasis on international cooperation, and in different ways continuing to work together to find ways to be responsible and to help each other. That's my vision for the Arctic. We're on a good path, if we can stay on it, to responsible international cooperation for the benefit of the Arctic. And to me, that's a wonderful thing.
Marcy: There are only a few environmental issues as pressing as the protection of the Arctic. We're already seeing dramatic changes to the Arctic landscape, and while these changes can offer economic opportunities, most countries agree that scientific research and environmental conservation are a high priority. China seems to be one of those countries, as it has positioned itself firmly as a stakeholder in Arctic governance.
China's Arctic policy gives us an idea of their intentions in the region. China faces direct consequences of Arctic climate change and wants to expand their research capacity, explore the economic opportunities along the Polar Silk Road and they want to influence the way the Arctic is governed. For now, China is finding its feet in the existing frameworks, and by encouraging cooperation and inclusivity, Arctic nations can ensure that China continues to join the global effort to sustainably develop the region.
In these two episodes, we saw how China has recently gained access to the rooms where the future of the Polar regions is decided. China can bring a very different perspective to these talks, and the rest of the world is slowly adjusting to this new reality. Over the next few years, collaboration and fruitful negotiation in these meetings will be crucial to protecting these extraordinary frozen worlds.
China's Polar Frontiers is hosted by me, Marcy Trent Long, and produced by Samuel Colombie in collaboration with China Dialogue. The series is mixed by Chris Wood.
Thanks to all our guests for helping us unravel this complicated issue, and to Dr Tang Jianye, Dr Richard Steiner, Dr Rasmus Bertelsen, Margot Stiles, Kim Yeonsik, Dr Candace Newman and Dr Alf Hakon Hoel, whose voices didn't make it on this podcast but whose interviews were crucial to our understanding of this topic. Thanks to Azzam Khan and Wu Yufei for their voice-overs and Alexander Mauboussin for his intro and outro music, made from repurposed and recovered waste items. Additional thanks to Mark Roberts for his Arctic sound recordings and to the entire Sustainable Asia team: Bonnie and Heidi Au, Jill Baxter, Josie Chan and Crystal Wu. We couldn't have done it without you.
APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | YOUKU
Marcy Trent Long is the founder of Sustainable Asia. She has a 15-year career in energy finance and environment policy roles in corporate and NGO capacity in Asia. Marcy is a Wharton and Carnegie-Mellon alumna.
Sam Colombie
Sam Colombie is a researcher with Sustainable Asia, a Hong Kong based environmental organisation focused on plastic pollution.
Podcast: China's interest in Antarctica
Episode one of China's Polar Frontiers, a new podcast series by Sustainable Asia, explores the international effort to sustainably manage the Southern ocean
Marcy Trent Long, Sam Colombie
China committed to Arctic expansion
Beijing asserts its regional role as competition for influence in the North Pole intensifies
Peter Neill
Uruguay explores the ocean, with help from China
China is fitting an old Uruguayan navy ship with a lab to study the ocean, while some question the nature of the agreement
María Paz Sartori
Searching for solutions to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
Stemming the tide of plastic and other waste in the ocean
Addressing our rising seas and acidifying ocean
Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems
Cooperating to protect the ocean commons

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


80% of the blend is Chardonnay from the south of Côte des Blancs, which is supposed to yield more floral wines of the 'mineral' style of Chardonnay from the north, as is to be found in Brimoncourt's Blanc de Blancs. This is the signature blend of this ambitious, well-backed house. Tiny bead. Very light nose. Flirtatious texture and not a trace of astringency nor excess acidity. Brisk and appetising. Easy to like with real lift.
Very fine and elegant, with deep layers of flavour and texture, this savoury and near-dry Champagne has a creamy, waxy bouquet whose scents of floral notes, citrus oil and brioche reveal undertones of mushrooms and honey. It's long and shapely, with a round, nutty core of flavour that extends long and lively towards a focused and persistent finish of freshness, shape and harmony.
Light colour, Fresh grapefruit, yeasty aromas with tonic water notes. Lovely creamy wine with fresh grapefruit, tonic water, lemon curd flavours, yeasty, grilled nut complexity, fine light chalky textures, sprightly effervescence and superb mineral length. Very attractive elegant refreshing style.
Pale yellow in colour with tints of green and fine bubbles. Lime-scented nose with hints of peach and white flowers. An interesting roundness on the palate with a creamy texture. On the mouth, aromas of quince paste with an inviting floral finish. Ideal with a slightly spicy tuna carpaccio.
Light yellow colour with a complex, nutty, bready and toasty bouquet; traces of meringue, too. The wine is crisp and lovely, dry and refreshing, with lively acidity and a bracingly dry finish and aftertaste. A good aperitif style.
From a producer who's relatively new to the Australian market, this chardonnay dominant cuvee is more about a lifted freshness than more challenging funky character, which sits well in the glass here, fruit driven with grapefruit and lemon senses, perhaps a citrus curd and baked good/yeast bun feel, too, then those salivating tonic bitters that drives the palate to desire. It drinks with such ease, light, lifted and quite ethereal.
An engaging nose showing bready autolysis character and great freshness introduces a fine, balanced palate at the drier end of brut. Excellent quality:price ratio.


text:
Q: pseudo-random function in c? I am reading book called the c programming language by Brian W.Kernighan and Dennis M.Ritchie. I cannot understand the function that is written in the book for generating pseudo-random number it is like this;
unsigned long int next = 1;

int rand(void)
{
    next = next * 1103515243 + 12345;
    return (unsigned int)(next / 65536) % 32768;
}

void srand(unsigned int seed)
{
    next = seed;
}

I also tried my self. But I only came up with the following observations

65536 = is the value of 16 bit unsigned + 1 bit
  32768 = is the value of
   16 bit signed + 1 bit

but I am not able to figure out the whole process .
This is the book written by the legends and I want to understand this book.
Please if anybody can help me to figure out this problem I will feel very very fortunate.

A: Pseudo Random Number Generators are a very complex subject. You could learn it for years, and get a PhD on it. As commented, read also about linear congruential generator (it looks like your code is an example in some C standard)
In C on POSIX systems, you have random(3) (and also lrand48(3), sort-of obsolete); In C++11 you have <random>
The /65536 operation might be compiled as >>16 a right shift of 16 bits.
The %32768 operation could be optimized as a bitmask (same as &0x7fff) keeping 15 least bits.

A: This hasn't an accepted answer yet, so let's try one.
As noted by Basile Starynkevitch, what is implemented here is a pseudo-random number generator (RNG) from the class of linear congruential generators (LCGs). These in general take the form of a sequence
X := (a * X + c) mod m

The starting value for X is called the seed (same as in the code). Of course c < m and a < m. Often also a << c. Both c and m are usually large numbers chosen so that the whole sequence does reasonably well in the spectral test, but you probably don't have to care about that to understand the basic mode of operation. If you are a little bit into number theory, you will probably see that the sequence repeats after a while (it is periodic).
Random numbers are generated, by first seeding X with a starting seed. For each generated number, the sequence is cycled and a subset of the bits of X are returned.
In the code from the question, a = 1103515245, c = 12345, and
m is implicitly pow(2, 8 * sizeof(unsigned long)) by virtue of unsigned integer overflow. These are also the values ISO/IEC 9899, i.e. the C language standard suggests.
With this known, the first pitfall is probably this statement:
return (unsigned int)(next / 65536) % 32768;

Kernighan and Ritchie probably thought that using only simple arithmetic is more readable and more portable than using bit masks and bit shifts. The above is equivalent to
return (unsigned int)(next >> 16) & 0x7fff

which selects bits 16-30 from next. You get back a pseudo-random number in the range [0;32767]. The bit range is also the one suggested in the C standard.
WARNING: It is well known that this LCG does --while widely deployed, because it's noted in the standard-- not produce very good pseudo-random numbers (the version in GLIBc is even worse). Distinctively, it is absolutely unsafe to use for cryptographic applications. With the few number of random bits, I would not even use it for any Monte Carlo method, because results may be severely skewed by the quality of the RNG.
So in short: Try to understand it: yes, you are welcome. Use it for anything: no.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
jeremywade.de
Together forever is the promise of eternal love that we've heard a thousand times in kitschy pop songs.
Yet in this title, it hints at the extent to which people truly rely on each other. In his new piece, dancer and choreographer Jeremy Wade and four further performers experiment with caring situations and forms of tender complicity, while probing the social and political implications of community, love and affection.
What can we only do together – what can't we do alone? What does being there for someone mean?
And what might forms of togetherness look like in the future?
After Jeremy Wade's shows "Fountain" and "To The Mountain" at the HAU, which was centred on rituals alchemy and transformation of group dynamics, he returns with his new production, "Together forever".
This collaboration with dancers and choreographers Igor Koruga and Jared Gradinger, the performance artist and film-maker Liz Rosenfeld and the visual artist Michiel Keuper takes the hackneyed but ever-hopeful promise of eternal love back to its origins.
But the focus of the show is not on relationships between couples: instead, it is an attempt to explore gentle forms of closeness beyond coupledom. In a celebratory tribute, "Together forever" takes a look at our reliance on and responsibility to one another. The performers take on the role of affectionate mediators with the audience during the show, leading them through touchingly challenging situations, laying a shared table and trying out various forms of complicity.
Is it possible to challenge the status quo with physical encounters that rely on thoughtful cooperation?
Real and imagined stories of togetherness and visions of intimate communities are narrated, explored and ritually considered here – concretely as a tangible creation of the here-and-now of the performance, but also as a model that has political and social implications: Do we – or don't we – want to live in a world in which our fundamental needs are regarded not just as individual and personal but also as a social issue?
By and with: Jeremy Wade, Liz Rosenfeld, Michiel Keuper, Igor Koruga, Jared Gradinger
Production and press: björn & björn
Coproduction: HAU Hebbel on the shore
Supported by the Capital Culture Fund.
Jeremy Wade would like to thank you Eike Wittrock, Stuart Meyers, Moritz Sauer and thanks to all the wonderful people who came to our open rehearsals, we could not have made this thing with out you. This piece is deeply inspired by the work he has done with Kai Ehrhardt and Volker Moritz. He is grateful for their generosity and openness. For more information visit the Somatic Akademie, Berlin
Jeremy Wade: Between Sirens (2018)


text:
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.Common;

namespace LinqToDB.DataProvider.DB2iSeries
{
	public class DB2iSeriesProviderAdapter : IDynamicProviderAdapter
	{
		public IDynamicProviderAdapter WrappedAdapter => adapter;

		private readonly IDynamicProviderAdapter adapter;

		public DB2iSeriesProviderType ProviderType { get; }

		public DB2iSeriesProviderAdapter(DB2iSeriesProviderType providerType)
		{
			adapter = providerType switch
			{
#if NETFRAMEWORK
				DB2iSeriesProviderType.AccessClient => DB2iSeriesAccessClientProviderAdapter.Instance,
#endif
				DB2iSeriesProviderType.Odbc => OdbcProviderAdapter.GetInstance(),
				DB2iSeriesProviderType.OleDb => OleDbProviderAdapter.GetInstance(),
				DB2iSeriesProviderType.DB2 => DB2.DB2ProviderAdapter.Instance,
				_ => throw ExceptionHelper.InvalidAdoProvider(providerType)
			};
			this.ProviderType = providerType;
		}

		public Type ConnectionType => adapter.ConnectionType;

		public Type DataReaderType => adapter.DataReaderType;

		public Type ParameterType => adapter.ParameterType;

		public Type CommandType => adapter.CommandType;

		public Type TransactionType => adapter.TransactionType;

		public string AssemblyName => ProviderType switch
		{
#if NETFRAMEWORK
			DB2iSeriesProviderType.AccessClient => DB2iSeriesAccessClientProviderAdapter.AssemblyName,
#endif
			DB2iSeriesProviderType.Odbc => OdbcProviderAdapter.AssemblyName,
			DB2iSeriesProviderType.OleDb => OleDbProviderAdapter.AssemblyName,
			DB2iSeriesProviderType.DB2 => DB2.DB2ProviderAdapter.AssemblyName,
			_ => throw ExceptionHelper.InvalidAdoProvider(ProviderType)
		};

		public string GetDbTypeName(DbParameter dbDataParameter) => adapter switch
		{
#if NETFRAMEWORK
			DB2iSeriesAccessClientProviderAdapter accessClientAdapter => accessClientAdapter.GetDbType(dbDataParameter).ToString(),
#endif
			OdbcProviderAdapter odbcAdapter => odbcAdapter.GetDbType(dbDataParameter).ToString(),
			OleDbProviderAdapter oleDbAdapter => oleDbAdapter.GetDbType(dbDataParameter).ToString(),
			DB2.DB2ProviderAdapter db2Adapter => db2Adapter.GetDbType(dbDataParameter).ToString(),
			_ => throw ExceptionHelper.InvalidProviderAdapter(adapter)
		};

		public void SetDbType(DbParameter dbDataParameter, object value)
		{
			if (adapter is OdbcProviderAdapter odbcAdapter
					&& value is OdbcProviderAdapter.OdbcType odbcType)
				odbcAdapter.SetDbType(dbDataParameter, odbcType);
			else if (adapter is OleDbProviderAdapter oleDbAdapter
					&& value is OleDbProviderAdapter.OleDbType oleDbType)
				oleDbAdapter.SetDbType(dbDataParameter, oleDbType);
#if NETFRAMEWORK
			else if (adapter is DB2iSeriesAccessClientProviderAdapter accessClientAdapter
					&& value is DB2iSeriesAccessClientProviderAdapter.iDB2DbType idb2Type)
				accessClientAdapter.SetDbType(dbDataParameter, idb2Type);
#endif
			else if (adapter is DB2.DB2ProviderAdapter db2Adapter
					&& value is DB2.DB2ProviderAdapter.DB2Type db2Type)
				db2Adapter.SetDbType(dbDataParameter, db2Type);
			else
				throw ExceptionHelper.InvalidProviderAdapter(adapter);
		}

		public IDynamicProviderAdapter GetInstance()
			=> adapter;

		public static DB2iSeriesProviderAdapter GetInstance(DB2iSeriesProviderType providerType)
			=> new DB2iSeriesProviderAdapter(providerType);
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Blank! The Musical
Résumé + Contact
AGE 6. I STILL HAVE THE PIANO.
A Word (or three) On My Musical Influences:
I've been playing piano "by ear" since age 5. My first big influence, about a year prior, was the movie and soundtrack of "Grease". The album was played non-stop on vinyl at home, and 8-track tape in the car. We saw the movie in theaters about a dozen times, including twice-in-one-afternoon at the Esquire Theater on Oak st. Apparently, the "Grease" soundtrack on repeat can drive parents CRAZY, so they shook things up and took me to a touring production of the musical, "Beatlemania". It featured the tagline: "Not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation." And it was all true! That music blew 6 year old me away, and still does. The original cast 8-track tape was purchased in the Shubert Theater lobby. (Who else misses the incredible fidelity and non-bulkyness of 8-tracks? Nobody? Cool, me neither.) Suddenly, "Grease" took a back seat (like when Danny and Sandy are at the drive-in - still got it!) and from then until now, the center of my musical soul has been shaped The Beatles, both as individuals and soloists.
As a child of the 70's & 80's, my ear was also shaped by countless, overly-catchy TV themes, and 70's & 80's pop hits, all of which remain in my piano repertoire many years later. In middle school, that was complimented by the sounds of Chicago's oldies station, Magic 104.3, where I learned two decades worth of classic music from Motown to the Zombies and everything in-between. (I'm looking at you, The Buckinghams.) The classic rock deep-dive began in high school and exploded in college. And, as a hard-core Chicago sports fan, the organ and pop-heavy soundtracks heard at Wrigley Field and Chicago Stadium, and yes, even Comiskey, played a huge role on how piano could serve as an emotional energy booster for of thousands of people. By the late 90's, when I began several decades of music directing for Second City, bands like Wilco and Ben Folds - with and without the Five - became just as important and influential, further shaping my style as a pianist.
There remains one more major musical influence, where I learned to accompany singers, improvisors, and all kinds of theater. I was extremely fortunate to have attended Harand Camp Of The Theater Arts in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for 8 weeks a summer, beginning at age 11. As taught by the legendary Sulie and Pearl Harand, each summer featured countless Pageants and shows featuring the music of Gershwin, Berlin, Bernstein, Loesser, Rodgers & Hammerstein, etc... Those summers were a beautiful crash-course in the entirety of musical theater's golden age, and as a pianist-by-ear, I soaked up every melody and arrangement I could; initially for fun, and later as one of the camp's accompanists. Musical theater remains some of my very favorite music to sit down and play.
Having such disparate and emotionally-connected influences has proven to be a great boon as an improv pianist. I'm lucky to posses a range of musical references that span generations and styles, and can each of them confidently on demand. And yes, that still includes the "Grease" score, in its' entirety. "We Go Together" is how I learned to gliss! And what's more fun than that?
PIANO & MUSIC DIRECTION
The Mad Show Musical (Workshop, Warner Bros. Theater Ventures)
The Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards
Reunion Show of Second City's Class Of 1969
An Evening With Martin Short
Wheeler Opera House/Theater Aspen
OKRP Ad Agency
The Annoyance Theater
Chicago Live!
Second City Works
Davenport's
Harand Camp Of The Theater Arts


This January Credo recruited a group of thirteen Oberlin Conservatory students who spent two weeks on campus learning and growing in ways quite familiar: rehearsing chamber music, being coached by members of Oberlin's faculty, and performing in Kulas Recital Hall. No amount of imagination could have dreamt up the ways these students would continue to learn and grow through unfamiliar means once they took their hard work to Beaumont, Texas and San Juan, Puerto Rico. In these communities, ravaged last summer by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the students shared with those in need, not only through music but through physical labor and emotional commitment. I joined the students not only as an organizer, but also as cellist of the Brahms Quintet, one of the chamber groups who traveled to Beaumont. It was a privilege to observe firsthand what took place in and through the Texas team during the week away.
While in Beaumont students learned new skills ranging from hanging drywall to painting ceilings, developing a new appreciation for professionals in these fields along the way! Students grew in understanding and empathy as they heard stories of those whose lives have been turned upside down by Harvey. Even in the midst of the destruction it was hard to comprehend the extent of the damage done by the storm, and the number of years it will take for life to return to "normal." Over the course of the week we played in churches, a low-income Salvation Army apartment building, a battered women's shelter, an elementary school, and on the driveway of a house we had worked on for the homeowner and her neighbors. The enthusiasm and joy of the audiences was an encouragement to all of us, and the students became more animated in interacting with their audiences with each performance.


text:
Buildings & Cemetery
Vatican News Feed
Faith Formation/Religious Education
Initiation for Adults & Older Children
SJB Evangelizers
National Evangelization Teams
Cursillo & Ultreya
Ladies of Saint Anne
Mission Rosebush of Ste. Thérèse
Nonprofits Spotlight
Michaela's Mission Blog
Respecting Life
Parish Census
Masses on TV and internet
Mission Rosebush Society of Sainte Thérèse
The mission of our Rosebush Society is to provide education and formation for future Priests and Brothers through the Carmelite seminaries and to support the work of the Missions. Ste. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, who is known as The Little Flower, as well as Patron Saint of the Missions, is the spiritual inspiration and patroness of the Society. The Society began with the simple idea of interested people donating just 25¢ a month – and this basic concept is still the heart of fundraising. In the past 90 years, since the original founding, the society in the United States has sent over $10,000,000 dollars to missions of foreign lands, established over 4,000 scholarships, and contributed to the seminary education of over 3,000 priests. Among these are 6 bishops and 2 archbishops ordained! Learn about the particulars of our Society at St. John the Baptist at the bottom of this page.
Who Is Ste. Thérèse?
Born to a loving family in 1873 (which does happen to be the year of our parish founding) Thérèse Martin was a Carmelite nun in Lisieux, France for only nine years. She never went to the missions or seemed to do anything extraordinary, dying at the age of 24 – yet, she is the Patron of Missions, a Doctor of the Church, and a most beloved Saint. Her autobiography "The Story of a Soul" shows her childlike and profound love for Jesus, her humble recognition of her simplicity and littleness, her devotion to love God through all things (known as her "Little Way") and her desire to share God's love with others. Her passion for the Missionary work of the Church and her support of priests through prayers and letters is the inspiration behind the Mission Rosebushes. (To read or listen to The Story of Soul for free, please click HERE.)
What is the Significance of a Rosebush?
As she was dying in the convent infirmary of tuberculosis, Thérèse could look out of the window and see the rosebushes blossoming. She loved roses. She had thrown rose petals as a child before the Blessed Sacrament. As she reflected on her quiet, hidden, and gentle life ending, she faithfully believed that God had great things in store for her. She believed that her mission was only beginning as she entered the fullness of life with God. She explained: "After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved...". (Except taken from the website www.littleflower.org)
Who Founded the Missionary Rosebushes?
It was a lay woman of Manchester NH, Irene Farley, who began The Missionary Rosebushes of Sainte Thérèse in 1922, one year before the founding of The Society of the Little Flower. She had wanted to be a nun herself and serve in the missionary lands, but had been too weakened by tuberculosis to do so. Attributing a recovery from near-death to the intervention of Ste. Thérèse, Irene's devotion to the Little Flower grew along with her desire to, like the Saint, share God's love by helping priests in missions. She wrote, "If I cannot go to the missions myself, I can work to send others." Simply starting by asking family and friends to contribute 25¢ a month, the quarters soon became dollars and, beginning with her home parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Manchester, the Missionary Rosebushes spread, from New Hampshire to as far away as Canada and California. Since 1972, the Sisters, Adorers of the Precious Blood, headquartered in Manchester, have dispersed the funds raised by the Mission Rosebushes where they are most needed.
About Our Parish's Mission Rosebush Society:
Our 5th Pastor (1907–1930) Rev. Noel Plante gave his permission and support in May 1925 for the Missionary Rosebush of Sainte Thérèse in St. Jean-Baptiste Parish, here in Suncook. The Society continues to be active in our parish after 90 years! Membership is now at approximately 85 members. This total includes members currently in nursing homes, as well as our lifetime members. New memberships are very much needed to continue the good work and provide ongoing scholarship assistance to our future missionary Priests. The annual membership dues remain at just $8 per person, per year (dues waived for those in nursing homes). Members of the Rosebush Society experience a special closeness through devotion to Ste. Thérèse and commitment to the Missions in sharing the love of God.
The Society meets three times a year, at 7 PM, on the 4th Thursday of April, September, and December, in the Upper Hall of the Parish Center. Come, stop by! For more information, we encourage you to contact Melaine Boisvert, current president, at 485-7554.
Some members of the Society, 2015
10 School St. Suncook, NH 03275
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Small white bone bear head pendant. Pendant Size: length 3.5cm, width 3cm Product image seen on 80cm Sterling Silver Thin Ball Chain. All chains are sterling silver and finished off with the Cecily branded star tag.
How To Wear It: Full of personality, Bernard deserves to stand out. Wear him with a dark jumper and skinny jeans combo, not forgetting the biker boots and a floppy fedora hat. A perfect winters day outfit!


This good sized plot of urban land is situated in a quiet area at the southern edge of the village with wonderful views to the Mediterranean, Straits of Gibraltar and Rif mountains of North Africa. It is centrally located within easy reach of all village amenities and with easy access.
As the plot was previously issued with an approved Bulding Licence (now lapsed), the original 'Informe Geotécnico' is available to the new owner.
It would be possible to construct a large (240m2) TWO STOREY HOUSE WITH ROOF TERRACE & PATIO. The POOL could be located on the roof terrace which would have stunning views to the Mediterrnean coastline, or in the patio.


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Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines
Combination therapy in rheumatoid arthritis
Combination therapy in rheumatoid arthritis is a topic covered in the Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines.
"Combination Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis." Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines, Duodecim Medical Publications Limited, 2019. Evidence Central, evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/EBMG/456300/all/Combination_therapy_in_rheumatoid_arthritis.
Combination therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines. Duodecim Medical Publications Limited; 2019. https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/EBMG/456300/all/Combination_therapy_in_rheumatoid_arthritis. Accessed January 31, 2023.
Combination therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. (2019). In Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines. Duodecim Medical Publications Limited. https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/EBMG/456300/all/Combination_therapy_in_rheumatoid_arthritis
Combination Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis [Internet]. In: Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines. Duodecim Medical Publications Limited; 2019. [cited 2023 January 31]. Available from: https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/EBMG/456300/all/Combination_therapy_in_rheumatoid_arthritis.
TY - ELEC T1 - Combination therapy in rheumatoid arthritis ID - 456300 BT - Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines UR - https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/EBMG/456300/all/Combination_therapy_in_rheumatoid_arthritis PB - Duodecim Medical Publications Limited DB - Evidence Central DP - Unbound Medicine ER -
Evidence Summaries
Comparison of combination therapy with single-drug therapy in early rheumatoid arthritis
Combination therapy for pain management in inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, other spondyloarthritis): Cochrane systematic review
Delay to institution of therapy and induction of remission using single-drug or combination antirheumatic drug therapy in early rheumatoid arthritis
Methotrexate monotherapy versus methotrexate combination therapy with non‐biologic disease modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis Edited (no change to conclusions), comment added to review
Short‐term induction glucocorticoids and disease‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs (DMARD) therapy for rheumatoid arthritis New


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Tonga National Rugby League appeal deferred
Wednesday, September 23, 2020 - 18:16
An appeal by the Tonga National Rugby League (TNRL) over its expulsion from the International Rugby League (IRL) has been adjourned by the Court of Arbitration of Sport.
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