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INTELLIGENCE with INTEGRITY Chapter 4: Four Domains for Applied Intelligence
Fund a Chapter — Own It
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06 CH 4.1 Strategy 47-56
Book Master Page with All Chapters
DRAFT 1 OF 15
Chapter 4: Four Domains for Applied Intelligence
Funded by Pierre Thibault (ME)
A. Integrity Is a Grand Strategy 47
B. Grand Strategy 49
C. Strategy 49
D. Threats, Goals, Priorities 50
E. Whole of Government Management 51
F. Affordable Coherent Acquisition 52
G. Just Enough Just in Time Operations 53
H. Strategic Education 53
I. Strategic Intelligence 54
J. Strategic Research 54
Grand Strategy is everything, always. Strategy is everything, always within one particular domain. Strategy is how humans can orchestrate means (revenue), ways (capabilities and actions) and ends (goals and outcomes). Most human organizations, including governments, corporations, and very wealthy foundations, are oblivious to the importance and value of strategy. If threats are not properly, persistently, and comprehensively understood, the strategy will be inappropriate and unsustainable. If opportunities are not appreciated, societies are mis-directed and fail to advance to the next level. Corruption among those in power is generally the cancer that prevents authentic strategies from being conceptualized, fleshed out, and implemented. Absent Whole of Government management, affordable coherent acquisition, and the ability to dramatically reduce the cost of government operations by eradicating fraud, waste, and abuse while carrying out very agile "just enough just in time" operations. By the end of this book and the course if taught with this book, you will understand that INTEGRITY is the foundation for everything else—that legitimacy and trust create infinite wealth for all—and that education, intelligence, and research are the brain, heart, and soul of any organization from family to state to religion to global diaspora of individuals with intelligence and integrity who feel betrayed by all of their organizations, and are striving to connect, creating a new global network that is truly Of, By, and For We the People.
A. Integrity Is a Grand Strategy
I considered a separate chapter on integrity and chose not to isolate it in that manner for two reasons. First integrity must be pervasive. Any loss of integrity at any level on any issue for any duration of time is like sand in the gears of a very complex system.
Second, integrity, in and of itself, is a grand strategy. If the truth at any cost lowers all other costs, then a commitment to transparency, truth, and trust is an ethos – a fundamental attribute of the entire body politic, body social, body economic.
Below is an illustration of a strategy that embraces an ethos of integrity.
Figure 8: A Strategic Ethos of Integrity
Strategy comes before policy, acquisition, and operations if and only if there is integrity in governance. If policies are devised on the basis of special interest corruption to arrive at pre-determined financial outcomes without regard to ethical evidence-based decision-making, then all parties associated with those "orphan" policies are inherently corrupt, more likely to be excessive in cost, more likely to be excessive in negative side effects (e.g. toxins), and less likely to be sustainable or successful.
B. Grand Strategy
Grand Strategy is about long-term threats, goals, and interests – it goes far beyond any single political administration or any single generation of corporate or other leadership. Grand Strategy is about the balanced integration of all of the resources and instruments of national or organizational power (Steele 2008). Stewardship of existing resources—including the population and its education, is part of Grand Strategy. Balance, flexibility and frequent adjustments are part of Grand Strategy – "stay the course" is an inherently corrupt concept, as is an excessive investment in the military alone (Johnson 2004). A true Grand Strategy is focused on opportunities as well as threats, on keeping the peace as well as being prepared for war. Debts and deficits have no place in a Grand Strategy – they are a burden on future generations and inherently corrupt (Kennedy 1992).
Morality (an attribute of the nation, organization, tribe, or group) and legitimacy (the perception of the nation or other human organization by others) are central to Grand Strategy. On the basis of their multi-volume The Story of Civilization, Will and Ariel Durant draw a number of conclusions in their capstone The Lessons of History. Among those lessons: morality is a priceless strategic asset (Durant 1968). In other words, legitimacy is a priceless objective (Manwaring et al 2003).
The very worst thing any nation or organization can do is to alienate everyone else. When US policy and spending antagonizes everyone else, this is a Grand Strategy blunder, what Chalmers Johnson calls "sorrows of empire" (Johnson 2004, Paret et al 1986).
Grand Strategy must be holistic, and security strategy is not about security capabilities alone, but rather demands a holistic approach and the rather renaissance capability of managing a multiplicity of capabilities – diplomatic, economic, cultural, military, psychological, information – in a balanced manner and under the over-arching umbrella of a strategy (Gray 1999).
Grand Strategy and Strategy are not to be confused with technology or spending. Technical innovation and excessive spending are not a strategy and more often than not will undermine any Grand Strategy by distracting, diverting resources, or bankrupting the society in question (Gray 1999, Gray 2004).
Grand Strategy requires coherent management of Whole of Government (Abshire 1989). As long as the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) do not "manage," the USA will be unable to plan, program, and budget at a Grand Strategy level (Steele 2012 IG).
Lastly, Grand Strategy demands a deep understanding of reality as best as it can be known. There are three ways to tri-sect reality: first, absorb all history in all languages; second, cast a very wide net, in all languages; and third, practice Multinational, Multiagency, Multidisciplinary, Multidomain Information-Sharing and Sense-Making (M4IS2)…and that is a Grand Strategy.
C. Strategy
Strategy is an over-arching concept that is devised to achieve specific mid-tern objectives, and generally entails planning, programming, and budgeting that in turn funds acquisition and operations. Acquisition in theory is the implementation of a force structure designed with some relation to both reality (external) and policy objectives (internal).
Strategy demands focus – it demands a specific person or group able to take responsibility for the whole, integrate the views and concerns of the elements, and devise a plan, a program, and a budget that is executable.
Below is a really excellent graphic from one of the very best books on strategy (de Wit and Meyer 2004).
Figure 9: Strategy Topics, Paradoxes, & Perspectives
Integrating plans, programs, and budgets from the elements is not strategy nor is it management. This is the primary reason that the US Government needs an Open Source Agency (OSA) that includes Tony ZInni's National Monitoring and Planning Center (NMPC); a Deputy Director for Management in OMB that actually manages; and a restructuring of the White House and how the President in supported in executive-level decisions (Steele 2009, Steele 2011, Zinni 2007). Below the Grand Strategy level, multiple strategies can co-exist, but they should be deconflicted and harmonized in relation to the Grand Strategy.
D. Threats, Goals, Priorities
The absolute greatest encapsulation of where threats fit with strategy and everything else comes from Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA), then serving as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC):
I am constantly being asked for a bottom-line defense number. I don't know of any logical way to arrive at such a figure without analyzing the threat,; without determining what changes in our strategy should be made in light of the changes in the threat; and then determining what force structure and weapons programs we need to carry out this revised strategy. (Steele 2000, p. 3)
Integrity is required in both the intelligence community and the governance community, if threats are to be honestly and objectively evaluated. In the USA, the threat has been manufactured, if not by bankers seeking to fund both sides of any war including the Civil War (which was actually a war of secession), then by the military-industrial complex. The record is quite clear: the Cold War was fiction created by Lockheed and its corrupt allies in the US Congress and the US Executive. The damage we have done to the rest of the world at taxpayer expense has been genocidal in scale and an eternal dishonor to the Republic (Hartung 2012, Leebaert 2003).
Once the threats are established and accepted – today the threats have been established but not accepted by any government as a national priority, then goals can be established, and priorities enumerated in relation to those goals. We will discuss these in detail in Chapter 10.
In the USA, poverty has increased dramatically since the year 1970, at the same time that the government continues to both absolve Wall Street of all of its crimes against humanity both at home and abroad, and continues to "bail out" the very people that exploded the US and the global economy (Glassmeier 2005, Taibbi 2010). All ten of these threats are not being addressed in a serious professional manner that uses strategy to sort out means, ways, and ends.
We are in grid-lock right now, largely because the public is uninformed by a captive corporate media, legislators are corrupt, and executive agency leaders are focused on serving the special interests who receive the taxpayer's revenue, rather than on the public interest. Needed badly is public intelligence in the public interest: a framing of the threats, goals, and priorities such that a "gold standard" is established against which individual legislators can be held to account, at the same time that decision-support on all of these threats is made available to the executive, the public, and the media, as well as corporations, non-governmental organizations, and civil society organizations.
Missing today from governance is intelligence with integrity. That is our strategic objective.
E. Whole of Government Management
Holistic means whole, as in the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. When parts fit together well, they operate without friction, with great efficiency. When one part of government goes in one direction while another part of government goes in the opposite direction, they cancel each other out. Below is an illustration of a properly managed government in which policies, acquisition, and operations are aligned across all elements at all four levels of effort.
In order to do data-driven strategic management (which is to say, manage the whole at all four levels, across all policy areas, across all elements of the US Government, three things have to happen:
1. Data needs to be ingestible into a government-wide cloud
2. All data needs to have both a date time stamp and a geospatial attribute
3. Machine speed near-real-time (NRT) processing is done of all data from all sources
Figure 10: Data-Driven Whole Of Government Management
An Open Source Everything (OSE) strategy can make this possible within a few years. In the interim, OMB and Congress can orchestrate a series of joint Executive-Legislative Briefing Books, and also restructure both branches to better align jurisdictions, oversight, and implementation.
F. Affordable Coherent Acquisition
Acquisition is similar to sail racing in some respects – you can win or lose the race before your boat ever hits the water. By this I mean that the US today is operating an acquisition process that is so totally corrupt in all possible respect that is assured failure. Here I list just a few of the fundamentals that the government as a whole, but the Department of Defense in particular, simply do not embrace.
1. Have a grand strategy that prevents war and humanitarian crises from occurring – prevention really is cheaper that reactive remediation. This means you have to invest in all of the instruments of national power, not just the one that consists of big expensive systems we do not need and cannot afford. When a country has more military musicians than it has diplomats, this is a clue that something is terribly wrong at the highest levels of US government thinking.[1]
2. Engage in Whole Systems design – it makes no sense for the US Army to create a vehicle or weapons system that is not air-liftable or air-transportable. From the new jeep that will not into most CH-46 helicopters to the Striker armored personnel carrier that has to be broken down into multiple aircraft loads, to Marine Corps tanks that displace entire truck companies from the traditional amphibious landing craft, it is clear that DoD acquisition is out of control and incoherent. At the same time, it is vital that systems be interoperable with interchangeable parts (e.g. for ground transport systems across services).
3. Buy many small less expensive systems than a few very large very expensive systems. Redundancy, portability, and presumed losses are all important.
4. Be totally honest about total cost of ownership from cradle to grave, and stop the many existing forms of corruption that include lying to Congress, concealing true costs, front-loading programs with sunk costs, and failing to budget for communication, intelligence, and logistics supportability.
We will discuss Acquisition in more detail in Chapter 6. Here we simply summarize the strategic level of acquisition thinking, something that OMB does not get involved in, and should.
G. Just Enough Just in Time Operations
A huge responsibility at the strategic level is summed up by Sun Tzu's often-quoted but rarely respected "The acme of skill is to defeat the enemy without fighting." Or in Gandhi's terms, "Make love, not war." The whole point of grand strategy is the be a good steward for the nation or tribe or organization; to avoid making enemies; to be resilient in the face of disasters; and to prosper, elevating the whole while avoiding the cost in blood, treasure, and spirit of war. And if you do go to war, do so with just enough, just in time, not, as we do now, with a military so complex that we have lost the ability to do precision interventions with good effect.
H. Strategic Education
Will Durant's 1916 doctoral thesis, now easily available as Philosophy and the Social Problem, Annotated Edition (2008) has this to offer (from my Amazon review):
Durant defines duty not as unquestioning submission to the group but rather individual excellence in thinking and action–for a modern presentation of this, see Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution.
From Socrates to Spinoza and on, Durant finds that morality is not about freedom of will or individual purpose, but rather about how the group and the individuals as part of the group relate means to ends (or we could say now, means (revenue) to ways (policies) to ends (endless war or peace, distributed prosperity or concentrated wealth and broad slavery).
I find guidance and solace in Durant's rendition of Plato, and am just blown away by how we must give the best to education, that until we do so, until we give our best brains to education, no amount of money will reduce our social ills. Here is the quote:
"When Plato says that the office of minister of education is 'of all the great offices of state the greatest,' and that the citizens should elect their very best man to this office (Laws 765-6), he is not pronouncing a platitude, he is making a radical, revolutionary proposition."
Durant draws out (mostly from Spinoza) the importance of not having a standard government-defined education, of making education fun, exploratory, diverse, and open-ended. I cannot help but recall how the author of Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace suggests we beat the creativity out of children by the fourth grade, and how my hacker friends consider schools to be prisons.
My own evolution of Durant's ideas are offered up in my article (1995) and book (2006) by the title of Creating a Smart Nation.
I. Strategic Intelligence
This entire book is about intelligence, so here I want to make just three points:
1. At the strategic level of decision-making, intelligence with integrity is the only resource. If BOTH the intelligence community and the political-policy community lack integrity, they will be arrogant, corrupt, and ignorant – persistently betraying the public trust at great expense.
2. Regardless of how good your intelligence might be, and how strong the integrity of your intelligence professionals, IF the intelligence is only secret in nature such that it cannot be shared with the public, media, and Congress; AND the political leadership lacks integrity, the intelligence, however good, will be ignored.
3. Regardless of how much integrity the political and policy leadership might have, if the intelligence community lacks integrity in the holistic sense, and persists in only doing secret collection against Hard Targets, and refuses to do Global Coverage, it will stink at culture, history, language, and will have no contextual understanding as well as no forecasting ability worthy of notice.
J. Strategic Research
There is nothing strategic, transformative, or inspiring about the current national Science & Technology (S&T) research & development (R&D) program in the USA today. For 2013, at $140.8 billion, at least a third of which will be waste, this is simply not serious – nor is it harmonized by OMB or anyone else (OSTP 2012). It also does not address R&D in the humanities. While the US does participant in a number of multinational endeavors, and the Earth Science information-sharing initiatives is one of the most brilliant and needed initiatives sponsored by the White House, the US does not have a national much less a global open data access and open repository strategy, and there is no serious attention being given to – for example – assuring public access to all of the information collected at indirect taxpayer expense by the Specialized Agencies (SA) of the United Nations (UN).
We will discuss systems thinking, true cost economics, the ten high-level threats, and twelve core policies in subsequent chapters. Then we will begin to understand how to do the right thing, instead of what we are doing now, the wrong thing righter (Ackoff 2004).
Date-Time Stamp
Geospatial Attribute
M4IS2
Machine Processing
Near-Real-Time
Orphan Policy
Specialized Agencies (SA)
Whole Systems
2012 Reflections on Inspectors General, PBI (28 September)
2011 Open Source Agency: Executive Access Point, PBI (25 August)
2010 Reflections on Integrity UPDATED + Integrity RECAP, PBI (28 September)
2009 Fixing the White House & National Intelligence, PBI (16 July)
2009 Politics & Intelligence–Partners Only When Integrity is Central to Both, PBI (13 October)
2009 Worth a Look: Book Reviews on Strategy, PBI (17 January)
2008 Graphic: Medard Gabel's Cost of Peace versus War, PBI (15 August)
2008 Rebalancing the Instruments of National Power–Army Strategy Conference of 2008 Notes, Summary, & Article, PBI (9 May)
2008 "Paradigms of Failure," ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig. Oakton, VA: Earth Intelligence Network
2001 Threats, Strategy, and Force Structure: An Alternative Paradigm for National Security, Chapter 9: "Threats, Strategy, and Force Structure: An Alternative Paradigm for National Security, pp. 139-163 at PBI
1992 "E3i: Ethics, Ecology, Evolution, & intelligence" Whole Earth Review (Fall) at PBI
Abshire, David (1989). Preventing World War III: A Realistic Grand Strategy. New York, NY: Harpercollins.
Barney, Gerald (1982). The Global 2000 Report to the President: Entering the Twenty-First Century. New York, NY: Penguin.
De Wit, Bob and Ron Meyer (2004). Strategy: Process, Content, Context–An International Perspective. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing.
Durant, Will and Ariel Durant (1968). The Lessons of History. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Durant, Will (1916) Philosophy and the Social Problem: Annotated Edition (2008), Frisco, TX: Promethean Press.
Glassmeier, Amy (2005). An Atlas of Poverty in America: One Nation, Pulling Apart 1960-2003. Oxford, UK: Routledge.
Gray, Colin (1999). Modern Strategy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press
Gray, Colin (2004). Strategy for Chaos: Revolutions in Military Affairs and the Evidence of History. Oxford, UK: Routledge.
Hartung, William (2012). Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex. New York, NY: Nation Books.
Kennedy, Paul (ed.) (1992). Grand Strategies in War and Peace. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Leebaert, Derek (2003). The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World. New York, NY: Back Bay Books.
Manwaring, Max, Edwin Corr and Robert Dorff (eds.) (2003). The Search for Security: A U.S. Grand Strategy for the Twenty-First Century. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Meadows, Donella, Dennis Meadows, and Jorgen Randers (1972). Limits to Growth. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.
Office of Science and Technology Policy, "Innovation for America's Economy, America's Energy, and American Skills: The FY 2013 Science and Technology R&D Budget," 13 February 2012.
Paret, Peter, Gordon Craig, Peter Gilbert (eds.) (1986). Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Rischard, Jean Francois (2003). High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. New York, NY: Basic Books.
United Nations (2004). A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility (Report of the. High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenge, and Change). New York, NY: United Nations.
Zinni, Tony (2007). The Battle for Peace: A Frontline Vision of America's Power and Purpose. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Read a substantive review from each link above. Do this quickly. We will craft a coherent strategy.
1. Has any Administration in the USA in recent memory had a "Grand Strategy?"
2. Has any country anywhere had a Grand Strategy? Which one and what have been its consistent objectives?
3. What are the instruments of national power? Corporate power? Religious power? Criminal power? Can organizations other than states have a Grand Strategy?
4. You are going into hearings for confirmation as the Secretary of State. What three ideas would you take in with you?
[1] Since this anecdotal story was first told around 2007, the Department of State has fudged its numbers upwards, counting Foreign Service Specialists with its Foreign Service Officers to reach a count of 13,000 when actual FSO's are probably no more than 5,000 in number; and the Department of Defense has obscured its numbers, generally believed to be around 5,000. What is known is that the Marines spend $50 million a year on military musicians, and the US Army spends at least $200 million a year. Assuming a total of $500 million for all of DoD, at $100,000 each, that tends to support the 5,000 number.
CategoriesArticles & Chapters
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Research Project to Develop Learning Designs of International Distance Education using ICT for Fostering Intercultural Competence Kaken Kiban (C) Project.
5 5 Elements of Intercultural Competence (Byram, 2003) Attitudes: curiosity and openness, readiness to suspend disbelief about other cultures and belief about one's own. Knowledge: of social groups and their products and practices in one's own and in one's interlocutor's country, and of the general processes of societal and individual interaction. Skills of interpreting and relating: ability to interpret a document or event from another culture, to explain it and relate it to documents from one's own. Skills of discovery and interaction: ability to acquire new knowledge of a culture and cultural practices and the ability to operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-time communication and interaction. Critical cultural awareness/political education: an ability to evaluate critically and on the basis of explicit criteria perspectives, practices and products in one's own and other cultures and countries.
Download ppt "Research Project to Develop Learning Designs of International Distance Education using ICT for Fostering Intercultural Competence Kaken Kiban (C) Project."
MIVCI MIVCI: El componente intercultural en la enseñanza plurilingüe I will examine this VIC experience using the model proposed in Byram, Gribkova and.
Mixed Methods Research: Developing a Deeper Understanding of Teacher and Librarian Collaboration. CISSL-ILILE Research Symposium Multiple Faces of Collaboration.
Using Computer & Internet to enhance Intercultural Learning Bernd Rüschoff – Universität Duisburg-Essen.
Teaching is designed with the aim to equip the learner with essential assets for success in tomorrow's world (presidential address) Integrating our society.
Romance cross-comprehension and on-line communication in the development of educational competences: a study of future teachers' perspectives Mª Helena.
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Japanese University Students' Attitudes toward the Teacher's English Use Koji Uenishi Hiroshima University.
Scottish Baccalaureate in Languages Planning for the Interdisciplinary Project.
1 Interprofessional Education (IPE) ".. Occurs when two or more professions learn with, from, and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality.
What do ELT professionals need to know … about intercultural competence? Michael Byram University of Durham, England, UK.
NSS Learning and Teaching Strategies for the History Curriculum Series : (1) Compulsory Part Hong Kong: Political and institutional changes Mr. CHOW Chi-leong.


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Meghan Linsey and Tyler Cain Release New Song As Duo Meg & Tyler [LISTEN]
Olivia Ladd
Recording artist Meghan Linsey and producer Tyler Cain have joined their musical talents for their new country music duo project, Meg & Tyler. Their first song, "Mardi Gras and Rhinestones," is out as of last month. It's a positive, celebratory song about unifying to party.
"It's just a fun song. I'm from New Orleans and it's got a lot of that flavor on it," Linsey, The Voice season eight runner-up, told The Boot on the blue carpet at the CMT Music Awards in June. "It's about bringing people together, all walks of life, all different types of people, and just having a party."
Linsey and Cain paid homage to those Cajun roots with the accompanying video for the song, where they went to downtown Nashville during CMA Fest with a second-line parade-- and it looks like it was a blast.
The two don't just have a creative partnership-- they recently got engaged after seven years of dating. Cain popped the question in Alaska, where they also filmed a music video for a love song they wrote, which is expected to come out in the fall. Linsey says them coming together to release new music as a duo was "a natural progression."
"It just seemed like the time was right," Cain says.
Fans can expect more music from the duo soon. "We have almost a whole EP done," Cain says. "We're just in a really creative time right now, just writing, recording everyday. It's an exciting time right now."
NEXT: Meghan Linsey's Music Reflects Her Passion for Social Justice
Source: Meghan Linsey and Tyler Cain Release New Song As Duo Meg & Tyler [LISTEN]
Filed Under: #NewMusicEveryday, Meghan linsey
Poll Finds New Yorkers Hate Bail Reform

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This is whatever I might want to feature from my thoughts or goings on for the week. It might be homeschool, parenting, travel, sewing, or craft related. Or just a brain dump. Enjoy!
Talk about beauty subscription boxes!


text:
41 U.S.C.
United States Code, 2018 Edition
Title 41 - PUBLIC CONTRACTS
Subtitle I - Federal Procurement Policy
Division B - Office of Federal Procurement Policy
CHAPTER 13 - ACQUISITION COUNCILS
SUBCHAPTER I - FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATORY COUNCIL
Sec. 1303 - Functions and authority
From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov
§1303. Functions and authority
(a) Functions.—
(1) Issue and maintain federal acquisition regulation.—Subject to sections 1121, 1122(a) to (c)(1), 1125, 1126, 1130, 1131, and 2305 of this title, the Administrator of General Services, the Secretary of Defense, and the Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space, pursuant to their respective authorities under division C of this subtitle, chapters 4 and 137 of title 10, and the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.),1 shall jointly issue and maintain in accordance with subsection (d) a single Government-wide procurement regulation, to be known as the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(2) Limitation on other regulations.—Other regulations relating to procurement issued by an executive agency shall be limited to—
(A) regulations essential to implement Government-wide policies and procedures within the agency; and
(B) additional policies and procedures required to satisfy the specific and unique needs of the agency.
(3) Ensure consistent regulations.—The Administrator, in consultation with the Council, shall ensure that procurement regulations prescribed by executive agencies are consistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation and in accordance with the policies prescribed pursuant to section 1121(b) of this title.
(4) Request to review regulation.—
(A) Basis for request.—Under procedures the Administrator establishes, a person may request the Administrator to review a regulation relating to procurement on the basis that the regulation is inconsistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(B) Period of review.—Unless the request is frivolous or does not, on its face, state a valid basis for the review, the Administrator shall complete the review not later than 60 days after receiving the request. The time for completion of the review may be extended if the Administrator determines that an additional period of review is required. The Administrator shall advise the requester of the reasons for the extension and the date by which the review will be completed.
(5) When regulation is inconsistent or needs to be improved.—If the Administrator determines that a regulation relating to procurement is inconsistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation or that the regulation otherwise should be revised to remove an inconsistency with the policies prescribed under section 1121(b) of this title, the Administrator shall rescind or deny the promulgation of the regulation or take other action authorized under sections 1121, 1122(a) to (c)(1), 1125, 1126, 1130, 1131, and 2305 of this title as may be necessary to remove the inconsistency. If the Administrator determines that the regulation, although not inconsistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation or those policies, should be revised to improve compliance with the Regulation or policies, the Administrator shall take action authorized under sections 1121, 1122(a) to (c)(1), 1125, 1126, 1130, 1131, and 2305 as may be necessary and appropriate.
(6) Decisions to be in writing and publicly available.—The decisions of the Administrator shall be in writing and made publicly available.
(b) Additional Responsibilities of Membership.—
(1) In general.—Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the head of the agency concerned, each official who represents an agency on the Council pursuant to section 1302(b) of this title shall—
(A) approve or disapprove all regulations relating to procurement that are proposed for public comment, prescribed in final form, or otherwise made effective by that agency before the regulation may be prescribed in final form, or otherwise made effective, except that the official may grant an interim approval, without review, for not more than 60 days for a procurement regulation in urgent and compelling circumstances;
(B) carry out the responsibilities of that agency set forth in chapter 35 of title 44 for each information collection request that relates to procurement rules or regulations; and
(C) eliminate or reduce—
(i) any redundant or unnecessary levels of review and approval in the procurement system of that agency; and
(ii) redundant or unnecessary procurement regulations which are unique to that agency.
(2) Limitation on delegation.—The authority to review and approve or disapprove regulations under paragraph (1)(A) may not be delegated to an individual outside the office of the official who represents the agency on the Council pursuant to section 1302(b) of this title.
(c) Governing Policies.—All actions of the Council and of members of the Council shall be in accordance with and furtherance of the policies prescribed under section 1121(b) of this title.
(d) General Authority With Respect to Federal Acquisition Regulation.—Subject to section 1121(d) of this title, the Council shall manage, coordinate, control, and monitor the maintenance of, issuance of, and changes in, the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(Pub. L. 111–350, §3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3691.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Source (U.S. Code)
Source (Statutes at Large)
1303(a) 41:421(c). Pub. L. 93–400, §25(c)–(f), as added Pub. L. 100–679, §4, Nov. 17, 1988, 102 Stat. 4056; Pub. L. 104–201, title VIII, §822, title X, §1074(f)(3), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2609, 2661; Pub. L. 105–85, title VIII, §841(d), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1843.
1303(b) 41:421(d).
1303(c) 41:421(e).
1303(d) 41:421(f).
In subsection (a)(6), the text of 41:421(c)(6) (last sentence) is omitted because 41:407 was repealed by section 4305(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 1996 (Public Law 104–106, 110 Stat. 665).
In subsection (b)(1)(A), the words "after 60 days after November 17, 1988" are omitted as obsolete.
In subsection (b)(1)(B), the words "(as that term is defined in section 3502(11) of title 44)" are omitted because chapter 35 of title 44 was amended generally by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–13, 109 Stat. 163) and 44:3502 no longer defines "information collection request". The term "information collection request" is retained in this section of the revised title, however, because 44:ch. 35 still contains provisions about requests for collection of information.
The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), is Pub. L. 85–568, July 29, 1958, 72 Stat. 426, which was classified principally to chapter 26 (§2451 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and was substantially repealed and restated as chapter 201 (§20101 et seq.) of Title 51, National and Commercial Space Programs, by Pub. L. 111–314, §§3, 6, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3328, 3444. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1958 Act note set out under section 10101 of Title 51 and Tables.
1 See References in Text note below.


text:
RTFV 35SQN
Wallaby Airlines | 35 Squadron | RAAF Transport Flight Vietnam
Wallaby Airlines Events
Documents of Interest
Mortality List
Posted on May 22, 2018 by itiqld
22 May 63 – Prime Minister Menzies announced DHC-4/Caribou purchase
A4-173 not having the best of days at Ba To, South Vietnam, Aug 66
Photo Details: The aftermath of the accident pictured above left is described in "The RAAF in Vietnam" by Chris Coulthard-Clark (Australian War Memorial 1995), pp 117-119.
"A party of ground staff was immediately flown in under Wing Commander Melchert, the Commanding Officer, to make an attempt at recovery – an undertaking of considerable urgency since the camp was under direct threat of Viet Cong attack, including from mortar fire. To make A4-173 flyable it was necessary for the team to repair or change the wing, flaps and aileron, engine, propeller and undercarriage, as well as the nose. The essential spares for this work were not available through normal logistic channels, but Sergeant E.G. Allen (an equipment assistant back at Vung Tau) managed to ensure that the replacement parts were obtained; the resourcefulness and initiative shown by this airman were to earn him a mention in despatches.
Ten days later the aircraft was able to be flown back to base by the Commanding Officer, albeit with its undercarriage chained into position. The perils of this flight were to win Melchert the Distinguished Flying Cross, although – as events proved – the greater perils lay in the aircraft remaining longer at Ba To. Several clashes had taken place while the RAAF technicians were at the camp (eight enemy being killed during one night), but an attack on the airfield later in the day of A4-173's departure would have seen its certain destruction. Return to Vung Tau marked the beginning of six months of hard work by the unit's engineering staff to get the Caribou fully serviceable again. One of Melchert's last official duties before handing over command to Squadron Leader A.J. Fookes in March 1967 was to test fly A4-173 after its restoration."
A4-173 at the Queensland Air Museum, Oct 16
On this day, Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies announced an order for 18 de Havilland Canada DHC-4/Caribou to replace the DC-3/C-47 in RAAF service. Originally 12 aircraft were ordered with the intention of buying a number of Chinook helicopters; however, when the Chinooks were not going to be available for some years, the Caribou order was increased to 18 and, later, increased again to 29. Under the purchase contract, the de Havilland company provided training for the first crews at at its airfield in Toronto, Canada after which No 38 Squadron at RAAF Richmond assumed responsibility. No 38 Squadron's first CO, WGCDR T.S. Fairbairn, flew the RAAF's first Caribou familiarisation sortie on 18 February 1964 and, five weeks later, the first three aircraft departed Toronto for Richmond via Gander (Newfoundland), Lajes (Portugal), Gibraltar, Luqa (Malta), Al Adem (Libya), Khartoum, Aden, Al Masirah (Trucial Coast), Karachi, Calcutta, Butterworth, Jakarta, Darwin and Alice Springs. Some later deliveries were diverted to Vietnam; as an example of the flight duration, A4-173 flew from Toronto to Vung Tau (via a similar route described) during the period 23 July – 29 August 1964, accruing a total flight time of 89 hours and 20 minutes.
A copy of the Prime Minister's speech is available here: http://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-748
CategoriesHistory TagsA4-173, PM Speech on Caribou Purchase, Prime Minister Menzies, RTFV 35SQN, Wallaby Airlines
Previous PostPrevious Return Flight Of Caribou From Vietnam
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Where to stay near Mountain Creek?
Our 2019 accommodation listings offer a large selection of 85 holiday rentals near Mountain Creek. From 10 Houses to 56 Condos/Apartments, find unique holiday homes for you to enjoy a memorable holiday or a weekend with your family and friends. The best place to stay near Mountain Creek is on HomeAway.
Can I rent Houses near Mountain Creek?
Can I find a holiday accommodation with pool near Mountain Creek?
Yes, you can select your prefered holiday accommodation with pool among our 66 holiday rentals with pool available near Mountain Creek. Please use our search bar to access the selection of rentals available.
Can I book a holiday accommodation directly online or instantly near Mountain Creek?
Yes, HomeAway offers a selection of 85 holiday homes to book directly online and 62 with instant booking available near Mountain Creek. Don't wait, have a look at our holiday houses via our search bar and be ready for your next trip near Mountain Creek!


A multiple hot plate warmer with capacity for six plate warmers. Hot plates have excellent heat retention, retaining heat for up to 45 minutes. The warmer is operated from two simple to use controls.
An affordable heated base that can be used with a variety of products. The unit has an aluminium sur..


Emerald Elite accepts all private and long-term care insurance, as well as personal payments. We'll work with you to review your existing policy to see which of our many services are covered so you can receive the assistance you need. Most of our clients pay nothing out-of-pocket.
The questions below will help you determine if the agency is legitimate and operating above board. Emerald Elite meets ALL of these requirements!
Do your care workers receive regular immunizations for influenza, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and other communicable illnesses?
• Yes, our care workers are required to have regular checkups and immunizations to ensure their health, and the health of our clients.
• Our staff lives and works in the local community and receives a range of benefits and incentives to remain with Emerald Elite, including health care benefits, vacations, and ongoing training. As a small, privately-held company, we foster a "family-like" atmosphere to encourage staff retention.
• Our charges are based upon the scope of services needed. We accept all major insurances, and most of our clients pay nothing out-of-pocket.
• We accept all major insurances, including long-term care insurance. You may also pay for our services privately, although most of our clients pay nothing out-of-pocket.
• Our workers are employees of Emerald Eilte.
Do you have guidelines or standards of conduct for your care workers?
• As a visible presence in the community, our staff is accustomed to being in the public eye. Coupled with the intensive background search and ongoing health monitoring they undergo, our care workers are held to the highest standards of conduct as representatives of Emerald Elite. Should any issues happen to arise they are handled personally by our company president, and client satisfaction is guaranteed.
• We prefer that our clients and care workers have an ongoing relationship, to ensure familiarity and comfort. We will make a staff change only if necessary.
What happens if my normal care worker is sick or on vacation?
• Care is always guaranteed. We never leave our clients without the care they need.
• Emerald Elite takes seriously our charge to care for our clients, and will ensure that appropriate staffing levels are maintained for each client.
• Our goal is the comfort and care of our clients, and we strive to maintain friendly, familiar relationships. Should an issue arise it will be handled personally by our company president.
Can your employees drive my loved one to appointments or social outings?
• Yes, transportation and companionship are two of the services we provide our clients.
• We're happy to provide testimonials and references.


Patients with advanced disease states encounter difficult decisions regarding their treatment and course of care, including end-of-life care. THA Group's Island Hospice is a community outreach source to provide your patients with specific information, tools and support to make informed decisions. Feel free to contact us with questions or concerns regarding your patients and their specific care.
*Source: Quality of Life Research, Vol. 3, No. 6, Dec. 1994.
A study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management reports that hospice care may prolong the lives of some terminally ill patients. Those with congestive heart failure (CHF) showed the longest increase in lifespan by about 2.5 months to 402 days.
Choosing hospice allows the patient and family to remain together in the comfort and security of their own home, or wherever they may reside, including nursing home, long-term care facility or even hospital.
Patients are eligible for hospice care when the physician determines that the patient has a life expectancy of six months or less.
Hospice care is a covered benefit under Medicare Part A and Medicaid for patients with a prognosis of six months or less. The benefit covers all services, medications and equipment related to the illness. Most major private insurers and HMOs also offer hospice coverage and benefits.
Referring to Island Hospice is easy!


Director of Research and Knowledge Development at Infonaut, Inc.
With graduate degrees in both information systems design and epidemiology, Dr. Furness is the Director of Research and Knowledge Development at Infonaut Inc., a Toronto-based maker of systems for community-level infectious disease surveillance and for hospital infection control. He is a co-inventor of Hospital Watch Live (HWL), a real-time system for tracking the behavior and movement of staff, patients and equipment in hospital settings.
Dr. Furness is considered a leading Canadian expert on hand hygiene measurement. In addition to appearing on national television news broadcasts, he has co-authored two peer-reviewed publications in 2014 using data produced by HWL: one quantified the Hawthorne Effect for hand hygiene compliance auditing, the other providing the first-ever pervasive measurement of hospital patient hand hygiene. Dr. Furness is also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, and maintains a small, consulting practice, advising clients on information systems effectiveness, both inside and outside of healthcare.


text:
module Vagrant
  module Command
    class ReloadCommand < NamedBase
      register "reload", "Reload the environment, halting it then restarting it."

      def execute
        target_vms.each do |vm|
          if vm.created?
            vm.reload
          else
            vm.env.ui.info I18n.t("vagrant.commands.common.vm_not_created")
          end
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The good news is you survived the Blood Moon. The bad news is Mercury is in retrograde in the sign of Leo until August 18th.
Certain signs are being hit hard with low energy (hi Taurus and Sagittarius) and some signs need to boost their energy since they will be everyones happiness supply (looking at you Gemini).


Are you interested in learning Japanese?
Hi! My name is Minori. I am originally from Tochigi prefecture in Japan, and I am currently a PhD student in Education. I would be happy to help you learn Japanese. Here is some of my teaching experience.
I have a Master's degree in Global Affairs from New York University and have more than 8 years of extensive professional experience teaching students of all ages. I specialize in Japanese/Korean language.
HIYA! My Name is Angelika, I have been working/ teaching in schools and private setting for more than 2 Years, I have been tutoring for about 5 years. Hunter College of Education graduating student.


text:
Splitter Critter - RAC 7 Games
This puzzle style app requires mental rotation and fine motor skills to guide aliens to their ship. Due to increasingly complex landscapes and obstacles to navigate, parental co-play is suggested for younger players.
This review of Splitter Critter was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 25 January 2018.
Name of app: Splitter Critter
Developed by: RAC 7 Games
Cost: Paid
Developer's suggested age: 4+
ACCM suggested age: 4+ years withparental guidance
This review of Splitter Critter contains the following information:
19 levels across 3 different planets
Splitter Critter is a puzzle style game where players must guide aliens back to their ship by determining where to split the planet landscape and forge a new path for the aliens. Players can explore different planets with hostile aliens (not scary) to avoid and a variety of obstacles to navigate.
Players must utilise mental rotation skills to determine where and at what angle to "split" the image to shift the ground and allow the alien/s to reach their ship. There are dangers to avoid and increasingly complex landscapes to manipulate across a variety of planets and biomes. If players are stuck, a question mark appears, and clicking on it guides them with a dotted line of where to split the screen. There are several levels to complete on each planet before a new planet is presented and a new set of aliens can be guided to safety.
The objective of this game is to align the landscape so that the friendly aliens can avoid being eaten by other hostile aliens whilst navigating increasingly complex terrain to reach their ship. Players can engage with the changing landscape of different planets as well as other mechanics such as laser beams, reflective surfaces, liquids and moving platforms. Mental rotation, strategy, planning and visual and fine motor skills are all required to determine the effect of dissecting the landscape at a specific angle and location to shift and realign it. Whilst the game can be played from around 4 years, younger players may be frustrated by the increasing difficulty of levels.
The app also allows players to practice sequencing skills as players must decide the order of manipulating sections of the landscape to get the aliens to their ships. Fine motor skills, visual acuity and planning are required to play and younger players would benefit from parental co-play to guide play until the mechanics of the game are understood. Parental co-play can also be used to develop language skills by discussing the placement of splits and the effect of different angles to manipulate the landscape. These discussions would also benefit early numeracy skills as the game uses principles of geometry.
No personal details required to play although the app does prompt you to log in to Game centre if you wish but this can simply be cancelled.
At time of review, the reviewer found no simulated gambling content. If you discover simulated gambling content in this app, please contact us with the details so we can update our review.


SFUSD interviewed some kindergarten students about their experiences and recorded them in the following audio clip: http://portal.sfusd.edu/apps/news/media/KinderGartenTalk.mp3.
This is amazing! Rohini and Paris are adorable!
and of course Paris is such a star! Her Mandarin numbers are so cute!


Registered for the Women's 5k - first time competing at the games, very excited! Will there be waves of the 5k or will everyone run at once with a waterfall start? When will we be able to see exactly how many people signed up for each event?


Everyone, even the lightest sleeper, is less aware of noise while they sleep. So what helps us in blocking the outside world when we need to re-juice? And what makes some people deeper sleepers than others?
Dr. Jeff Ellenbogen, chief of Massachusetts General Hospital's Division of Sleep Medicine, led a study looking at particular brain waves called sleep spindles. How many spindles a person's mind cranks out while sleeping predicts how deep he or she sleeps while bombarded with noise, his study in Current Biology found.
While sleeping, a person's brain waves become slower and more regular. Sporadically, the brain has bursts of higher-frequency waves called sleep spindles. These bursts, which occur only when a person is sleeping, were dubbed "spindles" because they look like rolls of yarn on an electroencephalograph (EEG), which measures the electronic activity fired by neurons in the brain.
In the experiment, Ellenbogen studied healthy volunteers placed in a sleep laboratory for three consecutive nights. On the first night, participants could blissfully rest in a lofty queen-size bed and fresh, soft sheets without interruption. Ellenbogen and colleagues measured their brain rhythms and noted how often spindles occurred.
The second and third night, the researchers placed a speaker behind the sleepers and played everyday noises, such as alarm clocks or toilets flushing, at varying volumes and noted how loud a noise had to be before arousing each person. According to the study, those with higher spindle rates on the quiet night were more stable sleepers on the noisier nights.
As a person ages, he or she produces fewer spindles and is more sensitive to noises while sleeping. This could explain why people don't sleep as well after getting older, Ellenbogen said.
Researchers have also found a correlation between spindle rate and learning potential. One study released in 2007 found that the more spindles pumped out while sleeping, the higher the person's performance IQ was. The more spindles a person produces while they sleep, the better a person consolidates memories, Ellenbogen's study report cites.
Long-term, Ellenbogen hopes to find natural ways to enhance sleep and all its benefits. We can't always be in a quiet environment while getting some shut-eye, so he wants to help people make the best of their rest.
He wants to figure out whether sleeping drugs really catalyze genuine sleep or just a sleep-like state, and believes this link between spindles and deeper sleeping will be a tool in doing so.


text:
Benoit Mandelbrot, the Father of Fractal Geometry, On Efficient Market Theory
Benoit Mandelbrot: On Efficient Market Theory
Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractal geometry, passed away last week at the age of 85. Near the end of his career he become interest in the financial crisis and stock. The above interview details his opinion of The Efficient Market Theory, which most modern investment practices are based off of to one degree or another. Needless to say, the data led him to question this theory.
Mandelbrot didn't discover the basic maths of fractals, but he took an obscure, unfashionable concept, that you can explore the space between two dimensions and three dimensions, and showed its fundamental role in the fabric of the world.
An insightful teacher, Mr. Mandlebrot brought The Mandlebrot Set to the public so that anyone with an interest in mathematics, from rank amateurs and beginner students to brilliant Ivy League geniuses, could study it. He was the Sterling Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences at Yale University.
While he coined the term "fractal", expended the concept's use and understanding, and won the hearts of the masses with his super cool computer representations -- it's good to remember that he stood on the shoulders of great mathematicians who came before him in the field, such as Weierstrass, Koch, Cantor, and Gaston Julia.
For most of his career, Dr. Mandelbrot had a reputation as an outsider to the mathematical establishment. From his perch as a researcher for I.B.M. in New York, where he worked for decades before accepting the position at Yale University, he noticed patterns that other researchers may have overlooked in their own data, then often swooped in to collaborate.
"He knew everybody, with interests going off in every possible direction," Professor Mumford said. "Every time he gave a talk, it was about something different."
Dr. Mandelbrot traced his work on fractals to a question he first encountered as a young researcher: how long is the coast of Britain?
The answer, he was surprised to discover, depends on how closely one looks. On a map an island may appear smooth, but zooming in will reveal jagged edges that add up to a longer coast. Zooming in further will reveal even more coastline.
"Here is a question, a staple of grade-school geometry that, if you think about it, is impossible," Dr. Mandelbrot told The New York Times earlier this year in an interview. "The length of the coastline, in a sense, is infinite."
In the 1950s, Dr. Mandelbrot proposed a simple but radical way to quantify the crookedness of such an object by assigning it a "fractal dimension," an insight that has proved useful well beyond the field of cartography.
Over nearly seven decades, working with dozens of scientists, Dr. Mandelbrot contributed to the fields of geology, medicine, cosmology and engineering. He used the geometry of fractals to explain how galaxies cluster, how wheat prices change over time and how mammalian brains fold as they grow, among other phenomena.
His influence has also been felt within the field of geometry, where he was one of the first to use computer graphics to study mathematical objects like the Mandelbrot set, which was named in his honor.
"I decided to go into fields where mathematicians would never go because the problems were badly stated," Dr. Mandelbrot said. "I have played a strange role that none of my students dare to take."
A look at Mandelbrot the person and his life's work:
Benoit Mandelbrot: Fractals and Dimension
Fractal Zoom (Made using freeware program XaoS)
Labels: Investing
Everyday Tips October 27, 2010 at 7:33 AM
I would have loved to have had lunch with him sometime. I truly enjoy math, formulas, and patterns. His concepts would be way above my head, but I would have loved to have watched his brain in action.
The Grouch October 27, 2010 at 7:01 PM
Me too, a lunch with would surely be fascinating and unconventional.


A private Texas firm will renew the search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared over the Indian Ocean in March 2014 with 239 people on board. Malaysia will pay the Houston-based Ocean Infinity between $20 million and $70 million if it finds the missing Boeing 777 that was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The salvage company has agreed to the project on a "no cure, no fee" basis—meaning it will only be paid if it is successful in finding the craft and debris field.


I was searching for a Property and found this listing (MLS® #3671907). Please send me more information regarding 14704 Hornsby Hill Rd, Austin, TX, 78734. Thank you!
I'd like to request a showing of 14704 Hornsby Hill Rd, Austin, TX, 78734 (MLS® #3671907). Thank you!


text:
Value change dump (`vcd` files) are use to dump signals values and plot timing diagrams.

Vcd files are generated automatically and they can be opened with any compatible viewer. Many viewers are available, from EDA tools to Eclipse plugins.
[Impulse](http://toem.de/index.php/projects/impulse) is a free and open source Eclipse plugin that I use.


Last week I was able to spend some time with family in Dallas. Man do I miss that area since we moved to Louisiana. But the best part of the entire trip was snuggling, holding, and kissing on my precious niece. You know I've always been the mama and this is really my first time to be the aunt on my side of the family. So that baby had NO idea what was in-store for her when I came to town, ha! I made her laugh, tickled her endless fat rolls, and pretty much never let her lay down for a second. That girl LOVES her some Bubby (my cute little aunt name)! So when I needed to head out for an event with local bloggers I just HAD to bring her along, I mean is WAS and event for Gerber and she IS the cutest baby I know right now!
Now this was probably one of the CUTEST blogger parties I've been to in awhile and the decorations were down right fun! We were ready to join the Gerber Chew U with the festive blue and orange colors and supplies!
Look at sweet Ellie Mae, she's ready to head off to school now, ha! I was such a proud auntie and showed her off to everyone there. I mean, No longer are my babies that small, so I desperately needed the baby fix!
While it was fun to chat with other bloggers and feast on the fantastic food, I was really impressed with what I learned about the new Gerber's 3rd Foods® Lil Bits™ Recipes. The Lil' Bits recipes are made with perfectly sized soft bit of fruits or veggies that help your baby learn to chew and mash. This is PERFECT for helping them transition into table food. Ellie Mae is just now entering the food stage and I love that as she works all the way up to "big kid" food she can use the Lil' Bits line!
Gerber is launching 10 new Lil' Bits recipes, 7 fruits and 3 veggies. The tasty fruits are: Apple Blueberry, Orchard Fruit Medley, Apple Banana, Banana Apple Strawberry, Pear Apple Berry, Island Fruit Blend and Banana Apple Mango. And the hearty veggies are: Mixed Carrots, Corn & Butternut Squash, Butternut Squash & Potato, Sweet Potato Apple Carrots & Cinnamon. Your little ones are going to LOVE them.
How do you transition your baby into table foods?


text:
Imagine having to flee your home, not just once but many, many times. After 10 years of conflict, this is the reality for families in Syria.
After 10 years of war, over 6.7 million people are internally displaced in Syria—including 2.5 million children—the largest internally displaced population in the world. Families have been forced to flee their homes multiple times to escape the fighting.
For many, not only is returning home too dangerous, being displaced to unfamiliar areas poses a lethal threat. Families are often unaware of the specific dangers from landmines and explosives surrounding the camps where they are displaced, putting them at risk.
Marya is a widowed mother with two daughters, Amira and Sabiya.* When the conflict overran their home in western Aleppo they escaped to Al-Birr, to a camp for displaced families. With little opportunity to earn a living, it has been a struggle to survive. Every day, Marya and her daughters collect scrap metal and plastics from the nearby landfill site to trade for food or burn for fuel. But this is lethal occupation.
"I wish we could find another way of living instead of collecting things from the landfill."
Marya, mother of two, Syria
On 5th January 2021, Marya woke early to prepare breakfast for Amira and Sabiya. To heat the food, she placed a piece of plastic they had collected the day before from the landfill into the lit oven.
Without warning, the oven exploded, firing shrapnel in every direction. Marya grabbed her daughters and fled outside as their tent was engulfed in flames. The plastic object they thought was fuel, was an explosive left behind by the fighting. Marya was hit in the knee by the shrapnel and 15-year-old Amira suffered injuries to her hand and foot. From the tent next door, 11-year-old Hakim had just arrived to bring bread to Marya's family. The debris thrown out by the force of the explosion stuck him in the jaw.
Marya's tent was burnt to the ground
following the explosion
Sadly, Marya's terrifying experience is a daily occurrence for people in Syria. Removed from their homes and livelihoods, families are forced to risk their lives just to get enough food and fuel to survive.
HALO has been delivering risk education in northwest Syria since 2016, teaching people how to stay safe from the explosives left behind by the fighting. Recognising the increased danger to displaced families like Marya's, we are focusing our work on the displacement camps in Idleb Governorate.
Helping Families Return Home
Clearing the landmines and explosives that litter homes and streets is the first step to enable families to return home safely. HALO has started work in Syria to remove these lethal threats so people can come home and begin to rebuild their lives. On World Refugee Day, and every day, we continue to work to support families in Syria and across the world who have had to abandon their homes and livelihoods to escape conflict.
*Names have been changed to protect people's identity.


The active substance of this drug is Dromastanolone Di-propionate. The chemical formula of this product is following: C23H36O3.
This product has similar features to testosterone. This steroid is very popular among bodybuilders. This medicine is considered to be much more powerful than natural methyltestosterone.
This medicine is famous for its ability not to turn into estrogen, even if it is taken in increased quantities. So, this medicine possesses strong anti-estrogenic properties. It means that one may administrate this medication without possibility of induced estrogen levels. This is a real valuable characteristic. Undesirable symptoms of estrogen do not plague athletes who use this product.
What is Mastabol (Masteron, Dromastanolone Di-propionate) useful for?
Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate) is useful for medical and athletic needs.
It is known that this medication may suppress growth of certain breast cancer cells. So, Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate) is recommended to females for palliation of androgen-responsive mammary cancer, if their menopausal period began at least one year prior but less than 5 years.
According to various studies, it is also able to increase creation of red blood cells.
This drug enhances androgen levels. Athletes develop defined muscles due to intake of Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate). Bodybuilders must take into consideration that this drug is effective, especially if their fat content is very low. This medication can provide many benefits: it will improve quality of muscles in such cases.
This preparation is highly appreciated by those athletes who wish to bulk up defined muscles without water retention and other estrogenic side results.
Another feature of this medicine that is considered to be very valuable for professional athletes is the impossibility to detect through urine analysis whether this steroid was used or not. Moreover, this drug can be injected up to 2 weeks before doping tests without a positive test resulting for this steroid.
As for health, Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate) also has certain priorities over other medications. It is not toxic on the liver. So, if you administrate this medicine, you will not have to worry about the appearance of liver diseases.
This product is not generally used by female athletes, but some cases have been reported where sportswomen administrated this medication before multinational competitions.
An average dosage of Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate) is 100 mg per week. This steroid is usually administrated 3 times per week. Some bodybuilders take this medicine each second day.
The most common side effects of Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate) include acne and hair loss. Other potential adverse consequences which may be caused by this drug are the following: hypercalcemia, vomiting, nausea, and swelling.
Sometimes frequent or prolonged erections can happen to men who take this medicine. If females use this preparation, they may suffer from menstrual disorders, growth of hair on body and face, and other androgenic side symptoms.
people that have serious liver dysfunctions.
Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate) is frequently stacked with other steroids to achieve better results. This medication can be used together with Decabol, Testabol, Winstrol, Parabolan, Equipoise, or other steroids.
If stacks of this medicine with other steroids are done properly, the results will be effective. Moreover, if correct stacks are accompanied by training and proper diet, users will achieve their desired look.
Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate) is useful for both cutting cycles and PCT.
This medication is applied to increase defined muscles during a cutting cycle. The cycle with this medicine may last from 6 to 12 weeks.
This preparation has another function during PCT: it avoids muscle loss.
A vial of Mastabol 100 contains 10 ml. A 10 ml vial can contain 50 or 100 mg per ml.
British Dragon is one of the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture Mastabol.
Many persons reported that they had applied Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate) with Testosterone Propionate. All of them noted that the results were excellent.
A athlete reported that he had stacked Masteron (Dromastanolone Di-propionate), Nandrolone, and Testosterone Propionate for his cutting cycles. The athlete was pleased with the results he achieved due to usage of this medicine.
One athlete reported that this medicine may lead to wanted results, if the user doesn't have an already reduced body fat percentage.
You should take in consideration that a bathroom is the most improper place to keep any medicines. All drugs must be kept in a cool and dry place. It is necessary to know that kitchens are not also proper places to store medications. But if you have to store any preparations there, be sure that they are far from stoves, sinks, and other equipment which can have a negative influence on it. Never forget that improper storage of a medicine can lead not only to loss of its effectiveness, but also to increased toxicity.


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My Trade: Northolt pet store struggles with the economy
THE owner of Oldfield Pets in Northolt is being forced to close after 12 years due to the tough ecomony.
My London
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The 12 - our free newsletter with all the news you need
Family-man Cliff Jones has become a pillar of the community after running the shop for more than a decade and prides himself that many people come in to his shop, if only for a chat.
He said: "I get to meet so many people working here, people of all ages and nationalities. There's a real feel of community around here. We all use each others shops."
Cliff will not be renewing the lease when it expires in June but hopes to continue with his delivery service.
He said: "It's difficult for pet shops to survive these days. The business rates are too high. Hopefully I'll still be doing deliveries but I won't be based in the community anymore. I'll feel sorry for the people who use my shop."
Cliff's deliveries cover a large area including Wembley, Pinner and Hayes as he says many pet stores have closed down due to the economic climate. His free delivery service is vital to his community's pet lovers, especially elderly people and those with disabilities who cannot reach his shop.
Cliff's passion for animals is reflected in his home life. He owns a six-year-old rottweiler named Roxy and keeps Coy Carp in the garden pond at his Ruislip home.
A former engineer at H J Heinz, he bought the business after being made redundant.
He said: "It's difficult to say which job I've preferred. I suppose it comes down to what you think is more important, earning money or being in a job that you enjoy and getting to meet so many different people."
Cliff knew the shop well before taking over Oldfield Pet Shop in 2000, as he'd bought food for his dogs there for 8 years. It has existed at Oldfield Circus, Northolt, for 40 years and Cliff has taken care of a variety of animals during his time, including rabbits, kittens, budgerigars and fish.
Apart from chatting with the locals, Cliff's days are spent looking after the animals, cleaning out their cages, taking orders and serving the customers.
Northolt


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Arizona Heritage Alliance
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7 ways to pay for great state parks
April 15, 2014 December 7, 2014 by Arizona Heritage Alliance
[Source: Arizona Republic Editorial] – The ominous clouds hanging over Arizona State Parks need to start raining money. Parks managers struggle to protect valuable resources with no money from the General Fund. Unique remnants of Arizona's heritage have lost dedicated money streams meant to protect them.
At risk are playgrounds for urban Arizonans and sources of tourism for rural residents. At stake is the chance for your children and grandchildren to travel through time from cave formations that began 200,000 years ago to prehistoric Indian ruins to a Spanish presidio to a territorial prison — and wrap it all up by waterskiing across a man-made lake.
What's at stake is something irreplaceable and beloved. "It's time people got their dander up and told the Legislature this is one thing that touches their lives," says Ken Travous, former executive director of Arizona State Parks.
Here's what people should tell lawmakers:
• Restore the State Parks share of the Heritage Fund. In 1990, voters approved $10 million a year from Lottery revenues for parks. During the recession, lawmakers took that funding. Several attempts to restore it have failed at the Legislature. It's past time to give it back.
• Restore the authority of State Parks to spend money raised from gate fees, gift shops and other money-making enterprises. Park managers used to put increased revenue to work for the parks. Now they need legislative authorization to spend the money the parks make. Beginning in 2003, that enhancement fund was swept by lawmakers and used to supplant General Fund appropriations.
• Encourage innovation and resource development through parks' concessions and development. Parks Director Bryan Martyn is looking at a plan to contract with a single concessionaire for all the state parks. It could result in more investment in the parks if the private contractor serving big money-makers, such as Lake Havasu, also is required to develop resources in less-visited parks. The State Parks Board needs to carefully scrutinize any contract to make sure it serves the public's best interest.
• Recognize the need to create additional sources of permanent dedicated funding. A 2009 Morrison Institute report put the cost of operating and maintaining the parks at $40 million to $44 million a year. The current budget is half that. In addition, the parks have at least $80 million in capital needs. The idea of a surcharge or voluntary donation on vehicle registration has been floated — and rejected by lawmakers — since 2009. It is a painless way for people to add $5 or $10 every year to benefit state parks.
• Dedicated means dedicated. Protect funds that benefit the parks from legislative raids or sweeps.
• Restore the authority of the State Parks Board to hire and fire the parks director. That position became a political appointee with 2012 changes in the state personnel system. The director now serves at the pleasure of the governor. The parks board lost clout. The director lost the independence of being insulated from a governor's whims.
• Face facts. "No state parks system in the United States pays for itself from earned revenue," according to the Morrison Institute report, "The Price of Stewardship: The Future of Arizona's State Parks." Parks need more than they get from Arizona's Legislature. They deserve more.
Arizonans demonstrated their support by establishing the Heritage Fund in 1990, and they reiterated that sentiment nearly two decades later when a Gallup Arizona poll released by the Center for the Future of Arizona found that "the state's natural beauty and open spaces are seen by citizens as our greatest asset."
It's time to stop stiffing state parks.
Arizona State Parks are a resource for today and a promise for tomorrow. But short-sighted funding decisions imperil their future. You can help change that.
VISIT. Arizona's state parks offer dazzling natural wonders, family recreational activities and authentic windows into Arizona's history and prehistory. azstateparks.com
BE A CHAMPION. There's an election coming up. Ask candidates for state office how they plan to support Arizona's parks and let them know you want this to be a priority issue.
GET INVOLVED. More than a dozen parks have volunteer "friends" groups that provide fund-raising and other services for their chosen park. For information on joining or starting one: azstateparks.com/volunteer/v_foundation.html
Arizona State Parks Foundation is a non-profit that engages in advocacy, fund-raising, and other support. Visit their website at arizonastateparksfoundation.org The Arizona Heritage Alliance is a non-profit that promotes and protects the Heritage Fund and its goals: azheritage.org
Arizona State Parks are a valuable resource in great peril. Stripped of funding during the recession, they struggle without state money and stagger under deferred maintenance. Yet they offer open spaces and outdoor recreation for a growing urban population and an economic engine for rural communities. Popular with the public, but lacking political support, funding solutions can help the parks deliver on their remarkable potential.
Categories Arizona Heritage Alliance, Arizona Lottery, Arizona State Budget, Arizona State Parks Board, Arizona State Parks Foundation, Arizona Tourism, Budget, Campgrounds, Conservation, Heritage Fund, Lakes, State Parks, TrailsTags Arizona State Legislature, Bryan Martyn, Center for Arizona Policy, David Kadlubowski, Ken Travous, Lake Havasu, Morrison Institute for Public Policy, Roper LakeLeave a comment
State parks, a vision now out of reach
[Source: Arizona Republic Editorial] – The bulldozers were a distant rumble when the push began in 1973 to create Catalina State Park north of Tucson. It took another decade before the land could be acquired and the park dedicated by then-Gov. Bruce Babbitt.
The land was remote then. Its 5,500 acres of foothills, canyons and streams lie between Tucson and Oracle, near the Pusch Ridge Wilderness, where the Coronado National Forest climbs up into the Santa Catalina Mountains.
The park, dotted with 5,000 saguaros, is so rugged that desert bighorn sheep were relocated there. More than 150 species of birds live within its boundaries.
Today, the park is anything but remote. A bustling shopping center sits across from the park entrance. Development tickles the boundaries.
Without the vision of state leaders 40 years ago, this pristine piece of Arizona could be covered with houses and 7-Elevens today.
Today, creating a Catalina State Park would be impossible. Buying the land "would be out of reach," says Ken Travous, who was executive director of Arizona State Parks for 23 years. "It was almost out of reach then."
Catalina draws a wide variety of visitors even on a weekday. Campgrounds are full and horses wait in the corrals at the equestrian center.
The value of this lush, open desert in an increasingly urban landscape far exceeds dollars and cents. The wisdom of those who preserved it sings on the wind through the needles of a saguaro: Prescient. Far-sighted.
As Arizona's population grows and the cost of land increases, places like Catalina become even more important to a state shaped by its wide, open spaces.
The same is true of other state parks that celebrate the state's natural beauty, as well as those that recall the past, such as the historic courthouse in Tombstone, the Spanish presidio in Tubac, the prehistoric ruins at Homolovi (closed for a year because of budget cuts) and the world-class geological formations in Kartchner Caverns. And don't forget the bikini country of Lake Havasu or water skiing at Lyman Lake.
These are picture-postcard places where families make memories and rural communities make bank.
Nearly 2.5 million people visit the state parks each year, with half coming from out of state, says State Parks Director Bryan Martyn.
The parks are a playground for urban Arizonans, but they are an economic driver for rural areas.
Martyn says state parks bring more than $300 million to rural economies annually. That's a powerful economic driver, but years of funding cuts have left those who run the parks unable to keep up with necessary repairs, let alone acquire new parks for future generations.
"Simply put, without a stable, sustainable funding, Arizona's park system will not be able to survive," according to a 2009 report from Arizona State University's Morrison Institute.
When it comes to the consequences of not putting resources into our parks, Travous puts it even more bluntly:
"It will get to the point where they are so hammered you don't want to go there."
Arizona State Parks Foundation is a non-profit that engages in advocacy, fund-raising and other support:arizonastateparksfoundation.org
The Arizona Heritage Alliance is a non-profit that promotes and protects the Heritage Fund and its goals: azheritage.org
Categories Arizona Heritage Alliance, Arizona State Budget, Arizona State Parks Foundation, Budget, State ParksTags Arizona State Legislature, Bryan Martyn, Catalina State Park, Governor Bruce Babbitt, Homolovi, Kartchner Caverns, Ken Travous, Lake Havasu, Lyman Lake, Morrison Institute for Public Policy, Tombstone, TubacLeave a comment
What do lawmakers have against state parks?
March 18, 2014 December 7, 2014 by Arizona Heritage Alliance
[Source: Arizona Republic Editorial Board] –Arizonans consistently say they value public land and open spaces.
But Arizona lawmakers slashed funding for state parks during the recession and show no intention of healing those cuts.
That's a disconnect of colossal proportions.
A Gallup Arizona poll released by the Center for the Future of Arizona in 2009 found that "the state's natural beauty and open spaces are seen by citizens as our greatest asset." Nearly two decades earlier, Arizona voters overwhelmingly voted to create the Heritage Fund to dedicate proceeds from the Lottery to state parks and the Game and Fish Department.
Today, no general-fund money goes to state parks. The parks' share of the Heritage Fund money has been eliminated, and a bill in the Legislature would further limit the funds available to run state parks.
"Parks are limping along right now," says Walter "Bill" Meek, president of the non-profit Arizona State Parks Foundation, which works to preserve, promote and enhance state parks. He says partnerships with cities and counties that have helped keep parks open are in jeopardy as municipalities face budget woes.
Meanwhile, two bills — House Bill 2178 and Senate Bill 1286 — that would re-establish the parks portion of the Heritage Fund are not expected to make it out of the Legislature. Last year, a parks' Heritage Fund-restoration bill never got out of committee.
Another bill — HB 2601 — would redirect money from the State Lake Improvement Fund that Meek says has been helping run the parks. It passed committee last week.
How bad are things for parks' funding? In 2009, Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy estimated it would take $30 million to $34 million a year to operate and maintain the current system of 32 state parks and natural areas. The total agency operating budget for fiscal 2014 is $22.46 million, according to the Arizona State Parks fiscal 2012-13 annual report.
This disconnect between what the public wants and what the politicians do is not just an Arizona thing. Colorado College's recent "State of the Rockies" poll found that residents of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, as well as Arizona, expressed deep love of the public lands and a strong desire for the agencies that manage them to be adequately funded.
This is particularly striking in a region known for criticism of the federal government, yet support for federal land and federal land-management agencies was strong regardless of party affiliation.
Westerners treasure the public lands that celebrate the spirit and beauty that is as vast and liberating as our endless horizons.
So, what's with the politicians?
The National Park Service faces more than $11 billion in deferred maintenance, according to congressional testimony by NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis last summer. The spending bill approved in January included a modest increase.
Meanwhile, states are pushing for new park lands. Arizona wants to expand Saguaro National Park and Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. This desire to protect unique lands shows foresight as population pressures increase. But land comes with maintenance needs.
Congress and the Arizona Legislature need to recognize that the public's love of parks and open spaces is not a casual or passing fancy. It's a deep commitment that has held strong and steady over many years.
Support for public lands should reflect that profound and enduring fact.
Categories Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona Lottery, Arizona State Budget, Arizona State Parks Foundation, Budget, Heritage Fund, State ParksTags Arizona State Legislature, Bill Meek, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Center for the Future of Arizona, Colorado College, Jonathan Jarvis, Morrison Institute for Public Policy, National Park Service, Saguaro National Park, State of the RockiesLeave a comment
After years of budget cuts, greener outlook for Arizona State Parks
February 27, 2013 by Arizona Heritage Alliance
[Source: Cortney Bennett, Cronkite News Service]– After years of delivering deep cuts, lawmakers this session are discussing ways to give Arizona State Parks some more money and bring back a lottery-funded grant program the agency administered.
Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter, said there seems to be a core group of representatives who are concerned about funding state parks properly. "It is a pleasure to come to the Legislature this year and see several bills that are supporting state parks instead of the opposite," Bahr told a House committee recently.
HB 2621, introduced by Rep. Juan Carlos Escamilla, D-San Luis, would establish a voluntary fee that owners could pay when registering vehicles. The House Agriculture and Water Committee unanimously approved the bill Feb. 19. "Our state parks are a lot of times our economic tool for small, rural areas," said Escamilla, whose district includes two state parks. The fee, which under the bill would be set by the Arizona State Parks Board, would provide 85 percent of total proceeds to Arizona State Parks and 15 percent to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Bryan Martyn, executive director of Arizona State Parks, said Escamilla's bill would help the agency, which operates primarily on gate fees and since 2009 has received no general fund appropriation. "Make no mistake, Arizona State Parks is a business," Martyn said. "And we have to search every day to try to figure out how to fund these state resources."
Cristie Statler, executive director of Arizona State Parks Foundation, an advocacy group, said money generated by the fee would help parks with operations and maintenance. However, she said, it doesn't solve the agency's need for sustainable long-term funding. Statler noted that many of the state's 30 parks currently rely on partnerships with nearby municipalities and nonprofit organizations. "Cities and towns cannot sustain these partnerships," Statler said. "Their revenues have been stripped as well. What we're doing is passing this obligation from the state to these cities and towns."
Bahr said that in the past the Legislature has seemed to view state parks as an expendable luxury. She said the Legislature should come up with a sustainable revenue stream. "These are important assets that protect amazing cultural and biological resources as well as help to sustain many rural economies," Bahr said.
Joseph Garcia, communication director for Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said it's encouraging to hear discussion about finding a funding mechanism for state parks that are operating on shoestring budgets. "But if we're really talking about improving and preserving state parks so they're more visitor-friendly, then that needs an investment," Garcia said. The Morrison Institute published a 2009 study that found Arizona spent less on its park system than nearly any other state when viewed as a percentage of the overall budget. "It's sad that with all the money and energy thats been invested in state parks they'll close or deteriorate or people won't visit them because they don't have modern amenities," Garcia said.
Meanwhile, HB 2594, sponsored by Rep. Ethan Orr, R-Tucson, would among other provisions reinstate the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund, which used Arizona Lottery proceeds to provide grants for park programs, trails, historic preservation, environmental education and related projects. Arizona State Parks used some of the money for acquisitions and improvements. Arizona State Parks and the Arizona Game and Fish Department had received up to $10 million annually before the Legislature eliminated the Heritage Fund in 2010.
The House Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources endorsed the measure Feb. 18, forwarding it to the Appropriations Committee. Janice Miano, director of administration at the Arizona Heritage Alliance, said communities across the state would benefit from reinstating the Heritage Fund. "Every community in Arizona has received at least one Historical Fund grant over the last 23 years," Miano said. "It's certainly an economic engine for the rural communities. It brings in projects that wouldn't normally be funded."
Statler said that access to parks in terms of affordable entrance fees could be jeopardized if Arizona State Parks doesn't receive adequate funding. "You can't jack up the fees so much that the public can't visit these parks that are state-owned assets," Statler said.
Meanwhile, Martyn, the agency's executive director, said he's happy that Gov. Jan Brewer's proposed budget included Arizona State Park's requested operating budget of $21 million along with $2 million in Arizona Lottery proceeds for capital improvements. "The onus still is on us to demonstrate our value added to Arizona," Martyn said. "Arizonans have to believe in state parks if we expect them to contribute."
Categories Arizona Heritage Alliance, Arizona State Budget, Arizona State Parks Foundation, Budget, Heritage Fund, State ParksTags Arizona State Legislature, Bryan Martyn, Cortney Bennett, Cristie Statler, Ethan Orr, HB2594, HB2621, Janice Miano, Joseph Garcia, Juan Carlos Escamilla, Morrison Institute for Public Policy, Sandy BahrLeave a comment
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