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Claims volumes of all types are up across the board in July
Claims volumes of all types are up across the board in July while longer term trends point to stabilising volumes
The data from Claims Portal for July allows a further sighting of likely future claims numbers on the eve of the Civil Liability Bill proceeding to Second Reading in the House of Commons.
In July there were increasing numbers of new claims into the RTA, PL and EL portals, with the RTA increase being as much as 11.3%. The casualty increases were more modest at 6.3% in the case of EL and 3.6% for PL.
Longer term trends in the case of RTA, PL and EL measured on a 12 month cumulative basis were all pointing towards increasing volumes taking into account this month's data. This is the first time in some 3 years that this has been the case.
Particular interest may be in where current levels of RTA claims entering the portal may end up at the end of the year. Whether looked at in terms of the calendar year 2018, or the accounting year 2018/19 running until the end of next March, the current data suggests only a slight decrease in the region of 1.5% when compared to 12 months previously, much smaller than the 12.0% decrease seen at the end of 2017/18.
It could reasonably be said that current indications are of moving towards a new stable level of RTA portal claims at around 700,000 per year.
This month's data also shows an increased use of stage 3 in RTA claims by 15% to the highest level yet. This is the first month where one-third of RTA claims have needed to progress to stage 3 before settlement on quantum can take place.
New RTA claims in July
During the month of July there were 61,040 new claims into the RTA portal, which represents an increase of as much as 11.3% from the 54,830 seen in June. July was the 2nd highest month of the calendar year 2018 to date.
July is another exceptional month (we last saw one back in May of this year) when the current trend of a particular month's total representing the lowest volume of new claims for that month of the year since the portal was new, is not followed. This July's number is in fact 4.4% higher than the corresponding month of July in 2017. It is though 7.1% lower than July 2016 and 24.3% less than July 2015.
Adding July's number to the total of new claims for the calendar year of 2018 to date increases the current monthly average to 58,625. This is now only 1.5% below the average for the calendar year of 2017 which was 59,521.
But if we compare the monthly average for the year to date with the same 7 months in 2017 then the gap is greater. The current 2018 average is 3.4% below the average for the same 7 months of 2017 reflecting the decreasing trend as to the number of new claims seen in the later months of last year.
New RTA Claims in July - time weighted
There were 22 working days in July, an increase of 1 day or 4.8% of working time over the 21 seen in June. The increased length of the final bar on the graph above reflects the fact that the rise in the number of new claims at 11.3% outstrips the additional time available to claimant operations to submit new claims into the portal.
The current level equates to 2,775 new RTA claims per day on average. This is the 17th consecutive month that the daily level has been below 3,000.
As demonstrated on the graph above the first 5 months of 2018 produced higher monthly claims intakes than the 2nd half of 2017. June's average ended that trend, but July has seen a return to it.
New RTA claims over the longer term
Going to the usual rolling 12 month cumulative basis in order to better see longer term trends, this month saw an increase of 0.4% from 695,880 in June to 698,428 this time around. That represents only the 5th increase over the last 31 months. It almost but not completely undoes the effect of a 0.5% fall the previous month.
The average monthly decrease for 2018 to date is now 0.3%, the level at which it had stood in May after rising to 0.4% after last month's data was taken into account. This represents a changed picture from the average monthly fall of 1.1% seen over the calendar year of 2017. The current rate of decline during 2018 to date is only around a quarter of what it was last year.
Looking back further in time the rate of decline has also slowed: from 10.1% between July 2016 and July 2017, to 7.3% over the last 12 months.
Comparison with annual CRU and portal data
With the inclusion of the data for July, we are 4 months into the accounting year used by the DWP for recording the CRU data. It is worth again seeing where the current data available so far for the year up to the end of March 2019 might be heading.
If RTA portal claims continue at the current rate, then the annual total for 2018/19 would reach 690,342. That would be a figure only 1.4% lower than the total of 700,008 reached in 2017/18, and on that basis, if confirmed; RTA portal levels could at that point in time reasonably be described as having been stable over the last 2 financial years.
It would be a rather different picture from the 12.0% drop seen between 2016/17 and 2017/18 and would suggest that stability might be being achieved at a slightly decreased level from that which was seen over the period up to 2016/17.
In 2017/18 there were 650,019 new RTA claims reported to the CRU. The currently projected number of RTA portal claims for the year 2018/19 is 6.2% higher.
Data from Access to Justice's campaign
A2J were publicising this month data emerging from a Freedom of Information request which they made of the DWP in relation to CRU claims data which they claimed showed that "the so-called whiplash epidemic is disappearing".
They said that the CRU have informed them in response to their request that whereas there were 355,367 new RTA claims registered in the first 6 months of the calendar year 2017, that number had reduced to 326,699 in the first 6 months of this year, a fall of 8.1%. This is of course not officially published CRU data.
The formally published CRU data is always for the 12 months to the end of March in any year. Earlier this year the DWP reported that the full year data to 31 March showed a fall from 780,324 in 2016/17 to 650,019 in 2017/18, a decline of 16.7% (it will be recalled that the portal data over the same periods showed a smaller decline of 12.0%). It is worth noting that on the A2J data, if accurate, the rate of decline has halved from what it was in the formally published data looking at the 2 financial years in question.
We looked at the portal data for the first 6 months of the year in our last month's review of the June MI from Claims Portal. Over the same period covered by the FoI request, that's the first 6 months of the year, while there were 366,316 new RTA claims into the portal in 2017, there were 349,337 of them entering in 2018. This represents a decline of 4.6%, less than A2J's 8.1%.
Comparing like for like, we have pointed above that in considering the portal data and contrasting 2018/19 to date with 2017/18, currently available data points to a potential annual decrease of just 1.4%, and at that sort of level it would be reasonable to see the data as pointing towards an essentially stable level of claims over what will then have been a 2 year period.
The reductions in volumes of new claims which have taken place over the last 2-3 years can undoubtedly be attributed to market changes in anticipation of the Civil Liability Bill and associated Small Claims Track changes. The portal data may now be suggesting that the new norm is becoming a portal intake of around 700,000 new RTA claims per year – a substantial number.
To the extent that figure is lower than in earlier years it is due to the expectation of the reforms taking place, so that if for some reason they did not then it would be anticipated that volumes would no doubt increase back towards past levels.
New casualty claims in July
PL claims
There were 4,942 new PL claims in July, that's a 3.6% increase over the 4,768 received in June. As we saw with RTA claims, this month does not follow the trend we have seen previously of this being the lowest ever number of PL claims for the particular month of the year since the casualty portals opened, as it was 1.6% higher than the level reached in July 2017. It was though 6.1% less than in July 2016 and 27.8% lower than in July 2015.
The monthly average of new PL claims during the calendar year 2018 to date now stands at 4,870, which is still 1.0% less than the 2017 average of 4,917. Comparing the first 7 months of the year with the same period in 2017 when the monthly average was 4,981 shows a decline over the year of 2.2%, but a figure reduced from 2.7% when the same analysis was done at the end of last month.
EL claims
July saw 4,009 new EL claims, an increase of 6.3% over June's level of 3,773. As with PL claims, last month's level beat the comparative figure for July 2017 by as much as 14.0%, though it was 1.2% less than in July 2016 and 20.8% below the July 2015 number.
The EL monthly average of new claims for the calendar year of 2018 to date is now 3,955. That is 2.6% higher than the 2017 average of 3,855, though the current level is 0.3% less than the average for the same first 7 months of last year.
EL disease claims
There were 487 new EL disease claims in July, a reduction of 6.7% from June's number of 522. Apart from last December, this is the lowest number of new EL disease claims since the casualty portals were 3 months old. It's lower than in July 2017 by 32.2%, less than July 2016 by 40.8% and under the July 2016 level by 72.7%.
The average monthly number of new EL disease claims in 2018 to date is now 587. That's a reduction of 22.4% from the 2017 average of 756 and is also 28.6% below the average for the same first 7 months of the year standing at 823.
New casualty claims over the longer term
Looking as we have with RTA claims at 12 month cumulative numbers to better recognise longer term trends, in the case of PL up to and including July there were 58,223 claims, which is an increase of 0.1% over the 58,147 seen at the end of last month.
We have seen reductions now over 31 of the last 37 months, but more recently, over the last 10 months there have been an equal number of months showing increases to those showing falls, 5 apiece. This is a sign of stabilising volumes and that as things now stand the previous pattern of constantly falling new claims numbers is at an end.
The average rate of decrease per month during 2018 to date remains at 0.2%, less than the 2017 average which was 0.7%.
The historical rate of decline longer term has also decreased: from 10.1% between July 2016 and July 2017, to 3.6% over the last 12 months.
Analysing the same data in the case of EL, over the 12 months up to and including July there were 46,362 new claims, an increase of 1.1% over the 45,871 seen at the end of June.
There have been reductions now in 23 of the last 32 months, but over the last 10 months the position has been more stable with 4 monthly increases alongside 6 decreases, in the same way as seen with PL claims.
The average monthly change during the year 2018 to date is now a small increase of 0.03%, as opposed to an average monthly fall of 0.6% during 2017, another pointer towards stabilising volumes.
The historical rate of decline is also reduced with EL claims, from 5.9% as between July 2016 and July 2017, to 3.1% over the last 12 months.
Despite the latest trends towards stabilising numbers seen with PL and EL claims, the position with EL disease claims remains rather different.
As at July the data shows 7,491 EL disease claims over the previous 12 months, that's a 3.0% fall from the position as at the end of June. This is the 31st consecutive monthly decrease.
Over 2018 so far, the average monthly fall is 2.6%, while the average in 2017 was 1.4%, so again pointing to an increasing rate of decline.
The historical rate of decline was 38.0% as between July 2016 and July 2017, and then 23.4% over the following 12 months.
July showed improved retention rates for RTA, PL and for EL, while that for EL disease deteriorated.
Looking over the preceding 12 months for better identifying trends and comparing the data to last month, retention rates have risen for both EL by 1% to 29%, and for PL by 2% to 23%.
The rates for RTA and EL disease have not changed on this measurement though remain far apart from each other: RTA on 53% and EL disease on 5%.
All retention rate percentages include cases moving to stage 3 as retained within the portal process.
RTA claims – stage 3 usage and PSLA levels
As the final bar on the graph above demonstrates, July saw the highest number of RTA courts packs produced to date at 6,829, as a preliminary step to using stage 3 of the portal process. In fact, the level is 150 above the month which comes closest to that number. This also represents an increase of 15.2% from the level we saw in June of 5,926.
Up until last month, we had in broad terms seen no discernible increase in the use of stage 3 over the last 2 years, whereas there had been a clearly identifiable rise to that point. Whether July's number is the start of a new trend, or will be shown to have been untypical, remains to be seen and we await more data over the following months.
PSLA levels
Last month average RTA PSLA levels were £2,833, representing an increase of £3 or 0.1% on the level seen the previous month. This is now the 3rd highest level to date.
The upwards trend can be attributed to the impact of the 14th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines last autumn which advised increases of around 4.8%. If we see November 2017 as the month when the inflationary impact of the JCG would have begun to have impacted, then we can see we are currently 1.8% above that level so the full effects may be still to be seen in the months ahead.
The horizontal line on the graph above shows not only a slowly increasing trend, but also 3 occasions when the level of settlements seems to have increased suddenly before returning to previous levels. The most recent was in May, and the July data supports that from June in showing that the May level was untypical.
Casualty claims – stage 3 usage and PSLA levels
Last month we saw the highest use to date of stage 3 in the casualty portals, while this month the total number of casualty claims reaching stage 3 has returned the same sort of level as we have been seeing over the last 30 months. Stage 3 usage increased up to the start of that time, but as with RTA claims there has been no real continuation of that trend since then.
In the case of PL claims, 69 reached stage 3 in July, a decrease of 11.5% over June.
With EL claims, 76 were taken to stage 3 in July, a drop of 27.0% from June though that was the highest month to date.
As to EL disease, no claims were taken to stage 3 last month, a fall from the 3 seen the previous month. This is the 4th time that a nil sample has been recorded.
On the smaller samples seen with casualty claims, it is still not easy to identify a specific impact from the 14th edition of the JCG as yet as seen from the lines on the preceding graph, though if it appears out of current marginal indications it will be apparent in the case of PL and EL.
PL PSLA rose 9.5% to £4,340, the 2nd highest level to date.
EL fell 0.9% to £4,340 but that was from June's level which had been the 2nd highest to date
EL disease rose 8.8% to £3,875.
Comparative use of stages 2 and 3
The increased number of RTA court packs produced in July leads directly into the graph above, as it shows that last month that for the first time the level was reached where one-third of claims concluding as to quantum were doing so at stage 3 compared to stage 2 where the other two-thirds would settle.
This is the highest proportion yet, though as commented above in relation to use of stage 3 it remains to be seen whether July's new trend is continued in August. If it does not, then the ratio will fall back from one-third.
In the case of the casualty portals shown on the same graph, they both fell back in terms of the ratio as would be expected from what we know about the reduced use of stage 3 over the month. PL is now on 12% and EL on 10%.
For more information please contact Simon Denyer, Strategic Legal Development Consultant
DD 0161 604 1551 ; simon.denyer@dwf.law


Well, since she's nearly 2mo, i wanted to bring her out more often and show her the world. She likes to focus on things and is quite attentive. With the current stroller that she has, it is quite big and huge. I am now eyeing on the Doona Car Seat and Stroller and hopefully this could help to ease the troublesome of having a big bulky stroller.
I have not received mine as yet but hopefully soon. I shall review the stroller (if i do have the time) on my blog. It is a bit pricey but surely i think it will solve a lot of my problems. Well, i love shopping and i love going out so i guess this stroller can help to ease my problem especially not having to use elevator anymore as the stroller can be a carrier as well with just one button! So i could carry my LO on escalator and that saves my time surely.
Wait for my review here in my blog once i am used to this stroller. I know a lot of bloggers and youtubers recommended this stroller a lot! We shall see.


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Kristin Bergstrom and Lloyd Dickinson 's House
This lovely stone house at the corner of East Belleview and North Wahl Avenues was built in 1920-23 for William Luick, owner of the Luick Creamery, the largest dairies in Wisconsin. The house was built by the Phillips and Brust Architecture firm, one of the top firms in Milwaukee at that time.
An interesting structural fact about the house is that the home is made almost entirely of bricks, stone and concrete. The reason for this was that Mrs. Luick remembered a horrible fire in downtown Milwaukee when she was a little girl (1888). She insisted that the home have as little wood as possible in it.
The home had been on the market for a year, when Lloyd Dickinson and Kristin Bergstrom saw the home. They bought the house and have spent the last 20 years maintaining it. The house is extremely expensive to heat as it is not insulated and cannot be insulated without destroying the integrity of the original structure.
The building has an open plan but also has a dark, almost medieval quality. Decorative references to this theme can be seen throughout the house in gargoyle designs and stained glass windows set in smaller leaded panels. The exterior fence has a crenellated, rusticated feel in the way the stones are set at right angles to the coursing of the wall.
There is a small beautifully appointed garden and two patios. There is also a coach house above the garage which leads from a back stair to the former servants' quarters, now used as guest rooms.
Lloyd Dickinson grew up in Green Bay, WI. He graduated from the law school in Madison. Dickinson retired earlier this year from the Foley & Lardner, LLP law firm. He is president of the
Historic Water Tower Association, formerly Historic Water Tower Trust. When he got involved with this group there was a rumor that Columbia St. Mary's hospital was going to tear down the Water Tower. This wasn't actually the case but Lloyd still likes to mention it, with a twinkle in his eye, "it keeps things on the edge." The association has been concerned with the expansion of both the hospital and the university into their neighborhood. They have helped redirect that expansion on to the west of Downer Avenue.
When they bought this house, the location was considered "iffy". Not many partners in the law firm lived in the city, most lived in the northern suburbs. Lloyd and Kristin love this neighborhood; the walkability of it. He mentions the park designed by Frederick Olmstead, Lake Park Bistro, the new restaurants opening on Downer Ave. He adds that the Alterra on the Lakefront has been a terrific addition to the area. Lloyd has a wonderful view of the lake and a beautiful birch tree from his second floor office window.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Nadja joined iDE in 2008 as a consultant to explore the idea of creating a social enterprise in Nicaragua. Since 2010, Nadja has been the Country Director of iDE Nicaragua. Nadja holds a Master's Degree in International Affairs and Governance from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland, with strong expertise in rural marketing and development. Before joining iDE, Nadja worked for the UNDP team of the Swiss Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Read more about iDE Nicaragua.


This article will tell you about all the different things you'll need if you want to go in for mushroom growing on a large scale. This will take a little trouble, but if you do it right, will ensure that your family always have fresh, organically grown mushrooms, a food both nutritious and exceedingly high in protein. I can see that you're already interested, so let's just cut to the chase. Now mushrooms can take a week or two to grow, or sometimes even more, depending on the richness (or otherwise) of the growth medium.
As such, you'll want to ensure that you have the most mushrooms growing at once, because this means that you'll have a regular supply for your loved ones, or to distribute among acquaintances, or even to put up for sale. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who are interested in buying fresh, organically grown mushrooms. Now the first thing you need to arrange is a room in which to do your growing. Don't put this right in your home if you're going to do some large scale growing, though the basement might be an acceptable place if you can maintain the temperature.
At this stage of mushroom growing, you need to make sure that the temperature remains within ten degrees of fifty five degrees Fahrenheit, so if your basement gets much colder than that, you'd have problems growing mushrooms there. If you can maintain the temperature, however, it might be an ideal place to grow mushrooms. If you have an outhouse, garage, or barn, they might also be nice places in which to grow mushrooms. There's one more thing that's needed besides a stable temperature range, and that is an absence of light. Mushrooms don't like light, period, so if you choose a place that you can keep completely dark, they'll be more likely to grow successfully.
Lastly, you need to keep the wind out - mushrooms don't like winds either, especially if they carry any chill along with them, and if you put them in windy places, don't be surprised to find your mushrooms dying after a draught. However, you can just put them in closed boxes with removable lids, and if you do this, they should be fine so long as you maintain the temperature and humidity. Mushrooms in the early stages of growing love lots of water, though once they sprout you'll need to push back on the humidity a little. Spores, growth medium and even trays to plant mushrooms in are available everywhere, and mushroom growing is very much easier than most people think.


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In his fourth consecutive year qualifying for the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191 Spelling Bee, Chance Persons won the championship on Dec. 14 after 21 rounds that included more than 200 words.
District 191 Spelling Bee champion Chance Persons (left) and runner-up Brandon Vi show off their trophies with Superintendent Joe Gothard.
Chance, now an 8th grader at Metcalf Junior High School in Burnsville, placed 5th in the district bee when he was in 5th grade and placed 7th as a 6th grader. Last year, he was the runner-up and was also among 50 metro area students who qualified to compete in the 2015 Minnesota Seven County Metro Area Regional Spelling Bee in March.
"I've got a good memory," said Chance. "If I've seen a word, I remember how to spell it." He also did some practicing beginning a week before the bee.
Brandon Vi, an 8th grader at Eagle Ridge Junior High, was runner-up this year while Aliya Butler, an 8th grader at Nicollet Junior High, placed third.
The event began with Superintendent Joe Gothard presenting medals to every participant in recognition of them being spelling champs at their schools. Gothard served as a judge along with Shannon McParland, principal at Sioux Trail Elementary, and Jeffrey Leach, associate principal at Nicollet Junior High. Jim Condon, a teacher at Edward Neill Elementary School, served as pronouncer. Jennifer Bohr, a district instructional coach, coordinated the spelling bee activities.
You can view the spelling bee on the district's website at www.isd191.org/channel18 and on educational TV channel 18.


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Oracle to Leverage AI, Machine Learning in Autonomous Cloud Platform
By Richard Adhikari February 14, 2018 11:22 AM PT Email Article
Oracle on Tuesday demonstrated artificial intelligence and machine learning advances in the Oracle Cloud Platform at Oracle CloudWorld in New York.
Autonomous capabilities for application development, mobile and bots, integration, analytics, security and system management are scheduled for availability in the first half of this year.
Oracle announced a slew of new Platform as a Service features and capabilities, including the following:
Mobile and bots —
Self-learning chatbots that observe interaction patterns and preferences to automate frequently performed end-user actions, freeing up time for higher-productivity tasks;
Unsupervised smart bots that use machine learning to learn from user conversations, enabling fluid, contextual conversations; and
Automated caching of API calls to the nearest data center in real time for lowest-latency responses based on the end user's location.
Security and management —
Machine learning-driven user and entity behavior analytics to isolate and eliminate suspicious and malicious users automatically;
Preventative controls to intercept data leaks across both structured and unstructured data repositories; and
A unified data repository across log, performance, user experience, and configuration data with applied AI and ML to automate setting and managing performance and security monitoring metadata.
The Oracle Digital Assistant
Oracle also demonstrated an Oracle Digital Assistant, which will provide centralized communications across CRM, ERP, HCM, custom applications and business intelligence data.
The assistant will use AI to correlate data and automate user behavior.
Among its capabilities:
Integration with speech-based devices and software like Amazon Echo (Alexa), Apple Siri, Google Home and Speech, Harman Kardon (Cortana) and Microsoft Cortana;
Deep neural net-based machine learning algorithms to process messages from voice-based devices to understand end-user input and take action;
Intelligent routing to Oracle Bots with the knowledge to process end users input; and
Deep insights into user behavior, context, preferences and routines the Assistant uses to self-learn, in order to recommend and automate across all data sets on behalf of the user.
The Assistant's cross-application capability "is the differentiator," said Holger Mueller, principal analyst at Constellation Research.
However, "I'm skeptical," he told the E-Commerce Times, "as no neural network has been announced by Oracle."
The Assistant "would be compelling if it actually works," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
That said, "the major hardware players in the space already have their own back ends," he told the E-Commerce Times.
Amazon, Google, Microsoft and IBM "haven't exactly been Oracle's greatest fans over the years," Enderle pointed out. "I think the promise is massively ahead of reality here."
The Autonomous Database
Oracle also announced upcoming Autonomous Database services. The Autonomous Database, which uses advanced AI and ML, was first announced in October.
Multiple Autonomous Database services, each tuned to a specific workload, will be released this year:
Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse Cloud Service for analytics;
Oracle Autonomous Database OLTP for transactional and mixed workloads; and
Oracle Autonomous NoSQL Database for fast massive-scale reads and writes.
Leg Up or Tall Story?
"An autonomous Oracle is truly ahead of everybody," observed Constellation Research's Mueller. "This announcement now fleshes out the autonomous database, which had gaps in security and the risk of old code."
However, overall, Oracle's announcement "reads like a whopper," Enderle said."Folks forget that Oracle is famous for making claims they have capabilities long before they actually have them."
Delivering on its autonomous cloud promise "would require massive capabilities Oracle has yet to demonstrate in data centers that haven't been built yet," he added.
Further, Oracle's policy is to lock in customers, and "these efforts have high requirements for interoperability," Enderle said. Also, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and IBM "have services that can do [the same thing but] they just aren't packaged as nicely."
Still, if successfully executed, he acknowledged that Oracle's plans "would be a massive boost" to its existing efforts in the targeted areas.
Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.
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We caught up with Wild & Gorgeous founders Lucy Enfield and Sophie Worthington to ask about work life since their rebrand, tips on just how they manage to juggle a busy business with family life, and that 'Harry' jumper!
The brand has been running for 10 years, what was your original inspiration for ilovegorgeous?
Our original inspiration for ilovegorgeous (as we were then known) was our own children. Ten years ago we were both new mothers of three kids looking for beautiful and unusual ways dress them. Fed up with the high street offering and out-of-reach expensive designer brands we decided to embark on our own adventure to design and make beautiful, unique clothes for girls.
How has the industry developed and changed from when you first started the company? Have these been positive changes? Is there anything that has been specifically challenging?
Yes! The childrenswear industry has become much more saturated and we really have to keep on our toes to keep coming up with new ideas and stay ahead of the competition. Another radical change is internet shopping which is so omnipresent now and means that brands really need to have great online proposition to remain in the game. This change is also great news for parents, as shopping with kids just got so much easier!
What triggered your decision to rebrand from a girlswear label to Wild & Gorgeous, creating clothes for both girls and boys.
For 10 years we had been making 'beautiful clothes for gorgeous girls', and we really wanted to try our hand at designing a boyswear collection but could never get past the name. We couldn't envisage 'ilovegorgeous boys' in any parallel universe and were basically frightened to set out on the perilous path of a rebrand. It took us AGES to come up with a name that retained some of our heritage, whilst adding something new and desirable. The trigger was really our determination to find a way to open up the brand and introduce something new. Once we found the will, the way followed on from there.
Why did you choose to design and create a childrenswear brand rather than a womens'?
We felt there was a gap in the market for great girl's clothes that was not so apparent in the womenswear market. Also we both had young children and post pregnancy bodies that made shopping and designing for kids so much more appealing and exciting than designing for ourselves!
Have you received good feedback since rebranding?
Yes, the feedback has been really positive. I recommend a rebrand every 5 years. The new challenge has breathed life into the design process which has translated into sales. We love the new logo and packaging and also freshness that a boys range has brought to the brand. We always had the yin but now we have the yang as well.
The 'Harry Jumper' has been a big hit. It was all over the press because it was worn by Prince George. What was the reaction to this? Did sales rocket after he was spotted sporting Wild & Gorgeous?
We were beyond delighted that Prince George chose to wear the Harry Jumper for the Canadian Royal Tour. And yes, it did become our top selling jumper overnight. It was a fabulous high-five moment that happened literally the month the boyswear was launched. Just a couple of months earlier, in July, the Cameron girls had exited Downing Street in our dresses which was also all over the press. It is always thrilling to see the clothes that you have worked so hard at creating on the front page of every newspaper.
What is your number one top tip for balancing work and home life?
Errrrrrrr… it's always tricky when you have the dual demands of kids and work life to juggle. Our top tip is keep clam, do your best and don't beat yourself up every time you miss a school play or parents evening. And when you are with your kids try to be present and resist the temptation to trawl through emails on your phone.
Are your families close? When you get together what are the typical activities/events?
Our families are very close. Lucy and I are godparents to each other's children and some of them are even at school together. As their ages now range from 14 to 20 we no longer play kick the can and twister together it would be more a delicious dinner and a good laugh.
Do either of you have a favourite family recipe that you'd like to share with us?
We both love this chilli and cumin spiced chicken dish served with a sweet and spicy cucumber relish. We love it, the kids love it and best of all it's a fabulous dish for feeding the masses. Follow it with our favourite gooey, almond heavy brownie recipe and some fresh berries!
If you had to describe Wild & Gorgeous in one sentence, what would it be?
Wildly gorgeous clothes for children from birth to teen. That's our new tag line. In reality we aim to make vintage inspired clothes with a modern twist, designed to inspire and delight.
Check out Lucy and Sophie's online destination for Wild & Gorgeous.


All those that remember that very distinguished musician Kendall Taylor will be pleased to know of the Beethoven Competition at the Royal College of Music in his name .And I think Kendall Taylor in his turn would be very glad and proud to know that this year it is in the extraordinary hands of Alex Ullman.
Beethoven Prize – Chopin recital ………has no importance what is played when it is played like this .
All the sounds of the Golden Age of piano playing were here and the kaleidoscope of sounds extracted from this wooden box of strings and hammers was nothing short of magical.Actually a beautiful Steinway "D" but not always as evident as on this happy occasion.
Strange but very effective choice of opener with the so called " Cat " Waltz op.34 n.3 .Its fanfare type opening actually the perfect foil for what was to come." Kitten on the Keys" came to mind for the velocity of the opening but that was soon put to rights with the total contrast and the refined,subtle colours that he found in the middle section .
Canons covered in flowers comes to mind as the Polonaise Fantasie was unveiled and given its true place as one of Chopin's greatest works.. Grandure,nobility,virtuosity was all here and the subtlety of the return of the main theme revealed the true meaning of Cortots'" avec un sentiment de regret" so clearly written in my copy years ago by his disciple Vlado Perlemuter.
The great A flat Polonaise at the end was given a young mans' performance full of verve and passion and the left hand octaves beautifully played allowing the right hand to sing as so rarely heard since Rubinstein.Missing perhaps the aristocratic heroism and timing that will come with maturity.
The B flat minor Scherzo too given a thrilling account with such subtle contrasts.Infact all through the concert his wonderful sense of balance was apparent allowing the piano to sing as only a great singer could do .The Berceuse and two nocturnes were remarkable for this and many other reasons notably the nobility and strength in the nocturnes.
Golden Age of Piano Playing live and well and one is reminded of that other great english pianist Stephen Hough so admired by Shura Cherkassky the master of them all for subtlety,nuance and colour .
Book soon for Alex's Chopin recital at the Wigmore Hall on Sunday the 28th February for the Keyboard CharityTrusts' Prizewinners concert, before the word spreads .


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Q: Lagrangian Mechanics - Bead sliding on a rotating rod
Say I have a bead of mass $m$ sliding on a friction-less rod (or wire) that is rotating with a permanent angular velocity $\omega$. The whole system is under the influence of a uniform gravitational field $F=mg$.

How many degrees of freedom do the system have?
Assuming we use polar coordinates, it seems as if we have only one degree of freedom and that is the radial coordinate $r$ because the polar angle $\theta$ is set to be $\omega t$. But on the other hand, $r$ can't be smaller than 0, while it is obvious that in the physical system, if the angular velocity is slow and gravity is strong, the bead can slide to the other side of the rotation axis.
So will this system's Lagrangian depend on both $r$ and $\theta$ and so the Euler–Lagrange equation should be applied once for each of them?

A: The bead is constrained to move along a line, so, as you thought, there is only 1 degree of freedom. The problem with your polar coordinates choice is that you did not choose the right coordinates system. The coordinate is "position along the rod", not "distance from center". One way of thinking about this is to presume you want to use Cartesian coordinates and say that since both x and y can vary, you have 2 degrees of freedom. That would not make any sense. The number of degrees of freedom does not depend on the coordinates system used. The trick is to use the right coordinates system, one in which all states of the system can be represented with the number of variables equal to the number of degrees of freedom. So, polar coordinates is simply not the right coordinate system in your example. If you use instead "position along the rod" with the center of the rod being the origin and position being allowed to have both positive and negative values, you will have the right coordinates system.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Protesters call for pause on health-care bill
(June 24, 2020)
By: Chris Seto, The Record
KITCHENER — Motivated by fears around further privatization of health care in Ontario, members of the Waterloo Region Health Coalition held a rally Wednesday in Kitchener to sound the alarm over Bill 175.
Starting at noon, more than 20 people spread out along King Street East near Kitchener South-Hespeler MPP Amy Fee's office, carrying signs and voicing concerns over the legislation also known as the Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act.
The bill was introduced in the legislature Feb. 25 and is currently undergoing a third reading.
When first introduced, Health Minister Christine Elliott said the bill would modernize the 1994 Home Care and Community Services Act. The new legislation promised to increase opportunities for people to get care in their own homes and remove barriers between different providers to deliver services more quickly and with better co-ordination.
Wednesday's rally was one of 14 held around the province outside of Conservative MPPs' offices, organized through the Ontario Health Coalition.
Local coalition co-chair Jim Stewart said now that the bill is undergoing its third reading, it's likely too late to stop it from "being pushed through." The focus of Wednesday's rallies was to raise public awareness of the bill and get a dialogue going.
"What really concerns me, is why are they pushing forward this legislation right now in the middle of a pandemic?" he said. If passed, the bill will bring about big changes to how home care is provided across the province and the public needs to pay attention, he said.
Stewart said the bill will transfer control of home-care services to private corporations that will be delivering home care. These organizations will be able to change the fee structures and they won't have to be accountable to the public, he said.
"This is not a meaningful improvement on health care. This is a further privatization of health care."
Donna Evans, a retired nurse practitioner, was also lined up along the street waving a sign that read "Stop privatized home care."
"Health care should not be something you profit from. As long as it's privatized, profits will always be prioritized over the care to individuals," she said, adding the proposed bill is very concerning to her.
"Unless we're passionate and fight for it, our health care system will disappear."
The Ontario Nurses Association also has serious concerns about Bill 175.
Vicki McKenna, president of the association, wrote in an email that the bill is being rushed through with limited input from stakeholders and the public.
"This legislation makes it easier for private-sector organizations to expand their role, it eliminates the Patient's Bill of Rights for home and community care, and thus removes accountability, and also paves the way for private hospitals in Ontario to expand, increasing for-profit health care in Ontario."
None of these changes would benefit those who depend on home and community care, she wrote.
Efforts were made to speak to MPP Fee about the issues raised by protesters. She was not available for an interview but her office provided a statement:
"During this pandemic, it has been clear the need for improvements to the home care system. I have heard from a number of constituents on this issue and I continue to advocate for legislation alongside my colleagues, that would remove long-standing barriers and outdated rules that have kept home and community care in a silo within the health care system. Our priority is to strengthen the publicly funded health care system and make it better for patients, families and their caregivers."


The Living Qi company sources the finest USDA certified organic matcha tea in the world. The matcha we use regularly wins awards in Japan for quality and flavor. We have decided to offer nothing but the highest quality organic matcha that is certified by the USDA in the United States and certified by IMO in Europe. Because the IMO standards are even more rigorous than the USDA standards, you can rest assured you are getting the best matcha in the world.
In addition to USDA and IMO certification, the Living Qi company has had a 3rd party laboratory analyze our matcha tea to insure that it is free of all heavy metals and other adulterants. We do this for the safety of all our customers.
Some companies source cheap matcha from China, or cut their matcha with cheap food grade material. Many companies are not organic and their cheap prices reflect this. With the Living Qi company you can count on us to provide you with superior quality matcha, which engenders a superior matcha experience. And above all matcha is an EXPERIENCE…a unique mood shift that can give you energy when you are sluggish or calm you down when you are stressed.


Pythagoras (approximately 569 BCE - 475 BCE, ) was an Ionian mathematician and philosopher, known best for the Pythagorean theorem which bears his name.
Known as "the father of numbers", Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religious teaching in the late 6th century BC. Because legend and obfuscation cloud his work even more than with the other pre-Socratics, one can say little with confidence about his life and teachings. Pythagoras and his students believed that everything was related to mathematics, and thought that everything could be predicted and measured in rhythmic patterns or cycles.
Pythagoras was born on the island of Samos, off the coast of Asia Minor. He was born to Pythais (a native of Samos) and Mnesarchus (a merchant from Tyre). As a young man he left his native city for Crotona in Southern Italy, to escape the tyrannical government of Polycrates. Many writers credit him with visits to the sages of Egypt and Babylon before going west; but such visits feature stereotypically in the biographies of many Greek wise men, and are likely more legend than fact.
Upon his migration from Samos to Crotona, Pythagoras established a secret religious society very similar to, and possibly influenced by, the earlier Orphic cult.
Pythagoras undertook a reform of the cultural life of Crotona, urging the citizens to follow virtue and form an elite circle of followers around himself. Very strict rules of conduct governed this cultural center. He opened his school to men and women students alike. They called themselves the Mathematikoi.According to Iamblichus, the Pythagoreans followed a structured life of religious teaching, common meals, exercise, reading and philosophical study. Music featured as an essential organizing factor of this life: the disciples would sing hymns to Apollo together regularly; they used the lyre to cure illness of the soul or body; poetry recitations occurred before and after sleep to aid the memory.
The Pythagorean theorem that bears his name was known earlier in Mesopotamia, Egypt and India. For a chronology of the theorem and its proofs, see the article on the Pythagorean theorem. Whether Pythagoras himself proved this theorem is not known, as it was common in the ancient world to credit to a famous teacher the discoveries of his students. The earliest known mention of Pythogoras's name in connection with the theorem came five centuries after his death, in the writings of Cicero and Plutarch.
The Pythagoreans are known for their theory of the transmigration of souls, and also for their theory that numbers constitute the true nature of things. They performed purification rites and followed ascetic, dietary and moral rules which they believed would enable their soul to achieve a higher rank among the gods. Consequently, they expected they would be set free from the wheel of birth.
The Pythagoreans also believed that the sexes are equal. Pythagoras started a school, together with his wife Theano, built on this principle. After he died, his wife and daughters ran and taught at the school. Theano herself discovered a formula to derive the golden rectangle.
All slaves were treated humanely, and animals were respected as creatures with souls. The highest purification of the soul was "philosophy", and Pythagoras has been credited with the first use of the term.
The Jains in India follow similar beliefs and practices, which leads some neo-Pythagoreans and neo-Platonic authors to believe that Pythagoras had visited India, and studied under the Jains.It was the Pythagoreans who discovered that the relationship between musical notes could be expressed in numerical ratios of small whole numbers.
The Pythagoreans elaborated on a theory of numbers the exact meaning of which is still debated among scholars. They taught that all things were numbers, that the essence of everything is a number, and that all relationships can be expressed numerically.
No texts by Pythagoras survive, although forgeries under his name - a few of which remain extant - did circulate in antiquity. Critical ancient sources like Aristotle and Aristoxenus cast doubt on these writings. And ancient Pythagoreans usually quoted their master's doctrines with the phrase autos ephe ("he himself said") - emphasizing the essentially oral nature of his teaching. Pythagoras appears as a character in the last book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, where Ovid has him expound upon his philosophical viewpoints.
Some consider Pythagoras the pupil of Anaximander and some ancient sources tell of his visiting, in his twenties, the philosopher Thales, just before the death of the latter. No account exists of the specifics of the meeting, other than the report that Thales recommended that Pythagoras travel to Egypt in order to further his philosophical and mathematical training.
In astronomy, the Pythagoreans were well aware of the periodic numerical relations of the planets, moon, and sun. The celestial spheres of the planets were thought to produce a harmony called the music of the spheres. These ideas, as well as the ideas of the Platonic solids, would later be used by Johannes Kepler in his attempt to formulate a model of the solar system in his work The Harmony of the Worlds.
Pythagoreans also believed that the earth itself was in motion and that the laws of nature could be derived from pure mathematics. They may have coined the term cosmos, a term implying a universe with orderly movements and events.It is sometimes difficult to determine which ideas Pythagoras taught originally, as opposed to the ideas his followers later added. While he clearly attached great importance to geometry, classical Greek writers tended to cite Thales as the great pioneer of this science rather than Pythagoras.
The later tradition of Pythagoras as the inventor of mathematics stems largely from the Roman period.Whether or not we attribute the Pythagorean theorem to Pythagoras, it seems fairly certain that he had the pioneering insight into the numerical ratios which determine the musical scale, since this plays a key role in many other areas of the Pythagorean tradition, and since no evidence remains of earlier Greek or Egyptian musical theories.
Another important discovery of this school - which upset Greek mathematics, as well as the Pythagoreans' own belief that whole numbers and their ratios could account for everything in nature - was the incommensurability of the diagonal of a square with its side. This result showed the existence of irrational numbers.
The influence of Pythagoras has transcended the field of mathematics, and the Hippocratic Oath - with its central commitment to First do no harm - has its roots in the oath of the Pythagorean Brotherhood.


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Cheesecakes in the oven with apricots.
Quick lime cheesecake in a glass.
In order to «highlight» the foundation made of Oreo cookies, and chips out of it is added to the curd itself. Top decorated with cream and strawberries. For the base: — 140 g chocolate Oreo cookie with chocolate filling, — 30 g of melted butter.
Pie-cheesecake with apples and caramel sauce.


When we saw this picture (reblogged from ffffound), our immediate thought was "We want some of that, yes please." But there was no brand name or model number included in the post, so we were dubious. Was it just another of those "design concepts" that people are always posting, super-desirable products that tantalize us but are not actually available for purchase?
A little research reveals that the answer is both no and yes. What you see above is the Legno turntable, produced by the Italian company Montegiro. You can actually buy it. For $13,240. In other words, you can't actually buy it.
We have heard of aficionados who spend $30,000 on just the right kind of speaker wire, so who knows? Maybe $13,240 is a bargain price in the rarified world of high-end audio. But until Walter White breaks into our house and leaves a huge pile of cash on our ottoman, we'll have to add the Legno to the long list of life's unattainables—right up there with Beyonce's phone number and the power of flight.


When exploring new and exciting worldwide destinations, there are many advantages to travelling on one of our small group tours. For a start, you will spend your days enjoying a more intimate and sociable atmosphere on your holiday, and you may well find that your like-minded fellow travellers soon become your firm friends. It's also much easier for smaller groups to meet local people in more personal and informal settings, and you can experience rewarding off-the-beaten-track destinations and activities that would be impractical for large tour groups.
Titan offers a selection of tours where groups are limited to a maximum of 25 travellers, including South Africa Safari Adventure, Temples and Villages of Burma and Scenic and Cultural Treasures of Ethiopia.
Enjoy days and nights on top of the world, taking in the delights of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, and the tranquil atmosphere of Chitwan National Park, home to enthralling elephants and tigers. Take a trip to see serene temples and buildings, as well as small village communities in a small group of up to 24 travellers.
With up to 18 travellers, you'll get to immerse yourself in the historic and religious cultures of Thailand and Cambodia. Holiday excursions show you magnificent palaces and temples, complete with facades of gold and sculpted wonders. Alongside that, you'll get to tour through traditional villages where life is somewhat simpler.
Dramatic scenery seems to be endless in Ontario, with vast woodlands, over 250,000 lakes and land rich in minerals. Discover this and more in a small group tour of up to 24 travellers.
In a small group up to 24 travellers, we travel between the sporadically positioned towns and cities across three provinces of Canada to delve into the country's exciting past, right back to when dinosaurs roamed these parts.
Our small group tours of India comprise ten sensational safari adventures, taking you on a tour through the national parks of India and gifting you the opportunity to come face to face with their inhabitants. After that, return to the big city with a night in Mumbai, uncovering a colourful and colossal city.
In small groups of maximum 18, this remarkable holiday visits Madagascar's cooler highlands, dry savannahs and warmer tropical rainforests. Its culture-filled European-style cities and small villages are scattered between breathtaking national parks, home to baobab trees and bizarrely-shaped, sandstone mountains eroded over millennia.
Venture to the heart of Africa and experience natural wonders like no other. You'll be part of a small group holiday – maximum 16 people per tour – staying in beautiful lodges set amidst the country's national parks. Climb aboard six-seater 4x4 vehicles (guaranteeing you a window view), enjoying big game drives, nature walks and boat trips searching for the mammals, reptiles, butterflies and birds that call these lands home. Keep your eyes peeled for mountain gorillas – a certified highlight of tours here.
"Tourism in Ethiopia is still in its infancy and when creating the tour it was important to me that our groups were not too overwhelming for the local people, but at the same time had the chance to interact with them. Considering this, our Ethiopia tours will have a limited group size of just 16, ensuring travellers get a genuine and immersive experience of this fascinating country". – Phil Ellis, Product Manager.
Southern Africa packs in incredible scenery, natural wonders and amazing animals in abundance. Join one of our small group adventure tours and see all these highlights (plus more) in one epic journey along the Garden Route all the way to Cape Town, before embarking on a plush train trip aboard Rovos Rail's Pride of Africa. You'll make your way across vast panoramas, through gold mining towns and rugged mountains before eventually reaching Pretoria.
Why experience just one natural wonder on your next holiday, when you can experience two? This exceptional itinerary, reworked for 2017, is bookended with genuine icons of world travel. It begins with an appreciation of thunderous Victoria Falls, which has captivated European visitors for more than a century and a half, and concludes with a lengthy stay in the heart of the Okavango Delta, a pristine wetland paradise vibrant with exotic wildlife, including all of the 'big five'.
This unforgettable small group holiday will see you staying in sublime lodges, take 4x4 safari tours, 4x4 safari drives whilst learning about the surrounding ecosystem through the country's expert (not to mention experienced) rangers.
Compared to neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, Burma remains a relatively undeveloped, off-the-beaten track destination, but that's all part of the adventure! From faded colonial-era architecture and exotic pagodas to temples rivaling Angkor Wat in mystery and antiquity, travelling to Burma on one of our small group tours is the ultimate way to experience traditional village life and pristine jungle landscapes.
Take a cruise through Burmese waters whose significance to the local community is untold, and has been for millennia. Look out onto momentous mountain ranges with historic monasteries and temples sat at their feet. Combined with a trip to the city of Yangon and the calming Inle Lake, and you're left with the best way to experience a holiday in this captivating country.
Visit the tropics of Burma on an unforgettable 11-day tour adventure, experiencing the top attractions of a country just beginning to open its doors to the outside world.
Colombia's is fast becoming one of South America's premier tour holiday destinations – no small wonder when you consider the mixture of regions and the insightful, knowledgeable tour holidays which they make for. Take part in a marvellous adventure, exploring the country's prized attractions as you do so, including the colourful walled city of Cartagena.
Ecuador was once ruled by the Inca Empire, accounting for a large bulk of the country's encapsulating history. It has a rich native Amerindian and Spanish colonial past, dramatic volcanoes and dense rainforests, making small group tours here rewarding in every single sense. Our Ecuadorian tour is topped off with a four-night cruise trip through the country's Galapagos archipelago – a firm highlight for many tourgoers.


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Nadia Fayidh Mohammed
Home > Vol 6, No 1 (2015) >	Fayidh Mohammed
The Indecisive Feminist: Study of Anne Sexton's Revisionist Fairy Tales
Fairy tales to female writers are major resource for their abundant writings, but for the feminist poets since 1960s, they become essential subject matter to often deal with in their literary production. With the motivation to address the conventional tradition of patriarchal society, and re-address the stereotype females inhabiting these tales, feminist writers set upon revealing the underlying sub-context of these tales, presenting them with more adult-suited themes. Anne Sexton's Transformation is a pioneering revision of Grimm's fairy tales in which the poet does not only satirize the patriarchal society she grew up in, but she also rejects the female stereotype that her upbringing intended her to be. In the following paper, the feminist messages which Sexton's fairy tales intended to deliver are examined to reveal the poet's position concerning feminism and her relationship with female role-models and the male figures she presents in her fairy tales.
Keywords: Anne Sexton, feminism, fairy tales, revisionism, postmodernist poetry, Transformations
Colson, J. (2011). Anne Sexton's "The Little Peasant". The Explicator 69 (3): 133-136.
Dalfonzo, Gina, (2013). Frozen's Cynical Twist on Prince Charming. The Atlantic (20 February, 2014). Available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/12/-em-frozen-em-s-cynical-twist-on-prince-charming/282204/
DeVito, J. (2011). The Transformations of Anne Sexton, Poststructuralist Witch, The Essay Exchange at I love Literature. iloveliterature.com, 25 August 2011. Web [20 March 2014], http://www.iloveliterature.com/anne_sexton_essay.html
Fukuda, Sh. (2008). The Hesitancy of "middle-aged witch": Anne Sexton's Transformation. Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos, no. 13, pp. 31 - 47.
Gill, J. (2006). Modern Confessional Writing: New Critical Essays. New York: Routledge.
Gill, J. (2004). Textual Confessions: Narcissism in Anne Sexton's Early Poetry. Twentieth Century Literature 50 (1): 59-87.
Harris, E.W. (2001). New Frames of Old Tales. Twice Upon a Time: Women Writers and the History of Fairy Tales. New Jersey: Princeton University Press: 121-134.
Johnson, G. (1984). The Achievement of Anne Sexton. Hollins Critic 21 (3): +1
Joyce, C.M. (2009). Contemporary Women Poets and the Fairy Tales. Susan Redington Bobby (ed.), Fairy Tales Re-imagined: Essays on New Retellings. North Carolina: McFarland: 31-43.
Kimmelman, B. (2005). Companion to 20th Century American Poetry. New York: Facts on File Inc.
Kumin, M. (1981). How It Was: Maxine Kumin on Anne Sexton. The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton: xix-xxxiv.
Mathew, R. (2011). Re-Vision as Art and Medium: A Study of Re-Visionist Mythmaking in Feminist English Poetry. Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, PhD thesis.
McGowan, P. (2004). Anne Sexton and Middle Generation Poetry: the Geography of Grief. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing.
Middlebrook, D.W. (1996). Telling Secrets. The Seduction of Biography, by Mary Rhiel and David Suchoff (eds.). New York: Routledge: 123-129.
Ostriker, A. (1982a). That Story: Anne Sexton and Her Transformation. American Poetry Review, July/Agust: 11-16.
________, (1982b). Thieves of Language: Women Poets and Revisionist Mythmaking. Signs 8 (1): 68-90.
Sage, L. (ed.), (1999). The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Sexton, A. (1981). The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton. Boston: Houton.
Vendler, H.(1988). The Music of What Happens: Poems, Poets, Critics. Boston: Harvard University Press.


7:30 am I find myself sitting in Argo's cockpit, sipping my coffee (it was a good mug this morning) looking out over the Sumai Banto. The morning started early with a 4:40 am wake up call. Our mission is to take a water taxi up river to a floating market that is supposed to be quite the experience. Our taxi boat arrives and we all pile in along with an Indonesian family already aboard. The vessel is a long canoe type boat common in this area with a very low roof on it. As we cast off I find myself sitting in the middle of the boat with my knees to my chest looking out wide eyed along with the rest of the crew. The plan was to return to Argo by around 9:30am. By 7am we are back. Apparently, within minutes of our departure our water taxi driver deemed the boat unriverworthy, pulled alongside the banks and we all hopped into another water taxi which shuttled us back to Argo. A typical audible out here on Argo. No worries. The late morning turned into an even more exciting experience for six of the crew. With a desire to show our thanks for the generosity and helpfulness of Ahdijah (the local school teacher) who helped so much with provisioning the day before, a small group chosen from a hat set up river once again in our two dinghies. They met back at the school where Ahdijah once again welcomed them with open arms. As a gift we brought Ahdijah a crew shirt, couple of pictures of Argo, and the kids some small balls from our ball bag. The children were all smiles for the camera as the crew were equally eager to take the pictures. Again the crew assembled inside for a combination of food/drink and song/dance. There was an encore request for "little tea pot" but now "hokey pokey" and "Old McDonald" made the list. Afterwards the crew was invited to a party down the road for someone who was leaving for Mecca. Along the way children formed a mob behind the crew waving and yelling loudly purely for the occasion of following a small group of white people (I think it's safe to say this is not a normal occurrence in this area). At the party, again the crew was welcomed inside their home and offered local food and drink. The reports are that the food was delicious! After visiting for awhile it was time to get back. The local mob of kids followed all the way back to the boat waving and shouting. They said our final thanks to Ahdijah, a most wonderful and hospitable woman. The rest of the day was back to the books for the crew with three classes and two subject videos. We also made Argo ready for passage and plan to set out with the high tide. We have one more stop in Kalimantan, which I'm sure will prove to be even more amazing.


Long before I started writing this column – but years after I discovered the Low-Carb, High-Fat (LCHF) Way of Eating (WOE) – I discovered an article called "The Skinny on Fats" and saved the link as a "favorite." My link still works, as do links to other articles, "The Oiling of America" and "The Truth About Saturated Fat," by the same authors. The authors are Sally Fallon Morell and Mary G. Enig, PhD. Sally is the founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Mary, co-founder and vice president, died a few months ago. An appreciation by Kaayla Daniel, PhD, her successor, appears here. The website is worth a look.
"The subject of fats and oils is complicated and fraught with misconceptions – so much so that explaining the myths and truths about fat can be long and complicated. People's eyes glaze over when you try to explain it all, even though information on fats and oils can be life changing and life saving. Brownstein and Shenefelt have solved these hurdles with this very well put together book on fats and oils.
1. We need fat in our diet to live!
2. Fat does not make us fat!
3. A low fat diet is not healthy!
4. Fat performs many essential functions in our bodies!
5. Some dietary fats are better than others!
6. Saturated fat is not the enemy!
7. Saturated fat and cholesterol do not cause heart disease!
8. Dietary fat is not the culprit of disease!
9. Canola oil and other refined vegetable oils are not healthy for you!
10. Low-cholesterol food does not do your body good!
Even if readers go no further than this short introductory section, they will be much wiser than before. But for those who want more information, there follows chapters that detail the structure of fats, the different types of fats and oils, the role of cholesterol in the body and problems with low fat diets. Particularly interesting are discussions on your brain's absolute dependence on fat and how eating fat can assist with weight loss. The authors point out that getting enough fat affects mood and behavior, cognitive function, mental acuity, focus and clarity. Low fat diets can lead to depression, reduced mental capacity and behavior problems. Cholesterol is concentrated in the myelin sheath so attempts to reduce cholesterol can lead to serious degenerative disorders of the nervous system, including multiple sclerosis and dementia.
Brownstein and Shenefelt devote a whole chapter to the subject of fats and children – for it is our children who are paying the greatest price for the anti-saturated fat, anti-cholesterol folly. Children's brains need lots of fat and cholesterol for proper development. Children need butter, eggs, cream, cheese and meat fats, not margarine, spreads and low fat products.
The message here, and in The Nutrition Debate #269, (just below) and in #20, "Know Your Dietary Fats," and is #23, "The Benefits of Saturated Fats," is that saturated fats are not only good but necessary fats. The fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K, require fat to absorb optimally. Message Two is that the refined vegetable oils, which are manufactured from primarily polyunsaturated fats, are bad for you; Read #21, "The Dangers of Polyunsaturated Fats." But if you read nothing else, please read the Enig and Fallon article, "The Skinny on Fats." If you take it to heart, as Morell says, it will be life changing and potentially life saving.
N.B.: A Senior Membership in the Weston A. Price Foundation is just $25 (Regular Membership $40). It's a good thing.


text:
/* TEMPLATE GENERATED TESTCASE FILE
Filename: CWE127_Buffer_Underread__char_alloca_ncpy_06.c
Label Definition File: CWE127_Buffer_Underread.stack.label.xml
Template File: sources-sink-06.tmpl.c
*/
/*
 * @description
 * CWE: 127 Buffer Under-read
 * BadSource:  Set data pointer to before the allocated memory buffer
 * GoodSource: Set data pointer to the allocated memory buffer
 * Sink: ncpy
 *    BadSink : Copy data to string using strncpy
 * Flow Variant: 06 Control flow: if(STATIC_CONST_FIVE==5) and if(STATIC_CONST_FIVE!=5)
 *
 * */

#include "std_testcase.h"

#include <wchar.h>

/* The variable below is declared "const", so a tool should be able
 * to identify that reads of this will always give its initialized value. */
static const int STATIC_CONST_FIVE = 5;

#ifndef OMITBAD

void CWE127_Buffer_Underread__char_alloca_ncpy_06_bad()
{
    char * data;
    char * dataBuffer = (char *)ALLOCA(100*sizeof(char));
    memset(dataBuffer, 'A', 100-1);
    dataBuffer[100-1] = '\0';
    if(STATIC_CONST_FIVE==5)
    {
        /* FLAW: Set data pointer to before the allocated memory buffer */
        data = dataBuffer - 8;
    }
    {
        char dest[100];
        memset(dest, 'C', 100-1); /* fill with 'C's */
        dest[100-1] = '\0'; /* null terminate */
        /* POTENTIAL FLAW: Possibly copy from a memory location located before the source buffer */
        strncpy(dest, data, strlen(dest));
        /* Ensure null termination */
        dest[100-1] = '\0';
        printLine(dest);
    }
}

#endif /* OMITBAD */

#ifndef OMITGOOD

/* goodG2B1() - use goodsource and badsink by changing the STATIC_CONST_FIVE==5 to STATIC_CONST_FIVE!=5 */
static void goodG2B1()
{
    char * data;
    char * dataBuffer = (char *)ALLOCA(100*sizeof(char));
    memset(dataBuffer, 'A', 100-1);
    dataBuffer[100-1] = '\0';
    if(STATIC_CONST_FIVE!=5)
    {
        /* INCIDENTAL: CWE 561 Dead Code, the code below will never run */
        printLine("Benign, fixed string");
    }
    else
    {
        /* FIX: Set data pointer to the allocated memory buffer */
        data = dataBuffer;
    }
    {
        char dest[100];
        memset(dest, 'C', 100-1); /* fill with 'C's */
        dest[100-1] = '\0'; /* null terminate */
        /* POTENTIAL FLAW: Possibly copy from a memory location located before the source buffer */
        strncpy(dest, data, strlen(dest));
        /* Ensure null termination */
        dest[100-1] = '\0';
        printLine(dest);
    }
}

/* goodG2B2() - use goodsource and badsink by reversing the blocks in the if statement */
static void goodG2B2()
{
    char * data;
    char * dataBuffer = (char *)ALLOCA(100*sizeof(char));
    memset(dataBuffer, 'A', 100-1);
    dataBuffer[100-1] = '\0';
    if(STATIC_CONST_FIVE==5)
    {
        /* FIX: Set data pointer to the allocated memory buffer */
        data = dataBuffer;
    }
    {
        char dest[100];
        memset(dest, 'C', 100-1); /* fill with 'C's */
        dest[100-1] = '\0'; /* null terminate */
        /* POTENTIAL FLAW: Possibly copy from a memory location located before the source buffer */
        strncpy(dest, data, strlen(dest));
        /* Ensure null termination */
        dest[100-1] = '\0';
        printLine(dest);
    }
}

void CWE127_Buffer_Underread__char_alloca_ncpy_06_good()
{
    goodG2B1();
    goodG2B2();
}

#endif /* OMITGOOD */

/* Below is the main(). It is only used when building this testcase on
 * its own for testing or for building a binary to use in testing binary
 * analysis tools. It is not used when compiling all the testcases as one
 * application, which is how source code analysis tools are tested.
 */

#ifdef INCLUDEMAIN

int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
    /* seed randomness */
    srand( (unsigned)time(NULL) );
#ifndef OMITGOOD
    printLine("Calling good()...");
    CWE127_Buffer_Underread__char_alloca_ncpy_06_good();
    printLine("Finished good()");
#endif /* OMITGOOD */
#ifndef OMITBAD
    printLine("Calling bad()...");
    CWE127_Buffer_Underread__char_alloca_ncpy_06_bad();
    printLine("Finished bad()");
#endif /* OMITBAD */
    return 0;
}

#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Tooltipster tooltip not opening on click trigger Tooltipster tooltip not opening on clicking the span element
Please, see the code below the one that I have tried.
Html Code

Item 1tooltip

Item 1tooltip

Tooltip 1
Tooltip 2

JS code
jQuery('.tooltipp').tooltipster({
    theme: 'tooltipster-shadow',
    contentCloning: true,
    trigger: 'click',
});

After creating a codepen for the same, tooltip is popping up there but not the content. Content is undefined.
Codepen: https://codepen.io/himani3010/pen/gyRyzj


text:
Bioscope
Ketan Mehta
Ketan Mehta is a known Indian director who has directed several movies, TV serials, and documentaries. He started his career in the year 1975 and since then he has delivered several super hits. Some of his popular work includes Holi (1984), Sardar (1993), Maya Memsaab (1993) and Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005). Ketan Mehta has also produced some of the movies which got him a lot of fame.
Ketan Mehta has been recognized for his work and he won several National Awards. He also received Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government and it is certainly a great honour for him.
Life and Early Work
Ketan Mehta was born in Gujarat in the year 1952. His family later moved to Delhi and completed his schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in Delhi. After completing his education, he went to the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. This is the place where he learned about the directions. It helped him in learning the trade. He later got married to Deepa Sahi who is also a popular actress. It is known that many people from his family also work in the medical field. Lastly, Ketan Mehta along with his wife founded Maya Digital Studios and Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics.
Soon after completing his graduation from the Film and Television Institute of India, Ketan Mehta joined the prestigious ISRO. He joined the organization as a TV producer and this is how he started. During the initial part of his career, he was given the freedom to create what he liked. Later in 1980, Ketan Mehta directed his first film, Bhavani Bhavai.
Ketan Mehta has been deeply involved with filmmaking and he has always loved working on the documentaries. This is evident from the fact that he directed 7 documentaries in his career. After directing Bhavani Bhavai in 1980, he directed 14 more movies. One of the most popular works from Ketan Mehta was Mangal Pandey: The Rising. In the same year, he also directed a TV series called Time Bomb 9/11, the series was loved by all types of audiences.
The Cinema of Ketan Mehta
Ketan Mehta has worked in 10 features films, 2 TV series, and 7 documentaries. Most of them left a great impression on the audience. He is known for movies likes Mirch Masala (1985), Hero Hiralal (1989), Aar Ya Paar (1997), and Manju: The Mountain Man (2015). The TV series directed by him includes Mr. Yogi, Captain Vyom, and Time Bomb 9/11. He has also been involved with the production of 7 films and TV series.
Ketan Mehta was awarded National Film Awards for Sardar and Bhavni Bhavai. He was also honoured with Filmfare Award for All in the Family. The French government added another feather in his hat by honouring him with Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. With all this work, Ketan Mehta has left a legacy behind him.
Ketan Mehta on Art House Cinema
Mirch Masala (1987)
by Puru | Jan 10, 2014
Mirch Masala is a 1987 Hindi film directed by Ketan Mehta and has Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Deepti Naval in prominent roles. The film depicts the resistance of common folks against a powerful tyrant.
Crushed Wings – A Film on FGM
CRUSHED WINGS is the first drama film of its kind on Female Genital Mutilation – also known as FGM – on the harsh reality of this brutal, increasingly widespread cultural ritual.
Akramana (1979)
Akramana (The Conquest) is a 1979 Kannada film directed by Girish Kasaravalli. It had Vijaya Kashi, Vaishali Kasaravalli, Padmashree and Chandrakumar Jain in the lead roles. The film is a psychodrama revolving around its three protagonists, their struggle to break free from the limitations of family and tradition, and the ultimate acceptance of the realities of life.
Partap Singh remembers Sukhdev
Sukhdev was certainly the greatest Indian documentary film-maker that ever lived. A gentle, a clown, an extraordinary friend, Sukhdev had no pretension to him, He could not brook pettiness, puffery or prudery.
Copyright © 2013 - 2023 Art House Cinema
About AHC
Dedicated to the beautiful form of art called Cinema, Art House Cinema is a project to bring the Parallel, Avant-Garde, New Wave, Art, Odessa Collective, Middle Path and every other genre of films and film makers who went another step farther from being mere entertainers.
Copyright © 2013-20 Art House Cinema | All Rights Reserved


text:
Boeing EA-18G Growlers Complete First Combat Operation
13 July 2011	(Last Updated July 13th, 2011 18:30)
Boeing EA-18G Growlers have successfully completed an eight-month deployment that included combat operations in the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and US Africa Command (AFRICOM) areas of responsibility. During the deployment, the US Navy electronic attack squadron VAQ-132 used the Growlers
Boeing EA-18G Growlers have successfully completed an eight-month deployment that included combat operations in the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and US Africa Command (AFRICOM) areas of responsibility.
During the deployment, the US Navy electronic attack squadron VAQ-132 used the Growlers to support CENTCOM operations in Iraq and AFRICOM to conduct operations supporting Nato in Libya.
The EA-18G is the only air combat platform that delivers full-spectrum airborne electronic attack (AEA) capability along with targeting and self-defence capabilities.
The aircraft, a derivative of the two-seat F/A-18F block II Super Hornet, enables warfighters to operate either from the deck of an aircraft carrier or from land-based airfields.
The Growler has replaced the navy's current AEA platform, the EA-6B Prowler aircraft.
Degaussing Systems, Magnetic and Acoustic Sweep System
Ocean Acoustic Developments
Sonar Range Prediction and Global Ocean Information Systems
Dutch Outfitting Group
Outfittings, Interiors and Accommodation for the Naval Industry


We can certainly say that the Efoloie women's boot from Betty London have style! Their nice brown colour and leather upper make them a must-have this year. They have a comfortable and versatile synthetic outer sole. There's no reason to deprive yourself!


You can always count on Young Machine magazine to just about put anything its cover page just so it could splash a huge "Scoop!" headline somewhere in there. Well, the cover of Young Machine's March issue is the latest example of this, thanks in large part to what looks like a mock-up of a parallel twin-cylinder Honda CBR250RR with the accompanying bombastic claim that Honda's planning to launch such a bike in the near future.
It's a hardly a confirmation and Honda hasn't even acknowledged its plans on this end yet, but Young Machine isn't known to temper its enthusiasm if you give it the smallest of opportunities. Take a close look at the mock up and you'll notice that the rendering of the bike came as a result of piecing together a handful of components from Honda's existing line of CBR models. The body work is unmistakably that of the CBR300R while the mechanicals, specifically the frame, suspension and wheels, look to be derived from the CBR650F.
It can't be an accurate interpretation of the CBR250RR since that bike isn't out yet, but it does come close to what I'd expect from such a machine. Given how much Honda's itching to join the ranks of its competition in key markets like India and Indonesia where high-spec, small-capacity sports bikes reign supreme, it's entirely possible that there really is a plan to develop the CBR250RR.
When that will be is an entirely different question altogether. So in the meantime, file this one in the rumor bin, at least until Honda gives us a concrete indication of what its plans really are with this supposed high-performance, small-cylinder sportsbike.
Note: Photo is of the Honda CBR250R.
Click past the jump to read more about Honda's supposed plans for a twin-cylinder CBR250RR.
High-performance, small-displacement sports motorcycles are gaining traction in a market where customers are beginning to understand the advantages of this particular set-up. Young Machine seems to think that Honda's preparing to jump into that pond. That's an interesting take because it would certainly open the Japanese manufacturer up to a whole new segment of eager beavers, ready to plop down their money to buy sports bikes that, in a way, offer more for less.
I'm still not sure whether Honda will push forward with this plan or whether this is nothing more than a rumour that will fizzle out in the future. What I do know is that any talk of a 250cc bike likely means that it's not headed in North America, or Europe for that matter.
The huge number of 300cc bikes in these markets makes it weird to think that Honda's going to introduce a 250cc version. That would just cannibalise the sales of both bikes, which in turn isn't really good for business. So if the CBR250RR really does come to fruition, you can expect it to hit Asian markets instead of Western ones.
Not that Honda has a problem with it because it already has places like India and Indonesia that appear to be waiting with open arms to see this type of sports bike enter their respective markets. Who knows, just because North American and Europe won't get this specific machine, it doesn't mean that Honda won't try to adapt the same principle in its future lineup of 300cc machines.
For now, all we can really do is wait to hear more about what Honda has in mind. Until then, it's hard to conclude whether or not this rumored machine really is ready to enter the market.


text:
Revision as of 11:43, 17 December 2015 by Jeth1 (talk | contribs)
Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Additional resources >> Groundwater Use
Many attempts have been made at local, national and international scales in Africa to estimate how much groundwater is being used, how many people depend on groundwater, and the kinds of activities which groundwater is used for - domestic water supply, small scale irrigation, industry, etc. Because groundwater use is so varied and dispersed, and because of problems collecting, recording, managing and accessing relevant information on groundwater use, these estimates are done in different ways, based on different information, and give different results. However, they are all useful towards increasing understanding of the role of groundwater in Africa and how it could be better developed and used in future. This page describes some ways of addressing the issue of groundwater use. It is not a comprehensive assessment; more information can be obtained by following the links to other organisations below.
1 Using population data to estimate groundwater use
2 WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation
3 Links to Other Data
4 Further Sources of Information
Using population data to estimate groundwater use
An indication of groundwater use across Africa has been developed using rural and urban population data. Gridded datasets of population and urban extent across Africa were processed to provide an estimate of the number of people living on each main aquifer type, and what proportion of this population lives in rural and urban areas.
The gridded population data are derived from the United Nations Environment Programme/Global Resource Information Database (UNEP/GRID) Africa Population Distribution Database (4th edition). This dataset uses population data from 109,000 administrative units across Africa, the most recent of which were compiled for the year 2000. The regional data are gridded using an interpolation method based on settlement locations and transport infrastructure, which helps to distribute the population across an administrative area. The gridding approach and the key sources of uncertainty in the dataset are discussed in detail in the data documentation (Nelson 2004).
The gridded rural-urban data (Balk et al. 2006) are derived from the Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP) Urban Extents Grid (v1). This dataset is produced by the Centre for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), The World Bank, and the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). The dataset is based on a combination of population counts, settlement points, and the presence of night-time lights as observed by a series of US Department of Defence meteorological satellites over several decades.
Balk, D L, Deichmann, U, Yetman, G, Pozzi, F, Hay, S I, and Nelson, A. 2006. Determining Global Population Distribution: Methods, Applications and Data. Advances in Parasitology, Vol. 62, 119-156. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-308X(05)62004-0)
CIESEN, IFPRI, The World Bank and CIAT. 2011. Global Rural-Urban Mapping Projectm Version 1 (GRUMPv1): Urban Extents Grid. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Centre. Accessed 30th October 2014.
Nelson, A. 2004. African Population Database, UNEP GRID Sioux Falls. Retrieved 29th October 2014 (see Links to other data, below).
Nelson, A. 2004. African Population Database Documentation, UNEP GRID Sioux Falls. Retrieved 29th October 2014 (see External links below).
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation
The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation is ongoing, and is providing summary statistics for water supply and sanitation coverage.
Links to Other Data
The UNEP/GRID Africa Population Distribution Database can be accessed via the UNEP website
The GRUMP Urban Extents Grid can be accessed via NASA's Socioeconomic Data and Applications Centre (SEDAC)
Further Sources of Information
AQUASTAT is the FAO's global water information system, providing data for countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Each country profile contains general information on the geographical and economic situation of the country, and more detailed information on water resources (major sources of surface water and groundwater), water use (with a particular focus on irrigation), and water management.
AQUASTAT country profiles and other useful information can be accessed via the AQUASTAT website
Retrieved from 'http://earthwise.bgs.ac.uk/index.php?title=Groundwater_use&oldid=23951'


text:
Silvia Pérez Simondini: Chupacabras Attacks in Argentina
"The Case That May Give Us Answers"
Chupacabras Attacks in Argentina
By Silvia Pérez Simondini - VISION OVNI
On few occasions in this investigation have we had all of the elements on hand to finally reach some conclusions on this phenomenon. First, to bring our readers up to speed, we shall provide you with backup information on the story.
News Item From the Misiones Media:
Ten sheep were mortally attacked in recent weeks in a livestock farmer's field in this locality, according to eyewitness information presented to the Sheriff's office, the body that has been investigating the strange event that has shaken the residents of this rural area.
Since the attacks occurred on two occasions and always at night, the caretakers, farm employees and Police officers have set up a rotating watch against the possibility that the strange animal may reappear again. It left sufficiently clear prints to increase suspicions that the police prefers not to encourage for the time being.
Jose Fraga, owner of the field and the animals, decided to report the happenings to the Police, and while he wanted to file a complaint, the authorities made him desist for the time being, saying "against who would the complaint be filed?" according to clarifications issued by the police department.
Fraga explained that near one of the pens in his field, he found a large, deep footprint with three long toes." Like that of a bird, but somewhat larger," he said, and with regard to the injuries to the animals' bodies, he added: "The all had bite marks on their necks."
Andres Gonzalez, Sheriff of Campo Viera, confirmed that the attacks occurred twice and that "it is truly remarkable that the animal did not devour any of the sheep. It merely killed them by biting their necks, and blood was only found in that area of the body. There was nothing found in the rest of their bodies."
The sheriff noted that he had gone to Fraga's field in person with others to see the event for himself. "Sheep carcass samples were removed, because there were traces of mucus and its possible to determine what attacked these creatures, and we will know in a few days," he explained. "Many people are saying other things, but we have to wait and avoid jumping to conclusions. We really don't know what it may be, because a puma or a yaguareté would've devoured one of the animals. But in this case there are 10 dead sheep and none of them were touched, only to slay them..." said González.
The figure of the Chupacabras began to acquire shape in the locality, and cows exhibiting strange bite-marks were found en in Campo Grande, attributed by connection to the strange animal that has kept the owner of dozens of sheep and top-quality cows in a state of restlessness.
In the Ninth Section
Fraga's field is located in the Ninth Section of Campo Viera, some four kilometers away from the town center of the locality at the province's heart, practically attached to Oberá. Yesterday, Miguel Figueredo – caretaker of the 175 hectare spread – was startled by the events and for the time being cares for the two sheep and one cow that survived the attack. "The sheep have injuries to their necks, they're clinging to life...they don't drink or eat, they're in poor shape. The cow has bites on its teats and I heard over the radio that other cows had been injured in the same area over in Campo Grande..." he explained, somewhat frightened.
"It's as though all of the blood had been sucked out. The vet that came here, cut one of them (the sheep) and not even water came out," he added without hesitation.
In Fraga's field, featuring a ranch up high, there are currently 18 sheep and 50 cows, some of them nursing young. "That's why we're keeping a night watch with the police, because there are many animals and we have to look out for them."
Most of the sheep chosen by the so-called Chupacabras were pregnant, increasing uncertainty about the creature that is loose in the area.
[Next is the report by Silvia Perez Simondini and members of the VISION OVNI group]
Veterinarian: Arno Stockmanns
Animal Owner: José Fraga
Number of Deceased Animals: Ten (10)
Animals Surviving the Attack: Three (3) Sheep
Carcass Description: Ten (10) Sheep were mortally attacked, with exact incisions in their necks, bodies exsanguinated. The attacker injured two more specimens and a cow's udders. The strange animal's attacks were exact in jugular area. In a matter of minutes, it drained the blood from each slain animal.
Crows and caranchos (vultures) fly over the carcasses without coming near the injured parts, as if repelled by something. Other parts of the carcass, however, have been eaten.
A three fingered print was found.
Ants advanced over the sheep carcasses, but turned back upon reaching the neck area.
Antibiotics have been unsuccessfully administered to one of the surviving animals in an effort to halt the infection process: Irondel every 48 hours. Veterinarian Penz from the City of Oberá tested other antibiotics which have hitherto yielded no results.
Based on the photographic material received from the animals' owner, the following patterns have been identified:
1) Acknowledged bovine cattle mutilations – incision with exposure of the jawbone, removal of tissue, tendons, ligaments and hide. Incision made to the larynx without hyoid bone extirpation.
2) Incision to the animal's nose area.
3) Marks on the animal's back with wool removal.
4) Deep incision to the neck area with apparent exsanguination.
5) Lacerations on one specimen's face.
6) Circular cut with nasal injury in another specimen.
7) Incised cut on the outer ear.
1) Well-defined, three-clawed marks were found near the carcasses (similar to those of a very large bird, approximate length of 18 centimeters) which were well-marked due to terrain conditions.
2) Another element observed is the strange behavior of the ants, which invaded the body but died upon reaching the level of the injuries.
3) A deep incised cut on the animal's hide was found. There is the possibility that the animal was "impaled" to hold it down when producing this cut.
This case was consulted with Dr. Alberto Pariani of the National University of La Pampa, not only with regard to the injuries, but as how best to work with the surviving animal, which now displays a process of infection that has not been controlled, despite the veterinarian's efforts. New antibiotics were suggested, and we are awaiting reports on their effect.
It should be highlighted that local authorities have behaved hesitantly in this case. We believe this is due to an inability to find a satisfactory conclusion to the events.
It is important that they intervene in the case, since the possibility of catching this creature alive makes it a very important item of research in finding a satisfactory answer through scientific means.
We are trying to find a way of getting the surviving specimen to the University of La Pampa, which is difficult due to the lack of financial resources to convey it.
The case remains open, awaiting the conclusions of the forensic authorities of Oberá, which we shall consult if the animals' owner does not provide us with a reply.
Our thanks to the Community Leader of Campo Viera, Mr. Juan Carlos Rios, and the animals' owner, Mr. Jose Fraga, for their help and for reporting the case.
(Translation (c) 2010, Scott Corrales, IHU)
Argentina: Victoria Receives a Visit from Space
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Mystery Animals: Yesterday and Today
UFO MATRIX Magazine Issue #2
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