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Demographics of Cape Verde
(Redirected from Languages of Cape Verde)
Two Cape Verdean children playing
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Cape Verde, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Cape Verde has a population of about 540,000 inhabitants who live in the islands. A large proportion (236,000) of Cape Verdeans live on the main island, Santiago.[1] Many more live abroad in the Cape Verdean diaspora in mainland Africa, Europe, U.S., Brazil, et cetera.
The archipelago of Cape Verde were first found and claimed by Portuguese sailors working for the Portuguese Crown in 1456. Cape Verdeans are West African. Trade between the Norwegian and Portuguese people caused a mix of people. Many foreigners from other parts of the world settled in Cape Verde as their permanent country. Most of them were Dutch, French, British (English), Arab and Jewish (from Lebanon and Morocco). All of these have been absorbed into the mixed population.[citation needed]
The high degree of genetic mixture of individuals is a result of centuries of migration. It is not unusual to encounter persons with dark skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, and persons with seemingly light caucasian skin and textured curly hair.
Survival in a country with few natural resources has historically induced Cape Verdeans to emigrate. In fact, of the more than 1 million people of Cape Verdean ancestry in the world, only a little more than one-third actually live on the islands. Some 500,000 people of Cape Verdean ancestry live in the United States, mainly in New England. Many people of Cape Verdean ancestry also live in Portugal, Netherlands, France, Italy, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, and Senegal. Cape Verdean populations also settled Spain, Germany, Canada, and other CPLP countries (Angola, Brazil and Guinea-Bissau). Since after independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Cape Verdean students continued to be admitted every year at Portuguese high schools, polytechnical institutes and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese and Cape Verdean governments.
Portuguese functions as a state language. Virtually all formal documents and official declarations are stated in Portuguese. But it is not the first language. Cape Verdean, commonly called Creolo, is spoken as a mother tongue by virtually all Cape Verdeans, irrespective of social status or religious affiliation. Moreover, historical linguists often attribute Cape Verdean Creole as the oldest "New World" contact language. It is a "contact" language in the sense that it was birthed and evolved between linguistically different groups who, by necessity, had to create a common language to communicate with each other. There is a rich repertoire of literature and songs in Cape Verdean Creole. In religion, the majority of Cape Verdeans follow Catholic Christianity. There are some Protestants, Bahá'ís and Muslims.
2 Vital statistics
2.1 Fertility and births
2.2 Life expectancy
3 Other demographic statistics
3.1 Population
3.2 Age structure
3.3 Median age
3.4 Population growth rate
3.5 Birth rate
3.6 Death rate
3.7 Net migration rate
3.8 Total fertility rate
3.9 Urbanization
3.10 Sex ratio
3.11 Life expectancy at birth
3.12 HIV/AIDS
3.13 Genetics
3.14 Ethnic groups
3.15 Religions
3.16 Languages
3.17 Literacy
3.18 School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
3.19 Dependency ratios
Demographics of Cape Verde, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.
According to the 2017 revision of the World Population Prospects[2] the total population was 539,560 in 2016, compared to only 178 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 31.8%, 62.3% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 5.9% was 65 years or older.[3]
Population aged 0–14 (%)
Population aged 15–64 (%)
Population aged 65+ (%)
1950 178 000 32.6 59.8 7.6
1970 274 000 48.2 47.8 4
1980 300 000 46 48.7 5.3
Vital statistics[edit]
Vital events of Cape Verde are not (yet) available for recent years. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.[3]
Live births per year
Deaths per year
Natural change per year
CBR*
CDR*
NC*
TFR*
IMR*
1950-1955 9 000 4 000 5 000 49.0 22.6 26.3 6.57 139
1955-1960 10 000 4 000 5 000 48.0 21.1 26.9 6.76 132
1970-1975 12 000 4 000 8 000 41.1 13.4 27.7 6.86 96
1980-1985 13 000 3 000 10 000 41.3 10.3 31.0 6.10 65
1985-1990 14 000 3 000 11 000 40.9 9.2 31.7 5.63 54
2000-2005 12 000 3 000 9 000 26.2 5.8 20.5 3.28 28
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)
Births and deaths[4]
Population (x1000)
Live births
Natural increase
Crude birth rate
Crude death rate
2009 13 044 2 897 10 147 25,6 5,7 19,9
Fertility and births[edit]
Total fertility rate (TFR) (wanted fertility rate) and crude birth rate (CBR):[5]
CBR (Total)
TFR (Total)
CBR (Urban)
TFR (Urban)
CBR (Rural)
TFR (Rural)
2005 22 2,9 (2,8) 23 2,7 (2,7) 22 3,1 (3,0)
Fertility data from 2005 (DHS Program):[6]
Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant
Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49
Santo Antão 2.9 3.8 6.0
São Vicente 2.0 3.4 4.0
São Nicolau 3.3 4.4 4.2
Sal 3.2 7.0 3.9
Boa Vista 2.4 10.0 4.4
Maio 2.6 1.7 4.3
Santiago 3.1 5.4 4.5
Praia Urbano 3.2 5.1 4.5
Santiago Norte 2.7 6.2 4.3
Resto Santiago 3.3 4.6 4.8
Fogo 3.1 6.3 5.6
Brava 2.8 7.0 5.0
Life expectancy[edit]
Life expectancy in
Years[7]
1950–1955 48.08
Other demographic statistics[edit]
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.[8]
One birth every 46 minutes
One death every 180 minutes
One net migrant every 360 minutes
Net gain of one person every 76 minutes
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.[9]
568,373 (July 2018 est.)
Age structure[edit]
Population pyramid of Cape Verde in 2017
0-14 years: 28.7% (male 82,035 /female 81,082)
15-24 years: 19.64% (male 55,811 /female 55,798)
25-54 years: 40.02% (male 110,646 /female 116,804)
55-64 years: 6.4% (male 16,154 /female 20,245)
65 years and over: 5.24% (male 11,272 /female 18,526) (2018 est.)
Median age[edit]
total: 25.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 153rd
male: 25 years
Total: 23.1 years
Population growth rate[edit]
1.32% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 83rd
Birth rate[edit]
19.7 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 79th
Death rate[edit]
6 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 163rd
Net migration rate[edit]
-0.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 128th
Total fertility rate[edit]
2.21 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 95th
Urbanization[edit]
urban population: 65.7% of total population (2018)
Sex ratio[edit]
At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
Life expectancy at birth[edit]
total population: 72.7 years (2018 est.)
male: 70.3 years (2018 est.)
female: 75.1 years (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 147th
Total population: 71 years
Male: 68.78 years
Female: 73.27 years (2012 est.)
HIV/AIDS[edit]
Adult prevalence rate: 0.035% (2001 est.)
People living with HIV/AIDS: 775 (2001)
Deaths: 225 (as of 2001)
Genetics[edit]
E1b1a, R1b
The predominance of west African mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in their maternal gene pool, the major west African Y-chromosome lineage E3a was observed only at a frequency of 15.9%. Overall, these results indicate that gene flow from multiple sources and sex-specific patterns have been important in the formation of the genomic diversity in the Cabo Verde islands.[10]
Ethnic groups[edit]
Creole (Mulatto) 71%, African 28%, European 1%[11]
Religions[edit]
Main article: Religion in Cape Verde
Catholic 77.3%, Protestant 3.7% (includes Church of the Nazarene 1.7%, Adventist 1.5%, Universal Kingdom of God 0.4%, and God and Love 0.1%), other Christian 4.3% (includes Christian Rationalism 1.9%, Jehovah's Witness 1%, Assembly of God 0.9%, and New Apostolic 0.5%), Islam 1.8%, Other 1.3%, None 10.8%, Unspecified 0.7% [11]
Languages[edit]
Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words)[11]
Literacy[edit]
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)[edit]
total: 12 years (2017)
male: 12 years (2017)
Dependency ratios[edit]
total dependency ratio: 55.4 (2015 est.)
youth dependency ratio: 48.4 (2015 est.)
elderly dependency ratio: 6.9 (2015 est.)
potential support ratio: 14.4 (2015 est.)
See also: List of Cape Verdeans, Cape Verdean American, and Cape Verdeans in the Netherlands
^ "Cape Verde: Population". Caperverde.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
^ "World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision". ESA.UN.org (custom data acquired via website). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
^ a b "Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision". Esa.un.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
^ "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
^ "Server Error". microdata.worldbank.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
^ "Inquérito Demográfico e de Saúde Reprodutiva (IDSR-II)" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. 2005. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
^ "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
^ "Cape Verde Population 2019", World Population Review
^ "The World FactBook - Cameroon", The World Factbook, July 12, 2018 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Gonçalves, Rita; Alexandra Rosa; Ana Freitas; Ana Fernandes; Toomas Kivisild; Richard Villems; António Brehm (26 August 2003). "Y-chromosome lineages in Cabo Verde Islands witness the diverse geographic origin of its first male settlers". Human Genetics. 113 (6): 467–472. doi:10.1007/s00439-003-1007-4. PMID 12942365.
^ a b c "Africa :: CAPE VERDE". CIA The World Factbook.
This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2008 edition".
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of Cape Verde.
National Institute of Statistics
Demographic Highlights — Statistics from the Population Reference Bureau
Economy of Cape Verde
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Bank of Cape Verde
Bolsa de Valores de Cabo Verde
Telecommunications in Cape Verde
Tourism in Cape Verde
UNTC-CS
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Demographics of Africa
Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
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Cape Verde articles
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As Arizona continues to put more money back into our public schools, we must also ensure that all education resources are maximized for the classroom.
One area of particular risk for diversion of classroom dollars is the upkeep and maintenance of empty or under capacity buildings. The potential savings are substantial. For example, 2012 Arizona Auditor General report found that the Scottsdale Unified School District could pay teachers $3.8 million more if they made better use of their school facilities.
New research shows that Arizona has nearly 1.4 million square feet of unused school building space.
Poorly utilized school space is expensive and restricts the ability to focus resources on students and teachers, and the impacts are only amplified in traditionally underserved areas.
Between fiscal years 2004 and 2017, Arizona school districts added 22.6 million square feet of building space – a 19 percent increase. Yet, during that same time frame student enrollment increased by only 6 percent. Imagine what could happen if these empty or partially-utilized buildings were used in a way that created resources for their host districts. It's been done in other places such as Georgia, California, and New York. Here in Arizona the savings for school districts could reach $21 million to $38 million per year. Imagine what this could mean for teacher pay and classroom resources!
Fortunately, there is a solution in play to maximize use of this publicly built space to expand opportunities for families to attend high demand district and charter programs, while allowing more resources to be directed into classrooms.
A bill moving in the state legislature, Senate Bill 1161, gives school districts additional tools to manage empty and partially used buildings and to support voluntary and innovative school partnerships to use this space. Some partnerships already in the pipeline are with other district partners, a military base, or public charter schools. If we want to relieve budgetary pressures, secure facility cost savings, and free up resources for teachers and other educational resources, we must empower districts with the authority to manage these expensive assets.
To continue our groundbreaking academic gains, we must look at all policy barriers – including empty facilities – to drive available dollars to teacher pay and provide more families with access to an exceptional education.
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text:
Documentation of statistics
National Accounts, Financial Accounts
Government Finances, Economic Statistics.
Jesper Søgaard Dreesen
jsd@dst.dk
Get as PDF
Financial accounts are part of the national accounts system, which shows how the institutional sectors of the economy place / finance their net lending/net borrowing. Statistics Denmark published annual financial accounts for the first time in 2001, while the Danmarks Nationalbank (Danish Central Bank) published quarterly figures for the first time in 2004. From September 2020, the national and quarterly financial accounts of the national accounts is compiled in a collaboration between Danmarks Nationalbank and Statistics Denmark.
Statistical presentation
Financial accounts are part of the national accounts system and consist of coherent definitions and classifications that show how the institutional sectors of the economy place / finance their net lending / net borrowing and how the net financial net worth are placed in financial instruments. Financial accounts are a quarterly and annual statistics and consist of the financial transaction account, the revaluation account, the account for other volume changes and respectively the opening and closing balances. Contact information for Danmarks Nationalbank can be found in Comments.
The compilation of National Accounts in 2020 is affected by additional uncertainty in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is especially true in the first compilations where source material is scarce. As more information becomes available, the National Accounts will be updated. Read more (only available in Danish) at www.dst.dk/Nationalregnskab
Read more about statistical presentation
Statistical processing
Data is collected continuously throughout the year from many different sources. Then the data is processed in relation to the conceptual apparatus of the national accounts, where it may be necessary to contact the specific source with clarifying questions for the data. There may be a need to calculate estimates for the data that are not available at the time of publication. Once all sources have been obtained, some balancing is carried out to ensure the internal consistency that underpins the national accounts.
Read more about statistical processing
The purpose of these statistics is to shed light on the wealth and debt of companies and households as well as the overall financial stability of society. Financial accounts are relevant to anyone dealing with socio-economic issues. It ranges from Danmarks Nationalbank, financial institutions, the economic ministries, interest groups and financial analysts. The press is particularly interested in the figures for the household sector.
Read more about relevance
Accuracy and reliability
The ability of the national accounts' financial accounts to accurately describe the economic reality depends partly on the uncertainty associated with the sources and partly on the model assumptions on which the preparation is based. Some parts can be calculated more accurately than others, as there is better access to source data. The initial bids for a period's financial accounts will be more uncertain than the final version, which comes after two and a half years, as new sources are continuously revised when new sources become available.
Read more about accuracy and reliability
Timeliness and punctuality
The first version of the quarterly financial accounts is published 90 days after the end of the quarter. In connection with the publication of the 4th quarter at the end of March, the first version of the annual financial accounts will also be published. The final quarterly and annual financial accounts are issued two and a half years after the census period. The national accounts are published in time.
Read more about timeliness and punctuality
Comparability
The national accounts' financial accounts are prepared in accordance with international guidelines and are thus comparable across countries. The current guidelines were implemented in 2014.
As of September 2020, there is full comparability between the quarterly and annual financial accounts from 2017 onwards.
Danmarks Nationalbank has quarterly figures dating back to 2005, while Statistics Denmark has annual figures dating back to 1995. For the period before 2017, however, the two statistics do not match, which can primarily be attributed to different sources or methodological choices.
Read more about comparability
Accessibility and clarity
The statistics are published in StatBank under the topic National accounts and public finances and in Danmarks Nationalbank's Statbank under the topic Financial accounts.
Read more about accessibility and clarity

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Here is a circuit I designed to be part of any number of projects. It is used to detect when an AC current is flowing and send a 5 VDC signal to another piece of equipment. It is a simple circuit that can be built with as little as five components.
There are many uses for the sensor. When used with a comparator, Schmitt trigger or optocoupler and a separate power supply, it can drive higher amp dc loads. It can also signal microcontrollers such as an Arduino, giving you even more possibilities.
For example, I am working on a project where I would like a shop vac to turn on as soon as i press the trigger on my mitre saw. when the trigger is released, I would like it to run for 5-10 seconds longer to clear all the dust. Another possible use would be to turn on a bathroom fan when the light is turned on, and off after a preset amount of time.
I can think of a few ideas, I'll leave a page near the end just for that purpose.
Step 1: Parts and Assembly.
Assembly is pretty straight forward. Just be sure to keep the correct polarity on the capacitor and diodes.
Look at the photos for a second schematic. It describes the use of a trim pot instead of a pull-down resistor. I haven't tested that circuit but if my theory is correct, you should be able to adjust the sensitivity with the trim pot.
To use the circuit, just feed the black (hot) wire on the AC circuit through the CT and voila, current sensing.
In the industry as well as some projects you may want to use a timer of some sort. In many cases, you have to buy one specific to the need. for instance, when dealing with banks of motors, you do not want all of them to start at the same time. if that were to happen, it could overload the wire and cause damage. Using this with a microcontroller you could delay the start of some motors to ease up on the whole system.
In another case, you may not want two things running at the same time. maybe you have two water pumps, a main one and a standby. While the main one is on, the standby is off, and vice versa.
Have a piece of equipment you want to monitor the runtime of. you could have it so that it will automatically shut down after a pre-determined amount of time, sound an alarm, trigger a separate system or any combination thereof.
This circuit coupled with an Arduino, and a few modules can be used for a limitless amount of projects.
- From a dead CFL lamp one can recycle the small transformer. It is for free, small and it's capacity is more than enough to serve in a sensor cirtuit like this.
- I would use this circuit in my home alarm system as a mains sensor. Alarm systems depend on mains power, their battery typically can last for just a few hours, and a mains outage may predicts and intrusion.
- This design also could be useful in DIY emergency exit lights which are automatically lights on in a power outage.


text:
Congress Gets Big Jolt, Jitin Prasada Joins BJP
NationBreaking News
By OMMCOM NEWS Last updated Jun 9, 2021
New Delhi: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh Jitin Prasad on Wednesday joined BJP in presence of union railway minister Piyush Goyal and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni at party headquarters, giving a big jolt to the Congress party.
Welcoming Prasada, Goyal praised his commitment to serve the people and said that he (Prasada) will play an important role in Uttar Pradesh. "He will have a major role in Uttar Pradesh politics in the future. He is someone who is connected to the ground realities and is a popular leader in the state," Goyal said.
Prasada thanked BJP president J.P. Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah for accepting him in the saffron fold.
Prasada said, "The question is not why I'm leaving a party but why I'm joining another party. If there is a party in the real sense today, an institutional party, then it is the BJP. Other parties are either regional or person specific."
After joining BJP, Prasad said, "I feel there is no purpose of your doing politics or staying in a political party if a person is not able to serve or protect the interest of its people. I realized being in Congress and not being able to do the same. So, I joined BJP and my work will only speak for itself."
His father Jitendra Prasada was a prominent 'Brahmin' face in Uttar Prasad, who had challenged Sonia Gandhi's leadership in 1999 and had contested against her for the post of party chief. He died in 2002.
The saffron party believes that Prasada joining BJP will help it pacify Brahmins in Uttar Pradesh, where the Assembly poll will be held early next year. A party insider said that Prasada could be projected as the Brahmin face of the party which is completely missing in Uttar Pradesh.
Prasada, once close to Rahul Gandhi, was part of Group-23 (G-23) signatories who had written to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi demanding for sweeping reforms in the party. Despite being a dissenter, he was tasked with the Congress campaign in West Bengal, which turned out to be a disappointment. Taking a stand against the party, he opposed Congress's alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) in West Bengal.
Congress LeadersJitin PrasadaJitin Prasada Joins BJPManmohan SinghPiyush GoyalSonia Gandhi


September 3, 2014 • Lots of airports have retail. The largest blueberry producer in Georgia is at an airport. And in Pittsburgh, Consol Energy will begin extracting gas underneath the airport — even under the runways.
August 19, 2014 • Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center worked together for decades. But tensions have prompted a split and uncertainty in Pittsburgh's health care market.
May 18, 2011 • Several years ago, an unusual face began appearing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, over and over again. It wasn't a mug shot; it wasn't a columnist's headshot. It was the face of Billy Nardozzi.


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text:
Study: Algae Could Replace 17% of Oil Imports by 2022
Joanna Schroeder April 13, 2011
In a new study released by the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (NPPL), algal fuels could replace 17 percent of the United States' imported oil by 2020. The paper was published in the journal of Water Resources Research but warned that biofuels production, including algal fuels, can require a lot of water so the study cautioned that being smart about where the algae is grown can reduce the water needed. Researchers concluded that water use could be drastically reduced if the algae is grown in the sunniest and most humid climates including the Gulf Coast, the Southeastern Seaboard and the Great Lakes.
"Algae has been a hot topic of biofuel discussions recently, but no one has taken such a detailed look at how much America could make – and how much water and land it would require — until now," said Mark Wigmosta, lead author and a PNNL hydrologist. "This research provides the groundwork and initial estimates needed to better inform renewable energy decisions."
The research team's goal was to provide the first in-depth assessment of algal biofuels potential based on the amount of available land and water. The study also factored in how much water would need to be replaced due to evaporation over 30 years. The research analyzed previously published data to determine how much algae could be grown in outdoor, fresh water ponds when using current technologies. The study did not factor in algae grown in salt water and covered ponds.
When taking into account various factors, the research team determined that 21 billion gallons of algal oil, the amount equal to the advanced biofuels category of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2), could be produced by algae by 2022.
The researchers found that 21 billion gallons of algal oil, equal to the 2022 advanced biofuels goal set out by the Energy Independence and Security Act, can be produced from American-grown algae. This amount equates to 17 percent of the oil that the U.S. imported in 2008 for transportation fuels. To achieve this amount, the researchers estimate that the amount of land needed to produce this number would be approximately the size of the state of South Carolina. They also found that it would take 350 gallons of water per gallon of oil — or a quarter of what the country currently uses for irrigated agriculture — to produce 21 billion gallons of algal biofuel.
The study also concluded that up to 48 percent of the current transportation oil imports could be replaced with algae, but this higher production level would require significantly more water and land. Therefore the authors focused their research on the U.S. regions that would use less water to grow algae.
The authors also found that algae's water use is similar to other biofuel sources. When considering the gas efficiency of a standard light-utility vehicle, they estimated growing algae uses anywhere between 8.6 and 50.2 gallons of water per mile driven on algal biofuel. In comparison, data from previously published research indicated that corn ethanol can be made with less water, but showed a larger usage range: between 0.6 and 61.9 gallons of water per mile driven. The ranges significantly varied due to several factors including the differing water needs of specific growing regions (aka irrigated versus non-irrigated crops) and the different assumptions and methods used by various researchers. Previously published data indicated conventional gas uses between about 0.09 and 0.3 gallons of water per mile.
The authors deduced that algae has several advantages over other biofuel sources. They note that algae can produce more than 80 times more oil than corn per hectare a year and like corn and soybeans, don't compete for food. In addition, the authors note that algae are carbon dioxide-consuming organisms, so they are considered a carbon-neutral energy source. Algae can feed off carbon emissions from power plants or other biorefineries, delaying the emissions' entry into the atmosphere. Algae also digest nitrogen and phosphorous, which are common water pollutants. That means algae can also grow in — and clean — municipal waste water.
"Water is an important consideration when choosing a biofuel source," Wigmosta said. "And so are many other factors. Algae could be part of the solution to the nation's energy puzzle — if we're smart about where we place growth ponds and the technical challenges to achieving commercial-scale algal biofuel production are met."
algae, biofuels, corn, Research, water


text:
Jeanette Luna
by Kevin Rostam
art by Hailey Kopp
What is a high? And what are the neural processes that underlie psychoactivity? You likely just reflected on those first two sentences and thought back to your experiences with cannabis; not to worry, I hypothetically did too. With cannabis legalization quickly sweeping the globe and increasing discourse about federal legalization in the United States, growing attention is being paid to the implications of this puzzling plant that has been with us for over one million years [1].
What Is Cannabis, and What Is Its History?
What exactly is happening in the human body when cannabis is introduced? The answers to this question are heavily sought after, and research over the past 35 years has revealed much about these processes. The psychoactivity, or altered mental state, induced by cannabis can be attributed to the absorption of a highly concentrated element called tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly referred to as THC, into the bloodstream [2]. The interactions between this psychoactive molecule and the nervous system induce sedation, relaxation, euphoria, and appetite stimulation [3]. Additionally, THC is known to cause feelings of anxiety and paranoia for some [3].
Another term you may hear being thrown around is cannabidiol, more commonly referred to as CBD, which is another high-concentration constituent of cannabis that is commonly credited for alleviating pain, reducing anxiety, and acting as an anticonvulsant by preventing epileptic episodes [4]. What makes CBD so promising as a possible therapeutic is that unlike THC, it does not induce psychoactivity [4]. Due to these acclaimed therapeutic benefits and a general lack of side effects, CBD oils and capsules are widely available and utilized by those who choose to self-medicate.
The wide array of physiological responses of the human body to these cannabis compounds nods to a functional importance that has been evolutionarily conserved. In alignment with this notion, THC and CBD were isolated from cannabis and had their chemical structures revealed in the 1960s [5, 6]. Twenty-five years later, significant research interest was fueling the push for the discovery of these molecules' internal targets, also known as endogenous targets. In the late 1980s, the first endogenous target of THC was discovered and named cannabinoid receptor 1, or CB1 [7]. With this discovery, researchers wisely presumed that CB1 must be modulated by an endogenous, naturally synthesized molecule that activates this receptor in the human body. A few years later, anandamide was discovered and identified as the first endocannabinoid—or internally produced cannabinoid—shown to modulate CB1 [8]. This groundbreaking discovery confirmed that the human body naturally produces molecules that function similarly to those found in cannabis [8]. The molecular pathway that regulates activity between cannabinoid receptors such as CB1 and naturally synthesized endocannabinoids has come to be known as the endocannabinoid system [9]. Since the mid-1990s, a plethora of endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors have been identified. This is an ongoing process that has opened the door to investigating the role of these elements in standard biological functions, which is a crucial next step toward the detection of therapeutic targets.
The Cannabis Funding Complication
In the past twenty years alone, over $1.5 billion have been subsidized to support cannabis research in the United States by NIDA, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse [10]. The total funding allocated towards cannabis research has nearly quintupled from just over $30 million in the year 2000 to nearly $150 million in 2018. This budget goes toward both the study of the harmful effects of cannabis and the task of uncovering mechanisms that underlie the therapeutic potential of cannabis-derived compounds [10]. A major constraint to the turnover of cannabis research boils down to marijuana's Schedule-I drug status. It has been classified as a substance with high potential for abuse with no medical utility, on par with illicit substances such as heroin and ecstasy. This has made it more tightly regulated than highly addictive, yet medically operational Schedule II drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, and fentanyl [11]. Despite the clear therapeutic potential indicated by scientific literature and discussed later in this article, cannabis researchers must endure a lengthy regulatory approval process by institutional review boards, departments in state governments, academic institutions, and funding sources because of the drug's scheduling status. In addition to the hindrance imposed on researchers, the moral ambiguity of current drug policy has spurred a presidential directive issued to the Department of Health and Human Services to produce a review into whether marijuana is appropriately listed as a Schedule-I substance [12].
Endocannabinoids and Synaptic Plasticity
One of the primary mechanisms neurons utilize to communicate with each other is synaptic transmission, which occurs in the space between two neurons known as the synapse [13]. When a neuron sends an impulse down its axon, the axon terminal releases chemicals called neurotransmitters that cross the synapse and reach the neighboring, postsynaptic neuron [13]. These neurotransmitters then bind to receptors and convey the desired message from the presynaptic neuron. In doing so, neurons can send and receive information via these signaling molecules [13]. The ability of synapses to undergo modifications that alter signaling strength is referred to as synaptic plasticity [14]. Changes in synaptic plasticity can induce changes in nervous system processes such as cognition, mood, motor control, and a plethora of others [14]. In the case of the endocannabinoid system, postsynaptic neurons can initiate the synthesis of endocannabinoids, a class of neurotransmitters, in response to the signal of their presynaptic partners [15]. These newly created endocannabinoids then travel backward through the synapse (from the postsynaptic neuron to the presynaptic neuron) and inhibit the release of other neurotransmitters, demonstrating the efficacy of the endocannabinoid system in modulating "short-term" synaptic plasticity [15]. These endocannabinoid signaling mechanisms have also been linked to long-term plasticity, where they have the ability to affect both presynaptic and postsynaptic architecture. In other words, they actively change the types and quantities of receptors and neurotransmitters released, which in turn alter synapse strength [16]. These permanent changes to neural circuit function explain their "long-term" denotation, which occur in contrast to temporary changes to dynamics such as the induction of neurotransmitter release, a
"short-term" effect [16]. The ability of endocannabinoid signaling to affect neural circuit architecture in a permanent manner is what makes understanding this system so vital for the development of therapies.
Since the endocannabinoid system (ECS) is modulated by cannabis pharmacology, it has received increasing attention as a therapeutic target. The ECS is a known participant in several physiological processes such as learning, memory, neuropathic pain, inflammation, appetite, metabolism, stress regulation, and addiction [17, 18]. The following sections will be centered around the potential of cannabis to address two of these physiological processes: pain and metabolism, with research on the latter having increased exponentially in the past few years.
Cannabis and Neuropathic Pain
Whether it's from a vigorously long workout or from getting out of your chair after studying all afternoon, we are all familiar with pain. Pain signals are transmitted from the peripheral nervous system via specialized cell clusters known as dorsal root ganglia, which then relay this information to the brain, resulting in the familiar pain sensation [19]. While pain is an important, evolutionarily conserved experience that communicates an imminent risk of injury to the individual, it is also a byproduct of devastating neurological disorders and other afflictions such as cancer [20]. An abnormal increase in pain sensation due to disease states is referred to as neuropathic pain, or pain caused by damage to nerve cells. Neuropathic pain is a central element of neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder in which myelin, an insulating coating around the branches of neurons, is effectively removed and makes neuronal signaling slower within the nervous system [21]. This "demyelination" is caused by an immune system response to a specialized group of neurons known as oligodendrocytes, which are the supporting cells responsible for myelin production [21]. Significant amounts of research support the notion that the activation of CB1 in oligodendrocytes improves their survivability and population growth [21]. Since THC is an extremely reliable activator of CB1 receptors, a natural next question is: "Can cannabis be used as a treatment for multiple sclerosis?" THC has in fact been used to alleviate muscle spasms, rigidity, and pain in afflicted patients, wholly bypassing clinical trials and being approved for medical use in a subset of countries [22]. The scientific literature on the therapeutic benefits of this compound is rather clear, rendering claims of a lack of therapeutic potential blatantly unfounded.
Let's consider the effects of cannabis on another unfortunate, but common, neurological disorder—Alzheimer's disease. This disease causes a malfunction of neurons in the brain and is the primary cause of dementia [23]. The neuronal malfunction is caused by a buildup of a protein known as amyloid beta. Although many variants of this protein exist and contribute to a buildup in the brain collectively referred to as plaques, the scientific literature indicates that the accumulation of amyloid beta 42 is the primary culprit underlying neurodegeneration [23]. Neural functions that are disrupted commonly include the pain circuit, and dysregulation of such often leads to chronic pain [23]. We have been talking a lot about THC, the primary psychoactive constituent of cannabis; however, CBD has also been implicated to be of therapeutic potential. In an Alzheimer's disease model, the administration of CBD demonstrated a neuroprotective effect, preventing axonal degeneration and maintaining proper neuron structure [24].
Cannabis and Metabolism: The Munchies Paradox
Although research on the therapeutic potential of cannabis has largely been centered on its implications surrounding pain, research on its involvement in metabolism is stirring the pot in regard to renewed interest for its clinical potential. An increased appetite is a common experience when people consume cannabis of moderate THC dosage [25]. But what makes this so paradoxical is that despite causing a craving for foods that are high in sugar and fat content, THC dosages result in weight loss both anecdotally in humans and in rodent studies [25]. A scientific term of interest that has risen in popularity as of late, the "gut microbiome'' (referring to the microorganisms that live in our digestive tract), is being increasingly implicated in metabolic health. For this reason, researchers have started investigating the relationship between gut bacteria and THC-induced weight loss. One study specifically investigated a bacterium known as A. muciniphila and noted that its population increased in response to a THC dosage in mice [26]. The same population of mice demonstrated a weight loss of 12.5 percent total body weight in males and 15.7 percent total body weight in females [26]. These findings point to the possibility that THC-induced weight loss may be occurring independently of the endocannabinoid system and interacting with other biological systems. Just last year, a significant paper was published demonstrating that cannabinoids affect food preferences and consumption in drosophila, more commonly known as fruit flies, but there's a catch—drosophila do not have an endocannabinoid system and lack CB1 and CB2 receptors [26]. In fact, endocannabinoids such as anandamide were shown to affect feeding behavior in these organisms, again bolstering the notion that cannabinoids have roles outside of the endocannabinoid system, and that the extent of their interactions in other biological processes is unknown [27].
The Clinical Standing of Cannabis
The therapeutic upsides of cannabis modulation of the endocannabinoid system through THC and CBD are clear, but a variety of research has also implicated negative side effects of the THC modulation. One of the primary downsides is that this compound may induce excessive psychoactivity [28]. The effects of THC usage have been characterized based on dosage during specific developmental stages, where the literature indicates that marijuana usage is most detrimental when used heavily during adolescence [28]. In fact, marijuana use in adolescents with a genetic predisposition to develop schizophrenia increases the likelihood of falling victim to this neuropsychiatric disorder over time, and accelerates the timeline to experiencing the first psychotic episode [28]. During this stage of development, heavy marijuana usage is also linked to cognitive impairment and lower educational attainment, although other factors such as socioeconomic status are important to consider in this argument [28]. Most compelling, however, is the comparison of marijuana addiction rates: 17 percent of those who use cannabis during adolescence fight addiction during adulthood, whereas only nine percent of the total population of cannabis users face this dilemma [28]. These findings indicate that the possible consequences of THC usage, primarily the psychoactive side effects imparted by interactions with CB1 receptors, are a risk factor for many. These are the primary obstacles preventing THC from advancing further as a lone pharmacological candidate.
These barriers were a primary point of discussion in a personal interview with Dr. Allyn Howlett, a full professor of physiology and pharmacology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine and the pioneering researcher who discovered the CB1 receptor, who also shed light on her groundbreaking work and the potential of cannabinoid therapies. The discovery of CB1 began with a correspondence to a team of chemists at Pfizer, who agreed to send Dr. Howlett a few cannabinoid compounds of interest [29]. The data from experimentation with these compounds demonstrated a convincing relationship between an unknown endogenous receptor and the cannabinoid compounds that had been sent. According to Dr. Howlett, by the time she went back to report the findings, the company had moved on and pronounced that "there were no therapeutic uses for cannabinoids" [29]. In addition to her lab's data, Pfizer had produced their own set of data in regard to other aspects of the activity of these cannabinoid molecules. As a biochemical neuropharmacologist, Dr. Howlett's expertise on the relationship between receptor structure and its interactions with various biomolecules led her to realize the importance of having both datasets to test correlation and clarified that because the company didn't care about cannabinoid compounds therapeutically anymore, they were willing to publish the data. Having both pieces of the puzzle led Howlett and her team to draw the conclusion that cannabinoid compounds had high affinities with the
receptor now known as cannabinoid receptor 1, or CB1. "It was a boon to mankind that they decided not to do that [proceed with cannabinoid research] because now we have a wealth of information about cannabinoids, but on the other hand, just envision what life would be like if they did have a cannabinoid compound on the market for pain relief," said Howlett, addressing the reality that a cannabinoid pain reliever achieving FDA approval and hitting the market would have driven other larger companies to do the same. In alignment with much of what has been discussed about the unwanted side effects associated with THC usage, Dr. Howlett noted that Pfizer's decision to step away from cannabinoids research "was based on the safety profile. The side effects would have made it difficult for at-home use" [29].
The second significant constituent of cannabis, CBD, has been implicated as a valuable therapy for a plethora of neuropsychiatric conditions, primarily as a mild sedative for anxiety, and has found potential as an adjunctive treatment to THC [30]. As discussed above, a negative side effect of THC is that it induces excess psychoactivity that may be undesirable, but when co-administered with CBD, it has been shown to reduce psychoactivity. In multiple sclerosis patients, for example, the co-administration of CBD allows for higher doses of THC to be prescribed, leading to more promising clinical outcomes than the administration of THC alone [30]. CBD interacts differently with the endocannabinoid system and also targets a variety of other signaling systems, which explains why it does not alter one's mental state [30].
When asked about the potential of THC in combination with CBD, Howlett noted that "drug companies tend to stay away from combination compounds, back in the olden days there were efforts to develop combinations, but I don't know that it has taken off" [29]. The same story holds for the potential of CBD alone as a therapy, as Howlett noted that "those pieces of information have fallen by the wayside, and maybe that's partly because when it was obvious that THC was correlating with CB1 receptor interactions for pain relief, everyone jumped on that," which took attention away from other candidates such as CBD [29]. That being said, the realm of cannabinoids research remains novel and with many discoveries in the queue, especially as clinicians continue to search for high efficacy treatments for the issues of pain and metabolic disease.
The Future of Cannabis as a Therapy
Although this article only begins to introduce the therapeutic potential of cannabis and its constituents, a wide array of ongoing research is attempting to further reveal the mechanisms of action of cannabinoids. Additional efforts are being employed to develop therapies that evade the psychoactive properties of THC while still taking advantage of the endocannabinoid system. An example of this is the chemical synthesis of molecules that resemble THC, but are structurally modified to successfully circumvent side effects [31]. In a second personal interview with Dr. Heather Bradshaw, a full professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, discussion revolved around approaches researchers are taking to tap into the body's synthetic processes [32]. When asked about whether there are ways to alter production levels of endogenously produced cannabinoids, Dr. Bradshaw stated that "the machinery that makes one endocannabinoid is the same machinery that makes other endocannabinoids. It's messy and difficult to modulate on that level. We don't have that specificity" [32]. Targeting receptors as opposed to directly regulating levels of endocannabinoids seems to be the most productive strategy for harnessing the power of cannabinoids. According to Dr. Bradshaw, "Figuring out which receptors that cannabinoids like THC, CBD, and others are targeting for these effects" is the next step that needs to be taken [32]. One of the problems with a receptor-based approach is that any single molecule likely interacts with a plethora of receptors, making it difficult to isolate the effects of a biomolecule to a specific receptor type, which has led to interest in the development of better molecules that only target individual receptors.
When asked about scientific philosophy, Dr. Bradshaw clarified that "my pharmacological goal is not to come up with a drug that somebody would take forever, it's to try to help them get back into homeostasis and allow their body to start signaling properly again. That is the goal of pharmacology really, to understand the system, exploit the system, and put it back in balance" [32]. As discussed in this article, cannabis and the endocannabinoid system have effects on a variety of systems, meaning that there have to be compounds in cannabis that interact with specific receptors that drive changes in those systems, and not just through CB1. We just don't know what the perfect targets are yet. Along these lines, Dr. Bradshaw shed light on the combinatorial mechanisms of cannabis, specifically that "there must be situations in which mixtures of cannabis are optimized for symptom relief, it doesn't help to have any cannabis, it goes back to which molecules interact with which signaling systems in the body, and exploiting all these different compounds in cannabis and their ratios" [32].
Looking to the future, Dr. Bradshaw takes the position that as more is understood about pharmacology, the more obvious it becomes that there are no on/off switches [32]. The issues researchers are addressing are not single-cause issues—a multitude of systems are dysregulated, leaving the door wide open for a generation of scientists looking to identify the systems at play and discover how to correctly regulate their interactions. Due to its novelty in the scientific realm, cannabinoid research will be of increasing utility throughout the coming years and garner further attention as the grips of the bureaucratic regulation of cannabis begin to weaken. Opening our minds to all the possibilities cannabis has to offer is a logical next step for both scientific researchers and the general population who have all to gain from a trip down a new therapeutic avenue.
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text:
BALCA remanded the case to the CO for reconsideration where the employer failed to check Box M-1 on the ETA 9089, which asks whether the application was completed by the employer, but provided the preparer's name and signature. (Matter of Heso Electric – 4-21-11).
Issue Date: 21 April 2011
BALCA Case No.: 2010-PER-00670
ETA Case No.: A-08161-59728
In the Matter of: HESO ELECTRIC,
Employer on behalf of GILBERT PANIAGUA-GERMOSEN, Alien.
Certifying Officer: William Carlson
Atlanta National Processing Center
Appearances: Howard L. Baker
Wilens & Baker
For the Employer
Gary M. Buff, Associate Solicitor
For the Certifying Officer
Before: Romero, Kennington, and Rosenow
DECISION AND ORDER VACATING AND REMANDING DENIAL OF CERTIFICATION
This matter arises under Section 212(a)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. §1182(a)(5)(A), and the "PERM" regulations found at Title 20, Part 656 of the Code of Federal Regulations ("C.F.R.").
On December 3, 2007, the Certifying Officer ("CO") accepted for processing an Application for Permanent Employment Certification for the position of Electrical Helper (AF 10-19 ).1 On June 11, 2008, the CO issued a denial determination regarding the application because a selection was not made for Section M-1 which concerns whether or not the application was completed by the employer (AF 7-9). In a letter dated June 24,2008, the Employer requested a review of the denial (AF 1) and submitted an amended form because the preparer inadvertently did not make the appropriate selection for Section M-1. The only difference between the original and amended applications was that in the amended application, the "No" box was checked in Section M-1, signifying that the application was not completed by the employer. On April 30, 2010, the case was forwarded to the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (Board or "BALCA") for administrative review.
BALCA issued a Notice of Docketing on June 17, 2010. On June 24, 2010, the Employer filed an intent to proceed and submitted a brief on July 12, 2010. On July 30, 2010, the CO sent a letter requesting that BALCA affirm the denial based upon the original determination as made by the CO.
The PERM regulations require an employer seeking to apply for permanent labor certification on behalf of an alien to file an ETA Form 9089. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(a). The regulations provide that incomplete applications will be denied. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(a). Additionally, the regulations provide that once an application is filed, requests for modifications to the application will not be accepted. 20 C.F.R. § 656.11(b).2
PERM is an exacting process, designed to eliminate back-and-forth between applicants and the government and to favor administrative efficiency. Given the resources available to administer the program, such efficiency benefits the public overall. HealthAmerica, 2006-PER-1, slip op. at 19 (July 18, 2006) (en banc). The burden is on the employer to ensure that it is submitting a complete application to the Certifying Officer. 20 C.F.R. § 656.2(b); All Ohio Air Filter Sales & Service Co., 2009-PER-205(April 7, 2010); Alpine Store Inc., 2007-PER-40 (June 27, 2007). For example, failure of the preparer to sign Section M of the Form 9089 is not a mere technicality. TLH Construction Corp., 2010-PER-688 (Aug.19, 2010).
The CO argues that the original application was incomplete, because a selection was not made for Section M-1, which asks whether the application was completed by the employer. The Employer argues that the preparer merely made a typographical error that could have easily been corrected during processing.3
The Employer did not argue that it was requesting a reconsideration by the CO rather than BALCA review, and except for this difference, many of the facts of this case mirror those of a 2010 BALCA decision, Gunnels, 2010-PER-626 (November 16, 2010).
In that decision, the Employer had neglected to check the box in Section M-1, but similarly provided a preparer's name and signature, thereby signifying that someone other than the Employer had filled out the Form 9089. The request for review by Employer was somewhat ambiguous, because it was entitled "Request for Review" yet the letter/motion was addressed to the attention of the CO, much as it would for a request for reconsideration. The BALCA panel in Gunnels ultimately determined that the CO abused its discretion and elevated form over substance in refusing to reconsider the denial. The panel noted specifically that:
Since a request for review must contain only legal argument and only such evidence that was within the record upon which the denial of labor certification was based,' direct review by BALCA bars our consideration of this argument. Thus, it was an abuse of discretion for the CO to treat the Employer's request as a request for BALCA review without first issuing a ruling on reconsideration because it denied the Employer the opportunity to be heard on its legal argument.
In the instant case, the Employer similarly merely neglected to check a box in M-1 but provided the preparer's name and signature. Implicit in Employer's response was the legal argument that the completion of the signature block of the preparer was sufficient and the box was not required to be checked. More significantly, its response to the initial denial was at the least an ambiguous request that the CO treated as a request for BALCA review, rather than CO reconsideration. Whether the CO abused his discretion in doing so depends on whether he denied the Employer the opportunity to be heard on its legal argument. We find the case falls within the holding in Gunnels and remand the case in order to provide the CO the opportunity to reconsider the issue.
Based on the foregoing, we VACATE AND REMAND this matter for reconsideration by the CO.
For the Panel:
PATRICK ROSENOW
Administrative Law Judge
NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO PETITION FOR REVIEW: This Decision and Order will become the final decision of the Secretary unless within twenty days from the date of service a party petitions for review by the full Board. Such review is not favored and ordinarily will not be granted except (1) when full Board consideration is necessary to secure or maintain uniformity of its decisions, or (2) when the proceeding involves a question of exceptional importance. Petitions must be filed with:
Chief Docket Clerk
Office of Administrative Law Judges
Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals
800 K Street, NW Suite 400
Copies of the petition must also be served on other parties and should be accompanied by a written statement setting forth the date and manner of service. The petition shall specify the basis for requesting full Board review with supporting authority, if any, and shall not exceed five double-spaced pages. Responses, if any, shall be filed within ten days of service of the petition, and shall not exceed five double-spaced pages. Upon the granting of a petition the Board may order briefs.
1 In this decision, AF is an abbreviation for Appeal File.
2 Employers often rely on HealthAmerica and assert that a typo on its application is harmless error and that it really did comply with the regulations. However, following the decision in HealthAmerica, the Employment and Training Administration ("ETA") amended the regulations to prevent an employer from modifying its application. 20 C.F.R. § 656.11(b); ETA, Final Rule, Labor Certification for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States; Reducing the Incentives for Opportunities for Fraud and Abuse and Enhancing Program Integrity, 72 Fed. Reg. 27904, 27916 (May 17, 2007) ("To the extent the BALCA favored allowing the employer in HealthAmerica to present evidence that effectively change the response to a question on the application, the BALCA's approach is inconsistent with the Department's objective and the NPRM proposal that applications cannot be changed or modified after submission."). The regulatory history succinctly explains that ETA considered the costs associated with permitting employers the opportunity to modify their applications and determined that it would be a significant and costly resource drain on the PERM case management system and staff. 72 Fed. Reg. at 27918.
Additionally, ETA rejected the argument that typographical errors were immaterial, noting that "typographical or similar errors are not immaterial if they cause an application to be denied based on regulatory requirements." 72 Fed. Reg. at 27917.
3 The Employer also argued that the Claimant was previously represented by an organization which had been closed down by the New York state Attorney General for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law, and that the organization had provided shoddy work which had led to the deportation of many if its clients.


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A repaint of the payware Carenado Cessna C206. By Luis Jimenez Trejos.
Screenshot of Aerocaribe Air Taxi Cessna 206 TI-GER in flight.
DESCRIPTION=CARENADO CESSNA STATIONAIR 6 II MODEL U206G , REPINTED BY LUIS JIMENEZ T.
The archive tico_sim_carenado_206_ti-ger.zip has 36 files and directories contained within it.


Brrrrr! Winter is well and truly here. We hope you're keeping warm and well. Please take 5 to read our JLF News Winter Edition, to get the scoop on what's been happening and what's coming up. Enjoy.
It's not too late to register for this year's JLF Trek VIC. If you've been ummming and aahhhing about taking part, why not take the plunge and register today.
Join us and hike 75km over 2 days along the Goldfields Track, through the beautiful Castlemaine region on Friday 8 & Saturday 9 September. Register today!
Kay-A-Day 2017 is off to a great start! Lots of schools have signed up to take part in Term 3, and are smashing their 1km per day target.
If you would like to get your school involved, it's not too late! We are taking registrations for Term 4 now.
The Jodi Lee Foundation are proud partners with the Sydney Swans, Carlton, Brisbane Lions and North Melbourne AFL Football Clubs. This AFL season we have been on a mission to Make Bowel Cancer Disappear. We attended several matches to raise awareness of bowel cancer, and encourage people to #takethetest.
June was a busy month for The Jodi Lee Foundation, and Nick Lee, CEO, knew this better than most! The past few months have seen him travelling far and wide across Australia, and for the first time, Nick visited New Zealand to present our Workplace Prevention Program.
From these presentations, came several stories from employees who took the test and came back with positive results. Have a read of our most recent news story to hear about a great early detection story.
To read the full JLF Winter Newsletter, click here.


Bob and Ray (Radio program).
Bubble-loo, Bubble-loo / Why Don't You Do Right?
How Long Has This Been GoingOn?
Is There All There Is?
Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny Oh!
Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour.
Ray Charles Tribute: Hallelujah, I Love Him So / I Got a Man / Just for a Thrill / Yes Indeed!


text:
North Gaia EC Developer
About Sing Holdings
Founded in 1964, Sing Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries (the "Group") is a property development and investment group currently listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange since 2007. It has an established track record of development experience in a wide spectrum of properties ranging from landed houses, condominiums to commercial and industrial buildings.
Some of the Group's past residential projects include Robin Residences at Robin Drive, Waterwoods in Punggol and The Laurels at Cairnhill Road. For commercial and industrial projects, the Group developed BizTech Centre at Aljunied Road, EastGate building along East Coast Road and Ocean Towers in Shanghai, an award-winning Grade-A office building in the People's Republic of China.
The Group currently owns a 291-room, limited service hotel known as Travelodge Docklands in Melbourne and 42 strata units in BizTech Centre. Its ongoing residential project, Parc Botannia in Sengkang, is a private condominium development comprising 4 blocks of 22-storey buildings with 735 apartment units. The Group's upcoming project will be an Executive Condominium development in Yishun of more than 600 apartment units with facilities.
The Group prides itself in delivering quality developments to its purchasers and tenants. From the conceptualisation of project layouts and designs to the selection of fittings and finishes, the construction of the development to the final touches upon completion, every detail is meticulously combed to ensure the finest quality. As a testament to this, the Company received the prestigious FIABCI Singapore Property Award for its project, The Laurels. Another two projects, Waterwoods and Parc Botannia, were also bestowed the BCA Green Mark Award (Gold Plus).
Going forward, the Group will continue to focus on its core business of property development and investment. It shall continue to leverage on its development experience and expertise to deliver dream homes to its purchasers, in its bid to be a Developer of Premier Living.
Sing Holdings Residential Projects
Sing Holdings has developed an impressive array of projects, some residential projects are as follows:
Parc Botannia
Parc Botannia is a 99-year leasehold residential development at Fernvale Street. The proposed private condominium development will comprise 4 blocks of 22-storey buildings with 735 apartment units.
The development is located next to the Thanggam LRT station and is easily accessible via the Tampines Expressway. Amenities within its vicinity include The Seletar Mall, eateries along Jalan Kayu, Sengkang Sports Centre, Sengkang Riverside Park and Seletar Aerospace Park.
Location: 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 Fernvale Street, Singapore
Tenure: 99-year Leasehold
Total no. of units: 735
Unit sizes: 420 sqft – 1,679 sqft
Robin Residences
1, 3, 5, 7 & 9 Robin Drive, Singapore
Robin Residences is a freehold condominium housing development with basement car park, communal facilities and swimming pool. It comprises 5 blocks of 5-storey buildings with 134 apartment units
Waterwoods
15, 17, 19, 21, 23 & 25 Punggol Field Walk, Singapore
Waterwoods is a 99-year leasehold executive condominium housing development with basement car parks, swimming pool, landscape deck and communal facilities. It comprises 6 blocks of 18-storey buildings with 373 apartment units. The project won the BCA Green Mark Award (Gold Plus)
The Laurels
38 & 40 Cairnhill Road, Singapore
The Laurels is a freehold condominium housing development with 2 basement car parks, swimming pool and communal facilities. It comprises 2 blocks of 19-storey buildings with 229 apartment units. The project won the FIABCI Singapore Property Award.
9 Keng Chin Road, Singapore
BelleRive is a freehold residential flats development with a basement car park, swimming pool and communal facilities. It comprises a block of 15-storey building with 51 apartment units
Meyer Residence
3 Meyer Place, Singapore
Meyer Residence is a freehold residential apartment tower with a 2-storey car park block, tennis court, swimming pool and communal facilities.
It comprises a block of 19-storey building with 68 apartment units
38 Draycott Drive
38 Draycott Drive, Singapore
38 Draycott Drive is a freehold residential apartment block with
basement car park, swimming pool and communal facilities. It
comprises a block of 18-storey building with 30 apartment units


The GOTHIC SPIRITS compilation series has meanwhile established itself as THE archetype of the darker side of music. Due to our recent agreement witn Golden Core (In Strict Confidence, Heimataerde, Megaherz...) we are now finally able to offer you this fine series. We start with the latest volume – previous volumes are available on preorder.


text:
Peace Corps Worldwide
BOOKS AND WRITERS
Three years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer
Browse archives for September 24, 2021
The Peace Corps
By Doug West (Jamaica 1968-71)
I write this inspired by a New York Times op-ed earlier this year, "Should Young Americans be Required to Give a Year of Service?" I also note that this week marks the 60th anniversary of enactment of the legislation which created the Peace Corps.
In 1968, my former wife and I were among 80 volunteers selected for two-year Peace Corps assignments in Jamaica, the fifth Peace Corps group to be sent to Jamaica following President Kennedy's founding of the Peace Corps in 1961. Like many, I was inspired by JFK's grand vision, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." (Dismissed by Richard Nixon as a refuge for draft dodgers, the Peace Corps created a deferment, but not an alternative to military service. When I returned in 1971, I narrowly missed the draft, thanks to a lucky draw in the draft number lottery.)
Our class of 80 volunteers trained together for eight weeks immediately prior to our departure for Jamaica. We lived with families in San Diego's inner city, and trained at a neighborhood school facility. My wife and I lived with Gladys and "Daddy," who were having second thoughts about their sign-up when we first arrived, but who fully embraced us as they came to understand the Peace Corps through us. Personal cars were verboten for all of us, so getting around was by foot or the bus. The point of siting our training in the inner city was cultural immersion in preparation for our Jamaican cross-cultural experience. That summer happened to mark the Black Panther's first presence in inner-city San Diego, just one facet of our very real cross-cultural experience. OK, everybody out of their comfort zones! Our trainers were a mix of Peace Corps administrative staff from Washington and returned volunteers, just back from their two-year assignments in Jamaica. This team was made up of the most energetic and earnest people I've ever known. There was discipline and intensity to the training, and as many as six or eight of our class didn't make the cut. In Peace Corps speak, they were "deselected." Several others voluntarily deselected during our first year in Jamaica.
With just a few exceptions, we were all fresh college grads. By design, the Peace Corps had chosen us as generalists, not technical specialists. The jobs into which most would be slotted were public school teaching assignments. But I was one of seven assigned to work with the commercial fishermen, almost all of whom fished from dugout canoes powered by sails or outboard engines. Each of my six colleagues was assigned to live and work with the fishermen in one of the many fishing villages around the island. Assessed as the "corporate guy," I was assigned to the Kingston-based Jamaica Co-operative Union, Ltd., the headquarters organization for the loosely affiliated fishermen's cooperatives established in each of the larger villages. The co-operative union's primary functions were to import and distribute fishing equipment, strengthen wholesale seafood marketing channels, and be the public and government relations voice for fishermen. None of us (the volunteers) knew anything about commercial fishing. Our work was about building community support for the mutual benefit of cooperative efforts and promoting rudimentary business methods at the village co-ops. Today, we probably would be best described as "community organizers." Much of my work was traveling around the island, meeting with fishermen's groups, proselytizing for the co-operative union. I also worked on communications and government relations, starting a monthly newsletter, the Jamaican Fisherman, and organizing an All Island Fishermen's Conference involving delegates from across the island in sessions with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Peace Corps assignments were typically for two years, but I stayed for three. The project motivating my request for a third-year extension was the co-operative union's launch of a boatyard to build deep sea fishing boats. The co-op's goal was to create a new offshore fishing fleet to reduce the pressure on inshore fish stocks. We brought together international financial and boatbuilding technical help from the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, and British, Canadian, and Jamaican governments. I wanted to be there for the splash of our first boat, and we made it!
My Peace Corps experience was a great personal benefit. It was my first job involving professional responsibility, and a sort of on-the-job graduate education program, better preparing me for law school and beyond. "Privileged" is a relative term, and I had never thought of my middle-class upbringing as such. But the Peace Corps gave me perspectives on the American experience that influence me to this day. I think I served well as an "ambassador" for America and made real contributions through my work. As volunteers, we took JFK's founding vision seriously.
I wouldn't mandate public service, but if our country could rekindle and inspire public service among young Americans in greater numbers, I know that they and our nation would be better for it.
Doug West, a retired attorney, spent three years in the Peace Corps from 1968 to 1971.
Peace Corps Writers
The Imprint
about publishing your book
Peace Corps Volunteers
Peace Corps staff
Profile in Citizenship
The Peace Corps at 60
A Writer Writes
Peace Corps Worldwide Awards
The Peace Corps Effect
Peace Corps Writers imprint books
New Books By Peace Corps Writers
Literary Type
Short Works about the Peace Corps Experience
Peace Corps: Public Records
Short Works by PC Writers
On Writing and Publishing
EDWARD MYCUE on New List of Peace Corps authors who have published 2 or more books
Philip Lilienthal on Former Peace Corps Director Slams Trump for Racist Remarks on Asian Americans
Paul Fischer on Review — IT ATE ONE HUNDRED by Bill Sugrue (Ethiopia )
J Michael Smith on The Lion in the Gardens of the Guenet Hotel (Ethiopia)
John Rude on LOVING HIM PEACEFULLY – 1, 2 & 3 | A Spicy Romance (Not Written by an RPCV)
Peace Corps Connect-NPCA
Fallen Peace Corps Volunteers
John Coyne Books
Articles about PC Countries
Afghanistan Africa Albania Armenia Bangladesh Belize Bolivia Botswana Brazil Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) Cameroon Cape Verde Central Africa Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Dominican Republic Eastern Caribbean East Pakistan Ecuado Ecuador El Salvador Eritrea Ethiopia Fiji Gabon Gambia Ghana Guatemala Guyana Honduras India Iran Jamaica Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea Kyrgyz Republic Kyrgyzstan Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Mali Marshall Islands Mauritania Mexico Micronesia Moldova Morocco Nepal New Guinea Niger Nigeria Oman Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Principe Romania Russia Russian Far East Rwanda Samoa Sao Tome sene Senegal Sierra Leone Sierral Leone Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South America South Asia South Korea Tanzania (Tanganyika) Thailand Togo Tonga Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam World War II Zaire Zambi Zambia
Copyright © 2022. Peace Corps Worldwide.


Is It Go Easy or Go for Broke, Mr. President?
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | After the bloodletting over the health-care bill, President Obama is now at a crossroads.
Not one opposition member voted for his health-care reform. That, along with tawdry buyoffs for fence-sitting members of the Senate and a reconciliation process that avoids another Senate vote have made a mockery of Obama's former healing campaign rhetoric.
In reaction, will the president now pick his next fights more carefully — avoiding the sort of shady legislative dealings and us-vs.-them rhetoric that helped ram this bill through?
Or will the methods used to pass "Obamacare," which many polls deemed unpopular leading up to this weekend's vote, become the model formula for a new damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead progressive agenda?
We will learn soon on a variety of issues.
Obama may well try again for a comprehensive cap-and-trade bill to reduce carbon inputs. The increased taxes resulting from such legislation would trickle down into added fees on power bills for households and businesses. Such European-style state regulation would delight his liberal base and cement his credentials as our first activist green president.
Yet, given the shaky economy and controversies over the very science of global warming, forcing cap-and-trade through would ensure more months-long acrimony — identical, in other words, to the health-care fury.
Far easier world be a bipartisan effort aimed at more reliance on nuclear power, and radical expansion of drilling for vast deposits of domestic natural gas.
Pro-industry supporters would welcome the boost for employment and greater independence from costly foreign energy. Liberals could applaud fewer greenhouse gases than currently produced from existing coal-fired plants.
President Obama apparently also wants to do comprehensive immigration — and spoke of his plans in a taped video at this past weekend's immigration march in Washington.
But Obama's version of comprehensively solving illegal immigration through earned citizenship/amnesty can likely only be pushed through by legislative gymnastics, demonizing the opposition as nativists and energizing partisan activists by paying them back for their blanket support in the 2008 campaign.
In other words, it will also require the same kind of knockdown, drag-out fight we just saw over health care.
Again, far better for the country would be a bipartisan effort to take less-dramatic steps at ending the influx of illegal aliens.
The president could do an about-face and complete the stalled border fence, and enforce all existing laws against employers of illegal aliens — putting off the messy fight over amnesty and guest workers until the borders are secure.
Liberals and unions would welcome the rise in wages once low-income American laborers had fewer illegal competitors. Conservatives could be assured that without an annual addition of a million new illegal aliens, there would be greater chances for integration and assimilation within American society.
It could be a win/win situation for everyone — except a minority who counts on open borders and serial amnesties for those who break federal laws, along with a Mexican government that exports its population rather than make the necessary changes to allow them to stay with their families at home.
Then there are the now-record annual deficits and spiraling national debt. Even the new revenue from a promised return to the higher Clinton-era tax rates and a radical lifting on the caps on income subject to payroll taxes won't balance the budget.
So as Obama continues to grow the government, he'll bring on even more partisan fights over ever-higher taxes.
Or he can acknowledge that new local, state, payroll health-care and income taxes will soon take over 60 percent of incomes of precisely those who pay the majority of existing taxes — and decide instead to offer a real freeze of all federal spending to the rate of inflation.
These areas where Obama could find centrist solutions and bridge differences are almost endless — from an end to agricultural subsidies to energy independence. But getting things done incrementally and quietly would not bring out the drama, the headlines and the partisan emotions like the fight over health care.
What lessons will the president draw for the future from last week's health-care brawl?
I doubt it will be that the president and Congress should not ram through unpopular legislation on a strictly partisan and bare majority.
More likely, Obama's conclusion will be that a win is a win, and it's time to move on for more of the same bare-knuckles brawling.
If the latter is true, Americans may see more change but surely will end up with far less hope.


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text:
package info.novatec.testit.webtester.pageobjects;

import info.novatec.testit.webtester.api.annotations.Mapping;

@Mapping(tag = "ol")
public class OrderedList extends GenericList {
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
WWII-era plane pulled from Lake Michigan
A World War II era FM-2 Wildcat is pulled out of the water at Larsen Marine in Waukegan during a salvage mission Friday. Steve Lundy | Staff Photographer
Chuck Greenhill of Mettawa is the first person to sit in the cockpit of this World War II era FM-2 Wildcat after it was pulled out of the water at Larsen Marine in Waukegan Friday. Greenhill helped sponsor the salvage effort. Steve Lundy | Staff Photographer
A World War II era FM-2 Wildcat is pulled out of the water at Larsen Marine in Waukegan Friday during a salvage mission. Steve Lundy | Staff Photographer
People try to get pictures of a World War II era FM-2 Wildcat after it was pulled out of the water at Larsen Marine in Waukegan Friday. Steve Lundy | Staff Photographer
Chuck Greenhill stands on the wing of a World War II-era FM-2 Wildcat pulled from Lake Michigan near Waukegan on Friday morning. Greenhill was one of the sponsors of the salvage mission. Russell Lissau | Staff Photographer
Russell Lissau
Follow @rlissau
On the day Americans marked the 71st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and our nation's entry into World War II, spectators gathered at Waukegan Harbor to see a long-forgotten relic from the war lifted from Lake Michigan.
An enormous crane tenderly lifted the FM-2 Wildcat fighter -- submerged in the lake since a December 1944 training accident -- from the water and placed it on a large, gray tarp at Larsen Marine.
Military veterans, reporters and other onlookers watched from a safe distance as crews stabilized the plane and prepared it for eventual transportation from the lakefront.
"I think it's fantastic," said 71-year-old Wadsworth resident Al Seyler, a Marine veteran who watched the recovery. "It's fascinating to see (it) come back."
The Wildcat was an important fighter plane for the Allies during World War II, seeing action in both the Pacific and European theaters. Armed with four .50-caliber machine guns, the single-seat craft was used by the U.S. Navy and Marines and by British forces.
It was among the planes used to train Navy pilots during the war. The Navy flew training missions over the lake from the Glenview Naval Air Station and from aircraft carriers based at Navy Pier.
This particular Wildcat went into the lake on Dec. 28, 1944, after its pilot, Ensign William E. Forbes, experienced engine failure during a takeoff attempt from the U.S.S. Sable.
Although Forbes escaped, the aircraft rolled off the bow of the ship and sank. Forbes died in 2008.
The Wildcat settled upside down in the muddy bottom, 200 feet below the surface. Dozens of other aircraft remain submerged in the lake, deteriorating.
"The rest of them need to come out of the water real soon," said Taris Lyssenko, whose A&T Recovery company has salvaged about 40 aircraft from Lake Michigan.
When the Wildcat was pulled from the water Friday, much of it was intact. Although part of the tail had broken away, both wings were attached, as was the propeller and many of the gauges inside the cockpit.
It was rusty, of course, and zebra mussels had taken over many of the plane's surfaces. But some of the Wildcat's paint was still visible, as were distinctive markings on the propeller and wings.
Two holes in each wing that once held the plane's guns were visible, although the guns were long gone. On the retractable landing gear, one of the tires remained full of air.
"Good old Lake Michigan, ice-cold water," said Seyler, the retired Marine.
Christine Smith, the daughter of pilot William Forbes, was unable to attend Friday's event but was excited to hear the effort was successful.
"I just have chills," said Smith, who lives in Snohomish, Wash., north of Seattle. "We were all there in spirit, especially my father."
Smith said her dad didn't talk much about his war experiences, but he did tell his family about his harrowing escape from the frigid lake.
"I remember him saying he'd never been so cold in his life," she said.
Organizers of the recovery effort hope the aircraft will be restored and put on public display.
"This thing would've been a piece of junk," said Mettawa resident Chuck Greenhill, a pilot and military veteran who's helping to fund the project. "Instead, it will become a piece of history that people will be able to see and appreciate."
Greenhill funded the similar recovery of a different Navy plane, an F4U-1 Corsair, from the lake in 2010. That fighter is being restored and will eventually be displayed at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla.
The museum and the Naval History and Heritage Command, the Navy's official source of historical information, also sponsored Friday's project.
After climbing up on the wing of the Wildcat Friday morning and peering into the cockpit, Greenhill was pleasantly surprised by the craft's condition.
"It looks pretty nice for an airplane that's been under the water that long," he said. "It's all there. It's a real airplane."
Constable: Film tells of WWII planes on lake bottom
Restoration set for WWII plane found off Waukegan
Oliver Stone delves into America's 'Untold History'


The ability to score from a bad position is a great asset to any wrestler. Coach Smith shows you several bad positions that you may get into on a takedown attempt, and how to score from them. There are two main areas that Smith covers: the high crotch and the single leg. Learn how to score from your stomach in extended position with hands locked, in an underhook, in a front headlock and more. He also shows some drills that will reinforce these methods. Learn the techniques used by Smith and Oklahoma State to win championships! 43 minutes. 2006.


Naviance Student is a comprehensive website that you and your student can use to make plans about colleges, and careers. Naviance Student is linked with Naviance, a service that we use in our office to track and analyze data about college and career plans, so it provides up-to-date information that's specific to our school.
Create plans for the future—Create goals and to-dos, and complete tasks assigned by the school to better prepare your student for future college and career goals. Naviance Student also lets us share information with you and your student about upcoming meetings and events, local scholarship opportunities, and other resources for college and career information.
To visit our school's Naviance Student site, click here.