The days of an ideologically based Soviet foreign policy are so long gone, that at this point in history, Russia makes greater efforts to win over erstwhile adversaries than it does to assure its traditional allies. This is not to say that Russia has abandoned its former allies. The fact that Russia continues to sacrifice its own servicemen to protect the Syrian Arab Republic from destruction is proof positive that Russia is not playing a zero-sum game, but instead has taken win-win diplomacy to such heights that many are confused by the process.
Russia's courting of former adversaries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and "Israel" continues to confound both those stuck in a Soviet mentality as well as those who find it unbelievable that America's close allies would consider the benefits of a relationship with a far less politically demanding superpower partner like Russia. Of course, it is not just in the Middle East where Russia is opening doors which used to be reserved for the US. Moscow's increased positive diplomatic and trading activity with The Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Pakistan, Qatar, Indonesia and to a degree even Japan, demonstrates the global reach of Russia's new model of diplomacy.
Nowhere could Russia's ability to reap the benefits of becoming a more appealing partner to historically US aligned states and groups be more damaging to US prestige than in respect of "Israel" and the wider international Jewish lobby. In the 20th century, Jewish groups throughout the world looked to the United States as their de-facto superpower ally and at times even their spokesman on the international stage. The advent of "Israel" gave the US an opportunity to do three things that were strategically important for Washington's neo-imperial strategy.
1. Replace Britain and France as the de-facto western colonial power in the Middle East through a pro-US colonial settler state in the heart of the rapidly left-leaning/anti-colonial Arab world of the post-1945 era.
2. Use the power of the US military to exploit long latent sectarian issues in the Arab world by adopting "Israeli" honed techniques for disrupting Arab unity.
3. Endearing the United States to the international Jewish lobby which through most of the 20th century was overwhelmingly pro-"Israel", sceptical of Europe's ability to become a tolerant society and in the west, filled with anti-Soviet sentiments due to the deceptive work of Russophobia Soviet expatriots.
Today, Russia has gone out of its way to demonstrate that Jews in Russia live a healthier existence than they do in many European countries, while also going from a Soviet antagonist of "Israel", to being a state with incredibly healthy relations to "Israel" at a diplomatic level. Furthermore, Russia has embraced the large Russian speaking population of "Israel", thus attempting to foster a dual Russo -"Israeli" identity that many Russian speakers in occupied Palestine have happily embraced. It is no wonder that where in previous decades many "Israelis" thought their state was a Jewish version of America in the Middle East, now many "Israelis" see the country as a kind of Russian -Jewish enclave in the Middle East where Soviet music, Russian magazines and Russian cuisine are more popular than the latest US pop-culture trends.
At the same time, Russia's star in the Arab world continues to rise as Moscow is seen as a country above the sectarian divisions which the US has so eagerly exploited. Where America is now seen as the great divider and invader in the wider Arab world, Russia is seen as the great balancer, mediator and in the case of Syria, something of a saviour. Russia has therefore been able to foster an image where the wider Shi'a resistance sees Russia as its defender while traditional US allies see Russia as a friend to all. When one removes the hyperbole surrounding Russia's role in the Middle East, both narratives are actually true.
Few countries in the world can say that their relations with Iran and "Israel" have accelerated simultaneously, but Russia can say this objectively and this is frightening to the United States. Furthermore, Russia has gone out of its way to embrace Russian Muslims while also condemning the anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim sentiments which are both increasing in post-modern Europe.
To be sure, international Jewish groups still see the United States as their number one superpower ally, but without much fanfare or histrionics, Russia is quietly working to win the trust and friendship of these same groups.
Conventional wisdom of the Soviet era would still dictate that due to "Israel's" close ties with the US, the best way that Russia could oppose US hegemony in the Middle East is by adopting the anti-Zionist language of Arab Nationalists, the Islamic Revolution and the wider 'Arab street'. Instead, Russia has opted to develop meaningful and respectful relations with all factions of the Middle East, including America's allies, Saudi Arabia and "Israel", while also working to restore an old Soviet friendship with Egypt that in the 1980s became supplanted by an American alliance with Egypt.
Many well meaning Arab Nationalists and supporters of the Islamic Revolution are naturally confused by this. On the one hand they see Russia developing a friendship with Iran, risking the lives of Russian servicemen to save the last truly Arab nationalist country in the world, Syria, maintaining very good relations with Palestine, but also cozying up to "Israel".
This is because Russia, as a non-Arab country and a country that has not had its own Islamic Revolution, does not view the geopolitics of the Middle East through the prism of an anti-colonial struggle. Russia, like any superpower, views the Middle East as an opportunity to enrich itself and its partners at the expense of the United States. Russia's morality in the Middle East is not derived from ideological purity, but rather from a policy of 'doing no harm'. This is why Russia appears to be the more morally superpower involved in the region. While Russia isn't concerned with doing the 'right thing', Russia is careful to avoid doing any of the 'wrong things', that the US has become famous for doing.
This is not to say that Russia has adopted a zero-sum mentality, but because the US operates with the most pronounced zero-sum mentality in the world, it is only natural to give up on compromising with a country that has no word for compromise. Because of this, Russia is all too happy to sell its diplomatic wares to US allies in the Middle East, who themselves are aware not only of the long-term decline of the United States, but also of the fact that in many ways, Russia is easier to work with, more respectful in its approach and is more willing to share the profits of a healthy bilateral relationship.
While Russian diplomats still say that they are willing to work with the US if the US changes its attitude – this is become the equivalent of a dear saying that he'd be willing to work with the lions, so long as they remove their teeth.
Of all the groups seen as indelibly loyal to the United States, the Jewish lobby is seen as the paramount example of such a phenomenon. To put it bluntly, when "Israel" and pro-Zionist Jewish groups throughout the west come to see Russia as an equally favourable power to mainstream western Jewish political interests, this is the geo-political equivalent of Melania Trump engaging in an adulterous affair with Kim Jong-un while Ivanka expresses her desire to become an Iranian citizen that same afternoon.
Beyond being a psychological blow to the US, if the Jewish lobby turns increasingly towards Russia, it will mean that there is literally no ally the US is not capable of losing, all the while the US would never be able to pivot its position to being pro-Iran or pro-Arab nationalist due to its openly zero-sum attitude.
While all of this is happening slowly, it is nevertheless happening at a far faster pace than anyone could have imagined, even in the early 2000s. The fact that it is happening at all, demonstrates that while Russia is the diplomatic equivalent of Muhammad Ali, floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee, the US is like an old, lethargic prize fighter who can stomp its feet, but never land a knock out punch. Russia has been able to checkmate the US diplomatically while gaining new allies and hardly losing any old ones.
In the long term, this will mean that "Israel" will have to adjust to the fact that a Jewish friendly superpower is also seriously concerned with the plight of Palestine and the wider Arab world and it will also be a wake-up call to the Arab and wider Muslim world, that no superpower has ever fully fought its battles for it and no-one ever will. These are two much needed wake-up calls for the Middle East, irrespective of where one's heart lies.


text:
Ann St. Clair
More scenes from PLAY BALL
Excerpt from Chapter 14 ofPLAY BALL
The Game You Never See
MARTA BYRD
Comments & Honors
Ann St Clair – Berkshire County MA Fiction Writer & Poet / Writing Lessons & Workshops
an excerpt from Play Ball
by Ann St Clair, read more here
That day Phoebe Aptworth got a taste of her first caper. Her partner Josh Dantel had spent the previous evening in their safe house tracking potential arms dealers with his cell and his laptop, using Mossad software and restricted sites. Before bed, he'd produced two ordinary looking cameras from the safe. Any American tourist could be found with either one, but these had been modified to make them faster, easier, more accurate than anything on the commercial market. Josh would photograph two men he thought were planning to meet on London Bridge during the crowded lunch hour. One was an I.R.A. operative, the other–according to his visa application–was an Iranian medical student.
"I'll concentrate on getting clear shots, date and time stamped of these guys together and document their ID's for the Brits this weekend."
"What's my part?" Phoebe was frightened, but excited about her first job for Israeli Secret Service.
It was to be the-romantic-couple-on-a-foreign-vacation scenario. She and Josh would build the narrative together. Then he would hand it off to her to create a diversion while he photographed the suspects. The couple dressed in designer t-shirts, jeans, and expensive running shoes. Josh wore a summer jacket with his smallest pistol tucked in the back of his belt; as usual, he'd strapped a knife to his calf, but on the surface, he was an All-American preppy.
They took the tube from Kensington High Street to Westminster and seemed to wander among buildings and monuments that could have been constructed so their pictures would grace postcards. Josh appeared aware of nothing but Phoebe. He flirted, and photographed her; she flirted, and photographed him in return—until it dawned on her that he was much too practiced, much too convincing and relaxed.
Josh had found his targets; he gave the signal. Drawn in, suddenly angry and confused at once (I've only signed a temporary contract. He spends his life at this.), Phoebe tipped backward as planned against the railing of London Bridge, snapping pictures of the skyline. She leaned out farther and farther, laughing falsely and waving her camera to get the attention of passersby who moved in a surprised, ragged rush to keep her from toppling into the Thames. During the commotion, Josh got several quick shots of the suspected collaborators as they raced away; then he let the camera thud against his chest and pushed through the crowd to pull Phoebe into his arms.
"Reckless, reckless," he hissed into her hair.
Their little fan club murmured approval, and one or two tourists applauded as if watching a show. He thanked them and pressed her into a cab seconds before two bobbies arrived at the scene on bicycles. Josh said nothing to the driver, who silently rolled them past Temple Bar and Blackfriars, up to Covent Garden and twice around Piccadilly clogged as usual with cars. Josh gripped Phoebe's hand so tightly she feared for its smaller bones. By the time the taxi looped casually through Kensington, they'd pulled themselves together; they climbed to the curb in front of their building looking completely steady. Josh reached in his pocket and leaned toward the driver with something in his hand as if money were being exchanged.
Upstairs he disarmed and rearmed the security system and turned to look at her. "What if those strangers hadn't reached you in time? I was too far away."
"I was being enthusiastic, and anyway I can swim," she bluffed—refusing to acknowledge she'd nearly pitched over, and was secretly vowing that she would never lose control like that again.
"Christ, Phoebe. As the man in the movie said, 'the fall alone will kill ya.' But you were good for a rookie—until you scared the hell out of me."
Determined to look calm, she was sitting on the generic sofa with one arm self-consciously draped along its back. "Well, did you get good pictures?"
He may have been seeing her for the first time. "We have to develop the film, but we might have something convincing to show MI6."
When Josh left to take the cameras to the office, Phoebe pulled her body tight around itself. She was facing an unremarkable copy of a still life on the wall across the room. It's central image was a bowl of white tulips with red streaks on a red-figured ground, but she scarcely noticed. She couldn't close her eyes, and she couldn't quiet her mind. Was it so-far-so good? Or over-the-top failure?
an excerpt from My Native Land
"You're not John Aptworth's daughter!" said the middle aged man with a drink in each hand. They were standing near an enormous window that gave on the East River with its bridges and islands and white lights. His accent had an American southwest twang, and he'd customized his formal dress with shiny snakeskin cowboy boots.
The last time Phoebe had been recognized this way, the stranger confronting her had had her dragged through several seas and along the edges of two continents. Now she reacted as a stoic would to being slapped.
The man didn't wait for a reply. "You married that Hollywood type who just showed up in the Israeli delegation."
"You seem to have the advantage of me," she said coolly, and stuck out her hand to watch him juggle his two glasses. "Phoebe Aptworth."
"Jim Flood." He set the champagne flute on the floor but continued clutching his whiskey tumbler in his left hand. Despite his general instability, his grip was firm. "From Provost. Utah. Originally. Awhile ago. These days, I commute in and out of the city from Westchester."
"Ah," she said. "My husband and I enjoy living in town."
"I knew your dad. He was a cagey sonnofabitch. Real Jew lover."
"I don't think I've heard of your father. Was he one of the Floods descended from a survivor of the Donner Party?"
He took a big gulp of his whiskey and watched her pivot to turn back into the crowd. "Uh, wait. We may have got off on the wrong foot here."
"You think?" she said over her shoulder going away.
"Wait. I'm a westerner; we're a little more straightforward." He snorted at her pointedly rigid back and neck; and then headed toward the bar.
Phoebe caught up with Josh near one of the food stations where he introduced her to an Italian couple and a Frenchman with a title. More than fifteen minutes went by before they were alone together.
"Do you know an older guy named Jim Flood? Cowboy boots? Claims to be from Utah?"
Josh shook his head. "Not yet."
"Well he knows us. Anti-Semite. Called my dad a son-of-a-bitch-Jew-lover."
"Nice," said Josh. "Real diplomat."
"I can't claim I was diplomatic either; I retaliated by suggesting he was the great, great grandson of a cannibal."
"How'd that come up?" Josh couldn't stop laughing. "Doesn't matter."
Phoebe started to laugh too—but not heartily, or long. "Oh God, here he comes."
Flood had drunk enough by now to eat some humble pie, but not a huge slab of it.
Josh stuck out his hand and looked him in the eye. "Dantel. Josh Dantel. My wife was just telling me about you." He glanced at Flood's snakeskin boots. "She says you knew my late father-in-law?"
"Well, I…." Suddenly the marble floor seemed slippery.
"What do you hear from Duncan Aptworth these days?" Josh asked.
"That's a relief," said Phoebe to Josh in a matter of fact voice. "I was beginning to think he might be keeping tabs on us."
Charley Ben-Canaan brought over another new contact and the Aptworth/Dantels excused themselves and turned away.
an excerpt from Marta Byrd
In the glow of The Crimson Poppy, they'd discovered it was too late for Marta to catch the last train. Now she was overtired and she winced as their taxi rattled violently under the tunnel at Seventy-Ninth Street. She felt hesitant about staying the night with Kornel.
"Do not worry about being with me overnight, Marta. You will be perfectly safe," he said in his warm baritone. "Besides, there is a great, protective hound in the vicinity of this entrance to the park. The man who gave me this necktie met it here almost ten years ago."
"A hound? On its own?" From the moment she'd noticed Kornel's elegant, crested tie, she'd been curious. Now he was entangling it with the tale of an outsized animal.
"I was not there. I know only what my friend, Declan—Declan Downpatrick—Perhaps you have read his pieces in 'The New York Times?"—I can tell only what Declan told me. It was at this time of the year and this time of the night. Declan said he sensed some menace; his heart hammered wildly. When he pivoted on the path, he saw only shadows among shadows. He moved faster, but felt heavy weights on his shoulders and he turned his head to find that he was face to face with a heavy-jowled dog. He shook his shoulders violently: the dog's huge paws remained. He walked faster, and the dog kept pace—until they were both nearly running.
"From that time, they raced through the park and into the tunnel. Noises on each side grew louder, more discordant. Each time he looked behind, the dog's golden eyes engaged his in a serious but friendly way as if to reassure him. They emerged from the tunnel in lock step. Now it was completely dark. The dog stood like a sentinel, continuing to rest its paws on Declan's shoulders as he waited for the traffic light to change. When it turned red and my friend was able to cross into the street where other people raced along ignoring him, he said he felt lighter. And when he looked again, the dog was gone."
They both remained silent for a minute.
"I think I've read that angels take the form of big dogs to protect people in danger," said Marta finally.
Kornel nodded.
"But do you believe in it? I mean…."
Their cab had slowed to a stop in front of a building on Riverside Drive which had an Egyptian style façade. Kornel paid the driver and walked around to open Marta's door. As they crossed the sidewalk toward the entrance, she noticed she was missing something.
"I have only one of my gloves and I know I was wearing both of them when I left the restaurant."
"Let me…" Kornel began.
But she left him standing near one of a pair of fat columns with his half-formed sentence in his mouth and his right arm gesturing toward the cabby. The driver pretended to be writing in his log as Marta pulled open the back door, exclaiming: "Am I lucky you're still here! I think I left…. Here it is." She waved the found glove toward Kornel, who smiled and beckoned.
"I thought I'd heard every line in the book," the cabby said, half-turning toward Marta and shaking his head as she ducked back out. "But that dog story beats 'em all. Ya gotta watch out for these foreigners, Lady."
Ann St Clair is an award-winning poet, fiction writer and teacher. She resides in the Berkshires in MA and offers private lessons and workshops in fiction writing and poetry.
Art in action: A conversation with Shakespeare & Company's Kevin Coleman
Aphra Behn: The brilliant playwright nobody knows
Review: 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,' Chekhov in 'Berkshire' County
Brecht's Mother Courage at Shakespeare & Co.
Review of Shakespeare & Company's The Liar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Interview: Sugarland's Kristian Bush
28 February, 2019 in Interviews, Songwriting Magazine Winter 2018
Sugardaddy: Kristian Bush is a featured artist of Songwriting Magazine Winter 2018
One half of the American country music duo reveals how he has transformed himself into a songwriter of prolific capacity
It says something about Kristian Bush's drive and desire to improve that, in 2012, he took a break from his hugely successful band, Sugarland, in order to broaden his songwriting horizons. The duo of Bush and Jennifer Nettles had scored a No 1 with their previous release, their fifth studio album The Incredible Machine, yet Bush still felt like he could do with taking stock and reflecting on his creative process.
The Bush that returned was a super-charged writer/producer/mentor. Among his subsequent achievements are his country musical, Troubadour, production work with artists such as Lindsay Ell, the writing and performing of the theme tune to the television show Say Yes To The Dress and his debut solo release Southern Gravity. Finally, earlier this year, came the icing on the cake. Bigger, the first new Sugarland album in almost eight years, was a timely reminder of the chemistry he shares with Nettles.
We recently caught up with Kristian to learn a little more about his break from the scene and gain some insight into life in one of country's most popular groups…
What was it that led to your hiatus from Sugarland in 2012?
"I'd always had the experience of having a band, ever since I was 13 years old and playing a song. Songwriting was a function of wanting to be in a band and needing songs, so I had to make them. I played other people's songs for a while, ones that I'd heard on the radio or on my favourite records, but eventually you start wondering, 'Well how did they make records?' and the answer is, 'They write them.'
"I never really knew that there were two jobs, that there was a pretty well-developed job of being a songwriter. My heroes were people like U2 and Adam & The Ants and an eclectic mix of bands who all wrote their own music. When I came to Nashville I didn't know that those two jobs were separate. Even in my rock 'n' roll days in the 90s [in the group Billy Pilgrim], Andrew [Hyra] and I wrote all the music. By the time Sugarland went on hiatus, I'd been exposed to the Nashville writers room world, but Jennifer and I always wrote or co-wrote the Sugarland songs and so I was strangely famous in a community in which I had no idea who anyone was, and they didn't know me."
How did you spend your time and how did it change your approach to songwriting?
"I came up with a plan to go visit, and write with, writers – not just in Nashville but all over the world, with the idea that maybe, for all this time, I wasn't actually that good at writing but had just got lucky with this band. If that was true, how would I go and get better, how could I improve? So I went to Sweden, London, Los Angeles and New York and spent time with some of the most amazing songwriters, and in Nashville. I would say, 'Let's write a song together, teach me something?' A lot of the time they would look at me like, 'Oh my gosh, we're not sure that this guy can actually do this.' I went from writing 12-15 songs each year to suddenly writing 150 songs a year. That's a difference of writing just one a month to writing one every other day.
Kristian Bush: "I was trained as a Japanese experiment…"
"The first part of it was a learning process and then I started to realise that as long as I didn't judge myself I could keep on writing and more things would show up the next day, and they would become easier and easier to make."
How did you then take that new songwriting muscle and use it in your career?
"Well, it was tricky. I have a habit of saying yes to everything. When Sugarland slowed down I started to develop my studio here in Atlanta into a real working studio where I could record these songs that I wrote every other day. So not only did I get better but my engineer, my musicians, they all got better with it. So whenever I got an opportunity, or heard about an opportunity, or even overheard something in a coffee shop, I would go to the studio and I would write that song and record it and send it to whoever it was.
"That's a unique resource because the whole business is moving towards this model of devaluing the songwriter and starting to revalue the recording. I seemed to have this ability that if you need a theme song for your television show, I can make it up and sing it in a day and send it to you tomorrow. If you need a song for your play, I can do that, and then the director heard it and said 'Do you have more?' and I said, 'Not yet but give me a day,' and I would write more and suddenly it became Troubadour, the musical."
That sounds like an exciting way to work…
"There's a certain amount of danger that creativity lives in when you do it well – you approach things and you're not scared and you become dangerous because you're no longer pushed into a small hole – where you're a country songwriter or punk songwriter or a songwriter for musicals. Because I wasn't in Nashville or New York or anywhere else, and I had gone out and really reached out to all different types of people to teach me, I gathered all this weird information and even if I'm not the right person for something, I can call the right person and say 'Will you do this with me?'"
Where do you think that ability to be comfortable writing in different styles comes from?
"I think it comes from the way I learned to play music. I was trained as a Japanese experiment, I was in the pilot programme for the Suzuki method when it came to Tennessee in the early 70s. At the time the Suzuki method was much more Draconian, it was a process of teaching children music by teaching it as a language when their brains are most susceptible to it aged between three and five.
"It was primarily about learning by ear and it feels like that, in collaboration with my creative writing degree from Emory University, gave me something. I'll go and research something and listen to it and then I'll learn to imitate it and will get really interested in what it's like and then I figure out where the emotion is in it and then I will write that song."
Read the interview with Kristian Bush, along with more artist features, news, tips, reviews and gear in Songwriting Magazine Winter 2018 > >
Interview: Duncan Haskell
Zucchero: My Songwriting Hero, Bono
Sodajerker presents… Robbie Robertson
'Settle Down' by Oddity (Album)
Interview: Jonathan Jackson
U2 have 50 ideas for their new album
Tags: Adam & The Ants, Andrew Hyra, Billy Pilgrim, Emory University, Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush, Lindsay Ell, Sugarland, Troubadour, U2
← On The Stereo #33
New report finds listening to music damages creativity →


The book in the image is available here. Raising awareness like this is one of the best ways to help the homeless.
'Camouflaged better here than in the desert' Jesus that just encapsulates it. We deify the unknown (as we should) but disregard the known.
Makes me think. Your clearly a very talented writer.
Initially I was going to write a further comment picking out the comment that one in ten homeless are ex military. I thought at first that maybe this was being a bit unfair to the other nine out of ten whos voices maybe not represented but when I thought about it a bit more I completely agree that this statistic should be shown.
If for nothing but at least it shows how much the goverment and politicians care about people who break there back defending democracy.
And respect to you for how you are donating proceeds of your book to the homeless. Very inspiring and socially aware.
for reading Stephen. The book in the link isn't written by me, but compiled and edited by the very talented Tamsen Courtenay who collected the stories directly from the mouths of some 30 homeless people with their consent. The book has featured in the national press and has raised awareness about the dreadful state of affairs in the UK today.
No-one should have to sleep on the streets, ex-military or no. I just find all the marching and poppy wearing a little hypocritical on the part of the politicians laying wreaths at The Cenotaph every year, when ex-servicemen of more recent vintage are sleeping rough.


Ah, now this is what is killing Methodism Dead. The Itenerate system, developed in the middle ages to serve an under/un educated rural populace, is fundamentally at odds with our current cultural realities.
Innovators, risk takers, and out of the box thinkers have systematically fled the confines of this antiquated system for the greener pastures of non-denominational/congregational structures. In general what is left behind are those folks who prefer job security and continuity, with the resulting leadership deficit we encounter everywhere we turn in the Denomination.
Take just one anecdotal example, Life Church in Oklahoma City is now worshiping over 25,000 in 9 locations (I think this is accurate). Craig Groschel was a United Methodist Probationary member who was called by God to start a new congregation in OKC. When he approached his Bishop, he was told NO, and so with fear and trembling he left the Denomination, started a new church, and God has poured out continued blessings on it ever since. How many would have not seen the Kingdom had he followed the misguided ideals of the Denominational "Career Ladder".
I have seen this pattern repeated so often that it has come to be formulaic, we are loosing most of our innovators. No organization can be long for this world that systematically drives away its best and brightest. This is in fact what our current pastoral appointment system is doing. God help us see that what we have so long valued, is actually a sacred cow that needs to be sacrificed on the alter once and for all.
Ya, I have a slight opinion on this one!!
On the other hand, Adam Hamilton convinced his Bishop to let him start a church in KC and look what happened. I would argue, Carlos, that your example is more of bad leadership than a bad system. How many hundreds of small rural churches would lose pastors without itineracy? On the other end of the spectrum, how many large churches would be so focused around the pastor that they collapse when the pastor leaves? Or that the pastor puts him/her self above the church? Perhaps for a competant pastor not worried about job security the risk-taking, out of the box approach is to put yourself in the hands of others, and hopefully the Holy Spirit, instead of making our own way.
Tangetially related, I'm convinced that nondenomination megachurches are the exception, not the norm. I wonder how many have failed for every one that succeeded. Following nondenominational practices may not actually result in any more success that we have right now.
Having said all that, I agree that itineracy is a sacred cow. I'm just not yet convinced it's one of the cows that needs to be slaughtered.
I grew up in a tiny rural Church and I convinced that in this scenario you would see a resurgence among rural churches who are burdened by the financial strain of employing an elder in full connection, instead they would end up with contextual lay ministers who have often shown more success in reaching people in their context than our seminary educated clergy. Also, men and women called by God to lead where the population is centered, would shift the demographics of the denomination from being centered in rural America (A good strategy in 1800, not so much in 2009), towards a concentration in the Urban/Suburban environment. As I type this I realize another indictment of the Iteneracy is the fact that it has caused us to linger far to long in locations that are a poor strategic match to reaching the most people for Christ.
Perhaps your right about the bad leadership Issue, but I could literally write hundreds of parallel examples of this same situation. I agree that in the right hands the Iteneracy "Could Possibly Work", however it has utterly failed us in the last 40 or so years. Our clergy leadership is mostly a collection of maintainers, and the very structure itself is discouraging to the types of dynamic individuals we seek to lead strong mission driven organizations.
As for Adam, He is an unusual case – perhaps an exception that proves the rule. Adam Chose Methodism having not grown up within the system, He was unusually committed to the core values of the Denomination. I think this is also true of Andrew – who definitely doesn't fit anything I've said above about the majority of our Clergy leadership. So yes there are exceptions, but the "rule" has been that the best and brightest are discouraged and finally discontinue. That's what is terribly unfortunate.
Oh one other thing, I think the Iteneracy tends to admit and retain folks who would not be able to be employed in congregational/non-denominational churches. These are far to often the ones that are foisted on the small rural churches for decades. I lived this reality growing up, while my baptist friends had pastor after pastor who was dynamic, personally charismatic, and very strategic.
Some of the issues discussed above have driven me to much discernment of my own calling to church planting within or without the UM system. Also, as a young clergy, I'm in much agreement with Joseph Yoo that the lack of credibility given to us who might still be "wet behind the ears" yet still passionate about ministry is disheartening. I get more respect from pastors in my area who are outside the denomination than I do from my colleagues within my own district.
But really, I wanted to point out, Andrew, a language difference between yourself and Bishop Jones. He used the word "preacher", while you used, "pastor". I was just curious if you noticed that, and used a different word deliberately or not? I noticed in a comment on another of your posts saying to call someone "preacher" is archaic. I don't think so. I don't mind being called preacher because that's my calling, and I recognize that my preaching gifts outweigh my pastoral gifts. Doesn't mean I don't do the pastoral tasks, but they aren't my primary calling. On the other hand, maybe it's a cultural thing too.
I also think the nomenclature also reflects our heritage in a good way, of raising up lay pastors that supplement the work of those ordained to Word, Order, Sacrament, and Service. See Acts 6.
By the way, thanks for posting these! Such thought provoking in such short posts! I appreciate your ability to get to the heart of the matter.


This photo was taken just down the road from our house. It was actually a "re-do" of a photo I had taken the year before. I had discovered that Colorado's Agriculture Department had an annual photo contest. However, the rules stated that the photo had to be taken IN the calendar year of the contest; the first photo was taken a couple months too early.
So I decided to re-create that first photo. Easier said than done. Every morning for three straight weeks I went out to this spot before dawn, waiting to see if lighting and cloud conditions would be right. I was getting discouraged, but at the end of the three weeks, my persistence paid off. And just in time, because the field was harvested the next day. Check out the other photo from the previous year (the next photo in the same gallery) and let me know which you prefer.


text:
No Fertilizer, No Food: Global shutdown of fossil fuels the quickest way to STARVATION HELL – basic chemistry lesson for ignorant Leftists
Mike Adams
(Natural News) Engineered food scarcity is a weapon that's designed to achieve depopulation across the globe by creating famine, starvation and social unrest.
The quickest way to achieve global famine is to cut off the fertilizer supply. No fertilizer = no food.
And the quickest way to shut down fertilizer production is to choke off fossil fuels.
You can't turn solar energy directly into fertilizer. There's no direct conversion. Natural gas and other fossil fuels, on the other hand, are directly translated into fertilizer (ammonia, initially) through a very efficient method that simply can't be matched by "green" energy. It's called the "Haber process."
N2 (Nitrogen) + CH4 (Natural Gas) = Ammonia (NH3)
The N2 (nitrogen) comes from atmospheric air. The atmosphere is about 78% nitrogen, so nitrogen is readily available in the air.
As part of fertilizer production, this ammonia is then combined with carbon dioxide to produce Urea, another critical fertilizer product:
NH3 (Ammonia) + CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) = CO(NH2)2 (Urea)
Nitric acid is then produced from ammonia and oxygen:
NH3 (Ammonia) + O2 (Oxygen) = HNO3 (Nitric Acid)
Finally, the nitric acid is combined with ammonia to produce ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer product:
HNO3 (Nitric Acid) + NH3 (Ammonia) = NH4NO3 (Ammonium Nitrate)
Much of the production of fertilizer in the world centers around this chemical process known as the "Haber Process," created in 1908, which is arguably the single most important chemical reaction to sustain humanity at current population levels:
N2 (Nitrogen) + 3H2 (Hydrogen) = 2NH3 (Ammonia)
In effect, this transforms air into fertilizer by combining it with hydrogen from fossil fuels (i.e. natural gas). This reaction takes place at a temperature of 450 C and at 200 atmospheres of pressure, meaning it requires heavy duty equipment and energy inputs in order to succeed:
About 3.8 billion people depend on this process to feed themselves. Without this process, the present-day human population would be impossible to sustain. Thus, killing off about half the world's population merely requires restricting the fossil fuels that provide the hydrocarbons used in the Haber process.
Notice that the key inputs in fertilizer production are natural gas and atmospheric air. You can't simply replace natural gas (CH4) with solar panels or wind power, because solar energy doesn't produce CH4, and neither does wind energy. You actually need the fossil fuels as a key input in this chemistry.
SCIENCE FACT: The global shutdown of fossil fuels in the name of "green" energy will lead to global famine and societal collapse
Importantly, when coal, oil and other fossil fuels are squeezed by scientifically ignorant globalists who claim to be working towards a "green" future, it causes shortages and price inflation across all fossil fuels, including the natural gas used in fertilizer production.
Yesterday, coming out of the COP26 globalist conference, 40 nations committed to "phasing out coal" over the next few years. This is a pathway to guaranteed global famine because it will result in devastating energy shortages across the planet.
In fact, the current energy shortages already plaguing the planet as we head into winter for the Northern hemisphere — with blackouts now anticipated across North America, Ukraine, Western Europe, China, India and Middle Eastern nations — are entirely a result of truly suicidal globalist "leaders" shutting down fossil fuels infrastructure in the name of "green" energy.
While green energy can certainly contribute to the power grid when it comes to raw consuming of electricity, it cannot replace the Haber process for producing fertilizer.
Thus, when the infrastructure for fossil fuels is shuttered, fertilizer production ceases.
"[T]he [price] level that has now been reached no longer enables economically sound production," stated German SKW Piesteritz, the largest fertilizer producer in Germany. Fertilizer production has also been shuttered in Australia, the United States, the UK and many other nations around the world, all due to increases in natural gas prices, stemming from the energy scarcity caused by globalist "green energy" policies.
From Bloomberg.com:
CF Industries Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it's halting operations at its Billingham and Ince manufacturing complexes due to high natural gas prices, with no estimate for when production will resume. European gas and power futures tumbled Thursday on signs energy-intensive industries are curbing consumption.
The crisis could have severe economic consequences. Soaring prices are exposing the risk of power outages this winter, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Blackouts would likely send energy prices even higher, compounding concerns about inflation and adding to the rising costs businesses are already shouldering for raw materials.
For CF, shutting down these plants, which largely produce ammonium nitrate, will cause the company to lose some production volume, according to Alexis Maxwell, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. The bigger potential impact will likely be on global pricing for fertilizer as concerns grow that other producers will follow suit, she said.
Fertilizer prices are already high, and that's adding to increasing expenses for farmers, who are paying more for everything from land and seeds to equipment. The higher costs of production may mean even more food inflation is on the way.
"We wouldn't be surprised to see more nitrogen and chemicals production across Europe idled in the coming days until gas prices moderate," Joel Jackson, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said in a report.
The great food scarcity catastrophe of 2022 is already "baked in"
Because of the shuttering of fertilizer production in 2021, a catastrophic loss of crop production in 2022 is already in the cards. It cannot be stopped. We are going to see food scarcity accelerating in 2022 far beyond the current state of empty shelves and food inflation.
We anticipate seeing global food riots in 2022, along with increasing food insecurity (famine) and starvation in some nations.
The engineered global shipping supply chain crunch will only worsen this dynamic, leading to long delays in fertilizer deliveries, even if production can be achieved.
Power grid failures will strongly impact fertilizer production plants, as a functioning local power grid is absolutely necessary for fertilizer production to be conducted.
Vaccine mandates will contribute to the collapse, with criminal governments locking down workers and preventing the labor force from functioning at full capacity.
The end result is global food riots, famine, starvation, social unrest and chaos. This is all by design, of course, because the globalist governments of the world have declared war on humanity and are carrying out a campaign of mass genocide against the human race.
Get full details in today's Situation Update podcast via Brighteon.com:
Brighteon.com/3ad9c05d-86cb-434b-93a1-a7b4f62ef8ce
Discover new interviews and new podcasts each day at:
Article by Mike Adams
Previous articleGeorgia: Cops Charged With Burglary, Murder After Breaking Into Man"S Home & Shooting Him 76 Times (Video)
Next articleAustralian state to seize savings, homes, driver's licenses of people with unpaid COVID fines


The long-awaited MedPharm Iowa opened this weekend and was met by eager medical marijuana customers despite wet, wintry weather.
More than a dozen people lined up outside the medical cannabis dispensary an hour before it was set to open at 8 a.m. Saturday at 7239 Apple Valley Dr. in Windsor Heights.
In 2017, the Iowa Legislature and governor approved a provision of cannabis products for people with specific medical conditions. The stores permitted to provide the products opened for the first time on Saturday.
"The reaction we've gotten from the community about the opening has been amazing," said Lucas Nelson, general manager of the MedPharm operation. "People have been stopping by and asking when we're opening, how they can get involved and what will be available here."
Nelson said customers are "elated' that the wait for the product is finally over.
The opening weekend hours are 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. Saturday, and 12-5 p.m. on Sunday. Regular hours of operation will begin Monday.
"I feel (the opening) is baby steps for Iowa in the right direction," said Marilyn Isley, an early customer in line at the grand opening. "I've seen with my own eyes that there has been lots of problems with the opioid uses in Iowa and hopefully this is a step in the right direction in helping people that need help with different diseases and pain management."
The store is one of five Iowa dispensaries to start selling the new products Saturday. Just one Iowa-licensed manufacturing facility, owned by MedPharm of Des Moines, is making the products so far.
Nelson and Stephen Wilson, MedPharm's dispensary operations manager, publicly presented in late October the products that would be available when the state's five licensed dispensaries open.
For now, MedPharm will offer three products with ranging levels of cannabidiol, commonly referred to as CBD, and tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly referred to as THC. CBD is a type of non-intoxicating cannabinoid that can help people with seizures or Crohn's and Parkinson's diseases; THC is the psychoactive cannabinoid that can help people with cancers, Lou Gehrig's disease, Multiple sclerosis and terminal illnesses manage their pain.
A Cedar Rapids manufacturer owned by a New York company is expected to begin shipping products next summer.


text:
'We can expect further mutations': Local health officials prepare to deal with the COVID-19 Omicron variant
Updated: Dec 1, 2021 / 11:24 AM EST
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Although there isn't much data about the new COVID-19 'Omicron' variant, local health officials are already preparing against any possible future surges of the virus.
As of now, there are no reported cases of the Omicron variant in the United States.
However, Good Samaritan Hospital Chief Operating Officer Adam Thacker said that his team is already looking ahead.
"We're bringing our incident command team back together to discuss what the next couple of months will look like," Thacker said. "We're seeing an increase of cases."
Knox County Health Officer Alan Stewart said global health officials are still unsure of what this new variant means for our safety.
"It's too early to tell if this is actually going to be more contagious or more deadly," Stewart said. "History of the virus should say that the virus wants to be more contagious but it wants to become less deadly."
Omicron is one of a handful of COVID-19 variants. Stewart admitted that he's not surprised by the amount of times that the virus has mutated, and he said that we should continue to expect to see different variants in the future.
"We can expect further mutations," Stewart said. "We have expected this type of change to occur."


If you are in need of a trustworthy auto mechanic near Germantown, we hope you choose our local repair shop! Here's some information about us.
Who? Elite Service Automotive - We are Germantown's leading choice in auto repair. Our staff is well-trained with the goal of consistent and great customer service.
Where? Located conveniently for Germantown residents, our address is 5255 Elmore Rd.
When? Schedule an appointment now by contacting us online or calling 901-213-5028. Don't let your vehicle go unattended.
Thank you for considering Elite Service Automotive!


text:
Home News Reginald Mengi's widow wins inheritance case on appeal
According to The Citizen, the widow of media tycoon Reginald Mengi cleared another hurdle in her fight for control of the deceased's estate after the Court of Appeal dismissed objections filed by the estate administrators.
Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe Mengi and her two children petitioned the Court of Appeal to overturn a High Court decision that annulled Mengi's will, which excluded other children from inheritance.
However, the trustees of the estate, Abdiel Reginald Mengi (son of Mengi from his first wife) and Benjamin Abraham Mengi (Mengi's brother), try to block the application from being heard.
The trustees asked the court to dismiss Jacqueline's application shortly after she filed it, claiming that it was filed unlawfully.
They claimed that the applicants should have appealed rather than submitted a review application and that they had failed to attach the required documents.
The court, however, rejected the arguments and agreed to hear the petition for review.
Jackline Mengi
Previous articleWhat Tanzania has said thus far concerning the record-breaking Tanzanian ruby that lands in Dubai for auction
Next articleA National Identity Card to be used to Grant Bail in Court
Eye-Opening Facts That Show Why South Africa Is the 'Most Unequal Country in the World'
What Tanzania has said thus far concerning the record-breaking Tanzanian ruby...


Professor Dimitrios Buhalis and eTourism Lab invite PhD and Master level Student, researchers and organisation for future collaboration. Bournemouth University eTourism Lab has bees working on several projects and currently is looking for prospective partners and funding in order to expand the research.
Hi. I'm a Ph.D. student in Tourism Management. I want to know how can I contribute to the current projects or even establish a new research project.


text:
Kim Salwey (2016)
The sight of those T-shirts still makes me smile.
I remember spending one of the first days of the last academic year at Saginaw Valley State University selling 1,000 $1 shirts to freshmen. The sales were a fundraiser for Forever Red. I had been a member of the group since my first year on campus and I served as president this last academic year. On that particular day, our campus pride-inspiring organization raised funds for four $250 Cardinal Forever Initiative scholarships.
It was a beautiful day out in the courtyard. All of the Forever Red members were coming together to make this a success, and all the freshmen got their first dose of Red Pride. This past year, the Cardinal Forever Initiative was different for me because I really grasped the concept of giving back. Today, I can still walk through the halls and find students wearing the shirt, and that brings a smile to my face.
I truly appreciate the power of this college community—one I wanted to be a part of when I first arrived as a first-generation college student, and a classmate living in a neighboring housing suite on campus offered to sell me a Forever Red T-shirt. By my second semester, I became a member of Forever Red. From there, I started going to more things and meeting new people. The experience since then helped me discover a love of philanthropy.
Over the years, Forever Red and I were able to channel that newfound passion into initiatives that benefited SVSU and its students. A recent accomplishment included Forever Red's contributions to I Heart SV Week, a campaign in early February that raised both scholarship money and awareness about the importance of philanthropy. The effort resulted in $27,500 raised by Forever Red and the SVSU Foundation.
The campaign encompassed the community engagement spirit that I have grown to love as a member of Forever Red and SVSU. I wanted to be part of something bigger than I am. I know I can say I was part of something bigger here at SVSU.
Kim Salwey was raised in the small, tight-knit community of East Tawas by family members with an extensive military and law enforcement background — but no experience in higher education. As a result, she arrived at SVSU in an environment with more strangers than she was accustomed to and with little college advice. "My goal was to get involved," Salwey said. And she did, taking a student leadership role with a group whose goal was to heighten school pride and get students involved on campus.
Name: Kim Salwey (2016)
Favorite Course: Marketing
Dream Job: Marketing Professional


text:
18. April 2017 | Magazine: Research
Flying farther on less fuel	Focus on Research: Energy Transition in Aviation
With cheaper tickets and 700 new routes, airlines around the world carried a record high of 3.7 billion passengers in 2016. This figure is up 6.3% compared to 2015, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). And air transport is poised to increase even further. To help mitigate the environmental impact, the European Commission's Flightpath 2050 has set ambitious goals for the industry: by the year 2050, fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are to be reduced by 75% per passenger kilometre, as compared to 2000. Nitrogen oxide emissions are to decrease by 90%, and noise emissions by 65%.
Less weight, less resistance
Dr. Yaolong Liu, Institute of Aircraft Design and Lightweight Structures. Credit: Jonas Vogel/TU Braunschweig
"Fuel consumption can be lowered by reducing – reducing weight with the help of lighter materials and construction methods, or reducing the drag on the fuselage and wings through improved aerodynamics", says Dr. Yaolong Liu, who is conducting research on overall aircraft design at TU Braunschweig's Institute of Aircraft Design and Lightweight Structures. He also participates in the Energy System Transformation in Aviation research project, namely as a member of the System Platforms working group, which concentrates on technical changes to aircraft.
Nils Beck, Research Assistant at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics. Credit: Jonas Vogel/TU Braunschweig
Less resistance is one of the avenues the scientists are pursuing, and this puts the focus on laminar flow technologies. "Less than five percent of the surface of a passenger aircraft currently has properties that encourage laminar air flow. There is still a lot of potential here, despite the fact that research into boundary layers has been underway for more than 50 years, and experiments with wind tunnels and research aircraft have produced promising results", says team member Nils Beck, Research Associate at TU Braunschweig's Institute for Fluid Mechanics.
Optimising surfaces
A flow is laminar when it is homogeneous, or layered, as opposed to a turbulent flow, whose swirls and eddies cause surface friction and energy loss. The more evenly air flows around an aircraft's wings and fuselage, the less resistance there is. Lower air resistance in turn means lower fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. As Beck puts it, "You get a laminar flow by optimising shapes and surfaces. Or – and this is our approach – by developing and mounting an active system that sucks away part of the flow, limiting aerodynamic instabilities and preventing laminar flows from becoming turbulent ones." This Laminar Flow Control technology could save more than 30% in fuel.
"Particle Image Velocimetry" can be used for non-contact laser measurement of different types of airflow around aircraft. Credit: Sebastian Olschewski/TU Braunschweig
"Until now, periods of high fuel prices have usually been followed by severe slumps in oil prices. Because of this, manufacturers lack the long-term motivation to bring laminar flow technologies to product maturity", explains Beck. "But we are not going to wait for the price of oil to rise again; we are pursuing this topic now." Because today's developments will be the components of tomorrow's aircraft. "In aviation, innovation cycles are much longer than in other sectors. Technologies are highly complex due to high safety requirements."
Text: Nicole Geffert
Aviation, Mobility
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jens Friedrichs
Institute of Jet propulsion and Turbomachinery
Hermann-Blenk-Straße 37
Phone: +49 531 391-2919
Email: j.friedrichs@ifas.tu-bs.de
www.ifas.tu-bs.de
Cluster of Excellence: SE²A
The Cluster of Excellence "Sustainable and Energy Efficient Aviation" (SE²A) deals with the challenge of making future air traffic efficient while meeting the competing demands for continuous growth and environmental sustainability at the same time. SE²A involves the TU Braunschweig, the German Aerospace Center, Leibniz Universität Hannover, the Braunschweig University of Art and the National Metrology Institute of Germany. The Cluster of Excellence is part of the joint research area "Mobility".
"Sustainable and Energy Efficient Aviation" (SE²A) deals with the challenge of making future air traffic energy efficient while simultaneously meeting the competing demands for continuous growth and environmental sustainability. SE²A involves the TU Braunschweig, the German Aerospace Center, Leibniz Universität Hannover, the Braunschweig University of Art and the National Metrology Institute of Germany. The Cluster of Excellence is part of the joint research area "Mobility".


text:
Vanderbilt engineer to participate in NAE's first Frontiers of Engineering Education symposium
A Vanderbilt University engineering professor has been selected to take part in the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) first Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE) symposium Nov. 15-18 in Herndon, Va.
Xenofon Koutsoukos, associate professor of computer science and computer engineering, is one of 49 engineering researchers and educators who were chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants nominated by fellow engineers or deans.
Engineering faculty members in the first half of their careers who are developing and implementing innovative educational approaches in a variety of disciplines will come together and share ideas, learn from research and best practice in education, and leave with a charter to bring about improvement in their home institution.
The program will focus on effective ways to ensure that students learn the engineering fundamentals, the expanding knowledge base of new technology, and the skills necessary to be an effective engineer or engineering researcher.
Koutsoukos excels in undergraduate and graduate teaching, according to Dan Fleetwood, chair of the electrical engineering and computer science department. He has developed and significantly updated undergraduate courses, and a computer engineering module he created for the School's survey course required of all first-year students has help build enrollment in the computer engineering program, Fleetwood said.
Also, Koutsoukos is regarded as a highly effective, caring mentor to graduate students. He has served on a number of thesis committees and has supervised more than 10 undergraduate research projects. His student ratings are among the highest in the School.
"In our increasingly global and competitive world, the United States needs to marshal its resources to address the strategic shortfall of engineering leaders in the next decades," said Edward F. Crawley, Ford Professor of Engineering at MIT, and chairman of the first FOEE. "By holding this event, we have recognized some of the finest young engineering educators in the nation, and will better equip them to transform the educational process at their universities."
Koutsoukos, also a Senior Research Scientist in the Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS), received the 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award from the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, a Best Paper Award at SenSys — a major conference on embedded network sensor systems — in 2007, and he is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2004. He has published more than 120 refereed journal and conference papers and he is co-inventor of four U.S. patents. His research interests include hybrid, embedded and cyber-physical systems, and sensor networks.
"The Frontiers of Engineering Education program will create a unique venue for engineering faculty members to share and explore interesting and effective innovations in teaching and learning," said NAE President Charles M. Vest. "We intend for FOEE to become a major force in identifying, recognizing, and promulgating advances and innovations in order to build a strong intellectual infrastructure and commitment to 21st-century engineering education."
Koutsoukos received a diploma in electrical and computer engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. His graduate education at the University of Notre Dame includes masters degrees in electrical engineering and in applied mathematics, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering.
Xenofon Koutsoukos National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering Education
Posted on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 in Alumni, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, News, Research


surveyed for the 2018 Best Graduate Schools Guide. Read more and watch the celebration video.
ties with accounting programs. Read more and see the celebration video.
ny global in 2007 when Havells purchased Sylvania in Europe and South America, one of the biggest overseas acquisitions by an Indian company.
one of the founding members of India's first liberal arts institute, Ashoka University. Learn more.
provided attendees with a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with fellow classmates, faculty, and staff members. Check out the photo gallery.
lotte. "Being able to immediately apply my classroom learning in the workplace was one of the most rewarding parts of the program."
business and enterprise management major were among a select group recognized from across top business schools in the nation. Learn more.
North Carolina live in poverty and North Carolina's rate of child food insecurity is almost twice the national rate.
language, and have administrative and budgetary experience.
the Flow House, both commencing their terms in Fall 2018.


text:
Policy »
Parkash Singh Badal
Indian Medical Association
diagnostic facilities
Punjab : Badal tells IMA to form panel for improving healthcare system
Badal today asked the IMA and State health department to form a joint coordination committee under his chairmanship to suggest ways to improve healthcare system across the state.PTI | January 17, 2016, 06:06 IST
Sources in Parkash Singh Badal's party Shiromani Akali Dal said the CM's office booked a low budget carrier for his Delhi visit after they failed to secure business class seats in Air India.
Phagwara, Jan 16 : Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and State health department to form a joint coordination committee under his chairmanship to suggest ways to improve healthcare system across the state.
The panel would give suggestions to the state government for providing best healthcare and diagnostic facilities to the people at affordable rates, he said while addressing doctors during an inaugural function of two-days annual conference organised by IMA here.
Referring to Clinical Establishment Act, Badal said that any legislations related to agriculture, industry, medical and healthcare should ensure level playing field for all the stakeholders by taking them into confidence before enactment of such laws by the Centre.
Listing the facilities being extended by state government to give fillip to the medical education, the Chief Minister said, the stipend of medical interns have been enhanced from Rs 4,500 to Rs 9,000 per month while the honorarium of house surgeons have been increased Rs 4,800 to Rs 21,000 per month.
Showing concern over ill effects of Cancer and Hepatitis, Badal asked doctors to intensify their efforts in medical research to combat these fatal diseases.
He said, the state government has taken several steps to fight cancer which includes providing 118 drugs at affordable rates to patients suffering from this disease besides giving financial assistance of Rs 1.50 lakh to each person suffering from cancer from Chief Minister s Cancer Relief Fund.
Till now Rs 335 crore financial assistance have been provided to 27,163 patients. Two advanced cancer treatment centres, Homi Bhabha Cancer Centre at Government Hospital Sangrur in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital and a 100-bedded Advanced Cancer Research Centre at Bathinda have been set up, he said.
Also, Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre would soon come up at Mullanpur in New Chandigarh, Badal said.
Later, talking to mediapersons the Chief Minister said that AAP was a party of "fugitives" which had no future in Punjab.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has proved to be a biggest failure at all fronts and how could such party dare to befool the innocent electorate in Punjab, he said.
On the merger of People's Party of Punjab led by Manpreet Badal in Congress, Badal said that he failed to understand how one person without anyone's support could help Congress in improving its poll prospects in 2017.
"How a person could succeed in his life without any ideology, principle or stand," he said referring to Manpreet. CHS PL NSD
Tags : Policy, state health department, Parkash Singh Badal, Indian Medical Association, diagnostic facilities
Most Read in Policy
Govt to use AI to curb frauds in Ayushman Bharat
Pharma D holders can prefix Dr, govt clarifies in RS
Consumer bill draft removes healthcare from services
Niti Aayog Health Index Report- A Wake up Call?
Will regulations on e-pharmacies affect the brick-and-mortar stores?


PrestaShop cloud hosting plans from Alpha-Omega Systems coming with unmetered disk drive storage space & bandwidth. Enjoy a riskless cloud hosting service with a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
With PrestaShop, you will be able to quickly kickstart an e–store and to administer it without any difficulty. The script offers a new and much more intuitive method for managing an online store, with the central philosophy being "Things ought to be simple". PrestaShop is available in lots of languages and presently powers over 130 000 active e–shops.
PrestaShop's admin backend offers all the features that you'll need – they are just a click away. You'll be able to easily manage unlimited products, to sort them by price or by availability, to update them, to set quantity discounts for all items or for just a limited number of products and much, much more.
PrestaShop™ is a trademark of PrestaShop SA and is not affiliated with Alpha-Omega Systems.
With Alpha-Omega Systems's PrestaShop cloud hosting solution, you can have your online store published to the Internet with one mouse click. Simply choose PrestaShop from the web app pull–down menu on the order page and we shall install your PrestaShop copy as soon as we activate your cloud hosting account. This will let you start working on your e–commerce portal right after the account activation process has been completed.
Our PrestaShop cloud hosting plans come with a point–and–click Web Site Control Panel, which was designed in–house by Alpha-Omega Systems. It's available in over 10 different languages and has an easy–to–use interface offering an array of tools, which will give you complete command over your web store's content.
You'll get a drag 'n' drop File Manager where your PrestaShop files will be kept, a Database Manager for your databases, and a full–featured Email Manager from where you can manage all your mail messages. Plus, you will be granted access to a comprehensive stats tool, which will supply you with up–to–the–minute details about your bandwidth and system resource usage.


The Linear Converter Interface Asset enables you to convert a numeric value located within an input range into a value located within an output range. (For example, converting Celsius into Fahrenheit.) This is achieved through the use of a linear equation. Thankfully, Intuiface does the math for you! Just provide two conversion examples. These two examples are equivalent to two points on the line representing the linear equation.
You will find usage samples below.
Limit to lower end of Output: applies a threshold if the output value were to go below the lower end of the output range.
Limit to upper end of Output: applies a threshold if the output value were to go over the upper end of the output range.
Because 0°C = 32°F and 20°C = 68°F, this linear conversion will transform Celsius into Fahrenheit. Reverse the input and output values to create a Fahrenheit to Celsius converter.
Use the X property of Image 1 as the source value. This is the foreground image and will be the one moved by a user.
Output the transformed value to the X property of Image 2. This image is in the background.
When you move Image 1, its X property will be processed by the converter and the Output value will be used by Image 2. The background image will move faster than the foreground image.
Play with the Sample Output parameters to adjust the speed / difference of movement.
The X property of the koala image is bound to the X property of the penguin image using this linear converter. the [0, 960] input range and [0, 960] output range means the X values will be equals, thus the koala image will follow the penguin image when moved.
The Limit to upper end of Output checked property means the X value of the koala image will be blocked when reaching 960.


text:
<?php

/**
 * Podium Module
 * Yii 2 Forum Module
 * @author Paweł Bizley Brzozowski <pawel@positive.codes>
 * @since 0.1
 */

use bizley\podium\models\User;
use bizley\podium\Podium;
use bizley\podium\rbac\Rbac;
use yii\bootstrap\Nav;
use yii\bootstrap\NavBar;
use yii\helpers\Html;

$items = [['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Home'), 'url' => ['forum/index']]];

$podiumModule = Podium::getInstance();

if (Podium::getInstance()->user->isGuest) {
    if (Podium::getInstance()->podiumConfig->get('members_visible')) {
        $items[] = [
            'label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Members'),
            'url' => ['members/index'],
            'active' => $this->context->id == 'members'
        ];
    }
    if ($podiumModule->userComponent === true && $this->context->accessType === 1) {
        if ($podiumModule->podiumConfig->get('registration_off') != '1') {
            $items[] = ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Register'), 'url' => $podiumModule->registerUrl];
        }
        $items[] = ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Sign in'), 'url' => $podiumModule->loginUrl];
    }
} else {
    $podiumUser = User::findMe();
    $messageCount = $podiumUser->newMessagesCount;
    $subscriptionCount = $podiumUser->subscriptionsCount;

    if (User::can(Rbac::ROLE_ADMIN)) {
        $items[] = [
            'label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Administration'),
            'url' => ['admin/index'],
            'active' => $this->context->id == 'admin'
        ];
    }
    $items[] = [
        'label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Members'),
        'url' => ['members/index'],
        'active' => $this->context->id == 'members'
    ];
    $items[] = [
        'label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Profile ({name})', ['name' => $podiumUser->podiumName])
                    . ($subscriptionCount ? ' ' . Html::tag('span', $subscriptionCount, ['class' => 'badge']) : ''),
        'url' => ['profile/index'],
        'items' => [
            ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'My Profile'), 'url' => ['profile/index']],
            ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Account Details'), 'url' => ['profile/details']],
            ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Forum Details'), 'url' => ['profile/forum']],
            ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Subscriptions'), 'url' => ['profile/subscriptions']],
        ]
    ];
    $items[] = [
        'label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Messages') . ($messageCount ? ' ' . Html::tag('span', $messageCount, ['class' => 'badge']) : ''),
        'url' => ['messages/inbox'],
        'items' => [
            ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Inbox'), 'url' => ['messages/inbox']],
            ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Sent'), 'url' => ['messages/sent']],
            ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'New Message'), 'url' => ['messages/new']],
        ]
    ];
    if ($podiumModule->userComponent === true) {
        $items[] = ['label' => Yii::t('podium/view', 'Sign out'), 'url' => ['profile/logout'], 'linkOptions' => ['data-method' => 'post']];
    }
}

NavBar::begin([
    'brandLabel' => $podiumModule->podiumConfig->get('name'),
    'brandUrl' => ['forum/index'],
    'options' => ['class' => 'navbar-inverse navbar-default', 'id' => 'top'],
    'innerContainerOptions' => ['class' => 'container-fluid',]
]);
echo Nav::widget([
    'options' => ['class' => 'navbar-nav navbar-right'],
    'encodeLabels' => false,
    'activateParents' => true,
    'items' => $items,
]);
NavBar::end();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub