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Select Committee on Trade and Industry Minutes of Evidence
Memorandum submitted by the Campaign Against Arms Trade
SUBMISSION IN RESPONSE TO THE GOVERNMENT'S WHITE PAPER ON STRATEGIC EXPORT CONTROLS
1. The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) is opposed to all military exports, but recognises that, despite their negative effects on human rights, security and the economy, the trade in them will not end overnight. As an interim measure, therefore, CAAT is seeking an export licensing policy with an emphasis on restraint, reinforced by transparency, and far greater opportunities for public debate. It is against this background that CAAT responded, in October 1996, to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Consultative Document on "Strategic Export Controls", and is making this submission in response to the White Paper of the same name published on 1 July 1998. The submission does not cover every issue raised by the White Paper, but focuses on those of greatest concern to CAAT.
SECTION A—COMMENTS ON PROPOSALS MADE IN THE WHITE PAPER
2. CAAT is profoundly disappointed that the Government has decided not to allow parliamentary scrutiny of individual export licence applications, before (or, indeed, even after) the decision on whether to grant a licence has been taken. (Clause 2.1.7 refers)
3. Transparency is an essential feature of democracy, and citizens are entitled to know about the decisions the Government is taking on their behalf. This is especially the case on matters of ethical and economic concern such as arms exports. Information is a prerequisite for informed debate, and its release should take precedence over commercial confidentially, or the military security interests of overseas governments. The Government's lack of willingness to be open on this issue leaves a strong impression that it has something to hide, that it is embarrassed about at least some of its export licensing decisions, and unwilling to defend them to the public.
4. CAAT would urge the Government to think again and make all applications for military equipment export licences available for public inspection 10 working days in advance of the licence application being considered, in order to allow adequate time for comment and, if necessary, debate. Copies of the register should be lodged in the House of Commons' Library, in the Export Market Information Centre, on an appropriate part of the Internet, and other suitable places for public inspection.
5. A long debate on each of the thousands of licence applications made annually would not be anticipated, so CAAT does not believe that publicising individual export licence applications would "inevitably slow down significantly the process of decision-making". A register of applications, such as the one suggested in point 4 above, would, however, provide an opportunity for concerns to be raised about a particular sale before the licence was granted. It would also allow those with expert knowledge to question a series of seemingly innocuous exports that might, for example, indicate missile proliferation. This could complement the Government's own intelligence.
6. The publication by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of an annual report on strategic exports is not an alternative to an export licence applications register as it will not ensure that individual licences are not granted in breach of the purposes of export control.
Purposes of strategic export controls
7. CAAT welcomes the decision to set out the purposes of export controls in legislation (Section 2.2 refers). However, it should be made clear that these are the only purposes that will be taken into account, and that they cannot be disregarded by a Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who might feel it politically expedient to so do.
8. The real test of the value of setting out the purposes of strategic export controls in legislation will be whether the Government adheres to them. This can only be seen over time, and only then if measures to introduce transparency with regard to individual licence applications, such as those proposed by CAAT, are introduced. Without such detail, neither parliamentarians nor the public will be able to consider whether, for instance, a particular export might damage regional stability. All consideration of, and debate about, the matter would remain with Ministers and civil servants. This would, essentially, be the same situation as at present, and the same as prevailed when the decisions over sales to Iraq, as described in Sir Richard Scott's Report, were made.
9. Assuming that details of individual export licence applications and decisions do become public knowledge, putting the relevant policy criteria into legislation as proposed would allow the judicial challenge of a decision by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. This would be welcome. A provision should be made in the secondary legislation and/or guidance material that would specifically allow third parties to challenge decisions.
"Catch all"
10. CAAT believes it is essential that some form of military end-use, or "catch all", control be introduced (Clause 5.1.2 refers), and is disappointed that it should be seen merely as a possibility. All goods being transferred from the UK to overseas military, security or police forces or armaments-manufacturing bodies should be made subject to export licensing controls. This would include goods being transferred under Government-to-Government deals (which would thus receive the extra scrutiny of the licensing process), or by the Crown Agents, and of surplus stock.
The goods would include, not exclusively:
— arms, ammunition, implements or munitions of war, any article deemed capable of being converted thereinto or having a strategic or tactical value or nature;
— materials, equipment and technologies which are designed or used for the development, production or utilisation of arms, ammunition or implements of war;
— materials and equipment incorporating technology, the acquisition of which would give assistance to the development and production of arms, ammunition and implements of war and their means of utilisation or delivery;
— materials equipment and technologies which may be used for the production of arms, ammunition or the implements of war or their means of utilisation or delivery;
— spare parts;
— items to be produced under licence in the purchasing country.
Where there is any doubt, or dispute, as to whether or not goods being purchased would be going to a military, security or police force or armaments manufacturing body, an export licence should be required.
Intangibles
11. CAAT is pleased that the issue of the export of intangibles, that is passing information about weapons' designs to third parties overseas, has been addressed (Section 3.2 refers). It is, however, disappointed that the Government proposes to limit the controls on this, for the time being, to tecnhnology related to weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles.
12. It is important that controls should be extended to all goods with a military end-user, for instance as defined in point 10 above, as soon as possible. If this cannot be done immediately for practical reasons, then a definite timetable should be agreed now.
Trafficking and brokering
13. CAAT is also pleased that controls are to be introduced on brokering (Section 3.3 refers), but does not agree that they should be more limited, either in terms of goods or of destination, than those on actual physical exports.
14. The Government appears somewhat naive in its reliance on the export controls of overseas countries to complement its own, as brokers can deliberately choose routes through the countries with the weakest laws. This was illustrated in the "Dispatches" television programme in March 1996 which showed an UK businessman offering to arrange the supply of electro-shock weapons to Zaire. The equipment was to be made in, and shipped from, Mexico. The owner of the factory there said he could export to anywhere he chose, and that the Mexican government presented no problem.
15. CAAT would also have liked to have seen a register of brokers proposed, with failure to register such activities made an offence under UK law. The registration documents should be open to public and parliamentary scrutiny.
16. Certainly, the enforcement of controls on trafficking and brokering is less straightforward than the enforcement of controls on exports from the UK (Clause 3.3.3 refers). This should not, however, rule out the imposition of controls, and the investigation of the infringement of them when this is brought to the notice of the appropriate authorities.
End-use controls
17. CAAT is dismayed that the Government has made no concrete proposals with regard to End-use monitoring (Section 5.2 refers), especially as many responding to the Green Paper (including CAAT), had made detailed suggestions on this. It is vital that the Government publishes its End-use proposals without further delay to enable them to be considered alongside the matters covered by the White Paper.
18. The following are the suggestions CAAT made when responding to the Green Paper, and would still advocate today.
(a) Applications for export permits should not be approved in the absence of an End-User Certificate (EUC) issued by the relevant government authority in the importing country, and obtained by the export licensing authority in the UK. It should indicate clearly the identity of the issuing authority, the name and designation of the signatory, the specifications, serial numbers and quantity of the armaments under consideration, and contain a commitment not to resell or transfer the armaments without the express permission of the UK export licensing authority.
(b) The terms for the licensed equipment should be "cost, insurance and freight", ensuring that the selling company is responsible for getting the equipment to the port of discharge, and thus lowering the risk of diversion.
(c) The supplier should be required to obtain a Delivery Verification Certificate (DVC) and to submit this document within a prescribed period to the export licensing authority. The DVC should be issued by the customs authority in the importing country as proof that the goods have arrived in the designated port of discharge and been collected by the designated purchaser.
(d) Customs and Excise should actively follow up all intelligence concerning licensing violations, and also do spot checks. These latter should be initiated, without prior warning, on a random sample of licences granted to confirm that the user of the equipment exported, and the use to which the latter is put, is as stated on the export licence. Such a right of inspection should form part of the export licence. Where abuse is discovered, the Government should not issue new licences for the export of military equipment to the country concerned. A refusal on the part of the prospective importing state or party to permit verification of end-use should be considered prima facie evidence of undesirable practices and should preclude export.
(e) The management and directors of any company found to be violating export licence regulations should be made personally liable under criminal law for such infringements. The company itself could be fined, have its goods seized or assets sequestrated.
(f) The Government should refuse entry into the UK to anyone proved to be concerned with miliary procurement for countries subject to an arms embargo, and expel those already operating here to a destination where their safety is ensured.
(g) Police and customs officials should give priority to ensuring that the UK is not used as a centre for the illegal supply of weaponry to countries against which an embargo has been imposed by the United Nations or the European Union.
(h) The Government should use the appropriate international fora to arrange co-operation between customs and law-enforcement agencies to combat the illegal trafficking of military equipment.
19. In the interim, CAAT would suggest that all licences issued by the Export Control Organisation contain re-export conditions. It is understood, from a DTI letter dated 9 July 1998 about exports to Chile, that such conditions are currently the exception rather than the rule.
Location of export licensing work
20. CAAT is relieved that the Government has rejected the suggestion by Sir Richard Scott to locate export licensing within the Ministry of Defence (Section 5.3 refers). CAAT would, however, have preferred the responsibility to have gone to the FCO or, failing this, an independent licensing authority.
21. The announcement, by the Foreign Secretary in May 1997, of a foreign policy with human rights at its heart, gave hope that, under the incoming Labour Government, there might be a change in direction from the promotion of arms exports, to the reduction and eventual elimination of them. To facilitate this, CAAT would have liked to have seen the appointment of a Minister of State, within the FCO, with specific responsibility for, and committed to, controlling and phasing out military exports.
22. As this change in direction by the Government has not occurred, CAAT would urge that an independent licensing authority be established. The DTI has trade promotion as one of its major responsibilities. Keeping the export licensing function within its remit would leave the DTI subject to conflicting pressures. Similar pressures within the MoD were revealed in detail by Sir Richard Scott. Then, the cautious line taken by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Glazebrook, the MoD official responsible for assessing the security implications of exports, was overridden by that of the, more numerous, officials within the same department charged with promoting arms sales. CAAT fears that the views of officials from the relatively small export licensing department would be equally disregarded in the DTI.
SECTION B—COMMENTS ON OMISSIONS FROM THE WHITE PAPER
23. CAAT is disappointed that the White Paper does not address either training, or the provision of mercenaries, by the UK companies, government or citizens. It also fails to cover production under licence. It hopes that Government will address these omissions in the near future.
24. The provision of training is as much part of the arms trade as the provision of hardware, but at present there appear to be even fewer controls over training.
25. A list of countries whose military or security personnel are being trained by the UK Armed Forces or in Ministry of Defence (MoD) establishments will, at present, be given in answer to a parliamentary question. In the last few months (see, for instance, Hansard, 22.7.98), in a departure from former practice, additional information, for instance the numbers of personnel being trained, and the name of the establishment, has also been given.
26. CAAT welcomes this additional information, but it is still insufficient to allow informed debate before the training starts.
27. When it responded to the Green Paper, CAAT made the following suggestions. It would still suggest that in cases of training of overseas military, security or police personnel by members of the UK Armed Forces or in Ministry of Defence establishments, details should be available for public inspection. The details should be lodged, one month in advance of the confirmation of an offer of training, in the Library of the House of Commons and in a suitable public place. The details given should include the:
(a) country from which the prospective trainee comes and military or other unit in which s/he is serving;
(b) name(s) of trainee(s);
(c) dates of training;
(d) nature of training;
(e) place/establishment of training.
28. Though information about training by the UK Armed Forces and in MoD establishments is sparse, details of training by private companies is virtually non-existent. Such training is very occasionally reported by the media, usually when it forms part of an equipment package.
Training of overseas military, security or police personnel by private companies in the UK or by the company's personnel overseas should be subject to licence, either
(a) as part of a licence for the supply of military equipment when training is in the use of equipment made by the company supplying the equipment; or
(b) through a specific licence for training when this is not part of an equipment package.
A detailed prospectus of training should be published in advance of the granting of such a licence.
29. The provision of mercenaries to fight overseas wars, both between countries and within countries, is of concern to many. In December 1989, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted an International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.
30. When it responded to the Green Paper, CAAT urged the Government to sign and ratify immediately the UN Convention on Mercenaries, and to introduce legislation to bring UK law in line with it. FCO Minister, Tony Lloyd, in a letter dated 6th July 1998, said that the UK had "not become party to the Convention because we doubt it is legally enforceable. The Convention's definition of a mercenary would make it difficult to secure a conviction in an English court".
31. Earlier, in answer to a parliamentary question on 30th June 1998, in the House of Lord, Mr Lloyd's then colleague, Baroness Symons, said that: "We are examining a number of options for national domestic regulation of so-called private military companies operating out of the United Kingdom. As part of this process, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is currently looking at measures taken by other governments, including recent South African legislation."
32. Whether as part of these changes being made to strategic export licensing, or separately, CAAT believes that it is essential that mercenary activities are made illegal without delay.
Licensed production, international companies, and collaborative projects
33. Military production is becoming increasingly internationalised. The White Paper does not consider how this change can be reflected in export controls, but CAAT believes this issue should be addressed without delay.
34. If a UK company licences the manufacture overseas of military equipment, as defined in point 10 above, the agreement should require an export licence even if no equipment actually originates in the UK.
35. When military equipment is made by a UK company in collaboration with an overseas company, by an overseas subsidiary of a UK company or by an overseas company in which a UK company has a participating interest of at least 20 per cent, such goods would require a UK export licence before they could be exported from the overseas country to a third country.
36. The management and directors of any company found to be violating this regulation should be made personally liable under criminal law for such an infringement. The UK company itself could face prosecution under UK law, be fined, have its goods seized or assets sequestrated.
37. The DTI's proposals in the White Paper are not sufficient to fully assist in the implementation of a UK foreign policy which puts human rights at its heart, and it is important that amendments are made so that they do so. In particular, it is vital that full information about export licence applications is made public to enable a proper debate about an ethical issue of widespread concern.
Prepared 10 December 1998


Academic Internship at Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica within the framework of the National Scholarship Program of the Slovak Republic.
Director of the Library at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, Ph.D. in Social Communications, Tetiana Sergiivna Opryshko has completed a month-long internship at the library of Matej Bel University within the framework of the National Scholarship Program of the Slovak Republic on support of students, postgraduate students, university professors and research staff mobility (SAIA Programs).
During the internship a number of meetings were held with the staff of all departments of the library. In the course of these meetings various issues of sharing best practices and the ways of cooperation were specified. In particular, an agreement on posting scientific journals "Education", "The Modern Higher Education Review" and "Open Educational E-Environment" on the website of Matej Bel University was reached.
The program also included visits to the leading Slovak libraries, namely to the State Library of Science in Banska Bystrica, the Slovak National Library in Martin, the Center for Scientific and Technical Information in Bratislava, the Matej Hrebenda Slovak Library for the Blind in Levoča and several university libraries.
As a result of the internship, a plan of measures to implement the Development Strategy of the Library at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University was drawn up.


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
You are here: Home » Film » Disney Acquire Lucasfilm
Disney Acquire Lucasfilm
Not so long ago, in a galaxy quite close to home…
The Walt Disney Company yesterday announced that they had agreed a deal to purchase Lucasfilm from its Chairman and Founder, George Lucas, for the hefty price of $4.05 billion. The terms of the deal mean that Disney will be handing the Star Wars creator approximately half of the money in cash, making up the rest with 40 million shares in their company.
The deal delivers Disney an impressive portfolio of brands, including Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts and Skywalker Sound – but the real prize is the rights to the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars is one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time, with a host of movies, television shows and merchandise, as well as some of the world's most devoted fans. And Disney is set to take full advantage of this moneymaking machine.
The entertainment giant stated that they intend to create a new suite of Star Wars movies, following on from Lucas' original trilogy (4: A New Hope, 5: The Empire Strikes Back and 6: Return of the Jedi). Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for a 2015 release date, with Disney hoping that this will be just the first of many new films from a galaxy far, far away.
This deal may take many fans by surprise, but in some ways it was inevitable. Disney has been reaping great financial success from another recent acquisition, Marvel Entertainment, which has become the world's highest-grossing movie franchise, with huge blockbusters such as this summer's The Avengers. This move opened up a whole new demographic to Disney, appealing to young males and fanboys eager to see the latest superhero film or buy the latest merchandise. Disney has always enjoyed a close relationship with Star Wars, featuring content from the franchise in their popular theme parks in Orlando, Anaheim, Paris and Tokyo. Acquiring the rights to the franchise cements Disney's appeal to male audiences previously uninterested in a company famed for its princesses.
But the news of further Star Wars films may not be music to everyone's ears. Diehard fans of the original trilogy were not shy to voice their disappointment at George Lucas' prequel trilogy (1: The Phantom Menace, 2: Attack of the Clones and 3: Revenge of the Sith), seeing it as a betrayal of the originals. Star Wars fans' hatred of the newer movies is regularly referenced in popular culture, with certain aspects (such as the ill-fated Jar Jar Binks) becoming the subject of regular jokes. For these fans, the thought of further movies brings the worry that things can only get worse for their beloved Star Wars.
However, the prequel trilogy, spin-off television show and merchandise found spectacular success amongst younger audiences, and these fans are likely to be ecstatic at the prospect of further films. With such a huge fanbase eagerly anticipating its release, Star Wars Episode 7 is likely to bring Disney the same success that they found with Marvel – regardless of the feelings of the original fans.
Tags: Cinema Disney films franchise george lucas Lucasfilm. new Star Wars. Star Wars Episode 7 Marvel movies skywalker Star Wars
Author: Tom Hibbert A Marine Biology graduate with a passion for writing and a set of interests as diverse as the animal kingdom. Despite my recent shift towards the dark arts of scientific writing, my first love is fiction. I write two blogs: sharknebula.wordpress.com for original science fiction stories, and wildlifetom.wordpress.com for nature photography.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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So far this summer, the peaches I have purchased have been transformed into margaritas. I knew the hubby was hankering for a peach dessert, so I whipped up this Streusel Topped Peach Tart. National Peach Month will be here soon!
The hubby was hinting around about "pie." Peach pie to be exact. Have I told you how much I dislike making double crust pies? A "pat in" tart crust is more my speed.
I toyed with adding a lattice crust till the dough strips fell apart in my hands. No way was I going to weave those! When I see desserts with a crumb topping, like this Streusel Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, I never fume, "Where the heck is that top crust????" Instead, my mouth starts to water. So streusel won out. Bill was a happy guy! And I was a happy, stress-free baker.
I served this streusel topped peach tart at our annual 4th of July gathering. The forecast was dreary so our party was moved indoors and the fireworks were nixed. We all squeezed into our home and I decked the tables in red, white and blue.
Everyone brought a dish to share and I baked up a storm. Frozen Grasshopper Pie, Homemade Samoas, Frosted Cocoa Brownies, and this luscious streusel topped peach tart were my contributions. Everything was a huge hit!
Oh, yeah, I also made this Sour Cream Corn Dip which was devoured in record time (that's what happens when you have 3 twenty-something-year-old young men for dinner). Bill requests it every year without fail. But I think desserts are traditionally the highlight of this summer party, and this scrumptious tart was the perfect addition.
My family goes nuts for the combination of peach and raspberries in desserts and this Peach Raspberry Crisp is super easy. My Classic Peach Pie is a little more work, but worth the effort! If you're looking for a cool treat, try this Fresh Peach Ice Cream. I've also put these Peach Hand Pies and this Peach Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting on my baking list.
A peach tart made with fresh summer peaches and topped with a buttery streusel.
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine.
Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is pea-sized or smaller.
Add the yolks, a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the eggs are all in, process the dough in long pulses until it starts to clump.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently to pull the dough together. Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Press the dough into a 9-inch fluted, greased tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Set on a baking sheet.
Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add peach slices and lemon juice and gently toss. Arrange peach slices in concentric circles over the crust, starting on the outside and working towards the middle. Pour any of the juices in the bowl over the tart.
To make the topping, mix together the flour and brown sugar. With fingers, rub the butter pieces into the dry ingredients to make crumbs. Spread over top of the tart.
Bake 45-55 minutes or till crust is brown and filling is bubbling.
Cool to room temperature on a wire rack and serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.
Liz, peaches are just wonderful and very versatile. I like savory as well as sweet dishes with peaches and the list of recipes from the other members of your group sounds wonderful. But desserts are always special and your combination of tart dough, streusel topping and lots of fruit sounds like a fabulous recipe and it looks very summery and pretty!
Stunning pie Liz–everyone at your 4th gathering were quite the lucky people!
I'm with you, I don't care much for making pie crust, so it's usually one with a streusel topping like yours. Which looks delicious by the way!
I don't know, a lot of times my rolled pie crust ends up falling apart and being a press in crust 🙂 But this looks amazing with the topping and the juicy peaches. Better than pie even!
I want to come to your house for your next 4th of July! All of those treats sound amazing and this looks like the perfect ending to a summer feast.
Streusel and peaches just go together seamless.y!
Impressive !! Streusel Topped Peach looks so tasty. Thanks Liz for this recipe.
I'm SURE that this tart was a huge hit at your 4th celebration, Liz! Wow, you sure whipped up a storm for y our party! You're amazing!
I'm SURE that your peach tart was a huge hit at your 4th celebration, Liz! Wow, you sure did whip up a lot of recipes for your party! You're amazing!
I love that streusel topping, what a gorgeous tart!
How I am craving a slice of this tart right now! It looks delicious!
Liz, your recipes always look so tempting, but this is my favorite so far. This is my ideal dessert, fruit, crust, crumbly topping – perfection.
Fanfreakingtastic! Can't get enough of streusel…and peaches now are sweet and juicy.
Your family and friends much just love having you around with all these delicious things you make! This is another example…..looks delicious!
This is stunning Liz! So pretty! You always leave me salivating!
This looks AMAZING! I love that fabulous crust!
I love the crumb topping on here!
This looks so decadent and I'm thinking having a slice with a Peach Margarita may be too far over the top.
Our Colorado peaches are just starting to appear in the farmers markets. They are small now but delicious. This looks like a wonderful recipe to try. Envy you the crab legs you are having tonight in Alaska. Michael and I have been to some of the sites you are seeing. Quite beautiful, huh?
I would love a slice with some homemade peach ice cream on top !! yummy!
oh boy perfect timing for all my peaches thanks Liz!


Magnetism is a magical word, but magnetism is also a natural phenomenon, scientifically proven. Our magnetism is essential for our physical and mental balance.
The key to successful endeavors in the world of magical magnetism is our ability to harness and control our energies.
I will magnetize a specially chosen crystal that will bring you luck. I'll choose one that is just for you for whatever your heart desires. I will know how to eliminate the harmful negative waves around you.
Our planet is home to positive, magnetic beneficial waves, but also negative, destructive waves.
Your lack of magnetism prevents you from capturing the positive waves, that are your advantage. Concerning the daily share of negative waves that surround us , by people, friends and even family, to avoid Misfortune, Poverty, Sadness, Disappointments, and all Kinds of problems.
Enter in to the sort of life lead by those people who enjoy success and happiness: become YOURSELF, one of the high flying people that you envy, and who release a constant flow of positive waves and events, and whose power allows them to defeat the negative waves sent to destroy them.
My Crystal will quickly recharge your personal, positive magnetism: it will bring you Power, Courage, Strength, Protection, Joy and Happiness.
The man credited with the discovery of the mental state was Franz Mesmer, a man so famous for his healing ability the term "mesmerizing" was coined based on his work. Dr. Mesmer believed that good health was a result of the harmonious flow of a magnetic fluid within the body ( like the moon affects tidal movements of the ocean ) this universal influence must also affect the animals as well.
The moon's strong force is magnetic when the moon it is Waxing or when it is moving from the period of the New Moon to the Full Moon. At this time the Moon is growing and has a " pulling in " effect on all things exposed to her energy. This is a time great psychic enhancements.
When the moon is Waning, or when it moves from the Full Moon to the New Moon, the psychic vibrations are still there but are lower and have the effect of " pulling away ".


← Welcome to the Gun Show: Saints Row IV 'National Treasure Edition' Available This Summer !
FINAL FANTASY XIV Patch 2.3 – Defenders of Eorzea !
The trailer for Patch 2.3 is here 'Defenders of Eorzea' is scheduled to go live on 8th July.
Delve into the mystery of Ramuh and learn why he must be faced in combat.
As well as the latest story content, new dungeon environments and quests 'Defenders of Eorzea' also sees the introduction of the highly-anticipated three-faction Frontline PvP, Chocobo Raising and much, much more.


Space Safety » Archive » Space Exploration » Destination Mars » Is A One-way Mission To Mars Safe?
Never before has the idea of a manned mission to the red planet been as present and as real as it at present. The various Mars manned missions proposed in recent years and the continuous developments and improvements of human spaceflight systems (particularly in the USA) have re-surfaced this topic and brought it into the forefront of public discussion.
For decades, it has been the goal for a many of the world's space agencies and organizations, to land a man on Mars. Recent interest and support on the topic seems to bode well for the realization of this goal. However, with this increased enthusiasm and excitement, it is easy to disregard or forget the challenges and difficulties that such a feat entails. Even though more than 50 years have passed since mankind first ventured into space, the challenge of putting a man on Mars presents additional complications that the space industry has not faced before. In this paper, we analyse the hazards associated with a manned mission to Mars, with the specific focus on "one-way" human missions (OHM).
The idea of a one-way mission (also known as "Mars to stay") was first proposed in 1996 and has, since then, led to a several subsequent proposals. Despite slight variations in the content of these proposals, they all rest on several common arguments: A one-way mission to Mars (i.e. not involving a return of the crew to Earth) has some advantages when compared to a round-trip mission, requiring less mass at launch and lower initial costs. This could help mankind reach Mars earlier. A one-way mission does, however, require a different approach to the design of the habitat modules and present additional risks.
Launch is one of the most critical phases of any space mission, as it encompasses some of the mission's greatest risks. In the past, failed launches have brought disastrous consequences to the mission and even caused fatalities. While our current launch vehicles have a better safety record than some previously used ones, none of them is currently is compatible with a Mars mission. Therefore, a new launcher design would be necessary, such as NASA's Space Launch System (SLS).
Furthermore, should the mission use a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) or nuclear reactor as power, as suggested in many current proposals, the proper handling of the nuclear material would pose an added difficulty with inherent hazards.
During the spacecraft launch, a series of incidents can lead to the loss of the mission and even of the crew. There is the possibility, for example, of inadvertent ignition caused by induced currents or electrostatic discharges or overheating of the propellants due to a fire or accumulated energy from micro vibrations. Note also that, the new materials introduced in the design of the SLS, such as the insulation material of its solid rocket motoradd to the inherent uncertainties of the launch vehicle, both at sub-system level and at system level.
One of the biggest hazards involved in journey between Earth and Mars is associated with the exposure to the direct solar radiation. This radiation can damage the DNA in human cells, leading to mutations and higher risk of cancer. Studies have demonstrated, the potential for cataracts, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal issues and damage to the central nervous system. Exposure to radiation and high-energy particles were found to be associated with cognitive problems.
Low levels of radiation generally do not pose a significant health risk to astronauts; however, the effects of radiation are cumulative: long term exposure increases the lifetime risk to astronauts. Crews of future long duration interplanetary missions will have to travel through the Van Allen radiation belts, and will be exposed to more high energy radiation exposing them possibly serious health effects.
We still need to consider the landing on Martian surface. Throught the history of Mars exploration, many have been the missions that failed on this critical mission phase. Not only do we need to consider the direct risk of the spacecraft by a catastrophic even during landing, but it is also important to account for the expected uncertainties in the landing location. Current missions have landing elipses with areas in the order of 500 km2 (e.g. Mars Science Laboratory).
On a one-way human mission to Mars, the habitat and the operations represent the most critical aspect of the mission, not only in terms of time spent, but in terms of possible risks. Mars presents a very hostile environment and to be able to live there for an extended time requires very complex and robust systems. The specific risks of a prolonged stay on Mars can be separated into three distinct types: health risks; habitat specific hazards and hazards associated with extra-vehicular actives (EVAs).
The astronauts will be experiencing many stressful conditions: radiation, microgravity, varying g-forces, anxiety, psychosocial stressors, changes in health status, loss of body mass, sudden unexpected illness, physical injuries etc. These health issues can generally be divided into short-term and long-term problems.
Short-term health issues include problems which may appear during the mission but can disappear after stabilization on the Mars surface (after habituation). Other known short-term health issues include sleep deprivation, fatigue, psychiatric disorders, compromised immunity and loss of muscle mass.
Long-term effects are more serious since, in many cases, they bring irreversible changes to human health. There is no clear solution to reduce the effect of these hazards. For example, recent research implies that gravity helps cells create patterns. In Mars' lower gravity, the microtubules in developing cells might not organize the way they would on Earth, causing different cellular organization with unknown effects to the crew over the long term.
Furthermore, radiation exposure on the surface represents an additional critical hazard. Due to the lack of magnetosphere, Mars leaves the astronauts with minimal protection against the radiation coming from the Sun. As can be seen in the figure below, the accumulated radiation dose within only 500 days of exposure is already higher than that of the average stay on the ISS or the 180 day transit to Mars. A long stay on Mars seems to imply accumulated doses above what is currently allowed by most space agencies for their astronauts.
It is clear that the only way to sustain human life on Mars for a long time is to use a Closed-Loop Life Support Systems (CLLSS). The International Space Station (ISS) experience shows that the TRL for oxygen generation is high, but at the moment it requires water resupply. This water could, in theory, be harvested in Mars from the natural environment. But since ISRU technologies have not yet been flight tested on Mars, this introduces a high level of risk into any mission that relies on them.
While the risk of lack of oxygen is substantial, without resources obtained through ISRU technology, there is also a high risk of fire outbreak if the oxygen content of the habitat's environment exceeds 30% molar fraction, which NASA has defined as its safety threshold. This threshold may be reached due to growing of food crops within the habitat, all of which will produce excess oxygen. Currently, no technology exists to decrease the molar fraction of oxygen within a closed-loop environment, so mitigating the risk of fire outbreak depends largely on the development of this system.
Periodic resupply missions could be an alternative to ISRU. However, Mars resupply missions are significantly riskier than ISS resupply missions, as a missed launch window for a Mars resupply entails a delay of up to 26 months, whereas ISS launches may be attempted again after only a few days. In order to minimize the risk of loss of crew due to lack of supplies, extra resources must be stored in the habitat to account for the possibility of resupply mission delay or failure. It is infeasible to rely solely on resupply missions for crucial resources such as food and spare parts, meaning ISRU and in-habitat manufacturing must be conducted in order to sustain an OHM.
EVA capabilities are defined by many different reports as a critical element for future human space exploration programs. On Mars, where the gravity is 3/8 of the Earth's, exploration missions would require continuous effort for a long period of time. Current mission proposal require at least three 8-hour EVAs per week covering a range beyond 10 km. Given the Mars terrain's relief (Mont Olympus is culminating at 25 km high, 4 times Mount Everest), EVAs might require intense and complex tasks like rock climbing, running, or excavating.
Planetary surface dust and volatiles can be a particularly abrasive element (as seen with the Lunar regolith during the Apollo missions) that may lead to injuries, damage to the external layers of the spacesuit, and can lock the mechanical parts of the suit (leading to reduced mobility). Exposure to these volatiles can thus impair mobility, cause injuries, damage equipment, and reduce visibility. Dust exposure may also lead to respiratory, or ocular damage.
The risk of fire is one of the most critical risks during EVA, but it has been well controlled. In an environment naturally rich in oxygen, the risk of fire increases. The risk of fire also plays into the trade-off between pressurization and partial pressure of oxygen inside the suit involving the risk of decompression sickness and the risk of mobility. Even though the severity of the risk is high, the mitigation strategies adopted have been efficient to mitigate it: use of specific material inside the suit, controlled oxygen partial pressure.
Another extreme situation is power outage during an EVA which can lead to loss of communication, loss of life support systems and most probably death.
From the Earth vicinity mission phase analysis, no major hazards or risks were detected. It is, however, relevant to point out that separating the mission into different launches and transfers for crewed modules vs. supplies/habitat modules seems to offer a safer approach. Moreover, sending the supplies/habitat modules before the crewed spacecraft offers the possibility to remotely test them before sending the crew.
Throughout the transfer to Mars, the biggest hazard was found to be the direct exposure to the radiation from the Sun. Further studies are needed, but everything seems to indicate that the accumulated dose can be kept to acceptable levels.
The long stay in Mars, which is one of the main characteristics of this mission architecture, implies its own set of hazards.
Medical hazards from long exposure to the environment include intracranial hypertension, vision alterations, renal stone formation, radiation exposure, compromised immune system and bone loss, among others. All these mentioned conditions were determined to have a high risk (higher than 1%) of loss of crew or loss of mission. Other medical conditions such as cellular organization or blood circulation and cardiovascular damage can also be a risk. However, not enough data exists today to make this assessment.
Extravehicular activities (EVAs) will absolutely be necessary for such a mission (for maintenance, for repair, etc.) and there still are some things we need to fully understand to perform them safely on Mars, such as the effects that the exposure to dust and volatiles might have on the suits and crew. But from a general point of view, EVAs appear not to present a high risk to the mission or crew.
The primary concerns associated with a long-term Mars habitat involve Environmental and Life Support Systems (ECLS) technologies and resupply missions. The risk of lack of oxygen in the OHM mission is significant due to the low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies.
Furthermore, the long exposure of equipment to the Martian environment requires the use of an either extremely robust or extremely redundant system. A way to circumvent these issues would be to perform frequent re-supply missions. However, it has not been demonstrated that we have the capability to perform these reliably. Therefore, we have to consider this to be a high risk situation.
Table below was formulated considering all the mission phases analysed. Hazards were identified and assessed according to their individual risk and the each of these hazards, taken into account for the overall risk assessment.
After an overall assessment of the hazards involved in a one-way mission to Mars, it is noticeable that for several hazards, either not enough studies have been performed or there simply isn't enough data available. There are several technologies that need to be further developed and medical conditions that need to be further studied before this mission architecture can be implemented.
This article was written by Aureliano Rivolta, based on a paper presented at the 8th IAASS Conference "Safety First, Safety for All", co-authored with Joao Lousada. Aureliano is one of the winners of the 2016 IAASS and Space Generation Advisory Council scholarships.
Aureliano Rivolta is a PhD candidate at Politecnico di Milano in Italy and his research focus is robotics for On Orbit Servicing. He holds a space engineering master degree from the same university and for a short period has worked on vision navigation for lunar landing in the Space Robotics Laboratory at Tohoku University in Japan. After being coordinator for the "International Spacecraft Design Policies for On-orbit Servicing" project, he is currently co-lead of the Space Safety & Sustainability working group of Space Generation Advisory Council.
Joao Lousada graduated from Instituto Superior Tecnico, in Portugal, with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering that included studies at Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, in Spain, and University of Victoria, in Canada. He is a Systems Flight Control Engineer (STRATOS) for the Columbus Module of the International Space Station. He is also an active member of multiple volunteer organizations related to the space sector, such as the Austrian Space Forum or the Space Generation Advisory Council, where he has been acting as co-lead of the Space Safety and Sustainability project group and as National Point of Contact for Portugal.


The Otto Group Product Classification Challenge was the most popular competition in Kaggle's history. It was also one of the first competitions with Kaggle scripts enabled, making it even easier for the 3,415 participants to publicly share and collaborate on code.
Data scientists with very different backgrounds and varying levels of machine learning experience posted code in Otto's scripts repository. We've selected a handful of scripts that we believe highlight important machine learning techniques, interesting packages, new approaches, and the creativity Kagglers are known for in the data science community.
Thanks to the authors of these scripts for providing more context on their code and what we can learn from it!
During the competition, some Kagglers were discussing in the forum about calibration for Random Forests. It was a brand new functionality of the last scikit-learn version (0.16), and I was puzzled about it.
Calibration makes the output of the models give a true probability that a sample belongs to a particular class. For instance, a well calibrated (binary) classifier should classify the samples such that among the samples to which it gave a predict_proba value close to 0.8, approximately 80% actually belong to the positive class. It makes machine learning models outputs more in line with the common sense idea of probability.
The Otto Group challenge was the perfect opportunity to test this new feature on a real case!
This plot "compares how well the probabilistic predictions of different classifiers are calibrated". Read more on calibration with scikit-learn here.
Quickly, in our context, it appeared that calibration indeed boosted performance a lot (15 to 20%), particularly for random forests. My partner (the great champion Xavier Conort) and I used an ensemble of models so the final impact was less, but this trick helped us gain severals dozens of ranks on the leaderboard.
I'm not sure if calibration is available in other libraries (e.g. R), but it strengthens my idea that scikit-learn is a top-notch machine learning library. I'm a big fan of it!
What can other data scientists learn from your experience?
At the end of the competition, I wanted to share with the community what I learned. First, I wrote a blog post. Then, I met Michaël Benesty at the Paris Machine Learning meetup that I co-organized at AXA Data Innovation Lab. He was the author of an amazing script, the most viewed of the challenge, Understanding XGBoost Model on Otto Data. He gave me the idea to leverage scripts, this great new functionality of the Kaggle platform.
This was one of my first Kaggle competitions and although I kind of knew a lot about ML from lectures and talks, once you start using algorithms on real problems a lot of questions come up. From the competition it was clear relatively quickly that gains could be achieved by ensembling multiple classifiers, but then the question is: how do you do that? I learned a lot about hard and soft voting, but I couldn't find out why having equal weights for all classifiers is a valid thing to do.
I found many sources that gave different methods on how to ensemble classifiers, but they all leave the details out. Its more like: "Yeah just take the predictions of all your classifiers and train a OLS/SVM/RF on it and that gives you the weights" but never why and when you use actual probabilities and when do you use predictions etc.
Long story short, I saw that in the forums more and more people were struggling with the same issues and I found that SciPy has solvers that can give us the best weights so I thought I'd give it a shot and contribute it. It was really nice to see that I got good feedback and made me want to share more code and ideas in the future!
Maybe the cost of having a small held-out dataset to find the find the optimal weights is not worth the gain, although the performance difference between the best weight and 0.5 weights can be quite big.
Another thing I actually learned is that sharing code and participating in the discussions in the forums is a lot of fun and a great learning experience. Thank you, Kaggle team!
I think its good to ask yourself how you actually combine classifiers and why that works. Understanding what happens in the script can also help you a lot with NumPy/SciPy and knowing that you can minimize your own functions using the scipy solvers can open up new ideas. As it is shown in my script, when ensembling two random forests with logistic regression, the regression performs much worse and only gets a small weight which sometimes will even be zero. Then you know that your new classifier does not add any value to your ensemble.
I remember being stuck in the higher 0.4s log-loss scores for quite a bit until I started to ensemble my classifiers. Just averaging them didn't work very well for me though so I learned proper weights for them. I think I ended up somewhere around 0.42 log-loss while my best classifier was 0.45 log-loss so the ensemble made it quite a bit better.
In a future project, ensembling by using other classifiers might be worth a script!
A few weeks before the competition ended, Tianqi asked me if I had time to write some documentation for the challenge. He highlighted the fact that Kagglers didn't seem aware of the existence of the embedded visualization functions I worked on. So the initial idea was to highlight these functions.
The main motivation of writing the script was the same that I had when I contributed to the XGboost R package documentation: showing newbies like me a real way to proceed. No magic ultra optimized ready-to-use parameters or some very compact code. For instance, I rewrote several parts of the initial script making it longer, adding some steps, so the meaning of each variable is obvious. I also try to write in such a way that readers can do the same thing at work with another dataset. Many of the scripts I see on the forum are really specialized for the challenge. They take one very specific point and go deep. This script is a more general approach.
Another reason was making people use more viz functions. Using viz means understanding the model. Sometimes boosting is called a black box, but I don't think it is. I mean it is much easier to have a feeling about the model than with nnet for instance. Viz helps to have this understanding.
The 3rd reason is to make XGboost more used. It is already very well known among Kagglers, but I have met many ML practitioners who are not trying anything other than scikit. Showing that you can do serious ML with R and XGboost was one of the goals. (I like R as much as XGboost!).
What is your data science background?
I am tax lawyer for the Paris office of a big firm. Before that I was CPA and financial auditor. So, I have no data scientist training at all. I discovered ML 4/5 years ago and loved the idea a lot. Then I tried to find a way to use it at work.
I made many mistakes, and searched for a good lib able to manage large dataset and having a model interpretable. After many tries, I finally found XGboost on a Kaggle forum (of course!).I added all the features I was missing to the XGboost R package. I really liked the project and Tianqi (the main author of XGBoost) was nice enough to answer all of my newbie questions so I started to contribute much more to the source code than what I needed to do for my work.
Then I started working on the documentation, wrote two vignettes (in R this is a documentation with details) and completed the function documentation. It took me quite some time but I am happy with the result right now.
I wanted some way to gauge how my submissions compared to the others and specifically to the team in the leader position.
The key thing I learned was how to use the grid package in R to combine several ggplot plots into a single visualization.
How did this script help you in the competition?
I used the leaderboard visualizations to help motivate me to try harder to improve my submissions. In addition to motivating me, I used the visualization as means to keep my colleagues at work abreast about how I was progressing in the competition. I downloaded the leaderboard data everyday, generated the charts and posted the charts outside my office. Sometimes a co-worker would stop by and ask about the charts. I took this opportunity to tell them about Kaggle and how much fun it was in competing and gaining experience in machine learning algorithms to develop predictive models.
Thanks for such a enlightening article, really charts are very useful for the representation of bulk of data in an interactive manner.


text:
1. And [David] made houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it.
2. Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for Yahweh has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him forever.
3. And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh to its place, which he had prepared for it.
4. And David gathered together the sons of Aaron, and the Levites:
5. of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his brothers a hundred and twenty;
6. of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred and twenty;
7. of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and his brothers a hundred and thirty;
8. of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred;
9. of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and his brothers eighty;
10. of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his brothers a hundred and twelve.
11. And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,
12. and said to them, You+ are the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both you+ and your+ brothers, that you+ may bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to [the place] that I have prepared for it.
13. For because you+ did not [bear it] at the first, Yahweh our God made a breach on us, for we did not seek him according to the ordinance.
14. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
15. And the sons of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on them, as Moses commanded according to the word of Yahweh.
16. And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.
17. So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;
18. and with them their brothers of the second degree, Zechariah, son, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.
19. So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, [were appointed] with cymbals of bronze to sound aloud;
20. and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries set to Alamoth;
21. and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps set to the Sheminith, to lead.
22. And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the song: he instructed about the song, because he was skillful.
23. And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.
24. And Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.
25. So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of the house of Obed-edom with joy.
26. And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, that they sacrificed seven bullocks and seven rams.
27. And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites who bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song [with] the singers: and David had on him an ephod of linen.
28. Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with psalteries and harps.
29. And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw King David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.


text:
package com.shipdream.lib.android.mvc.samples.note.view.fragment;

import android.app.ProgressDialog;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.widget.LinearLayoutManager;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;

import com.shipdream.lib.android.mvc.samples.note.R;
import com.shipdream.lib.android.mvc.samples.note.controller.WeatherController;
import com.shipdream.lib.android.mvc.samples.note.model.WeatherModel;
import com.shipdream.lib.android.mvc.samples.note.model.dto.WeatherInfo;

import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Map;

import javax.inject.Inject;

public class WeatherListFragment extends BaseFragment {
    private Button buttonAddWeather;
    private Button buttonRefresh;
    private View emptyView;
    private RecyclerView listView;
    private RecyclerView.Adapter adapter;
    private RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager;
    private ProgressDialog progressDialog;

    @Inject
    private WeatherController weatherController;

    @Override
    protected int getLayoutResId() {
        return R.layout.fragment_weather_list;
    }

    @Override
    public void onViewReady(View view, Bundle savedInstanceState, Reason reason) {
        super.onViewReady(view, savedInstanceState, reason);

        emptyView = view.findViewById(R.id.fragment_weather_list_listViewEmpty);

        buttonRefresh = (Button) view.findViewById(R.id.fragment_weather_list_buttonRefresh);
        buttonRefresh.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                weatherController.updateAllCities(view);
            }
        });

        buttonAddWeather = (Button) view.findViewById(R.id.fragment_weather_list_buttonAdd);
        buttonAddWeather.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                final WeatherCityListFragment cityDialog = new WeatherCityListFragment();
                cityDialog.show(getFragmentManager(), "WeatherCityDialog");
            }
        });

        listView = (RecyclerView) view.findViewById(R.id.fragment_weather_list_listView);
        layoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(getActivity());
        listView.setLayoutManager(layoutManager);

        updateList();

        //Automatically update weathers of all cities on first creation.
        if (reason == Reason.FIRST_TIME) {
            weatherController.updateAllCities(this);
        }
    }

    public void onEvent(WeatherCityListFragment.EventV2V.OnOkButtonClicked event) {
        WeatherCityListFragment dialog = (WeatherCityListFragment) getFragmentManager().findFragmentByTag("WeatherCityDialog");
        if(dialog != null && dialog.getDialog() != null) {
            dialog.getDialog().dismiss();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        getToolBar().setTitle("Weathers");
    }

    public void onEvent(WeatherController.EventC2V.OnWeathersUpdateBegan event) {
        progressDialog = new ProgressDialog(getActivity());
        progressDialog.setTitle("Update weathers");
        progressDialog.setMessage("Please wait...");
        progressDialog.setCancelable(false);
        progressDialog.setIndeterminate(true);
        progressDialog.show();
    }

    public void onEvent(WeatherController.EventC2V.OnWeathersUpdated event) {
        updateList();
        progressDialog.dismiss();
    }

    public void onEvent(WeatherController.EventC2V.OnWeathersUpdateFailed event) {
        progressDialog.dismiss();
        Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "Error:" + event.getException().getMessage(),
                Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

    private void updateList() {
        adapter = new WeatherAdapter(this);
        listView.setAdapter(adapter);

        if (adapter.getItemCount() > 0) {
            emptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            listView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        } else {
            emptyView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
            listView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        }
    }

    static class WeatherAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<WeatherItemHolder> {
        private WeatherListFragment weatherListFragment;

        WeatherAdapter(WeatherListFragment weatherListFragment) {
            this.weatherListFragment = weatherListFragment;
        }

        @Override
        public WeatherItemHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int i) {
            View convertView = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(R.layout.fragment_weather_list_item, parent, false);
            WeatherItemHolder holder = new WeatherItemHolder(convertView);
            holder.root = convertView.findViewById(R.id.weather_item_root);
            holder.title = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.fragment_weather_list_item_title);
            holder.weather = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.fragment_weather_list_item_weather);
            holder.temp = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.fragment_weather_list_item_temp);
            return holder;
        }

        @Override
        public void onBindViewHolder(WeatherItemHolder holder, final int position) {
            Map<WeatherModel.City, WeatherInfo> cities = weatherListFragment.weatherController.getModel().getWeatherWatchlist();
            Iterator<WeatherModel.City> iterator = cities.keySet().iterator();
            WeatherInfo weatherInfo = null;
            if (iterator.hasNext()) {
                weatherInfo = cities.get(iterator.next());
            }

            for (int i = 0; i < position && iterator.hasNext(); i++) {
                weatherInfo = cities.get(iterator.next());
            }

            if (weatherInfo != null) {
                holder.title.setText("City: " + weatherInfo.getName());
                if (weatherInfo.getWeather().size() > 0) {
                    holder.weather.setText("Weather: " + weatherInfo.getWeather().get(0).getMain());
                }
                holder.temp.setText("Temperature: " + weatherInfo.getMain().getTemp());
            }
        }

        @Override
        public int getItemCount() {
            Map<WeatherModel.City, WeatherInfo> list = weatherListFragment.weatherController.getModel().getWeatherWatchlist();
            return list.size();
        }
    }

    static class WeatherItemHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
        View root;
        TextView title;
        TextView weather;
        TextView temp;

        public WeatherItemHolder(View itemView) {
            super(itemView);
        }
    }
}


Eikhaugen Gjestegard is beautifully situated directly at the shores of Bjørnefjorden. Surrounded by green pastures, lush hillsides and the farm's own orchard we enjoy each day to its full with short distance to the overwhelming food basket that is provided us from the nature all arround. You are very welcome to join us!
At Eikhaugen, we practically live in nature's own food basket. We sow and reap most of the essentials when it comes to preparing for slow food cuisine. Both from the fjord, the forrest and the surrounding mountains and of course from our own garden, "Vetle Hardanger" ("Vetle" means "Litle"). This garden or park if you may, is open for visiting for our groups of guests.
The nature that is surrounding Eikhaugen Gjestegard is breath taking spectacular. Fjords, forrests and mountains all create a perfect base which you might rely your stay upon, either for relaxation or friendly togetherness with colleagues, friends or family.
The farm shop at Eikhaugen is really a visit worthwhile! Sweet and charming jars and bottles filled with delightful taste of summer and sun. The fruits and berries that we make our many different types of jellies, lemonades, jams and chutneys from are all mainly picked from the orchard and park, "Vetle Hardanger".
Keep yourself postet with recent news. Our variety of offers might change without further notice due to seasonal changes amongst others.


L-BS511 blowing machine has been improved on the basis of its pre-model. It is designed according to CE standard. By adding the safe door, the machine is safer and easier to operate, also it looks neat and nice.


The fastest version of Universal Fashion.
Responds to foreign customers' main needs.
Allows you to offer products.
Increases likelihood of sales success.
What does Universal Fashion Quick offer you?
Universal Fashion Quick provides a fast response to customers' questions and needs, improving their experience during the purchasing process.
Universal Fashion Quick features pre-recorded dialogues voiced by native speakers. The phrases are contextualized and organized, facilitating dialogue without any need to know the language of the other party involved and without any interpretation errors.
Why should I have it in my store?
Universal Fashion Quick enables improved service perception on the part of the customer and fosters cross-selling, while also affording your business a better technology image.


Buffer Delay by Expert Sleepers is a Virtual Effect Audio Plugin. It functions as an Audio Units Plugin.
Buffer Delay is a utility plug-in that delays audio by an exact number of sample frames, which can be useful when attempting to sync up audio accounting for delays through certain digital devices.


text:
Suncorp's core banking software revamp with Oracle FSS nearly completed
Suncorp nears completion of major tech overhaul with Oracle FSS
Suncorp's multi-year venture to modernise its core banking system, known as Project Ignite, is in its final stages.
The new platform is now live for customer, collateral, collections and loan origination processes. Deposits and transaction banking are still to go – Suncorp expects these to be migrated before the year-end.
Project Ignite was initiated in 2011, with the bank signing for a range of solutions from Oracle FSS, including Oracle Banking Platform (OBP, the vendor's new high-end core banking offering), Flexcube for trade finance and Oracle CRM.
The initiative was set to rationalise the bank's product set by half, the decommissioning of 12 legacy systems and re-engineering of 580 processes.
On the way out is the Hogan legacy platform from US-based CSC. Back in 2010, Suncorp voiced its concern that Hogan lagged behind more modern offerings and that the talent-pool for maintaining the system was shrinking as the majority of the developers were nearing retirement.
Incidentally, speaking at an investor call in May 2014, the bank's CEO for business services, Jeff Smith, said that he would be worried about "any bank running Hogan in three years' time".
Suncorp is still working its way through the decommissioning efforts, Banking Technology understands. This will be completed next year. As a result, the bank anticipates it cost to income ratio to be driven below 50%.
A number of legacy systems have already been switched off, including those for collections, personal lending origination and collateral.
The total costs of Project Ignite as at the full fiscal year 2016 were AU$330 million ($253 million), with AU$290 million ($222 million) of that capitalised.
The bank is emphasising the enterprise-wide nature of its transformation, with a lot of work already done for its large insurance operations and with other phases including areas such as cards – where it has replaced CSC's CAMS system – and business intelligence.
"The new core banking platform has delivered a simplified and resilient technology infrastructure," Suncorp states. "It provides agility and decreased time-to-market for new products and offerings, including the delivery of innovative and digitised banking services."
The bank will now focus on "building new digital services and accelerating investment in internet banking and mobile applications".
Sarah Harland, new CIO of Suncorp
New tech leadership
Project Ignite is the brainchild of Matt Pancino, ex-CIO of Suncorp, who is now heading for pastures new at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).
His replacement at Suncorp is Sarah Harland. She will start in her new role in September this year.
Harland was briefly CIO of health insurer Medibank Private, which she joined in January this year. At the time, Medibank was most of the way through a mammoth AU$150-million tech overhaul, centred on the replacement of its core policy and CRM systems. SAP was supplying the software and IBM was the integrator.
Prior to that, Harland spent nearly five years at ANZ as general manager of technology group functions.
Tags: Banking, Core Banking System OBP, Oracle FSS, Suncorp BankingTech News Australia
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Vans is looking to switch things up for the new year, updating its iconic checkerboard pattern for Spring 2018. Here, courtesy of The Chimp Store, we get a feel for what to expect from the Cali brand's upcoming seasonal selection.
We find staple silhouettes in the Old Skool, Sk8-Hi, Authentic and Slip-On donning new color combinations, as the collection is ultimately highlighted by revamped checkerboard iterations. New materials have also been utilized throughout the range, which you can preview now via the gallery above.
Look for Vans' Spring 2018 array to begin popping up at authorized stockists such as The Chimp Store this month.
In other sneaker news, adidas's upcoming Futurecraft 4D has surfaced in a sample pink colorway.


The lifestyle that is self-sufficiency encompasses a huge array of different aspects. For some people, a life of self-sufficiency is a life of survival. Perhaps they are striving to create a sustainable, safe life in the event of crisis. Other folks might love the idea of homestead life and wish to go back to the land like their forefathers. Yet still, others might be totally happy living on a small piece of land in an urban setting but wish to be more independent.
If you've been reading about self-sufficiency and wish to live a more simple life but are unsure of where to start, consider these 15 steps to a life of independence.
Regardless of where you live, there really is no excuse to not have a garden. A "garden" doesn't necessarily have to be a giant plot of land. It can be a couple of small raised beds in your backyard or one on your patio. If space is really tight you can even grow a few veggies and herbs in containers. Also, don't dismiss renting land or using a family or friend's backyard to grow some food of your own (and to share with them of course!).
This step is an absolute must when it comes to a self-sufficient lifestyle. Preserving food encompasses a few different methods, such as canning, smoking and dehydrating. Certain methods are preferable depending on the food in question, so do some research. Preservation is a great way to eat your homegrown food all-year round.
If you haven't yet experienced a prolonged power outage then you probably aren't as prepared to deal with no power as you might think you are. Invest in some type of alternative energy that you can rely on if you lose power or eventually choose to go off-grid.
The typical American lifestyle is one of excess. In the US, it is normal to be in debt and to live a lifestyle that you can't truly afford. A big step to a more self-sufficient lifestyle is to create a budget and stick to it. You should also open a savings account for emergencies and really focus on paying off all debt and living on less than you make every month.
Become your own handyman by learning how to repair things around your home as well as basic car maintenance and repair. Although it isn't always possible to fix every single thing in your home, there is plenty you can teach yourself to greatly decrease your reliance on plumbers, electricians and mechanics.
There really is no reason to not have a compost pile. When done properly it doesn't require much maintenance, produces no nasty smells and creates amazing fertilizer for your garden. The average American wastes an incredible amount of food. Rather than tossing this in the trash, you can instead compost it and create something useful.
Knitting, sewing and crocheting are amazing skills to have, if not necessary skills for a self-sufficient lifestyle. Generally you can create the same items with knitting as you can crocheting so you don't have to learn both. Both will enable you to make blankets, hats, sweaters, pot holders and many other useful crafts. Sewing is pretty easy for most people to learn. A decent sewing machine will be invaluable for making household items, gifts and repairing clothes, but knowing how to handsew is equally important. You can often learn all three of these skills from a friend or family member, by taking a class or even watching instructional videos on YouTube.
If you have meat or fish in your diet, it would be wise and cost-effective to learn how to hunt these foods yourself. Hunting does take lessons in gun safety, patience and the purchase of proper licenses, but generally it's well worth it to have your freezer stocked with meat. Not only will you have meat for your own consumption but also be able to barter with it.
You really don't have to take expensive courses to learn essential survival skills. Some skills you can (and should) learn include how to start a fire in a variety of situations, how to build effective shelter, how to purify water for drinking, how to ID edible plants, how to make traps for small game, as well as first aid and personal protection. Go on some survival camping trips by yourself or with your family and put your skills to the test to see how much you really know.
Possibly one of the biggest aspects of being more self-sufficient is actually connecting with like-minded people. Even the most in-depth books can't replace hands-on learning opportunities. Take classes in your free time, join online forums and try to find folks in your area you can collaborate with. If you live in a rural area and haven't yet connected with neighbors and folks in the area, it is strongly recommended.
Living a more self-reliant life means having to learn skills you may not have needed in the past. Personally, I often reference books to answer questions. Even though e-books are all the rage right now, I'd recommend having print copies on hand. Books on first aid, animal/vet care, electrical/mechanical repair, gardening, regional guides to animals and plants, etc., are all good to have on hand. Check out Half.com for good deals on books and don't forget about yard sales! You can often find really awesome older books that have valuable information.
Self-sufficiency is absolutely a mindset. Perhaps the most difficult habit to break when striving for a self-sufficient life is changing the way you think about how you spend your money, where your food comes from and how to repurpose things, just to name a few. The typical American is a heavy consumer who relies on grocery stores and department stores for food, clothing, supplies and pretty much everything else. Rethinking what you can make/grow at home and how you can repurpose what you would normally throw away is how self-sufficiency works.


This week we mourn the loss of Margaret Mahy.
Tributes have flowed in from around the world with obituaries appearing in the The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Herald Sun, The Huffington Post...and are still flowing in.
The world mourns the loss of THE STORYTELLER.
Margaret Mahy published over two hundred books for children and was the recipient of The Hans Christian Andersen Medal (commonly called The Little Nobel) for her world wide impact on children's literature.
She won the Carnegie Medal twice for two young adult stories.
She was inducted into The Order of New Zealand, our highest civilian honour retricted to only 20 living people.
She was THE children's writer.
Her awards are many...from her first ever published book, The Lion In The Meadow...discovered by chance in 1969, on an open page of our (famous) School Journal (in a glass case) as a book fair trade exhibit, by a New York editor, through to her NZ Book of the year in 2011 with The Moon and Famer McPhee which was also named as an IBBY Honour Book this year.
A fact only lightly touched on in the media, but for me goes above the awards so richly deserved was that her little stories and poems made up a significant portion of the expanded Ready to Read series which introduced children to reading. She brought bounce and rhythm and fun into the challenging process of interpreting squiggles on the page as words and made reading time in the classroom a joy. This series was sold around the world...and so the world's children learned to read and laugh and understand that language could be playful and reading could be the best activity you could ever do.
Beautiful tributes have appeared in the last few days from this poignant personal poem from a close friend of Margaret's, to the Pundits Of Literature trying to compare her with other well known New Zealand writers.
As the tributes and tears flow throughout the land (and now, as I write this) I am reflecting on the loss to the Children's Literature community here in New Zealand.
In the children's writing community you couldn't and didn't compare her. She was and is a colossus and a genius, as her friend and fellow children's writer, Jack Lasenby said on National Television.
On Facebook today I read this comment from John McIntyre owner of The Children's Bookshop and National Reviewer of children's books.
We have a growing, and perhaps irrational frustration at the comparisons of Margaret Mahy as "up there" with our finest authors, Katherine Mansfield and Janet Frame.
Hell, she wasn't up there, she was streets ahead. We like some of Mansfield's stories, but her's was a slight cannon of work over a short time span, most of it written in the many years she spent overseas whinging about how restrictive New Zealand was.
Janet Frame lead a reclusive life, and wrote for a small literary audience. She wrote brilliantly, and has had some international recognition, but could walk down the street without being recognised.
Margaret Mahy is the greatest writer we have ever produced, in any way you measure greatness. International recognition, generosity of spirit, quality of output, length of career, range of genre, awards won, languages translated into, critical acclaim, markets conquered.
This has roused a hearty cheer amongst the children's writers and illustrators here....Margaret's words helped children form an appreciation of reading so they could go on to appreciate the work of other writers.
I had to stand up and deliver a speech at our Children's Book Association Annual General Meeting less than 24 hours after the news filtered through. How do you encapsulate her impact, personally and professionally and profoundly to people for whom children's literature is why they are on this earth? You don't. You leave it to the Storyteller herself to provide the words.
I rode upon the unicorn.
I overflowed my tin with stars.
The little children point and run.
The people close their doors to me.
I shall not visit you again.
Margaret Mahy's last book, The Man From The Land of Fandango, illustrated by Polly Dunbar, published by Clarion will be out in October.
It must be winter...Metservice New Zealand is warning us to wear three layers and a windproof layer. Fog has shut our biggest airport and we are over rain.
So huddle up next to the heater...US readers find a working air conditioner...and let me share what has been happening in the blogosphere this week.
The writers guide to epublishing takes a look at the myths of Traditional Publishing.
A great post on restraining yourself from putting in huge amounts of sensory detail.
Janice Hardy takes a close look at style.
Ollin Morales looks at other places and people you can research with.
Larry Brooks gives another perspective in writing scenes for you to try.
Writer Unboxed puts the spotlight on using opposites...to strengthan your writing.


Photorefractive keratectomy, or PRK, is the original form of laser eye surgery, and while it's been succeeded by LASIK techniques, there are still certain conditions that make PRK the preferred technique. The eye care professionals at the Witlin Center for Advanced Eye Care, serving East Brunswick, Toms River, and Morristown, New Jersey, know when and where to choose PRK treatment, so if you're looking for permanent laser vision correction, call or click today for a consultation.
As a vision correction procedure, PRK is very similar to LASIK. It's not surprising since LASIK techniques developed from PRK. The biggest difference is that the PRK procedure removes the outer layer of the cornea, called the epithelium, while LASIK surgery cuts a flap in the epithelium that's replaced at the end of the procedure. LASIK surgery typically has much faster recovery times than PRK.
After the epithelium is removed, an excimer laser that's controlled by a computer with a high degree of accuracy reshapes your cornea. This process is similar to the shaping of a lens to match your eyeglass prescription. PRK can correct the refractive problems of astigmatism, nearsightedness, or farsightedness.
When is PRK surgery chosen over LASIK surgery?
Given that recovery from PRK surgery is longer and more uncomfortable than typical LASIK procedures, LASIK is the choice of both patients and doctors. However, there are circumstances where PRK is preferable to LASIK.
One of the most common determining factors is that not everyone has corneas of the same thickness. Though PRK completely removes the epithelium, rather than forming a flap, the depth of tissue removal is about half for PRK techniques, making it suitable for you if you have thinner than average corneas. This preserves more of the original cornea tissue.
If you also suffer from dry eye, you may not be a candidate for LASIK surgery, for which dry eye is a potential complication. PRK surgery is typically more appropriate for patients with dry eye.
PRK surgery was once preferred to LASIK surgery due to complications with the corneal flap created with LASIK procedures. This is no longer the problem it once was, particularly since the introduction of bladeless LASIK.
What can I expect during a PRK procedure?
The PRK surgery starts with numbing eye drops and the placement of a lid speculum to prevent you from blinking during the surgery. You'll feel some pressure, but no pain. The surface layer of your cornea is removed with a laser before reshaping, which is controlled by a computer programmed with your eye prescription.
Reshaping only takes minutes for each eye, with the entire procedure completed in about 30 minutes. A temporary contact lens is placed over your eyes to act as a clear bandage as your epithelium heals.


Compliance with the 2011 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education work hour restrictions has led to increased numbers of hand‐overs. As a result, there is a renewed focus to maximize patient safety in this era of increased hand‐overs. Several elements have been identified as necessary for safe hand‐overs including, 1) face‐to‐face communication, 2) opportunities to ask questions, 3) private hand‐over locations, 4) accompanying written documentation, 5) non‐distracting environments, and 6) minimization of interruptions. In order to explore areas of strengths and weaknesses in current hand‐over processes, we examined intern‐to‐intern hand‐overs at two large academic, tertiary care medical centers in Baltimore, Maryland.
We conducted a prospective, observational study of medicine interns at two large academic medical centers in January, 2012. Trained observers recorded data on intern‐to‐intern hand‐overs. The primary outcome included the six key elements of the hand‐over process: face‐to‐face communication, questions asked by the recipient, occurring in non‐distracting and private locations, featuring written documentation, and free from interruptions. We recruited a convenience sample of 29 interns rotating on general medicine services on a variety of day and night shifts during all days of the week. We trained 22 undergraduate students to observe the interns, record the six hand‐over elements and upload data to a central repository using the iPod Touch™ "Spreadsheet" application. We determined the percentage of hand‐overs that included each of the six primary outcomes as a dichotomous variable at both sites and analyzed data between sites with Chi‐Square tests and multi‐level regression analysis adjusted for clustering at the intern and observer levels.
We observed and collected data on 212 discrete intern‐to‐intern hand‐overs (109 at site 1 and 103 at site 2). Patient hand‐overs almost universally occurred face‐to‐face (211/212 = 99.5%), in private locations (193/212 = 91%) and with accompanying written documentation (203/212 = 95.8%). The majority of hand‐overs included questions posed by the receiving intern (180/211 = 85.3%). However, 12.3% (26/212) of hand‐overs occurred in a distracting location and 41.3% (86/208) were interrupted. Hand‐overs were more likely to be interrupted at site 1 than site 2 (site 1 – 53/108 = 49.1%; site 2‐ 33/100 = 33%, p=0.03). Performance of the other behaviors did not vary significantly by site.
Changes to resident work hours in 2011 led to increased numbers of hand‐overs and potential for miscommunication and patient harm. The 2011 ACGME common program requirements mandate that residents are not only competent in the hand‐over process but also that institutions ensure effective, structured hand‐over processes. During this study, residents at both programs conducted hand‐overs face‐to‐face and with written documentation almost universally. Question‐asking behavior occurred frequently. However, residents were frequently interrupted (41.3%) and conducted hand‐overs in distracting locations (12.3%), indicating environmental barriers to effective handovers remain to be overcome. Optimizing hand‐over environments to optimize transitions of care will require collaborative engagement from both residency programs and institutions.
Habicht R, Block L, Oliver N, Silva K, Feldman L. Assessing Intern Hand‐Over Processes in an Era of Increased Transitions of Care. Abstract published at Hospital Medicine 2014, March 24-27, Las Vegas, Nev. Abstract 156. Journal of Hospital Medicine. 2014; 9 (suppl 2). https://www.shmabstracts.com/abstract/assessing-intern-handover-processes-in-an-era-of-increased-transitions-of-care/. Accessed April 25, 2019.


It was a battle of the top this past weekend when first placed Baberwa FC welcomed third placed Dondol Stars who are determined to give the log leaders a serious run for their money. Baberwa failed to dim the Stars' lights as they were held to a tough 1-1 draw as the title race remained wide open.
Second placed JDR Stars who are equal on points with Dondol Stars but have a better goal difference missed out on an opportunity to reduce the five-point gap against Baberwa as they were held to a thrilling 2-2 stalemate by a resilient Alexandra United.
Dube Continental, who are having an impressive season kept their title hopes alive with a hard-fought 2-1 home victory against Pele Pele FC. Continental are now just four points behind JDR Stars and Dondol Stars with a game in hand.
XI Experience FC's woes continued as they suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat to FC Ma-Lions who are working hard to escape relegation. Leruma United's 2-1 loss to Tembisa Sports Centre was good news for Ma-Lions who are now just two points behind them in the battle for survival.


text:
Q: Proof concerning eigen values Could somebody help me into proving this theorem?
if $A$ and $B^{H}$ are in $C^{m\times n}$ with $m\geq n$, then $\lambda (AB) = \lambda(BA) \cup \lbrace 0, \ldots ,0\rbrace.$
Thenks,
Elnaz

A: Hint: $AB x = ax\implies BA(Bx) = aBx$
$BA y = ay\implies AB(Ay) = aAy$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Bint Emergent's words, and especially her reflections on ISIS's countercultural appeal to young people, are worth considering. "The bottom line," she asserts in one blog entry, "is that the Islamic State is the classic scifi underdog battling a seemingly all powerful Evil Empire America against impossible odds — and in the very best scifi tradition — they are winning." "Besides," she observes in another entry, "IS [Islamic State] has a bottomless youth recruitment pool for the next 35 years, and like IS says, the fighting has just begun. You Are Not Prepared."
(...) In a blog post titled "Embracing Apocalypse I: the Islamic State and the Prophetic Methodology," she expresses particular admiration for a black-and-white photo of an ISIS fighter on the streets of Kobani, Syria. He is nonchalantly holding a machine gun, with an arm raised triumphantly in the air. Behind him is a scene of utter devastation, in which orange flames — the only color in the photo — and thick smoke cascade from a truck and building. The fighter depicted is reportedly Abu Ahmad al-Tunisi. "This iconic photo," she writes, "distills the whole conflict into one image for me. To glory in apocalypse, to embrace it ..." It also distills a possible contradiction or discrepancy: Abu Ahmad al-Tunisi is wearing, in addition to a thick, righteous beard, what appear to be a pair of Nike trainers. Nike is a large American corporation, and the distinctive Nike swoosh is a symbol of American urban cool—or, at least, it used to be. Apocalypse, Bint Emergent goes on to say, unconvincingly, is "a wholly alien concept for the west." But the idea of the righteous, brand-wearing badass certainly isn't.
(...) The cross-cultural appeal of this figure is hard to deny, as Richard E. Nisbett and Dov Cohen make clear in their study Culture of Honor: "The world over, men are sent out to sacrifice and to die, not for such purely instrumental purposes as deterrence; rather they are motivated by what they and the community expect good, honorable men to do." "There is," indeed, Nisbett and Cohen remark, "a romance and an allure to the Masai warrior, the Druze tribesman, the Sioux Indian, the Scottish chieftain ..."
(...) The bigger challenge — as Alberto Fernandez, the former coordinator of the U.S. State Department's Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, noted when I interviewed him earlier this year — is how to create a counter-narrative that is not merely negative but boldly affirmative, offering a vision that is just as exhilarating and seductive as that of jihadists. "The positive narrative," he said, "is always more powerful, especially if it involves dressing in black like a ninja, having a cool flag, being on television, and fighting for your people."
The problem for CVE is that in an ironic age in which few "grand narratives" remain, no one — except perhaps for the jihadists and their supporters — really knows what that narrative is anymore.
Man könnte sich in diesem Zusammenhang auch mal einen anderen Aspekt anschauen: Seit langen Jahren machen Jungenforscher darauf aufmerksam, dass heranwachsenden Jungen in unserer männerfeindlichen Gesellschaft kein Bild von gelungener, sozial akzeptierter und zugleich sexuell attraktiver Männlichkeit mehr gegeben wird. Politisch gilt Männlichkeit as fehlerhaft, und die wenigen Ausnahmen der feministisch sozialisierten Männer gelten für eine weit überwiegende Mehrheit der Bevölkerung als nicht attraktiv. Seit langen Jahren warnen Jungenforscher deshalb davor, dass sich Jungen ihre Vorbilder für Männlichkeit stattdessen in Action-Filmen und PC-Spielen suchen werden. Diese Warnungen wurden in aller Regel ignoriert. Jetzt zeigt sich, dass das politisch korrekte Bashing des Mannes in westlichen Gesellschaften zu einer noch viel übleren Entwicklung geführt hat: Nicht der Action-Filmheld, sondern der IS-Kämpfer ist für zu viele junge Leute jetzt das neue Männlichkeitsidol.