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South African production company Turning Heads is set to release I Don’t…!, the first in a planned film-trilogy, called A Love Promised, that addresses that county’s rising problem of domestic violence.
I Don’t . . . ! will have it’s public premiere on Feb. 29, at the Monte Carlo Casino in Johannesburg.
Turning Heads CEO Nonkululeko Ndlovu stars in the film’s lead role as Mpumi Mkhize. I Don’t . . .! also stars Themba Mkhize, Tazz Nginda, Thuli Thabethe, Penny Lebyanne, and Jeanette Chambers. Marina Bekker & Dare Oluwasanmi are co-directing.
Check out the synopsis for I Don’t . . .! :
Mpumi Mkhize is in love and she is blessed enough to marry her perfect man. Happiness is hers for the plucking until the first time he lifts his fist against her.
Mpumi notices, to her extreme discomfort, that somebody is watching her….. She is watchful, even fearful, until ‘that somebody introduces herself…. Mpumi has betrayed her true self in order to give herself so whole-heartedly to Themba, her love, her husband, her tormentor…! This is the story about Mpumi having to honour her True Self and save herself and her daughter, Nomsa, from the man she loves. Something no woman should be subjected to! With the help and interference of her two best friends, Nolwazi and Grace, Mpumi has to find the strength, and self-love, to stand up and find her wings for the sake of her and her daughter….. Denying abuse and embracing life!
Turning Heads insists that I Don’t . . .! isn’t just a movie, but a movement, stating:
We have one of the highest domestic violence rates in the world. We are a nation in crisis.
Nonkululeko Ndlovu CEO of Turning Heads & executive producer of I Don’t . . .! together with Penny Lebyane’s ‘Find Your Wings’ Foundation will do a tour of the nine provinces. Showing the film and subsequently holding workshops. These workshops will pose as a platform where audiences may be able to ask questions and discuss their views and opinions on the content of the film and the issues tackled within the film.
The film’s website reveals what to expect from the next two parts of A Love Promised, to be shot later this year:
The sequel “I DO…. AGAIN” tackles the other side of the coin….
This is a thorny issue and the Filmmakers are adamant not to portray the husband as a monster… therefore the second film, “I DO…. AGAIN” digs deep into the thoughts, insecurities, fears and rages Themba, the husband lives through, rendering him unable to cope with his life, his marriage and his love!…
“I DO…. AGAIN” tells the story of the husband, Themba Mkhize realising he not only loves his wife, but needs her and his daughter to come home and complete his family once more. He convinces the wife that he is going for counselling and that they should get back together, and they renew their vows…
In the third film, “NEVER AGAIN” the wife leaves yet again when the beatings become intensified but this time he wants to kill her, to prevent her from leaving him again. He is a man apart from the world he lives in, where the demand for him to perform and succeed seem relentless, driving him over the edge. His sense of failure in a world that no longer makes sense to him overwhelms him and the violence gets out of hand, increasing in occurrence and intensity.


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Edelweiss airline to run more flights from Switzerland to US and Canada
After SWISS airline announced this week the inauguration of direct flights from Zurich to Washington DC and Toronto in spring of 2024, another airline, Edelweiss Air, also said new flights to North America will take off next year.
Published: 15 September 2023 14:15 CEST
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domain: travel


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Silent NEMO Project unleashes robotic shark drone
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 18 December, 2014 - Say hello to GhostSwimmer, a new underwater drone developed by the U.S. Navy. The drone, designed to look like a shark, has been designed to conduct various surveillance work.
GhostSwimmer will work collecting data on tides, varied currents, wakes, and weather conditions. GhostSwimmer is the latest in a series of science-fiction-turned-reality projects developed by the chief of naval operations’ Rapid Innovation Cell’s Silent NEMO Project.
Around 5 feet in length with a weight of close to100 pounds, the GhostSwimmer can operate in water depths ranging from 10 inches to 300 feet, according the U.S. Navy.

domain: design


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Zoho Books is designed for the needs of startups and SMBs. As such, it brings with its intuitive features, easy-to-use tools, and simple interface. It is able to streamline all basic accounting tasks, repetitive accounting processes, and organize your financial records. It has capabilities to manage your company’s bills and invoices, real estate bookkeeping track expenses, and cash flows. Likewise, the app helps you create error-free estimates and professional invoices, link to your bank transactions, and reconcile your accounts. Retail Pro is a flexible and scalable retail management software and it can be customized to satisfy your specific retail business requirements.
Other loaded functionalities include promotion management, supply chain management, inventory management and multi-store management. Also, active integrations with external platforms like Xero, Quickbooks, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Tally, Mailchimp and Retail Insight are of great help. Ari Retail POS’s world-class support executives provide relevant assistance in real-time over chat, phone and email. A good small business accounting service provides information in seconds that will help you answer these questions, based on the input you supply. Instant search tools and customizable reports help you track down the smallest details and see overviews of how your business is performing. Android and iOS apps give you access to your finances from your mobile devices.
NerdWallet’s Best Accounting Software for Small Retail Businesses of April 2023
Smart General Ledger Incredibly fast to implement and seamlessly adapting to your business – that’s how SoftLedger’s smart general ledger empowers your business. Today, almost every brick-and-mortar retail store has an online alternate to gain customers and supplement their income. ZarMoney helps you offer your customers an enhanced online buying experience.
- There are many aspects of accounting software that help make it a useful tool.
- Some – such as virtual controllers, chief financial officers and CPAs – provide high-level accounting services, like internal audits and financial planning and analysis.
- I am not dependent on an auditor to file my GST, I do it on my own using Gofrugal software.
- Zoho Books’ usability, flexibility, and depth in standard bookkeeping areas equals and sometimes surpasses what’s offered by competitors.
- With money coming in and going out all the time, you won’t want to let anything slip through the cracks.
- It can compute the amount of taxes based on available transaction data.
By automating your accounting tasks with FreshBooks, add more of it back to your day. Track time by creating automated tasks, organize expenses and follow up with your customers. A simple and intuitive solution for your accounting woes, FreshBooks reduces the time you spend on manual paperwork and more on your customer. Whether you want to track your billable hours, log your expenses and get paid on time, FreshBooksaccounting softwareallows you to work smarter, not harder. Can handle your financial metrics and show you monthly payments, revenue, net revenue, active customers and new subscriptions. It can also automate your business workflows and invoice creation.
The 15 Best Accounting Software for Retailers in 2020
We looked at dozens of third-party user reviews to see if the providers live up to their marketing claims. This helped to gauge the quality of each product further and provide deeper insights into what each does well—and where they fall short. Your cost can also vary depending on the size of your business. Small businesses may be able to find a less expensive basic plan, while larger businesses may need to upgrade to a more expensive standard or premium plan. QuickBooks is a good choice for freelancers and small businesses that need a simple way to track expenses, organize receipts and log mileage.
ZarMoney offers you an advanced inventory feature that comes with multiple benefits. We automate your inventory by integrating barcode support. This allows you to track your stock and assets without any hassle. The inventory database is integrated with your point of sales, meaning the records are constantly updated as you conduct transactions.
Why choose Lightspeed Accounting?
You have total control over your Foko Retail community, so you can limit what each user can view and interact with based on region, job type, or any other criteria. SkuIQ software is a platform used to manage sales opportunities for business. Sync your point of sale with your eCommerce platform and can manage in-store https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/retail-accounting-why-is-it-essential-for-inventory-management/ inventory to automate business workflows. Manage product listings from your POS to your eCommerce system and can analyze the performance of different SKUs during a sales. Ship from Store and the software supports third-party shipping integrations. Small, Medium and Large companies make use of the software.
We track every major and minor happening in the retail sector for business purposes and finalize our core report. As it is likely for your business to grow and increase in size, management of contacts and relationship of customers with us can become a completely new task to follow. With HostBooks, the user will be able to handle two or more accounts at once, resulting in more efficiency. Tools will provide you with a seamless and effortless experience when it comes to your accounting business. Now, manage all your inventory set-ups right within our HostBooks solutions. HostBooks accounting software adds value and productivity to your business functionality.
Every year, we test and rate the top web-based accounting services. Some are better for sole proprietors, freelancers, and companies with only one or two employees. Below you’ll find summaries of these applications, with an explanation of what makes them differ, along with what to look for when choosing the right software for your business. We also include links to the in-depth reviews of each software if you want to learn more. Small businesses can’t afford not to have their finances in order.
What is the best accounting software for retail business?
- QuickBooks Online: Best for Retail stores that sell online and in person.
- Xero: Best for Access for multiple employees.
- Zoho Books: Best for In-house e-commerce website builder.

domain: finance


The production facility is equipped with an auto quality control system which is continuously monitoring the grinding quality through an on-line close circuit system.
In terms of quality, main raw material clinker plays the most vital role. only for that, it is collected from the best sources of South East Asia with quality being tested and verified to ensure quality and conformity with international standards.
We only depend on the proven raw material suppliers; stringent quality parameters are maintained from the source to the factory point. For quality testing in the plant, a random sampling system is used at every stages of the production process and is strictly monitored through a state-of the -art computerized Central Control Room (CCR). Additionally, we sustain our excellence with the help of Blaine Apparatus.
Stringent Quality Control is maintained at all stages of production by:
Per hour chemical composition test by XRF
Residue testing by Sieve analysis
Controlling clinker and gypsum by weighing feeder
Measuring weighing feeder using tachometer


Thursday, at approximately 7:21 a.m., a DMV Officer conducted a motor vehicle stop on I-91 south near exit 18 in Meriden. Upon requesting the operator for basic information, the operator retrieved drug paraphernalia.
The DMV Officer called for State Police assistance to handle the narcotic aspect of the investigation. The occupants of the vehicle were detained.
A State Police narcotic detection K-9 unit was contacted from Troop F to respond to assist Troop I personnel. This K-9 search revealed positive alerts on areas within the vehicle.
The continued investigation revealed that the operator of the vehicle was in possession of approximately eight ounces of marijuana packaged in various containers. Two small glassine bottles contained liquid cannabis identified by the Statewide Narcotics Task Force personnel.
Numerous drug paraphernalia items were seized to include a narcotics scale, bags and twist ties along with additional items. The operator was also in possession of $550 cash which was seized.
The vehicle was towed and secured at Troop I. The accused was identified as Kyle Mount, 22, of 9 Stephanie Lane, South Windsor, CT and was processed at Troop I and later released on a $2,500.00 non-surety bond to appear at GA-7 in Meriden on Oct. 31.


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This light moisturising lotion is no lightweight when it comes to zapping blemishes and helping troubled skin. The ApiClear Facial Moisturising Lotion is nourishing and quickly absorbed, it feels instantly refreshing for skin and cleverly balances the perfect amount of oil and moisture for skin.
Featuring Purified Bee Venom, Manuka Honey and more. Purified Bee Venom has proven anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Experience the refreshing and cleansing properties of Papaya extract while the Manuka honey hydrates your skin.
To use: Apply to clean, dry skin every morning and night. If irritation occurs discontinue use immediately.
Aqua (Water), Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Pentaerythriyl Tetraisostearate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Glucoside, PEG-100 Stearate, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Dimethicone, Dehydroacetic Acid, Polyacrylamide, Cetearyl Alcohol, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Parfum (Fragrance), Phenoxyethanol, Laureth-7, Tocopherol, Lecithin, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Water, Carbomer, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Water, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Glycine Soya Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Alcohol Denat., Bee Venom, Mel (Honey), Ceramide 2

domain: chemistry


Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
The Montgomery County Health Department today announced that the cause of the illness that sickened over 200 students, faculty, and staff at Ursinus College over the past week is a Norovirus.
Ursinus College continues to take proactive measures in conjunction with Montgomery County Health Department officials to investigate and address an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on campus.
Ursinus College has voluntarily closed the cafeteria and snack bar allowing Montgomery County Health Department officials to continue gathering information regarding the cluster of gastrointestinal illness on campus.
Montgomery County Health Department (MCHD) is currently investigating an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness associated with students from Ursinus College.
A Code Blue Declaration has been issued for Montgomery County for the period beginning at 9:00pm on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 through 9:00am on Monday, February 15, 2016.
The Montgomery County Division of Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites will be hosting a free, one-day, Trail Stewardship Workshop on Saturday, February 20, 2016 from 8:30am to 4:30pm in the classroom building at Pennypacker Mills.
Explore Lorimer Park and the Bethayres Swamp on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 8:30am during an Audubon Bird Town Bird Walk at Lorimer Park.
Montgomery County’s Green Lane Park will host a program entitled “Animal Tracks and Signs” on Saturday, February 13, 2016 beginning at 1:00pm. Join the staff at GLP for this indoor/outdoor program and learn to read and interpret wildlife signs.
Visit historic Pottsgrove Manor on Saturday, February 13, 2016 between 11:00am and 3:00pm for demonstrations of open-hearth cooking during the program “Valentine’s Day The Colonial Way.”
MCHD officials have identified and interviewed the two men who came to the aid of a young girl who was being attacked by a rabid raccoon Thursday in Lower Merion. Both men are safe from contracting rabies.
MCHD officials are requesting that an unidentified male Good Samaritan, who came to the aid of a young girl being attacked by a rabid raccoon on Thursday in Lower Merion, come forward and identify himself, because he may have been exposed to rabies.
The Montgomery County Commissioners today at their bi-weekly meeting delivered their 2016 report on the State of the County.
Montgomery County Sheriff Sean P. Kilkenny announced that sheriff’s deputies arrested 11 deadbeat parents, who owed $126,218.63 in child support arrearages for 16 children, during an overnight sweep on Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Join the park naturalist at Norristown Farm Park on Sunday, February 7, 2016 at 2:00pm in a search of the wild signs of animals that remain active in winter.
Make a gift from the heart this year at Pennypacker Mills’ Valentines Workshop for Kids on Saturday, February 6, 2016 from 10:00am to 12:00pm.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has issued the following warning to Americans about scam artists posing as IRS agents.


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Replacing animal fat in the human diet with vegetable oil seems not to lower heart disease risk, and might even boost it, according to a study published Wednesday that challenges a cornerstone of diet
Replacing animal fat in the human diet with vegetable oil seems not to lower heart disease risk, and might even boost it, according to a study published Wednesday that challenges a cornerstone of dietary advice.
Switching from saturated to unsaturated omega-6 fats did result in lower blood cholesterol in a trial with nearly 10,000 participants, it said, but not the expected reduction in heart disease deaths.
In fact, those with a greater reduction in cholesterol “had a higher rather than a lower risk of death,” according to the research published by the medical journal BMJ.
For 50-odd years, animal fat in meat, butter, cheese and cream has been the bad boy of the diet world, blamed for boosting artery-clogging cholesterol linked to heart disease and stroke.
In 1961, the American Hearth Association recommended vegetable oils replace saturated fats — a position it still holds even as some research has started to challenge that hypothesis.
The World Health Organisation also advises that saturated fats should comprise less than 10 percent of total energy intake.
For decades now, the world has viewed full-fat milk and bacon with suspicion and replaced pork with chicken, and butter with plant-based margarines and cooking oils. But in the past few years, researchers have started poking holes in the “fat is bad” hypothesis.
The new study, led by Christopher Ramsden at the National Institutes of Health, re-analysed data from a randomised controlled trial conducted 45 years ago with 9,423 residents of state mental hospitals and nursing home in Minnesota. This is a type of experiment — generally considered highly reliable — in which people are randomly divided into groups to receive, or not, the treatment being studied.
Part of the Minnesota group had their intake of saturated fat replaced with corn oil, while the rest ate a diet high in animal fat.
“As expected, the diet enriched with linoleic acid (a fatty acid found in plant oils) lowered cholesterol levels,” said a statement by the BMJ.

domain: food


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After a tour to Australia and China, the Arsenal players are back at London Colney preparing for the Emirates Cup this weekend, and for the new season which kicks off just over two weeks from now.
The Gunners begin the new campaign with a Friday night kick-off against Leicester City, a game which takes place just five days after the Community Shield showdown with Chelsea.
One man back in action today in an Arsenal shirt was Jack Wilshere. The England midfielder looks to be making a good recovery from the broken leg he suffered at the end of last season, and was involved fully in the training routines.
There have been reports that he is to be allowed leave Arsenal, but despite some interest from Swansea and Turkish side Antalyaspor there haven’t been any firm bids for the 25 year old.
It’s thought he is not open to a move abroad and would like to stay in the Premier League, but Arseblog News understands Wilshere is not agitating for a move, and could spend the next 12 months at the club before leaving on a free next summer.
It remains to be seen what kind of plans Arsene Wenger has for him this season, but being back in full training is certainly a step forward.
Also back in training after their summer exploits at the European U21 Championships were Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, and Calum Chambers.

domain: sports


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Please Note: This event has expired.
Elise Hayes and Friends
Join us for live music with Elise Hayes and Friends. Sometimes it’s a haunting melody or playful lyric that hooks a person when they hear a song. Elise Hayes draws you in from the first note she sings. With a voice described as “powerfully sweet” and “blissful”, Elise affectively blends thoughtful and expressive songwriting with soulful and heartfelt vocals.

domain: entertainment


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2 years ago
5 things about Prakash Saput
Prakash Saput is known for representing the ongoing trends of rural Nepal through his songs. He has thus far recorded close to 25 folk songs and been featured in more than 200 music videos. His latest, ‘Bola Maya’, portrays the plight of migrant workers, and is currently trending on social platforms.
In conversation with My City’s Sonam Lama, Prakash Saput revealed five things his listeners are not aware of him.
Prakash Saput is inclined towards books of foreign writers that have been translated into Nepali. However, ‘Shirish Ko Phool’ by Parijat is one of his earliest reads. He also adores ‘Seto Dharti’, a poetry collection by Bhupi Sherchan.
“I enjoyed reading the Nepali translation of Maksim Gorky's ‘Mother’,” he added, “I am currently reading Nathiya by Saraswati Pratikshya.”
Prakash Saput has traveled to 40 districts of Nepal. He is fond of hiking. Currently, he has Ilam on his bucket list and further considers traveling to the unexplored areas of Nepal.
“I dream to visit the eight mountains standing above 8000m in Nepal,” he added.
Being a cinema enthusiast, Saput prefers to explore the various genres of movies. However, he is fascinated towards films that reflect the societal realities. He enjoys watching Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean movies.
Active social media user
He likes to interact and have healthy conversations with his friends on social and political issues. As a current heartthrob, he takes all steps necessary to update his admirers of the happenings via various social media handles. Moreover, he uses social media to collect feedback about his musical venture.
The arrival of a new member into his life has kept him lately occupied. He says, his 16-month-old daughter, Prabisti, is currently the center of his attention.
“Being a father is a matter of pride, and my experience so far has been amazing,” he added.

domain: literature


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XPEL Technologies Corp. (XPLT) manufactures, distributes, and sells after-market automotive products primarily in the United States. The company announced that the company acquired Parasol Canada, a distributor of paint protection and window tint products for the Canadian market. The total acquisition price is CAD$4.8 million which was partially funded by US$1.9M in new borrowing. XPEL acquired inventory and receivables of approximately CAD$1.5 million as part of the purchase price.
Management Expects Improved Margins
A majority of Parasol Canada’s revenue is derived from the sale of XPEL products. Commentary from management:
“This acquisition is in line with our strategy to get closer to our end customers, particularly in key international markets. Parasol Canada is a profitable business with a successful management team who will remain with the company. The acquisition allows us to gain a dedicated Canadian sales force, add to our portfolio of products, gain margin and expand our proven U.S. marketing initiatives into Canada, where we believe there is significant opportunity for growth as we integrate under the XPEL brand.”
Benefits of this transaction:
- The margin of XPEL should see an immediate increase because Parasol Canada was selling (marking up) XPEL products to its end customers.
- Parasol’s 5 year supply agreement to exclusively supply paint protection film and window tint to the 79 locations that comprise the Protex Paint Protection and Pelti Window Film franchise groups will XPEL access to greater sales channels.


DZ Sienna HF Transceiver Product Reviews - eHam.netDescription: The DZ Sienna is an expandable, configurable, modular HF
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The Singapore-based low-cost airline has discounted fares to Europe and Asia.
Scoot is offering flights from Perth to Athens from $319 one way as part of its latest promotion.
The fares include taxes, but food and bags are extra.
Also on sale are flights from Perth to Asian destinations including Singapore, which is from $109 one way.
One-way flights from Perth to both Hanoi and Hong Kong are from $169.
Flights from Perth to Langkawi and Ho Chi Minh City are from $129 one way, while one-way fares to Chiang Mai are from $179.
The discounted fares are on sale until February 18, and are valid for travel from March 10 to October 27.
- Book at flyscoot.com.
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Peaks, planes and poetry
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domain: news


Advisory: Public Counter Operations are limited to "By Appointment” in Response to COVID-19
To comply with current health orders, we have implemented COVID-19 Prevention Protocols and modified our public counter operations and submittal processes. If you have questions about land divisions, use permits, General Plan amendments, zone changes, variances and a number of ministerial planning permit applications, please use the informational links provided or give us a call before visiting us at our public counter.
County Adopts Resolution No. 2020-72 NEW!
COVID-19 temporary measures to establish health and safety business operations:
For further information, please refer to Resolution No. 2020-72. Please upload completed Temporary Measures Application Forms to our PBES cloud services here and PBES staff will be notified that it has been submitted.
New: Napa County Use Permit Compliance Program
The Department regularly posts information about major planning projects. View a list of major current projects.
Pre-application meetings are an opportunity to meet with staff from all Divisions and receive valuable feedback on your project. In particular, staff can identify the type of application and related permits that may be necessary, permit processing steps and timelines, and pertinent information and technical studies that will be required to submit a complete application.
To schedule a pre-application meeting, please complete the pre-application meeting form and submit with payment to the Planning division at 1195 Third Street, Suite 210, Napa, CA 94559.
- ADUs - Accessory Dwelling Units
- Permit Status Using Property and Map Information
- Development Review Process (PDF)
- Planning Forms, Applications and Brochures
- Policy Documents
- Napa County Zoning Map (PDF)
- Planning Commission
- Zoning Administration
- Airport Land Use Commission
- Environmental Notices - California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
- Winery Database Listing (PDF)
- Voluntary Oak Woodland Management Plan
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife Recording Fees Increase in 2015
- Public Notices
Current Project Information
Find documents and information about major projects, development applications, and other Department work programs.
Agricultural Protection Advisory Committee (APAC)
The County Executive Officer announces the newly created Napa County APAC. This ad hoc committee is intended to serve as an advisory committee to the Planning Commission for purposes of making recommendations to the Planning Commission on a variety of winery development and agricultural protection measures.
Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) Procedures
Effective May 1, 2015, TCO Procedures/Applications will be changing. There will also be a deposit of $1,017 to initiate the process.


This article is part of a Special Issue on The Social Value of European Research on Media Accessibility.
In the last decades, the European Union has experienced a large influx of refugees who were forced to flee their country to escape conflict or persecution. In 2017, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there were 25.4 million refugees worldwide and a total of 43.1 million internally-displaced people. Seeking safety and a better life is the motivating factor of the 2 million refugees that have recently reached Europe. In addition to the many challenges that they face on their way, integration in Europe is not always easy. The barriers that they have to overcome when arriving to European countries are numerous: financial, legal, linguistic, cultural and bureaucratic, to name a few.
To date, there is no uniform, holistic EU approach to migration, and each Member State struggles to respond to the crisis and integrate the arriving communities. In Italy, Greece and Spain, entry points for the majority of refugees, there is a need for additional support to provide for the large number of vulnerable populations seeking asylum. In particular, communication challenges call for urgent measures to be adopted: local authorities and stakeholders have reported frustration in trying to convey to migrants the rules now underpinning their integration process. Apart from the inherent complexity of these rules, which may lead to confusion per se, this communication problem is partly explained by the highly heterogeneous nature of migrants in terms of educational background and language skills.
In order to tackle some of these issues, in 2018 the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme funded the REBUILD project, under Grant agreement 822215. Starting from the premise that communication lies at the core domains of integration, the project pursues the development of an accessible ICT tool able to efficiently cater for the communication needs of both local service providers and migrants during the first stages of the integration process. During the first phase of REBUILD, background information as regards profiling and needs analysis will be gathered, in order to then develop an AI-based skill-needs matching tool to link migrant needs with services provided at local level in each country involved in the project. The main output of the project will be a digital companion for migrants enabling personalized two-way communication: by means of chatbots, users will be provided information about available public services and will be given tips to access them. The tool will allow users to share immediate feedback as regards the usefulness of the support received, which is bound to help future users follow their own procedures.
The design of this tool aims to respond to the heterogeneous educational and linguistic background of potential users. The tool will be multilingual and multimodal. It will resort to non-verbal communication to convey information, in the form of pictograms and short explanatory video chunks, both based on universal design principles. Throughout the project, target users will validate the pictograms and the other non-linguistic communication devices that will be employed.
In order to obtain such a validation, as well as to foster usability and accessibility of the tool, focus groups are being held with all the parties involved (migrants, service providers, authorities) in Greece, Italy, and Spain. These research actions are bound to provide valuable feedback to design a tool that meets the expectations of users in terms of the cultural markers employed and the usefulness of the content included. The project thus employs the notion of culturability (the relationship between culture and usability) which translates in user preferences: by exposing participants to different stimuli, the discussion sessions scheduled for REBUILD are meant to explore technology use among migrants and refugees, both with regard to their current practices and expertise and to their preferences as users in features such as layout, font, direction of text and navigation styles, among other.
This way of ensuring a user-centered approach is intended to promote the sustainability of the digital companion. By allowing users to create and update content, the tool will tackle the issues encountered by the existing apps, which fail to stay up-to-date with the available services and information relevant for refugees. The joint work of partners with different backgrounds (humanitarian, ethical, technological, linguistic) is expected to serve as a solid basis for the creation to a platform that proves to be truly useful and escapes an early visit to the “app cemetery.”
By Blanca Arias-Badia*
Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
*Corresponding author: Blanca.Arias (at) uab.cat
Go back to the Special Issue: The Social Value of European Research on Media Accessibility!


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EstateGuru raises £1.1m from crowdfunding campaign
Estonia-based EstateGuru, a marketplace platform for property-backed loans, has closed a €1.3 m (£1.1m) crowdfunding round.
EstateGuru launched the round, its second in 12 months, on 5 May 2021 and gathered the initial minimum target of €500,000 in a matter of hours in a private mode only available to certain investors. This figure doubled a few days later when the round became public. The campaign was originally set to run for 40 days but closed after just nine days (four of which were public) with 971 investors taking part.
The round, which took place on Seedrs, saw 260 per cent funding over the initial target and has been closed a month ahead of schedule owing to what EstateGuru says was “massive investor enthusiasm”.
Marek Pärtel, co-founder and CEO of EstateGuru says rather than look for institutions or VC for equity capital, crowdfunding helps build the firm’s community but that it would be aiming to increase institutional investor relationships on the debt side in the coming months.
To read more, please click on the link below…
Source: EstateGuru raises £1.1m from crowdfunding campaign – AltFi


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Challenges in modeling of landslides and consequences hazards
Landslide dams are naturally-formed blockages of watercourses caused by slope failures. They are mostly formed where narrow steep valleys are bordered by high rugged mountains. The lakes that form as the result of river blockage can pose significant hydraulic off-site risks upstream due to damming effects and downstream due to flooding. Landslide dams are remarkably diverse in their characteristics and longevity. They may last for several minutes or several thousand years depending on factors such as landslide volume, extent and shape, sorting of blockage material, rate of seepage through the material, and rate of sediment and water inflow. Landslide dams have been widely investigated based on their geomorphic characteristics; however, there is little research focused on the hydraulic and geotechnical aspects of this phenomenon. Due to this shortage, the internal structure of currently existing landslide dams remains mostly unknown to mountain hazard scientists. Hence, a multi-disciplinary attempt to model landslide dams would clarify many parameters and improve the assessment of this mountain hazard.
This workshop is intended for PhD students interested and have experience in both geotechnical modeling and hydraulic hazard assessment of landslide dams. In this session, the participants based on modeling approaches and challenges have previously encountered,will address some significant matters such as the most practical numeric methods in modeling the internal structure of natural dams, the reliability of laboratory test to gain geotechnical parameters of the dam, the difficulties and solutions in modeling a three-phases environment, considerations in defining the boundary conditions of the numerical model, and the methods to predict the hazard natural dams pose toward their surroundings.

domain: geography


The VICE Guide to Right Now
A Mom Bought Her Daughter 12 Bags of Cocaine to Celebrate Her 18th Birthday
Their plan was to do it in a limo on the way to London, but police found out and busted them.
Britain Is a Weird Place
I Went to Diggerland: Britain's Magical Theme Park Dedicated to Excavators
Lifting up giant piles of dirt with a massive metal bucket makes you feel like God in a hi-vis jacket.
We Met the Heroin-Loving Pranksters Running Against the UKIP
VICE is driven blindfolded to the secret HQ of the Al-Zebabist Nation of OOOG, who are running against Farage in South Thanet, Kent.
Adventures in UKIP Country
When Did England Abandon Its East Coast?
A new four-part series looks at England's misunderstood eastern side, starting with Margate and Dover.
What It's Like to Go to an Elite Private School in the London Suburbs
My attempts to ascend the British class system were less like climbing a ladder and more like walking under one and getting crushed by it.
The Man Who Organized a Protest Outside Nigel Farage's Pub Is Getting Death Threats
The UK election is getting a little heated.
The Paranoid Style in British Politics: Inside the UKIP Spring Conference
Global warming denial, homophobic literature, and leaflets claiming that foreign aid is actually spent on "giving dance lessons to Africans" were just the tip of the iceberg.
The Humongous Fungus Among Us Issue
Portraits of the Diverse People Living in Britain's Run-Down Seaside Towns
They’re simultaneously places where people long to be and long to leave.
Photos from the Fake Town Where London Cops Train for Riots
The place is much like a film set—many of the peripheral buildings are just facades, while those at the "city center" are a lot more developed in order to give the trainees more varied terrain.


NASCAR officials this week announced plans to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.The racing series outlined an 11-point plan designed to reinvigorate its business by investing in research and development, employing at its core technological advances that will lead to a revised rule book and a more fan-friendly sport.Among other things, the changes will include:• Moving rule-making from officiating to research and development and innovation.• Simplifying the rule book, which would be available for reference in real time in an electronic format, by replacing written rules with computer-aided designs.• Increasing consistency with a standardized officiating corps for Sprint Car, Nationwide and the Trucks series.• Instituting a new process that will streamline inspections and the procedures to approve parts.• Implementing a system that will specify penalties for specific infractions.• Increasing the use of technology on pit road to give fans a more intimate race experience by enjoying data gleaned from pit road and during the race on their tablets or smartphones.This is no longer your father’s moonshine-era NASCAR running on dirt roads of the deep South.“In general if you look at it, it’s a little bit of a culture shift in how we’ve done business,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing operations. “Our goal is really to take a lot of the assets available to us, and really reinvest, and put even more money back into our R&D efforts. What that will allow us to do is get ahead of things in a much more advanced way.”The announcement was the culmination of a nearly yearlong review of the sports competition department.Officials plan for the changes to be in full effect for the 2015 Daytona 500, though some will be in force next season.The modernization plans are part of an effort begun in earnest with the introduction this season of the Generation-6 car, which is more closely identifiable to commercial passenger cars.NASCAR hopes the changes bring the cars even closer together.In order to revise the rule book, officials will be required to review the existing guidelines line by line. “Our objective is to have a plan that spans many years from short to long term and develop technologies that are going to be relevant to our fans,” said Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s vice president of innovation and racing development. “The car on the track needs to have some commonality with the cars people drive. We need to move in a direction that the rest of the world is moving. If we don’t, we essentially will disenfranchise ourselves with our next generation of fans.”Another objective is to boost fan interaction.In addition to using data from pit stops, officials also want an inspection process in which fans can observe from the bay.“Ultimately, we want to put the fan in the driver’s seat,” O’Donnell said, “seeing that data, seeing what happens in the race.”
Front-running Johnson: Five-time series champion Jimmie Johnson retained his season lead with a sixth-place finish behind winner Brian Vickers at the Camping World RV Sales 301 last weekend. Johnson’s lead, though, is somewhat deceptive. If the standings were reset today, Johnson and Matt Kenseth, currently No. 6, would enter the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in a dead heat. Each top-10 Chase qualifier receives a base of 2,000 points after the Federated Auto Parts 400 on Sept. 7 with three bonus points added per victory. Johnson and Kenseth each have four victories. The series resumes July 28 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis with the Samuel Deeds 400.
Kanaan returns to Indy: Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan makes a triumphant return to the site of his emotional victory in May, teaming with Joey Hand of Chip Ganassi Racing for the Brickyard Grand Prix on July 26. “Any day that you’re invited to drive at Indianapolis is a good day,” Kanaan said. Helio Castroneves leads the series, followed by Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Mello and a mile high: The circuit takes its annual three-week swing out west, starting with the Mile High Nationals in Denver, where mechanical adjustments are needed to tackle the altitude. “You have to prepare yourself physically to be able to manhandle the Mountain,” said Spencer Massey, who will enter 91 points back of Top Fuel leader Shawn Langdon. “Our guys have built 15 different sets of rods and pistons just for this race.”
He said it
“I wear the cowboy hat because chicks dig it. That’s why I wear the cowboy hat.”
— Nationwide Series driver Austin Dillon on the priorities of fashion statements.


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PROFIBUS is a messaging protocol designed specifically for high speed input-output communications in automated industrial applications. For applications deploying PROFIBUS messaging that require a general purpose embedded CPU providing multiple hardware interfaces, as well as rich user interfaces, Critical Link offers the MityDSP-L138. These are System on Modules (SOMs) based on the TI Integra OMAP-L138 ARM + DSP processors. The MityDSP-L138 is used primarily by small form-factor applications that may or may not require digital signal processing.
More on PROFIBUS:
PROFIBUS was developed in the late 1980’s by a consortium of German companies, led by the German government. Their goal was to create a new bit-serial fieldbus system protocol, which could operate with a standardized field device interface, and was flexible enough to be used by all the members of the consortium
PROFIBUS differs from other automated controllers in that all equipment connected to the system communicates through a common bus. This bus is bi-directional, allowing both commands to individual devices on the bus and return information. Individual devices are given addresses, insuring they ignore all commands except those directed at them. The overall system is self-diagnosing, including diagnosing and reporting connection problems.
There are several PROFIBUS variants, including PROFIBUS DP (Decentralized Peripherals) used for factory automation, and. PROFIBUS PA (Process Automation), used for process-level instrumentation.


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Regional Reviews: San Francisco
Thirteen Yeas for 1776
The Willows Company are presenting an incredible production of Sherman Edwards's 1776. I say without reservation that this production outshines the revival we saw on Broadway two years ago. 1776 needs to be in a small theater and this presentation creates a more intimate relationship between the audience and those sterling men from colonies. The voices and the acting of this cast were first rate. The artistic director informed me that it took three months to find the right actors, and it was well worth the search. I cannot find fault anyone in the cast.
The Willows has presented some marvelous musical productions like Funny Girl, Dreamgirls, Once Upon a Mattress, The Rothchilds and the great Brimstone - all won awards for Best Regional Musical. 1776 now joins the list.
I have been a fan of this musical since I first saw it in 1968 at Forty Six Theatre in New York, starring Williams Daniels, Howard de Silva, Betty Buckley and Ken Howard. I was friends with Mr. de Silva and I was happy to see this fine actor back on the stage after the so called Red Scare, when he was ostracized by Senator McCarthy. I fell in love with the musical as soon as I heard the first number, "Sit Down John". I knew I was in for something different and important and I was able to see the Tony winning show three times in New York during its 1217 performance run and twice more in London. The audience in London gave it a rousing reception. When the production played in LA I saw it yet again.
In 1971 Jack Warner purchased the musical for filming. Mr. Warner took the film to Columbia and hired Peter Hunt and Harry Stradling Jr. to direct and photograph the film. I was able to sign on as part of the camera crew and as the publicity person. I was taking mostly still shots for the publicity and marketing deptartment. I had a happy eight weeks there and enjoyed being with the (mostly original) cast from New York. It was interesting that Mr. Warner, who was on the extreme right of politics, let Mr. de Silva play Ben Franklin, who was on the opposite end of the political spectrum. Unfortunately Mr. Warner threw out a lot of political dialogue that was left of center and the film was cut to two hours running time.
When it was announced that the Roundabout was going to do a revival two years ago, I was excited and I had to see what they would do with the production. Unfortunately, by the time we got to New York the musical had transferred to the barn-like Gershwin Theatre with Michael McCormick as Adams and David Huddleston as Franklin. The musical was lost in that theater. It was also near end of the run and the actors were lifeless. What a disappointment.
When the Willows announced they would be doing a revival, I hoped that it would restore my faith in this musical. Well it most certainly did. At its heart this is a play of ideas; a drama and musical for the intellect. The score by Sherman Edwards puts the songs right where they should be. Each song is exactly as long as it should be and the music is muscular and compelling. The libretto of Peter Stone is one of the best books I have ever seen. It is flawlessly proportioned.
Director Andrew Holtz assembled a brilliant cast of actors and singers and his direction was impeccable. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Edward Rutledge and John Dickerson all came to life on the Willows stage.
Rick Williams was superb in the role of John Adams. He was almost as good as William Daniels though not quite as divinely furious as Mr. Daniels. Even though John Adams is obnoxious and disliked, I found the role fascinating. Williams has an excellent singing voice and his solo of "Is Anybody There" was incredible. No one can touch Howard de Silva as the original Ben Franklin, but Robert Rossman put a different spin on the distinguish philosopher from Pennsylvania. He makes Mr. Franklin more lovable and cuddly.
One of the most outstanding moments of the production was Mark Farrell singing "Molasses to Rum". What an astonishing performance. He sung the hell out of the song and it brought down the house. Simon Vance's Dickinson is on the par with the Dickinsons I have seen in the past. He was a little flat on his "Cool Cool Considerate Men"; however he made up for this with his acting ability. The chorus was powerful.
The two women, Milissa Carrey as Abigail Adams and Heather Ramsey as Martha Jefferson, were striking. When Milissa and Williams sang "Yours, Yours, Yours" it was electrifying. She has a beautiful trained voice. Ms. Ramsey was charming singing one of my favorite songs, "He Plays the Violin".
I can't let this review go by without mentioning Zach Diestler as the courier. His rendition of "Momma Look Sharp" was one of the best I have ever seen and heard. His voice was soft and gentle and he put a lot of heart into the number.
The set was interesting, beginning with a role of colonial row houses which rolled around to reveal the chambers where the delegates meet. This brought an authentic look to the show. The music was reproduced for this production using four synthesizers programmed to play 32 instruments simultaneously in real time using Cubase sequencing software. It was fine and it did not have the tinny sound often associated with synthesizers.
I left the theater once again knowing that this was an exhilarating experience in both mind and body - a magnificent production by the Willows. It gets my 'yea' vote.
The production runs through July 22 at the Willows Theatre, 1975 Diamond Ave, Concord Ca. 925-798-1300. Tickets are $30 general, $25 for seniors and $20 students.


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International Publishers, the Marxist book publishing company based in New York City, celebrated its centenary with a day-long syposium on 26 October 2023, held at NYU Libraries. Among those addressing the event were Gerald Horne, the revolutionary feminist scholar Elisabeth Armstrong, West African history specialist Dennis Laumann, and International Publishers vice-president Tony Pecinovsky. A summary of the event was published in People’s World.
Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez attended via Zoom, giving a presentation on the subject of “International Publishers, the Chinese Revolution, and world socialism”, in which he gave an overview of the role played by International Publishers and associated communist publishing houses in raising awareness of the Chinese Revolution in its early phases.
The presentation also touches on the Sino-Soviet split and its impact on relations between the Western left and China. Carlos posits that we are in an ongoing important process of overcoming the Sino-Soviet split, and that “International Publishers has a key role to play in this process… Its recent publication of China’s Economic Dialectic by Cheng Enfu – one of China’s foremost Marxist scholars – is an exciting step forward, particularly as there are so few good books available in the English language about modern Chinese Marxism.”
The speech also briefly discusses the issue of the social character of the People’s Republic of China, and the importance of opposing the US-led New Cold War.
The full text of the presentation is reproduced below.
Many thanks for inviting me to participate in today’s event. It’s an honour to be with you.
The progressive movement in the United States, and other parts of the Western world, has a long history of solidarity with the Chinese Revolution and the project of building socialism in China, and of telling people the truth about China.
International Publishers – and the CPUSA – blazed a trail in this regard. In the case of International Publishers, support for Red China goes back almost to the very beginning of its history, for example printing in 1937 the first North American edition of Mao Zedong’s famous essay On Practice.
Other publishing houses with which IP worked closely – New Century Publishers and Workers Library Publishers – also printed a number of titles in solidarity with China during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, including China’s Fight for National Liberation and Hell Over Shanghai.
In 1945, William Z Foster wrote the foreword to the volume Fight for a New China, based on Mao’s report to the Seventh National Congress of the CPC.
A number of theoretical works were also published in English for the first time, including Liu Shaoqi’s On Inner-Party Struggle and Mao Zedong’s On New Democracy.
A great many prominent communists and anti-imperialists in the US threw their weight behind China’s liberation.
The great African-American activist, linguist and performer Paul Robeson became widely known in China for his powerful rendition in Chinese of the March of the Volunteers, the song that was to become, and remains, the national anthem of the People’s Republic. Robeson first recorded the song in 1941, with a chorus made up of Chinese workers in New York. The proceeds from the gramophone record went to support China’s war effort against Japanese invasion.
The sociologist Dr WEB DuBois, one of the greatest scholars of the 20th century, who joined the CPUSA in 1961 – at the tender age of 93 – forged a profound friendship with Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders.
In the late 1930s, the CPUSA joined with the Communist Party of Canada to send Dr Norman Bethune to the frontline in China, where he was instrumental in setting up the system of “barefoot doctors”, training ordinary peasants to provide primary medical care. He died a martyr in 1939 while stationed with the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi Province, and became the embodiment of revolutionary internationalism for the people of China and beyond. In his eulogy, Mao wrote: “Every communist must learn the true communist spirit from Comrade Bethune.”
Claudia Jones, the Trinidadian-born CPUSA leader who was deported to Britain in 1955, was another great friend of China. Indeed China was the last country she visited before her death in 1964, at the tragically young age of 49. On that trip she met with some of China’s top leadership, including Mao Zedong and Song Qingling – the widow of Sun Yat-Sen and an important leader in her own right.
And just as US communists have stood with the Chinese Revolution, so Chinese communists have stood in solidarity with workers and oppressed peoples in the US.
For example, on 29 July 1945, Mao sent a telegram to William Z Foster, hailing the revival of the CPUSA following the defeat of Earl Browder’s program of dissolution and capitulation to monopoly capitalism.
In August 1963, at the request of Robert F Williams and Mabel Williams, Mao issued his famous statement on the US’s pervasive and systemic racism, which concluded with the powerful words:
“The evil system of colonialism and imperialism arose and throve with the enslavement of black people and the trade in black people, and it will surely come to its end with the complete emancipation of the black people.”
The relationship of solidarity between Chinese and US radicals was deepened as a result of the Red Scare and the emergence of the Cold War. It’s telling that Senator Joseph McCarthy first made a name for himself by spearheading the attacks on those Democratic Party politicians deemed responsible for the so-called ‘loss of China’ to communism in 1949.
The most reactionary, hawkish, conservative elements of the US ruling class defined their key enemies as: the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, the CPUSA, and the blossoming movement for black liberation.
However, history never moves in a straight line.
International Publishers and associated publishing houses put out very little material on China in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. This was of course primarily a function of the Sino-Soviet split, which started to emerge in the late 1950s and which remains one of the greatest setbacks our global movement has faced.
Those communist parties in the West that remained broadly pro-Soviet – including the CPUSA – largely lost contact with revolutionary China. With the emergence of the New Communist Movement in the 1960s and 70s, it was other parties and organisations that devoted significant efforts to solidarity with China in this period. The Sino-Soviet split manifested itself in similar ways in countries around the world, with some parties siding the Soviet Union and others with China.
Looking back at that period, I think it’s reasonable to conclude that both the Soviet Union and China made mistakes – as did their friends and supporters in the West – and that the split in the global movement could and should have been avoided. As Deng Xiaoping put it to Gorbachev in 1989, when relations between China and the USSR were finally normalised, “there was a lot of empty talk on both sides.”
In that speech, Deng pointed out that the ideological differences that emerged between the CPC and CPSU were fundamentally to do with the extraordinarily complex and novel task of building socialism in extremely difficult circumstances – a world that continues to be dominated by imperialism.
Deng said: “Nobody was clear about exactly what changes had taken place over the century since Marx’s death or about how to understand and develop Marxism in light of those changes… After a successful revolution each country must build socialism according to its own conditions. There are not and cannot be fixed models.”
He adds: “We no longer think that everything we said at that time was right.”
Even though there were serious and important differences over strategy, these didn’t need to result in a fundamental split. As Kim Il Sung commented to China’s vice premier Li Xiannian in December 1965: “Yes, the Soviet leaders are revisionists, but are they enemies?”
But Deng made another insightful comment in his discussion with Gorbachev: that the Chinese side felt they were not treated as equals and felt humiliated.
This relates to a complex dynamic that still needs further investigation and discussion within our movement, particularly in the West, particularly in imperialist countries or countries that have historically engaged in national oppression.
China’s liberation put an end to the century of humiliation, in which the Chinese people had been reduced to semi-colonial status and conditions of war, chaos and misery. One of the countries imposing unequal treaties on, and seizing territory from, China was Russia – an imperialist power up until 1917.
In that context it was understandable that the Chinese leadership were sensitive to and took offence to not being treated as equals, to being expected to acquiesce to the Soviet Union’s sole leadership of the world communist movement, and to European Marxists perhaps not really understanding the historic significance of the expansion of the socialist world to Asia, to the oppressed countries, to the victims of colonialism.
These issues are remnants of deeper underlying problems which our movement inherited from capitalism, and which remain part of capitalist ideological hegemony: eurocentrism and racism.
And these are problems that, several decades later, haven’t disappeared, that still rear their ugly heads within parts of the Western left. As such, it’s important to revisit this history and see if we can use it to improve our work in the here and now.
In the decades since the tragic demise of the Soviet Union, many parties have taken the time to reassess their understanding of China, and the CPUSA has been a good example of this. These days the CPC and CPUSA have close bilateral relations, and there is an increasing appetite amongst progressive people in the US to understand Chinese socialism and China’s role in the construction of a multipolar system of international relations.
International Publishers has a key role to play in this process, and its recent publication of China’s Economic Dialectic by Cheng Enfu – one of China’s foremost Marxist scholars – is an exciting step forward, particularly as there are so few good books available in the English language about modern Chinese Marxism.
I think it’s significant that the book contains a foreword from John Bellamy Foster, the editor of Monthly Review. While Monthly Review was never ‘Maoist’ as such, it basically oriented towards China during the split. Perhaps the cooperation today indicates that the project of understanding China, building solidarity with China and opposing the imperialist strategy of encircling and containing China is a becoming a unifying factor for the best elements of the left, from different traditions.
Indeed one could argue that this is a component of the long process of our global movement overcoming the Sino-Soviet split. Cheng Enfu touches on this dynamic in his book:
“The Sino-Soviet debate led to a deterioration of the relations between the two parties and countries and to a split in the international communist movement, with the divisions then being utilised by the United States and other Western countries to attack Marxism, socialism, and the communist movement as a whole. The lessons of this experience were painful, and still need to be subject to reflection.”
Capitalist or socialist?
Of course, one of the most important aspects of understanding and explaining China is addressing the question of whether it’s a socialist or a capitalist country. In terms of our participation in the global class struggle, this is a crucial question.
Neoliberal economists say that China between 1949 and 1978 was a disaster, and then it introduced capitalism and has been a big success ever since. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those on the left that see markets and private capital and integration into global value chains and also conclude that China has become a capitalist country.
It’s a curious irony that the right and the ultra-left are basically aligned in assessing that China has gone capitalist. And, by extension, that China’s progress is capitalist progress.
China has ended extreme poverty in a vast Asian country of 1.4 billion people which, only a few decades ago, was one of the poorest countries in the world. China has emerged as the pre-eminent global leader in renewable energy and biodiversity protection. Living standards for ordinary Chinese people have improved beyond recognition. And this has been achieved without recourse to the imperialist playbook: wars, proxy wars, sanctions, coercion, destabilisation, extortion and intimidation.
If we are socialists – if we defend socialism and Marxism, and are working towards socialism in our own countries – then it seems frankly absurd for us to attribute China’s successes to capitalism.
We should ask why it’s China that has made this extraordinary progress – why a developing country like China rather than an advanced country like the US can solve the problem of homelessness, or can rapidly emerge as a world leader in solar power. These questions can’t be usefully answered without recognising that China’s economy continues to be essentially planned; that the state continues to hold the major economic levers; and that China’s capitalists do not constitute a ruling class, are not allowed to organise as a class, are not allowed to set up a political party to represent their specific interests, and are therefore unable to impose their will on society.
In his introduction to Cheng Enfu’s book, Bellamy Foster observes that: “Central to the Chinese socialist market system, still governed by five year plans, is the large role of state and collective property, and the continuing strategic dominance of the state sector over the private sector – while leaving room for the latter to prosper and help guide economic development within the parameters set by the state and under the leadership of the CPC.”
Professor Cheng is adamant:
“The reform and development of China’s economic system has always proceeded under the guidance of Marxist economic theory, while adhering to the principles of socialism… Reform has not involved changing the nature of the socialist system, and development does not mean copying foreign development models… The implementation of a socialist market economic system, that combines the basic socialist system with the market economy, is a great initiative in the historical development of scientific socialism and a major theoretical innovation to Marxist political economy.”
Opposing the New Cold War
Additionally to – albeit connected with – the question of the social character of the People’s Republic of China, is the current geopolitical situation: we find ourselves in a complex and dangerous moment of escalating hostility directed towards China by the imperialist powers.
This New Cold War has several components, including a trade war, a propaganda war, sanctions, tariffs, slanders, and assorted forms of economic coercion and attempts to stifle China’s economic development. It also contains a military and geostrategic component, including the creation of the AUKUS trilateral pact; the rearmament of Japan; military aid to Taiwan; the encouragement of Taiwanese separatism; and the stationing of tens of thousands of troops and advanced weaponry in South Korea, Japan, Okinawa and Guam.
There is a vocal element of the US ruling class that understands that Cold War tactics aren’t working; that sanctions, tariffs and slanders aren’t going to stop China’s rise, and that ultimately the pursuance of the Project for a New American Century will require a hot war – which needless to say would be utterly disastrous for humanity.
Meanwhile even Cold War tensions are tremendously harmful at a time when we so desperately need global cooperation in the face of serious existential threats – climate change, pandemics, antimicrobial resistance and the threat of nuclear war.
So countering anti-China propaganda has a particular relevance and urgency today, and I’m sure International Publishers will continue to play an important role in building greater understanding of China’s politics, economics, history and culture, and in so doing, make its contribution to peace and socialism.


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China has banned all Security Token Offerings and all activities linked to them. The government wants to regulate the new tokens before legalizing them to eliminate cases of fraud.
While Bitcoin recovered by 10% over the weekend, it is still facing some crucial resistance levels ahead for a short-term surge. Here’s what analysts have to say.
At the Digital Asset Investment Forum held in Washington D.C., a commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Hester Peirce said it’s better not to hold our breath waiting for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Coinbase has applied to own the ‘BUIDL’ trademark. They aim at encouraging investors to build products as opposed to just holding digital assets in times of high volatility.
Bitcoin Cash price is under a lot of pressure after it broke the $150 support against the US Dollar. There is a major declining channel formed with resistance near $135 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair.
Billionaire investor and venture capitalist Jim Breyer still believes that the promise offered by the technology is too great for it to be permanently buried by short-term market movements.
Users of crypto exchange Bitfinex and its associated token-trading platform Ethfinex will now have a total of six stablecoin options for trading on either platform.
With the new deal, Binance Coin (BNB) users can now process payments in BNB tokens on booking their stays on the blockchain-based decentralized Tripio platform.
There is a consolidation going on among the bitcoin miners that perform the complex calculations to generate the digital currency after the plunge rendered many of them unprofitable.
The updated guide clarifies the Singapore central bank’s stance on how certain intermediaries should observe the rules determined by Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism policies.


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Divorce: A Process Best Left To A Lawyer
It is said that one out of two marriages will end in divorce. While this is common, it should be the last resort to a troubled marriage, especially if children are involved. If you have found yourself in position where your marriage is over, even after the use of counselling to try and settle differences; divorce may seem to be the only option. There are many things to consider when filing for a divorce, and one of those considerations may be the use of an attorney. Divorces can sometimes be difficult which is why a lawyer can be beneficial to the process. With the assistance of the lawyers at a place like Radley Family Law, you can be sure that your divorce will be fought with the best possible outcome.
What a Divorce Does
Coming to the conclusion that a divorce is needed is not easy. Along with that decision, many factors will need to be addressed. A divorce will divided property and assets that have been gained during the marriage. Most states will not divide things that were obtained before the marriage and they will not touch things like an inheritance. Another aspect of divorce that will be discussed is support. If there are children within the marriage, child support will be established to ensure the children are financially taken care of. Also, there are times when spousal support is issued. This can happen in such cases where maybe the mother was a stay at home parent and will need assistance with taking care of the home after divorce. Every case is different, as every family is different so it is hard to tell what will happen. An aspect of divorce that is better left handled out of court is custody. This part of a divorce can get messy and cause a lot of anguish for the children.
Deciding on a Lawyer
Some may feel that a lawyer is not needed when going through a divorce. Some people can come to agreements and handle dividing property and what will happen with the children without the use of an attorney. However, in many cases divorces can be a nasty process in which a lawyer will provide the best outcome for everyone involved. A consultation would be the first part of the process, in which you will have to discuss many factors to why a divorce is needed. When having a consultation, be prepared to talk about many personal issues that have contributed to the need for a divorce. Once you have consulted with several attorneys and decided on the best one for your case, the lawyer will want various information to help with the case. This will include various property information and financial information.
When coming to the decision to have a divorce, it is beneficial to have an attorney fight for you. They are familiar with the ins and outs of the law and what you might be entitled to for your specific situation. Since every state and every relationship is different, it is best to consult with an attorney to make sure your case is handled correctly.

domain: law


Polyurethane is one of the most versatile materials for making parts and products. It is available in a variety of sizes, durometers, formulations, tolerances and colors for use in a wide range of applications. In addition to the unmatched versatility, polyurethane is also one of the strongest, toughest and most durable materials. In fact, urethane parts are commonly viewed as a better value, because parts made with other materials often crack, break, tear, swell, deteriorate and abrade.
Key Advantages of Polyurethane Products and Parts
When looking to manufacture custom parts, key competitors of polyurethane are typically rubber and plastics. Polyurethane has many advantages over these materials including:
- Eliminates the risk of visible smudges due to its non-marking material makeup
- Available in a variety of custom colors for easy recognition and part segmentation
- Reduced need to replace parts because tougher physical properties which extends lifespan
- Absorbs shock and weight and returns to the original shape
- Can be molded to meet the exact specifications with consistent quality
Extensive Applications of Polyurethane Parts and Products
Due to its extreme versatility and durability, polyurethane products can be used across a variety of applications, providing the reliability and strength to outlast the competition. PSI Urethanes sells a variety of polyurethane parts/products including rollers, rods, rings, tubes, and sheeting. Here are a few of the most common applications for these parts and products: Polyurethane Rollers:
- Wear and cut resistant
- Can carry up to four times higher load than rubber
- Stands up to harsh environments
- Made of tough, crack-resistant and abrasion-resistant material
- Lasts significantly longer than conventional rubbers and plastics.
- Available in custom diameters, lengths, hardness and colors,
- Developed from tough, premium grade urethane
- Available in custom sizes, formulas, colors and durometers
- Tight tolerances and ground finishes
- Created with premium grade urethane
- Can be customized to meet unique specs like diameter, length, hardness and color
- Developed with tough tolerances
- Available in any color, durometer and custom sizes
- Can be created with extremely tight tolerances
- Polyurethane sheeting can be developed to meet your project’s specific requirements.
- Made from durable polyurethane
- Provide tight seals
- Designed to stop or prevent spills, including hazardous materials.
Additional applications for polyurethane parts and products include:
- Capper Rings
- Cutting Surfaces
- Flexible Couplings
- Metal Forming Pads
- Pinch Rollers
As you can see, urethane parts and products can be used across a variety of applications and are commonly recognized as a better value than parts made with other materials. With custom urethane parts, you can be confident in your operations knowing you have selected the highest quality material for the job and that you may never have to replace your parts again. PSI Urethanes sell custom molded urethane parts, ranging from low quantity prototypes to full production products. To learn more about custom urethane parts and products check out our custom urethane gallery.