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The Government of Canada enacts the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act; Now what?
On January 1, 2024, the Canadian federal government’s Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (the “Act”) came into force. The purpose of the Act is to encourage Canadian businesses to take steps to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour and child labour in their operations and supply chains by instituting mandatory reporting requirements.
Who does the Act apply to?
The Act applies to government institutions and private entities, as the terms are defined in the Act. Under the Act, an “entity” includes a corporation or trust, partnership or other unincorporated organization that either:
(a) is listed on a stock exchange in Canada; OR
(b) has a place of business in Canada, does business in Canada or has assets in Canada and that, based on its consolidated financial statements, meets at least two of the following conditions for at least one of its two most recent financial years:
- it has at least $20 million in assets,
- it has generated at least $40 million in revenue, and
- it employs an average of at least 250 employees.
An entity must provide an annual report (the “Report”) to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the “Minister”) on or before May 31st of each year if it:
(a) produces, sells or distributes goods in Canada or elsewhere;
(b) imports into Canada goods produced outside Canada; or
(c) controls an entity engaged in any activity described in paragraph (a) or (b).
The entity must also make the Report available to the public, including by publishing it in a prominent place on its website. If the entity is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act or any other act of Parliament, it must provide the Report to its shareholders, along with its annual financial statements.
What must be included in the Report?
The entity must detail the steps it has taken during its previous financial year to prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour is used at any step of the production of goods in Canada or elsewhere by the entity, or of goods imported into Canada by the entity, as well as:
(a) its structure, activities and supply chains;
(b) its policies and its due diligence processes in relation to forced labour and child labour;
(c) the parts of its business and supply chains that carry a risk of forced labour or child labour being used and the steps it has taken to assess and manage that risk;
(d) any measures taken to remediate any forced labour or child labour;
(e) any measures taken to remediate the loss of income to the most vulnerable families that results from any measure taken to eliminate the use of forced labour or child labour in its activities and supply chains;
(f) the training provided to employees on forced labour and child labour; and
(g) how the entity assesses its effectiveness in ensuring that forced labour and child labour are not being used in its business and supply chains.
Notably, an entity may also be party to a joint Report in respect of more than one entity.
In the case of a Report regarding a single entity, the Report must be approved by an entity’s governing body. If the Report is a joint Report, it must be approved by either
(a) the governing body of each entity included in the Report; or
(b) the governing body of the entity, if any, that controls each entity included in the Report.
Such approval must be evidenced by a statement that sets out how it was approved and include the signature of one or more members of the governing body of each entity that approved the Report.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
A person or entity who commits an offence under the Act is punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of not more than $250,000. Offences under the Act include, but are not limited to, an entity failing to submit a Report or failing to make the Report available to the public by publishing it in a prominent place on its website.
The Act imposes personal liability on directors, officers or agents who direct, authorize, assent to, acquiesce or participate in committing an offence under the Act. Employees or agents are presumed to act on behalf of their employer when they commit offences under the Act, unless the employer can establish that they exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.
How can you prepare for filing your Report?
If you are subject to the Act, you should begin preparing the required Report. To ensure appropriate compliance, you can create an internal reporting system to be able to collect the necessary information required to comply with the Act’s reporting requirements.
In light of the new Act, you may also wish to take proactive steps to identify and address potential risks in your Canadian business operations and supply chains. For example, you can develop appropriate policies and procedures to prevent and address child labour and forced labour. You can also ensure your supply agreements include relevant contractual provisions addressing child labour and forced labour, with appropriate representations and covenants from suppliers, termination provisions in the event of material breaches of such provisions, and flow down obligations to sub-suppliers in your supply chains. In addition, you could conduct internal audits and complete further due diligence on existing and prospective suppliers to identify and be able to address areas of risk.
For assistance in preparing a Report, or for more information on corporate compliance and how to navigate obligations that may arise from the Act, please contact a member of the Corporate / Commercial Group at Torkin Manes LLP.
The authors would like to thank Articling Student Lexie Cooper for her contributions to drafting this article.


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Latest GK & Current Affairs Quiz
Sept 19, 2017
Q1.Which is the first state to set up family welfare committees?
Q2.The world’s largest radio telescope is located at which of the following province?
Q3.Keeping in mind the goal of “Malnutrition free India till 2022”, in which city has the first-ever conference on “Mission mode to address under-nutrition” held?
(c) New Delhi
Q4.Which of the following animal has been taken off the endangered list after 45 years and added to the vulnerable list?
(a) Snow Leopard
(b) Giant Panda
(c) Javan Rhinoceros
(d) Sea Cows
Q5. Who has been appointed as the Director General of National Investigation Agency(NIA)?
(a) RS Tiwari
(b) PC Chopra
(c) KC Jain
(d) YC Modi
Q6.Who has been newly appointed as the Prime Minister of Peru?
(a) Ana Jara Velazsquez
(b) Mercedes Aráoz Fernández
(c) Rene Cornejo
(d) Fernando Zavala
Q7.Which Government to start work on Rs.1 lakh crore infra projects?
(a) West Bengal
(b) Tamil Nadu
Q8. Which state has started Labours special canteen for meals at just Rs.5?
(b) West Bengal
(c) Tamil Nadu
Q9.Who was the Father of Nephrology in India that recently passed away?
(a) Dr. K.S.Chung
(b) R.S. Tang
(c) P.R. Wang
Q10.Which of the following countries has opened a dual-use highway to Nepal through Tibet?
(1) b 2) a (3) c (4) a (5) d (6) b (7) c (8) a (9) a (10) d

domain: news


text: Adopting an eating pattern complying with the Mediterranean diet not only decreases body fat mass and obesity risk, but also reduces development of various health problems. This study investigated the nutritional awareness and diet quality Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED) of Turkish adolescents. The study was conducted with 890 voluntary participants (464 boys and 426 girls) aged 10-14 years. A questionnaire form was used to learn demographic characteristics of the participants. Participants' nutritional awareness was determined through a 20-item knowledge form and their nutritional habits through a 16-item Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED). The average nutritional knowledge score was X = 82.22 ± 0.42. Results indicated that 17.9% of the participants had a low quality diet (≤3 points), 59.2% had a mid-quality/needs-improvement diet (4-7 points) and 22.9% had an optimal quality diet (≥8 points). The study results showed that the subjects' diet quality was low and that their nutrition knowledge levels were related to their nutritional habits. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

domain: food


Safely Copy Windows 11/10/7 Image to Another Computer
Copying Windows from one computer to another can be complicated and error-prone. How to make it easy and correct? You can find a professional tool to help you from this page.
Can you put a system image on another computer?
After building or buying a new PC, you may wonder if you can copy Windows image from your old PC to the new PC. Thus, you can enjoy familiar system settings and applications without reconfiguration or reinstallation.
To answer your question shortly, moving Windows installation from one computer to another is possible in some cases, but there’s no guarantee. Here are two major problems that may occur:
When you install Windows on a computer, it sets itself up with drivers specific to that computer’s motherboard and chipset. As a result, Windows could fail to boot on different hardware because some drivers don’t work.
Windows could become deactivated after moving to another computer. If you are using a retail license, you can reactivate Windows by re-entering your product key. If you are using an OEM license purchased by yourself, you may try reactivating it using Microsoft’s “Phone Activation”. However, if the OEM license is preinstalled on your old computer, Microsoft definitely won’t let you reactivate it, so a new license key is needed.
Is there a way to have Windows 11/10/7 system image restored to a different computer without hardware issues?
Professional tool to transfer system image to new computer
To avoid boot issues on dissimilar hardware, you can just reinstall Windows or use the preinstalled Windows on your new computer, and then reinstall important programs and transfer files from old PC to new PC.
If you think the whole process is too complicated and time-consuming, it’s time to turn to the specialized backup and restore software - AOMEI Backupper Professional.
It offers different backup types to help you backup system data, disk/partition data and personal data.
It is embedded with the Universal Restore feature which ensures secure boot after restoring system image to a different computer.
It owns the System Clone feature that enables you to migrate OS to SSD on the same computer without the backup and recovery process.
It allows you to create bootable media to boot a crashed computer or bare metal.
All Windows PC operating systems are supported, including Windows 11, 10, 8.1/8, 7, Vista and XP. Click the button below to download the free trial of AOMEI Backupper right now.
How to transfer operating system from one computer to another efficiently
To transfer Windows 11/10/7 image to new computer, you need to do the following preparations:
1. Create a system image on the old PC
Click Backup and select System Backup. Follow the wizard to complete the process. You are suggested to save the image file in a network location so that it can be accessed easily from your new PC.
2. Make a bootable USB drive
Click Tools and select Create Bootable Media. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish the job.
Now you can copy Windows image to your new PC with the following steps:
Step 1. Boot your new computer from the bootable drive you’ve created.
Step 2. AOMEI Backupper will load automatically. Click Restore and then Select Image File.
Step 3. In the pop-up window, select Share/NAS > Add Share or NAS Devices. Then, type the network path for the system image and click OK.
Step 4. Navigate to the system image folder, select the right image file and click OK.
Step 5. Select Restore this system backup, tick Restore system to other location in the bottom and click Next.
Step 6. Select a destination to restore Windows image to and then click Next.
Step 7. On the “Operation Summary” page, tick Universal Restore to ensure secure boot. Then, click Start Restore to begin.
★ Video tutorial of moving Windows to dissimilar hardware:
Copying Windows image to another computer may cause boot problem and licensing problem. Luckily, AOMEI Backupper can help you restore system image to a different computer while ensuring the system is bootable after recovery. If you want to migrate an old server to a new server, then AOMEI Backupper Server is at your hand.


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1473 ( Kemp 2011 ) no date in code Marani 2000, but accepted by him The Holy Infants vinci Embracing Several versions in private collections.
1492 Medium drawing pen, ink and wash training on vinci paper Current location Accademia of code Venice Universally accepted as an original 15 ) Title :Portrait of a code Young Fiancée also called La Bella vinci Principessa (English: The Beautiful Princess) Leonardo da training Vinci, Year 1495-6 Type Trois crayons (black.
Width: 53 cm (20.9 in).
"La scultura equestre di Leonardo Esposizione tra genio e mistero".The face is thought to temple education show the temple hand of Leonardo.43 Mary Magdalene Private collection, Switzerland Described as a potential Leonardo by Carlo Pedretti.The Annunciation, oil and tempera on poplar panel 98 217 cm, uffizi, Florence, generally accepted, generally thought to code be the temple earliest extant education work by Leonardo.Verrocchio, who had learned his scene craft under the code master.Works are regularly attributed to Leonardo with varying degrees of credibility.Tempera on wood, 115 x 86 cm.Adams, James (October 13, 2005).25 Delieuvin 2012, cat.The Salvator Mundi (Saviour of the World) portrays vinci Jesus gesturing in blessing with his right hand while holding a crystal orb in his left hand.Da Vinci vinci not paris only developed his skill in drawing, painting church and sculpting during his apprenticeship, but through others working in and around the studio, he picked up knowledge in such diverse fields as mechanics, carpentry, metallurgy, architectural vinci drafting and chemistry.1508 ( Marani 2000 ) not in checklist of Kemp 2011 or Zöllner 2011.I.1 (Florence, 1505 Notes on the measurement of solid bodies and on topology.The image of a man with blue eyes, long greying hair and a moustache appears to be a self-portrait of the renowned Renaissance vinci artist, inventor and thinker.1, the small number of surviving paintings is due in part to Leonardo's church frequently disastrous experimentation with new techniques and his chronic procrastination.( Zöllner 2011 ) between churches 14 ( Marani 2000 ) La belle ferronnière Oil on walnut panel 62 44 cm Louvre, Paris Generally accepted. .In studying optics, he spoke to numerous science experts. 35 Workshop church of Leonardo da Vinci?
In 1478, he noted that he was working on two Madonnas.
The materials used to paint the portrait have been reliably authenticated with carbonio-14.
Just like William Shakespeare on literature, and Sigmund Freud on psychology, Leonardo's impact on art final is tremendous.

domain: artistic


BEDFORD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Pennsylvania State Department of Health ordered all dental offices to stop emergency operations unless their facilities meet certain criteria.
The state department of health is taking this precaution to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Dentists tell me they were blindsided by what they say are “stringent guidelines,” forcing them to shut down.
“We’re all effectively shut down and basically telling patients to call the Department of Health,” says Kyle Dumpert, a dentist and the owner of Radiant Dental of Bedford.
On Sunday night, the Department of Health made the announcement on its website, but Dumpert says no one officially told him.
“They did not ask any of the dental organizations that we’re aware of, they did not reach out to the offices to let us know about their directive.”
The post says dental offices can remain open for emergency operations if they meet specific guidelines.
“You have to have an N95 mask, full mask and full protection of the face with face and side shields. They also are requiring a negative pressure room with HEPA filtration,” says Dumpert.
He says these are things you wouldn’t typically find in a dentist’s office.
“Maybe in the operating room, you would see that if you were trying to eliminate any kind of bacteria or infectious agent that might be in the room but dental schools are not designed that way, private offices are not designed that way and a lot of hospitals are not designed that way.”
Dumpert says the future is filled with uncertainty.
“We’re contacting patients, we’re rescheduling but because the Department of Health has not given us any kind of a timeline, everything that is being scheduled is just tentative at this point.”


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Traction batteries for electric forklifts, electric tractors and platform trucks, self-propelled platforms, electric cars, hand-guided equipment and other handling equipment using electrical energy for their propulsion.
We supply traction batteries providing a high level of performance and long service life for both light-duty and demanding multi-shift operations. The batteries have, while maintaining the dimensions, higher performance compared to older batteries, high durability and efficiency.
What we need to know to recommend the right battery:
- type of machine
- machine type
- battery voltage (or number of cells)
- battery capacity
- in case of difficult identification also the dimensions of the battery
- machine load
- AQ-set: aquasystem or central water replenishment (simplifies battery maintenance)
- AIR-set: electrolyte aeration (allows faster battery charging)
- connectors: sockets and plugs (components for connection to the machine)
- cables: battery cables (components for connection to the machine)
- containers for central electrolyte replenishment
- filling pistols
The possibility of using the services of our service is a matter of course. We will deliver the new battery, replace it with a defective one and take over the defective battery for recycling free of charge.
We supply traction batteries:
classic cell with liquid electrolyte in DIN and BS design
cell gel in design according to DIN and BS
block classic with liquid electrolyte

domain: chemistry


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Features - Selects
select - Over-the-top pools
Beyond style and good looks, we’ve found six top pools with that extra something. Slip off your clothes, grab your designer sunglasses, and plunge into the world’s most spectacular swimming venues.
plan ahead - November
Oryx presents its insider’s tips for places to visit in November. In November, enjoy the crisp autumn days in Florence, head to the slopes for the start of the ski season in Austria, and make the most of the summer sun in the south of Vietnam.
Articles - Selects
fine food - Rare foods
Sometimes it’s the rarest foods we cherish most – here are three for which the thrill of the chase is more than matched by their flavours.
plan ahead - October
Oryx presents its insiders tips for places to visit this October. In these parts of the world, October offers the ideal climate to explore the great outdoors. Try adventure sports in Pokhara, get to know Barcelona on foot, by bicycle, or by Segway, and experience Perth in full bloom.
select - Africa’s natural wonders
From mountains high to valleys low, Africa is full of spectacular natural wonders, some in such curious shapes and colours that they almost seem surreal. Here are some of the best.
fine food - Chef Pino Lavarra
Sweet pea risotto with herb breadcrumb queen scallops, and prawns.
fine food - Dining under the stars
There are few more pleasurable summer joys than dining al fresco. Complete the experience on a romantic evening with views of the stars above and fine food on terra firma.
fine food - Chef Dean Fearing
Dean Fearing is chef and partner at Fearing’s Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. Current menu highlights include his flavourful Tortilla Soup, which you can recreate at home using his recipe.
select - São Paulo Museums
The city that is hosting five matches and a semi-final in the World Cup this month is more than just soccer mad: it boasts some of Brazils most intriguing museums.

domain: geography


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We are on the road since one week now. That’s the very beginning of our trip. Our goal is to do a world tour but we didn’t plan anything. This post is the first one of a series of posts about traveling without planning.
Why did we not plan our trip ?
FLEXIBILITY. It is important for us to be as flexible as possible. You never know who you are going to meet, where you are going to be, what you are going to like. Having no plan allows you to make all decisions you want very easily. You like this place ? Then stay one more week. You just met someone who invites you for dinner or sleeping ? Then just follow him/her. Having no plan allows you to take opportunities along the way. But, did we really plan nothing ?
What about insurances ?
Of course, there is a minimum to organize for medical and money safety reasons. For instance, I had to make sure I would be insured during my trip. I actually had nothing to do since I have a VISA Premier. With this credit card, you benefit from travel insurance and public liability insurance abroad. The only condition is that I must pay at least a part of the trip with my VISA. Also, the insurance is valid 90 days from the departure date which means that if I don’t pass by my current address every 90 days, the insurance is not valid anymore after 90 days and I will have to subscribe to another one. I will see.
What about passport and visas ?
I just made sure my passport is still valid which takes one minute. For the visa, since we didn’t plan where we will go when, we didn’t apply for any visa. We will do it along the way. We know that we might skip one or two countries because of visa issues but that’s not a big deal. Also, I saw that you can actually get visas at the entrance of many countries.
What about the money ?
Going traveling has a cost. There are one thousand ways to finance your trips: save money beforehand, work while you travel, volunteering in exchange for food and a bed, selling all your stuff before you leave, staying at friends, etc. For my part, I kind of got sponsored by my previous employer, I sold all my stuff, I plan on doing Couchsurfing and volunteering as well as visiting countries that are not expensive. My budget is not enormous so I have to be careful. I created a budget sheet to keep track of my expenses. I can share my sheet with you.
This graph illustrates our state of minds. When taking a decision we try to find the option that allows us to optimize flexibility and freedom. For instance, carpooling is great because it allows us to be very flexible and at the same time spend much less money than taking a train or a plane.
What about transportation ?
We plan not to take flights too often since last minute tickets are often quite expensive. We travel by train or carpooling which offers a high flexibility at a low price. I looked at world tour flight tickets but that was a bit complicated. We would have to respect some conditions. It didn’t offer us the freedom we want. I am sure it can be a good deal but that was just not for us.
What about accommodations ?
It depends on opportunities we get. I think we’ll explore all possibilities: Airbnb, hotel, Couchsurfing, hostels, etc. We want to keep a certain level of comfort and we’ll not necessarily go for the cheapest options. So far we slept in an Airbnb, got invited by a friend of my boyfriend, tonight we sleep in a night train going to Slovenia and we are trying to couchsurf in Ljubljana tomorrow night. We still don’t know where we will sleep tomorrow but that’s fine. If we don’t find someone who can host us, we’ll just book an Airbnb at last minute and it’ll be fine.
To sum up, not planning means freedom and flexibility. My motto is to go with the flow and not always try to plan and control everything. It is a good practice for me not to always try to control everything… So we’ll see!

domain: travel


Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development
August 19, 2020July 2020 Monthly Jobs Report Released
The Missouri labor market continued to recover in July 2020, following major job losses due to COVID-19 shutdowns earlier in the year. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 52,200 jobs over the month. Over-the year job losses, though still substantial, have diminished as the economy has gradually reopened. Missouri’s smoothed seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 6.9 percent in July 2020 from a revised June 2020 rate of 7.8 percent, a decrease of nine-tenths of a percentage point.
Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has now been either below or equal to the national rate for 65 consecutive months. The national unemployment rate was 10.2 percent in July 2020.
The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 211,177 in July 2020, down by 25,026 from June’s 236,203.
Due to lingering layoffs from COVID-19 shutdowns, the July 2020 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was still more than double the July 2019 rate. The rate had reached a record low of 3.0 percent starting in July 2018, before edging up a tenth of a point in November 2018 and again in December 2018. The rate had remained at 3.2 percent through April 2019 before decreasing by a tenth of a point in May 2019. It then began a slow increase, reaching 3.4 percent in October 2019, where it remained for the remainder of 2019. The rate was steady at 3.5 percent in January and February 2020 before the COVID-19 spike began in March 2020. The rate peaked at 10.2 percent in April 2020 before decreasing slightly in May 2020, then moving strongly lower in June and July of 2020 as COVID-19 restrictions were eased.
The state’s not-seasonally-adjusted rate was 7.2 percent in July 2020, down by seven-tenths of a percentage point from the June 2020 not-seasonally-adjusted rate of 7.9 percent. The corresponding national rate was 10.5 percent.
A year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 3.2 percent, and the not-adjusted rate was 3.8 percent.
Read the full report at https://meric.mo.gov/missouri-monthly-jobs-report.


This double set replaces both previously released RCA multi-disc overviews of Guess Who hits. As of its appearance in late 2003, both the flawed triple-CD 56-track The Ultimate Collection and 1988's excellent Track Record compilations were out of print. This release tries, and generally succeeds, as a comprehensive overview of the band's glory years. In fact, it's the only one to kick off with two pre-Burton Cummings nuggets: 1964's "Shakin' All Over" and a rare 1966 garage rocking psychedelic single, "It's My Pride." Collectors will also appreciate an early 1968 version of "When Friends Fall Out," a song re-recorded three years later for the American Woman album. From there on, this is a sturdy if unremarkable collection of fairly obvious selections, some of them, such as "Heartbroken Bopper," "Glamour Boy," and "Hang On to Your Life," reproduced in difficult to find single mixes. Of minor note, "Smoke Big Factory" from the underrated Rockin' makes its first appearance on a hits album, as do the Winter/Wallace co-penned "Cardboard Empire" from #10 and "Samantha's Living Room," an excellent cut written and sung by Don McDougal and culled from the terrific Artificial Paradise.
The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box,' a very special box set that features expansions of the 13 original scores that Elfman has composed for Burton's iconic films. This is a newly-produced library of 16 CDs each packaged with artwork by Burton, adding up to more than 19 hours of music, including 7 hours of previously-unreleased Masters, demos, work tapes and other rarities.
Eleven years after their 1973 eponymous debut on Mercury, Randy Bachman brings brother Tim Bachman, C.F. Turner, and original Chad Allan/Guess Who drummer Garry Peterson together for this very decent set, also self-titled Bachman-Turner Overdrive, on a Mercury subsidiary, Nashville's Compleat Records…
Long before the Winnipegian group the Guess Who conquered the world with hits like "American Woman" and "These Eyes," they were the house band for a kids' dance show called LET'S GO, which aired after school on Canadian TV….


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2012 will bring surge in human trafficking, warns Hampstead councillor
� Cases of human trafficking will increase in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, a Hampstead councillor has warned.
Kirsty Roberts is leading a cross-party steering group on human trafficking, which often sees victims sold to criminal gangs.
They are then usually transported abroad for sexual exploitation or forced labour.
But there are concerns that an influx of tourists in 2012 will lead to a boom in London’s sex industry. This has happened in other Olympic host cities.
Cllr Roberts said: “We abolished slavery a long time ago but human trafficking still exists.
“This is a crime which totally traumatises people.
“Anything we can do to get people away from gang masters and provide them with the support they need is something that we should be trying to achieve.”
- 1 Barnet: Three arrested as victim of fatal stabbing named
- 2 Spurs survive 'Lasagna-gate 2' and it's over to Arsenal
- 3 Covid-19: Hospital admissions and bed occupancy continue to fall
- 4 Man in his 30s stabbed to death
- 5 St John's Wood nursery 'requires improvement' after surprise Ofsted visit
- 6 Court: Disciplinary rules not followed in 'unfair' sacking, lawyer suggests
- 7 Motorcyclist injured in Highgate Hill collision
- 8 West Hampstead woman's kids' clothes success story
- 9 'The law isn't important to us': Car tyres deflated by activists in Camden
- 10 Hampstead woman tells tribunal of alleged racist discrimination
Innocent men, women and children are trafficked for a range of reasons – but the most common is sexual exploitation, said Cllr Roberts.
She plans to hold a public event in October in Russell Square to tie in with Anti-Slavery Day.
The Conservative Hampstead Town representative spoke out as a 27-year-old man completed a gruelling stunt on Monday (August 8) on behalf of the Helen Bamber Foundation. The Bloomsbury-based organisation helps victims of human trafficking.
Musician Phil Knight had been locked in a sealed container outside Euston Station for 14 days.
He slept in the container – which had no windows – ate cereal for meals and his only luxuries were a sleeping bag, two drum sticks, a chemical toilet, a bouncy ball and a diary to keep him occupied.
The Ham&High spoke to Mr Knight through an intercom system in the container before he was released.
He said: “The aim of this is to show what these poor people go through when they are trafficked.
“This container is a little bit bigger and I’ve got more luxuries than they would have. I’ve got a chemical toilet which is more than they would have.”
When asked what he had missed most during his time in the container, he replied: “My wife.”
The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) is also warning that an influx of tourists during the Olympics could put women at risk of forced prostitution and lead to a boom in human trafficking.
According to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), 1,254 victims were referred to the department between April 1, 2009 and December last year as potential cases of human trafficking.
The victims came from all over the world, including 216 from Nigeria, 149 from China, 120 from Vietnam and 57 from Slovakia.
The most common reason given for trafficking was for sexual exploitation – 356 – while 144 cases were for domestic servitude and 305 for labour exploitation.


Cricket South Africa officials were pulling in different directions on backing Sourav Ganguly for the ICC chairman's post with its President Chris Nenzani on Friday refusing to endorse Director Graeme Smith's open support to the BCCI president. (More Cricket News)
Former skipper Smith, who is now CSA's director of cricket, on Thursday supported Ganguly for the ICC top job, saying a "cricket man" like the ex-India captain would be ideal to lead the apex body at this juncture.
However, a day after, CSA president Nenzani said while he has the "highest regard" for Smith's view, there cannot be an official position unless candidates are clear for the post.
"We must respect both the ICC protocol and our own protocol in deciding which candidate to back," said CSA president Chris Nenzani in a statement.
"There have been no candidates nominated as yet and once such nominations have been made the Board of CSA will take its decision in terms of its own protocol and give the chairman the mandate to exercise his vote as an ICC Board Director accordingly."
Incumbent Shashank Manohar's term ends this month but due to the circumstances arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, there may be a case for his extension by two months.
A day before, Smith had said: "From our perspective, it would be great to see a cricket man like Sourav Ganguly maybe getting into the President's role of the ICC."
"I think that will be good for the game; I think it will be good for the modern game as well. He understands it; he has played it at the highest level; he is respected; and his leadership will be key to us going forward," he added.
Smith's comments were backed up by his CEO Jacques Faul, who said that they won't mind an Indian as head of the ICC.
But the top boss Nenzani was far from committing himself.
"We have the highest regard for the opinions of our Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, who is a well-respected figure in world cricket and has already made an immense contribution in fulfilling his mandate to make our cricket teams world leaders again," Nenzani said.
"At the moment we don't want to anticipate any candidates who may be nominated for this important position to lead the game we all love," the president concluded.
Smith, on his part, had said that Ganguly's knowledge of the game would be of immense help while dealing with the affairs of ICC.
"Having dealt with Sourav for a long time, I think that the President of the ICC now becomes a very key position going forward in terms of how the game can progress at the right level."


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Objectives: India is the largest seller of large cardamom in the international market and the second largest producer after Nepal. The favourable conditions prevailed in the Himalayan foothill has induced a geometric growth in large cardamom cultivation and trading. With the striking success of this cash cropping in Sikkim, the farming communities of Arunachal Pradesh had shifted to large cardamom farming, commercially, from the traditional subsistence farming with some indications of success. This study has aimed to analyze the cost-benefit-return of the large cardamom cultivation in the Anjaw District of Arunachal Pradesh.
Methods/Statistical Analysis: The study is empirical in nature and based on the primary data collected from 5 circles of Anjaw District. The data were collected from 200 cardamom growers (40 each from each 5 circles), selected at random through a questionnaire schedule.
Findings/Result: The earning from commercialized large cardamom cultivation in the study area i.e., Anjaw District of Arunachal Pradesh is very highly remunerative (27.67%) compared to other traditional and cash-crops which is a reason for the popularity of the large cardamom as a substitute for the traditional subsistence farming in these areas.
Application/Improvements: The failure in the subsistence farming in Arunachal Pradesh made the masses diverted from the agrarian activities hampering the balance of employment and livelihood. The CB analysis is a device to confirm the popularity among the agrarian communities for the change and is an instrument for the policy makers to plan for a sustainable development.

domain: agronomy


text:
1)What is the best time to visit Bhutan?
Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are the best seasons to visit Bhutan as the weather is pleasant and there is no rain or snow.
2)Do I need a visa to visit Bhutan?
No, Indian citizens do not need a visa to visit Bhutan. But you need an ‘Entry Permit’ that gives you access to Paro and Thimphu and is issued by the Bhutanese Immigration Office's outpost at the border crossings. To go beyond these two cities, you need a ‘Special Area Permit’ from the immigration office in Thimphu. Do carry a photo id and a photocopy of your passport along with two latest photos.
3)How much does it cost to visit Bhutan?
The Bhutan holiday packages from Thomas Cook start at Rs 19,799 and go up to Rs 67,999. The price varies, depending on the duration of your stay and the type of holiday experience you’re seeking.
4)What is the currency of Bhutan?
Ngultrum (Nu, BTN) is the official currency of Bhutan. 1 Ngultrum is equal to 1 Indian Rupee.
5)Can I use Indian rupees in Bhutan?
Small denomination Indian currency, below 500 INR, is also accepted as legal tender in Bhutan. It is recommended to use the local currency, Ngultrum, for any transactions above BTN 500.
6)How many days can Indians stay in Bhutan?
The ‘Entry Permit’ obtained at the border is valid for 7 days. If you wish to extend your stay beyond 7 days, you must get it extended at the immigration office in Thimphu.
7)Can you drink alcohol in Bhutan?
Yes, alcohol consumption is allowed in Bhutan. You will find local and well as imported alcohol in shops and restaurants around Bhutan.
8)Can I apply for a Bhutan visa online?
Citizens of India, Maldives and Bangladesh do not need a visa to visit Bhutan. All you need is an entry permit that is easily available at border crossings. For the rest, their visa is processed online by a licensed Bhutanese tour operator before arriving in the country.
9)How many days will I require to see Bhutan?
Around 5 to 7 days are enough to explore Bhutan. If you want more days to just relax and disconnect, you can simply extend your stay.
10)What is the language of Bhutan?
Dzongkha is the national language of Bhutan. Overall, there are around two dozen languages spoken in Bhutan, which also includes Nepali.


Spatiotemporal distribution of anchovy early life stages in the eastern part of the Adriatic Sea in relation to some oceanographic features
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 December 2018
During the summer of 2013 two scientific surveys (northern, at the beginning of July and southern, at the end of July) were carried out along the eastern Adriatic Sea. In these surveys, ichthyoplankton samples of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, Linnaeus 1758) eggs and larvae were collected. In the whole investigated area, egg and larvae abundance varied from 2.61 to 1040.24 eggs m−2 (geometric mean ± CL: 25.43 ± 1.48 eggs m−2) and 2.73 larvae m−2 to 611.14 larvae m−2 (geometric mean ± CL: 17.07 ± 1.41 larvae m−2), respectively. Higher abundance of anchovy early life stages was noted in the northern part of the investigated area. The length of the collected specimens lay within the range of 2.39–3.68 mm and those individuals were less than 12 h old. Analysis of spatial and temporal distribution of collected anchovy early life stages indicated their higher abundance in areas of upwelling (four areas were distinguished on the eastern Adriatic side). Larger and older specimens were collected at the beginning of July in the northern part of Adriatic indicating that the anchovy population in the Adriatic tends to shift among its spawning centres in this area. In general, anchovy eggs were accompanied by its larvae (r = 0.453, P < 0.05), while statistically significant negative correlation was obtained between egg abundance and temperature (r = −0.380, P < 0.05) as well as sea depth (r = −0.321, P < 0.05).
- Research Article
- Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 99 , Issue 5 , August 2019 , pp. 1205 - 1211
- Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2018


Proper generalized decomposition of time-multiscale models
TypeArticles dans des revues avec comité de lecture
Models encountered in computational mechanics could involve many time scales. When these time scales cannot be separated, one must solve the evolution model in the entire time interval by using the finest time step that the model implies. In some cases, the solution procedure becomes cumbersome because of the extremely large number of time steps needed for integrating the evolution model in the whole time interval. In this paper, we considered an alternative approach that lies in separating the time axis (one-dimensional in nature) in a multidimensional time space. Then, for circumventing the resulting curse of dimensionality, the proper generalized decomposition was applied allowing a fast solution with significant computing time savings with respect to a standard incremental integration.
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NASRI, Mohamed Aziz; AGUADO, Jose Vicente; AMMAR, Amine; CUETO, Elias; CHINESTA, Francisco; MOREL, Franck; ROBERT, Camille; EL AREM, Saber (Key Engineering Materials, 2015)Forming processes usually involve irreversible plastic transformations. The calculation in that case becomes cumbersome when large parts and processes are considered. Recently Model Order Reduction techniques opened new ...
CHINESTA, Francisco; LEYGUE, Adrien; BORDEU, Felipe; AGUADO, Jose Vicente; CUETO, Elias; GONZALEZ, David; ALFARO, Iciar; AMMAR, Amine; HUERTA, Antonio (Springer, 2013)In this paper we are addressing a new paradigm in the field of simulation-based engineering sciences (SBES) to face the challenges posed by current ICT technologies. Despite the impressive progress attained by simulation ...
Nonincremental proper generalized decomposition solution of parametric uncoupled models defined in evolving domains AMMAR, Amine; CUETO, Elias; CHINESTA, Francisco (Wiley, 2012)This work addresses the recurrent issue related to the existence of reduced bases related to the solution of parametric models defined in evolving domains. In this first part of the work, we address the case of decoupled ...
Real-time in silico experiments on gene regulatory networks and surgery simulation on handheld devices ALFARO, Iciar; GONZALEZ, David; BORDEU, Felipe; LEYGUE, Adrien; AMMAR, Amine; CUETO, Elias; CHINESTA, Francisco (Springer, 2014)Simulation of all phenomena taking place in a surgical procedure is a formidable task that involves, when possible, the use of supercomputing facilities over long time periods. However, decision taking in the operating ...
AMMAR, Amine; HUERTA, Antonio; CHINESTA, Francisco; CUETO, Elias; LEYGUE, Adrien (Elsevier, 2014)Optimization of manufacturing processes or structures involves the optimal choice of many parameters (process parameters, material parameters or geometrical parameters). Usual strategies proceed by defining a trial choice ...


Thickness 1.5-4.0mm Galvanized Pipe Mill Machine ERW 720 1 Year Warranty
|Place of Origin||China|
|Model Number||ERW 720|
|Minimum Order Quantity||1|
|Packaging Details||All mechanical equipment is nude packing and electrical parts are packed in wooden cases|
|Delivery Time||120 days|
|Payment Terms||T/T, L/C, D/A, D/P, T/T, Western Union, MoneyGram|
|Supply Ability||200 sets/year|
|Item||ERW76 Carbon Steel Black Square & Rectangle Tube Mill||Raw Material||Carbon Steel, Black Steel, Stainless Steel, Cold Roll, Ow-carbon Steel,HR Carbon Steel,Q235,S235|
|Prodution Capability||20-120m/min||Applicable Industri||Energy Supply Pipe, Building Material Shops, Energy Supply Pipe|
|Welding Type||Solid-state High Frequency Welding||After Warranty Serve||Video Technical Support, Online Support, Spare Parts|
|Local Service Location||Egypt, Turkey, Philippines, Brazil, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Russia||Marketing Type||New Product 2020|
|Warranty Of Core Part||1 Year||Core Components||PLC, Engine, Bearing, Gearbox, Motor, Un-coiler, Hydraulic Shear|
|Condition||New||Type||Pipe Production Line|
Galvanized Pipe Mill ERW 720,
4.0mm Galvanized Pipe Mill,
4.0mm Pipe Mill Machine
Galvanized Pipe Welding Steel Tubing Seam Welded Pipe ERW Tube Mill
A High-frequency welded pipe is also called a high-frequency straight seam welded pipe unit. It is suitable for hot rolling or cold rolling with the rigid coil (GB700-88 or GB1591-88) of plain carbon steel, such as Q195Q23516MN. Production line process: raw material (strip coil) -- feeding -- shear butt-welding (manual welding) -- storage bin -- feeding molding -- high-frequency welding -- external burr removal -- cooling water jacket -- sizing and straightening -- flying saw cutting -- blanking (manual stacking and wrapping) -- inspection -- storage
Optimized design, high-quality material selection, and strict heat-treatment process. The high precision, wear resistance and long service life of the roller are guaranteed
The CNC milling surface of the host pedestal, the milling base keyway, and the NC positioning bolt hole can realize the rapid positioning and installation of NC machining parts
Roll quick change:
Patented design, help you change the roll in half an hour
The spiral bevel gear, drum-type coupling, tooth surface carburizing quenching treatment. Stable and efficient transmission, strong bearing capacity, wear resistance, low noise
|Raw Material||Coil Material||Upto X80|
|Coil OD||Max φ1200mm|
|Production Capacity||Round Pipe||6~720mm|
|Square & Rectangular Pipe||6*6~600*600mm|
|Wall Thickness||0.5~20.0mmmm (Round Pipe)|
|0.5~20.0 mm(Square Pipe)|
|Workshop Condition||Dynamic Power||380V, 3-phase,|
|50Hz (depends on local facilities)|
|Control Power||220V, single-phase, 50 Hz|
|Size of the whole line||65m X 6m (L*W)|
Mainly used in the production of round pipe, oval pipe, and rectangular pipe.
Applications of pipe: Construction, Automotive, General Mechanical Piping, Furniture, Agricultural, Chemical, Petroleum, Gas, Pipeline, Structure, Scaffold. In the field of furniture, construction, municipal facilities, and others.
Q: Are you a manufacturer?
A: Yes, we are a manufacturer. We have 4 factories ( Machining, Assembling, Heat treatment, and Moulding ). We also have our own R&D department. Welcome to visit us.
Q: What kind of payment term do you do?
A: We do T/T.
Q: What info do you need before giving me the price and proposal?
A: Since we design individual machines based on our customer's requirements, we need your desired products' basic dimensions, including all the pipe diameter(or tube length), thickness range, usage, raw material steel grade, coil weight, and degree of automation.
Q: What should I do if I just start a new business?
A: Contact us immediately, we provide a free consultant for pre-sales service. Also, we can help you solve the raw material (steel coil) purchase, worker training, international market price, and more.
Q: How do you do QA?
A: We have a special team to do strict QA, this is one of our strengths:
(1)Every gearbox will be tested for 8 hours with oil inside to guarantee there is no leak.
(3)Every roller will be checked to make sure it's in the range of tolerance critical parts will be inspected for all dimensions.
Q: Why I should choose you? what are the differences between you and other Chinese suppliers?
A: We are concentrating on pipe-making machines for more than 20 years. We have constructed many steady trading partners in Asia, Africa, the middle east, Europe, and South America throughout the years. Our innovative designed production line and every single unit of the production line are economical and practical.


text:
PURPOSE OF POSITION The Railroad Systems Engineer will be responsible for working closely with consultants and other staff in the delivery of Signal System Rehabilitation projects in Metrolink’s Project Delivery group. The Senior Railroad Systems Engineer will coordinate project design and development, perform design reviews, oversee construction administration and management activities, and provide quality assurance monitoring on railway signals, systems, and related projects constructed under contract with various Metrolink Contractors. The Senior Railroad Systems Engineer will be the Project Manager in-charge of delivering Metrolink’s portfolio of Signal rehabilitation projects including both wayside signals, and grade crossing signal systems and will work wit
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domain: design


Engine construction in Zuffenhausen started in 1950 as a classic workshop enterprise: a whole engine – to start with for the 356 – was always fully assembled by a single employee. Workbenches played a central role. Everything was done by hand without electronic tools or automated documentation of the processes. Nevertheless, according to Christian Will, Head of Engines and Components: "Thanks to the high technical expertise of the employees the engines were technically brilliant for the time."
Over time the rising number of units and additional engine types – for example for the 911, 928 or 944 – necessitated the introduction of new processes. By the early 1960s already approximately 30 engines per day were built here. New workflows were needed to cope with the increased volume, and so line production started in Zuffenhausen, test benches were expanded, and from then on every engine was subjected to a heat test. By the mid-1980s daily production had already reached 150 engines. When several years later Porsche experienced increasing financial difficulties the processes were further streamlined and costs reduced. Will says: "The workshop and also Porsche itself were working at the limit of their capacity."
First robots, optimised workplaces
A decision was therefore made to concentrate on the 911 and the production of all other models was discontinued. As a result, initially only six-cylinder flat engines were produced – from 1993 onwards on a continuously operating production line. From 1996 the introduction of the Boxster and the new 911 models went hand in hand with a sharp rise in production volumes, which necessitated a reorganisation of the model mix production to one production line for each engine type. In 2001 production of V8 engines commenced once again in Zuffenhausen for the Cayenne that was launched the following year.
Will remembers: "When I started here in 2000 I took over an extremely lean production, but there was scope to improve the quality processes." The assembly tools for bolts and nuts were already electronic and now the first robots were used, workplaces were optimised and the division of labour improved. Engine cold-testing was introduced, and in the course of this electronically documented results from the testing devices. "From then on we wanted to know what we were doing at every stage without having to wait for the finished engine at the end of the line to see whether everything works correctly", Will says. When the current engine factory was built in 2005 and the multifunction hall in 2008, process orientation, logistics and documentation were further refined. "Today we have high-performance production in Zuffenhausen with extremely well qualified employees", Will stresses.
911 (Type 991): Combined fuel consumption: 9.0 – 8.2 l/100 km; CO₂ emission: 211 – 191 g/km
Boxster: Combined fuel consumption: 8.4 – 7.9 l/100 km; CO₂ emission: 195 – 183 g/km
Cayenne: Combined fuel consumption: 11.2 – 9.9 l/100 km; CO₂ emission: 263 – 236 g/km


text:
So I never thought I would say this, but teen heartthrob Austin Mahone and Pitbull have collaborated for the song “MMM Yeah.”
It’s so catchy and I love how it is a dance song and a jump for Mahone. We are used to his sweet and fun pop beats, but this song puts it in the dance category. It’ll probably play in clubs and Austin isn’t even old enough to drink….
All I could say is… well, listen to the song for yourself!


text:
2/ Given the ongoing concerns about violence, we will also be indefinitely disabling comments on President Trump’s channel, as we’ve done to other channels where there are safety concerns found in the comments section. https://t.co/1aBENHGU5z
— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) January 13, 2021
(Reuters) – YouTube has removed new videos uploaded to President Donald Trump's channel for violating its policies against inciting violence, the company said late on Tuesday.
The Google-owned platform has also suspended Trump's channel from uploading new videos or livestreams for at least seven days. YouTube said that the suspension could be extended, though existing videos will remain visible.
This is the Trump channel's first offense, and YouTube has a three strikes policy before permanent cancellation of the account, which has over 2.7 million subscribers, would take effect.
The channel typically posts several videos daily of Trump speaking or being covered by fringe media outlets.
Source: Equities News

domain: politics


GSMS is a self-standing software tool aimed at simulating the behavior of the whole Satellite System from a mission point of view.
GSMS is based on AGI STK (AGI Systems Tool Kit) platform, a specific COTS SW dedicated to space orbiting objects modeling, and the features specially made by GMSPAZIO, which offers GSMS under Windows 10 operative system (64 bit).
GSMS is a powerful tool that allows for the simulation of realistic mission scenarios to verify satellite system performances, mission performances, and figures in a 3D modeling environment. It also allows for the analysis of mission features and scenarios and supports system elements optimization.
The software GUI is articulated in 2D and 3D interfaces to start a complex simulation evaluating the performance of the satellite system, considering various types of constraints, through a wide range of reports and graphs, exportable into text format or Microsoft Excel file format.
GSMS operates two different types of analysis:
The response time tool allows users to evaluate the time between the submission deadline time and the delivery of the acquired image of the selected target. Is possible to select various types of targets: point target, Area of Interest (AOI), latitude belt, and region list. Can be set additional constraints to the evaluation, such as:
The revisit time is the time necessary for the satellite to retake an acquisition of the selected target. Is possible to select various types of targets: point target, Area of Interest (AOI), latitude belt, and region list.
3. Information Age
The information age represents the time between the acquisition of the selected target and the end-time of the download of the entire data volume, accounting for the data-rate, using the selected downlink ground stations. Is possible to select various types of targets: entire World, Area of Interest (AOI), latitude belt, and region list. An additional constraint to the sunlighting can be set with the Max SZA.
The Planner-Scheduler analysis mode evaluates the performance of the satellite system with additional constraints. It manages a list of acquisitions coming from a list of different users and evaluates the capability of the satellite to perform these acquisitions accounting for the priority of the user, the usage quota assigned to the user, and the type of acquisition requested.
This type of analysis allows evaluation of all the steps of an acquisition of a defined target, from the sending of the task from the uplink to the delivery to the user after the downlink to the ground station and the processing of the acquired image.
The output data can be presented in two different modes:
All the scheduled activities computed during the analysis are listed in the report, considering the uplink time (the uplink station involved in the acquisition period), the number of images acquired, and a detailed list of any sub-image acquired.


Contentious government plans polarise thinking from leading policing organisations.
Policing groups have clashed over their views on controversial government plans to introduce a series of direct entry schemes into the service.
Advocates of the schemes have said that they will give gifted candidates the chance to consider policing as a career, however concerns remain about the lack of operational experience from individuals who have not progressed through the service.
Ministers have now announced that – from 2014 – there will be initiatives in place for direct entry at inspector, superintendent and chief constable level.
Aspiring inspectors will first serve as constables before becoming sergeants as they enter a period of study. If they are successful, they will then achieve promotion again, with the full process taking three years to complete.
It is envisaged that superintendents would already be high-flyers and will undergo a period of intensive training. Meanwhile, the government has also announced a change in the law to allow senior officers from other countries, which have a similar policing model to the UK, to take up chief constable positions.
Steve White (pictured), Vice-Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, agreed that gifted people should be targeted for rapid progression – but maintained that the already established High Potential Development Scheme “should identify these individuals and allow them to flourish”.
He said: “To command a policing operation effectively, a senior officer needs first-hand experience of responding in an operational capacity to incidents they would not encounter in any other walk of life.
“External candidates should not be able to join the service at any rank above that of constable – the current structure properly equips officers for the next stage in their career.”
Turning to the proposals to allow senior officers from overseas to serve as chief constables, Mr White added that the quality of leadership in the UK was already proven.
Mr White said: “The government often echoes our view that we have the best Police Service in the world – so we’re unsure why they would want forces to recruit chief officers from overseas.
“We have no objection to overseas officers joining but that should initially be at the same rank as everyone else.”
However Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, national policing lead for workforce management, maintained that there was “nothing to fear” from direct entry.
CC Cunningham also believed the initiatives could help achieve greater diversity.
He added: “Every person in society shares an interest in seeing the best possible leaders in policing. So it is right to review how we attract the brightest and best, including how we can bring more women and minority ethnic leaders into senior roles.
“As a profession, policing has nothing to fear from being open to these ideas. Police leaders at every level can be proud that crime is down, while the Home Secretary has hailed policing as the ‘model public service’ for the way in which it has responded to the cuts. There is every reason for confidence that the abundant leadership talent within policing can compete with the very best from outside.”


text:
I hope everyone is well and keeping safe. During Lockdown, my concentration has taken a dive and rather than open new books I’ve been re-reading many of my favourite novels. However, as we all adjust to the new normal, I’ve finally started on my reading pile – some newly published, others books which I’ve always meant to read.
Lots of parallels have been made between our current crisis and the trials of life in Britain during the Second World War. The Walls We Build by Jules Hayes was a timely read as it has the character of Winston Churchill playing an important role in the story which unfolds. The friendship of Frank, Florence and Hilda is strained by a marriage of convenience in the 1930s the ramifications of which continue through to the turn of the century. Beautifully written, I loved the complex relationships and mystery at the heart of the novel.
Our Fathers by Rebecca Wait is a story of a family obliterated by a sudden act of violence and the impact it has on a remote island community. Tom, eight years old when his father shot his mother and siblings, returns to Litta to find answers to their deaths. Lyrical and reflective, the surprises in this book are as much to do with the web of relationships as to the reveal of the motivation behind the killings.
I enjoyed Lucy Atkins’ debut novel, The Night Visitor, and was looking forward to her follow up which was published recently. Magpie Lane is set in Oxford where protagonist Dee is a nanny to the daughter of a Oxford College Master. We discover, as the book opens, that Felicity is missing and police are struggling to identify any suspects. Dee narrates how she got the job and the odd dynamic of the family, taking the reader on an interesting and twisty journey. I love an intelligent thriller and this is one!
While re-reading Jamaica Inn last week, I realised I had a Daphne Du Maurier on my shelf I hadn’t yet read. The Flight of the Falcon is set in the Italian town of Ruffano which tour guide Armino Fabbio returns to after he’s unwittingly implicated in the murder of his childhood family servant. There, he discovers that a brother he thought was dead is instrumental in reviving the cult of the sinister Duke Claudio who reigned with terror five hundred years earlier. An atmospheric, absorbing read, it has Du Maurier’s trademark eye for the unusual and sinister.
Finally, I was sent this book detailing walks around London with a bloody/murderous theme written by David Fathers. The walks in Bloody London span two thousand years of history and there was plenty I wasn’t aware of, even though I lived in the capital for ten years. With a forward by David Aaronovitch, I particularly enjoyed reading about the goings on in peripheral areas around the city. At the moment, the book is for armchair browsing only but fingers crossed that changes soon as there are plenty of great places to discover thanks to this book.

domain: library


text:
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Nel ASA today reiterated its strong long-term outlook and reaffirmed its target of producing green hydrogen at $1.5kg by 2025 in its fourth quarter of 2020 results.
The Norwegian hydrogen technology firm reported revenues of NOK 229.1m in the quarter, up NOK 175.9m in the same quarter of 2019.
Nel said its order backlog ended at approximately NOK 980m, up 90%, and the company holds more than NOK 2.3bn in cash.
“The fourth quarter was another busy period for Nel with several important project awards and the preparation of the technology roadmap supporting our new target of producing green hydrogen at USD 1.5 per kilo by 2025,” said Jon André Løkke, CEO of Nel.
Exclusive column: Jon André Løkke: Hydrogen – why now?
“Achieving this will allow green hydrogen to start to reach fossil parity, representing one of the most significant achievements for zero-emission solutions and a carbon neutral planet.”
“The expansion of the production to multi-GW scale will be instrumental in the strategy, in addition to grow the organisation to add capacities and capabilities, and investing in technology to ensuring that Nel continues to be the global leader in the hydrogen industry.”
A key element of the Nel strategy is to expand the electrolysis production to accommodate large-scale projects by constructing a fully automated manufacturing facility at Herøya, Norway.
Test production of the first 500MW production line is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2021, with start of commercial ramp-up in the third quarter of 2021.
Nel recently also announced that the facility could later be expanded to a capacity of more than 2GW.
“Herøya represents the first industrial-scale production of the most efficient electrolysers on the market, at a game-changing low cost,” Løkke added.
“The Nel team is continuously working to drive down the cost of hydrogen, where scale-up is key, and will continue to assess the exact timing for the next expansion step.”
Concluding, Løkke said, “Large opportunities also represent major challenges for Nel going forward, as maintaining a leadership position requires large investments, rapid expansion of the organisation, and execution of large-scale projects across the globe in an increasingly competitive environment.”
“In 2021 alone, we will add more than 100 new colleagues, deploy over 25% of the capital raised in 2020 in plant, equipment, and technology development projects, and add more capacity as required by the market.”
“We are addressing all these challenges, as an emission-free future depends on green hydrogen, and reiterate out strong long-term outlook.”


In all honestly, Mike Doughty’s post-Soul Coughing solo career has been one that I think I want to like more than I actually do.
I loved Soul Coughing â€“ even if his time in the band was apparently a nightmare â€“ so it seemed natural that I would continue to love Doughty’s work. But it’s been hit or miss for me, his clever wit too often getting in the way. Something about song titles like “How to Fuck a Republican,” “(I Want to) Burn You (Down),” “Busting Up a Starbucks” or anagramming an album title after your name (Haughty Melodic = Michael Doughty) is just too over the top for me.
Still, I admire Doughty as an independent musician â€“ his new album Yes and Also Yes (see?) is coming out Aug. 30 on his own label, Snack Bar â€“ and the songs of his I do like I often really like.
That’s turning out to be the case for “Na Na Nothing,” the leadoff track from the forthcoming album. Doughty describes it as “a burn-in-hell-wretched-ex-girlfriend song,” though there is (na na) nothing unpleasant about its hummable melody and singable hook.
In an email newsletter blast, Doughty gave a brief history of the song, saying it was “partially stolen from a song written by Nikki Sixx, Dan Wilson (wrote ‘Closing Time’), and Matt Gerrard (wrote a bunch of tunes in ‘High School Musical’). (I got their permission to steal it).”


Deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon lies one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. In one hectare of the Yasuní national park there are more tree species than in the whole of the USA and Canada combined. Primatologist Andrés Link says “you could spend your entire life here and be surprised by something every day”. It is also the home of various communities that have had virtually no other human contact, such as the Tagaeri and Taromenane. We all know that the Amazon, “the lungs of the world”, is important, and that it is being irreparably damaged by deforestation. However, the Yasuní national park is even more important than the rest of the Amazon, and it is being destroyed.
This is not hyperbole. Oil drilling has been happening in the Yasuní park since the 1970s, but now Ecuador has just signed oil drilling permits for the 700,000 hectare Yasuní-ITT area, which had been previously declared “untouchable” by the government. Drilling could begin as early as 2016. The first step will be constructing roads and camps. The state subsidiary that has been awarded the contract, Petroamazonas, has a bad track record on oil spills, and any oil spillage in the rainforest will cause unspeakable damage to the biodiversity.
Apart from the potential threat of oil spills, the production of oil in the Yasuní-ITT will need a forest the size of England to absorb all the carbon produced. It will also violate the human rights of the indigenous communities that live there, going against a promise made by President Correa in April 2007 to protect the lives of non-contact peoples, as well as the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution which guarantees the rights of the indigenous.
The decision to allow drilling came after the hopes of a national Ecuadorian referendum on whether Yasuní should be exploited or not were dashed, as the government declared that a petition for a referendum did not meet the required signature count. The petition had collected 850,000 signatures, well over the quota of 583,323 needed for a referendum, but only a portion of those collected were deemed valid. This has outraged the group YASunidos who were collecting the signatures, as they believe the government has unfairly called the petition fraudulent.
Whilst it seems like the Ecuadorian government is the big bad wolf in this story, they are not the only villains. In 2007 the government made a proposal to the international community, they would not drill the oil if they received $350 million per year for ten years. This figure was said to be half the revenue the government would receive from oil exploitation. To put this in perspective, the country that receives the most aid in the world, Afghanistan, were given $6710.9 million in 2011 by the international community. Ecuador asked for this small amount in order to be able to fund poverty alleviation in the nation whilst preserving this globally important area. The international community has not come forth, prompting the decision to drill.
The issue of the Yasuní draws attention to a wider problem that middle-income countries are facing. In 2011, the same year that Afghanistan received $6710.9 million in aid, Ecuador received $162.6 million. Since July 2011 Ecuador has been classified by the World Bank as an upper middle-income country, meaning the average per capita income is between $3,976-12,275. The average income in 2012 was $5,425. This reclassification comes with a reduction in development aid. By 2012, a year after reclassification, there was a $10 million reduction in foreign aid to Ecuador. USAID is withdrawing altogether, and Ecuador has been considered for “graduation” from EU aid, joining countries such as Brazil, Chile and Argentina that no longer qualify for EU bilateral aid.
Whilst it makes sense to focus limited resources on countries lower on the income scale, this statistic belies the real state of affairs in the country, such as the 1.5 million people who still live in extreme poverty and an underemployment figure of over 40 percent. Ecuador cannot be compared to countries such as India, who have been criticised for having their own space programme whilst much of the population lives in poverty. Ecuador still requires assistance as it attempts to extend and consolidate its tax base, address issues of infrastructure and support and resettle the masses of refugees from Colombia.
Withdrawal of aid from middle-income countries makes the exploitation of natural resources irresistible. As the fracking debate in the UK highlights, even higher income countries cannot resist the allure of resource revenue. In the case of Yasuní, the lack of acceptance of co-responsibility for this valuable natural resource is an additional incentive to put the nation’s interests before those of the environment. The plight of the middle-income country will be seen much more in the years to come.


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How Many Cookbooks Are Too Many?
What say you? In Nancy Leson's case, "1,500 to 2,000" was too many cookbooks — so many that she could hardly get into her office any more. So she called in her good friend Judy Amster, she said, "and we had an intervention."
So how did Nancy and Judy decide which to keep and which to evict? Nancy, under advisement from Ms. Amster, kept those with collector value. Judy "also understood what cookbooks are just central to my beating heart," Nance said.
And what of the cookbooks so cruelly discarded?
"I got rid of books that I hadn't cracked in 20 years. I got rid of books that just got dated. That happens a lot with the photographs," she said.
There's just something about cutting down the clutter that makes you feel good.
"The purging ... was hard, but in the end, I felt so much freer," she said.
Even so, Nancy may not be entirely out of the Cookbook Clutter woods yet, because, as she said, "Now I can go to the Edmonds Library sale and buy my cookbooks back."
"Half the cookbooks tell you how to cook the food and the other half tell you how to avoid eating it."
– Andy Rooney


Makes the Heart to Sing: Jazz Hymns
Oração da Viajante (The Traveler’s Prayer)
Newly written during Deanna's artist residency at the Sacatar Institute in Bahia, Brazil, this choral piece with original Portuguese text was premiered in June 2018 by Choral Arts Initiative under the direction of Brandon Elliott. Listen to the performance below, and stay tuned for the sheet music.
Nossa Senhora Suite
Deanna recently returned from a two month residency at the Sacatar Institute in Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil doing research for her new composition/recording, the Nossa Senhora Suite. Learn more- along with how you can make a tax-deductible contribution through the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
“We Walk in Love”
This short, original song from the Justice Choir Songbook has been sung at social justice gatherings all across the country, including at at 60th anniversary events commemorating the “Little Rock Nine” at Central High School in Little Rock, AR. Download your free-to-use copy here, and check out a recent video from the Massachusetts ACDA conference below.
- 2/08/19 - 2/10/19 Erin Bode in Omaha, Nebraska at The Jewel
- 2/13/19 Deanna Witkowski Trio in Jersey City, NJ at Saint Peter’s University
Tag Archives: classical piano
I had a great week of gigs in Chicago earlier this month. It was so nice to be back in my former home city and to see old friends and to make new ones. One of the best things about … Continue reading
Over the fourth of July weekend, a great review of Raindrop: Improvisations with Chopin came in at Richard Kamins’ Step Tempest. Check it out here. Yesterday, my first installment of a new monthly column on improvisation, Stepping Off the Page, … Continue reading


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On Tuesday night (December 3), country fans tuned in to their televisions to watch one of their favorite holiday programs…the CMA Country Christmas special.
This year, Trisha Yearwood served as the new leader of CMA Country Christmas. Her role was announced in September, which was the same month that CMA Country Christmas was filmed.
? Ring in the holiday season with #CMAchristmas, hosted by @TrishaYearwood, with special holiday performances & unforgettable collaborations. ?? Tickets for the Sept. 25 taping in Nashville, TN go on sale THIS FRIDAY at 10 AM|CT on https://t.co/LAr9cvJAAV. pic.twitter.com/mcso8MNxBV
— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) September 4, 2019
In addition to hosting the show, Yearwood also performed. In fact, she performed more than any other artist that participated in the program!
Yearwood opened the special with a medley of songs, including “Silver Bells,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “Winter Wonderland.” She later appeared on stage with other female performers in order to sing “Children Go Where I Send Thee.”
Then, in the next-to-last performance of the night, Yearwood wowed viewers with her rendition of “It Wasn’t His Child.”
After that, Yearwood invited some of the other Country Christmas performers out on stage to join her for the final song, “Feliz Navidad.”
Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Brett Young, Kristin Chenoweth, Tori Kelly, and CeCe Winans all participated in the fun and lively performance. Viewers got a kick out of the finale, and took to the comments of the CMA’s Instagram post about the performance to express how much they loved it.
If you also enjoyed the closing performance of “Feliz Navidad,” you’re in luck. We have included a short clip of it below.
Unfortunately, as of press time the CMA hasn’t uploaded the full finale performance of “Feliz Navidad.”
So to make up for that, we’d like to share another one of our favorite performances from this year’s CMA Country Christmas special!
Tune in to the video below to watch finale performers Lady Antebellum sing their stunning renditions of “On a Night Like This” and “Silent Night.” They are an amazing group, so we’re glad they were involved in the Christmas special this year!

domain: entertainment


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Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors began its tour at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, where the exhibition was extended “due to the overwhelming response and popularity,” according to the Center’s website.
The exhibition currently is at the Museum of the Southwest in the former president’s hometown of Midland, Texas, through March 25, and will travel to the Johnny Morris Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri, before its stop in San Antonio.
The exhibition will open July 21 and run through September 30, Witte Museum President and CEO Marise McDermott said.
McDermott thanked the George W. Bush Presidential Center and lead sponsor the Zachry Group for making the exhibition possible, and for its “leadership and commitment to San Antonio.”
A.J. Rodriguez, vice president of external affairs for Zachry, was on hand for the announcement.
“This is an honor for us,” he said, adding that Zachry employs many veterans. San Antonio is the ideal location for the exhibition, he said, and “bringing this to the Witte, and this investment that we’ve made, is really for all the residents of San Antonio to enjoy.”
Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Col. Miguel Howe of the George W. Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative also spoke at the announcement.
“As Military City USA, San Antonio is the perfect place to display these portraits of patriotic American heroes,” Nirenberg said, and the exhibition “will be a game-changer for this museum and this city.”
Howe said there is “no more fitting place for this exhibit,” citing the San Antonio Military Medical Center and the Center for the Intrepid, both part of the Brooke Army Medical Center, as “truly sacred ground for those who have served in uniform, and to our families and caregivers.”
Portraits of Courage focuses on large-scale portraits of military veterans, all painted by the former president in recent years. A main feature of the exhibition is a 16-foot long, multi-panel mural that portrays the faces of a diverse array of veterans, numbering in the dozens, over a variegated, military-green background.
The paintings first appeared in 2017 in book form, with a volume of the same title, and includes veterans’ stories. A New York Times review of the book called Bush “an evocative and surprisingly adept artist.”
The touring exhibition contains 66 portraits, plus the mural, which shows the faces of 30 veterans. From published reports, several portraits are of visibly wounded veterans, including a woman with a prosthetic leg dancing with Bush himself.
One portrait is of San Antonio resident Joshua Michael, who joined the military in 2009 and went to war as an infantryman in Afghanistan. Michael was severely wounded in a firefight in the Logar province near Pakistan, hit first by an 82-millimeter shell, then “mangled” by a mortar that landed five feet from him, Michael told the Rivard Report in a Monday phone interview.
His buddies laid down suppressing fire to allow the medevac helicopter to land, he said. Michael was eventually flown to Fort Sam Houston to begin a year-and-a-half of therapy. In 2014, he applied for and was accepted into the “W100K” mountain bike ride at Bush’s Crawford Ranch. With 50 miles of trails that Bush himself uses regularly, the former president also annually hosts groups of wounded veterans to ride with him.
“[Bush is] in ridiculously good shape,” said Michael, 36, describing the former president as an avid mountain bicyclist.
At the Witte Museum announcement, Michael appeared fit in a blue blazer and slacks.
“It’s easy to see somebody with a cane, or missing an arm, and you see their service and sacrifice,” Michael said. But in someone without those visible wounds, “the war [that] rages within your mind” is much harder to recognize, he explained.
“Overcoming the invisible wounds of war” is part of the mission of the George W. Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative, as stated on its website.
Michael also stressed the fact that all profits from the Portraits book go to the Military Service Initiative to help veterans like him readjust to civilian life. The president doesn’t want the focus on himself, Michael said, and that Portraits of Courage is really about “a former commander-in-chief’s passion to help veterans and their families to transition [after their military service], which is very difficult,” he said.
The Bush Presidential Center cites 71 percent of Americans as having “little to no understanding of the issues facing our post-9/11 veterans.”
Howe hopes that the Portraits of Courage exhibition and book can help change that. The exhibition conveys “the service, the sacrifice, but then the resilience and the continued leadership of these men and women.”


Olympus offers a range of products for ENT in both the office and OR. Olympus constantly innovates as it strives to develop the best quality flexible and rigid endoscopes. With the addition of Narrow Band Imaging (NBI), the laryngologist has the opportunity to have the best possible image of the vocal fold area for diagnostics.
In the world of Laryngoscopy, Olympus has a wide range of specialized nasopharyngoscopes, as well as rigid laryngoscopes. The quality of the image is and has always been the prime focus of the company. Olympus has specialized the range of Rhino Laryngoscopes beyond fiber and beyond standard definition. Olympus now offers a full range of video scopes to complement the fiber scopes. The latest innovation is the HD flexible video scope.


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Over a long journey,
a horse's stamina is tested.
After a long time,
a person's mind can be seen.
People who study Buddhism cannot learn all there is to know about Buddhism in just a day and night. One must gradually experience the principles of Buddhism over a long period of time. After cultivating according to the teachings for a long time, one will have some attainment.
Those who truly understand the Buddhadharma will neither be frightened, nor alarmed, nor be given to crying or laughing. The Buddhadharma is about the way things are, and there is nothing to be frightened of. Nor is there anything to cry or laugh about. One should remain in a state of unmoving suchness and be clear and lucid at all times. That is the basic nature of the Buddhadharma.

domain: literature


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I'm being cared for by:
Soul Saver Rescue
Facts about Paprika
- Breed: Boxer Mix
- Color: Tricolor (Tan/Brown & Black & White)
- Age: Adult
- Size: Large 61-100 lbs (28-45 kg)
- Sex: Female
My name is Paprika!
I am already spayed, housetrained, up to date with shots, good with kids, good with dogs, and good with cats.
Paprika! She's a wonderful lady who thinks new friends are the best (along with late night snacks) and to compensate for all that chowing down a girl has got to keep up a good exercise regime to keep that hourglass figure! A large female with stunning eyes - she is an adult, good with kids and other pets, needs leash work.

domain: pet