Gartner put out its estimates for the CRM market last week and SAP has the largest market share, according to the Stamford, Conn.-based research firm.
My general experience in covering the CRM market over the last several years the “leading” vendor in the market matters far more to financial analysts and the vendors themselves and than anyone buying or using the software. What matters to CRM buyers and users is that their vendor is viable, innovating the product and generally responsive to its customers.
However, what is interesting about the Gartner research is how top-heavy the market is. According to Gartner’s Sharon Mertz, in 2008 SAP claimed the greatest percent of the CRM market with a 22.5% share, though that’s down from a 25.5% in 2007, a drop of 0.8%. It was followed by Oracle with a 16.1% share, Salesforce.com with a 10.6% share and Amdocs with a 4.9% share.
Who’s in sixth place? That would be “others” with a 39.6% share of the CRM market.
So, given Gartner’s estimate of $19.5 billion in revenue for the CRM market in 2008, a 12.5% increase from 2007’s $8.13 billion market figure, the top five vendors certainly appear viable.
But, are they innovating their CRM products?
There was a lively conversation in February on innovation and enterprise application vendors, and SAP and Oracle specifically, which I won’t get into here, rather I’ll simply point you to Josh Greenbaum, Dennis Howlett who scores it Oracle 1-0, Vinnie Mirchandani, who got the application innovation discussion started, Paul Greenberg, who takes a look at Oracle’s CRM innovation specifically, and Larry Dignan.
Let me simply add that, while SearchCRM doesn’t devote a lot of space to product releases these days, the pace with which the major vendors are issuing releases has slowed considerably. Since the release of Siebel 8.0 and 8.1, Oracle has been relatively quiet with the exception of some interesting Social CRM applications. With SAP 2007, the “market leader” revamped its user interface and convinced some of its customers to take their CRM software off the shelf.
Meanwhile, Salesforce.com continues to issue its three releases per year including integrations with social networking sites, an area Microsoft and others have latched onto networks like Twitter as well. Microsoft, by the way, had the strongest growth rate in 2008, increasing CRM revenue 75%, according to Gartner.
Salesforce .com and Microsoft are innovating, but their recent endeavors seem to focus more on building out platforms based on their CRM software, that partners and customers can expand upon with their own applications.
So, that leaves the question of whether the major CRM vendors are responsive to their customers. I think that the recent rash of developments around social networks and CRM demonstrate that the vendors do see a lot of confusion and a cry for help on the part of their customers about how to deal with the latest disruptive innovation. Yet, reviews of support issues with the big vendors are typically pretty mixed.
In its press release on its CRM research, Gartner advises CRM vendors to align their “products, services and contractual agreements to enable customer business imperatives of higher client acquisition, retention and satisfaction.” Maybe they should do the same for themselves?
If the major vendors aren’t innovating — are the “others,” who make up nearly 40% of the CRM market?
While its methodology and definitions differ from Gartner’s a bit, Forrester Research has set about identifying the extended CRM ecosystem with a new report. According to Bill Band, the report’s author, applications like community platforms, customer forums and enterprise feedback management have entered the CRM stage.
Paul Greenberg has a thoughtful overview of Band’s CRM ecosystem research over at his PGreenblog.
Bill wrote an important piece here, people. It’s a first look at an extended CRM ecosystem – one that goes beyond – well beyond – the traditional pillars of CRM – sales, marketing and customer service to a number of other areas. Not only that, it refines the traditional pillars to some extent too – thus building exactly what Bill says here – a CRM ecosystem that is considerably more encompassing than the traditional version of CRM.
Here, it seems, is where the innovation is happening, in areas like social CRM, social media monitoring and customer loyalty. These are the sorts of technology CRM professionals need to start taking a closer look at.


text:
May 25, 2016
A series of coordinated and organized suicide bombings across the Syrian coast on Monday has left around 120 people dead. Despite the worldwide expression of solidarity that occurred during the Paris and Belgian attacks, however, there has been no mention of the Syrian attacks nor has there been any mass expression of condolences and solidarity with Syria.
The attacks took place in both Tartus and Jobleh, two cities that are fiercely loyal to the Syrian government and where two Russian bases are located. Syrian state media has reported a lower death toll than that of the West and the terrorist-supporting “activists” (or, rather “activist”) known as the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
Two or three blasts took place in Tartus while four explosions took place in Jobleh, with one bomber captured after his blast failed to take his life along with this victims. The blasts were coordinated to take place at a time when the target areas were expected to be crowded with civilians. In Jobleh, the bombings hit a busy bus station, a government electricity office, and an emergency room hospital entrance. In Tartus, the bombs hit a residential neighborhood and another bus station.
Ziad Fadel of Syrian Perspective provides a timeline of the bombings. He writes:
9:00 a.m. – we are at the entrance to the Jabla Transportation Garage, essentially a taxi and bus station, where people come into the town from nearby areas, including Tartous and Banyaas, to shop, attend school or transact business. This time is the busiest of the day before 8:00 p.m. when crowds begin returning to their destinations. A Toyota pickup, manufactured by the conformist and amoral Japanese, – bought by the Saudi cockroaches – was driven into the entry area and parked there. The pickup was stuffed with 350 kgs of C-4 (Semtex) and sundry metal items, like ball bearings and nails, to insure more lethality. It was detonated by remote control. The Syrian Security Services are now sweeping the area in search of a male suspected of being the trigger-man.
9:10 a.m. As word got out of the explosion, citizens naturally gravitated to the area in order to help or to determine if any loved one was among the injured. A distance of only 100 meters away was the Directorate for Jabla’s Electrical Company. People who heard the explosion at the taxi station were on alert and noticed a woman screaming out “Allahu Akbar” as she detonated her explosive belt right at the entryway to the building. She is now in a thousand pieces of porcine fragments, but, she killed enough people to insure her swift descent into the maws of Erebus.
9:11 a.m. At the entrance to the city of Jabla from the major Latakia-Homs Highway, a male suicide bomber drove his automobile, stuffed with NATO-provided C-4, and detonated his payload at the intersection that leads into the Al-Tadhaamun Quarter. My readers may find this hard to believe, but, the driver survived the explosion and is now in critical condition at the Latakia National Hospital where doctors are frantically trying to keep him alive since his expected testimony will implicate both Erdoghan and Prince Muhammad bin Salmaan (and also, possibly, Obama and Cameron) in this atrocity. My source tells me that the explosion was strong enough to throw the driver from the car violently into some hedges. His survival is, still, quite amazing.
9:25 a.m. – At the Emergency Division of the Jabla National Hospital, a slinky rodent terrorist exploded his belt at the entryway to the emergency ward destroying a whole section of the first floor where Sunnis were being rushed for treatment. The evidence is still flimsy, but, it appears this terrorist had connections to the Sulaybi Quarter of Latakia.
Residents now fear the possibility of more attacks in the region over the coming weeks.
While Western media is reporting that ISIS is responsible for the attack, citing another report from Amaq, a “news agency” associated with Daesh and curiously allowed to operate despite the West maintaining the most sophisticated surveillance and electronic warfare state on the planet, where the terrorist organization allegedly took credit for the bombings. The attacks also come after an alleged ISIS spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnai allegedly urged fighters to increase the frequency of suicide attacks since the group is suffering numerous defeats in head-on battle situations. Adnai’s call was allegedly issued before the weekend.
Syrian media, however, is reporting that Ahrar al-Sham is the party responsible for the bombing.
The question of which terrorist organization is responsible for the bombing is incredibly important in terms of international politics and could have far-reaching effects on the geopolitical scene. Ever since the recent “ceasefire” agreement that excludes ISIS and Nusra, Syria and Russia have argued that Ahrar al-Sham is also a terrorist organization and should therefore also be excluded. However, the United States is refusing to label Ahrar al-Sham, one of the organizations that make up the bulk of the so-called “Syrian opposition,” as a terrorist group.
If the responsible party was indeed Ahrar al-Sham, then the United States can chalk up one more horrific atrocity to their publicly-supported pets and will be faced with a difficult row to hoe in front of the rest of the world as the bankrupt U.S. administration inevitably tries to obfuscate and defend the terrorist group.
But Syria and Russia do not necessarily need to point to the bombings in Tartus and Jabla as an example of why Ahrar al-Sham is a terrorist organization nor do they need to prove that Ahrar al-Sham was the guilty party. The terrorist group has already committed untold numbers of atrocities in Syria against soldiers and civilians (See here for video evidence). After all, there is absolutely no difference between Ahrar al-Sham and ISIS besides a mere name. They both have the same goal of Sharia. They both hate minorities, Christians, Alawites, Shiites, etc. They both torture. They both rape. We could go on and on.
We should also mention that the United States and NATO support both organizations. For public relations needs, however, the U.S. can claim that Ahrar al-Sham is the good, “moderate” terrorist organization that is fighting for democratic jihadism. But when an atrocity is committed that gains attention in the media, ISIS – the bad extremist terrorist organization fighting for extreme jihadism – can immediately take both the credit and the blame.
It’s very much like a movie script, but the script resembles that of a sequel that has gone through so many presentations that not only are the scenes predictable but the actors are wholly unconvincing and the plot entirely unbelievable. Unfortunately, the crisis bears another uncanny resemblance to a bad movie script – the American people eat it up without question.
Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is the author of seven books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 andvolume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 650 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. His website is BrandonTurbeville.com He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.
This article may be freely shared in part or in full with author attribution and source link.

domain: news


text: Cranapalooza at Cranmore! After a day of skiing and riding with the family, extend the fun at Cranapalooza! We celebrate winter with face painting, s’mores roasting, fun and games! There is going to be a Beach/Luau theme. Red Gallagher and Marcus Gale will both be perfoming. A celebration of winter, skiing, fun, friends and family! Join us this afternoon for a day full of fun and entertainment at Cranapalooza at Cranmore. After a long day of skiing and entertainment snuggle up to your loved ones around the fire and enjoy the fireworks at 6:30pm.

domain: entertainment


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text:
Marvel Comics Presents (2019) #2Marvel Comics Presents (2019) Series
Charles Soule, Maria Lapham, Mark Waid, David Lapham
Three thrilling tales are packed into this must-read magazine. Travel back in time with Logan to the 1950s, explore the jungle as cursed crusader Gorilla-Man, and witness Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom compete in the space race as Sputnik takes orbit. Get ready to be transported to three unique worlds full of adventure and excitement.

domain: literature


On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 18, 2020 I stood in an empty bookstore and cried.
A friend had just sent a congratulatory text with a picture from the April issue of Alta Magazine. My wife and I were interviewed a few months ago for a profile of Point Reyes Books, the bookstore we’ve owned for three years. The editor chose to use a photograph of the three of us—my wife, our 14-month-old boy, and me—to accompany the profile.
We haven’t seen the magazine because our shipments are suspended, our store closed, the Bay Area, and soon, I imagine, the entire country, on a lockdown issued to curb the spread of the coronavirus. All but essential services are shuttered for the foreseeable future. We don’t know what the world will look like on the other side of this pandemic, if our businesses, unessential, will be a part of that world.
I looked at our son in that picture, who just a week ago started walking, taking those familiar wobbly and joyous first steps, falling and getting up again and again, and I cried.
I started a document called “Bookselling at the End of the World” on February 7, 2017, one month and one week after we assumed ownership of the bookstore in Point Reyes Station, a small rural town nestled into a bucolic landscape bordering a national seashore. The San Andreas fault runs through our backyard, which seems a convenient aid to help understand the major shifts happening in the book industry and our culture in this ongoing moment.
Trump’s inauguration had just happened and we were already reeling from the early intimations of how his administration would reorganize the country along harsher and more extreme lines. It felt then like being a bookseller was a necessary act of defiance: maybe it always has. It still feels like that—maybe it always will—but victory feels further out of reach, even as we prove our value every day by opening our doors to a community in need of connection, knowledge, imagination, conversation.
Maybe, I have to remind myself, victory isn’t what we should strive for. Maybe victory is an ideal, out of reach, and so we should strive for something more noble than winning. But what is that something better? To perpetually fight, I suppose. To fight every day for a world that is better for everyone.
Booksellers are great underdogs. We’ve got to be.
As time and energy permit, I open the document and type a few sentences: thoughts on styles of handselling; considerations of the off-kilter nature of time in a bookstore; the burden booksellers face to constantly confront the hardest things about their culture.Maybe we should strive for something more noble than winning. To perpetually fight, I suppose. To fight every day for a world that is better for everyone.
Time and energy are precious commodities and as the months drag by, each fresh horror buried beneath a fresher horror, I lose momentum. It’s hard enough to be a bookseller, how much harder to write about it?
A bookseller must be a great listener, one who is adept at hearing what lingers unspoken and who, with keen intuition, is able to connect two mysteries: a reader and a book.
What is a bookseller to listen for on an afternoon when the store would normally be bustling with would-be readers, but is instead closed as a pandemic threatens to overwhelm the medical system and cost millions of lives?
A good bookstore is a peculiar nexus of feelings. It offers the comfort of the familiar, but also the lure of the unknown. Our job is to inhabit that unsteady space at the edge where cultural tides ebb and flow.
Minding the tides, as it were, doesn’t come without risk. Booksellers are surrounded with titles trumpeting the endless looming threats to our environment (We’re Doomed, Now What?) and democracy (Fascism, How Democracies Die, The Road to Unfreedom, etc); by books that bring to light the increasing inequality fostered by neoliberal economics or the decay of civilization or the myriad threats to our way of life… even our bestselling fiction has of late dwelled in darkness. (Great fiction has always dwelt in darkness, but rarely has that fiction been bestselling.) After I tweeted a picture of a utopian display I put up in the store as a modest countermeasure to this sense of overwhelming gloom, someone replied that it’s “interesting/depressing to think that a dystopian display could overtake the entire store.”
Of course, it’s not just the despair that lurks on the covers and within the pages of these books that causes concern. Our entire industry teeters on the brink of collapse. Margins are tight, rent is high, and as a consequence, wages are low; we exist in the shadow of a behemoth owned by the richest man in modern history, publishing CEOs earn salaries exponentially greater than ours; and the very technology we deal in is considered by many to be obsolete, our profession, for those of us able to stick around long enough to call it such, seems by many to be a quaint relic of a bygone age.
My tears that afternoon weren’t entirely out of concern for our business or fear for our child’s future. I was also overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we’d received in the days after announcing we would be closing the store to do our small part to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
We made the decision a few days ahead of the lockdown order and while it was the hardest business decision we had to make since buying the bookstore, it was ethically the easiest one. We were the first business in town to close, despite record-setting business in the days leading up to closing.
After sending an email announcing our decision, we received dozens of replies thanking us for the care we demonstrated. We’ve received hundreds of online orders from people who understood the potentially devastating effects an indefinite shutdown could have on a bookstore. These orders continue to come in, and we are not alone. Across social media, our colleagues at independent bookstores are broadcasting the same message of gratitude and humility and hope.
Everything feels tenuous at the moment, as the edge we’ve been skirting inches closer, but that community of readers who value the unique and essential space a bookstore inhabits in our culture feels stronger than ever.


The two 5/6 Classes are moving onto a new unit of work in Technology this term, looking at Bridges. The aim will be to design and build a wooden structure that will span a set gap and have moving parts, however the introduction was a lot less sophisticated!
The challenge was to use one sheet of card, a few sheets of newspaper, about 10 sheets of scrap paper and 1m of tape to build a structure that would span a gap of 20cm and take as much mass as possible, before collapsing. The pupils worked in groups of three and four and were certainly very creative. After one hour, the bridges had to be shown to each other and tested… to destruction!
Each bridge was placed over the gap and weights were added one at a time and in sizes chosen by the groups. The mass recorded was the last successful total before the bridge collapsed (which caused great hilarity!). There were some very good attempts, with the winning bridges holding in excess of 6Kg.
Here are a few photographs of some of the bridges and also the pupils’ reactions as the weights were added. The latter being slightly more amusing at times!


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (August 19, 2013) — McKenna Dahl’s classmates will be hard pressed to top her “What I did this summer” story – She’s starting her senior year of high school as a gold medalist.
Dahl (Arlington, Wash.) picked up the first gold medal of her budding shooting career Sunday in the Falling Target Rifle 2 event at the International Paralympic Committee Shooting World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. Falling Target is similar to the shooting discipline of biathlon where the competitor has 2 minutes and 30 seconds to hit five discs of descending size with an air rifle.
John Joss (USAMU/Fort Michael, Ala.), who won a gold medal earlier in the week in R3 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 Mixed, had another strong finish at the final day of the World Cup Sunday. Joss finished fourth in R6 50m Rifle Prone Mixed SH1 after losing in two shoot-off shots to Jae Yong Sim of South Korea.
Other U.S. team members bringing home medals from this World Cup are Eric Hollen (gold/Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Mike Tagliapietra (bronze/Colorado Springs, Colo.).
“The change in the team this year has been dramatic,” said Paralympic National Team coach Bob Foth. “We’ve turned the page from having a couple of competitive shooters to having contenders in almost every event.”
The Bangkok IPC Shooting World Cup is the final IPC World Cup event of the season and concluded Sunday. For final results from this event, please visit http://results.sius.com/Events.aspx?Championship=2013IPCShootingWorldCupBangkok20130812BangkokThailand.


text:
My friend Sam is bringing before us an Eastern view on the Western crisis. Jordanian Prince Bin Talal is a spokesman for peace and a voice of wisdom. Here is hust a quote:
The issue is not simply one of raw economics. The protests spreading from new York are explicitly based on the recent uprisings in the Arab world. In the Middle East, patronage and a rentier system have strangled human aspiration and potential. In the West, the myopic search for profit and short-term advantage has created a corporate oligarchy whose interests are largely inimical to democracy.
If Christian theologians seem to be too shy to address the reality of the ‘beast’, let the Muslim prophets speak. I, for one, am ready to listen.


text:
The real life story of writer/director Tommy Wiseau, the man behind what is often referred to as “The Citizen Kane of Bad Movies,” The Room, is brought to life, chronicling the odd film’s troubled development and eventual cult success. Directed by, and starring, James Franco, with Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Josh Hutcherson, and Zac Efron.
R • 1h44m • US
Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: James Franco
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy


text:
EPC members, NJDA gather for Jersey Fresh Cookout
May 24, 2023
HILLSDALE, NJ — The New Jersey Department of Agriculture hosted the Eastern Produce Council's Jersey Fresh Cookout May 23, here, at Demarest Farms.
Jersey Fresh foods held a starring role throughout the evening as the state-sponsored program — the oldest of its kind — marked its 39th year. Douglas Fisher, New Jersey’s secretary of agriculture, extolled the virtues of New Jersey produce and the Jersey Fresh program before other speakers shifted the focus to Fisher, who is retiring July 1 after 15 years in his current role.

domain: food


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domain: design


Whether or not Gov. Paul LePage’s labor contract negotiators were able to convince two of the state’s unions to abandon the requirement that employees pay agency fees will likely be decided today. More than 9,000 executive branch employees represented by the Maine State Employees Association, state government’s largest union, have until 5 p.m. today to […]
Notes from a Corner of the Country
'Marriage penalty' debate takes center-stage in Maine home care fight
We need standards on who can vote. Citizenship is a good one.
We shouldn't cheer secret recordings in the White House
If Republicans won't stand up to attacks on the press, it's up to voters


Learn how to make secret code bracelets your whole squad will love!
What’s the big deal with coding?
Teachers, programmers and start-up owners are all ranting and raving about the importance of learning Code but what really is “Code” and why’s it so dang important for us to learn? Code is a language for programming (ordering a computer) to pump out awesomeness on the web, computer software, machines and other technology.
By learning the basics of language development, playing around with different combinations of characters or coding languages we can have a better understanding of how our favorite websites, apps and tech devices work. More importantly girls around the world are top users of tech but not top masters of programming -as if! Learning code with your friends, the opportunities to create, design and program some amazing tech are endless!
Download Your Free Printable
Print our guide and create a key for your squad’s new set of secret coded bracelets. Click Here to Download »
What You'll Need
Colorful Beads / Thread or Pipe Cleaners
Design or Learn Your Own Code
• Swap ideas with friends and decide which code to use. Binary? Morse? Your own creation?
• Draw out a guide, also known as a key, to record your new characters and to help you decipher each other’s messages.
• Choose 2-3 color beads to represent each character element. Like “Blue for 1s, Black for 0s and Clear for a space”
• Come up with your fave combinations, acronyms, hashtags etc. “BFF” “SQUAD”
Share Your Creations
Take a picture of your project and post it to Instagram using #TinkingTechyDaredMe and we’ll repost!
Need Ideas? See This Month’s Tutorials:
Dia De Los Muertos Crafting Workshop Many creatives are crushing on Dia de los Muertos, or Day of The Dead, this year. We wanted to pay homage to this beautiful and historically rich Mexican tradition by creating some DOD artwork and learn more about what makes this...
Make your own Harry Potter style wand with built-in LUMOS spell. 1 - Wooden dowel or sqewer / 2 - Pipecleaners / 1 - 3v Coin cell battery / Masking Tape / Scissors / Straw / Hot Glue, Paint, etc. 1. Strip the top and bottom ends of both pipecleaners. 2. Wrap...
How It Works: Paper Fortune Teller's are a simple one-sheet Origami project. After a series of folds, fancy artwork and Q & A options you have a fun instant game for you and your friends. Based on certain questions or choices the "Fortune Teller" gets opened and...
Learn more about our Hackathon-style dare challenges Here. Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our Monthly Dare challenges straight to your inbox.


text:
Just another successful surgery and recovery!!
it was great
Dr. Linschoten provides excellent care for his patients.
we were very pleased
Excellent care and professionalism
Extremely satisfied to this point.
thank you so much !!
Left knee replacement
Superlative in all aspects!
I received the best care that i ever had!!!!
very satisfied with what was accomplished with surgery
Dr. Linschoten and staff are the best of the best!!!
every aspect of my surgery went excellent
Truly outstanding doctor.......
from a patients point of view, he made the healing process comfortable and caring
great care when needed it most
awesome, compassionate, caring
Painless and Pain-Free
Fantastic surgical results

domain: medical


Publication: Information and Communication Technologies : A World Bank Group Strategy
Information and communication technologies provide the basis for increasing and applying knowledge in the private and public sectors. Countries with strong information infrastructures that employ innovative information technology applications, have many advantages for sustained economic growth and social development. This book is, primarily, a business strategy which explains the World Bank's role in the development of information infrastructure. It details a plan for expanding the institutional development capacity within the World Bank and in the regions in order to successfully implement this strategy. This book also discusses issues relating to information technology quality assurance and improving the World Bank's capacity to ensure such quality.
Link to Data Set
“World Bank. 2002. Information and Communication Technologies : A World Bank Group Strategy. © Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15243 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”


text:
Cheltenham Jazz Festival Collection
The Cheltenham Jazz Festival is a vibrant celebration of music that brings together renowned artists from all over the world
All Professionally Made to Order for Quick Shipping
The Cheltenham Jazz Festival is a vibrant celebration of music that brings together renowned artists from all over the world. With its rich history and diverse lineup, this festival has become a must-attend event for jazz enthusiasts. In 2009, guitar virtuoso Pat Martino graced the stage, captivating the audience with his mesmerizing melodies. The talented artist Alan John Ainsworth beautifully captured Martino's performance, immortalizing it in an exquisite piece of art. Four years later, Curtis Steigers took center stage at the festival. Ainsworth once again showcased his artistic prowess by capturing Steigers' soulful performance in a stunning painting that perfectly depicted the raw emotions conveyed through his music. The festival also embraces other genres and instruments, such as cellist Zosia Jagodzinska's enchanting performance in 2017. Ainsworth skillfully portrayed her passion and grace on canvas, showcasing her talent to the world through his artwork. Laura Mvula became another highlight of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in both 2013 and 2014. Ainsworth's paintings captured Mvula's powerful vocals and unique style, reflecting her ability to captivate audiences with every note she sang. Jazz drummer Jim Hart left spectators awestruck during his appearance at the festival in 2017. Alan John Ainsworth masterfully depicted Hart's energy and rhythm through vivid strokes of paint on canvas. Christian Scott brought his innovative approach to jazz to Cheltenham twice – first in 2016 then again in 2017 – leaving listeners spellbound with his trumpet skills. Once more, Ainsworth expertly translated Scott's musical genius into visual form using colors that mirrored each note played by this extraordinary artist. Omar Soso wowed attendees with his unique fusion of jazz and Middle Eastern influences during his performance at Cheltenham Jazz Festival in 2016.

domain: artistic


The median home value in Miami, FL is $122,200.
the county median home value of $245,200.
The national median home value is $170,100.
The average price of homes sold in Miami, FL is $122,200.
Approximately 18.42% of Miami homes are owned,
compared to 71.76% rented, while
9.83% are vacant.
Miami real estate listings include condos, townhomes, and single family homes for sale.
Commercial properties are also available.
If you see a property you’re interested in, contact a Miami real estate agent to arrange a tour today! Learn more about Miami Real Estate.
BEAUTIFUL CONDOMINIUM IN THE HEARTH OF MIAMI, CLOSE TO DOWNTOWN, THE BEACHES, COCONUT GROVE, KEY BISCAYNE, THE GABLES, MAJOR ROADS AND HIGWAYS,SCHOOLS AND HOSPITAL,2 BEDROOMS,2 FULL BATH,CONDO UNIT WITH 2 GATES ASSIGNED PARKING SPACES, WASHER AND DRYER CONNECTIONS. PLEASE CALL AGENT FOR APPOINTMENTS.
Exceptional properties in West Little Havana. Two "Old Spanish", four Unit apartment buildings on adjacent lots. Total is 8 units. All apartments are one Bedroom, one bath with identical floor plans. Within five minutes of Brickell and Downtown. Miami's historic Little Havana neighborhood is known for its culturally-rich and colorful lifestyle, authentic. Great investment opportunity for those looking to take advantage of the overwhelming surge of growth and development in the area. Contact us now!
View this nice 1/1 apartment and ready to move in. Rapid approval for your convenience, this home is located in the heart of Miami near Downtown, Brickell, and Coconut Grove. This home is conveniently located near mayor highways, grocery stores, nightlife attractions and public transportation.
Retail space center located in the heart of the "Calle Ocho" shopping district which is currently expanding at an explosive rate. Numerous new projects have begun to take shape including Brickell City Center and Nine at Mary Brickell Village. These new developments will further increase traffic on SW 8th Street which feeds directly into Brickell. Located directly next to the Presidente Supermarket which services the local community and has a vast amount of foot traffic as well as commuter traffic.
Legal Duplex plus separate dwelling making this a triplex, has zoning. Larger than tax roll with over 2500 SQ FT. Leased to an ALF(Assisted Living Facility) for 3/000month on a 5 year lease. Tenant pays ALL expenses. That's a 10% cap in Shanendoah. Investors move fast!!! This is a one of a kind property easily worth 500k. Seller motivated. DO NOT DISTURB TENANT, please call for showings.
Calle Ocho Income-Generating Opportunity. Site features a thriving mechanic and auto-body business, fully equipped with all needed licenses, as well as a permitted ClearChannel Billboard. Property generates $10,500/mo gross, with solid leases and eager tenants in places. The property sits at a centric position with extremely quick access to economically vital neighborhoods such as Coral Gables, Little Havana, Flagami, and with a direct line to Brickell. The mechanic licenses are hard-to-find as Miami
The information being provided is for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Use of search facilities of data on the site, other than a consumer looking to purchase real estate, is prohibited.


text:
On Wednesday of this week three of the nation's top law enforcement and intelligence officials, FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence Nick Rasmussen and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security in hearings entitled Worldwide Threats and Homeland Security Challenges.
During the particularly sobering unclassified sessions, each of the three witnesses emphasized the U.S. is now facing more threats, originating in more places and involving more individuals than at any time since the attacks of 9/11. According to Director of National Intelligence Nick Rasmussen, the array of extremist actors around the globe is broader, wider and deeper than at any time in the last 14 years, and the problem is only getting worse, with the Islamic State and al Qaeda both remaining a significant concern, though from different positions in terms of the roles they are playing.
For instance, there is significant concern within the defense and intelligence communities that President Obama's planned drawdown of troops from Afghanistan, in the midst of weakened government stability, could result in a resurgence of the terror organization, which, despite the steady attrition of al Qaeda's senior leaders in S. Asia, still remains a viable and significant threat from elsewhere (see this, this and this)
In terms of the Islamic State, Director Rasmussen indicated that while the world has seen a decrease in the frequency of large-scale, complex plotting efforts that sometimes span several years, we have seen a proliferation of more rapidly evolving threat or plot vectors that emerge simply from an individual being encouraged to take action, then quickly gathering the few resources needed and moving into an operation phase. This so called "flash to bang" ratio is extremely compressed, thus allowing little time for traditional law enforcement and intelligence tools to disrupt or mitigate potential plots.
FBI Director James Comey's testimony backs up that of the DNI. Director Comey stated that the Islamic State has proven relentless in its violent campaign to rule, and has aggressively promoted its hateful message, attracting like-minded extremists to include Westerners. To an even greater degree than al Qaeda or other foreign terrorist organizations, ISIL has persistently used the Internet to communicate. From a homeland perspective, it is the Islamic State’s widespread reach through the Internet and social media which is most concerning as they have aggressively employed this technology for its nefarious strategy. ISIL blends traditional media platforms, glossy photos, in-depth articles, and social media campaigns that can go viral in a matter of seconds.
Director Comey goes on to state that in recent months ISIL released a video, via social media, reiterating the group’s encouragement of lone offender attacks in Western countries, specifically advocating for attacks against soldiers and law enforcement, intelligence community members, and government personnel. Several incidents have occurred in the United States and Europe over the last few months that indicate this “call to arms” has resonated among ISIL supporters and sympathizers.
NO WAY TO VET THE 'REFUGEES'
Of particular importance was the warning message all three witnesses delivered regarding President Obama's decision, despite America's unique security situation, to import a minimum of 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country during this fiscal year. According to FBI Director Comey, they have no ability to vet them through the databases it uses to determine if they have ties to terrorism.
“We can only query against that which we have collected, and so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interests reflected in our database, we can query our database til the cows come home, but … there’ll be nothing show up, because we have no record on that person.”
Director Comey went onto say that the U.S. had a decade’s worth of information with which to vet Iraqi refugees because of the United States’ work there.
We remind readers that as far back as February of this year, AlertsUSA Threat Journal was warning of this particular problem. How do you vet refugees from a particular country when you are receiving no assistance from that government, and in particular, one which you are actively working to topple, such as is the case of Syrian President Bashir Assad?
And as we also reported back in January, there are already intelligence reports that Islamic State fighters posing as Syrian refugees have already entered Europe.
APPROX 900 DOMESTIC TERROR INVESTIGATIONS UNDERWAY
Late this week during a presentation before intelligence officials, FBI Director James Comey revealed that federal authorities have an estimated 900 active investigations underway against suspected Islamic State-inspired operatives and other home-grown violent extremists across the country. During a press event earlier in the week, Director Comey stated that their investigations extend into all 50 states.
House Homeland Security Committee Hearings
October 21, 2015
WORLDWIDE THREATS AND
HOMELAND SECURITY CHALLENGES
These hearings examined the growing threat America and the West face from ISIS and other terrorist groups, the actions of Russia and Iran in Syria, the impact of the refugee crisis in Europe on America’s security, homegrown terrorism, cybersecurity, and other threats to the homeland.
AlertsUSA continues to closely monitor the overall domestic and international terrorism threat environment and will immediately notify service subscribers of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant.


Houghton International is an electro mechanical engineering company which started life overseas in 1984 and still trades overseas today. It’s a remarkable heritage and one that is fiercely protected – and being built upon – by Michael Mitten, the company’s chief executive.
Michael’s parents set up the business when they were living and working in West Africa. At the time, Ron Mitten (Michael’s father) was running a repair shop that he’d set up as a joint venture with Blue Circle Cement as they couldn’t get any decent quality of repair out there. So they decided to set up their own dedicated facility and this went on to become the biggest of its kind in West Africa.
Michael takes up the story: “My parents had the foresight to have invested in a repair shop back here in the North East and in 1988 they set up the coil manufacturing division which the key differentiator for the business today. There are hundreds of re-wiring companies the UK but only a very few have the necessary technological capability. And in terms of capability we are the biggest and best independent company”.
Today, Houghton International works on emergency service requirement. Much of this is scheduled contracted service and repair of equipment, predominantly for the rail industry. If a customer has a critical piece of equipment or asset that has broken they call on Houghton International to fix it in the shortest possible timescale. The company manufactures replacement parts in Newcastle and also supplies a bespoke emergency manufacturing service.
“You tend to get longer-term contracts with the rail industry,” Michael explains. “We are hoping to work with Hitachi Rail up the road as they introduce new vehicles. I can tell you that all the rail vehicles we service and repair are the best performing ones in the UK and this is our best possible selling point.
The company also develops new technology – for example, it has developed a new Tidal Generator which has a new type of coil arrangement within it that we have developed and patented it too. This will, Michael hopes, become the first commercially viable technology of its type in the world.
Innovation really drives the business and Houghton International has positioned itself as a partner and a solutions provider, working with customers on R&D projects. There is an engineering R&D team but the company also draws on the knowledge and skills from across the business whenever it’s appropriate, another differentiator from competitors. “We are normally up against OEMs and large international companies so having that flexibility to work with customers and the service we offer them really makes a difference.”
Most of Houghton International’s work is provided for UK customers but it also works in over 30 countries around the world. It tends to work through other repair companies which operate locally but that don’t have the technology to fix certain things, so Houghton International supports them in doing so.
About 18 per cent of the business is manufacturing – and of that, 80 per cent is exported. We manufacture high-voltage coils for use in our own repair shop in Newcastle and then exports these to other repair shops around the world.
Michael Mitten is hoping that Brexit won’t affect them too much. “We don’t have a huge presence in Europe but it depends on what sort of deals we do from countries outside the EU. We see real growth potential for our exporting markets and growing with our partner organisations around the world. We want to retain all our manufacturing here in the UK, so for the time being we have no plans to open facilities overseas.”
Houghton International works with customers globally to improve the performance of electrical locational assets – pumps, generators etc – and uses its many years of experience and skills across the business to exceed customer expectation.
“We work very hard to educate our customers as we want to try to influence them on making the decision to use us. If someone got a problem that we can solve – wherever they are in the world – we want them to know about us and know that we can add value – and to support them in the most cost and time-efficient way possible.”
Staff development and engagement are key priorities for Michael and his senior management team. Skills are developed at all levels but there is a significant focus on bringing in – and developing – apprentices.
“My dad started out as a miner but managed to get an apprenticeship and throughout his life he was always passionate about giving people opportunities. We started employing apprentices in 1988 and they remain a huge part of the business today. Stu Whitfield, one of those original apprentices is still with us 30 years later, something we’re very proud of.
“Most of our competitors struggle against us because they haven’t really invested in their people and the retention of skills. If you look at the demographic of our competitors’ workforces nobody has employees under the age of 40 but we do – in fact, we have people here in the 20s who have ten years’ experience already! They are experts at what they do and they have the whole of their careers ahead of them.”
Houghton International had over 70 people attend its Apprenticeship Open Day, and had 60 applicants for just six jobs. “Mechanical engineering is not a discipline that people generally think of in terms of apprenticeships but as soon as they see the training that’s offered and the benefits that it brings, the investment in training and development. We’re offering a lifetime opportunity. This creates a huge competitive advantage for us. The skills we offer are valued around the world and of course some people leave to pursue other opportunities but we also have people who return to us after a couple of years.”
Houghton International is about half way towards its target of achieving £20m turnover by 2020. The intention is to maintain – or even increase – its current 25 per cent year-on-year growth. “Everyone here has bought into this idea and the over-arching strategy has been focused on this since it was formulated.”
In order to maintain this level of growth, Michael believes they will need a workforce of around 250 – almost double the current 130. To get there, Houghton International has invested hugely in the employer brand in order to retain its good people. “We introduced a new benefits package which was borne out of our employee survey and through consultation with our Works Council. And this really emphasises the point that everyone in the business is important to us and that this is a really good place to work. And as the business grows we want everyone to share in it and be rewarded for it.”
Michael has focused on much of his attention on the strategy for the business and looking at each of the sectors that the company operates in and this has really propelled the growth. “We are a relatively small player in a market that’s worth billions, so if we’re good at what we do it stands to reason that we will grow. And we’re not doing that acquisitively; we’re doing it organically – and at a rate of 25 per cent year-on-year. We’ve taken on 50 people in the last two years and it seems we have new people starting every week.
“It’s not just finding the right people you have to develop them too, so they meet your standards and do they understand – and able to fit in with – the values that we have and which are fundamental to the business. But we’ve also invested in equipment.”
2018 has seen the introduction of a new pumps business for which people with the necessary expertise and hands-on capability for this new venture have been recruited to match the electro-mechanical core skills Houghton International already possesses. “Most of the workforce is multi-skilled and can do a variety of things, and that knowledge is shared throughout the business. All our values are shared throughout the business, starting right at the top. We make a point of making these values visible to everyone.”
Ron Mitten’s legacy of hard work and making shrewd business decisions continues today and claearly marks Houghton International as a company that really is going places.
The Manufacturing Growth Network (MGN) is a quarterly publication sponsored by NRG, EY, Square One Law, Lloyds Bank and EEF and published by Insider Media. MGN is FREE for North East manufacturing businesses to join, for further information on how your business can get involved contact Julie Mordue, client relationship manager at NRG.


I have owned a 60″ Vizio Smart TV for almost 4 years. I love it! It has a snazzy keyboard remote which I love because when I have to put in a username, password or search field I can do it on a real keyboard rather than concentrate really hard and peck it out old-school style. The TV has several streaming services and features built-in to allow me to stream content from almost anywhere. I love it! And I think it’s the bee’s knees. However, in the past 4 years technology has changed quite a bit!
I just received a new 50″ Vizio M50-D14K Ultra HD TV with SmartCast for review. This awesome television has Google Cast built-in. If you are familiar with Google Chromecast, then just imagine that this TV has one built-in. It’s the technology that lets you cast (send) videos from your smartphone, tablet, or PC to your television. Since I was in the middle of moving, it took a while for me to be able to really test this baby out. But, I was so excited when it arrived that I took it out of the box and just leaned it up again the piano! I set up the remote and tested Netflix. It then got stored away for a while.
Now, this TV truly is full of the latest tech. They one-upped my keyboard remote that I love so much and equipped this TV with an innovative 6″ Android tablet remote. It includes a charging dock which can sit right on your entertainment stand.
Since I didn’t want to downsize to a 50″ TV from my 60″ VIZIO TV I decided to use this one in my master bedroom. However, it’s permanent location may change. When we finally move into our new home I think it will take a permanent place in the 2nd floor family room.
- Class Size: 50″
- Screen Size (Diag.): 49.50”
- Panel Type: VA
- Smart Platform: VIZIO SmartCast™ w/ Google Cast™ Built-in
- High Dynamic Range: Yes w/ Dolby Vision
- Resolution: Ultra HD – 3840×2160
- UHD Upscale Engine: Spatial Scaling Engine™
- Display Processor: V8 Octa-Core Processor
- Backlight Type: Full-Array LED
- Local Dimming: Yes with Active LED Zones® x32
- Clear Action™: 360
- UHD Codec Support: HEVC (H.265), VP9
- Screen Size: 6” Android Tablet Remote
- Resolution: 720p
- Storage Memory: 1.5GB of DRAM and 8gb Storage
- Processor: Quad-Core
- Audio: Dual Stereo Speakers
- Microphone: Yes
- Accessories: Wireless Charging Dock, USB Power Cable
Setup was easy. As with other flat screen TVs, we had to install the legs. However, the legs are made for foolproof installation. Unlike other TVs they cannot be installed the wrong way, which was awesome!
Pairing the tablet remote was fascinating. During the setup process, it will tell you when to hold the remote up to the bottom right-hand corner of the TV. It then quickly pairs the remote using Bluetooth. The remote is then used to set up the name, WiFi network, and more on the television. More on the remote later.
When setting up your TV and remote for the first time I recommend setting up a new, generic household Google account for use on this and other home gadgets. Otherwise, you will have your Gmail, calendar, and contacts, etc. all loaded up on this remote. Of course, if you live alone this may not be a problem, but I don’t want my kids accidentally deleting my emails while playing with the tablet remote!
The design of the TV is pretty slick. The previously mentioned legs are shiny chrome and add to the modern look of the TV. Each one is mounted a few inches from the edge. For stability, I like this better than the middle mount on some TVs. However, I do miss being able to swivel the screen.
At just about a 1/2″ the bezel is pretty thin and does not make you feel like you are watching a huge box. It does not take away from the picture at all.
This TV weighs just about 41 lbs. It is so much lighter than flat panels past! I remember the first flat panel that I ever purchased. I swear it was heavier than an old tube TV! But this one I can just about move around by myself which is great. This also makes it much easier to mount it on a wall if you choose to do so. Just make sure that you choose the right type of mount. You will need a 200×200 wall mount.
The resolution is 4K Ultra HD – 3840×2160 which means you get a lot of detail on the screen. The picture quality is outstanding. Everything is clear and bright. The colors are amazing. I did notice that the picture is not so great when viewing from the side. At that time is appears to be a bit washed out.
What is 4K Ultra HD? Ultra HD delivers 4 x 1080p Full HD. And VIZIO’s UHD upscaling transforms everything into 4K UHD resolution. The picture will vary. Some content is just not truly going to be full HD.
The VIZIO M-Series includes High Dynamic Range technology from Dolby Vision. This gives colors more depth and more contrast. To enhance this even more, it uses a Full Array LED backlight with up to 64 Active LED Zones that automatically adjust light levels depending on the content being played.
It also makes an awesome computer monitor. Because of where the TV is situated in our temp living situation, my husband has it hooked up to his desktop computer. And I must say, Windows 10 has never looked so good!
When I first started testing the SmartCast TV I thought that the sound was not that great. It sounded very hollow. However, I decided to poke into the settings using my tablet remote. The Audio menu includes a variety of things that can be adjusted such as turning the speakers off or on, turning the volume control display off or on, turning surround sound off or on, changing the balance, the digital audio out, the analog audio out, and the volume leveling. The volume leveling did the trick. When I turned that on the sound got a nice boost.
Of course, if you are looking for more the included outputs let you hook the TV up to a soundbar or receiver. This can be accomplished using either analog-digital out or digital audio out (SPDIF).
Inputs & Features
I can recall when my flat panel (the heavy one) had only 1 HDMI port. If you wanted to hook up anything else you had to use component, S-video, or coaxial. Most things have switched over to HDMI which is now the standard, so TVs now include more ports. The M50-D1 has 4 HDMI ports, one of which supports HDMI 2.0. Because of the range of inputs that the TV offers, you can connect up to 5 devices via the 4 HDMI ports and one component connection.
In addition to the HDMI ports and component hookup, it also includes one Ethernet port, and 2 USB ports. And of course it includes built-in WiFi which is part of what makes it a smart TV.
The 6″ Tablet Remote
The 6″ Tablet Remote is what really makes this television different from the rest. In addition to being a remote for your SmartCast TV, it is also a 6″ Android tablet computer. To control your TV, it comes preloaded with the Vizio SmartCast app. Instead of using the regular remote to change features of the TV you can use the Android remote. You use the tablet remote to change the input, change the volume, adjust the settings of your SmartCast TV such as audio and video settings, and set the sleep timer. And since it’s an Android tablet with a full QWERTY keyboard it is super easy to enter usernames and passwords when setting up your streaming apps. This is always a frustration! Using the tablet is much easier than using arrows to select letters and numbers. And you can install other media apps like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video. You can also install just about any other app from the Google Play store.
The VIZIO Smartcast app is also used to cast content from your tablet remote direct to your VIZIO television. It allows you to find live TV content using your cable provider. This gives you an easy way to see TV shows and movies that are on without scrolling through the Guide on your cable box. You can also add favorite channels and get a quick glance of what’s on each one all on one screen.
One thing that I would like to see if the ability to add more streaming services of choice to this app. It appears that it shows content from preselected services including VUDU, Google Play Movies, PlutoTV, Redbull, Vadio, Hulu, and Crackle. You can turn these off and on as you please. However, I would love to be able to add Netflix and Amazon Video to this list.
So far I am absolutely loving this TV. Other than the washed out view from the side, there were only 2 other drawbacks that I have found so far. One is that I had to install the Google Chromecast app on the tablet remote to cast from Amazon Video. But, I’m certain that this is a limitation of the Amazon Video app and not the VIZIO TV. The other is that in the middle of watching one day that TV turned itself off. I could not turn it back on. I thought that it was toast. However, after about 15 minutes it came with an updating firmware message. While automatic updates are great, a warning would have been nice.
I received the 50″ version of the VIZIO M-Series television. However, it is also available in 55″, 60″, 65″, 70″, and even 80″ versions. Drool! Prices vary from only $699.99 for the 50″ to $3999.99 for the 80″ version. Right now, if you purchase a VIZIO SmartCast HDTV you will receive a complimentary copy of Star Trek Beyond on Digital UHD courtesy of VUDU (while supplies last). Check out all of the sizes and options available at Best Buy or Amazon.com.
Disclosure: The 50″ VIZIO SmartCast TV was provided to me in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.


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A Kelowna, B.C., RCMP officer is facing a third lawsuit alleging police brutality, but the police are offering a different version of events, claiming their officer was the one who was assaulted.
Cole Charles Vasko, a Kelowna sheet metal worker, filed the notice of civil claim on Sept. 10, naming the Attorney General of Canada, B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General and Cst. Lacey Browning as defendants.
In the suit, Vasko said he was walking home after visiting a friend’s house with his five-year-old son when he got into an altercation with a motorist, who subsequently contacted police.
The altercation occurred on March 9, 2019 around 12:00 a.m.
“As the Plaintiff was walking home, he felt someone grab him from behind. He was spun around, thrown to the ground and smacked in the face which caused damage to his nose,” the court documents allege.
The civil suit alleges Const. Browning and her colleagues failed to notify Vasko of the reason for his detention.
“Browning proceeded to threaten to pepper spray and taser the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff was assaulted in the presence of his son,” the suit alleges.
Vasko was taken to the Kelowna RCMP detachment and was detained for 10 hours, according to the notice of civil claim. He was dragged out of the RCMP vehicle and dropped on his face, causing “further damage and bleeding,” the suit alleges.
“The Plaintiff’s arm was twisted behind his back by Browning at the detachment, until the Plaintiff could feel the ligaments in his elbow begin to tear, causing damage to his elbow,” the court documents allege.
While a response to the notice of civil claim has not yet been filed in court, the RCMP’s southeast district commander issued a rare public statement regarding the lawsuit on Friday.
In the statement, Chief Superintendent Brad Haugli said Mounties were called to a report of a “very intoxicated” male carrying a small child along a local road.
“Our member attended, initiated an investigation and arrested the male for causing a disturbance,” reads the statement.
“The accused resisted arrest, assaulted the police officer and was ultimately taken into custody and transported to cells.”
RCMP say the man was charged with assaulting a police officer, willfully resisting arrest and causing a disturbance.
The charges were stayed in December 2019 and “alternative measures” under the Criminal Code were advanced, police said.
“I suggest that the media directly contact the Plaintiff and ask about the nature of the letter he wrote to Const. Lacy Browning,” Haugli said, alluding to a letter that has not yet been made public.
“While I respect that anyone can initiate a civil process, and our lawyers will respond to the civil allegations via the courts in due time, I did not want this matter to be reported without proper context or comment,” Haugli said.
Vasko is seeking punitive and exemplary damages.
“As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of Browning’s reckless and unlawful actions, the Plaintiff suffered emotional distress, humiliation, shame and embarrassment, psychological and emotional trauma all to the Plaintiff’s damage,” the lawsuit claims.
“Browning and the RCMP committed the acts herein despicably, maliciously, oppressively, with the wrongful intention of injuring the Plaintiff from an improper and evil motive amounting to malice and conscious disregard of the rights of the Plaintiff.”
Const. Browning is also at the centre of a high-profile sweeping civil suit filed by Mona Wang, a UBC Okanagan student who was dragged down a hallway after a wellness check in January, which was recorded on surveillance video.
In its response to that claim, RCMP said Wang was arrested under the Mental Health Act.
“In light of the plaintiff’s volatile demeanour, aggressive actions and repeated refusals to follow commands … the limited use of force by the defendant Browning was no more than was reasonable and necessary in the circumstances,” the response claims.
Const. Browning is on desk duty while facing a criminal investigation into her actions involving Mona Wang and an internal code of conduct investigation is underway.
“I monitor the progress daily,” Haugli said, in relation to the wellness check incident.
Const. Browning is facing another, separate lawsuit filed by Fiona Louise Read, who alleges she was assaulted by Browning during a 2016 arrest.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Global Okanagan has reached out to Vasko, via his lawyer, for comment.


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What I probably enjoy most about spring besides the better temperatures coming out of a cold and wet winter, is the sudden burst of color as a result of the first flowers. I will let the pictures do the talking. Taking up a camera some years ago certainly opened my eyes again. It is so easy to take these things for granted, but if you take a good look around you you can but stand back in awe, even about the simplest ordinary flowers. For me, picking up a camera certainly assisted in being aware again of all the beauty that surrounds us, so easily overlooked.
Nature waking up from its winter sleep. Amazing!

domain: hobby


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Zero Budget Natural Farming: Another Case of 'Raw Wisdom' Over Science? -Kabir Agarwal
The Centre says the method will improve crop productivity and reduce input costs, but it remains unclear which scientific studies – if any – these conclusions are derived from.
New Delhi: During her budget speech in July, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to widespread farmers’ distress by saying that they would be encouraged to adopt a ‘zero budget’ technique that would take India’s agriculture sector ‘back to basics’.
Zero-budget natural farming (ZBNF), as a formal technique devised by Subhash Palekar, a social activist from Vidarbha, advocates the use of naturally occurring materials such as cow dung, cow urine and neem as manure, fertilisers and pesticides. According to Palekar’s website, it is against the use of “chemical and organic” additives.
“Steps such as this can help in doubling our farmers’ income,” Sitharaman had said.
In a press release that followed, the government claimed ZBNF “improves the crop productivity and soil fertility by way of fixing the atmospheric nitrogen” and also helps “farmers [reduce] the input cost”.
However, it is unclear which scientific studies – if any – the government has used to qualify ZBNF. In fact, a derision towards the word “chemical” is a common part of the hype surrounding the putative benefits of organic farming but it has also become symptomatic of negligence towards the underlying chemical processes.
Please click here to read more.

domain: agronomy


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“Return To The DubStation 返嗒” is the sixth album from Hong Kong collective Celestial 天上, in which they go back to their roots, for another taste of the sounds that got them excited at the outset.
“I just felt an irrational longing for the twangy spring reverbs and deep space phased echoes of my youth” says the driving force behind the group, Peter Millward.
“These days the technology just doesn’t excite any more – so what better direction to go for inspiration than backwards? Back to the Future!”
The album features a combination of brand new compositions, and previous Celestial tracks that have been re-recorded in full Dubly. Many of the usual collaborators are here again: Hsin Hsiao Hung on Erhu, Eugene Pao on guitar; Sunny Yeung on Shakuhachi; Nigel Wightman on Trombone; Adrian Da Silva and Ela R. Alegre on vocals; plus new contributors – Japanese fine artist Hisaki Yasuda provides Kora, the African Harp, with his compatriot and friend Kana Kobayashi on vocals; also from Germany, the poignant chromatic harmonica of Jens Bunge; and the beating heart of Hong Kong DrumJam, Kumi Masunaga, on percussion.
The sleeve has screen-printed by hand somewhere in a decaying street market by our good friends at ChinaStylus.com, and, like the music, it is also heavily influenced by the brash punk/dub ethos of the late ’70s – as a reflection of that, it is LP size, i.e. 12″ x 12″ – and good enough to hang on a wall.
Download the sleeve here.


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In July 2007, a specially convened task force of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that size does in fact matter (FDA 2007). The focus of the task force was not on the importance of “largeness”, but rather on the technology of the unimaginably small—nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology is the technology of manipulating matter at near-atomic levels; typically, but not exclusively, within the size range of 1 – 100 nanometers. Working at this scale, it becomes possible to combine materials in ways and forms unimaginable more than a few decades ago. Imagine the contrast between eighteenth century surgery and modern microsurgery, and you begin to get an idea of what this emerging technology offers.
According to the FDA task force, “properties of a material relevant to the safety and (as applicable) effectiveness of FDA-regulated products might change repeatedly as size enters into or varies within the nanoscale range”. But as Professor James Moor and Professor John Wecker point out in the Spring 2007 edition of Medical Ethics [PDF, 805 KB], nanotechnology not only raises safety and regulatory issues, but ethical questions as well (Moor and Wecker 2007).
At the heart of the buzz surrounding nanotechnology is its potential to extend what can be achieved with conventional technologies, and the tantalizing possibility of developing radical new technologies. Nanotechnology is not so much a specific technology as a new way of doing things, or a new technological tool kit. In the words of Moor and Wecker, “[n]anotechnology offers us the general capability of material malleability”.
The idea of engineering at the nanoscale conjures up images of everyday mechanical objects shrunk to the scale of molecules; nano-gears, nano-engines, even nano-machines—conventional engineering, but at a miniscule scale. Such nano-engineering would enable us to build complex devices from handfuls of atoms, increasing the performance and utility of human-scale products. It would also help use limited resources expediently—making products molecule by molecule, with minimal waste. In other words, this is a vision of nanotechnology that would emulate the biological world and lead to a synthetic biology; augmenting existing natural nano-machines and “molecular assemblers” that have evolved over billions of years, with an inorganic counterpart over which we have full control.
Eric Drexler envisaged such a world in his book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (Drexler 1986). Yet, while some of these concepts may one day become a reality, the nanotechnology of today looks very different. Returning to the idea of engineering at the nanoscale, the chemist and Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley is credited with describing nanotechnology as “the art and science of building stuff that does stuff at the nanometer scale”. Scientists and technologists alike are drawn to nanotechnology because of the unconventional behavior exhibited by many nanoscale materials, and their ability to “do stuff” in ways conventional materials do not. As atoms and molecules are formed into nanoscale structures, intrinsic material properties like conductivity, transparency and chemical reactivity diverge from those observed in the constituent molecules or the bulk material.
But engineered nanomaterials can also demonstrate unconventional behavior that is associated with extrinsic attributes like size and shape. For instance, engineering a material as discrete nanometer-diameter particles might make it easier to incorporate into products, deliver to specific areas of use, or substantially increase the surface area to mass ratio. In these cases, the intrinsic physical and chemical properties of the engineered nanomaterial are not necessarily scale-specific, but the ways in which the material is used are.
The scale-specific behavior of engineered nanomaterials takes on a special significance in interactions with biological systems and processes. Biology is inherently nanoscale, and purposely-engineered nanoscale materials allow the possibility of modulating biological processes at a fundamental level. Nano-bio interactions may result from scale-specific physical and chemical properties intrinsic to some nanoscale materials. But they may just as likely result from nanoscale materials having access to biological processes that are inaccessible to larger scale materials.
In this way, nanotechnology provides a high-precision tool kit for exploring and influencing living systems. The biological utility of nanotechnology is demonstrated effectively through its use in potential cancer treatments. Researchers at Rice University for example are combining the scale-dependent photonic properties of nanometer-thick gold shells, with the size-dependent biological properties of nanoscale particles, to create composite particles capable of preferentially treating tumors. Gold-coated nanometer-diameter silica particles are introduced into the bloodstream, from where they preferentially pass through the leaky vasculature around tumors. Once sufficient material has accumulated around the diseased cells, irradiating the particles with a laser tuned to the gold nanoshells causes localized heating, destroying the growth while leaving healthy tissue unharmed (O’Neal, Hirsch et al. 2004).
Going a step further, researchers at the University of Michigan are developing multifunctional nanoparticles for treating specific cancers. Starting with generic nanoparticles, various functional components are added: ligands that attach to specific biological targets; contrast agents to allow particles to be tracked round the body; and sensitizing agents, enabling particles to receive and respond to external signals. With these components, nanoparticles are being developed that selectively target and destroy cancer cells, while minimally impacting the rest of the body (Koo, Fan et al. 2007).
From relatively simple nanotechnology applications to the possibilities of synthetic life, nanotechnology provides us with tools for developing radical new processes and products. And with these tools come the social and ethical responsibilities to use them wisely. Concerns have already been expressed over potential new risks to humans and the environment that nanoscale-specific material behavior present. Little is known about how nanomaterials released into the environment will be transported, transformed and accumulated, or their impact on sensitive ecosystems (Oberdörster, Oberdörster et al. 2005). Animal studies have demonstrated that nanoscale particles can enter and be transported within bodies in ways that larger particles cannot, and research suggests some nanomaterials are more potent in organs such as the lungs than their larger scale counterparts (Oberdörster, Stone et al. 2007). There are also early indications that nanoscale materials might interfere with protein conformation, and even lead to enhanced fibrillation rates in proteins associated with amyloid diseases such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers (Linse, Cabaleiro-Lago et al. 2007).
Studies remain inconclusive as to what might make nanomaterials harmful and what can be done to avoid harm. Recommendations have been made for better-focused and funded strategic research (e.g. Maynard, Aitken et al. 2006). But the responsible use of nanotechnologies will depend on more than good risk management. In their article, Moor and Wecker suggest that nanotechnology has the potential to raise one of the ultimate ethical and medical issues: therapy versus enhancement. At what point do we cross the line between restorative biocompatible materials and implanted sensors (for instance), and the enhancements such technologies will offer to healthy individuals?
Already, there is serious discussion on how nanotechnologies might extend a person’s lifespan, or even be used to enhance an individual’s intelligence (Roco and Bainbridge 2003). But the ethical issues raised by nanotechnology go further: Who will receive the benefits of these new technologies, and who will pay the price? Will nanotechnologies widen social, economic and cultural divides, or close them? What are the implications of research into emulating biological systems? And what are the consequences of not grasping the opportunities being offered by nanotechnology?
Many of these issues are not unique to nanotechnology, but as Moor and Wecker intimate, the possibilities that nanotechnologies offer to do things differently throw them into sharp relief. Nanotechnology has the potential to improve living standards around the world, and offers solutions to some of the most pressing challenges we face: renewable energy, plentiful supplies of clean water, effective treatments for cancer, to name just three. If our aim is to improve quality of life and do good, it would be irresponsible and even unethical to deny the world what nanotechnology has to offer. Yet this potential for good must be weighed against the very real possibilities of causing harm, widening equity imbalances and reducing autonomy. A future without nanotechnology would be a poorer, harsher place. But a world where nanotechnology is not developed within a clear ethical and social framework could be immeasurably worse. Either way, we have a challenge on our hands to move forward responsibly. When it comes to navigating through the implications of emerging technologies on our lives, size, it would seem, really does matter.
Drexler, E. (1986). Engines of creation: The coming era of nanotechnology. New York, Anchor Books.
FDA (2007). Nanotechnology. A report of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Nanotechnology Task Force. Washington DC, Food and Drug Administration.
Koo, Y. E. L., W. Fan, et al. (2007). “Photonic explorers based on multifunctional nanoplatforms for biosensing and photodynamic therapy.” Applied Optics 46(10): 1924-1930.
Linse, S., C. Cabaleiro-Lago, et al. (2007). “Nucleation of protein fibrillation by nanoparticles.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. doi:10.1073/pnas.0701250104.
Maynard, A. D., R. J. Aitken, et al. (2006). “Safe handling of nanotechnology.” Nature 444(16): 267-269.
Moor, J. H. and J. Wecker (2007). “Nanotechnology and nanoethics.” Medical Ethics 14(2): 1-2.
O’Neal, D. P., L. R. Hirsch, et al. (2004). “Photo-thermal tumor ablation in mice using near infrared-absorbing nanoparticles.” Cancer Letters 209(2): 171-176.
Oberdörster, G., E. Oberdörster, et al. (2005). “Nanotoxicology: An emerging discipline evolving from studies of ultrafine particles.” Environ. Health Perspect. 13 (117): 823-840.
Oberdörster, G., V. Stone, et al. (2007). “Toxicology of nanoparticles: A historical perspective.” Nanotoxicology 1(1): 2 – 25.
Roco, M. C. and W. S. Bainbridge, Eds. (2003). Converging technologies for improving human performance. Nanotechnol;ogy, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science. Norwell MA, USA, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
First published in the Lahey Clinic Medical Ethics Journal, Fall 2007 [PDF, 215 KB]

domain: chemistry


Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003: report of the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, on H.R. 4546, together with additional and dissenting views (including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office).
U.S. G.P.O., 2002 - History
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As one of California’s few LGBTQ mayors, Emeryville’s John Bauters says June, the month of Pride, is difficult for him.
Bauters often feels torn. He wants to continue to be a role model for aspiring queer politicians but worries that “if I was to make visible all the things that I was exposed to, I’m afraid more LGBT people would not run for office.”

domain: sociology