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Third Time Lucky ~ Late April 2015
We’ve just come out of the Gordon River after a third look for that elusive bridge, or that’s the excuse we have used each time to immerse ourselves in some of Earth’s greatest rainforest. In addition to enjoying the beauty and adventure, we have been on a mission to try and find a lost historical track through the SW forest that leads to an immense button grass plain. Daunting is a mild description of the task.
This time we took our base camp deep into rich forest and set it up next to two Huon pines nearly a thousand-year-old left behind by the piners. From there, every day for three days on the trot we pushed further into thick growth, tagging, and clearing away enough for an experienced person to follow. Maybe next season there will be others who can open the track up so that students and less able folk can have the experience.
Before starting this journey, Jude’s seventieth whizzed past in one fun night, celebrated with west coast friends then next day a rather large high pressure cell appeared on our weather charts. Hoping it would produce perfect winds to sail back to South Australia, we began preparing Banyandah for her Southern Ocean voyage. A last round of socials added fun between chores while the high pressure bubble edged closer. Meanwhile, racing up from below sixty south, a deepening low pressure cell with a whip shaped cold front swept menacingly towards Tasmania’s west coast.
Then from out the blue our phone rang one morning. “Hi Jack. Will you guys be in Tasmania next Thursday?” a friendly voice we’d had fun with in the past asked. Stammering a bit I laid out the facts. “Actually it looks like we sail the day before. Why?”
Dave and Jenny had been the caretakers maintaining the fishing resort on Dirk Hartog Island when we happened along in 2007. Perched on the outer edge of Western Australia’s Shark Bay, it’s where the first European landed in 1616. Dave, an expert off road handler, gave us a memorable tour over mountainous sand dunes to surf torn steep cliffs that will always live vividly in our hall of fame. Over the years we’ve had other fun encounters that have irrevocably entwined our lives. Nevertheless the weather gods must not be ignored. The Southern Ocean must be respected.
The weather gods love having fun with us mere mortals as we dabble on Earth, changing climate. Wondering whether we humans will ever get it together and cohabitate with all life must have brought on a particularly boring moment because all of a sudden the whip like front began pushing up mountainous waves. Geez! 10 to 13 metre monsters were coming to pound Tasmania’s western shores, and worse, the wind looked like ending before it even got going. Yiks! No wind and monstrous seas must have seemed a bad idea because I had one of those sleepless nights living the voyage and woke up not liking it one bit. So, next morning I’m phoning Jenny and Dave suggesting we meet at the last stop the local tour boat makes in the Gordon River. Jude knew what was in my mind – yet another excursion up the Gordon to look for that elusive bridge. She was keen too. And why not? If it would be windless at sea, it’d be dry and lovely in the forest following that whip of bad weather. Even better, I figured the whip preceding the deluge would power us down harbour. So lickety-split, we had a plan.
Within twenty-four hours we were alongside the empty dock at Sir John Falls feeling like we were visiting an old friend. We’d spent half the summer alongside this magical outpost and easily imagined being there forever – that is, if the water wasn’t so dang cold. For sure the river was ours. No one comes up this late in April. The Franklin rafting tours are over and Trevor’s Stormbreaker season ended the week before.
A massive amount of equipment and supplies began to pile up as our two person Macpac Celeste tent, down feather sleeping bags, kitchen and provisions were dug out. Jack says I’m a pro, knowing just what to bring. My menu is simple. Breakfast cereal with an assortment of dried fruit. Lunches are based on a choice of crackers spread with a selection of hard and soft cheese, peanut butter, tiny tins of red salmon or flavoured tuna. We’ll often have a warming soup entrée upon getting back to camp in our sweat soaked walking shirts, sipping the hot drinks while keeping on the move so they dry a bit while we make preparations for the night. Our dinner is basically centred round a packaged pasta meal or couscous with additives like tuna, nuts, or lentils, or for Jack sliced salami. Veggies feature in the evening meal. A few bits of fresh broccoli, sweet potato, zucchini, or carrot go a long way. And I have a way of boiling up minute noodles then frying them with veggies and a fresh egg, carried in a plastic tub, before adding soy or sliced chilli. Simple and yummy. Plus plenty of hot beverages and the inevitable cask of red wine to drown the day’s pains or celebrate our achievements.
We eat well but we also look after our safety with a passion. Why spoil the fun with a medical emergency that might risk our lives, or the lives of others sent to rescue ill prepared explorers. We carry a custom built bush medical kit developed over our many years of adventuring together. This habit began from a wedding gift, a comprehensive first aid kit put together by doctor friends at the hospital where I trained when we took off overland on our honeymoon through Africa. This mini kit goes with us whenever we leave the boat in isolated places and it saved me when I fell and broke my leg in the Kimberley. There are some very powerful drugs in that small watertight container, as well as sutures, saline, burn ointment, and much more. And a strong crepe bandage is always stuffed somewhere handy. We always carry a personal location beacon (PLB) and this trip Jack was carrying our Yellowbrick which transmits our position as well as send messages via the Iridium Satellite network. He thought it would be cute to see our forest positions displayed on our website, and each night after safely getting back to our camp we sent the kids a short message. With such modern technology, our grandkids can see where nanni and poppy go in the bush and it enthuses them about next winter’s camping with us.
Our mountain of supplies nearly doubled when we added our clobber. The terrain is wet and cold so we took multiple layers of mainly wool jumpers and shirts, a change of clothes for evening and a change out of boots. What’s missing? Oh yes, navigation gear; maps, two GPS, and a compass. Plus a handsaw to trim a bit around the camp and along the track.
Getting off to a good start is always top priority, but we weren’t off quickly this time as we had an unwelcome visitor in the night. While we slept aft, a rodent hip hopped down forward. Could have been a white tailed water rat. Who knows! But the critter left behind lots of scat while it tasted the bag of cereal, finding it to its liking. It also loved the candy selection lying on the settee because it devoured half a Mars Bar, leaving broad rough teeth marks in the chocolate. This brought up a real dilemma. We surely did not want to lock a hungry rodent inside Banyandah. They’ll sample just about anything, wiring, hoses, wood, as we found out long ago when we left our lady tied to a jetty in Borneo before flying off to the USA for a family visit. Four months later we returned to near disaster. Rats had swum to our anchor lines, climbed aboard, gnawed through the dorade vent mesh and had fallen into our main saloon. When opening the cabin doors, the stench and thick layer of poo absolutely shattered us. One demon even attacked our son when he went below. That wasn’t going to happen again, so every floor board was lifted and torches probed every dark corner searching for telltale scat. In the end, with some lingering uncertainty, we loaded our supplies and locked up our baby.
To gain access to the forest we first had to load our gear into Little Red to cross the flow of Cataract Creek where it enters the Gordon. Years ago, the jetty ran across this narrow bit connecting it to the track leading to the Forestry home site. Locals tell us an ultra conservative Ranger wanted to lock up the entire forest and let Nature reclaim the lot, and had the jetty rebuilt without the connection to the historical home site. Personally we think if you lock up wilderness, no one can connect with Nature, and more harmful economic decisions will likely be made. Don’t kill the adventure in us. Enough has been wiped out already. Let adventurous families and students in. In fact provide an informed guide. Let our youth feel the majesty and wonder of Nature and then they’ll respect and better protect it. It’s nonsense to think this area would ever be over used like the more accessible parts of Tasmania.
Getting our huge backpacks, Jack’s now weighing close to 20 kg, out the dinghy and onto the steep slope set off warning bells. In fact when lifting it onto his shoulders, he and his black brute nearly tumbled into the river. It was not only too tall, but obviously top heavy. Something set to cause him trouble. Mine’s more squat, nevertheless I keep my chest strap tight so as not to topple sideways.
While slowly climbing the eroded track leading to the home site the recognisable high pitched engine noise from Geoff’s floatplane swept down the river below us. This prompted us to drop our loads and return to give Geoff a heads up. We’d left a note for him taped to our cockpit window, but to be doubly sure he knew our plans we went back within earshot and Jack called out after his four passengers had disembarked. While they scanned the thick foliage for our voices, Geoff saw us and waved, then recovered the note that included a GPS position for our camp and where we’d left the keys to Banyandah. Throwing up his arms with an almighty thumbs up he shouted “good luck,” and we took off to retrieve our heavy loads.
I managed the uneven track fairly well. My walking stick is a steadying third leg and useful for testing underfoot firmness. What hampered us both were the numerous tree falls across the shoe road. The first one hung Jack up, his pack straps cutting deeply into his shoulders. To break free he had to drop to his knees then waddle under the limbs like a heavily laden duck. I didn’t fare better. Regaining our feet took heaps of effort now that our muscles have declined a titch in our mature years. I’m pretty sure this caused alarm in both of us as we wondered if we’d bitten off more than we could tackle. Nonsense! Just need to readjust our speed, and knuckle down to a laborious trudge up the steeper parts, and focus on the upcoming flatter bits previously cleared. That sums up our outward journey. Amazingly we accomplished the two to three kilometre walk to our chosen campsite in under three hours.
While Jude established her kitchen, testing it by making a hot cup of tea, I sorted a flat spot for our tent next to the two mature Huon Pines. Removing a couple of limbs of Horizontal blocking access across the site quickly opened up the area. Then by erecting a large fly provided bag storage space and shelter from dew or rain. It was really cosy. Meanwhile, just a short stroll through the bush Jude found a small pool of creek water, stained tea colour by the button grass tannin.
It took all afternoon to do this, then after eating early, soon after dark we crawled somewhat exhausted into our warm bags. Deep in rainforest with no moon it’s intensely dark. Scary dark. I awoke in the night hearing the thump of a wallaby, the rustle of some smaller creatures, then more alarmingly the yelp of something that was answered by the yelp of another, like a pack of hungry young Tassie Devils. Nah, I kept telling myself. Devils don’t attack! Yet a vision of the nasty canines in Avatar ran round my head while my bladder kept prodding me. And when I looked at that wall of absolute black, I remembered the old fellow found some years ago in Kelly Basin. Only bits of cloth and the top of his head were found. Jude tells me she also heard the wallabies, and a Southern Boo-book owl hoot, and next day delighted in seeing one up close.
When surrounded by closed-forest blackness it’s not easy to tell when the new day is coming. But the first titch of lightness on the tent’s sidewall had me up with my headlamp blazing every which way. Within thirty minutes I’d made tea for my lady and was on my second coffee with a bowl of cold cereal in front of me. Within an hour we were in our bush gear excited to blaze a new trail.
It’s so beautiful when totally surrounded by Nature that even the pesky wetness that’s everywhere fades into insignificance. Colourful mushrooms pop up on the mossy limbs and the ambience is calming. Here creation lives together, dependent on the other, a confused but somehow orderly Earth, immensely reassuring in man’s crazy world. Fabulous Nature carrying on without one thought to our madness.
In a previous trip we had found and tagged a further two hundred metres of track, but knew from there on we’d have to search for hints of where the historical track ran. Nature marches on relentlessly, as it has since this track had last been commercially used in the early 80s. Look to your own garden for confirmation. Quadruple that untended growth then add tree fall.
At waypoint 348LAS, our last tape, there are two massive Huon Pine stumps overgrown with rich green moss thickly covering what is still hard viable timber. Jack pushed into the forest beyond these stumps and eventually found what to his eyes had been a track through mature Manuka, also known as tea tree. Their trunks dripping with shedding bark was reasonably clear beneath them. Drier now, the wet moss had suddenly ended. Without our knowing, those two massive Huon Pine stumps were the last Huons we’d see. Making a tunnel running through the Manuka, Jack followed his compass while I tied bits of pink ribbon at strategic points within sight of the last so we’d more easily find our way home.
We’d love to report that the first day took us all the way to our destination but that was not so. We did pass through deep wet gullies, climbed small ridges, got foiled by a creek chasm, but eventually ate a late lunch under an enormous Eucalyptus that probably lost its head during one of those famous west coast storms. Dubbed Big Headless, he became that day’s turnaround waypoint. We’d had a grand day walking slippery wet rotting logs, got lost more than once, saw hundreds of the most gorgeously coloured fungi, and greatly enjoyed the adventure of exploring and mapping a mostly open passage that took us halfway to our target.
Which brings up the question of where were we trying to get? And how did all this begin?
Well, we’re passionate about re-finding these old historic tracks before they’re completely obliterated, particularly as Parks’ funding has dwindled to such low levels that minor attractions are ignored. A few years ago a team of us cleared the track that brought Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin across from the east coast in 1842, and Parks gave us approval to maintain it. A really smart decision. With several locals keen to preserve these, we’ve formed an informal group hoping to encourage and teach bush skills and folklore to others.
Just after returning from the Hobart Wooden Boat Festival in early February, we had a dinner party on board for friend Ronnie. He’s a patriarch of one of Strahan’s oldest families who came here from Victoria in 1900 to harvest Huon and King Billy Pines. A generous and multitalented gentleman, nothing is too much trouble for him. He can build timber vessels, work metal, and drive all sorts of craft. But that’s not all. He knows the bush. Knows the Huon Piners history. Knows all the families involved and where the old ones had their camps. A down to earth bloke, he’s a recent star in ‘Two Men in a Punt’ Garry Kerr’s latest movie which we helped produce fifteen months ago right here in the Gordon.
Ronnie likes to talk about the rich history of this area, his admiration of those bygone days pouring out, story after story. Over dinner he began talking about the old shoe road that ran from Goulds Landing to his family’s leases near the Rocky Sprent. Cut in 1860 when the state’s Geological Surveyor Charles Gould first explored the west for resources, it became the lifeline for the piners, and then the supply link for Tasmania Hydro. Ronnie’s eyes lit up when Jack told him that he’d seen obvious remnants of the track where it ran through the button grass plains in Google Earth photos.
We were getting set to wander down harbour, so exploring the home site and Goulds track went to the top of our list. That must have inspired Ronnie because next morning, saying he’d been up most of the night, he returned with a list of track waypoints he’d established while examining the Google Earth Satellite images. Brimming with suppressed excitement, he also claimed to have found a bridge! Together we looked at his screenshots and had to agree that there was something which might be a bridge across a small creek, heavily overgrown as it would be after eighty years in a wet forest. Finding a bridge would create a destination, a focal point, so we were keen to give that a go.
We had never been up to the Forestry home site. Not sure why. Maybe we lost interest when we heard that a lady off another yacht got lost in the jungle above Sir John Falls. Imagining her calls echoing through the night forest makes a lasting impression. Add the fact that it’s so hard to get onto the overgrown track now that the jetty has been rebuilt. Across Cataract Creek, it’s dinghy access then a clamber onto a steep heavily vegetated slope.
Our first trip tied alongside Sir John Falls started badly by choosing the wrong landing spot. A rotten branch broke and Jude nearly fell in. Somehow we managed the track up, squishing through mud under fallen trees and pushing through thickly overgrown bracken to find the old house site. From the moment we entered that area we became entranced by the huge amount of history we’d read and been told about. In the stillness of that lonely, beautiful location we could hear mustered horses neigh, men calling to each other while chaff packs on horseback swayed away to start along the shoe-road taking supplies to the piners. With some effort, amongst the fallen trees we found the old shoe road slightly up the shallow bowl, and after crawling under fallen trees yet again, managed a few hundred metres to gaze back and instantly have our imaginations run riot. Others should have that experience. The interplay between lush Nature and man’s efforts strongly impressed us. In a vision we saw the track cleared to become an easy gradient walk through some of Earth’s grandest rainforest.
The Bridge? Well! On the last day we finally got to its position as shown on Google Earth. Jude and I had suspected long before arriving in that creek that there would not be a bridge. We saw that there were no trees to harvest after those last two massive Huon stumps. Therefore the track was no longer a shoe road to drag logs along, but rather a packhorse track. Packhorses would have walked across small creeks. The lush thick rainforest about the stream would obstruct a satellite presenting a concise image, so to be certain, we searched up and downstream for a hundred metres, not sighting anything unnatural. So the question has been resolved. No bridge.
Nevertheless we have established a route through a large difficult forest to a creek where just on the other side begins a massively large button grass plain that runs practically all the way to the Rocky Sprent River. Trees do not grow on a button grass plain and the sky is wide open, making travel considerably easier. Now that’s a destination worth considering for a future adventure. We also had a grand time together, tackling adversity, recording nearly a thousand images and several hours of HD video, and have memories to last forever plus we learned heaps. We love Earth all the more for it. What a summer this has been.


In today’s digital age, having a strong presence on social media is essential for businesses looking to connect with their target audience and grow their brand. But how do you effectively introduce your business on social media? In this article, we’ll explore practical examples and tips to help you make a memorable and impactful debut on popular social platforms.
Choose the Right Platforms
Before you begin introducing your business on social media, it’s crucial to select the right platforms that align with your target audience. For instance, LinkedIn is perfect for B2B networking, while Instagram or TikTok may be better for visual brands.
Example: If you’re a fitness apparel company, Instagram can help you showcase your products through stunning visuals and reach fitness enthusiasts effectively.
Create a Compelling Profile
. Ensure they are visually appealing, informative, and consistent across all platforms. Use a high-resolution profile picture, a captivating cover photo, and a concise and engaging bio that reflects your brand’s personality.
Example: A local bakery might use warm, inviting colors and mouth-watering images of their baked goods in their profile and cover photos.
Craft Engaging Content
One of the most critical aspects of introducing your business on social media is creating engaging content. This content can take various forms, including posts, videos, stories, and more. It should be relevant to your target audience and provide value, whether it’s entertainment, information, or inspiration.
Example: A technology company can post tutorials, product updates, and tech tips to educate and engage their audience.
Leverage User-Generated Content
User-generated content is authentic and can build trust among potential customers.
Example: A restaurant can repost photos of customers enjoying their meals, showcasing happy diners and delicious dishes.
Read also https://dailyorbitnews.com/world-news/
Q1: How often should I post on social media when introducing my business?
A1: The frequency of posting varies by platform.. On Facebook, 3-5 posts per week are sufficient. Focus on quality over quantity.
Q2: Should I use paid advertising when introducing my business on social media?
A2: Paid advertising can be beneficial to reach a broader audience quickly. Consider using it, especially when you’re just starting, to increase your visibility.
Q3: What are some common mistakes to avoid when introducing a business on social media?
A3: Avoid overposting, neglecting engagement with your audience, and not being consistent in your brand messaging. It’s also important to avoid controversial topics that may alienate your audience.
Introducing your business on social media can be a game-changer for your brand’s visibility and growth. By choosing the right platforms, crafting compelling profiles, and consistently producing engaging content, you’ll be on your way to building a strong online presence. Additionally, incorporating user-generated content can foster trust and authenticity, which is crucial for long-term success. Now, take these tips, implement them, and watch your business flourish in the digital world.


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Jon Flanagan’s best two moments for Liverpool v Spurs in GIFs & individual highlights
Liverpool fans are marvelling at the performances of the left back who appears to be a key reason why Brendan Rodgers’ side are challenging for the Premier League title.
And, Flanagan has saved his best performances for the games against Tottenham.
The young Liverpool no-nonsense defender scored against Spurs at White Hart Lane and set up Philippe Coutinho’s third yesterday with a brilliant turn that bamboozled Aaron Lennon.
Then, there was that tackle on Roberto Soldado, which can only be described as CRUNCHING!
Jon Flanagan’s Liverpool highlights versus Spurs can be seen below.
Watch Live Stream
- Liverpool benchwarmer Simon Mignolet jokes about his new role (Instagram Video)October 21, 2016
- Liverpool’s top 10 best cheeky chips & lobbed goals (official video)October 21, 2016
- Liverpool v West Brom: Premier League preview, line-ups & predictionsOctober 21, 2016
- Patrice Evra buries the hatchet with Luis Suarez by congratulating the forward [Instagram]October 20, 2016

domain: news


Stanislav Petrov: The man who may have saved the worldBreaking News
tags: Cold War, nuclear weapons
Thirty years ago, on 26 September 1983, the world was saved from potential nuclear disaster.
In the early hours of the morning, the Soviet Union's early-warning systems detected an incoming missile strike from the United States. Computer readouts suggested several missiles had been launched. The protocol for the Soviet military would have been to retaliate with a nuclear attack of its own.
But duty officer Stanislav Petrov - whose job it was to register apparent enemy missile launches - decided not to report them to his superiors, and instead dismissed them as a false alarm.
This was a breach of his instructions, a dereliction of duty. The safe thing to do would have been to pass the responsibility on, to refer up.
But his decision may have saved the world....
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domain: finance


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Katherine Fitzgerald, a UNC graduate and current graduate student at Arizona State University, made the news this week after tweeting that she would donate to the Flint water crisis in Michigan for every point that Miles Bridges scored in Duke’s game against the Michigan State Spartans Tuesday night. Staff Writer Paige Nehls spoke with Fitzgerald, who said the tweet was a reaction to a Duke fan holding a sign that read “The water tastes better in North Carolina.”
The Daily Tar Heel: What made you decide to donate the money?
Katherine Fitzgerald: I didn’t really think much about it. It just seemed really natural in that, like timing-wise, it was Giving Tuesday, so I was seeing people talking about that all day with different causes to support. And also, you know, it was coming right after Thanksgiving, and I had seen a few people talking about like during Thanksgiving, there was that one tweet about a lady who needed 166 water bottles just to try to have a normal Thanksgiving. So, I’d definitely been thinking about Flint more recently, and then just seeing that happen right after on a day that people were donating anyway, just seemed so natural.
DTH: How did you hear about the Duke fan's sign?
KF: I had been planning on watching the game anyway, but I hadn’t had it up yet. I was just following the pre-game stuff on Twitter and I saw a few sports writers from the Triangle mentioning it. When I saw the first tweet about it, there was no picture and I was just kind of like shocked, like 'Oh maybe he misheard it or something,' I kind of thought it was a cheer. Then I saw the picture actually of the sign from some of the sports writers who were there, and there were other people on Twitter kind of condemning it right away — not just Carolina fans, I know Duke fans were upset about it, too. So there was backlash right away. So for me, I think with social media it’s easy to let someone know when they’re wrong, but I didn’t want to just stop there, like "Oh this Duke fan is terrible." I wanted to move it forward into actually making a difference and not just, you know, calling out a Duke fan, but helping the root problem.
DTH: Has anyone reached out to you to help?
KF: Social media is really powerful in the sense that it spreads so quickly. Right away, some of my initial tweets about it got picked up by the UNC humor account and by Michael Hardison, he’s a good friend of mine … so once he retweeted it, a lot of other people kind of started jumping on board. There were a lot of other J-school alums who reached out about it, and it just started reaching out to more and more people … It was a lot of good support from people I knew at UNC who also have large followings on social media … and I think that really is what helped this spread.
DTH: How much money did you expect to raise?
KF: I don’t know that I had a goal right when I tweeted. I obviously was hoping more people would kind of do it as well, but I was surprised at how much it kept going. Some people were tweeting back their receipts to show what they did. People were also tweeting the different amounts that they donated … Just from like the first night, I think that it was at least $300.
DTH: Have you been involved with other Flint water crisis relief efforts?
KF: Sometimes it’s easy to forget about what happened there, or it was never something that never directly affected me, and it’s also shocking to me that it lasted and it’s still happening. I think a lot of people thought that it would just get fixed, so I know that I’m just as guilty as not doing as much as I could have … I think a lot of people knew what was happening in Flint was wrong, but this was a final kick in the butt to get people to donate. I think what’s most important about this is now that the sign is gone and the game is past — for people to not go back to totally forgetting about Flint.
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domain: sociology


Here you can find track previews from release Con la Gente Que Me Gusta - Single by artist A Dos Velas. This album was released 28.12.2016 and containing 1 tracks. Listen online A Dos Velas - Con la Gente Que Me Gusta - Single previews (30 seconds length) is free and don't require registration. For buy album A Dos Velas - Con la Gente Que Me Gusta - Single please follow to music stores. If we have other releases and albums A Dos Velas you can see it on this page. All music content by A Dos Velas is presented for reference only.


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Mysuru: The tourist places in and around the city including Palaces, Hills, Temples and Waterfalls is likely to see a spurt in visitors during the ensuing Dasara.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is gearing up to extend the darshan of these places from a mere four days last year to 14 days this year to the visitors by giving them the facilities at concessional rates.
“Just like last year, this year too the one-day package consisting of Jaladarshini, Giridarshini and Devadarshini will be introduced at concessional fares. Depending on the demand from the tourists, number of buses will be increased.”
– M.Vasu, KSRTC Divisional Controller (Rural)
In the last couple of years, the KSRTC used to arrange the visits to places of tourist interests in the city and in the neighbouring districts during Dasara. It would organise the one-day ‘Darshini’ tour to all these places. This year too, the Darshini Durbar will continue. This is the first time excluding the Jumboo Savari day, the Darshini has been arranged for 14 days.
Realising that October 1 is a Sunday, Oct. 2 is Gandhi Jayanti and Oct. 5 Valmiki Jayanti, and it could be an extended holiday period, the KSRTC, expecting a huge Dasara rush, has decided to continue the Dasara Darshini tour till Oct. 5.
Normally during Dasara season in order to introduce the tourists to waterfalls, ‘Jaladarshini,’ for the places of worship, ‘Devadarshini’ and to see the hills, ‘Giridarshini’ packages had been introduced. The KSRTC’s plan of Darshini visits started gaining popularity year after year. Hence, this year too more tourists are likely to be attracted at this innovative idea of KSRTC.
Jaladarshini: In the Jaladarshini package, the tourists can visit Cauvery Nisarga Dhama in Dubare Forest at Kushalnagar (Golden Temple in Bylakuppe included in this package), Abby Falls, Harangi, KRS dam and return the same night to Mysuru. The 350-km package will cost Rs. 375 per adult and Rs. 190 per child.
Giridarshini: In the Giridarshini plan, Gopalaswamy Betta (Hill) in Gundlupet taluk in Chamarajanagar District, Biligiriranganabetta, Nanjangud and Chamundi Hill will be covered. The rate of ticket per adult is Rs. 350 and for a child Rs. 175 to cover a distance of 325 kms.
Devadarshini: The temple tour package includes visit to Nanjangud’s Nanjundeshwara temple, Talakad, Bluff, Mudukutore, Srirangapatna, KRS and return to Mysuru. The total distance covered will be 250 kms and the rate per adult is Rs. 275 and for a child Rs. 140.
The buses will leave every day at 6.30 in the morning from the Rural Bus Stand and the City Bus Stand and return by 9.30 in the night. The tickets will be available online or also at the counters to be opened at the bus stands.
More than 1000 tourists: Last year this special package was introduced and 11 trips each were done in Jaladarshini and Giridarshini packages and six trips in Devadarshini package. Nearly 1000 visitors had made use of these Darshini tours.
There was good response to these tours in a very short period. This year the tours will begin from the beginning of Navarathri festival and end five days after the Jumboo Savari, hence benefiting more number of tourists.


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Ian McGuire is an old friend of mine from graduate school, but that fact should not lead you to take my praise for his novel, The North Water, lightly. He has written an exciting, dark, violent novel that will appeal to readers who like historical fiction as well as those looking for a bit of adventure reading.
The novel primarily follows Patrick Sumner, an Irish doctor who is dishonorably discharged from the army and tries to restart his life as a whaling ship’s doctor with the whaling fleet in northern England. Among the crew he meets on the Volunteer is Henry Drax who is among the most depraved and evil characters you’ll read in a contemporary novel. Driven by nothing more than his next desire, Drax is a dark coldness that is far more frightening than anything the arctic waters can dish out.
The book is set at the end of the whaling industry’s life, and whales are few and far between in the north waters. It turns out the captain and boat’s financier have ulterior plans, but Drax and, in a different way, Sumner, turn those plans awry. How McGuire handles all the twists in this plot is half the fun of reading this novel.
The other half the fun is McGuire’s deft writing. Here he describes Sumner as he tracks a polar bear:
The bear’s sharp, snakelike head is upraised; its broad body, heavy-shouldered and vast across the withers, stands fixed and certain. Sumner, shielding his eyes from the falling snow, takes a slow step forwards, then stops. The bear is unconcerned. It sniffs the ground, then turns in a slow pacing circle, ending where it began. Sumner stands and watches. The bear comes closer, but he doesn’t move away. He can see the texture of its coat now, the dark semi-quadrants of its claws against the snow. The bear yawns once, bares his fangs, and then, without warning or obvious purpose, rears upwards on its hind limbs like a circus animal and dangles for a moment, suspended like a limestone obelisk against the pelting, moon-stained sky.
The tension of the moment is reflected in McGuire’s alternation between long and short sentences, and his precise descriptions further serve to build the suspense. His writing is equally taut when describing an exciting moment at sea or among the seedy locales of a seaside village. Indeed, anyone who enjoys a bit of excitement in a novel is bound to enjoy The North Water.

domain: artistic


The Automotive Torque Vectoring Market is primarily driven by the increased demand for luxury and performance vehicles (including SUVs, crossovers, and off-highway vehicles). The automotive torque vectoring market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20.01% from 2018 to 2025. From a market size of USD 5.22 billion in 2018, it is projected to reach a market size of USD 18.70 billion by 2025.
The major players in the torque vectoring market for automotive are GKN (UK), American Axle (US), Dana (US), BorgWarner (US), Eaton (Ireland), ZF (Germany), JTEKT (Japan), Getrag (Canada), Bosch (Germany), Univance (Germany), Schaeffler (Germany), Timken (US), Ricardo (UK), and Oerlikon Graziano (Italy).
The global market has been segmented on the basis of vehicle type, technology, propulsion, EV type, clutch actuation type, and region. Europe region is projected to be the largest market in this market because of the presence of many developed countries such as Germany, the UK, France, and Spain, which account for a considerable share of the European automotive industry. The market is dominated by established OEMs such as BMW AG (Germany), Daimler AG (Germany), Fiat (Italy), PSA/Peugeot-Citroen (France), Jaguar Land Rover (UK) and the Volkswagen Group (Germany).
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AWD/4WD is estimated to be the largest as well as the fastest-growing segment of the global market during the forecast period. The AWD/4WD segment is mainly driven by growing demand for SUVs, increasing demand for improved vehicle safety, stability, and enhanced driving dynamics. The AWD/4WD systems find their application mostly in the premium car segment and SUVs. Improving economic conditions, increasing industrialization, and the improving living standards of consumers around the world have increased the demand for premium segment cars and SUVs.
The electronic clutch actuation type is enjoying greater adoption rate owing to its better efficiency, unlike the hydraulic clutch. The electronic clutch serves the requirements of the mechanical components with more efficiency and durability. Also, it helps in improving the overall fuel efficiency with high accuracy and hence, fulfills several stringent emission norms that is the major factor leading toward the adoption of such components in vehicles.
In the electric vehicle segment, HEVs have the largest market share in terms of volume. HEVs are premium vehicles in terms of their price range and the features offered, and they have higher fuel economy compared to the ICE variant of the same model. Japan is the leading country in terms of sales of hybrid vehicles owing to the presence of leading hybrid vehicle manufacturers such as Nissan and Toyota.
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• Automotive OEMs
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• Torque vectoring manufacturers


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When you first glance at pineberries you might think that they look like unripe strawberries, because they are often pale pink or white in color and resemble strawberries in shape and ease of growing. But these delicious fruits are something else entirely.
While they aren’t well known in home gardens, as gardeners become familiar with their unique flavor and appearance, more and more people are growing pineberries.
So, how do you plant and raise pineberries in your garden? Keep reading to find out.
What Are Pineberries?
Botanically classified as Fragaria x ananassa, pineberries are a hybrid of Chilean strawberries (F. chiloensis) and Virginia strawberries (F. virginiana). They were originally cultivated in South America but are most widely produced in the Netherlands.
They’re sometimes called “white strawberries,” but don’t confuse them with true white strawberries, Alpine (F. vesca), and Beach (F. chiloensis). In the Netherlands, they’re called ananaserdbeere.
Today, they appear in supermarkets and local markets all over the world. But, what makes pineberries different from the classic strawberry?
Pineberries may look like strawberries in shape, but they actually taste more like pineapples. Some cultivars are less sweet than others. If you’re considering growing this fruit at home, it might be a good idea to taste one first to ensure you like them!
Here is a list of the most common cultivars of pineberries:
- White Pine
- White Carolina
- Natural Albino
- White D
Each of these varieties of pineberries offers a slightly different harvest in terms of color, size, and flavor. For instance, ‘White Pine’ has that mild pineapple flavor that is characteristic of the fruit.
The ‘White Carolina’ cultivar has more of a pink color. ‘White D’ tends to have larger fruits than other plants while still retaining that mild pineapple flavor.
The newest variety on the market is the ‘Natural Albino’ which is very similar to the ‘White Pine’ in size and taste, with small berries and a mild flavor.
Despite not tasting like strawberries, this fruit requires a similar growing environment. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since they’re closely related. If you’ve grown strawberries before, you shouldn’t find it too difficult growing pineberries.
Before you can plant your pineberries, you need to find them first. They aren’t super common in most local nurseries. The good news is that you can find pineberry starts online. The most affordable option is to buy a bare-root plant or transplant in early spring.
Although you can find pineberry seeds, because this plant is a hybrid, seeds won’t grow true to the parent type. You must find bare roots, runners, or transplants. This plant grows well in USDA Growing Zones 4-8.
Putting Your Pineberry in the Ground
Ideally, you should plant your pineberry plant outdoors as this is where they will have more room to grow and lots of direct sunlight. However, it’s possible to grow pineberries indoors if you have the correct size of container and sun exposure.
Pineberries need at least six or more hours of sun per day, but ten or twelve hours is even better for their growth. That being said, they like colder climates so the temperature should be around 70°F.
As pineberries are prone to spreading, just like strawberries do, you might want to consider growing them in containers to keep a check on their size!
Otherwise, you can pick a nice spot in your garden. It’s important that your pineberry plant has well-draining soil that can be slightly sandy, or preferably, loamy, with a lot of organic matter.
Plant in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked. A little frost won’t hurt young plants, but they should be protected from a heavy freeze.
For pollination purposes, you must plant pineberries near strawberries or other pineberries That’s because these plants aren’t self-fruitful. They need a friend for pollination.
Begin by digging a hole the same depth and three times as wide as the bare root or container that the plant came in, and add a little extra space for future growth.
If you’re planning on growing several pineberry or strawberry plants in one location, leave a space of 18-24 inches between each plant.
Gently soak the soil before placing it in a container or in the ground. Then, cover the soil with mulch and you’re ready to go.
Caring for Pineberries
Of course, watering your pineberries should be at the top of your to-do list. The soil needs to be kept moist. That means you should be providing the soil with 1 to 1.5 inches of water every week.
During the warmer season in summer, you might have to increase this volume as the temperatures will be higher and your plant will need extra moisture.
Of course, most areas receive some rain, so it’s hard to tell exactly how much water your plants are receiving and how much you need to add. You can use a rain gauge or just stick your finger in the soil. If it feels dry to your first knuckle, add more water. You want the soil to feel like a well-wrung-out sponge.
An all-purpose fruit and veggie fertilizer is all you need to keep your berries happy. Apply once in the spring a few weeks after planting your plants, following the manufacturer’s directions.
Protect Your Plants
You can place a wire fence around the growing area to prevent unwanted animal visitors from destroying your harvest.
Heap mulch around the plants during the growing season. Mulch can be made out of straw, grass clippings, or wood chips and will help the soil retain moisture, suppress weeds, and protect from some diseases.
Add a thick layer of mulch during fall when temperatures drop to help protect the roots so the plant will return next year.
Common Pests and Diseases
When it comes to pests, there are a few common insects that like to munch on pineberry plants.
The two diseases that affect pineberry plants are strawberry viruses and grey mold. Even though strawberry viruses are often found on strawberry plants, they are common on pineberries too.
Aphids are small, sap-sucking insects that leave behind a sticky residue called honeydew. They can cause stunted growth, yellow leaves, and attract sooty mold. They can also spread diseases. Head to our guide to learn how to identify and eliminate these pests.
Slugs and Snails
Slugs and snails love strawberries and pineberries, and they’ll devour not only the leaves but the fruits as well. If you need some good snail control tips, we have a guide on controlling them using natural methods.
Root weevils are the larvae of snout beetles, and they eat away at plants underground. Suddenly your pineberries are sad and wilted and there’s no obvious reason why. If you suspect you have root weevils, our guide can help you get things back under control.
There are several viruses that attack pineberries, including: Strawberry Mild Yellow Edge, Strawberry Mottle Virus, and Raspberry Ringspot Virus. Here are the main symptoms of strawberry viruses:
- Yellow leaves
- Discolored spots
- Crinkled leaves
When buying, check the label of the plant to ensure it’s certified as virus-free. It’s vital you make sure you’re buying from a reputable seller! You should also keep pests out of your garden, as they spread viruses.
If your plant shows signs of this illness, you’ll have to destroy it as the disease can’t be cured.
Grey mold, also known as botrytis fruit rot, is another disease that infects pineberry plants. It’s caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea.
You can spot this disease by looking for brown decay on your fruit. The easiest way to prevent this disease is not overcrowding your plants when you put them in the ground. You should also remove any dead leaves and fruit from the previous growing season. Water at the soil level and not on the leaves, since this disease needs water to spread.
If it does strike, cut off infected areas.
Getting to the harvesting stage of growing pineberries is an exciting time as you’ll finally be able to enjoy their delicious flavor!
You’ll know that the fruit is ripe for picking when the spots all over the skin have turned from green to red. The color will also go from milky white to pink and white, or just light pink (depending on the cultivar). You can also give them a gentle squeeze. They should feel plump and juicy. This is when you know that your pineberries are ready for harvesting.
There are lots of ways to enjoy pineberries. Just like strawberries, you can add them to a smoothie, desserts, or just have them as a snack. Their sweet taste is enough to satisfy your sugar craving and offer as a treat for friends.
It’s best to keep the fruit in a cool area to retain its freshness. We have a guide on how to store strawberries, and pineberries can be stored in the same way.

domain: agronomy


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At Elite Skills Training Centre, we are passionate about providing a complete range of first aid training courses, ideal for construction, healthcare, aged care and childcare professions. Our fully-trained professionals will empower potential participants with the skills, apt knowledge and confidence to help people in an emergency. We are highly experienced and trained medical and emergency services professionals who will teach you the basics of first aid so that you can identify the medical emergency and manage the situation with your skills.
Levi Davis is a qualified and experienced first aid trainer with more than 10 years teaching and healthcare experience. He founded First Aid for Life Certificate from Australia’s leading institute and now teaches at our training centre. Levi is a renowned First aid expert, regularly appearing in the seminars and events related to medical emergency in Brisbane, Queensland. He gives lectures and training on accident prevention in the most engaging manner.
Samuel has been teaching first air courses for more than 12 years. He is one of our best trainers in the training centre- thanks to this great first aid knowledge. He has worked in many top-rated hospitals and healthcare centres, and that’s why he imparts practical knowledge to the potential students. Samuel Harris is known for his CPR training sessions and informative first-aid advice.
Clara is a trained and qualified orthopaedic and trauma physiotherapist and first aid trainer. She has over 8 years of clinical experience in both the hospitals and in the community working areas, such as paediatrics, aged care and child care organisations. Clara has gained knowledge and skills from her experience and she believes in boosting confidence among students while performing first aid services. Her training sessions are engaging, informative and practically very helpful.
Archie has a background of first aid professional in the construction industry. He has an ample knowledge of handling emergency situations and evaluating risk on the construction sites. He teaches courses, including CPCCOHS1001A-Work Safely in the Construction Industry, HLTAID003-Provide First Aid and HLTAID002-Provide basic emergency life support in our training centre. He has expertise teaching first aid practical lessons to volunteers, young students as well as experienced people.
Rose is a qualified and enthusiastic nurse, having 10 years of experience in critical care. She is an important part of our faculty and teaches first-aid courses, aged care and childcare courses to our skilled students. Her teaching skills and first-aid knowledge has benefited many young people in establishing a successful career in their respective fields. Rose can help you know the ways to handle emergency situations, casualties and other important aspects in her training sessions.
Ariana is a highly-trained and experienced Childcare expert in Brisbane, Queensland. She is our guest trainer who teaches early childhood development, and provides care sessions for infants, toddlers and young children. She is passionate about her work and has the potential to change our community. Ariana has also worked in various child development programs across Queensland. You can also learn basic to advanced knowledge to develop your childcare skills.
Justin is a certified first aid trainer who has been working with us since inception. His knowledge and professional background being in first aid genre has helped many youngsters in establishing a career in medical emergency industry. He takes pride in being able to convey his ample knowledge and practical learning while taking training sessions. Justin also takes online training classes during COVID-19 pandemic. If you want to join a profession of first aid officer, then enrol your name in one of our training courses.
Jacob Evans is a professional fire-fighter having around 12 years of experience in the first aid sector. He has joined our training centre in 2015 as a first-aid trainer. His training sessions are based on practical knowledge. He also teaches life support courses now. His passion, dedication and teaching skills made him one of the renowned trainers in our Elite Skills Training Centre.
For more than 6 years, Phoebe has been managing our training centre with precision. She has years of experience for being a responsible childcare and healthcare experts. She is also a qualified nurse and has been teaching students the early childhood development basics. She also provided training sessions to many renowned companies in Australia.
Jasper Hall has more than 7 years of experience in the aged care industry. He joined our training centre back in 2015 with the aim to empower people with basic aged care knowledge and skills. He is passionate about his work and provided caring services for the elderly people in the society. He teaches the basics that can help you get a desired job and sustain longer in the industry.

domain: health


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Jong-su bumps into a girl who used to live in the same neighborhood, who asks him to look after her cat while she's on a trip to Africa. When back, she introduces Ben, a mysterious guy she met there, who confesses his secret hobby.
Inspector Nick Cafmeyer seems to have it all - looks, brains and a successful career. But a dark cloud hangs over his life: since the age of nine, he has been haunted by the unsolved ... See full summary »
Geert Van Rampelberg,
Johan van Assche
Ivan Locke, a dedicated family man and successful construction manager, receives a phone call on the eve of the biggest challenge of his career that sets in motion a series of events that threaten his carefully cultivated existence.
Alarm dispatcher Asger Holm answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman. When the call is suddenly disconnected, the search for the woman and her kidnapper begins. With the phone as his only tool, Asger enters a race against time to save the endangered woman. But soon he realizes that he is dealing with a crime that is far bigger than he first thought.
Had the chance to see the movie weeks prior to its official release on ocotbre 18th here in Switzerland at the Zurich Film Festival.
I'm usually not a fan of crime/thriller movies but this one has earned a special place in my heart. The simple premise (police officer with troubling past, has to work at the emergency hotline, just when his shift ends a woman who is being abducted reaches his line, the chase begins) took me in immediately and didn't let up until the end credits showed. The movie has two main plots: The abducted woman and Asger Holm's (main character, police officer) past. In the beginning we do not know much about either plot, but as the movie goes on more and more secrecy is peeled off. Both stories have their climax at the very same moment and make that moment in the movie all the more dramatic.
So much about the plot, on to the cinematography and other technicalities:
The whole movie takes place in the emergency phone central of Kopenhagen Denmark and is filmed in two rooms, the main office and a smaller one desk room. Lots of closeups of the main character let us really get into his head. The story of the movie is told only through phonecalls that he makes to a number of people all involved in the abduction. The movie was shot in only 13 days, which makes the cinematography even more impressive; all the shots have a purpose and hit their beats excellently. Feelings and character development is mostly conveyed through facial expression and dialogue. The sound design is on par with the acting, exciting at highpoints and subtle in quiet moments but always present.
The plot stays quite unpredictable for a long time and even if you have a hunch, some details about it may still come as a surprise.
Very good first time experience, however I am unsure about the rewatchability. On the other hand I still like to rewatch Fightclub, Memento and Shutter Island as well.
68 of 91 people found this review helpful.
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text:
Welcome to our Cheekie Armchair Buyer's Guide.} If you like the concept of adding colour to your outdoor patio then continue reading. Since there are several distinct versions in the current market, we will highlight the best Cheekie Armchair your money can purchase while still getting an easy to set up and a sturdy umbrella without breaking the bank. We are going to have a look at the best selling models today but also highlight our recommendations and also include a buyer's guide with all the things to consider when researching for your next purchase.
Shopping guide for Cheekie Armchair
The best Cheekie Armchair regarding you would be the one that will works for your price range, offers solid construction, suits your space, and offers a method you'll love with regard to years. Even when you're not really thinking forever now, an individual can expect to possess a table no much less than five to twelve years. Five years is usually not a long period, said Pourny. If its your first stand, you may put it to use anywhere else after a number of years, so you require it to be very simple and sturdy plus a design you'll like for quite a while. very well So a small, high quality table might find some sort of place at home for decades to come.
Why you need the best Cheekie Armchair
When you are possessing your dinner with the household then you surely will be needing the comfort although eating and having a new Cheekie Armchair. This is just how you need the top Cheekie Armchair inside your kitchen. Right now there are a variety regarding chairs you can select from but you definitely can be wanting the Cheekie Armchair to your dining room that is where this Cheekie Armchair reviews will help an individual immensely. You should appear for the material of which suits you the most effective wager it metal, wood, plastic-type material or any other. Just about all the material holds a new specialty in them which in turn could be realized right after a certain point whilst visiting use.
The contemporary Cheekie Armchair offer a clean in addition to contemporary design as absolutely nothing looks great greater than a class of alike dining chair that are around typically the Cheekie Armchair. You can find these ergonomic chairs of any color involving your choice. As just about every house needs a central point or centerpiece in order to get a balanced design and style at home so of which it could look equally interesting and comfortable? It really is what a Cheekie Armchair all-around a table serves as. An individual can get a wonderful take care of installing these chair at your house.. Merely a minimalistic change from your house. could end up being great when you are usually having best Cheekie Armchairat your current home. There are many points that will show that are needed a cusine chair at the kitchen. And so get your hands with one of the top dining chairs for your own kitchen and enjoy coziness and joy while possessing dinner with your loved ones.
Cheekie Armchair Buyer's Guide
There will be a number of issues to seek out when selecting the right loveseat to the room or home if you're in. Factors such since size and in several cases weight need to be able to be regarded as well since the material and style that the loveseat characteristics. Based on what else will be in the room in addition to whether or not a person want it to always be a focal point throughout the room delete phrase will influence all associated with these factors.
How big a Cheekie Armchair is the very first thing the majority of people will want to be able to consider when dealing with which loveseats to buy. both precisely how much space you need to have while sitting down in it and exactly how significantly space is available for that Cheekie Armchair to occupy may affect this decision. The majority of loveseats around between forty five to 65 inches broad, yet , some are broader or narrower than this particular. If there is enough room for a larger seat additionally it is important to be able to consider how thick the particular Cheekie Armchair on the armrests are, as this can easily occasionally take up some sort of considerable amount of the particular actual sitting area associated with the Cheekie Armchair. When suitable this is mentioned inside the reviews for every seat as some car seats as wide as 65-inches are limited to simply 45-inches of actual relaxing space because of typically the layout of the armrests.
The material that Cheekie Armchair are created from can range coming from elegant leather to the soft velvet fabric, and even which one is perfect for you depends on typically the style you're going intended for and also what you locate most comfortable. In improvement, some materials are simpler to clean up than others thus this also need to be some sort of consideration for some individuals in case you have pets or youngsters.
Design and Decor
There are 3 main varieties of loveseat. Classic designs feature more noticable features for instance nailhead cut which are the tiny metallic rivets that will be sometimes on the entrance of the armrests in order to keep the Cheekie Armchair in position. More modern or modern day styles will feature quite bare and minimalist patterns with soft curves staying major of the design and style. Rustic designs, on typically the other hand, often function visible wood that provides a dark finish and even very simple Cheekie Armchair. Which often of these styles an individual go with will hinge on both personal style and exactly what more is in the area in which the loveseat is proceeding. A well-chosen loveseat may certainly pull an area with each other in an amazing method, while an out involving place loveseat will keep out in an in any other case well-decorated room.
Some Cheekie Armchair boast a number regarding extra features which may be essential to look out there for depending on precisely how you decide to use typically the seat. For example, a number of the seats on this kind of list can recline, which often is just the thing for putting inside of an entertainment center or even movie room setting, and even one even features a new center console with storage area space and cupholders. Several also feature fold-away bed frames or armrests which could twice as trackpads to get operate done on the computer system while sitting comfortably in the Cheekie Armchair.
Atwood Chesterfield Chair
Best Pick Atwood Chesterfield Chair
Lightweight, Comfortable, Affordable
Loveseats are becoming common sites in many houses. You will notice the furnishings piece in the lounge, hostel, studio room, apartments, dorm along with other locations. Individuals select this product because its quite simple in design and tends to make using it simple. They also like its flexible style which goes nicely with different home stylings, its portability and comfort. Finding a great method is challenging for most people particularly those buying it for the first time. Many have no idea what to look for within the item and end up purchasing a wrong piece. Reading this review, we believe after you are more knowledgeable concerning the best loveseats in the market. To come to this conclusion, our concentrate was around the crucial elements including the comfort, dimension, style, style, portability, sturdiness, building quality, maintenance ease, and reliability. And because you will observe from the rankings and customers reviews, these loveseats are without-a-question the best in the market.

domain: design


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In addition to the other massage therapy services shared, Good Health Massage therapists can assist you or your family with a host of other healing services:
Trigger Point Therapy
Four Hands Tandem Massage
Call us to discuss your desired services. We are happy to create a custom package to help you achieve your healthy lifestyle goals.


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cm401400m_si_002.cif (30.08 kB)
3D Open-Framework Vanadoborate as a Highly Effective Heterogeneous Pre-catalyst for the Oxidation of Alkylbenzenes
datasetposted on 2013-12-23, 00:00 authored by Hong Chen, Youqian Deng, Zhengbao Yu, Huishuang Zhao, Qingxia Yao, Xiaodong Zou, Jan-E. Bäckvall, Junliang Sun
Three three-dimensional (3D) open-framework vanadoborates, denoted as SUT-6-Zn, SUT-6-Mn, and SUT-6-Ni, were synthesized using diethylenetriamine as a template. SUT-6-Zn, SUT-6-Mn, and SUT-6-Ni are isostructural and built from (VO)12O6 B18O36(OH)6 clusters bridged by ZnO5, MnO6, and NiO6 polyhedra, respectively, to form the 3D frameworks. SUT-6 is the first vanadoborate with a 3D framework. The framework follows a semiregular hxg net topology with a 2-fold interpenetrated diamond-like channel system. The amount of template used in the synthesis played an important role in the dimensionality of the resulting vanadoborate structures. A small amount of diethylenetriamine led to the formation of this first 3D vanadoborate framework, while an increased amount of diethylenetriamine resulted in vanadoborates with zero-dimensional (0D) and one-dimensional (1D) structures. SUT-6-Zn was proved to be an efficient heterogeneous precatalyst for the oxidation of alkylbenzenes.

domain: chemistry


text:
The Automatic Suppressor
Video = none
Audio = Stream or Download from the dots
AKS/News Items = none
Summary = See Below
Diagrams = See Below in transcript , Diagram #41
Transcript = See Below
Excursion / Task = See Below
Jan Cox Talk 93, Dec 8, 1983, runtime 130
Notes by TK
Automatic natural “intensity suppressor” in consciousness preventing imprint into immediate or “clear memory”. Need to develop willful suppressor.
Two kinds of memory: vague background memory (like white noise) and immediate pressing memory. Both go on simultaneously–but background memory can trigger something out of background to become immediate memory.
The two radios analogy: loud radio in this room (the “I am thinking” voice) and another radio in the next room (less distinct, softer).
Cannot allow a vacuum to exist in any triad. Gives impression of being overwhelmed by life. Life will fill any vacuum–you feel “out of control”. Power vacuum is impossible. When you can see a vacuum–act before life fills it. Do anything rather than nothing. Victory or nothing as in a power struggle. ][Sex is to love as passion is to emotion.
Emotion = usable (acceptable) passion from the red circuit.
C, D and E forces as persuasions. No such thing as forces per se.
How is it people sing words otherwise unsayable to another person, e.g. love songs?
THE AUTOMATIC SUPPRESSOR AND FILLING THE VACUUMS BEFORE LIFE DOES
Document: 93, December 8, 1983
Copyright(c) Jan M. Cox, 1983
I am going to give you another description, another temporary map, of the historical progression of humanity: Remember that this map is as relevant within your own nervous system, your own past, as it is in the chronological history of man.
Humanity has progressed from a nonverbal sensation of being in a physical plight, to the contemporary sensation of discomfort with an individual’s circumstances and problems. Present-day psychology reflects this contemporary sensation, as did religion in its heyday. Man is currently concerned with apparent individual problems.
Projecting this progression, can you glimpse the direction of This Thing? Can you see what the possible future of humanity, might be? Could the concerns of the future center, rather than on physical plights or psychological problems, upon the general state of the energy fueling humanity? I’d like to point out something specific to look for in your attempt to look inward and See what is going on. I have a term for it, it exists within you, but you could not find it through neurosurgery. I’m going to call it, the automatic suppressor. This automatic suppressor affects ordinary consciousness, and is related to the suggestion I have given you about expanding your lateral connections. It prevents certain information/energy from being produced in a sufficiently intense manner onto the screen of consciousness, from becoming a part of clear memory. This is the reality behind all notions, past and contemporaneous, of “demons”, or “the subconscious”.
It is quite ordinary to feel there is a subconscious level on which people operate without awareness. That feeling is manifest in much of humanity. But I tell you — there is no such thing as the subconscious: there is the reality of this automatic suppressor.
What you must attempt to do is stop the energy from taking its finalized form on the screen of consciousness. You must keep it from reaching such an intensity, that you accept the merging of the screen with what seems to be the information on the screen. The energy, the information, is the momentary sum of the voices you accept as being ‘you’. And what I am describing is the attempt, the necessity, for one to develop his own WILLFUL suppressor, to stop that information. It is as though sound is being recorded on a blank audio tape. There is a split second, before the sound, the information, becomes imprinted on the tape. Likewise, you have a split second to prevent the information from running through you so intensely that it becomes a part of the record, of “your record”, a part of clear memory.
There are two kinds of memory that operate in man. I am not referring to the attempted recollection of something: Rather, I refer to what goes on in the Yellow Circuit, mechanically; the kind of energy that is constantly surging through all three circuits, the cross-talk going on, culminating at the top of the Yellow Circuit — in other words — what you are conscious of.
These two types of mechanical memory happen simultaneously. The second wheel in the diagram, with the distinct letters, I’ll call: The immediate, pressing memory. The bigger wheel with the nearly illegible markings, is like background memory. Background memories are rather vague, distant, sketchy and are not part of what I am referring to as clear memory. The vague background memory is limited, and occurs on a very low level, like a hum: But simultaneously, this immediate memory operates, like a loud voice talking. At all times, whatever you are doing overtly, this thing within you, is up to something: If you can learn to tune in to the broadcast and look at it quickly enough, you will find that this loud voice stops, it disappears while you are looking.
Here is another way to describe these two types of memory: The immediate memory, the loud voice that you, at Line level, would take as being you, is like a radio being played very loud. nterspersed with this loud radio, is a radio playing in another room. This is the background memory. You can hear this other radio in the pregnant pauses between the words of the louder broadcast.
There is another aspect to what I am representing with this wheel diagram. Occasionally the background memory can get triggered and tied up with what seems to be the immediate, pressing memory. For a short time, one of these vague, illegible somethings, will be brought up to the level of a loud voice. However, it will not have the same feel, the same intensity, as the louder voice. This effect can be triggered by an immediate circumstance, or some type of apparent, emotional energy flowing out in the form of an immediate Yellow Circuit memory. As one of these background memories is triggered, its voice can increase to the point that it almost reaches the level of an immediate memory. But suddenly it is gone.
Ordinarily, the voices react to something almost faster than you can think about it. A situation will trigger the immediate or background memories within you, resulting in some instant vocal remark, such as, “Oooh! There goes on of those short, green people! I can’t stand to even look at them.” People believe these vocalizations are a personal fault; but they are part of what seems to be one’s “I” — in everyone — the apparent merging of the energy and the screen of consciousness. Ordinarily, the energy and the screen cannot be separated. Consciousness is like a magnetic background, a blank screen. Information pours through you, unless you are dead; but the intensity of the information determines what becomes part of your permanent memory. For the Few, it then becomes a matter of whether or not you accept the tiger-behind-the-door’s growl as being you, letting it spring out and flow through you in the ordinary way.
What I want you to see is this natural, automatic suppressor. Ordinary people, with no Understanding, speak of it as ‘repression’: “There are aspects of me I just can’t stand to think about. Sometimes my girlfriend pisses me off, or I’ll hear about some woman doing something out in the world, and these voices, these vague background dreams, come back to me. I suddenly remember being 6 years old, standing at my mother’s bed one morning after she had been very mean to me. I remember picking up a pair of scissors and thinking, ‘I could kill her now.'” I want you to see that information simply flows through you. It has flowed through you all of your life, much of it becoming this background memory. There is this natural suppressor. Things flowing through the grid will be suppressed — based upon your natural wiring; they will not become part of clear memory. This is part of the reason that people can deny that which seems obvious to others around them, and part of the process behind what ordinary people would call the ability to lie to oneself: There is a reality to it.
You cannot allow the information that comes through the projector to be imprinted on the screen. Attempt to continually look away, and not let your consciousness take those energies as being “I”. You can do that willfully: You can produce another suppressor. You can willfully construct it in yourself, right above Line-level consciousness in the circuitry. When you allow the screen and what seems to be the information to merge, you are done for. When you take them as one, you are finished. You will always be you. You won’t Understand anything; you won’t Hear anything. If you do not Understand the mechanics of man, you are doomed to remain part of them. Without a willfully constructed suppressor, you will continue to take this information projected on the screen as being you.
I want you to Consider this: You cannot allow vacuums to exist in any triad. As triads shift there are small vacuums constantly being created; but there is also a larger vacuum that occurs, giving many people their sensation of being overwhelmed by life. On the ordinary level, in the sciences, it is an accepted axiom that, “Nature abhors a vacuum.”; but I tell you further — in Life, a vacuum simply cannot exist. Life will fill any vacuum immediately. This applies beyond what is ordinarily called the physical world: Vacuums cannot exist in the so-called psychological, internal world, either. You cannot allow a vacuum to exist, because Life will fill it, and you’ll be left only with the feeling, “I’ve been done in. I don’t know where to start…I’ve been overwhelmed again…I am powerless, impotent. Poor old me.”
I’m going to mention something about what seems to drive people. Within the power struggle going on, at a certain level in life, are two major groups — those desiring money, and another group — those involved with wanting power. This last is the crowd that seems to run the external world — kings, potentates and politicians.
I want you to see that these people who apparently run the world are deadly serious. To them there is no gentleman’s game. When the general who attempts a coup fails, he doesn’t snap his fingers and say, “Aw shucks, we’ll try harder next time….” And the guy he fails to oust doesn’t say, “Good show, old buddy. Better luck next time.” For those seriously involved in the power game and properly wired to do so, there is no such thing as coming in second. The stakes are absolute: win or lose. Very often it is win or die. Those involved with it will do almost anything to win.
Remember, I am not simply discussing politics. This Thing is the epitome of the absolute game. You either win or you are cow dung — you are dead. There is no allowance for a power vacuum internally. I am pointing out to you that you must operate in such a way that you cannot allow a vacuum. Second best is death. You cannot accept any notion of, “Well, I came in second best. I almost did it.”, or, “I’m getting better at controlling my temper around my mother. I think I might be able to do even better next time I see her.” If you understood the power game, you would see that entertaining such voices, is equal to whistling in your jail cell, while the firing squad loads up outside. It is death: You will be overwhelmed.
If you allow a vacuum, Life will fill it. You must act willfully to fill the vacuum before Life does. It is better to do anything, than do nothing. Whatever you do will be better than letting Life fill the vacuum for you. You may have the feeling, “Here I am at a crossroads in the middle of the high plains. The wind is blowing and I’m naked. Who knows what will happen next.” That feeling will only last a split second; because, something will go “swoosh!” –something will happen next — and the whole situation will be out of your hands, and there will be no question of you doing anything. Learn to feel an imminent vacuum, just before it happens, and then stick out your tongue, wiggle your ears, stand on your head — do ANYTHING. If you don’t do anything, Life will: And the result will never be satisfying. In the power game there are no graceful losers: Second best counts for nothing.
It is even more dangerous for you to believe, “If I get a little more awake, the gods will look down and see all the injustice I’ve put up with, and say, ‘All right. Enough is enough. Let’s give him a break.'” Don’t wait for that: That is not the way Life operates.
Once you begin to See, you Understand that no one has any responsibility in any triad, but you. You cannot wait for anyone to change a triad because no one will: But you can begin to See that there is only one possibility: To be responsible for changing you own position.
Do anything when you see a vacuum, because if you allow it another split second of life, it is going to be filled. You will be the loser. Do anything, and you will be much more satisfied than letting things take their course. Things taking their course never got you anywhere. If you hesitate, Life will rush in and fill the vacuum, and you will feel, “I’ve been done in again. I’ve been put to death.”
I will change to a new paragraph. Anyone attempting This Thing must establish his own overriding morality. This is connected to everybody’s apparent, built-in guilt about being alive, and is tied directly to man’s continual, unfinished condition. But, apart from that general dissatisfied state-of-man, there seems to be some sort of moral guilt in you — regardless of whether it is apparently based upon philosophies you have adopted, or upon your forefather’s religion.
Everyone who has all three circuits going feels guilt. It is more than a feeling of being dissatisfied: It is a sense of moral guilt — Life-induced guilt. From the viewpoint of This Thing, such so-called morality will not do. You have had all your life to look at you and everyone else and see this accepted definition of “morality” in action. You should quickly see that it does not serve the purpose it is claimed to. Ordinary people can talk about being a good person and being humane, but the next moment, stab someone, at least verbally. You must establish a no-nonsense, undebatable standard of morality. It must be built on the basis of, “I will not do that which is repetitive.”
No matter what the voices say about guilt, you must step back and realize that this form of guilt has nothing to do with igniting the higher areas of your nervous system. You must realize that whatever is being heard, is not the only possible voice inside of you — it is not the only level of consciousness.
I am not going to try to detail this sense of morality: It cannot be listed as ten commandments, or five, or one. You must simply Understand, and insist, “I am not going to be this; this is not me.” It is a superstandard.
It is like what I have hinted at about Superman: Can you imagine Superman feeling guilty about anything? Can you imagine Superman, in the privacy of his own room, doing something that, if he were caught, would cause him to be embarrassed or ashamed? No.
This Life-induced guilt, this subjective, Line level morality, is analogous to a child saying, “That is not good to do because my mommy and daddy told me so.” This is what you are dealing with internally, with the voices that speak of guilt.
Once you begin to Understand, the only sense of morality is that growth is good and stagnation is evil — it is death. Repetition is the first stage of death. Being you, is the first stage of death: Taking you as being you, is the second stage.
Humanity is currently involved with the study of individual problems or psychology. It is widely accepted that an individual should see his problems and discuss them frankly and openly. It is quite common to hear someone say, “I see my problems and I’m working on them. I try to read books and go to seminars. I feel that I’m lacking in certain areas, and I suffer over them.’ I’m telling you — that is just noise. It is ordinary, and it will lead nowhere. You have got to realize that your apparent problems are not you, and be done with them. Superman would not sit around moping, and getting the blues.
You can find a single place within you, where you can say, “I won’t do that. I won’t tolerate it.” Once you find that place, you will always be able to return to it. The voices will continue, but you won’t even entertain them. You won’t even let those voices reach the screen of consciousness.
You may feel that you have daydreams and memories, both immediate and background, that immediately create a clutching sensation. That is what I mean be guilt. “Guilt” is just a word that describes a function — like burping, like the blood flowing, like the eyes blinking — the function is simply there. It is not that you have to stop the daydreams, in order to stop the guilt. They are the same thing. One does not cause the other.
The sense of overriding morality I am pointing to stands aside from all of these daydreams and guilt. It is simply a matter of announcing, “I am not going to return to Line-level consciousness. That is not me.” The real immorality is to continue to listen to the voices at Line level. Real immorality is to roll with them and take them as being you. Attempt to See that the daydreams and the guilt do not exist in a cause and effect sequence. They are simultaneous: You cannot have guilt without the daydreams, and vice versa.
Here are some areas for you to Consider, regarding passion. There are still extant, even in the western world, people who are primarily based in the Red Circuit, and they appear, relatively speaking, to be fairly untouched by civilized emotion. (In one sense, human emotion is a usable form of Red Circuit passion.) These would be people of the soil, plain people whose voices still rise primarily from the Red Circuit.
There is something practical to observe here. In a sense, these people have the circuitry operating in such a way that the passions which normally flow from the Red Circuit do not get filtered through the Blue Circuit.
I mention this specifically in relation to the filling of vacuums. These people can appear to be quite plain spoken, almost blunt; and when presented with an idea, or a work of art, they might simply say, “I don’t like that.” This quality is still down there in your nervous system. You can still touch it and observe it: It is the Red Circuit centered passion, as opposed to that which seems to be usable, sophisticated emotion, i.e. saying the expected thing, or showing interest, real or fake.
The attitude of a good Red Circuit bricklayer, toward an interpretive symphonic passage, or a piece of contemporary art, is, “I don’t like it. You can’t pat your foot to it, you can’t dance to it. I don’t like it.”, or, “What kind of painting is that? Is it upside down or something? I’ve got a kid brother — in fact, I’ve got a pig — that can paint better than that!”
Do not overlook the practical use of this because it exists within you. And I’m not talking about criticizing art. Consider how to draw upon this Red Circuit passion in order to fill a vacuum. While you seem to be beating around the bush and fumbling for words, when your opinion is sought after, try saying, “I don’t like it.” — to your own internal fumblings. Or, say something out loud and immediately fill the vacuum.
Here’s another idea I will throw out for consideration: The idea of entropy. It is an accepted scientific idea, that everything is moving on an irreversible course, from order to chaos; and that all energy runs downward and cannot be reversed. Does this strike you as curious? Might not chaos be the natural order of things? Might not chaos be the ULTIMATE order of things?
The ordinary scientific world often becomes involved with attempts of finding a perpetual motion machine. They seek methods to reverse this apparent fact that all things alive will die, all that is bright will be darkened. They say, “Thank goodness we scientists discovered this incontrovertible law in time, so we can work on it, and observe it. Nobody knows where to get their finger in just yet, but, at least, we can worry about it.”
Here is another short consideration. I would like to refine a map for you. Henceforth, what I have labeled, at times, as First, Second, and Third Forces or “C”, “D” and “E” Forces, you should now regard as Persuasions. This is a more refined way of observing: Rather than Forces, they are gradual Persuasions. They persuade people to believe they are seeing a force at work, when they are actually seeing one of the three possible Persuasions, intermingled with the other two, and weaving in and out of the general flow.
Here is another aspect of the Life-of-Life, that you should Neuralize: How is it that people can sing the unutterable? I mean this literally. How is it that someone can put to music, words and phrases that no human, under any conditions, would actually sit down and say to someone else. In some way, they can sing the unutterable and get away with it. Do you find that interesting? Is there something to be Seen here? What is music? What purpose is it serving in Life.
One parting shot: Remember that what normally accrues in man’s circuitry is not the only form of consciousness. The more you are able to be free from the confines of ordinary consciousness the more you begin to taste a kind of unused freshness. It is an open-ended taste, but simply fresh, almost like breathing for the first time. When you See the ordinary, dull repetitiousness at Line level, what ordinarily passes as consciousness there, loses all its flavor. Repetition is the ultimate necessity: It keeps things in a state of unbalanced stability where nothing is dead or in absolute eternal chaos: But, above the Line is virgin territory, where there is no repetition.
Take pen and paper; write 2 eleven digit numbers. 1. memorize first one–then run 30 mins.; after running, memorize the second number. Notice the difference in relative ease before and after. 2. Make up your own list of “Laws” (such as Murphy’s Law) related to This Thing.

domain: psychology


Earlier this year, Qatar’s Minister of Finance, Ali Shareef Al Emadi, was arrested on corruption charges. This news came as a veritable bombshell to those who follow the Arab Gulf region. For one thing, Al Emadi is a prominent figure, who was not only the sitting finance minister, but who had previously occupied an impressive list of leadership positions in well-known Qatari institutions, including a board position on the country’s $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, chairman of the board of Qatar Airways, and chairman of the board of Qatar National Bank, the largest lender in the Middle East. Another surprising thing about Al Emadi’s arrest is just how public—and unusually publicized—the arrest was. This contrasts strikingly with how Qatar and other countries in the region typically deal with suspected corruption of high-level officials. In such cases, the investigation is usually kept private and, if the allegations appear to have substance, they are usually resolved through a resignation. In Al Emadi’s case, by contrast, a state-run news agency made a public announcement of the arrest and investigation, and he was removed from his post.
It has been over six months since Al Emadi’s arrest, and the situation remains shrouded in mystery. Al Emadi has said nothing, and the only statement from the Qatari government came two days after the arrest. (That statement, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, consisted mainly of the assertions that “no one is above the law” and the “investigation is ongoing.”) This has left news organizations and researchers to speculate about the unusual circumstances of Al Emadi’s arrest (see here, here, here, and here). One possible interpretation, advanced in a Brookings Institution piece published shortly after the arrest, is that Qatar’s unusual action in the Al Emadi case—publicly announcing the arrest of a high-profile figure in a country (and region) where such officials are virtually never prosecuted for corruption—may signal a real shift in Qatar’s policy, one that may be part of a genuine push for better, more honest governance. A former economist at Qatar’s central bank expressed a similarly optimistic interpretation, asserting that the arrest “sends a powerful message to all Qataris about the government’s newfound eagerness to fight corruption.”
This is of course possible, but we shouldn’t get our hopes up. Al Emadi’s arrest, and the unusual publicity it received, may have less to do with a real shift in the Qatari government’s approach to fighting corruption, and more to do with political calculations.
There are a couple of reasons to be skeptical of claims that Al Emadi’s arrest is a signal that Qatar’s government is now more committed to fighting high-level corruption than it had been previously:
- First, if Qatar’s government really did have a “newfound eagerness to fight corruption,” we might expect the government to be undertaking significant actions to address longstanding concerns about systemic corruption in the public procurement and the natural resources sectors. But the government has done little on this front. While no reasonable person can expect a country to make vast changes overnight, a government genuinely committed to advancing a serious anticorruption agenda would have taken some meaningful action to address the highest-risk, most problematic sectors. In the absence of such action, the arrest of one high-profile minister does not really signal a significant change in the government’s priorities when it comes to fighting corruption.
- Second, although Al Emadi’s arrest was quite public, the subsequent investigation has not been. While of course we wouldn’t expect the government to divulge details of an ongoing investigation, the extent to which the investigation has been shrouded in secrecy is notable. Even when the government permanently replaced Al Emadi with Ali Al Kuwari last month, there was not a word about Al Emadi or any ongoing investigation or pending charges. This suggests that, while the government was happy to publicize the arrest at the time, the government would now prefer that everyone just move on.
If Qatar’s arrest of Al Emadi doesn’t look like a genuine shift in anticorruption policy, what could it be? There are at least two political explanations—one international, one domestic—for why Qatar decided to arrest Al Emadi on corruption charges in such a public fashion.
- With respect to international relations, it is possible that Qatar’s public ouster of Al Emadi on corruption charges was an attempt to improve the country’s image, particularly with the United States. The Biden Administration is expected to emphasize issues like human rights (where Qatar’s record is poor) and anticorruption. In that context, Qatar’s public arrest of Al Emadi may have been less about a genuine change in policy and priorities and more of an effort to appeal to the new U.S. administration by demonstrating that the country was, for the first time ever, holding a high-level official accountable for corruption. That interpretation would be consistent with other actions that Qatar has taken recently, such as its close cooperation with the United States on evacuation and relocation efforts tied to Afghanistan, the decision to hold long-delayed Shura Council elections earlier this fall, and the appointment by the Emir of two women to the Council—a first for the country—despite the fact that no woman candidate prevailed in the popular election. So, at least some of the reason for Qatar’s arrest of Al Emadi could be tied to broader efforts to improve its image abroad and seek closer relations with the United States.
- Domestic political calculations may also have played a rule in Al Emadi’s highly public arrest. The Emir and the rest of Qatar’s ruling family may well have viewed Al Emadi (and his tribe) as a political threat. Al Emadi, after all, held considerable power and influence as finance minister and as a member of the boards of many of the country’s longstanding and visible institutions. His tribe holds vast financial power too. As of 2017, members of the Al Emadi tribe occupied more board seats of Qatar Exchange-listed companies than any tribe other than the ruling Al Thani tribe. Given Al Emadi’s reputation for competence (he was named “Finance Minister of the Year” for the Middle East in 2020 by The Banker magazine), it may have been politically difficult for the Emir to simply remove him in a cabinet reshuffle, but ousting Al Emadi for corruption may have added a veneer of legitimacy to the elimination of a potential rival. It is also notable, in this regard, that Al Emadi’s replacement as finance minister, Ali Al Kuwari, is a member of a tribe knowns for its loyalty to the ruling family.
So, while we might hope that Al Emadi’s arrest in fact signals a new and more serious commitment by Qatar’s government to fight high-level corruption, this move may have more to do with domestic and international political calculations. The political use of ostensible anticorruption efforts would hardly be unprecedented in the region. After all, Saudi Arabia’s corruption crackdowns in 2017 raised similar suspicions. While it is too soon to know for sure what Al Emadi’s arrest portends, the anticorruption community should hold its applause for now. The government’s implementation of serious anticorruption reform measures—including robust implementing legislation with respect to the UN Convention Against Corruption—will be a much stronger signal of a real policy shift than the arrest of one man.
Very interesting post. I’m certain that it’s hard to judge from the outside, especially with all of the secrecy, but if the arrest was for the second option (the elimination of a political rival) do we have any indication whether the corruption charges are legitimate at all, or whether this is simply the Emir weaponizing anticorruption laws for personal gain?
Josh, thanks for another fascinating post. I agree that, more likely than not, this is an example of a country weaponizing anticorruption for political purposes (regardless of whether the charges are legitimate). Looking at the Corruption Perception Index, Qatar does better than Spain and Israel, though not quite as well as the UAE. Though I don’t entirely trust the CPI and wonder about a metric that gives a country a relatively clean bill of health despite the weaponization of corruption for political purposes, I have to ask whether a chage in Qatari anti-corruption strategy is even necessary? More interestingly, perhaps, what would a genuine shift in Qatari anti-corruption policy look like (would it just be about making investigations more public, or would it involve more prosecutions / stronger rules and regulations)?
This is a really interesting post, Josh.
As Justin mentioned Qatar is well-placed in the CPI ranking (number 30). A recent and very complete report from Transparency International (https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep24898?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents) points out that Qatar has comparatively low levels of corruption by regional standards and that the country has recently enacted important legislation on public procurement and anti-money laundering.
The next FIFA World Cup is going to happen in Qatar, what might have raised global attention to Qatar. It would be a propitious moment to convey a message to the world that Qatar is prioritizing anticorruption policies. What do you think about that?