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Ambassador Fraker has over 35 years of Middle East experience at the intersection of finance and international diplomacy. He served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from April 2007 to April 2009, spanning both the George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama administrations. From 2009 to 2013, he was a Senior Advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), Chairman KKR Middle East and North Africa, and CEO KKR Saudi Ltd. He is now the Chairman, Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, he promoted American national interests at the highest levels of the Saudi monarchy on a wide range of bilateral economic and security issues, as well as managing the strategic relationship in the region. He continues to advise senior administration officials on Middle East policy, with particular focus on the U.S. relationship with its Gulf allies. He worked at Chemical Bank 1972-1979 in Lebanon, the UAE and Bahrain, including Regional Manager for the bank’s Bahrain office. He was with Saudi International Bank 1979-1991. In 1991 he founded Fraker & Co, and in 1993 he joined MeesPierson Investment Finance (UK) Limited, where he was responsible for placing U.S. and European investment products with European and Middle Eastern institutional and private investors. In 1997 he co-founded Trinity Group Limited. Please contact email@example.com to inquire about media appearances.
Dr. Mattair has taught at Kent State University, the University of Southern California, the University of California at Riverside, and Cornell University. He also served as the director of research at the Middle East Policy Council from 1992 to 1995. From 1997 until 2003 he was a research scholar at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, where he researched and wrote The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa. The book is a study that examines, among other topics, Iranian military capabilities and intentions in the Gulf. His most recent book, Global Security Watch — Iran: A Reference Handbook (Praeger Security International, 2008) is a comprehensive study of Iran's foreign relations. Choice Reviews Online calls it "a must read for policy makers, Middle East scholars and students, and those wishing to have a better understanding of the U.S.'s relationship with Iran." He has published and lectured widely in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East and serves as a consultant to governments and business firms on security and economic issues in the Gulf. He is an honors graduate of Harvard and holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a past recipient of Harvard Law School's Mark de Wolfe Howe Fellowship, the Ambassador Rodger Davies Memorial Fellowship, and fellowships from the Earhart Foundation. He is an ex officio member of the Board. Please contact firstname.lastname@example.org to inquire about media appearances.
Vice President, Editor of Middle East Policy
Ms. Joyce has been the editor of the Council's quarterly journal of political analysis, Middle East Policy, and director of publications since 1984. In 1993 she was promoted to vice-president of the Council and serves as an ex-officio member of the Board. In her 30 years at the Council, Ms. Joyce has supervised the production of 112 issues of the journal, as well as numerous conference proceedings and several special reports and books. Before coming to the Council, she had been an instructor at the American Language Institute of Georgetown University and at the University of Iowa. She holds master’s degrees in French literature (1966) and in linguistics (1979). Please contact email@example.com to inquire about media appearances.
Chairman of the Board, Middle East Policy Council
Amb. Schmierer serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Middle East Policy Council. In addition he is a Member of the Advisory Board of the National Council for U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR), where he is also a Distinguished International Affairs Fellow.
Amb. Schmierer served for more than 34 years as a State Department Foreign Service Officer, attaining the rank of Minister-Counselor in the Senior Foreign Service. He completed his foreign service career in 2014 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA). From July through December 2013 Amb. Schmierer served as NEA Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, and from September 2009 through August 2012 he was the U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman. Prior to his ambassadorship he served as NEA Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and as Director of the Office of Iraq Affairs. He holds a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
President and CEO of Pal-Tech Inc.
Member of the Board, Middle East Policy Council
Dr. Kader is president and CEO of Pal-Tech, Inc., a managment consulting firm focusing on training, technical assistance and managment. He has served as executive director of the United Palestinian Appeal and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He also served as a member of the U.S. Delegation observing and monitoring democratic elections worldwide. He accompanied President Clinton to Jordan and Israel for the signing of the peace treaty between the two countries. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Southern California.
General Joseph P. Hoar
USMC (ret.), Former Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command
Board Member, Middle East Policy Council
General Hoar was commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994. Since retirement from the Marine Corps, he has remained active in Middle East affairs and business with his consulting firm, J.P. Hoar and Associates. He was an early and vocal opponent of the Iraq War, testifying in 2002 before the Senate Armed Services Committee and writing numerous op-eds and articles on the subject. General Hoar is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and the Board of Trustees of the Center for Naval Analysis. He is a graduate of Tufts University (BA), George Washington University (MA) and the National War College.
Former Ambassador, United Arab Emirates
Board Member, Middle East Policy Council
Ambassador Rugh served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Syria and as ambassador to the Republic of Yemen and to the U.A.E. Ambassador Rugh is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a trustee of the American University in Cairo. He holds a Ph.D. in public law and government from Columbia University.


text: I have joined the 2011 Ornament A Month Challenge and have now finished off my January ornament (just in time)!! I made this ornament for a class at the end of last year but gave it away for a Christmas gift, and as I really liked how it turned out, I decided to make another for me! So this has become my first ornament for 2011! Thanks to the organisers for the inspiration to have 12 ornaments made by the end of this year!! Only 11 more to go!!

domain: hobby


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Shanell Thomas, the escaped convict who reportedly went by the alias “Silence,” died on Wednesday night after being shot by the Police.
Reports say the fatal shooting took place in the vicinity of the Cassada Gardens race track, and that Thomas later died at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre.
On Tuesday night, the fugitive reportedly exchanged gunfire with the Police before escaping into the bush.
At the time he was said to have been driving in the New Winthorpes area, and the vehicle was subsequently confiscated and taken to Police Headquarters.
It was alleged that Thomas, who escaped from the Prison Farm at around midday on Tuesday, had been spotted at a girlfriend’s house, and neighbors had alerted the Police.
Thomas had been serving a sentence for kidnapping and was due to be released in late 2026.

domain: news


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A distinctive business pitch competition aimed at University of Alabama employees continues to uncover and support innovators and entrepreneurs.
Organized by the Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute, the 2022 Faculty/Staff Innovation Pitch Competition awarded $45,000 in prize money to nine business ideas, and all winners get in-kind business planning assistance courtesy of AEI and support to advance ideas with access to analytical and prototype development equipment at EDGE Labs.
“An all-employee innovation competition is not something that all universities do, and I think this being our third year with a growing prize pool demonstrates the commitment of UA to creating and sustaining an innovation culture for all employees,” Dr. Theresa M. Welbourne, AEI executive director. “Our goal is continuous improvement, from small daily tasks to large-scale disruptive innovations. Only through this type of innovation can we continue our own growth and be prepared to help our students, employees and community with what the future brings.”
This year’s contest had a new section dedicated to staff ideas, with $10,000 split among three ideas. Also awarded were a $15,000 grand prize for the most innovative technology-focused idea, sponsored by the Alabama Power Foundation and a $10,000 Entrepreneurial Growth Business Award for the idea most likely to scale and grow sponsored by the Culverhouse College of Business. The UA Office for Research and Economic Development funded three awards for the best innovative ideas to develop products or services that can be patented or build businesses.
“I have been thrilled to see this competition grow since our first year; not only the number of contestants but also the potential economic and societal impact of their ideas continues to be tremendously powerful,” said Dan Blakley, associate vice president for economic and business engagement and co-host of the contest. “We are committed to working with all of these innovators to develop their ideas and commercialize their work.”
The contest is part of a series of competitions meant to spur start-up businesses, including the Edward k. Aldag Jr. Student Business Plan Competition and River Pitch Competition. The Faculty/Staff Innovation competition hopes to engage all employees in the innovation process, Welbourne said.
This year’s grand prize winner is Carbon Admixture, a start-up by Dr. Jialai Wang, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering. He has participated in all three employee pitch contests.
“What I like about this competition is that it actually shapes my research,” he said. “I always want to see the innovations developed in my laboratory find applications in the real world. Participating in the pitch helps me to design my research plan so that our technologies can be adopted by industries much easier.”
Not all the winners were based on research in UA labs. The entrepreneurial award, for instance, went to BoboMania, a premium bubble tea shop in Tuscaloosa started by Dr. Lyngyan Kong, assistant professor of human nutrition and hospitality management. The award recognized Kong’s business model and strategy to grow into a chain.
“Competitors come from different colleges and have ideas related to work at UA and ideas they are brewing with their spouses or on their own,” Welbourne said. “It’s fun and energizing to see what they are doing, and our goal is to tap into their ideas and willingness to innovate.”
For a complete list of winners, visit the AEI website.
The University of Alabama, part of The University of Alabama System, is the state’s flagship university. UA shapes a better world through its teaching, research and service. With a global reputation for excellence, UA provides an inclusive, forward-thinking environment and nearly 200 degree programs on a beautiful, student-centered campus. A leader in cutting-edge research, UA advances discovery, creative inquiry and knowledge through more than 30 research centers. As the state’s largest higher education institution, UA drives economic growth in Alabama and beyond.


By Alexander Bolton - 09/07/13 10:00 AM EDT
Senate Majority Leader Harry ReidHarry ReidDems urge Grayson to end Senate bid Reid: Trump is a 'hateful con man' Reid: DNC never gave Sanders a ‘fair deal’ MORE (D-Nev.) is bracing for double-digit defections in the Democratic caucus on the resolution authorizing military strikes on Syria, which will get a vote this coming week.
The Syria resolution presents Reid with one of the biggest tests of his leadership this Congress and the outcome has significant effects for President Obama’s domestic and foreign policy agendas.
“The president’s team has really given him a tough one this time but, as always, when the president asks him to do something, Sen. Reid quickly tries to get it done,” said Jim Manley, a former senior advisor to Reid.
With already four Democratic senators saying they will likely oppose the measure, the pressure is building on Reid to reach out across the aisle.
“If this vote were to fail, it will have huge consequences not only for the president’s domestic policy but also his foreign policy and for the people of Syria. This is about as high stakes as you can get,” Manley added. “How’s Iran and North Korea going to react to a defeat? How are House Republicans going to deal with the debt limit?”
Reid filed the use-of-force resolution on the Senate floor Friday, setting up a Wednesday vote to end debate and move to final passage. The critical cloture vote will happen on the 12-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon and the one-year anniversary of the Benghazi attack.
Senators are scheduled to receive a classified briefing on Syria at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Capitol Visitor Center, according to a Democratic aide.
Another Democratic aide said the vote could happen sooner if Republicans waive certain procedural requirements.
Obama has given Reid tough jobs before, such as the controversial 2009 fiscal stimulus package, healthcare reform and Wall Street reform.
Reid conquered those assignments by keeping his caucus unified. This time he knows he’s not going to be able to keep all Democrats together.
“The goal is not to keep the caucus together, it’s to pass this resolution,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide. “I think we’ll lose a fair number of Democrats. We’ll probably lose double-digits Democrats.”
Liberal grassroots activists are ratcheting up the pressure on Democratic senators.
“I would hope and expect to see opposition build among Senate Democrats and House Democrats in the next few days,” said Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action.
Galland said members of MoveOn.org would hold Democratic lawmakers accountable for their vote in future elections.
“It is a consequential vote for the future and our members will look back at this vote when trying to figure out whom to vote for in future elections,” she said.
She said MoveOn.org polled its entire membership before taking a position against the resolution.
Reid remains confident he will be able to pass the controversial measure by relying on Republican votes to overcome the 60-vote threshold required.
He expects Tea-Party conservatives to join liberals such as Sens. Tom UdallTom UdallDemocratic National Convention event calendar The Hill's 12:30 Report Overnight Energy: Senate spending bill takes aim at EPA rules MORE (D-N.M.) and Chris MurphyChris MurphySen. Murphy: Trump's stance on guns 'sinister' Kesha tells Philadelphia crowd: We can control who we give 'f---ing weapons to' Democrats: We can win on guns MORE (D-Conn.) in opposing it. But he’s banking on a larger coalition of mainstream Republicans and Democrats to carry it through to final passage.
“You’ll lose a lot of people on both ends,” said a senior Democratic aide.
As of Friday afternoon, 16 Senate Democrats and eight Republicans have signaled they plan to vote for the resolution.
The difficulty of Reid’s task was apparent when his top deputies Senate Democratic Whip Dick DurbinDick DurbinSyria activists cheer Kaine pick Democratic National Convention event calendar Opioid package clears key Senate hurdle MORE (Ill.) and Charles SchumerCharles SchumerConvention shows Democrats support fracking, activists on the fringe Dem ad blasts Indiana senate candidate on Social Security The Trail 2016: Unity at last MORE (N.Y.) declined to immediately support use of force against Syria.
Durbin took a position Wednesday when he voted in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a revised use-of-force resolution that would limit a military engagement to 90 days and bar the deployment of U.S. ground forces in Syria.
Schumer bolstered Reid when he announced his backing late Friday.
“It prohibits any boots on the ground and puts strict time limits on American involvement in Syria while still allowing an appropriate response to the use of weapons of mass destruction, and I will support it,” Schumer said in a statement.
Robert Creamer, a Democratic activist leader who supports military action against Syria, predicted Reid would succeed, despite the broad unpopularity of the resolution.
A recent survey of liberal voters affiliated with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee found that 73 percent of 57,000 respondents opposed military action.
Creamer said the political dynamics will change after Obama addresses the nation Tuesday.
“The political ground on this issue will improve next week,” he said. “I’m guessing the Senate will pass the Senate proposal by 60-plus votes.”


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The San Ramon Valley Unified School District is gearing up for its first day of school, and to help make sure that everyone is on the same page, district officials will review the reopening plan and provide a coronavirus response update during the Board of Education's regular meeting on Tuesday.
Set to be held remotely in order to adhere with social distancing guidelines, Tuesday's meeting will see district officials present a special report detailing Phase 3 the SRVUSD's "Reopening Together" plan and will give final consideration to pushing back the first day of school in order to provide educators with additional training for remote learning.
Last month, the board decided to initiate a full-time remote learning model for at least the beginning of the school year, doing so out of concerns over the potential spread of COVID-19.
To help prepare teachers and staff for the remote reopening, district and teachers union negotiators have agreed to push the first day of school back from Aug. 11 to Aug. 13. Doing so in order to allow teachers and classified instructional support staff to attend a concentrated, three-day block of professional development on remote learning prior to the start of the year.
After reaching a tentative agreement with its teachers union for the first new day of school, the board will now need to officially confirm the decision during Tuesday's meeting.
Public comments and questions can be submitted to Cindy Fischer at [email protected] or by fax by 838-3147 before the meeting time. Emails should include the words "public comment" in the subject line.
In other business
* Tuesday's meeting will serve as the first for new Superintendent John Malloy, who succeeds Rick Schmitt upon his retirement as superintendent last Friday.
* Next up, the board will consider authorizing a "level-tax" of $75 per $100,000 of assessed value on district residents for the repayment of outstanding general obligation bonds approved.
The level-tax will be used to fund the $260 million bond measure passed by district voters in 2002 for specific construction and modernization projects conducted by the district, as well as the $260 million school facilities bond measure passed by district voters ten years later in 2012.


Thailand is projected to be severely affected by climate change, with its vulnerability shaped by geographical and socioeconomic features. The GermanWatch Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranked Thailand’s long-term climate risk index as 9th in the world. Thailand has an extensive coastline, rural communities dependent on agriculture, and heavily populated urban areas located on flood prone plains. Climate change threatens all key sectors of Thailand’s economy: agriculture, tourism, and trade. Agriculture is also the second largest source of GHG emissions in Thailand, while rice cultivation is the main source of national methane emissions. Managed soils and livestock are also significant sources of GHG emissions. The agriculture sectors (agriculture, forestry and fisheries) employed around 30.67 percent of Thailand’s workforce (2018) and are key to provide nutrition for the rural society. Agriculture contributes 8.1 percent of Thailand’s GDP.
Thailand’s climate change plans and priorities
Thailand’s Climate Change Master Plan (CCMP) (2015-2050) is the highest-level policy document guiding the national climate change response. Thailand has updated the CCMP and will submit its revised plan at the COP26. The revised CCMP outlines the country’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2065. Supported by SCALA’s predecessor programme, Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag), the country developed the Agriculture Strategic Plan on Climate Change (ASPCC) (2017-2021), which is aligned with the CCMP and provided sectoral input to Thailand’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). The country’s NAP aims to ensure wide buy-in to the adaptation planning process by fostering inter-ministerial, inclusive coordination and cooperation based on sharing experiences and identifying synergetic interests among key stakeholders. Thailand’s NAP and its NDC recognize the importance of adapting the agriculture sectors to climate change.
Thailand submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC in October 2020. The NDC identified “safeguarding of food security” and “promoting sustainable agriculture” as core strategies to cope with climate change impacts. The updated NDC reconfirms the mitigation target provided in the first NDC, which was to reduce GHG emissions by 20 percent by 2030 below the business-as-usual scenario. The updated NDC includes an enhanced and elaborated adaptation component and aims for better integration of the NDC into the national planning processes. Agriculture and land use sectors are among the sectors prioritized for climate action – both for mitigation and adaptation.
Thailand’s NDC identified adaptation as a “top priority in Thailand’s national response to climate change” and lists adaptation priorities for the country, such as promoting sustainable agriculture and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), further safeguarding biodiversity, and restoring ecological integrity in protected areas and strengthening climate modelling capacity while promoting collaboration among relevant agencies. Additionally, the country is strengthening resilience by establishing effective early warning systems and enhancing the adaptive capacity of national agencies and building the capacity of farmers by creating and providing a knowledge hub to foster regional cooperation and to share experiences
In addition to Thailand’s adaptation efforts, the country has established its mitigation efforts. According to Thailand’s Third Biennial Update Report (2020) to the UNFCCC, the proportion of GHG emissions in the energy sector accounted for 71.65 percent of total emission sources in 2016, followed by the agriculture, and waste sectors. The country is in the process of formulating its Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategy, which will guide Thailand towards a climate-resilient and low greenhouse gas emissions development and serve as a basis for enhancing its subsequent NDC.
Overcoming barriers in the implementation of climate plans
Thailand has experienced some barriers during the implementation of the NDC and National Adaptation Plan (NAP), and this includes challenges such as monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of adaptation activities, as well as finding climate friendly investment opportunities. To overcome these barriers and to support the transformation of its agriculture and land use sectors to be drivers for successful implementation of its NDC and NAPs, the Royal Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) and its Land Development Department, and the Office of Agriculture Economics (OEA), and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) will work together with the SCALA Programme on strengthening performance-based monitoring and assessments of adaptation options in agriculture and climate financing. Thailand will build capacities to design climate-friendly investment opportunities through developing project concepts and addressing investment risks, especially faced by the private sector.
The OAE under the MoAC coordinates the ASPCC 2017-2021 plan’s development and reports throughout the implementation phase. The ASPCC 2017-2021 plan provides a synthesis of knowledge on climate change impacts on agriculture sectors and outlines prioritized response strategies. The FAO-UNDP SCALA programme is supporting the MoAC in the process of updating Thailand’s ASPCC 2017-2021 plan for the period beyond 2021 through identifying transformational priorities at the sub-national level, particularly those that address gender gaps and social exclusion in farming communities. The ASPCC for 2021 and beyond will inform future NDCs and sector specific reporting under the Enhanced Transparency Framework in the agriculture and land-use sectors. The programme will analyse key business models and production practices for climate-compatible investments options through a subnational-level consultation process.
Moving ahead – 2021 and beyond
Subsequently, several sectoral departments with Thailand have convened to begin the consultative processes, including Rice Department, Land Development Department, Royal Irrigation Department, Fishery Department, Livestock Development, Department of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Extensions, and the Agricultural Land Reform Office and Office of Agricultural Economics. These meetings have provided baseline information on the level of climate vulnerability and risks, the sector climate adaptation and mitigation targets, the existing gaps for the acceleration of NDC and NAP implementation with support from the FAO-UNDP SCALA programme.
Over the next five years, Thailand will enhance climate action by building upon existing projects, plans and partnerships. Targeted support in harnessing private sector partnerships will be outlined in a private sector engagement plan for the implementation of agriculture priorities in the NDC. Furthermore, the country plans to involve subnational private sector value chain actors, as well as local communities and community-based organizations in identifying investment opportunities and risk reduction measures to help accelerate their involvement and opportunities in Thailand’s climate action.
- FAO in Thailand
- FAO country profile: Thailand
- NAP-Ag programme Thailand
- Thailand inception workshop press release
- Experiences of integrating agriculture in sectoral and national adaptation planning processes: Case study Thailand


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We had an absolutely cracking summer, but it’s just about time to put the short sleeve jerseys and shorts away as we head towards winter.
The latest kit from Castelli has just landed at our stores, so we thought this would be the perfect time to take you through a few of the key pieces.
We made our way up to the iconic Box Hill with Pete from our Dulwich store who kindly volunteered to be our model for the day. Find out more below.
Castelli Perfetto RoS 2 Jacket
The Castelli Perfetto RoS 2 jacket is a versatile, weatherproof jacket that offers fantastic protection against rain and wind when the weather takes a turn for the worse.
The front facing surfaces of this jacket feature a Castelli-exclusive GORE-TEX Infinium Windstopper 205 warm brushed water-resistant fabric, while the rear-facing surfaces feature Gore-Tex Infinium Windstopper 203 Stretch for better stretch and breathability.
The second edition of this jacket has an extra pocket for additional storage, improved reflectivity at the back, a two-way zip for temperature control and a roomier yet still race ready fit. Improved placement of the taped shoulder seams also offers better protection from the rain.
The Perfetto RoS 2 jacket is perfect for layering through autumn and winter. It’s non-insulated but easily ventilated and can be paired with either a standard base layer or thermal jersey as required, keeping you comfortable in a variety of conditions.
Castelli Tutto Nano Bibtights
A winter training staple! Super soft, exceptionally warm and offering the best rain protection yet thanks to the newly updated Nano Flex 3G fabric – Castelli’s latest offering in the form of the Tutto Nano Bibtight is too good to be missed.
The Tutto Nano’s Kiss Air2 seat pad offers long lasting comfort in the saddle, while the minimal seams provide a clean aesthetic and plenty of freedom of movement.
Castelli’s Tutto Nano Bibtights will help you make the most out of your winter riding/training!
Castelli Perfetto RoS Gloves
Keep your hands toasty and dry this winter with the Castelli Perfetto RoS Gloves.
Made from Gore-Tex Infinium Windstopper Stretch Warm fabric that provides suppleness and protection and fleece lined for extra warmth, these gloves are ready for the worst of conditions.
One of our favourite features of the Perfetto RoS Gloves is the Castelli Damping System in the palms of the gloves – this protects the median nerve and eliminates any numb sensations in your arms on long rides!
Castelli Diluvio UL Overshoe
Durable, functional and ready to tackle winter head on, the Diluvio UL Overshoe can accommodate road, MTB or gravel shoes and is ideal for riders who don’t limit themselves to one discipline!
Castelli Pro Thermal Skully
Worn by pros and weekend warriors alike, the Castelli Pro Thermal Skully keeps your head warm without intruding on the fit of your helmet. Made from Thermoflex fabric this skull cap is warm, soft and stretchy! It wicks away any excess moisture, ensuring you’re comfortable on every long winter ride.
So there are our top picks for Castelli’s AW22 Collection. Which pieces are you most excited to get your hands on? Let us know in the comments, or check out the full Castelli range by clicking the button below!

domain: design


Florida authorities believe that the fire at the mosque where the Orlando club gunman had attended was set intentionally as part of a deliberate arson attack. Authorities say that unreleased surveillance footage from the scene shows a man walking up to the Fort Pierce Islamic Center at around midnight on Sunday, followed by a bright flash. The individual then fled the scene.
"Evidence has revealed that this fire was set intentionally," Major David Thompson of the St Lucie Sheriff's Office told reporters at a press conference. The Federal Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol and Firearms and the FBI will assist local authorities with their investigation of the fire. About 100 congregants attend the mosque, including the father of Orlando gunman Omar Mateen.
The attack took place on a particularly bittersweet day for many American Muslims. This year, the Islamic holiday of Eid coincided with 9/11 – a fact that wasn't lost on authorities investigating the incident who were trying to determine a motive.
"We all know the implications of the date and time of year this is," Thompson said. "Is that related? I wouldn't want to speculate but that's in the back of all our minds."
Eid is "a holiday for us, like Christmas Day," Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, the communications director for the Florida chapter of the Council of American Muslim Relations (CAIR) told VICE News. "Can you imagine how this is being felt by the community in general. It's a celebration and an exchange of gifts."
The suspected attack comes as part of a wave of assaults on Muslims and mosques. The Fort Pierce Islamic Center has been targeted multiple times since Mateen opened fire on the Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando, killing 49. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
A few weeks after the shooting, a man was brutally beaten as he left the Fort Pierce mosque. The suspect in the beating, Taylor Anthony Mazzanti, was arrested and charged with felony battery. Before the incident, CAIR released a statement contending that local law enforcement weren't doing enough to protect the Muslim community from attacks. Since then, Ruiz said authorities have worked "promptly and diligently" to investigate reported hate crimes, which he says have been on the rise.
CAIR said Florida's mosques and Islamic centers are receiving threatening letters and voicemails pretty much "every week." In the first six months of 2016, the organization noted 16 reported hate incidents, including two suspected arson attacks on mosques, vandalism of Muslim businesses and protests against Muslims and physical assaults.
That's already three times the number of reports in all of 2014, before the Pulse nightclub tragedy and the shootings in San Bernadino.
"This is a crescendo" Ruiz said. "We are very worried."


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With a stay at Studios and Suites 4 Less in Chesapeake, you'll be near the airport and minutes from Chesapeake Conference Center, and close to Greenbrier Mall. This hotel is within close proximity of Oak Grove Lake Park and Chesapeake City Park.
Make yourself at home in one of the 106 air-conditioned rooms featuring refrigerators and microwaves. Cable programming and DVD players are provided for your entertainment, while complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected. Private bathrooms have hair dryers and hair dryers. Conveniences include coffee/tea makers and irons/ironing boards.
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include a 24-hour front desk, laundry facilities, and an elevator (lift).
Are you affiliated with Studios & Suites 4 Less? Apply to the Hotel WiFi Connect program to take control of your account, improve your hotel's confidence score and ranking.
© 2013-2016 Hotel WiFi Test Inc.

domain: travel


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Last month, I started working on hairpin lace crochet projects with a group of ladies from my church who either knit or crochet. I got in on the tail end of a mission project for an orphanage in Mexico and made three hats and scarves with hairpin lace crochet.
Now we are focusing on a mission that is in Vancouver. We are making things for our Veterans who are in the hospital but can shop in a special room of donated things and send two to their families free of charge or postage.
So far, I have 4 neck scarves made for this -- two I have already blogged about. The two latest are:
i also have all the rows crocheted for two cape shawls -- one is white and silver and the other, a pale blue and silver. i am now crocheting the rows together with silver crochet cotton. I am liking what i see but am not ready to photograph them. I have NEVER crocheted with crochet thread in my life! Well, before now, I mean. I am also trying to learn to make straight rows crocheting dish cloths.
My latest project is an afghan for a girl's bed. it will be all pale colors but multicolored. i have 4 rows of 300 made so far. It will take at least 12-15 more rows. I am using baby yarn for it. It will fit a twin size bed.It will be awhile before I get it finished. I hope I get it finished in the next two weeks so it can go to the Vets before Christmas.


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Sep 29, 2022
“A healthy culture is an inclusive, change ready, and joyful culture where team members feel like they belong, and they can deliver care and performance beyond expectations.”
Dr. Norma Tirado, Vice President of Culture and Associate Experience at Centura Health, is back on Gut + Science to discuss why organizations need to start with creating a space where people are comfortable showing up as their whole selves. She says once you’ve done that, then people can become the best version of themselves. Listen in to hear Norma and guest-host, David Black, break down how to take a personal approach to leadership. Along the way, you’ll hear the six key needs of today’s employees.

domain: sociology


Speculation is rife over what the project may actually be, with some wondering whether it could be a sequel to Bloodborne and others placing bets that it's something entirely new; we're not even sure whether "Shadows Die Twice" is intended to be teaser text or an actual title announcement.
More details to follow in the next 12 months. We hope you look forward to it! https://t.co/YvshapWDYl— FROMSOFTWARE／Kitao (@YasuhiroKitao) December 8, 2017
From Software president Hidetaka Miyazaki has previously said the studio is finished with the Dark Souls series, but wouldn't rule out making more Souls-like games.
Still, it seems that it may be some time before we get any definitive answers; in the meantime check out our full rundown of news, trailers and winners from The Game Awards 2017, or if you're interested in learning more about From Software, take a look at our history of the studio. Matt Davidson is a freelance writer for IGN who loves a good teaser trailer. Give him a follow on Twitter if that's how you roll.


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Sainsbury’s appoints Group Chief Digital Officer
Clodagh Moriarty has been promoted to Sainsbury’s Operating Board as Group Chief Digital Officer.
In a statement issued yesterday (6 June), Sainsbury’s said Moriarty will “create and lead the Group’s digital strategy, ensuring customers experience an integrated and seamless digital experience across Sainsbury’s, Argos, Sainsbury’s Bank and Nectar”.
Moriaty has been at Sainsbury’s for eight years, most recently as Director of Online, running Sainsbury’s Groceries Online business. She has focused on growing online sales and profitability and driving customer innovation, including introducing same-day grocery delivery, one-hour grocery delivery in Chop Chop and SmartShop, which lets customers scan products themselves as they shop in stores.
Group Chief Executive, Mike Coupe, said: “The creation of the new Group Chief Digital Officer role demonstrates the importance we place in giving customers outstanding and seamless digital shopping experiences. Investment in this area is vital to our future success and I am confident that Clodagh has the expertise and leadership we need in this area.”
Clodagh Moriarty, Group Chief Digital Officer, said:“It’s a really exciting time to be working in retail and digital innovation is key to making our customers’ shopping experiences easier. I am supported by talented colleagues across the Group and see lots of opportunities to build on our existing platforms. I am delighted to be joining the Operating Board at such a pivotal time for our company.”


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The Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes
- Linda Hervieux
15th February 2019
Forgotten is an extraordinary blend of military and social history – a story that pays tribute to the valour of an all-black battalion whose crucial contributions at D-Day have gone unrecognised to this day.
In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, a unit of African-American soldiers, landed on the beaches of France. Their orders were to man a curtain of armed balloons meant to deter enemy aircraft. One member of the 320th would be nominated for the Medal of Honor, an award he would never receive. The nation’s highest decoration was not given to black soldiers in the Second World War.
Drawing on newly uncovered military records and dozens of original interviews with surviving members of the 320th and their families, Linda Hervieux tells the story of these heroic men. In England and Europe, they discovered freedom they had not known in a homeland that treated them as second-class citizens – experiences they carried back to America, fuelling the budding civil rights movement.
In telling the story of the Battalion, Hervieux offers a vivid account of the tension between racial politics and national service in wartime America, and a moving narrative of human bravery and perseverance in the face of injustice.

domain: literature


Gwyneth Paltrow‘s teenage daughter didn’t hold back while making fun of her mother’s very involved morning wellness routine. Apple Martin, 16, savagely roasted her mother in a hilarious TikTok, providing expert commentary over a video Gwyneth previously posted about her GOOP regimen. She titled the video, “A morning with my mom Gwyneth Paltrow”.
i’ll never love anyone like i love gwyneth paltrow pic.twitter.com/9nOlNCjFap
— Jack (@franc3y) April 5, 2021
Apple jumps right into it: “So first my mom drinks her Goopglow Superpowder and she eats nothing except for dates and almond butter. So she will have that,” the teenager deadpans. “I suppose the Goopglow is a part of her cleanse, which she’s been on since the day I was born, apparently.”
As for Gwyneth’s extensive skincare routine? “It’s 8:00am and she’s been doing this since 7:00am,” Apple sighs. “She just prances around the bathroom putting on her millions of Goopglow products for her glowing skin.” She twists the knife a final time by launching into a list of Gwyneth’s collection of vagina-themed GOOP products.
“Then she gets to work making some more vagina eggs and candles, also vagina candles, and vagina perfumes, and just everything vagina,” Apple jokes. “And yeah, that’s my mom’s morning routine.” Apple said vagina so many times that TikTok actually censored and hid the video. Luckily, you can see the clip in its entirety above.
Gwyneth just went in-depth with her morning skincare routine for Vogue, which involves nearly $900 worth of products. Some of her favorite go-tos for glowing skin? Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum ($185), Jillian Dempsey’s Gold Sculpting Bar ($195), and Goopglow Microderm Instant Glow Exfoliator ($125).
She gave Apple a little shoutout in the video, calling her 16-year-old the true beauty guru of the family. “She has these amazing, long nails that are painted in such cool ways,” Gwyneth gushed. “She’s got her lashes. I mean, she knows how to contour — that girl is just on fire with her routine. I don’t know where she got it from. She definitely did not get it from me.”


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“With a Father’s Heart: that is how Joseph loved Jesus, whom all four Gospels refer to as ‘the son of Joseph’” (Apostolic Letter Patris Corde).
For our reflection this Father’s Day, we turn to the holiest of earthly fathers, Saint Joseph. The house at Nazareth, headed by Saint Joseph, was imbued with love – sunrise to sunset, day after day – because of the holiness of its occupants: Jesus, the Son of God; Mary, His Mother; and Joseph, His foster father.
In his book Joseph: The Man Who Raised Jesus, Father Gary Caster writes: “For some thirty years Jesus lived, prayed, celebrated, studied, and shared in the home Joseph established. The years in Nazareth were a real foundation upon which Jesus would build his saving ministry. St. Joseph is best known through Jesus’s words and deeds” (xiii).
We find numerous accounts of these in Sacred Scripture, of course. We turn there now for just a few of many examples of Saint Joseph’s influence on Jesus. We examine these in light of Saint Joseph’s holiness as exemplified in their family life through his manual labor, his humility, and his respect for women.
~ The holiness of manual labor ~ The teachings of Jesus are filled with images familiar to His listeners, as in the following: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Mt 11:28 – 30).
Joseph, a craftsman by trade, passed on his knowledge, skill, and expertise to Jesus, his son. Given their location, fashioning yokes was very likely an important aspect of their carpentry trade. An “easy” yoke would fit properly, so that there would be no abrasion to the necks of the animals wearing it. Two could walk along together without discomfort. As apprentice to his holy earthly father, Jesus learned the desirability of an “easy” yoke. Coupled with Him today, we can walk in comfort and security, finding rest for ourselves.
~ The holiness of humility ~ “When you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position’ … For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:10 – 11).
The Holy Family did not function as a self-contained unit. They lived in a village. They had family members, friends, and neighbors – even customers – fairly close by. And while most of their everyday life was spent in Nazareth, they also traveled together; to Jerusalem, for example, for the Jewish holy days (Lk 2:41 – 51). Within their interactions with others, there would have been many opportunities for Jesus to observe Joseph behaving deferentially, taking “the lowest place.” How powerful is the example of humility, father to child! Clearly, it was not lost on Jesus, nor should it be lost on us.
~ The holiness of respect for women ~ The compassion and love which Jesus displayed toward women, as attested to in numerous passages of Scripture, were born of the unfailing love and respect of Joseph toward Mary which He witnessed first-hand every day. The Gospel of Luke in particular features many instances of Jesus’ loving interactions with women, an unusual circumstance for His time when women often were demeaned or ignored. For example, we find the accounts of the grieving widow of Nain (7:11 – 15); the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’ feet (7:36 – 50); and Jesus’ beloved friends Martha and Mary (38 – 42).
As Father Caster states: “The way in which Jesus interacted with women is a profound testimony to the love of the Father and the example of his earthly Father. St. Joseph was a model of masculinity, and his strength was rooted in thoughtful care and genuine respect” (18).
Men and women alike can find no better example of holiness in daily living and in living out the duties of our vocations. With the help of Saint Joseph, we can aspire to holiness through the work of our hands, our humility, and our respect for each other.
Patris Corde ends with a prayer to Saint Joseph which is highly appropriate to our purposes as we honor this holy man on Father’s Day. It is a fitting conclusion to our reflection.
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust; with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life. Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com


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Based on the true story of the notorious serial killer and the intense manhunt he inspired, Zodiac is a superbly crafted thriller form the director of Se7en and Panic Room. Featuring an outstanding ensemble cast led by Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo and Chloë Sevigny, Zodiac is a searing and singularly haunting examination of twin obsessions: one man's desire to kill and another's quest for the truth.

domain: artistic


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Loyalty programmes have the biggest influence in encouraging customers to switch brands, according to exclusive research seen by Marketing Week. However, getting a good deal can often sway opinion, with price promotions and discounts also featuring heavily in customers’ brand choice.
In the latest Marketing-GAP study by fast.MAP, 71 per cent of respondents say they like to buy brands that are on promotion while 39 per cent buy at the lowest price regardless of brand. Thirty-three per cent would buy their usual brand even if there was a cheaper alternative while 30 per cent would continue to buy the same brands even if others were on promotion.
Promotions through reward or loyalty schemes (either coupons or offering bonus reward points) are the most successful in encouraging customers to switch, with 56 per cent of the 1,072 respondents stating they sometimes or often buy a different brand as a result. Pure price discounting attracts 48 per cent of respondents while 45 per cent sometimes or often switch if they have been mailed a printed coupon. Sampling incites 42 per cent of respondents to buy a different brand.
More than half of respondents say prize draws and competitions are unlikely or very unlikely to lead them to switch brands but discounts of 10 per cent or more are attractive to around three-quarters of those surveyed. Meanwhile, 85 per cent claim to be quite likely or very likely to switch brands if able to ‘buy one, get one free’ (Bogof).
Marketers currently engaged in incentivisation strategies bear out the research findings. BrandAlley’s marketing and PR director, Melissa Littler, says: “People prefer their spending to earn them points rather than ad hoc vouchers. They like the simplicity of it and they’re more in control. [Fashion] customers are looking for uniqueness and priority access to sales, for example. It’s not just about price but about letting the customer tell you what they get value from.”
BrandAlley uses various methods to incentivise customers to buy. It runs regular prize draws with awards including a £1,000 shopping spree, a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, tickets to the Chelsea Flower Show or a dress from brand Damsel in a Dress. Another incentive scheme is “Invite a Friend and Earn £10 each.”
While discounts and Bogofs are clearly attractive to customers, marketers must ensure they attract potential long-term relationships rather than ‘voucher tourists’.
It’s not just about price, but about letting the customer tell you what they get value from
“It’s a fine line,” says Littler. “We look at the media sources that drive customers to us. We can see there are certain customers who will only shop with us if they have that voucher so we have to look at our margins and decide whether to keep trying to recruit that customer.”
Another bane of the marketer’s life is when voucher codes go viral. This can be a boon if wide exposure is required but brands seeking targeted customer recruitment have found they need an element of CRM to keep their spend in check.
“We have to keep our vouchers and reward levels discrete,” says Littler. “We can reward loyal customers and make that code unique to their account. It also affects loyalty if we send loyal customers a special offer and they discover that anyone can access it.”
Minicab price comparison and hire firm Kabbee is part of the Quidco incentive scheme where subscribers get 20 per cent cashback if they book with Kabbee. While this provides a low cost per acquisition of new customers, the company also offers 1 per cent cashback for every ongoing journey booked.
“There are bargain hunters out there and people will cycle from company to company, but you’ve got to offer them good service and experience, which means they should come back again,” says Laura Pryzbek, head of marketing at Kabbee.
As a new company in a fairly new sector – the app cab hire market – Kabbee is still trialling incentives to find the most effective types. “It’s a bit of a landgrab market but it’s not viable to spend £10 on marketing every time you want people to make a booking,” says Pryzbek.
To this end, Kabbee is analysing its customer base to discover whether a segment that has made two bookings to date is more receptive to prize draws that offer a holiday or to those offering £100 of Kabbee credit.
In conjunction with partnership agency Cherry London, O2 identified 13 characteristics that cemented the success of a customer reward; top of the list is matching experiences to customer passions.
Mark Stevenson, head of priority and sponsorship at O2, says: “The most important thing to get right on a loyalty platform is to understand what customers want and own it for them. We know that film is a very motivating passion so we give Priority customers the chance to see films such as Despicable Me 2 before anyone else.”
In the same vein, Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) teamed with eReader manufacturer Kobo to offer a free eReader to customers who booked a four-night stay. SLH global marketing director Tim Davis says: “[The eReader] attracted customers with its high perceived value and also tied in two of our customers’ passions – travel and reading. It drove engagement, reach and acquisition all at the same time.”
Marketers have realised they can increase their promotional power by combining two or three incentive strategies. Rather than handing out vouchers until deep discounting erodes all future margin, this utilises each strategy to address individual consumer roadblocks. A standard approach is combining a sampling activity with an on-the-spot incentive, followed by a more strategic campaign aimed at increasing loyalty over the long term.
The most important thing to get right on a loyalty platform is to understand what customers want and own it for them
Boost Energy Drinks ran a sampling programme near university sites including Manchester, Oxford and Birmingham. Visitors to the stand were offered a choice of four flavours and a scratchcard that promised a chance of an instant win of either a £5 note or a £5 Restaurant Choice voucher. The giveaway was designed to generate consumer data as visitors were encouraged to enter an online prize draw for the bigger prize of £5,000.
“We don’t sell drinks direct to consumers but we supply 100 cash-and-carries in the UK. We wanted to create awareness and drive traffic to our Facebook page,” says Boost marketing executive Gabrielle Rosenstone. (For more on sampling and promotions, see Gallo Wines case study below.)
In the luxury segment, promotional packages are based around partnerships. The aim is to create a symbiotic relationship to boost customer numbers for both partners.
Premium retailer Liberty London celebrated the 15th anniversary of its loyalty card by promoting 15 SLH properties. Over 10 months, the retailer is offering a different reward every month, including three nights for two, access to the SLH Loved premium-level club or entry to a prize draw for a three-night stay in one of the hotels.
“By working in partnership with other luxury brands, we are also forming long-term strategic relationships with aligned brands, which means our reward activity is more credible and integrated,” says SLH’s Davis.
While competitions or free prize draws boost companies’ promotional reach, as a standalone concept they receive a mixed reception in fast.MAP’s study. Forty per cent of respondents say they would switch brands because of a competition and only a third say they actively enter draws or competitions.
Nevertheless, for some brands it is an effective strategy. “We’re in the process of running our second £1m prize draw,” says Confused.com’s marketing director, Joby Russell.
“The first time we did it was to raise awareness and launch price comparison as a sector. On this occasion, there has been a lull because of the World Cup, so car and home insurance are not front of mind. We wanted to put some news into the category – an opportunity to do something different with a big number attached.”
But the giveaway is about more than column inches. Russell says: “Our ambition is to grow sales. Last time, customers only had to register, not purchase, but this time they’ve got to commit to purchase and we’ll only give it to someone who buys from us. It refreshes the database, which degrades over time, so we can accurately find incremental growth.”
A £1m prize may seem a large promotional investment, but Russell says: “It’s all about ease of delivery. You avoid the storage of items, the administration of items and having extra people in customer services taking time dealing with the clerical side of the promotion.”
Case study: Gallo Wines – Moscato launch
Gallo Wines adheres to the marketing principles of the California wine industry and the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, with all materials promoting the ‘Drinking responsibly’ code. But Alexis Byron, EMEA marketing manager for E&J Gallo Winery, believes in thinking creatively to produce attractive promotions.
“The wine shelf can be intimidating, so we’re taking the risk factor away from trying something new through sampling. Our new varietal, Pink Moscato, is loved by customers in the US who aren’t engaged in the wine category, so we’re trying to give samples to 300,000 consumers across the UK to drive awareness,” she says.
Sited primarily around JCDecaux Live’s experiential sites at Waterloo, Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly stations, the sampling activity supplied by Ngage Marketing offered the new wine to age-verified commuters in small vials. This activity was boosted in malls where Gallo Wines involved fashion stylist Nicole Smallwood and model Amber le Bon to build a lifestyle element around the brand.
“As we positioned the wine as the summer’s ‘must have’ drink, we used Nicole and Amber to talk about fashion must-haves and then encouraged customers to continue the discussion on Facebook. This is a live competition that will result in the winner getting ASOS fashion vouchers and a bottle each of our white and pink Moscato wines,” says Byron.
Top three challenges
1. Manage margins
“When we do coupons, we have to make sure they don’t overlap with existing promotions so we don’t end up delivering deep discounts. It doesn’t make sense commercially or from a regulation standpoint,” says E&J Gallo Winery’s Alexis Byron. The increasing ability to automate data capture and manipulation is helping brands to hyper-personalise their promotions and limit the risk of ‘going viral’ and eroding margin.
2. Segment customers
Brands need to engage in extensive data mining to ensure they not only provide appropriate rewards for different customer segments but also do not over-incentivise. Understanding which customers would be likely to make a purchase without a promotion dictates the need for a subtle differentiation between a promotional incentive to encourage switching and a reward for ongoing loyalty. Loyal customers will feel undervalued if new customers and ‘voucher tourists’ are offered the same promotions and rewards.
3. Continue the relationship
Promotions and incentives can have a high cost per acquisition so it is vital to have an ongoing plan to continue engaging customers after the event. Confused.com’s marketing director Joby Russell says: “The moment someone becomes a customer, we have data and we feel in a better position to provide them with information on other programmes. It’s important to do smart stuff with your data. The customer might not have come to us for a home insurance quote but we can do it cheaper for them based on our data.”


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Every year, more than 100,000 fans of comics, sci-fi, TV, movies, animation and pop culture descend upon Stampede Park for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. Next year’s celebrity lineup includes stars from Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Battlestar Galactica.
For many, it’s a selfie gold mine while for others it’s a chance to indulge their character fantasies with elaborate costumes and makeup. Either way, there’s no denying that comic convention culture is huge.
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But alongside the Hollywood lineup there’s a number of academics taking the opportunity to educate the masses on the more intellectual side of pop culture.
Joey Windsor, 32, is a PhD student at University of Calgary. He has an honours degree in Sociolinguistics and is working on his PhD in Theoretical Linguistics. He boasts an impressive repertoire of languages including Klingon; a language created for and spoken by an alien species in Star Trek. Next year’s Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo will be his third comic convention appearance.
“Last year in Calgary it was standing room only, so it’s definitely a popular topic” he says referring not only to Klingon but to constructed languages, or conlangs, in general. “There are more languages being created for film and television now than ever before and they’re becoming incredibly complex. Fans either want to know how to learn them or how to construct one.”
Klingon is arguably the best known (and spoken) constructed language in the world. It was created in 1984 by linguist Marc Okrand to bring believability to a war-loving Klingon race and avid Trekkies love it.
“Klingon’s a pretty healthy language: there’s around 7,500 self-professed speakers in North America. That’s more than speak a lot of Canadian aboriginal languages.”
Other widely known conlangs include Dothraki from Game of Thrones and Na’vi from Avatar.
At An Evening with Klingon presented by University of Calgary’s linguistics club, Verbatim, Windsor outlines the linguistic rules which govern the Klingon language to a room of around 25 students. Even without a background in the subject, it’s fascinating stuff.
“Essentially the more familiar the characteristics of a language are the more human the language will sound. Klingon uses a variety of uncommon characteristics from a number of different languages; the resulting sound is unfamiliar, it sounds alien.”
Windsor first started to seriously study Klingon three years ago, after being asked to bring Klingon linguistics to the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo. He’s since been in high demand, even speaking in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
“Most people don’t realize the work that goes into conlangs, or that there’s a linguist behind it who’s laid out the rules for syllable and word formation, the grammatical structure as well as the vocabulary. Nothing in the languages being constructed for movies today is random. It’s a huge task and it takes a lot of time and dedication.”
But to achieve authenticity for created worlds in fantasy or sci-fi, language has become essential. “It’s what draws you in as a viewer” says Windsor “it’s up there with the special effects or the musical score. It makes it real.”
The same applies in reverse; a world can also make a constructed language more real. Tolkien famously created Middle Earth to give history to his Elvish languages.
But it’s on screen that conlangs have really taken off in recent years. “If you look at R2-D2, his language was basically just English down to a single sign wave. Yoda never had his own language and Chewbacca just growled. If they were being created today, they’d all have their own languages. There’s a new precedent being set with series like Game of Thrones.”
So when did conlangs become cool? “They didn’t” laughs Windsor “nerds did and nerds are into this kind of thing. Unfortunately for Hollywood, nerds are the toughest audience, they really scrutinize the attention to detail so it has to be right.”
Windsor’s girlfriend Stephanie Coward is also a PhD student at the University of Calgary and she too is hoping to leverage pop-culture to generate interest in her own specialist subject, infectious diseases.
“With zombie and vampire culture becoming more and more popular, there’s definitely been more interest in epidemiology. Whether or not people know why they’re interested in it, I don’t know, I think it’s more just a general awareness of what it is and people finding aspects of it kind of cool from movies and television.”
“She’s a different kind of dork” laughs Windsor. But that’s exactly what he’s hoping for with his own subject.
“I’m pretty happy if more people even just know what linguistics is and what you can do with a degree in it” he says “yes, you can go into research or teaching but you could also end up inventing languages or working as a dialect coach in the movie industry and that’s pretty cool.”

domain: entertainment


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Screening of Highly-expressed-HMGB1-Gene Human Lung Cancer Cell Lines
Chinese Journal of Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is a type of malignant tumor which threats human health and life. Its morbidity might increase dramatically in a long period. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death all over the world. HMGB1 (high mobility group box B 1) is a non-histone chromosome binding protein in the cells. It takes part in many biological processes including genes transcription and DNA repair. HMGB1 overexpression can result in cell apoptosis, differentiation, migration and proliferation. The
... proliferation. The main purpose of this study was to detect the HMGB1 expression of 4 lung cancer cell lines in order to select the most suitable cell line to do the work next step. Four lung cancer cell lines were cultured by normal method, Western blot and real-time quantitative PCR were used to verify the levels of expression of HMGB1. The cell line which HMGB1 over-expressed was selected. HMGB1 expressed in all 4 lung cancer cell lines, the cell line L9981 was the most highly expressed cell line (P<0.001). All 4 lung cancer cell lines expree HMGB1 gene. As the HMGB1 overexpression cell line, L9981 is an ideal material for follow-up research.

domain: medical


“You’re going to freeze.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?!”
“Don’t bother, everything will be closed.”
When I told people I was going to trek the Annapurna circuit in January, the responses were universally negative. Winter, I was told, would make completing it practically impossible.
My parents had completed the circuit 20-odd years ago when they were dating, and swore to return with their children in the future. With my little brother finally being old enough to carry his own pack, it was decided that 2017 was the year they would return to Nepal. Of course, being Australians, the most convenient time for us to travel is during our Summer holidays, in January.
Having stocked up on warm clothes in Thamel, we set out from Besi Sahar to trek. The scenery was unexpected—things felt more lush and tropical than icy.
We took a local jeep for an hour or so to get a head start. It’s possible to get a lift all the way to Manang, at the top of the circuit, but you’d miss out on so much by taking it. Plus the road is petrifying.
The circuit follows a series of valleys, zigzagging from one side of the river to the other. You’ll cross Nepal’s iconic suspension bridges as well as more makeshift wooden ones. In this part to the circuit, you’ll fall asleep most nights to the sound of the river crashing below you. The ferocity of it is a stark contrast to the serene conditions of the rest of the valley.
Such was the case in Syange, where the cacophony of the rapids reverberated up either side of the valley. The small town is flanked by what would become two recurring sights on the trek: a suspension bridge and a small hydroelectric power station.
After several identical towns perched by the river, the valley opens up at Lake Tal. As usual, we staye’d in a family-run teahouse. Here we were awoken to the soft chants of the father’s Tibetan prayers. Mani walls become more common, and prayer flags are strewn liberally.
Although Nepal is a predominately Hindu country, the Manang Region where the Annapurna Circuit meanders is overwhelmingly Buddhist. This is due to the large Tibetan population, many of whom are decedents of refugees from what’s now China.
Because of this, mani walls abound. Remember to spin the prayer wheels on the mani walls from the left-hand side and always clockwise. Some of the walls feature ornately-carved, wooden wheels, whereas others use old coffee tins. Both are beautiful in their own way.
Food, however, is no different from the rest of Nepal. Each teahouse (the local form of accommodation) features an identical menu so that locals don’t resort to selling their own food supply in a bid to outdo one another and attract more guests. There are a bunch of, well, unique takes on Western staples, but expect to eat a whole lot of daal bhat.
The daal bhat is actually the best choice too. It’s traditional home cooking, with fresh local ingredients. This is a place where food reflects the geography. Crops and cattle are farmed according to both topography ant altitude, and you can taste this in every meal you eat.
As the track continues, it begins to grain height and cling to cliffs. When we reach Timang, snow starts to fall on us for the first time. Timang, like many of the towns we stayed at, seemed to be mostly empty. During the winter, the low season, most workers in the tourism industry go back home. The only people who remain are actual locals, meaning just a couple of family-run teahouses are actually open in each town.
You’ll have the whole place to yourself, and because of this, many teahouse proprietors will offer you free beds so long as you eat all your meals there. This is in no way an inconvenience, as there are no restaurants and you can’t really eat at another teahouse (which would have an identical menu anyway). Typically, the price for accommodation is mostly nominal and food is how the teahouses make all their money, and as a family of four, people were particularly eager to have four empty bellies stay the night.
Having learned this lesson from our disappointing night in Timang (where we stayed in the one non-family-run teahouse), we set out for a long day ahead. While having lunch at Chame, by far the area’s largest and most important town, locals would ask us about our plans. We explained that we’d use the afternoon to make it to the next town. Everyone’s reaction was the same: there are no beds there, you should stay put in Chame (preferably in their own teahouse) instead.
In almost every other country we’d been to, if someone approaches you and tells you the place you want to visit is “closed”, “no good”, or “too far away”, it’s almost certainly a ruse to get you into their own restaurant/attraction/accommodation. With this in mind, we soldiered on after lunch despite the drizzle that had just start to set in.
Crossing the river from Chame, the forest becomes dense, but not enough to provide shelter from the rain, which was gradually getting heavier. As the sun lowered, the temperature cooled and the rain drops began to turn into snowflakes—a great experience for a bunch of snow virgins from Australia.
The next town is called Bhratang. According to our Lonely Planet trekking guidebook it has plenty of teahouses and is a decent place to spend the night. Our trekking map, which was the most recent edition with the most detailed scale we could find in Kathmandu, also noted the town as having teahouses and other trekkers’ facilities. But print does not update as quickly as the world it attempts to describe changes.
Approaching the town, we begin to see high wooden fences and watchtowers. These turn out to be unusually-fortified apple orchards. There was just a single building left in the town: an hold teahouse used to accommodate the fruit pickers and builders. Every other property had been demolished by a very wealthy local business man who had converted the entire town into an apple plantation. Across from this building was an under-construction chalet, which would perhaps one day price gauge helpless tourists who had no other place to stay. Such as ourselves.
So we continued on, just as it went dark. The track suddenly became steeper, and the snow started falling much more heavily. The lack of visibility was so disorienting that we couldn’t even locate ourselves on the map. We were tired, hungry, and worst of all, lost. After two hours of pitch-black, freezing-cold trekking, we finally wound up in the next valley in the town of Dhikur Pokhari, which had ample accommodation.
The backdrop for Dhikur Pokhari is the mountain of Paungda Danda. It’s known locally as Swarga Dwar, meaning the Gateway to Heaven, due to locals’ belief that spirits must climb the wall to enter heaven. But for outsiders, the mountain is spectacular for its smooth, bowl shape–the product of a lakebed being uplifted when the Himalayas were formed.
This mountain marks a turning point. Firstly, you enter another valley which is much wider. This allows for fields and forests while previously it was just the river and rocky cliffs. But more importantly, the track begins to gain altitude. And that magical leg of the trek is saved for Part 2 of this post.
The trek from Chame to Dhikur Pokhari sounds particularly terrifying, especially when you realized that there’s nothing in Bhratang. I’m glad you all made it! But when you thought you were lost, what were you thinking? Did you decide to keep walking anyway, or did it cross your mind to go back to Chame?
I was with my family, and my mum was not at all pleased with the situation haha. But it never occurred to any of us to do anything other than continue forward. Backtracking to Chame and then coming back in the morning would be pretty demoralising, and we knew we’d track the next town eventuallyyyyy
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Wow! Such stunning landscapes! We’ve never been to Nepal, but would like to visit someday (but first Australia though! haha) It might have been cold, but in the end it was a good idea to visit in January though, because you got to beat the crowd and see snow during (your) summer. Although, I must say that the whole region looks quite rural… Love the view from your window! 🙂
Yep, we sure beat the crowds and it was still sunny too! It wasn’t the warmest of times but I’d definitely recommend January as a time to visit!
I done the trek to Everest Base Camp and loved it so much. I loved everything about the area and the people. I really want to go back and do the Annapurna circuit. If anything your post makes me want to go even more now. Cool that it follows the Marshyangdi River especially as it is so pretty.
Likewise, I’d love to go back and do the Everest Base Camp trek. Or maybe the Indigenous Peoples Trail. Regardless, there are so many incredible treks to choose from that I could easily keep on coming back to Nepal!
Chame is in the Manang District (it is the administrative centre of Manang), not Mustang (which is on the other side of the Thorung La)
Bagarchap is before Chane (and was largely destroyed by landslide in 1995). You mean Bratang.
Ahh good catch on both counts! 🤦♂ Can’t believe I got the two towns mixed up after having the name Bhratang burned into my mind forever!
Beautiful photos of Annapurna circuit. ☺. Haven’t trekked there since 2007 myself.
Thanks! Your journeys around the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan have had me particularly inspired!
We did this trek in 2011, nice to revisit it with you today. I remember all of these towns except Dhikur Pokhari and the apple orchards. We likely passed through at a different time of day and didn’t pay attention. Maggie
Thank you for the kind words! I think the orchards were very new at the time we passed through, hence why they weren’t mentioned in our guidebook and probably why you didn’t see them either. But it’s amazing how all the other tiny towns create lasting memories to this day.
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You’ve experienced it before. You’re watching your favorite TV show and suddenly you find that you’ve eaten the whole bag of chips, or, after a stressful day at work, you start eating the Ben & Jerry’s straight from the carton. When did our emotions start deciding what we eat? Getting to the bottom of emotional eating will help you make healthier choices. Look at four ways we use food to handle emotions:
1. Stress eating: When you're having a bad day (emotional stressor), you eat and eat till you end “food coma” – numbing your body in order to block out the unpleasant emotion.
2. Boredom Eating – You're waiting for an appointment or a phone call or simply procrastinating, and suddenly you're nibbling everything in sight. In this case, the emotion of boredom is relieved by this "nervous" eating.
3. Unconscious eating – You may find that you've finished off that entire carton of ice cream and you don't remember how it happened. You are blocking some unpleasant feelings---and at the same time detaching yourself from your own actions.
4. Fear Eating –When you don’t want to face something in your life, distracting yourself with food helps you avoid coping with the uncomfortable situation.
It’s important to remember that your cravings are a window to your emotions. Emotional eating is really not about the food, its about what’s behind your cravings. The question then becomes: “What is my food covering up exactly?” If you eat emotionally, whether it is stress eating, boredom eating, unconscious eating or fear eating, you are shutting down your present awareness, your consciousness, in order to escape a current state of anxiety. While this may work for awhile, it only pushes your emotion down deeper and creates more stress and anxiety in the body. Addressing your emotions is the first key to putting an end to emotional eating. Consider that you have the following choices:
1. You can go on ignoring your emotions and letting them live deep within you. This will keep you in the vicious circle of emotional eating. Your relationships with food will serve only as a tool to hide your emotions rather than as something that nourishes you and provides you energy.
2. You can acknowledge your emotions by allowing them to come to the surface. It may be difficult and painful, but the process of addressing your emotions will allow you to heal from the stress, fear or anxiety.
Emotional eating, and the cravings that lead to it, are not about food at all. They are attempts to avoid dealing with unpleasant emotions. And we all know, although it's easy to forget, that the relief only works for a short time. Getting a handle on those unpleasant emotions is the key to putting an end to emotional eating. Here are some quick tips to help break the emotional eating cycle:
1. When that craving hits, take a minute to find out where it comes from. Will eating right now really solve the underlying issue?
2. Take 5 deep breaths before eating. Relaxing will help you to see more clearly what you are doing.
3. Chew. This slows you down and gives you time to realize what you are doing.
4. Create a list of comfort activities. It may be taking a walk, calling a friend, punching a pillow or sitting in silence. Comfort activities are much more likely to fill your body's need than "comfort foods."
5. Plan ahead. Know what triggers your stress and have your pantry stocked with healthy food like whole grains, vegetables and fruits.
By making these smarter choices your food will nourish you and give you energy, not add to your problems.
Suzanne Monroe, HHC, is a Food Coach and owner of Real Life Food. Suzanne helps busy people figure out what to eat and how to have more energy through her nutrition coaching programs. For more information on Suzanne’s programs, workshops, and recipes, or for a free food coaching session, visit www.reallifefood.com.

domain: psychology


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Nayuta no Kiseki: Kai is scheduled to release for the PlayStation 4 in late June. The announcement came directly from the Nihon Falcom Twitter and the official PlayStation Blog Japan website. Alongside the announcement of a release date, new screenshots were shared of the upcoming remaster. Nayuta no Kiseki: Kai will release for the PlayStation 4 on June 24, 2021 and will cost ¥3,980 (or $37) for the physical release and ¥3,960 (or roughly $37) for the digital version. [Thanks, Ryokutya!]
The PlayStation 4 version of Nayuta no Kiseki was originally announced in December 2020. It was revealed that this title, which was originally on the PlayStation Portable, would be remastered and then ported to the PlayStation 4. However, while a window of release had been shared, an official release date had not been confirmed until now.
You can check out the latest images for Nayuta no Kiseki: Kai below.
Additionally, those who pre-order Nayuta no Kiseki: Kai will receive a special two disc CD set. This set will include a total of sixty in-game songs, including the title song for Nayuta no Kiseki.
Nayuta no Kiseki: Kai will release for the PlayStation 4 on June 24, 2021. There is currently no word of an English localization or release. Nayuta no Kiseki originally released for the PlayStation Portable in 2012 to Japanese audiences.


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Many books to choose from here.
Buddhist, including Theravada, Mahayana and Dali Lama titles.
Highly RecommendedEasy to read & understand
I can't recommend this book highly enough. So easy to read and understand, I couldn't put it down till I'd finished reading it. The explanations are so easy to deal with, all in all I love it.
Using a straightforward style of presentation the Author provides all you need to know to become free of stress and worry through the "simple and beautiful act of sitting quietly, alive to the breathing". as taught by the Buddha.
I first found the book 20 years ago when visiting Thailand. This is the new revised edition, basically a larger format and larger print.
The Author Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (passed away in 1993) is perhaps the most influential Buddhist teacher in the history of Thailand. In 1932 he founded Wat Suan Mokkha-blarama, on of the first forest monasteries in Thailand.
His Holiness the Dali LamaMy Spiritual Autobiography
This vivid and moving autobiographical portrait is the first work to be dedicated to the Dali Lama's spiritual journey.Personal in tone, but universal in scope, it presents the arc of his spiritual vision from his boyhood in rural Tibet, through his life as a monk in India, to his exile as one of the world's most visible leaders.
Hi Holiness's unique spiritual formation and the unusual course of his life mean that his opinions on religion and politics are listened to with respect and admiration.Here he gives views on topics as diverse as the environment, his successor and religious militancy. At the same time, his tought-provoking spiritual insights provide and inspiring example, encouraging us to combine love and compassion in all that we do.
'My dear friend His Holiness the Dali Lama is not simply a holy man. He is recognized throughout the world as one of our few true moral authorities. In his new book, My spiritual Autobiography, he shares lessons learned from a remarkable life, in turn showing us how to live our own lives with compassion, non-violence and love'(above quote by ~ Fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Desmond Tutu)
How science and spiritualitycan serve our world
Discussions withWestern Buddhists
Excursions into Buddhist Wisdom& the Natural WorldBy Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano
With his books Landscapes of Wonder and Longing for Certainty, this American monk led readers down literary trails, providing enlightening glimpses of the natural world.
In Available Truth, he guides us further along the path.His unqualified embrace of the Buddha's worldview... in intelligent and deeply thoughtful prose .. distinguishes his work from many other Western Buddhist books. Along with reflections on mindfulness, impermanence, and the end of suffering, Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano is not afraid to delve into the topics of rebirth, karma, nonvirtue, and the roles of reasoned faith, ritual, and monasticism.
This book will surely stand the test of time as both sound teaching and elegant writing.
A story from TibetA lesson in compassionVibrant coloured drawings on almost every page
An entralling book for your children to read, or read to them if they are very young.
The story begins........... Once upon a time there was a poor boy named Jinpa who lived in the high mountains of Tibet.For his hard work one day he received three gleaming silver coins. With these you can become rich his mother told him. Invest them wisely, and they will increase a hundredfold. So into the world Jinpa went, carrying his three silver coins, to seek his fortune.
"This authentic Tibetan tale, delightfully told and masterfully illustrated with gorgeous colours and lovable characters, is destined to become a classic. Readers will worry about poor troubled Jinpa until they realize that his kind nature turns rotten luck into good fortune again and again. Highly enertaining!"
A lesson in compassion... has a wonderful fairy-tale qualit, and enticing illustratins (Tricycle / The Buddhist review)
A meditatior's handbookBy Ajahn Brahm
Ajahn Brahm is a revered spiritual guide and the abbot of one of the largest monasteries in the southern hemisphere, regularly drawing multinational audiences of thousands.
Self described "meditation junkie" Ajahn Brahm here shares his knowledge and experience of the jhanas - a core part of the Buddha's original meditation teaching.The beginning instructions are some of the best anywhere, and the descriptions of the advances states are unparalleled in their vividness.
He lives in Serpentine, Australia.
By Geshe Tenzin Zopa
Geshe Tenzin Zopa holds a doctorate in Buddhist Philosophy from Sera Jey Monastic University in South India and is a master in Tibetan Buddhist rituals.
He is currently the Resident Teacher at Losang Dragpa Buddhist Society, Malaysia and is also the Director of the Tsum Vally Project (Himalayan Region), which provides Buddhist study and practice facilities and accommodation for the community in the Valley.
Geshed Tenzin Zopa has a contemporary style of teaching which he combines with ancient wisdom derived from his years of philosophical studies and debate.
He is the face of a dynamic and socially engaged Buddhism in the 21st century.
By Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal
The female Buddhist Deity Tara is an object of devotional worshipand medatitive practice for Tibetan Buddhists everywhere.She clears away fears, overpowers negative emotions, and enables all beings to reach enlightenment. She has a special resonance as a source of female spiritual wisdom.Tibetans of all schools and traditions recite the verses on which this commentary is based.Focused comtemplative meditation in relation to the myraid aspects of Tara work to transform the practitioner's mind into those enlightened qualities and mind states that Tara represents.
242 pages / paperback
A short practice of Green Taraincluding praises to the twenty one Taras
The practice of Tara, "The Liberator," is especially used to ensure success in all of our endeavours, whether they are worldly or spiritual in nature. By cultivating the shish that all of our endeavours ultimately benefit others, we can call upon the power of Tara to get things done in a most amazing way. Whether you are looking for the right partner in relationship or wishing to find the conditions for entering into a life of solitary retreat, the practice of Tara is the perfect recipe for success.
By Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Thubten YesheFoundationd for the pereservation of the Mahayana Tradition.
Currently out of stock / more coming soon
Exercises for Personal Harmonyby Anneke Huyser
Anneke Huyser explains the symbolism of the bowls, and beaters, how their metals correspond to the lanets, and how planetary energies, reflected in the frequencies of certain bowls, can be harnessed for personal transformation. She also provides information on the frequencies of colours so you can combine sound with colour therapy principles, and she includes basic information about the body's seven major chakras and how they are affected by singing bowls.
All in all a very useful guide to singing and healing bowls.
And Ritual ObjectsBuddhist and Hindu
An informative book with sketches throughout.
Describes the Published by the Handicraft Association of Nepal
77 pages full of drawings and descriptions.
Everything from Kapalas, Auspicious Signs, Buddhas, Taras, Mandala, Om Sign and so much more.
An iconography on Buddhism & Hinduism
The intention of this book is to introduce the value of eastern major religions especially Hinduism and Buddhism of which ritual artefacts, have importance and significance.
Consisting of 109 pages with black & white sketches of all items and their meaning discussed, such as Om, the swastika, different varieties of Stupa, special elephants, Buddha, Vishnu, and every Hindu God & Goddess, and all Buddhist Bodhisattvas too many to mention here. This is an excellent guide for those interested or if you need to find out more details on a certain statue you wish to buy, then this is the book for you.
Compiled by: Mukhiya N. Lama
A practical handbookof instruction & use
Written by Evy Rudy Jansen.
This book explains the Himalayan bowls, also known as Tibetan or Nepalese singing bowls and he special sounds they make, called sound massage.
The author discusses the meeting between East and West, singing bowls, sacrificial dishes, how the bowls work, synchronization and inner massage, shamanisim and brainwaves, and practical instruction for working with thes sounds.
It does provide practical information about using them as well as showing you how to go about finding the bowl that is right for you. The mysteries explained here are a wonderful overview if you want to open you heart and mind to the therapeutic value of this phenomena.
A Practice for the Prevention and Healing of Disease
This booklet contains a meditation practice on the Healing (Medicine) Buddha, a fully enlightened being whose purpose is both to cure disease and to prevent it's onset. This practice was composed and translated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Also included here is The Prayer Liberating Sakya From Disease, a beautiful and powerful prayer that brings great blessings.
Composed by PadmasambhaveTranslated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Foundation for the preservation fo the Mahayana Tradition


“The time has passed for Swimming Australia to control this process…” Donaldson said.
Swimming Australia is facing legal action from a group of past and current swimmers and coaches who have “no confidence in” and “genuine fear” of the governing body, and have engaged high profile lawyer Adair Donaldson.
There are growing calls for the Human Rights Commission to step in to investigate the sport and The Weekend Australian has also learnt there are a number of complaints already with Sports Integrity Australia against the sport – even though Swimming Australia is yet to sign up to the newly formed body.
On Friday the allegations of six former swimmers, who say they were mistreated with one alleging sexual misconduct, were given to Swimming Australia. Olympian Maddie Groves was also due to meet with SA with her legal advisers after she cited “my perverts” as part of the reason for pulling out of the Olympic trials in Adelaide earlier this month.
Donaldson said he has spoken to swimmers, parents and coaches who have a “lack of faith” in Swimming Australia and called for the Human Rights Commission to step in.
“The time has passed for Swimming Australia to control this process…the Human Rights Commission needs to step in,” Donaldson said.
“I have been in communication with both current swimmers, coaches, parents, and I am alarmed enough to say, based on my previous experience with other sports like gymnastics, that SA should step aside and allow an independent review either by Sports Integrity Australia or the Human Rights Commission.”
Donaldson is also currently acting on behalf of a group of Australian gymnasts who are seeking compensation for “permanent harm”.
The Australian last week revealed there have been five complaints made to Swimming Australia against an Olympic coach which resulted in no action. Further to that it can also be revealed three other seperate complaints against coaches were made to Swimming Australia and they weren’t “followed up”.
“I do not believe that Swimming Australia has the athletes’ best interests at heart and it seems based on their response to date they are more concerned with protecting the reputation of the institution,” Donaldson said. “It is unfortunate they don’t appreciate that athletes and their families are coming forward because they want to make a difference for future generations. It does not need to be this way.”
“Swimming Australia has had their chance to address the systemic failings. They cannot seek to hide behind previous SA led investigations as they were in control of the process.”
“Let’s not forget that Swimming Australia is federally funded, if Swimming Australia is not going to acquiesce its powers of investigation then it is high time that the Sports Minister steps in.”
The barbaric training methods, which as revealed in The Weekend Australian last week has seen aspiring young Olympians like Darian Quadrio consider suicide, are currently under the microscope.
The Australian has spoken to other swimmers over the past week who can also reveal:
* a swimmer was made to do four kilometres of butterfly as punishment for not greeting their coach properly
* a former Australian junior team member became bulimic after being body shamed on one AIS team camp. She was told her bathers were too small and she was arousing male teen swimmers at the same AIS camp. She ended up self harming and considering suicide.
* Swimmers fainted and some urinated blood from “over training” after “hell week” at an Australian High Performance squad
* One swimmer confirmed she and other female members of a junior Australian team were made to weigh in before breakfast and write their weight on a whiteboard at the junior Pan Pacs. The boys didn’t have to weigh in.
* A swimmer was put on a “keto diet” at age 12
Donaldson was alarmed by the burnout of promising young swimmers, like Quadrio, who was subjected to extreme training methods and suffered an eating disorder.
“What I am greatly concerned about is the athletes that don’t make it,” Donaldson said.
“I am concerned by certain high performance coaches‘ training practices. It is acknowledged widely that coercive control is a form of abuse and what I am seeing in SA looks to be just that. Teenagers being isolated from their support networks, being subjected to name calling and frequent criticism, having access to finances controlled in the form of scholarships, having how much they are eat constantly monitored, having relationships regulated – I have spoken to swimmers who were told they were not able to have boyfriends – and generally being subjected to intimidation. If this was in a domestic setting we would be calling it for what it is, abuse. What makes it insidious is that many of these swimmers are children, who have subjected themselves to this treatment by a trusted adult because they love this sport and want to be the special one in their squad.”
“I know people will ask, why don’t they just give swimming up? They stay because they are reassured they are in a safe space, that they can trust the coach and that the coach is only trying to make them better and cares about them. They also feel trapped and that they will lose their identity and funding if they leave. These are highly motivated individuals to whom quitting is a foreign concept and the coaches and SA are exploiting this.”
Former swimmer and coach Julie Gilbert, who alleged she was sexually abused by former Olympic swim coach Scott Volkers, has joined Donaldson’s action and said she has done so to ensure that Australian swimming becomes a safe space.
“If we are ever going to make sure that swimming is a place where athletes can thrive and have a healthy adulthood as well, then we need to make sure there is a safe place that athletes can disclose complaints without fear – which they can’t do today,” Gilbert said.
“That’s why I am joining, because everything we can do needs to be done to protect young people. I just want this sport to be safer for everyone else.”
“If an organisation is not going to listen to the people, then you have to go a higher, and if we have to the Human Rights Commission.”
Charges against swim coach Volkers have been permanently stayed and will not proceed after a Court found it would be “unfairly and unjustifiably oppressive” to allow him to be prosecuted over child sex allegations.
If you or anyone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.


text:
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Wednesday that the global surge in inflation is among the current challenges being faced by central banks, reported Reuters. In Japan, he continued, pent-up household demand has been limited and the recovery of aggregate demand has been slower than in Europe and the US. Meanwhile, wages in Japan have risen, but the rate of increase has remained moderate.
The appropriate monetary policy response to inflation will differ between countries, he continued, though a common challenge for each country is to determine the magnitude and persistence of inflationary pressures. Uncertainties over geopolitical risks are extremely high, Kuroda noted, and could put downwards pressure on the global economy by shrinking trade and damaging confidence.

domain: finance


text:
Season 2, Episode 8 A Kiss Before Dying...On-stage
First Aired: November 17, 1997
Susan's attraction to a hunky actor gets a bit complicated after she sees him bomb onstage; Todd struggles with claustrophobia. Tony Bennett has a cameo. Ethan: Michael McLafferty. Susan: Brooke Shields.
Cast & Details See all »
- Premiered: September 19, 1996
- Rating: None
- Premise: A suddenly unattached San Francisco magazine writer pens a column about the single life after leaving her fiancé at the altar. This sitcom, the first TV series for Brooke Shields, mines much of its humor from naive Susan's interactions with her neurotic co… (more)


Andromeda Dynamic Digital Delay Pedal
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