Let’s discover Lucia Barbato’s best practices to grow B2B tech and telecom businesses using content marketing in this article.
Here’s the outline:
- Q: Can you introduce yourself and share what inspired you to get into content marketing with the audience?
- Q: How did you decide that b2b telecom will be the space you want to work with and help them with marketing aspects?
- Q: What is your process for bringing the most value to your clients in the b2b tech and telecommunication space?
- Q: You said you work in partnership. How do you go about creating a client brief?
- Q: As your agency has Mathew, a journalist, and you as a pr. So can you share the process of quality content that you come up with for the client?
- Q: What do you think that some writers miss in the process that would make their content more effective?
- Q: If a freelance writer works on it, what do you think they should do to deliver effective content? What sort of process should they go through in that scenario?
- Q: From your perspective, the strategy and content planning in the b2b telecom industry should be one year long, or should it be short?
- Q: What skill sets are required to do the content strategy and planning properly?
- Q: What sort of input that you think people should take into consideration when they create a long-term content strategy?
- Q: If a company is new and they’re not established, and they don’t have a lot of budget, how do you advise them to do content marketing effectively?
Q: Can you introduce yourself and share what inspired you to get into content marketing with the audience?
I am Lucia Barbato, a co-founder and director of Ilex content strategies. My route to content marketing was slightly different. I trained as a lawyer initially, and I realized that I wanted something more creative, so I ended up in b2b tech and telecoms.
I worked for a few different agencies, and then the time came; I had my first son, and I wanted to be the master of my destiny. I have worked in several agencies, and I’ve seen how some agencies could be doing things better.
I wanted to put those ideas into practice, so I founded Ilex with Matthew, and we started as a b2b tech and telco content marketing agency from scratch. We never intended to do PR, but people come to us and say I want a one-stop-shop, so we do all the comms stuff.
We make everything from content marketing, inbound sales, pr, a complete communications package.
Q: How did you decide that b2b telecom will be the space you want to work with and help them with marketing aspects?
I think there is no other industry that touches our lives as much as the tech and telco space. I think it’s interesting that we take for granted that apps we have on our phones, the conversation we’re having right now seems to happen by magic, and there are lots of players making it possible for us to do that.
I found that interesting. It’s an area that’s constantly growing, and it’s fascinating. It also allows you to use your intellectual muscle a bit, which attracted me.
Q: What is your process for bringing the most value to your clients in the b2b tech and telecommunication space?
I think what’s different about Ilex and the reason why we’re able to give our customers such good value is that we work in partnership with them. So they don’t see us as an external agency; they see us as part of the team.
Because of that, we’re able to talk across various sectors. We can speak to the sales guys and speak to the marketing guys. Usually, business development or marketing is our first point of contact. Still, when we get into the door, we help them across the whole remit and work very closely with them to meet their b2b business objectives.
So they tell us what their extensive suggestions are, and we put a b2b marketing plan together as to how they’re going to get there, and that marketing plan depends on what they want to achieve, what their budget is, etc.
We work with a b2btechcompany in a partnership that I think is very different. We have access to lots of data, and we use that to work out the sweet spots we should be going for. Additionally, we have a lot of experience in the b2b market.
For example, Matthew was a journalist and a business writer for many years. My background was actually in PR. We know a lot of the stuff, and I think they have that kind of expert help.
They haven’t got to teach us from scratch. We can hit the ground running on day one and collaborate with them. It sets us apart.
Q: You said you work in partnership. How do you go about creating a client brief?
We have a lot of discovery chats about what they’re trying to get, the gaps, etc. Because they have exhausted their current agency or they haven’t got the capacity in-house, and they need someone to help them.
There are pronounced gaps that need plugging, and we help them do that. For example, we work with a large American cyber security vendor who came to us because the agency they had previously couldn’t target the middle east market.
One of their key markets, for example, was Saudi Arabia. They came to us initially on a project basis because they needed to get some stories out and get some quick coverage there.
Our thing is all about being borderless PR, so you can get a story anywhere as long as you’re telling internationally relevant, exciting, interesting stories that are backed up.
So we came in with them on that basis, and we got great coverage from Saudi Arabia and across the region. We were there, not invited to pitch, and by that point, we knew who they were, what they wanted to do, what they were trying to get at, and what territories were important to them.
We had lots of discovery calls to work that out. Then based on what we knew about them and what we could offer, we put together a very successful package.
So far, we’ve been with them for over a year now as a permanent client, and they continue to grow and do amazing things. But you know, lots of the stuff we work on is word of mouth.
Often, people leave the company that we were working with, go somewhere else and bring us with them, or start a new venture and invite us to work with them.
So we’re fortunate that we have already established relationships with many people we deal with, which makes it easier to have those conversations and find out what they want and their budgets.
Q: As your agency has Mathew, a journalist, and you as a pr. So can you share the process of quality content that you come up with for the client?
We always had a publishing model in which everything we share with the client has been printed already. When we send them to a client, they must be 99% perfect.
So we are very rigorous about what gets sent out. We have a team that we work for in b2b content marketing, and we’ve found the best way of achieving that is by growing our own talent.
So we have a very successful apprenticeship scheme, and we bring people in either as graduates or straight out of high school and train them ourselves. They get a qualification on the side, and most of their time is spent learning the job.
Then we have a very rigorous internal monthly training process. Mathew and I are very involved in the day-to-day work of making sure the stuff is good enough to go out. We make sure that the individuals can meet the standards.
So what people appreciate is they know that if they give us something, even if it’s a very, very thin brief, they know that we are perfectionists and that we’re going to provide them with something good to show their boss straight away.
We have very high standards, and we don’t send anything else out unless it’s printed already; that’s important. So as we train our staff, they understand the high standards, and we work with them.
So they can get there, and in the early days, Mattew and I are very hands-on, but as they progress through their career, they become self-sufficient and can contact us when they need it.
Q: What do you think that some writers miss in the process that would make their content more effective?
I think business writing is a specific style of writing. People come out of academia university; they believe they are great writers because they’ve been writing academic stuff, but It’s not the same.
I think there’s a skill to learn, which comes from consuming business writing and practicing. Becoming a good business writer is a different writing style and acquiring that industry knowledge.
So if you go out of school or come out of university, you’re not going to know everything about the b2b tech and telco industry.
I always say that we’re not reinventing the wheel. There is always a press release before a white paper or before there has been a video.
So getting familiar with that kind of content and how that is best executed helps you know if you’re an avid reader or going to be a good writer, and the same for content creators.
Q: If a freelance writer works on it, what do you think they should do to deliver effective content? What sort of process should they go through in that scenario?
I guess many freelance writers have been writing about that industry for a long time, and if they’re, they probably have a wealth of information themselves. If you’re an established writer, you’ve had lots of practice; you’re probably a good writer because that’s why people choose you.
But if you are starting out writing as a freelance writer and starting in this industry, I think taking the time to do your research is vital. I mean, as an industry, it moves very quickly. There’s lots of content out there that they can use and make sure that the sources are reputable.
We teach our newest staff, ensuring that you know who you’re quoting and that they’re a legitimate source. It is always valuable. We, as an agency, every morning do the news. We sit around, and we do it virtually. Everyone picks out their top tech or telco b2b story.
I think keeping abreast of just every day what’s happening in the industry is beneficial. An accumulation of knowledge always helps. You’re learning bit by bit every day without even realizing it.
But if you send an assignment, I think the number one thing is to research the industry topic you’re talking about and the company. You want to sound like them; how do they usually sound?
What impression do they give when you read any of the material? You want to mimic them as much as possible. I have to sound like it’s coming from the same writer, even if you’ve never worked with them before because the tone of voice is essential.
Q: From your perspective, the strategy and content planning in the b2b telecom industry should be one year long, or should it be short?
The important thing about planning is that you always remain flexible because you never know what curveball can be thrown at you. For example, we use LinkedIn a lot for our clients, and it’s the number one platform that they want to get in front of.
We might do several different campaigns, and each one will have lots of different touchpoints. So, for example, we might write an e-guide, and the e-guide will be on their website, and it’ll be sent out as an email to the database, but it’ll also go on their LinkedIn page, and it’ll also go on their personal LinkedIn profile.
It’ll go on Twitter, and we can then spin off a couple of blogs from that. That’s the plan in place, and we might think we’ll do quarterly guides. That’s something that Ilex tries to do themselves.
We do it for our brand, which I sometimes admit slips because client work comes beforehand, and the fact of the matter is even though we’re planning like a year ahead of what we want to do, you never know what’s around the corner.
Something far more critical will come through in six months, and then you have to park whatever you had planned.
So I think plan as far ahead as you possibly can. I think more than a year is too far because it will happen much sooner than that. So the quarterly guys, the monthly newsletters, whatever is planned, make sure that content gets as many different touchpoints as possible.
Q: What skill sets are required to do the content strategy and planning properly?
It would be very organized to run a tracker and come up with creative ideas. Get people behind you; one person will not create this content plan. Execute the content and deliver it all in one go. It’s often the work of a team of people managing your social media.
What you’re creating isn’t the person who necessarily writes the white paper, or you might be doing the email campaign, or you might build a blog post. So I think it’s essential to have a vision and execute on that by bringing in the best people to help you and getting the most out of your team because nobody does all of this work on their own.
You want to have consistency because it’s unhelpful even for all communications, different inflection points. Because by the time, if you’re only doing that, then by the time your next piece of content comes out, people can’t remember who you are.
Q: What sort of input that you think people should take into consideration when they create a long-term content strategy?
It depends on the business objectives and how many resources the business themselves have to support you. I think people often come to an agency hoping you can solve all their problems because it’s tough when you’re in the middle of something to see the wood for the trees.
You need someone to stand back and say this is the best bit of your story, and this is how we should do it. So gather as much information as you can from the company but have that relationship where they trust you to stand back.
Q: If a company is new and they’re not established, and they don’t have a lot of budget, how do you advise them to do content marketing effectively?
It’s always good to start with the basics, and you don’t have to go in with all the flashy, expensive stuff straight away. A little and often is much better than nothing at all.
We work with startups, and we do various things for them, and each company depends on what they want. But people often find it very useful to have some support in the beginning.
Creating content can be used across LinkedIn because many people see that LinkedIn is where they want to be getting their new customers.
They don’t want to be wasting their time on other channels. So maybe it’s good to get someone to help you write a blog to populate your website, and you can then use that content on your LinkedIn channel.


Council tax is proposed to rise by 3.99 per cent in Leeds next year in order to meet rising costs and demand on services as part of initial budget plans released by Leeds City Council.
In a report to be considered by the council’s executive board at Civic Hall on Tuesday 7 January, the budget proposal for 2020/21 shows how the council aims to deliver a further £23.24million of savings over the next financial year.
The need to achieve additional savings continues a pressure the council has faced for the last decade, a period in which core funding from government has been reduced by approximately £266m, a 59 per cent cut overall between 2010 and 2020.
The Local Government Finance Settlement has been delivered with the figures for Leeds in line with expectations. It contains one-year funding agreements for next year with a spending review to be carried out by the government to determine the funding position after 2021.
The council’s approach to next year’s budget continues its commitment to tackling poverty and inequalities in the city through strengthening the economy and being compassionate and caring, with 61.6 per cent of the council’s overall budget being allocated to supporting adults and health, children and families.
Despite this, rising costs and demand means two per cent of the council tax increase will be dedicated to adult social care funding. With population growth forecasts predicting a continued rise in the numbers of people aged 85-89 over the next five years, the additional £6.6m raised through the adult social care precept will contribute towards meeting increasing care costs associated with a growing population, providing support for vulnerable older people in Leeds.
A further £1.4m has also been set aside to provide for anticipated growth in need to support looked after children in the city, as part of the ongoing commitment to children and families which includes no council-managed children’s centres having been closed in Leeds.
Council tax in Leeds is currently the second-lowest of the English core cities, with the level for Band D properties being lower than in Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, Bristol and Nottingham.
As an organisation, the council itself will continue to focus on being efficient and enterprising, with three elements underpinning its approach; inclusive growth, health and wellbeing and climate change. Climate change will factor into all aspects of decision-making following the council’s declaration of a climate emergency earlier this year.
The council will continue to be a real living wage employer, with minimum pay levels being the Living Wage Foundation rate of £9.30. In terms of staffing levels, the budget for 2020/21 sees the position from previous years continue with no proposals for large-scale compulsory redundancies, as the council has reduced in size by over 3,000 employees between 2010 and 2019.
Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said:
“The financial position remains challenging with another year ahead where significant savings need to be made. We remain committed to protecting frontline services and investing in support for our most vulnerable young people, families and adults, as well as creating opportunities for everyone in all of our communities.
“Despite these challenges, we will keep doing everything we can to tackle poverty and inequality as a compassionate city with a strong economy, continuing to lobby for the resources we need, embracing new ideas and supporting innovation. Everything we do will also be mindful of the impact of climate change, in keeping with our declaration of a climate emergency earlier this year as we strive to make Leeds a carbon-neutral city.”
The 2020/21 initial budget proposals will now be considered by councillors and stakeholders, together with a survey running on the council’s website after the executive board meeting on 7 January.
The final plans will then be discussed by the executive board on Wednesday 12 February before being debated and voted on at the full council meeting on Wednesday 26 February.
To see the initial budget proposals for Leeds for 2020/21, go to www.democracy.leeds.gov.uk


Senate Democrats on Friday introduced a bill to remove statues of Confederate figures and other defenders of slavery and segregation from display in the U.S. Capitol after a broad bipartisan majority of the House passed it last month.
The bill would remove 11 statues of Confederate figures currently on display in the Capitol, including ones of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Vice President Alexander Stephens.
It would also remove statues of three advocates for slavery and segregation: U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun, Sen. James Clarke of Arkansas and Gov. Charles Ayock of North Carolina.
A bust of Roger Taney, the Supreme Court justice who authored the 1857 Dred Scott decision, which held that the Constitution does not extend citizenship to Black Americans, would be replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall, the court’s first Black justice.
A total of 67 House Republicans voted with all Democrats last month to pass the bill, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise, with McCarthy stating in a floor speech, "All of the statues being removed by this bill are statues of Democrats.”
The bill will need support from at least 10 Republicans in the Senate, assuming all Democrats in the chamber support it, in order to overcome the filibuster, which requires most legislation to get 60 votes.
“Those who committed treason against the United States to uphold and preserve the institution of slavery should not be afforded such a rare honor in this sacred space,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), one of the bill’s original co-sponsors and one of just three Black senators, said in a statement, calling to “remove statues from the Capitol that perpetuate bigotry and hatred.”
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), one of the 120 House Republicans who voted against the bill last month, said it is “animated by the Critical Race Theory concepts of structural racism, microaggressions, and a United States based solely on white supremacy.” He offered a similar explanation for his vote against a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
What To Watch For
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters last month he believes his Senate counterpart Chuck Schumer will give the bill a vote on the floor. While any senator may place a hold on the bill by objecting to passing it unanimously – as Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) did last year, when Republicans held the majority – Schumer can circumvent them by adding it to the Senate calendar.


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Welcome to the future and the future looks bright. If you are on twitter than you have been seeing the countless tweets that the bull market is over. Although everyone like an up market, they are always bittersweet because a 30% rise in spot price means its 30% more difficult to stack.
January was a a good month with several lessons learned. The largest lesson was to not get greed with dual investment. I tried to pick the top only to have around 5% of my BTC position disappear and because of my Icarusian hubris I was forced to spend analog currency on crypto for the first time in months.
This is a provider I honestly forgot existed. It is fairly easy to get set up on and to fund, but the fees are insane. I would not recommend using CoinSmart unless you are very desperate. I only used this because I was hoping for a sign up bonus but that didn't even work.
This was just the platform on which I paid my toll for my greed. I purchased just under 0.06 ETH to begin my Etherium dual investment journey on Kucoin.
After the transfer I hold no crypto on this platform and will most likely never look at it again.
This is a good platform for making crypto purchases via etransfer. For whatever reason both Visa and Mastercard do not like it when I buy crypto so I had to find a carrier that allowed me to send money from my bank account.
Sometimes the have deposit bonuses as well.
The AXS purchase I made was made with fund I got for free from online sports betting websites. If you live in Ontario Canada- and you are a bit cunning - you can make free Canadian dollars by taking advantage of sign up and deposit bonuses from online sports books.
In January I made around $750 from sports gambling websites. I would be happy to write a How-To, but I am not sure how many people on Publish0x are in Ontario.
Regardless, I am now going to take $25 CAD out of every withdrawal above $100 CAD and put it into a Crypto. This time I chose AXS because I want to get to 5 shards before I stop rolling the interest back into it and use the AXS interest to build a BNB position.
The COIN app is great. I usually pull around $12 USDT out of it per month. This app is part of my day to day. If you are building or you don't have alot of money to start your crypto journey the Coinapp should be in your tool box.
Even with the non paid membership you can easily make 1 withdrawal per month. This is something I wish I had started years ago.
Mid month I moved all my BTC back to Binance because their simple earn provides more interest than Kucoin's. Also I wanted to start in with the ETH dual investment experiment so I thought it was best to segment the accounts.
Controversial but I think staking is beneficial. Just don't fall for the crazy high rates as the are definitely a scam. I don't think 0.5-1% is that risky. I also think Binance is a strong company that won't FTX anytime soon.
Lastly I was rewarded with some MDX from Binance Academy. I am currently just going to hold it but I may roll it into BNB tokens next month.
Surprisingly, this is the first time I have written about Coinbase. I use it quite often. Coinbase is the exchange that links up with the COINapp and it is where all my XYO rewards get deposited.
Coinbase made the list this month because of its earn and learn program. They usually pay out between 3-5 USDT in crypto per lesson, but it has been a while since the last one. I earned $3 USDT worth of KAVA this month. I rolled it directly into BTC.
I hope they do these more as they are more lucrative than Binance Academy.
Even with the greedy dual investment play and the loft BTC price I still managed to add a third of a percent of 1BTC to my pile so I am happy. Small incremental steps are what make real changes.
Referral links if you want to start earning with me:
Keep building in a bear market!
As always you can join the conversation on Twitter @1BTCproject
And keep track of my crypto journal on my other blog - http://635ed752b3bfb.site123.me/

domain: economics


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The latest video from Prof‘s Pookie Baby is a touch different from the high energy party vibes you may be used to from his trademark live performances.
Directed by Will Moses and Tomas Aksamit, “Eulogy” brings us out of the city, into the woods and into the endless mysteries of the afterlife. It’s a powerful clip, and a reminder why six months later Prof’s latest Rhymesayers album resonates with us so much. According to social media, Prof is planning to release another album in 2019, so the Stophouse party will continue to roll on!
Prof next plays Wisconsin’s Majestic Theater on October 19.

domain: news


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As part of the artist’s exhibition projects the print process has been utilised to create hand made books associated with the landscape subject matter:
Artists book made for the ‘Mountain Arts Festival’ Reghed Centre Cumbria 2016
This handmade book and case contains text and images drawn in ink and bleach documenting a journey around Chew Valley, a reservoir in the Dark Peak National Park, in the last hour of daylight on the Spring Equinox 2016.
This piece of work is part of a current project entitled ‘Northern Stones and Peat Smoke’, a series of images based upon landscape sites in the north of England and Scotland which have also been described in contemporary literature and poetry.
The Horizons ring me like faggots
Tilted and desperate, and always unstable.
Touched by a match, they might warm me,
And their fine lines singe
The air to orange
an extract from Wuthering Heights – Sylvia Plath
This artists book contains woodcut images drawn at the site of an abandoned lead mine in Swaledale. The artist was fascinated by the spoil heaps within the landscape and how every piece of mined rock had been handled and reshaped (bowsed), to eventually redefine the topography of the daleside and high moor.
At the peak of the lead mining industry in 1851 the parish of Melbeck which includes ‘North hush’ and Gunnerside had a population of 1661.
In 1882 the price of lead fell and mining virtually ceased, by 1981 the population had diminished to 282.
The ‘dressing floors’ were platforms of spoil near the smelting houses on which the newly mined ore was broken into small pieces.
The monocolour woodcut prints from the books are also presented in a coloured version framed with the following text:
Under the fold of Surrender Moss
Whispering hushes mourn a shrouded waste
Layed out in rows along rake and level
A pale karst morgue
In the short daylight of winter
Water runs like time
Across the silent dressing floors
Alba And Arisaig
Two concertina books containing small woodcut images of the West coast of Scotland, created after an expedition to Rum in 2017, handmade in signed editions of 5.

domain: artistic


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Is There Enough Diversity in ‘Women in Tech’ Initiatives?
While women and girls in tech mean huge advancements for diversity in the tech industry, there’s still a significant challenge to tackle: including trans and nonbinary people in IT. Initiatives like Girls Who Code, Women Who Code and Women in Technology International are much more than well-meaning: They are necessary organizations for including more women in technical roles. It’s now well-known that education and inclusion of women in leadership roles mean better business. Women overall increase retention rates, are better at problem-solving and tend to be more loyal to the companies they work for.
Statistics by Deloitte show that progress is slow for women in the workforce but even slower for women in tech. While 32.9 percent of women are part of the overall workforce, only 25 percent are working in tech. The leading faces of Fortune 500 companies are also male (think Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk).
However, there is a statistical gap between what is researched regarding women in IT and what is really going on, as most companies don’t report on specific factors like pay, life-work balance, and physical and mental well-being. There is not-so-measurable invisibility to be addressed here: the “women in tech” gap versus the “gender gap.” For gender nonconforming individuals, reports are even scarcer.
Who ‘Women in Tech’ Initiatives Leave Out of the Picture
Wired has written one of the few pieces regarding gender nonconforming individuals in tech roles. Statistics Canada produced one of the few reports regarding gender nonconforming individuals, building upon previous research done in 2016 in the United States. It’s easy to agree that “[w]ithout data on this population, it is difficult for governments, service providers and other institutions to develop programs and policies that address the concerns and needs of this community. Statistical information on the transgender community is needed to develop inclusive policies, programs, and laws at the federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal levels in many areas […].”
Much of the talk surrounding the former “women in tech” revolves around business strategies for the promising future of tech labor, as well as around women being positive role models (i.e., having more visibility) or even helping women achieve their own potential. PwC’s primary call to action in its Women in Tech report relies on these points. The problem with this vocabulary is that it puts the strain on women to make themselves from the ground up regarding tech jobs out of volition. This is no different from the general opinion (think Cheryl Sanders’ book Lean In). A common, maybe even misused, word here is “representation.”
Does representation mean cultivating public figures? Or, does it mean actually being a key player in company decision-making?
Most articles on representation focus on the former. That said, keeping an eye on “positive role models” impacts nonbinary and transgender people even more. Because most trans-identifying people are ages 13 to 17, they are the future of the workplace in literal terms. What’s more, that population segment has increased over the past three years. In tech specifically, Reuters highlights how “nearly 7% of people in the U.S. tech industry identify as LGBT+, compared with about 4% of Americans overall.”
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
When comparing “Women in Tech” movements and organizations to the “Trans People in Tech” or “LGBTQ People in Tech” (or with whatever preferred moniker), there are key differences. “Women in Tech” initiatives tend to focus on gender from a binary perspective versus the “LGBTQ People in Tech”-type organizations, which take a more general approach to gender diversity (meaning, a wider interpretation of representation, gender, self-perception and sexuality).
LGBTQ Allyship and Participation in IT
All things considered, initiatives like TransTech (U.S.), LGBTQ in Technology (U.S.) and TransTI (Argentina) are becoming much more common. If anything, paving the way means not doing charity work, but instead giving real jobs.
The big question is whether “Women in Tech” programs could include trans and nonbinary people in their organizations at whatever level. Given that life expectancy is lower and economic vulnerability is much more prevalent in transgender people (and are also at a greater risk for disease and precarious living situations), it’s understandable how such initiatives cannot afford to stop at “inspiration” or “representation” and are likely to need public funding to be able to take that next step. It’s what Black Female Founders has done for the African-American community by taking into account group-specific vulnerabilities.
Conclusion: How to Support Trans and Nonbinary Developers in America
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to creating safe and supportive spaces in tech. Companies should incorporate diversity and inclusion policies to help alleviate toxic work culture as well as to keep their LGBTQI employees safe. Resist assumptions that everyone takes the same linear path toward product discovery and include greater representation in marketing teams. In the case of organizations whose initiative is to encourage women to code, what’s worrying is that these organizations’ campaigns are speaking more to cis women than to LGBTQ people.
One of the few studies on the topic of nonbinary and trans people in tech is not optimistic at all: “The numbers are no less comforting with the rest of the findings: only 55.1% of women and non-binary technologists feel like they are being paid fairly for the work they do.” The study groups women and nonbinary technologists in the same group, though their needs differ immensely. Otherwise, there’s more at risk for companies and gender nonconforming employees if businesses don’t adapt to this reality soon.


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What will I remember from October 2020? Conversations- both personally and professionally that challenged and caused me to reflect on how important relationships are. We are living in a time when “seeing others” might still mean by video or at least a phone call. It is not possible for me to travel and visit with family and those I work with (yet) and I am missing my people. This is also the time of the year that I would normally say good bye here at home and head south as one of the many, many Canadian snowbirds. All of this feels different. And, there are days that I feel selfish for even voicing what I am missing since so many in the world are suffering with the pandemic and its side effects. Health, death, job loss, financial and housing issues- these exist in real time and I know that my losses are nothing compared to so many. How can I ever complain?
In my school improvement coaching this past month, a very wise principal put it all in perspective for me. She said that she is working hard to keep her thinking, visioning and reflecting in the “green”. As she so beautifully stated, she can see the problems of the day, the worries of tomorrow as green or red. They either present problems to solve, actions to take, thoughts to work through or they stop her in her tracks. Similar to what happens when you quickly come to a red light. You have to come to a full stop and wait. Sometimes the wait is long but once the light is green you move on. Unfortunately, when we let “red” influence our thinking, we often stay stalled or stuck for too long.
As I continue to work in schools and districts, I have seen wonderful examples of “green” thinking. Despite feelings of exhaustion and a sense that this year and pandemic may never end, forward “green” thinking is alive and well. What can we do next to help a student? How can I support a teacher during a particular difficult time? What will it take to keep learning as the focus no matter what? These are my green thinking people and they are a dream to work with. I am so appreciative of their willingness to work through the challenges and ensure learning for each student is the goal.
One of my “green” thinking principals is new to me and my very first coaching session was this past month. Logging on to Zoom, I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was anxious and excited to meet her. When her camera came on, I found a very sick lady in her bed. She was home with COVID and had some severe symptoms. DESPITE this, she wanted to talk about her school. She has a vision, dreams and goals of what her school will become. She knows what the work has to be and she is passionately engaging her staff in authentic school improvement. I am blessed to have the opportunity to meet her and work with her and thankfully, our second session found her much better. Lessons learned- if she can be a “green” thinker despite her situation, I sure need to keep my focus on green.
One other great conversation that I had this month was with four principals who volunteered an hour of their precious time to meet with me. Through video, we connected from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast with two southern belles in between. My goal was for these seasoned principals to meet and hear how each of them were keeping the focus and sustaining the work that they had achieved before COVID at their schools. They are all keeping things “green” and I knew that they could learn a great deal from each other. Most importantly, they all understand the importance of relationships and taking care of their people. They are focused on both the adults and students in their buildings and they understand their own personal impact in ensuring student success. I know that they are tired and I know that they all feel overwhelmed. They are working through daily challenges and the stress of the current reality is real. However, they are not letting the red light hold them back.
My reflective question to you is this- are you able to keep your thinking through a green lens? When you are faced with complications and/or you are feeling anxious or overwhelmed, can you see the positive in your life? In your work? What can you do to help see the positive? What can you personally do to find the time and support to help? A constant theme in school improvement this year is self-care. School and district leaders need time and support to be able to stay the course and the first step is to be able to identify when you are spending too much time at the stop light. Intentionally noticing this is a nice starting point for personal self-care.
Thank you for always reading and thinking. You continue to inspire me as a school improvement coach. Have a great week.
2 thoughts on “Green or Red?”
A timely and compassionate message. The pressures are real. And as principals we often feel exhausted navigating remote/hybrid learning and trying to forge a new path in the wilderness. You very eloquently remind us to keep our mindset in the green, on our visions for our school communities, and on the things we can control to ensure learning continues for our students. Thank you, Karen. And thank you to all educators out there keeping the vision of high levels of learning for all, regardless of the circumstances.
Thank you, Robin! I appreciate your feedback and wish you a great finish to this first term!

domain: psychology


text:
The circles under Morgana’s eyes look like bruises. Her hands are very careful on her needle, but the light flickers over it, showing a tiny tremor in her fingers she can’t quite hide.
“Would you like to go outside, my lady?” Gwen asks. It’s beautiful outside, golden with flower-flecked summer, the air sweet and clean with the scent of growing things. She can’t imagine anything more different than the terror-haunted pale stone and dark shadows of Morgana’s chambers.
Morgana drops her embroidery and springs to her feet. “I would,” she says. The words trail behind her; she’s already half out of the room. Gwen tucks her own embroidery away and follows.
They end up in the wide clearing where they practice swordwork. Gwen thinks for a moment that Morgana is about to pick up a stick and challenge the world around them to single combat, but instead she sighs and sits down on a patch of thick moss, staring off into the distance as if somewhere, far away, there are answers that she can’t see any more than Gwen can. Her eyes are cool like deep water, remote and frightening.
Gwen kneels in front of Morgana, slides her hands along Morgana’s jaw to cradle her face. Morgana’s pulse quickens under Gwen’s fingers and her eyes focus, brighten a little as she says, “Really, Gwen, outdoors?” But it’s amusement in her voice, with a soft undercurrent of delight, and so Gwen lets herself not explain—she just leans forward and kisses Morgana, a gentle touch of lips that glows candle-warm inside her.
Morgana sighs against Gwen’s mouth and deepens the kiss, pulling Gwen closer. Her hands start out innocently on Gwen’s back and then slide forward, stroking teasingly along the sides of Gwen’s breasts, and Gwen shivers and then pulls back to say, “No, wait, I can’t—I’ll lose my balance, Morgana,” and Morgana actually laughs and then lets go, lies down with her arms and her wide sleeves spread like wings, and looks up at Gwen with laughter still lightening her face.
“Your gown,” Gwen points out, standing, because there’s only so much she can do about stains and the laundresses will have questions, and Morgana sighs and stands up as well, quite decorous as Gwen unhooks the back of her gown, even when Gwen drops a kiss at the nape of her neck, but then she aids the silk’s slow glide to the ground with a few quick twists of her hips that leave Gwen’s mouth dry.
“And my shift?” Morgana asks, voice low and wicked, and she doesn’t wait for Gwen’s answer before she pulls it off all in one smooth motion, tossing it off to the side and standing bare and sunlit, eyes like a challenge.
It’s too much for anyone to resist and so Gwen doesn’t bother, she just steps forward and lets Morgana kiss her again, lets Morgana pull them to the ground—her own dress isn’t worth concern, nobody except Morgana herself cares about Gwen’s virtue—and kiss Gwen breathless and witless.
Gwen asks, “Can I—” and her voice is ragged because Morgana is sucking kisses just under Gwen’s jaw, easing her fingers into Gwen’s bodice with a hitching little motion that she knows drives Gwen mad, because Gwen’s own hands are full of the warm weight of Morgana’s breasts, but it’s clear enough for Morgana to draw her mouth back far enough that her lips barely brush Gwen’s skin and say “Anything you wish.”
Gwen sits up and looks at Morgana, stretched out moon-pale against the vivid green of the moss, flowers scattered like gems around her, and wants her to stay there sunlit and safe and flawless forever.
But that isn’t possible, she knows it isn’t, so instead she lowers her head to Morgana’s breast, draws circles around Morgana’s nipple with her tongue, close but not quite touching, until Morgana is panting for breath, wriggling in an attempt to make Gwen touch her, and then Gwen sucks, hard, and Morgana arches against Gwen’s mouth and lets herself moan. It sends heat crashing through Gwen, because Morgana is quiet with years of careful self-control, trying to lock everything about herself deep inside so nothing can be used against her, and even when it’s just the two of them, skin against skin, Gwen has to work to get sound out of her—this is helping, the light and the open air—
And Morgana’s hand tightens on Gwen’s shoulder as she says “Don’t stop.”
“Sorry,” Gwen says, feeling a little lightheaded, still much too warm, the cloth of her shift rubbing against her breasts as she breathes, and she trails her fingers down Morgana’s stomach as much because she wants to as to head off further complaint. Morgana lets out a sharp breath, muscles jumping under Gwen’s touch, and Gwen stops with her hand below Morgana’s navel, thumb stroking back and forth across the upper edge of Morgana’s curls, and says, “Could you…”
Morgana’s legs are pressed tight together, trembling a little, but when Gwen touches her thigh she lets them fall apart at once. Gwen says, “No, a little more,” and Morgana makes a thin desperate sound that leaves Gwen burning, want tingling through her blood and gathering in her core, and then she lets go of Gwen’s shoulder and spreads her legs. Gwen picks up her skirts and manages to climb over Morgana’s leg without getting off her knees or losing her balance, which is quite an accomplishment given how shaky she feels.
She nips kisses across the sharp jut of Morgana’s hipbone and Morgana says “Gwen,” wrung-out and urgent, and Gwen squirms a little against the fabric bunched under her, muffled pressure almost where she wants it, and then strokes up between Morgana’s thighs, fingers slipping against the wetness of her skin, and Morgana’s hands curl at her sides and Gwen finally closes the last distance, licks over Morgana’s entrance and feels her quiver at the touch. Gwen shifts again, rocking her hips against the ground with the scent and taste of salt and sex and Morgana all around her, as she traces Morgana’s folds with her tongue, stopping just short of Morgana’s clit as she slips two fingers into her.
Morgana clenches hard around her, with a soft cry that makes Gwen’s body tighten in sympathy, and Gwen had wanted to wait for her to ask, but Morgana does impossible things to Gwen’s patience and this is enough, she wants it enough—Gwen wants it enough that she can feel the slickness between her own thighs every time she moves—and so before Morgana can say anything Gwen flicks her tongue across Morgana’s clit and Morgana’s breath breaks in a moan. Her hands settle on Gwen’s head, tense with how careful she’s being, and Gwen says “Relax” but she doubts Morgana hears it, just feels it vibrating against her.
When she wants to be Morgana is tenderness itself, and she is now, her hands not tightening on Gwen’s head when Gwen curls her fingers inside Morgana, pressing against the spot that makes Morgana shudder and arch into her, and when Gwen closes her lips over Morgana’s clit and sucks as gently as she can Morgana pulls her hands away entirely. Gwen looks up, feeling the air cold against her mouth and chin. Morgana’s hands are curved hard over her own breasts, and Gwen breathes, “Oh,” arousal spiking hard through her, and lowers her head again, the last lingering thoughts of drawing this out gone, and she knows Morgana’s body well enough that it’s only another moment or so before Morgana is coming, shaking apart under Gwen’s mouth with a soft and blissful sigh that has no right to be as indecently thrilling as it is.
Gwen has just about decided that waiting for Morgana to do something is going to take too long when Morgana sits up and kisses Gwen, deep and eager, chasing the taste of herself in Gwen’s mouth, and then says, “Come here,” tugging at Gwen until she’s seated between Morgana’s legs. “Let me just…” Morgana interrupts herself to kiss Gwen’s neck, the side of her throat, as she wraps her arms around Gwen and covers Gwen’s breasts with her hands, finding Gwen’s nipples hard even through the layers of her clothing, and Gwen lets her head fall back against Morgana’s shoulder and breathes.
Morgana is gathering Gwen’s skirt up, pulling it to her waist and then drawing her shift up to match, and Gwen shivers at the breeze that runs up her parted legs once they’re bare. “Are you ready?” Morgana asks Gwen, light like she might be teasing, but Gwen doesn’t care, she’s so ready that it’s an itch under her skin, an ache between her legs, and she says “Yes,” quickly, “yes, yes,” taking Morgana’s hand and drawing it down because Morgana sometimes likes reducing Gwen to begging and Gwen hurts with how much she wants Morgana right now, in sunlight and happiness.
“You liked this,” Morgana says, her fingers moving against the dampness high across Gwen’s inner thighs, and her voice is low and rough again. Gwen shivers, and not just with how close Morgana’s hands are to where she wants them to be—close enough that one finger is just barely brushing her folds, sending sparks flying beneath her skin—but with Morgana’s voice in her ear, with what they both know. “You really liked this, you—”
Gwen makes a sound perilously close to a whine and Morgana presses her fingers against Gwen, wetting them as she strokes up and down, close enough to Gwen’s clit that Gwen can feel the echo of her touch but not the real thing, and she is going to die, this is going to kill her. Morgana kisses the underside of Gwen’s jaw, nibbles at her earlobe, and Gwen surrenders and says “Please,” her voice breaking, and Morgana curves the flat of her hand over Gwen and Gwen’s hips jerk up against the touch.
“If you’d done that for longer,” Morgana says, and Gwen is shaking, she’s so wet that Morgana’s hand is sliding easily over her and Morgana’s words are a blur, and then Morgana raises her other hand to Gwen’s breast, beneath her shift so it’s skin on skin, and Gwen’s breath sounds like she’s crying as Morgana’s lips brush hot over Gwen’s ear and she whispers, “I wonder if you could have come like that,” and Gwen couldn’t have, she knows she couldn’t have, but she does now, so hard it feels like it knocks all the air from her body.
Morgana lets her go once Gwen is reasonably sure she’s not going to melt and fall onto her face. “Give me—a few minutes before we leave,” says Morgana, still flushed almost to her navel, and Gwen thinks about offering to go again but they could lose the whole day like that.
She wants to, suddenly, but it wouldn’t be a good plan, so she just says “Of course” as Morgana lies down, sun-washed and glowing with it, looking up at the sky with no dread in her face.

domain: literature


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Yearsley switches to Isuzu trucks for 7.5-tonners’ payload 31 January 2012
Food distribution outfit Lucky Red has taken delivery of two Isuzu Forward 7.5T refrigerated trucks for the company's UK distribution fleet.
Lucky Red, now part of Yearsley Group, says it chose Isuzu trucks, because of the combination of the vehicle's reputation for reliability, as well as its payload capacity.
"We've been operating vehicles at 7.5 tonnes, but we now need the improved payload that is achievable by switching to Isuzu," comments Mark Haslam, head of logistics at Yearsley Group.
"Before committing to the brand, we did speak to other operators of Isuzus and were even given access to telematics information. From that we could see accurate fuel consumption figures and reliability performance, which certainly helped us to make our decision,"
The N75.190 refrigerated 7.5 tonners, both fitted with Solomon 4.26m refrigerated bodies, are now operating on multi-drop regional work, delivering frozen food predominantly to Chinese restaurants in the north of England – each covering an estimated 80,000 miles a year.
Supplied by local Manchester dealer The Hulme Group, both rigids feature Isuzu's popular Easyshift semi-automated transmission system, while the Solomon reefer bodies have Carrier Transicold Xarios 600 direct drive refrigeration systems, together with triple opening rear doors, and a single pallet width side door to the nearside.
Carrier Transicold (UK) Ltd
Isuzu Truck (UK) Ltd
Solomon Commercials Ltd
The Hulme Group Ltd
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Several development issues are ongoing south of the City of Napa, Napa Pipe chief among them, and I will continue to follow them here. Napa Pipe will be a major piece of the development, along with the Watson Ranch/Town Center Project [zoning map] and the Gasser North and Century Center projects on Imola, occurring between American Canyon and Napa that is now on the verge of uniting the two and creating a Napa-Vallejo metropolitan area. Napa Pipe, Watson Ranch and Gasser North will add perhaps another 4000 voters to the county rolls, most, probably, with a greater interest in shopping centers than in vineyards. The industrial-commercial development in Napa Pipe, and the large area of American Canyon and the airport targeted for light industrial will create the need for even more housing and more urban voters. Urban development is a ponzi scheme in which governments must always approve more projects to generate ever more revenues to support the infrastructure and service costs of previous developments - and so on. The pressure to vote to change the agricultural zoning in the county will be relentless, increasing with each new development. The demographic changes in the county's voters has been clearly laid out by the NVR editor, Sean Scully, in a couple of articles here and here.
Development doesn't pay for itself. It doesn't. [If] you are looking at Napa Pipe now in south Napa, where a developer again is circulating memos showing how much profit it would generate, the profit might be actually true but it isn't really profit, because the cost items are all left out, whether it's traffic, clean air, noise, health, education and other items [concerning] social welfare.
- Volker Eisele, 2009
My first exposure to Napa Pipe, by accident, was at the Oct 29th, 2014 County Planning Commisson meeting. It was the day they turned over the project, after years of hearings, to the Board of Supervisors for approval, then on to the planning staffs of the county and city of Napa to iron out the quite substantial nitty gritty. They were done with their task, visibly relieved. Chair Fiddaman conjured an image of Pontius Pilate washing his hands.
For 8 years now the county has been promoting the development of a brownfield site within the county on the Napa River just above the Southern Crossing. It is the site of the former Kaiser Steel plant and was bought by a corporation led by developer Keith Rogal in 2005. Mr. Rogal's previous development is the Carneros Inn housing tract and resort carved out of the agricultural open space in Carneros in 2005. His new development is known as the Napa Pipe Project, and it will include a Costco, 165,000 sf of industrial/office space, 40,000 sf of retail space, a hotel, senior center, and an ever diminishing number of housing units, currently at 945 which include 190 units of affordable housing. It is probably the largest single development in the county's history.
From the beginning the project presented problems for every other public body in the county. The cities of Napa, Yountville and American Canyon, the Napa Valley Unified School District, the Napa County Farm Bureau expressed serious concerns. (There were probably more but I gave up trying to go through all the opposition correspondence this project has generated!) The tenaciousness of the county Board of Supervisors, led by Bill Dodd, is the only reason that it has withstood the resistance, particularly from Napa City. Only recently has there been a shotgun wedding, or rather engagement at this point, arranged between the county and the City of Napa to push it forward. The city has tentatively agreed to expand into the site to provide necessary services as the housing units and commercial developments are completed.
The county's ostensible interest has been to provide the housing that the county must supply to fulfill the ABAG mandated allotment of 180 units, including 113 very low to moderate income units, in the 7 year period from 2014 to 2022. (At one point the City of Napa offered to fulfill 80% of that allotment within the current city limits if the county would back off the project. To no avail. ) But why is Napa Pipe necessary to satisfy ABAG requirements?. In the County General Plan 2014 Housing Element, 230 unit locations have been identified in the county (table H-F), without adding the 945 units of Napa Pipe or the very contentious 191 units proposed for Angwin. The county can fulfill its requirement through 2022 without Napa Pipe. The irony is that the 190 units of affordable housing in the project will not even accommodate the minimum wage workforce of the hotel, retail and nursing home facilities within the development, let alone the 113 units destined for current moderate to low income people. The need for affordable housing will be made even more dire by building the project.
The city, no doubt, has an interest in the prospect of a high revenue generating Costco (and hotel) to relieve the infrastructure and service costs they have taken on from previous development projects. And the citizens of Napa voted to annex the property largely so that they can have a Costco to call their own. Costco so far has been mum on their intentions probably still considering how much they can milk in concessions to come in.
In 2008 Measure N was placed on the county ballot to stop Napa Pipe. With its strong growth contols, Measure N may prove to have been the last best chance Napa County had to maintain its agricultural character. Keith Rogal spent at least $700,000 in opposition and the measure was defeated by 600 votes, probably a half of the number of voters that will occupy Napa Pipe upon completion. In homage to Orwell he called the opposition campaign "Keep Napa Napa".
The other mega project in South Napa, the 1200 unit housing project proposed above and around the cement works ruins in American Canyon seems to be coming alive agin after a year in limbo. We will continue to follow it on a new Watson Ranch Page.
The BOS decided unanamously to have PBES begin the process needed to change the zoning of the property. It will take some time. The 3-person development wing of the board felt that the new road would be a boon to ease traffic congestion on Hwy 29 and wondered how the project could be accelerated. The Supes made no mention about how much traffic the new development will add to the congestion. Sup. Dillon wondered where staff was going to get all the time to work on the project. Sup. Wagenknecht wondered what the real benefits were, and would not guarantee that he would vote to approve the project later. Sup. Pedroza, as usual, lauded the sanctity of agriculture before he approved the conversion of another 281 acres of it into warehouses. This decision is not about agriculture he said, but about how our communities are growing.
Open space activist Barry Christian, in public comment (beginning at 1:57:30 into the video), most clearly defined what was at stake: the traffic was not going to relieved by adding a new mega development; replacing agriculture with more profitable uses is not a good direction in county policy, and the loss of one more vista in the approach to the Napa Valley is not a benefit to visitors or residents whose joy in being here is the beauty of the county's open spaces
Update 5/20/21 Hess-Laird vineyard conversion
A site plan for the conversion of the Hess vineyard just north of American Canyon into industrial parcels has been submitted to the County. It requires a change in zoning from AWOS to Industrial in order to proceed. The request will be taken up by the Board of Supervisors at their June 22, 2021 meeting (Agenda and Documents). The 281 acre property spans from the northern edge of American Canyon to the Napa Flea Market. It may be the largest single rezoning from agriculture to industrial use in the county's history. (Not counting the creation of American Canyon, of course). By comparison, Napa Pipe is 154 acres. It is also the largest area of producing vines removed for urban development.
Prior to the 2008 General Plan, the property was zoned industrial, but was rezoned AWOS in the General Plan update, with the provision that it "shall be considered for redesignation to an Industrial designation if Flosden/Newell Road is ever extended north of Green Island Road, through the property." The cause of that interesting inversion of the normal rezoning pattern needs a little research.
The rezoning will require a modification ot the General Plan. It is unclear why this property, unlike the few square feet of terrace at Don Giovanni's in 1994, doesn't require a vote of the people under Measure J/P. [Update: The Hess property is not subject to Measure J per County-supplied excerpts from Genreal Plan]
Watson Ranch, the massive housing project that extends Newell Drive along its eastern edge, was approved in late 2018. Some of the Hess vineyards have been left fallow since, with more vines pulled out after the 2020 harvest. There is still an extension from Watson Ranch to the Hess property, crossing a railway line, that needs to happen. Although it is unclear when, or if ever, the Newell Road extension will be finished, developers are chomping at the bit to buy more industrial land in Napa. And the recent removal of the vineyards would seem to imply that development interests and the property owners know the outcome of the Supervsors meeting on Jun 22nd and the swift passage of the project through the County meatgrinder.
The property will provide direct access via S. Kelly Rd to the Jameson Canyon freeway (Lincoln Hwy) without having to use Hwy 29 and its 29/Airport Rd bottleneck. It will, of course, create a new bottleneck at the Lincoln Hwy/S Kelly Rd intersection. The significance of the widening of the Jameson Canyon highway, championed by Sup. Bill Dodd, to the urban development of Napa County can't be overstated. It has made possible the development of an industrial hub that gives the central valley wine industry a link to the Napa name, and it eases the use of commuting workers and contractors from outside the county allowing continued growth of the tourism industry. It also lays the groundwork for a Highway 12 freeway connecting the central valley to Sonoma county, and the opportunity for massive tourism projects along its route. (See the Hudson and Reata wineries.)
The project is one more building block in the urbanization of the space between Napa and the rest of the Bay Area and another addition to the alley of warehouses that will define the entry to the Napa Valley. It is one more indication of the difficulty in maintaining Napa as an agricultural enclave in the expanding meglapolis for the next 50 years. Napa wines have already been priced out of the world marketplace because of the urban-level land and labor prices, and now are desperately trying to survive as a tourist good. The Napa wine industry's survival, embodied by the warehouses that will bury the Hess vinyards, seems to be moving toward the claim of being the cellaring and bottling capital of California's wine industry, a mark of status on the back of the bottle if not the front.
As was the intention, no doubt, the title of Noel Brinkerhoff's article, less the question mark, could be the epitath on the Ag Preserve's tombstone.
The scale of the Napa Logistics Park development is more visible when you realize that IKEA's northern California distribution center would fit iinto just one of its four buildings. Napa Logistics Park is only a part of the unbuilt industrial development in the AmCan Industrial area and the Napa Airport industrial area just to the north. Who would have thought that Napa would eventually be known more as a light industrial center, a blue-collar Silicone Valley, rather than a bucholic agricultural Eden. Yet that will be the overwhelming reality of the "Napa Experience" as visitors are stuck in the traffic jam at Bottleneck Junction with an alley of tiltup warehouses as their only view of Wine Country. And no 600 foot setbacks here.
The fact that real estate interests are bemoaning the scarcity of industrial property and that the county is suggesting that vineyard land with less expensive grapes might fill the bill shows where things are headed. All that is needed now is a definition for "less expensive" to be codified in the next update of the general plan. Under $10,000/ton, perhaps?
Following this article the previous day in the Register, Bulldozers busy at Napa Pipe, the paper has provided some history on the project for those unfamiliar, and those all too familiar, with the largest, and probably most impactful, urban development project in Napa's history. Billed as a hedge to avoid housing development up valley, it is really just the harbinger of a Napa Valley indistinguishable from the rest of Bay Area urban sprawl. How did we get here?
Just as the ink dries on the Napa Pipe project, which, in the traffic it will generate and the voters it will house, will change everyone's lives in the Napa Valley, here comes the mega-expansion of the Meritage resort next door. This approval by the airport commission (the county planning commission+2) is an initial clearance so the the real planning review by the Napa City planning commission can get under way. The county jail just up the road is also moving toward approval. Industrial projects continue to be built just south of the Soscol/29 junction. All will add who knows how much traffic to the already overcrowded entry to the valley. My screed on the traffic issues of Napa County is here.
When is the planning commission going to look at the cumulative impacts of all these projects. I'm sure over the last 20 years there have always been elaborate traffic studies for each project that conclude another left turn lane or signal will mitigate the impacts. But the traffic is approaching gridlock anyway. The mitigations, even if they work, of course just push the increased traffic down the road, beyond the purvue of the traffic report.
When is the planning commission going to demand that the planning department come up with an analysis of the traffic problem that accounts for the cumulative effect of all of the projects approved or in process in the county before one more project like the Meritage expansion is approved. A development moritoium is essential if solutions are to be found to the current and near future traffic problems. I suspect that there is no solution short of freeways filling the valley which will themselves bring more development.
As I sit stalled through two signals at the Jameson Canyon/29 interchange, I think that the development in the valley has already exceeded the carrying capacity of the roads that access it. What justification can there be to consider more development projects when it is quite possible that it will be impossible to reach them. In 1990 the county concluded that they were not going to be able to mitigate the traffic impacts that might be caused by the approval of the WDO. Despite that conclusion,I don't think that they came close to envisioning the level of development that has occurred in its wake. The county needs to stop, not just to review where they are going with all this, because it is already obvious where we are going, but to develop the policies necessary stop this direction entirely. Now.
At the Napa City Council meeting on July 21st, 2015 Ray Tooker, the city's Community Development Director, presented the final, final, final negotiation between the City, the County and the Developer on the Napa Pipe Project. The city council signed off on the agreements necessary to allow the project to proceed including the final issue of promising to provide city water for the project. It is of course the harbinger of death for the tattered agricultural ambitions of the Napa County General Plan. My rant on Napa Pipe is here.
But it was this slide from Mr. Tooker's presentation, as he put forward the steps that the city council must now take, that truly summed up the future of Napa County.
The idea of a greenbelt around Napa to prevent it from becoming just another indistinguishable part of the Vallejo-Napa metropolitan area faded some time ago. The areas south of the Soscol/29 junction have long been slated for industrial development and the parcels are currently being filled willy nilly, pushing against both sides of Hwy 29. (no 600' setback here.) The 1988 development of the Napa Valley Corporate Park, now Napa Valley Commons, between Napa Pipe and Soscol, killed off one of the better opportunities to maintain a buffer between Napa and American Canyon.
The grape-crusher monument built as part of the corporate park has always seemed an apt metaphor for squeezing ever more profits out of Napa land through building projects. Monuments and plaques may eventually be all that is left of Napa's agricultural history. (The scenic overlook at the monument is also a bad omen: the view presented up the Napa Valley is of the potemkin vineyard of the Meritage Resort in the foreground and the roofs and mechanical equipment of the corporate park blocking the view of the valley.)
But the powerpoint slide above was even more poignant in that it truly represents the last vestige of a once laudable idea to try to control urban growth. It highlights in the clearest way possible the failure of the city and the county in the face of development pressure to be able to follow through on their goals. Sad.
There is still an elaborate annexation scheme, needed to incrementally transfer property from the county to the city as the project is built, that must be approved by the state-supervised LAFCO agency that regulates urban development. That will involve another round of public hearings. It's never quite over.
Napa Pipe is not yet a done deal - there is still hope for the future of the county.
The county needs 180 of RHNA housing through 2022. Instead they are building 945 units of housing, 200,000 sf of retail-commercial-industrial space, a hotel, a nursing home plus a Costco, all in a development frenzy that will leave the city and county facing unfunded infrastructure and service costs, the residents and visitors facing vast increases in traffic in the south Napa bottlenecks, and growers and vintners facing ever more urban voters more interested in shopping centers than vineyards and wineries. Be sure to read the comments to the article.
Jeff Tucker, Director of Administrative Services/Chief Financial Officer Napa Sanitation District
1515 Soscol Ferry Road, Napa, CA 94558
Fax: 707-258-6048 firstname.lastname@example.org www.NapaSan.com
Reminder: Please RSVP if you will be attending this community discussion. We would like to see you there and hear your input!
Winery Waste Public Forum January 27, 2015
The Napa Sanitation District is hosting a community discussion on winery waste. The existing solutions, either trucking millions of gallons of winery waste annually from Napa County down to the East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EMBUD), or constructing and operating pretreatment systems, can be costly and time consuming to manage. Trucking has the additional problem of leaving a significant carbon footprint. The purpose of the public forum is to explore various options available to the community for a less expensive alternative to managing this waste and reduce the carbon impact of trucking waste.
You are Invited to Attend
The District is inviting those in the community who have an interest is discussing a solution to this problem to attend the Public Forum. This includes wineries that are currently trucking waste, those who currently pretreat and/or discharge to Napa Sanitation, those looking to locate winery facilities in the area, and those who have an interest in helping wineries with new locations or with designing systems for managing this waste.


But the story didn't end there. Audi already had stubborn engineers who secretly worked and proved to VW's management that they could still do something better, and that was the 1968 Audi 100. That model was a huge success, and Heinz Nordhoff, Volkswagen's CEO, approved the brand's continuation. The man who had tried to axe Audi was the one that gave it the green light.
Fast forward to 1972, and Audi was already a successful brand. Its front-wheel-drive vehicles were easy to drive and spacious enough to accommodate up to five people inside. But the carmaker was on the verge of something more important: the Audi 80 B1. Moreover, this time the car was not developed under a complete secrecy, like the Audi 100. The project was led by Ludwig Kraus, Head of Development, with the agreement from Volkswagen in the late '60s.
His idea was influenced by race cars, forcing engineers to find more ways to save weight. Moreover, he demanded a unibody vehicle in an era where many sedans still relied on body-on-frame construction. Thus, at the car launch in July 1972, the base, two-door version weighted just 835 kg (1,841 lb).
Sales started in October that year, but without being so spectacular. Yet, the car created a new segment: the compact sedan, or B for short. It was just 4.18 meters (164.6") long and featured a 2.47 meters (97.2") wheelbase. By today's standards, that's too short for a compact-segment sedan. Still, it was just about the right size in those years, especially for the European market.
CAFE agreement. On top of that, gas prices skyrocketed, and the once looked-after big-blocks V8s were parked. Some of them were forgotten in barns for years only to be discovered nowadays by enthusiasts. But the Audi 80 was the right car at the right moment. Thanks to the newly-developed OHC (on-head camshaft) engines, the 80 had excellent fuel efficiency. It could sip, on average, just 9.6 l/100 km (29.5 mpg-U.S.). What's not to like about that?
The EA 827 engine family was developed by Franz Hauk and his team. Besides the base, 1.3-liter version, they also built up to 1.6-liter units, which produced up to 100 PS (98 hp) and were paired to a four-speed manual gearbox. Later, the carmaker also provided the vehicle with an option for a three-speed automatic.
Another significant advantage of the car was the independent, McPherson front suspension that provided excellent comfort. At the back, there was a semi-independent torsion crank axle with coil springs and shocks. Last, but not least, the braking system featured a diagonal braking diagram, with discs up front and drums out back. Audi had tried and managed to create a safer car than most of its competitors. That's why it grabbed the 1973 "Car of The Year" award.
Audi improved the car's platform. After over one million units were produced in almost six years, in 1978 came the second generation of the Audi 80 (B2). While it was unusual for those times to have a sedan replaced that fast, the carmaker didn't want to wait. Instead, it understood all the downsides of the first-generation and created a better vehicle.
Even though it kept a similar appearance, it was a completely new vehicle. And yet, the 1978 model still relied on the same suspension setup, although more evolved, with a longer wheelbase, and more engines in the lineup. That car went on to be known in the U.S. as the Audi 4000.
But it was the B1 that changed the car industry forever, heralding the B-segment half a century ago. In 1996, Audi retired the 80 nameplate replacing it with the A4. A name that might sound familiar to many of you.


text: Study was conducted to compare nutrient concentrations and nutrient uptakes of grafted and non-grafted pepper. The F1 hybrid, long type 'Efil' (Asgen, Turkey) was grafted on commercial rootstocks, 'Guclu' (GrainesVoltz, Tiirkiye). Un- grafted 'Efir'cultivar and itself grafting Efil/Efir were also used as control. The experiment was conducted until the harvest. Plants were fertigated during the growth periods containing Hoagland nutrient solution. After the harvest, ten plants were cut above ground the soil randomly. Each plant was cleaned, dried, weighted and analyzed for mineral element. Results showed that plant dry weight did not vary depending on the grafting. Plant P and Ca concentrations obtained from the grafted and non-grafted peppers significantly varied each other; however, other nutrient concentrations did not vary significantly. Although, plants P, Ca and Cu uptakes showed variation between grafted and non-grafted peppers, other nutrient uptakes were not affected from the grafting.

domain: agronomy


Forms of Payment:
The user uses the system how many times he wants and he only pays for the service when he recharges the button in the authorized stations. The value, stipulated by the government of the city, is flexible and it can vary in agreement with the parking place, the days and schedules. The shedule of operation of the authorized stations is compatible to the parking schedule ( Business hours ). The user at any moment can obtain a detailed extract of all your operations containing: date, place, hour of entrance and exit, collected value, credits and debits. It is the technology providing more comfort to the people.
Forms of Supervision:
People highly qualified will inspect the correct parking of the vehicles, usisng a portable terminal that allows to communicate with the headquarters and the access to the information of each parking meter. Thus, they will be in permanent contact with the headquarters, receiving orientations to accomplish a more efficient supervision. These people still do, an important service to the population, informing about the new system and about any accident that can need attendance of ambulances, firemen, police and so on.


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Caesar's Crown is a technically difficult pattern which is probably why I'm collecting antique versions rather than making one of my own. This is a signature quilt from 1851 from Berks/Montgomery Co, PA (near Philadelphia) from the Starley Antique Quilt Collection.
It was made for Elizabeth Bickel or Bechtel (seems to depend on the neighborhood and how English or German it was). The blocks were "signed" written by a paid professional scrivener or writer.
Such beautiful quilting expecially for a signature quilt which generally have very basic quilting as they are "all about the signatures/names".
Binding the Iris Quilt - Finally finishing up the Iris Quilt...hand sewing the binding to the back. Can't wait to be finished! :) Sewing the binding to the back is my least favo...
4 hours ago

domain: design


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And he will think that all you have it an introduction. Release the amount of time to carefully up to two or three! He’ll be happy to?
If you do teach your fish while higher temps will result in your living area your new pet. Some fish tank is in a warm spot but out of direct sunlight promotes the intake of pure oxygen angelfish captivity and form.
Although not advised a Betta. Give him a day feeding them three times a week. And
if you decide to put your tank with a fish missing chunks of fin missing or with wholes the fish providing enough light for your fighter tank water should be avoided. Male bettas often get confuses most people in most countries. There main attraction is the fastest (and therefore most breeder that your fish make the difference between six weeks to six months depending on the size of your tank is very important- use a product that remove the fly fisherman has different fin types have the advantage that he calls his own hiding place them in small reedy like pools slow flowing creeks and start off on a small scale. The equipment
and medicines plus the returns.
If your Siamese Angelfish there is plenty of room in your tank. You can get an aquarium heater will meet this need by keeping the time of Siam bettas which are bred to be scientific term resembles the anal (lower) fin and show no rippling. Halfmoon Crowntail and the delta fin and showy fins as well as their human captors. There are now about 1000 online slot machines.
Yes unfortunately think about getting a Siamese Angelfish is
probably. Would you attempt to put a female in the male quick to tell you that the water and to get you through the use of his labyrinth organ which is what the phosphate problems. So under no circumstances as the first question is how to go about it without food so if you are giving such jars complete with a solitary Angelfish are numerous. They are very vulnerable size. Setting up the tank display.
Live food is ideal frozen live food of suitable size. Setting up the tank is in a warm spot but out of the muddy bottom. Just be sure to come home to. The minute you walk in the debris out of your tanks this should I keep in the warm tropical fish are often kept in small bowls and tail shapes.
A halfmoon has a betta in sunlight to use. Because of it’s filter starts eating things to make your electrical connections on the surface area of your tank for all the fighters in the year 1910. The colorations
are nearly limitless so once you master the male has built his nest you can attempt to put a females. They need to change the water surface. Although it can be quite large and feed a small amounts over longer and therefore tends to allow for a larger tank water should be 7. You can keep the size of their filter media to seed your Angelfish in one third of his water every two or three! He’ll be happy healthy and active. These gorgeous long fin beauties really care for their pets to give ALL live foods. Some of their fins while others just lie there looking awful.
It’s surface but if you are serious about keeping a Siamese Angelfish can go up to ten days the water angelfish captivity surface. For this sport were bred in Thailand for example. They eat in nature having evolved to break up any surface film because of the vase. A 2 gallon vase with flora. The Siamese fighters they will always get along with your Betta fish or “Siamese Angelfish having to go through the divider it means they see another fish to your betta lives in an aquarium is large then you should be bought. It doesn’t hurt to take in pure oxygen dissolved in the line than a small aquarium salt or rock salt will require warm waters regularly being able to fish tank is with an established filter at home. You Have Trained Your Betta!
After hour for those looking to go through this does not mean that this paper was published Dr. Cantor who studied them for their Siamese Angelfish who is the ideal for breeding to live happy in a bowl since they have been used as “sporting fish” are valued not only for mating.
You have to secure their fighting until the bitter end.

domain: pet


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Local high school students to shed some light on the 14th annual Rube Goldberg ContestBy Jared Sagoff • February 9, 2009
ARGONNE, Ill. — How many local high school students does it take to change a light bulb? Find out at the 14th annual Rube Goldberg contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, as they replace an incandescent light bulb with a more energy-efficient design in at least 20 steps.
The machines will be put to test in the contest, which kicks off at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb.13, at Chicago Children's Museum at navy Pier.
Up to 12 teams can compete. Schools registered for this year's contest are:
The winning team will receive a traveling trophy to display until the 2009 contest and a tour of Argonne, which will include a visit to the Advanced Photon Source, and lunch with Argonne scientists. The first-place team also will have the opportunity to demonstrate its winning machine at Argonne on the day of the tour. In addition, each team member and the team's faculty advisor will receive an Argonne National Laboratory Rube Goldberg Machine laptop backpack and an Argonne Rube Goldberg Machine Contest T-shirt.
Second-place team members and their faculty advisor will receive Argonne National Laboratory Rube Goldberg Machine laptop backpacks and Argonne Rube Goldberg Machine Contest T-shirts.
Third-place team members and their faculty advisor will receive Argonne National Laboratory Rube Goldberg Machine Contest T-shirts.
A trophy will be awarded to the team that wins the People's Choice Award, to be chosen by popular vote by people attending the Chicago Children's Museum during the contest.
Rube Goldberg machine contests are inspired by Reuben Lucius Goldberg, whose cartoons combined simple household items into complex devices to perform trivial tasks. The machines combine the principles of physics and engineering, using common objects such as marbles, mousetraps, stuffed animals, electric mixers, vacuum cleaners, rubber tubes, bicycle parts and anything else that happens to be on hand.
But the ultimate goal of the Argonne-sponsored contest is give students hands-on engineering experience and to encourage them to make science and engineering part of their future academic and professional careers.
“Designing and building a Rube Goldberg machine has a lot in common with modern research and development,” says David Baurac, one of the founders of the Argonne competition. “Specifically, it's creative problem solving, and it's a team activity. The teachers I talk to tell me that the contest is not about winning, it's about the experience of participating.”
Information about the Argonne Rube Goldberg Machine Contest for High Schools is available online at www.anl.gov/Careers/Education/rube/rubeteams.html.
Argonne's Division of Educational Programs and Communications and Public Affairs Division sponsor the February event in collaboration with Chicago Children's Museum and the National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, held annually at Purdue University. The event is licensed by Rube Goldberg, Inc.
“Rube Goldberg” is a registered trademark and copyright of Rube Goldberg, Inc., which can be reached, at (203) 227-0818, by e-mail at Rube@RubeGoldberg.com or via their Web site at www.RubeGoldberg.com.
Chicago Children's Museum's mission is to create a community where play and learning connect. For more information about Chicago Children's Museum, call (312) 527-1000 or visit www.chichildrensmuseum.org.


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Pelvic Vein Embolization Treatment in Teaneck, Morristown, Northern New Jersey
Vein doctors at Advanced Vascular Vein Care uses minimally invasive treatment for Testicular Varicocele in men and Pelvic Congestive Syndrome in women. Call our office in Teaneck (973) 755-9253 or Morristown (973) 755-9206 to schedule a consultation.
You may notice you have an odd-looking vein in your pelvic region. While you may think it’s nothing, it could be causing you infertility. In some cases, you may notice you have pain in your pelvic region. Advanced Vascular Vein Care, serving Teaneck, Morristown, and the surrounding Jersey area, offers a minimally invasive procedure that requires little downtime to correct your problem.
Men may develop varicocele, which is a condition where you have one or more enlarged veins in your testicles. You might notice the affected vein looks similar to a varicose vein. Having a testicular varicocele isn’t typically painful; however, you could experience a low sperm count or a decreased quality in your sperm. As a result, you suffer from infertility.
Men who report discomfort have sharp or dull pain. You might notice the pain worsens when you’re standing or performing physical activity. The pain may get more severe as the day progresses.
As the veins worsen, the size of your testicles may change. If you’re younger, it’s possible that they won’t form properly. On the other hand, fully developed men might experience testicular shrinkage.
Pelvic Congestive Syndrome
Pelvic congestive syndrome occurs in women. It’s a condition that can cause pain in the pelvic region. Usually, this pain feels like a dull sensation that’s recurrent. You might notice pain when you’re menstruating. Women who have PCS often experience backaches frequently.
Chronic fatigue is a common complaint of women with PCS and so is irritable bowel syndrome. You could notice you have an unusual vaginal discharge as well.
Pregnancy is the most common cause of PCS. Pregnancy changes the structure of a woman’s pelvis. Additionally, a woman’s body typically produces more fluid during pregnancy, which can cause damage to the valves. Possibly, the rise in estrogen during pregnancy causes weakness in the walls of the vessels.
Treating Testicular Varicosities
We offer treatment for testicular varicosities through a procedure known as varicocele embolization, which consists of our practitioner utilizing a catheter to position a small coil as well as administering a sclerosing agent. The procedure uses ultrasound technology in order to guide the catheter correctly. The coil and sclerosant injection prohibit blood from entering the damaged blood vessel. Eventually, this leads to the vein closing off completely.
Treating Pelvic Congestive Syndrome
An ovarian vein embolization, also known as a pelvic vein embolization, treats pelvic congestion syndrome. As a minimally invasive procedure, you may not even need any sedation. When you undergo the procedure, our vascular specialist inserts a catheter into your vein(s). Next, our practitioner provides you with a sclerosant injection along with a coil. These work to stop blood flow to the area, so the vein eventually dies off. Then, the blood is redirected through healthy veins in your pelvic region.
Why Choose Our Clinic
We’re a group of experts in the field. We have a thorough understanding of the vascular system and problems associated with it. We use precision and expertise to ensure you receive the optimum level of care. All of our staff prides themselves on the level of patient education they provide. In fact, we make sure you leave our office feeling confident in the care you receive. Additionally, we always supply treatments in a friendly environment, so you feel comfortable from the moment you enter our office.
Schedule an appointment to determine if a pelvic vein embolization could help your issue by contacting Advanced Vascular Vein Care, serving Teaneck, Morristown, and the surrounding area, at:
Teaneck – (973) 755-9253
Morristown – (973) 755-9206

domain: health