The 14th of February shall forever be a highlight of my personal calendar as a feminist and also in the history of the women’s movement in Zimbabwe. Tracing the experience of coordinating OBR and actually rising and dancing along with other critical stakeholders, I am proud to say that, I think we have come of age in fighting violence against women from a global perspective. My hope for the eradication of Violence against women has also come alive because of the efforts which were made by Zimbabweans to come together to rise and put the issue of violence against women on the agenda by explicitly embracing dance as a practical, relevant and elementary form of breaking the cycle of violence against women and more importantly women breaking free.
One Billion Rising made me reflect on four important aspects which I felt were critical for the global movement campaign and which ultimately contributed to making it a victory in the wholeness of the full campaign from the time it started. From a Zimbabwean perspective, of worthy to note were the following four key aspects which I believe made OBR a great and interactive space for protest for such an issue.
The Call to the Statistic
Planning for the event involved a lot of work in terms of getting word out on the campaign and almost always, the question that came out was, “Why a Billion and not any other figure?’’. In a bid to share the significance of the call to the statistic that I in 3billion women are likely to suffer some form of violence in their lifetime, I realized through the response of most people that the statistic was the core influencing factor on the campaign. Whilst this reflection may seem obvious, it projected seriousness in response to the One Billion Rising as a campaign and also a brand to which people wanted to respond to and incline to commit to at least reduce the statistic or to totally eradicate it.
Getting people on board to dance and rise with assured me of the life that was within the campaign. The people who danced at the OBR event in Zimbabwe women and men – gave a reflection of the dedication which should be hinged on in the spirit of OBR beyond the event we had. The concept of getting buy in was immensely critical in building leverage and support from diverse stakeholders. For the event in Zimbabwe, we just put word out that there was a rising and no official invites were sent out but dignitaries, government officials, artists, activists , ordinary citizens and the media turned up on their own realising the significance of such a call. The flash mob pushed me to reflect and review a lot of the bureaucratic processes we sometimes go through to get to fight and engage leaders on VAW yet inwardly when confronted with real response and protest they found themselves acting to the call of OBR without respect for protocol. This anchored my belief in the need to create relevant action always to create safe spaces for women in the world to which people can actually respond to easily. Dance became my safe space of expression!!!
The Action – the Dance
The dance itself was the greatest expression for our activity in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe had an array of dances and drums thus retaining a greater part of who we are in the rising. This was important for me in particular as violence against women in my country is entrenched mostly in patriarchal attitudes and harmful cultural practices. Therefore, and the type of music created for event had to confront all of that and for me this shaped ideas for future protest and intervention as we work on further breaking free from violence beyond the 14th of February 2013.
Dancing and drumming for the women of Zimbabwe..
Victory for me has been projected mostly in my personal space. As I danced on the day I came to appreciate the significance of gathering in numbers for such a revolutionary cause. At the end of it all, I wanted more of the experience I got from the event which was a mutual feeling amongst most of the people who participated in it. Having people inquiring inquiring on whether OBR would be an annual event was a source of inspiration. This assured me that the impact of our rising and any efforts related to it had reached the people. For me, that was my ultimate point of victory, to have people asking for more of OBR and recognising the relevance of the action for the women of the world. This indication of hyped momentum should therefore be hinged on in this fight. Now I more confident than ever, that violence against women can be a thing of the past. It’s just a matter of more dancing and breaking free.
Nyasha Sengayi..rising for Zimbabwe


Fernando Alonso revealed that the fastest time in the Abu Dhabi postseason test “sparked the competitive spirit.”
The two-time former world champion, who will be 40 years old next July, received special regulations from the FIA for participation in the “Young Driver Test” together with veterans Robert Kubica and Sebastien Buemi.
With a total of 15 cars in Yas Marina, Alonso stood up to some of his rivals a decade ago and the next generation of talent who are hoping to follow in his wheel tracks by conquering the F1 drivers’ title.
And the Spaniard drove this with flying colors when he drove a best lap of 1 minute and 36.333 seconds for Renault in the afternoon. With that he was 0.262 seconds faster than the Formula E team mates Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne in the two Mercedes W11s.
“It was good and very nice to be back in the car, especially with the racing team,” said Alonso, who will be back on the grid after two years when Renault is renamed Alpine.
“I tested the car in preparation for 2018, but this felt a bit more serious and kind of sparked the competitive spirit. It was great to feel the modern cars and see what they can do. “
– Renault F1 Team (@ RenaultF1Team) December 15, 2020
Get the official Renault 2020 collection through the Formula 1 store
Alonso has increasingly integrated into the Renault team in recent races, including last weekend when he also gave his car, which won the 2005 World Championship, a spin.
“I watched the team’s progress closely over the weekend and it was nice to see what I learned today from outside and then in the cockpit,” he added.
“We de-registered a lot of the basic things that we had prepared in the factory, such as seat attachment, pedal position, etc., which is beneficial for only one and a half days of winter testing next year.
“Today we ticked the box and are going into Christmas and New Year with a good spirit and all motivated people in the team.”
Alonso drove 105 laps of Yas Marina when he drove the Renault 2020 for the second time on the track, having previously done so on a day of shooting in Barcelona.
The other Renault was driven by Formula 2 driver Guanyu Zhou, who drove seven laps less than Alonso after having a spin at Turn 19 that morning that briefly delayed his program.
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A clean and well-balanced diet is good for a healthy living. Diet plays the biggest role in maintain bodily functions like immunity. Adding certain foods in your diet and how you eat them can greatly impact your health.
Some diets like that rich in fruits and vegetables has been proven by science to be beneficial to your health. For example, it can reduce your risk of chronic diseases and improve your immunity. However, when it calls for major changes in your diet, taking the first step may seem challenging. To make such major changes, it would help to break them into smaller accomplishable tasks. And it is more sustainable to pick one at a time than to face them all at once. This article explains healthy eating tips you can use to make your diet healthier.
1. Slow Down
Your eating pace greatly influences the amount of food you can consume at a time, and the likelihood of gaining weight. In fact, studies suggest that those who eat fast are more likely to eat more and gain weight resulting toa higher body mass index (BMI) than those who eat slowly. Hormones control not only your appetite, but also the amount of food you eat and your feelings of fullness. In other words, hormones tell your brain that you are full or hungry. However, these impulses take about 20 minutes to reach your brain. Therefore, it would be better to eat slowly, to allow enough time for these messages to reach your brain. This will definitely result to consumption of fewer calories and help you lose weight. Eating slowly also enables you to chew food properly, which according to studies may lead weigh to loss.
2. Emphasize on Whole Grains Instead of Refined
Swapping white bread with whole-grain bread is another smaller step to making your diet healthier. Studies have linked consumption of refined grains to a number of health issues. Fortunately, whole grains can benefit your health, including reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. They are also an excellent source of fiber, B vitamins, and minerals like manganese, selenium, iron, zinc, and magnesium. There is a long list of whole bread varieties you can choose from, with greater taste than refined bread.
3. Add Greek Yogurt To Your Regular Diet
Greek yogurt has a thicker consistency than regular yogurt. The process of making Greek yogurt involves straining it to remove excess whey – the watery part of milk. As a result, the final product contains more fat and protein than regular yogurt. In fact, it contains 10 grams of protein per 100 gram serving, which is twice the protein content of regular yogurt. Eating foods rich in protein can increase your feelings of fullness, resulting in reduced appetite and help you eat less food. What’s more, the straining of Greek yogurt removes most carbs and lactose than that contained in regular yogurt. For this reason, people on low carb diet or are intolerant to lactose can find it suitable.
4. Always Shop With a List
As a rule of the thumb when going to shop at the grocery, always make a shopping list earlier and never go to the grocery hungry. This will help you avoid impulse buying and filling your cart with low nutrient foods. That’s why it is best to plan ahead and know exactly what you need, putting them down on a list.
5. Incorporate Eggs, Especially For Breakfast
Eggs are a nutrient-dense food, especially if included as part of your breakfast. They contain several beneficial nutrients that people don’t get enough, choline, as well as high-quality protein. If losing weight is your goal, then including eggs in your breakfast can be of great help. They increase your feelings of fullness which makes you consume fewer calories later in the day.
6. Eat More Protein
Protein is the most filling out of all nutrients – both macronutrients and micronutrients. This is true as it possesses the ability to effect both hunger and satiety hormones. In fact, some people refer to it as “king of nutrients.” Evidence indicate that eating more protein in meals can reduce levels of hunger hormone ghrelin than meals high in carbs. Furthermore, protein has been shown to help you preserve muscle mass while losing weight, and increase the number of calories burnt per day. It is also linked to the prevention of muscle loss that occurs alongside weight loss as one age. Try incorporating protein at each meal, if weight loss is your goal. It will help prolong your feelings of fullness, curb cravings, and make you eat less. Excellent sources of protein include lean meat, peanut butter, dairy products, eggs, beans, and nuts.
7. Drink Enough Water
Continuous hydration is good for your health. Several studies have consistently shown that drinking enough water can help you lose weight and promote maintenance, as well as increasing the number of calories burnt per day. Studies also suggest that drinking water prior to eating may decrease your appetite and the amount of food eaten at the following meal. That being said, it is important to replace other beverages with water. This will significantly reduce your consumption of calories and sugar.
8. Avoid Drinking Your Fruits, Instead Eat Them
Fruits are a good source of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and water. Numerous studies have shown that eating fruits can reduce your risk of several diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The fiber content and an array of plant compounds in fruits, slows down the digestion of their natural sugars resulting in a slow release of sugar into the bloodstream and low blood sugar levels. Conversely, fruit juices tell another story. As a matter of fact, many fruit juices are made from concentrates and sugar, and not real fruits. Other fruit varieties, may even contain more sugar similar to that in sugary soft drinks. What’s more, even juices made from real fruits lack fiber that is present in whole fruits. As a result, you are likely to drink too much at a go, which will increase your blood sugar levels.
Making marked changes to your diet may seem difficult. Starting with smaller and manageable changes may make it simpler. Eating more protein, drinking enough water, and shopping with a list are a few sustainable steps to healthy eating.
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Everton supporters think that Marco Silva may well trade Ademola Lookman for Jean-Kevin Augustin.
Some Everton fans have suggested that a swap deal could be on the cards for Red Bull Leipzig’s Jean-Kevin Augustin.
Augustin has shown flashes of quality in the Bundesliga, despite still only being 21-years-old.
And Everton fans believe that there may be a way for the deal to work for both sides.
Looks like a swap for lookman will be on the cards— Tim Jenkinson (@timjenkinson28) May 16, 2019
Swap for lookman— Colin Owens (@ColinOw25068400) May 16, 2019
Swapping Lookman for Augustin sounds perfect tbh. Save money on a striker so we can invest more heavily in other positions of importance— Keith (@EFCKeith) May 16, 2019
I’d send Lookman to Leipzig and ask for Augustin back in exchange if they still him. Augustin is like DCL but scores— Matthew Barry (@EFCMatt1) May 16, 2019
Would be ideal, got a feeling we might go for Augustin though, Lookman maybe the other way— slugabed180 (@DanWilliams018) May 9, 2019
Should straight swap him for lookman https://t.co/nHpUw6UxkG— jack (@jackph21) May 16, 2019
Bundles of potential, £17.5 mil could be a bargain— Sludvig (@sludvigs) May 16, 2019
Leipzig took the £11 million forward (BBC Sport) on loan from Everton back in the 2017/18 campaign, and he had a brilliant stint with the German side.
Lookman has since returned to Everton, but he struggled to force his way into Silva’s starting line-up this term.
And Everton fans believe that they could well trade Lookman for Augustin this summer.
Augustin scored three goals in 16 Bundesliga games over the past campaign, and can play anywhere across the front-line.
In other news, Report: Rangers aiming to sign Daniel Johnson this week


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Party Designs by Jax is an award-winning and creative wedding planners in Clayton, North Carolina. Jaclyn is a certified bridal consultant with the Bridal Society and graduated from the Wedding Business Academy. She and her team specialize in creating beautiful, timeless weddings while you can make memories with family and friends. And Jaclyn’s only goal is to design the wedding of your dreams. They offer wedding management and custom décor design services that wow the couples they are fortunate enough to work with. For a team committed to making it a day to remember, consider Party Designs by Jax.
Party Designs by Jax offers three packages to suit a variety of needs and budgets, but can also provide hourly consultations and custom packages. Services include:
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Jaclyn of Party Designs by Jax is wonderful! I reached out to her to see if I could be of service for stationery design and she was happy to allow me to collaborate with her on a styled shoot! I am over the moon to be able to participate in this shoot and look forward to many more collaborations with Jax!

domain: artistic


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Documents to help you start and organize a Math Circle for students
Documents to help you start and organize a Math Circle for teachers
Map of Math Circle facilitators and Mentors
Math Circle Network discussion group for leaders
Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America on Math Circles for Students and Teachers (SIGMAA-MCST)
Discussion forum for Math Circle leaders. Coming soon!
The online magazine of the Math Circle Network
A scholarly journal offering high-quality, practitioner-focused resources for leaders of math outreach programs
Book series with mathematical resources for Math Circle leaders and participants
Scholarly bibliography of research on Math Circles. See the "About" page for a summary!

domain: library


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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Hybels Raises His Voice about God's Whispering - Review of "The Power of a Whisper"
Over the years, I have been the recipient of many blessings as a result of the ministry of Bill Hybels and his team at Willow Creek Community Church. I have read many of Hybels' books and grown thereby. I have attended worship at Willow and participated in a service of baptism in which a close friend was being baptized. I have watched as that same friend grew in his faith as a result of several ministry initiatives at Willow, and saw him grow in his commitment to serving others through Willow Creek endeavors as far afield as Africa.
Hybels' latest book offering is "The Power of a Whisper - Hearing God - Having the Guts to Respond." I received this book in the mail within a couple of days of having heard Pastor Hybels speak in NYC as part of the recent Movement Day. His message from the platform that day echoed much of what he has written in this book. The message is both simple and profound: God has always been in the habit of communicating directly to His people; we should still be listening to and responding to that "still, small voice."
Using a variety of personal anecdotes, biblical and historical references and the testimonies of contemporary men and women of faith, Hybels has assembled a challenging and inspiring set of vignettes and reflections. This is a book I plan to give away to encourage others.
Here, in Hybels' own words, is the crux of his thesis: "The ability to discern divine direction has saved me from a life of sure boredom and self-destruction. God's well-timed words have redirected my path, rescued me from temptation, and re-energized me during some of my deepest moments of despair."
This book will be equally helpful to those who are solidly established on the path of following God, and to those whose path is more that of spiritual doubt and searching. Hybels' transparency in sharing some of his own missteps along the way makes the book all the more powerful and the author all the more accessible.
File this book under "must read." I say this - not in a whisper - but in a shout!


With the development and maturation of human resources services market, HR technology starts to become an active tool in establishing business trends.
In this context, the temporary work services is entering a new era by using technology as a tool to increase efficiency and transparency between companies using temporary employees and the temporary work agent.
The classic model of temporary work is linear – the temporary work agent provides the client employees for various missions. The agent is responsible for managing and paying employees and the customer submit monthly data (sick leave, scheduling annual leave, termination of mission, new hires etc.) and pays the bill.
By the offered solutions, Smartree changes the paradigm in temporary work services so that both increases transparency in customer-supplier relationship and client-temporary employees, as well as its access to HR data. Through its HR management software, Smartree offers a complete package of integrated services of temporary work:
Besides the temporary work default advantages (individual labor contract between the supplier and the temporary employee, provided to the customer, total temporary personnel administration and related processes), the plus brought by technology makes a difference in terms of quality, delivery time and transparent processes.
The temporary work is a segment with potential growth also in 2015, that fold the technology trends and the companies opt for this integrated system due to its flexibility and adaptability and thus, to control, transparency and an extra agility in decision making.
Do you want to take the new direction? Obtain more details!
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Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 5 - 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.775716
Building Resilient Value Chains After the Impact of the COVID-19 Disruption: Challenges for the Coffee Sector in Central America
- Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern, Switzerland
Coffee is an important agricultural sector in Central American, directly employing over 1.2 million people in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Although export revenues from coffee trade have an overall positive effect on the gross domestic product (GDP) of these countries, poverty still prevails. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed additional pressure on the sector which is vulnerable to fluctuations in the international coffee prices, low productivity levels, and climate change effects and damages caused by pest and diseases. This paper examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and analyzes if the sector is resilient to withstand unexpected external shocks such as the pandemic and the hurricanes which impacted the region in the last months of 2020. The capacity to absorb, adapt, and/or transform to these shocks was assessed from the perspective of small-scale coffee farmers, traders, exporters and the entire sector in two time periods—immediately after the start of the pandemic and after the coffee harvest. Although the actors in the coffee value chain absorbed these shocks and could withstand them, adaptation to the disruptions has been challenging for small-scale farmers. Despite the vulnerability to unexpected external shocks, results indicate that a long-term transformation of the sector to build resilience is likely to be slow.
Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is one of the most important global agricultural commodities. For many developing countries, coffee is the top agricultural export, accounting for a substantial part of the gross domestic product (GDP). In Central American countries, coffee is one of the top agricultural sectors. In El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, coffee is the main agricultural export and second largest agricultural export in Guatemala and Costa Rica. In all countries, the coffee sector represents a main source of rural employment. It is estimated that 1.2 million people are directly employed in the coffee sector in Central America (ICO, 2018), and the figure would be larger if indirect employment would also be accounted (Bathrick, 2017). Most of the coffee production in Central America takes place in small-scale family farms. In rural areas where coffee is cultivated, poverty still prevails. The problem of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in coffee growing regions in Central America has been documented for years (Lewin et al., 2004; Bacon et al., 2008; Caswell et al., 2012). Households normally receive only one annual paycheck for their crop which has to be distributed throughout the year until the next harvest season. Fluctuating market price patterns severely affect farmers. When international coffee prices drop below production price, as it did in 2018 when the average price dropped 30% below the average, farmers in Central America face severe poverty. Additionally, coffee farmers in this region are facing climate change risks, which will affect their livelihood and in general, the future of coffee production (Watts, 2016). Donatti et al. (2019) point out that smallholder farmers in the region are particularly vulnerable to climate change events. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has been particularly devastating. Within a period of 2 weeks, two hurricanes hit Central America, causing massive loss in agriculture and infrastructure. Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua have been particularly affected by floods and landslides.
Despite the problems and impending risks on the production side, global coffee consumption has steadily increased in the last decades. According to the ICO (2020), coffee consumption has increased by 2% annually since 1990. In recent years, coffee consumption has increased in Europe, North and South America, and Asia, while remaining stagnant in Central America, and decreasing in Africa. In industrialized countries, consumption patterns have changed as coffee has evolved from a plain cup of black coffee to a multitude of forms, flavors, and origins, stemming from the coffee shop culture which has dramatically evolved during this time frame. Consumers also tend to pay much more per cup of coffee than they did in 1990 (Meister, 2017). However, this increase in the price of a cup of coffee has not translated into increased farm gate prices paid to the farmers. If anything, coffee farmers have faced severe crises such as the coffee crisis of 2001 and the unstable international coffee prices since 2016. As farm incomes decline, livelihoods are increasingly at risk, since it becomes impossible to invest in the modernization of farms and in adaptation to the impact of climate change (ICO, 2020).
The challenges mentioned above already placed coffee farmers in Central America in a vulnerable situation prior to the outbreak of pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2, which will be referred to as COVID-19 in this paper) in early 2020. The coffee harvest was just about over when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the region. The pandemic itself, in addition to the sanitary and health measures imposed by the governments have affected the coffee sector on different levels. A second shock to the coffee sector came in the second half of 2020. In November 2020, Central America was devasted by hurricanes Eta and Iota, which brought severe flooding, landslides, and destroyed homes and infrastructure, displacing an estimated 7 million people in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala (ReliefWeb, 2020a). Landslides and loss of infrastructure in the region negatively impacted the coffee sector. How the sector will be impacted in the long run remains to be seen. Based on preliminary evidence and secondary data on exports and coffee prices, a discussion on resilience is presented.
The central question of this paper is how small-scale farmers in Central America can build resilience to cope with the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the extreme climatic events of 2020. Understanding and promoting smallholder resilience is critical for global food systems (Stratton et al., 2020). This paper analyzes the impact on small-scale farmers from two perspectives. First, the immediate impacts on coffee exports from Central America will be discussed. Second, price volatility and changes which affect could affect farmers in the subsequent harvest will be analyzed. Finally, options to build resilience will be addressed, using the framework proposed by Béné et al. (2014), where resilience is defined as the capacity to absorb, adapt, and/or transform to shocks or events, which are unexpected and have short or longer-term repercussions on the system.
The Coffee Value Chain in Central America
Coffee has been a key economic sector in Central America for over a century. Since the introduction of coffee in the region in the mid-eighteenth century, Central America has become a favored origin for its full-bodied, fine flavored Arabica coffee. The political economy of Central America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was mainly centered around the economy of coffee cultivation and export (Paige, 1985). In El Salvador, for example, coffee production accounted for 50% of the GDP in the early 1980s. A dual system of coffee cultivation developed in Central America during the twentieth century: large plantations, run by landowners and small-scale farms, typically cultivated by peasant farmers. Historians attribute the historic and political conflicts of the 1980s in Central America largely to this duality where vast wealth was made and in parallel, harsh poverty prevailed in the coffee sector (Sedgewick, 2020). Although much has changed since the end of the guerilla conflicts in Central America, coffee cultivation still plays an important role in the livelihoods of rural families.
Coffee production in Central America in the last two decades has been challenging. Agronomic aspects pose difficulties to producers. A reduction in coffee production was caused by the coffee rust epidemic (Avelino et al., 2015). The resurgence of coffee rust (Hemileia vastarix) caused 31% loss in Colombia between 2008 and 2011 and 16% loss in Central America in the 2012 and 2013 season (Avelino et al., 2015). These losses in production came after the recovery from the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, which hit Central America in October 1998. Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador were mostly affected and according to FAO (2001) estimates, between 20 and 30% percent of the harvest was lost during that season. Only a few years after, the coffee crisis hit the sector, when it was barely recovering. Since then, coffee production has increased in Central America, reaching a peak in production this last season (Figure 1). Honduras has reported the highest increase in production in the last decade and surpassed Guatemala as the largest coffee producer in the region. In November 2020, the region has again experienced losses in coffee production due to Hurricanes Eta and Iota (ReliefWeb, 2020b).
Figure 1. Total coffee production in Central America 2008–2019. Source: ICO (2020).
Although coffee production volumes have increased steadily in the region, fluctuating international coffee prices have hit some low points over the past two decades (Figure 2). The coffee crisis of 2001 negatively impacted coffee producers in the region. The increasing concentration of the coffee industry brought lower and more unstable prices, especially for producers (Wyss et al., 2012). Although prices picked up and reached a high in the 2010–2011 seasons, prices have decreased since then. At the farm level, international price fluctuations have a larger effect, as farmers might not even be able to cover productions costs if the prices fall below a certain threshold. In particular, small-scale farmers producing in small plots of land of <2 ha are vulnerable to these changes in the international markets.
Figure 2. Coffee prices in Central America 2000–2018. Source: ICO (2020).
At the farm level, and in smaller-scaled farms, which are commonly found throughout the Central American region, poverty, and food insecurity places thousands of farms in a vulnerable situation. However, poverty and food insecurity cannot be attributed to a single cause (SCAA, 2013). Unstable international coffee prices can have an immediate and severe impact on coffee livelihoods when prices plummet. Because farmers are paid upon harvest, they have one income per year, if there are no other sources to supplement this income. The risks of relying solely on the coffee income to sustain an entire household, motivate farmers also plant other crops for household consumption. Additional food production is often not sufficient to protect against the risks and it is rarely enough to support families through the months when no income flows into the household, even when coffee yields and prices are favorable (Morris et al., 2013).
In addition to the income problem, coffee farmers in Central America must cope with climate change risks such as more severe droughts, erratic rain patterns, and outbreaks of fungal coffee rust and pests. In this context, seasonal hunger among coffee communities has become more prevalent. Bacon et al. (2008) address the issue of seasonal hunger and smallholder affiliation to organizations. Virtually all coffee producing countries suffer from institutional voids. These include major gaps in infrastructure, weak legislative systems and poor governance, poor access to and/or quality of education, and restricted access to finance. This weak enabling environment plays a fundamental role in preventing rural smallholders from advancing out of poverty (SCAA, 2013). Local institutions and producers' cooperatives can create programs to help small-scale coffee farmers adapt to the changes in the global marketplace and cope with issues such as adaptation to environmental risks and food insecurity.
Farm-Level Productivity and Sustainability
Coffee production in Central America typically takes place in smaller farms with an area of <5 ha, although this figure can vary, depending on the country. How a smallholder farmer is defined differs from one country to another. According to the International Coffee Organization, in Honduras, 95% of the coffee farmers are smallholders with <7 ha, and they produce over half of the total coffee production. In Nicaragua, over 60% of farmers are small-scale farmers holding <2 ha. By contrast, in El Salvador, small-scale producers are considered to be those farmers that have <35 hectares (ICO, 2020). The variability in yields also varies significantly. In some areas, yields can be as lows as 400 kg/ha and in other areas, they reach 1,200 kg/ha (ICO, 2020). This can be due to different agricultural practices, such as variability in the use of farm inputs, aging coffee plantations, different coffee varieties, damages caused by insect pests and diseases, and financial aspects which may limit the investments made by some farmers more than others. Some small-scale farms in areas where access to extension services is available, might have higher yields than those farmers in the periphery of these services. In addition, some cooperatives may have better support for the farmers, such as extension services, loans to farmers in the form of agricultural inputs or information services which can help farmers cope with impediments such as disease management.
Climate Change Risks
Empirical evidence suggests that coffee production in Central America will become more difficult due to higher temperature, increasing extreme weather events, and other climate change effects (Baca et al., 2014; Rossing et al., 2014; Reyes et al., 2016; Läderach et al., 2017; Pham et al., 2019). In the dry corridor of Central America, most of the coffee is grown under rainfed conditions. Floods and landslides in these mountainous regions will likely increase, as the drastic variation in temperature, amount of precipitation, and extreme climatic events. Because of the economic dependence of farmers on coffee exports, they increasingly face food insecurity (World Bank and CIAT, 2015; Martínez-Valle et al., 2017). These changing climate patterns in Central America are posing an additional challenge in the control of diseases like coffee rust and an increase in pests such as the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hamperi) and coffee leaf miner (Leucoptera coffeella) (Reyes et al., 2016). Coffee rust did not affect coffee production in higher altitudes, but with the increase in temperature in areas over 1,000 m above sea level, integrated pest management has become more challenging.
One of the main challenges for coffee production worldwide is the rising global temperature (ICO, 2020). In Central America, more specifically, elevated temperature is a serious challenge for Arabica coffee production. These coffee production systems require relatively specific ecological and meteorological conditions to produce high quality beans. Within a temperature range between 15 and 23°C, Arabica bean quality is optimal. IHCAFE (2020) reported that in 2019, hydric stress reported from May until August severely affected fruit formation in coffee farms in Honduras, thus lowering yields. Because of elevated temperatures reported in the last decades, a lot of high-altitude coffee in the region will no longer find the ecological conditions needed to maintain that quality, thus pushing the agricultural frontier to higher-altitude regions, which are already scarce and in countries like Costa Rica, these are protected areas. In Honduras and Nicaragua, coffee production has expanded in higher altitude areas and in 20 years, the coffee production has doubled in Honduras. Coffee production has increased significantly in recent years. This increase in production and productivity may be a direct effect of an improved supply chain, where significant improvements in infrastructure were made. On the other hand, agricultural practices have been a focus of many research and extension programs, which have resulted in better control of phythopathogenic outbreaks (Herrell et al., 2017). However, recent outbreaks of coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix), a fungal disease, has negatively impacted coffee production in the region.
The El Niño weather phenomenon, where a variation of weather patterns is observed, represents another challenge to coffee production in the dry corridor of Central America. This phenomenon is especially harsh in this region because productivity is severely affected by rain patterns, which can also be a main factor in the incidence of pests and diseases (ICO, 2020). Severe weather patterns also affect the farm-level productivity and is a factor that combined with poor infrastructure and limited good agricultural practices, can reduce farmers' income. According to ICAFE (2020), severe climatic events forecasted for the 2020 rainy season in Costa Rica will have an impact on the dissemination of fungal rust in coffee. By far, the 2020 hurricane season has been one of the most active in recent history (WMO, 2020). Although the harvest season is not yet over and estimates of the total loss are not yet reported, the effects of hurricanes Eta and Iota will be negative.
To understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the small-scale coffee farmers in Central America, various sources were consulted. Data on coffee exports and prices published by the International Coffee Organization (ICO) were the main source of information. Two time periods were reviewed. Data on the first 3 months after sanitary and confinement measures were implemented (April, May, and June 2020) by the governments of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador was reviewed. The second time period consulted was early 2021, after the harvest ended in the region. Secondary, qualitative data was used to analyze resilience. Official reports, briefing papers and bulletins from the main coffee associations in each of the countries were studied. To understand resilience, the framework proposed by Béné et al. (2014) was used, where “resilience is defined by three factors—the capacity to absorb, adapt and/or transform to shocks or events, which are unexpected and have short or longer-term repercussions on the system.” In this framework Béné et al. (2014) understands absorptive capacity as “the ability of a system to prepare for, mitigate or prevent the impacts of negative events using predetermined coping responses in order to preserve and restore essential basic structures and functions.” Finally, Béné et al. (2014) defines adaptive capacity as “the ability of a system to adjust, modify or change its characteristics and actions to moderate potential, future damage and to take advantage of opportunities, to continue functioning without major qualitative changes in function or structural identity.” Finally, transformative capacity is explained as the ability to create a fundamentally new social-ecological system when ecological, political, social, or economic conditions make the existing system untenable (Béné et al., 2014).
Analyzing the ICO price composite price indicator for the first half of 2020, some impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic begin to emerge. From January to March 2020, exports decreased by 5.8% to 29.01 million bags compared to 30.78 million bags in 2018/19 season. Arabica coffee exports fell by 10.1%. On this same time frame, global production fell by 0.9% to 168.71 million bags of coffee. Total consumption was projected at 169.34 million bags, but this level was not reached by 0.63 million bags for 2019/20. In the first seven months of coffee year 2019/20, exports from Central America declined by 4.9%. From October 2019 to April 2020, shipments from Honduras fell by 6.7%. Guatemala also experienced a decrease in exports, reporting a decline of 3.1%, while Nicaragua's exports during this period rose by 16.7% (ICO, 2020).
Because of the lockdown measures implemented throughout the main coffee consuming countries (i.e., Europe, North America) out-of-home sales drop, as most cafés and restaurants closed. In the first weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown, sales surged as a result of stockpiling to replace the out-of-home consumption. However, in a joint ICO and IFPRI report (ICO and IFPRI, 2020), a looming global recession was forecasted, which could impact overall coffee consumption. The report pointed out that lower household incomes due to increased unemployment would make consumers more price sensitive, resulting in reduced sales in the high-end market segment (including specialty coffee and some certified sustainable coffees) as consumer demand shifted to adapt to external shocks.
Laborde et al. (2020) suggest the global economy faced a deep recession in 2020—at least as severe as the one following the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. A downturn in global economic growth of 5% was projected for 2020. This analysis, based on IFPRI modeling scenarios, indicate that developing countries face significantly greater adversity, negatively affecting their economies, not only because of the economic slowdown caused by lockdown measures, but also because of the restrictions in labor supply for farming and other business activity. Many developing countries cannot rely on social and economic mitigation measures such as fiscal stimulus and expansion of social safety nets used by EU countries, for example.
Coffee exports from Central America have decreased in the first part of the 2020/2021 season, which starts in October and ends in September each year. The 2019/20 coffee season began with a decline in exports of 17.5% in comparison to the previous year, which meant that 2.62 million less bags were exported. This is a direct effect of hurricanes Iota and Eta. When observing the export numbers from the most affected countries, they all experienced declines in exports. Exports from Honduras, the region's largest producer, decreased by 40%, while those from Nicaragua fell by 20.2% and Guatemala by 15.7% (ICO, 2021). In El Salvador, exports also declined in the first 2 months of 2021. In comparison to the previous season, only a fifth of the export volume was reached (CVS, 2021). Coffee exports from Costa Rica also fell by 22% in the first months of the year (ICAFE, 2020).
The evidence collected so far indicates that although the COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to the coffee sector in Central America, the losses due to Hurricanes Eta and Iota have been much more severe. In fact, if the hurricanes had not struck the Central American regions, all countries would have had a favorable harvest in the 2020/2021 season and could have benefited from the recent increases in the coffee prices. Lockdown measures implemented at the onset of the pandemic in Europe and North America caused a drop in demand as coffee shops and restaurants closed, but this effect was rather short and as home consumption of coffee increased, so did the demand.
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has been unprecedented. Within a period of two weeks, two hurricanes, categories 4 and 5 hit Central America, causing massive devastation in agriculture and infrastructure. Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua have been particularly affected by floods and landslides. Both hurricanes hit Central America in November, which is a month short of the start of the picking season. Severe loss of coffee cherries was reported (Anacafé, 2020; CLAC, 2020; IHCAFE, 2020), decimating the harvest. Climate-related impacts are likely to significantly affect the region in the long-term. The most recent Coffee Development Report (ICO, 2020) highlights how the coffee sector is highly sensitive to climate variations. Alternatives such as shifting production are limited for smallholder farmers who do not have the resources, ability, and flexibility to relocate and may be forced to abandon coffee production. Such is the case of thousands of coffee farmers in the northern triangle of Central America. Lynch (2019) explored the nexus between climate change impacts and migration and reports that thousands of people who depend on coffee production in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador have been forced to migrate as a result of impacts on their livelihoods. According to the ICO (2020), potential strategies to improve resilience to climate change include access to information, technologies, financial support, and research and development for improved and agricultural practices and climate-resistant varieties.
Is It Possible to Build Resilience?
Resilience, understood as the ability to absorb, adapt, and/or transform to shocks or events, which are unexpected, such as climate change impacts and the COVID-19 pandemic was analyzed. As of early 2021, the COVID-19 infection rate in the Central American region is increasing. Quarantine and confinement measures have been taken in all Central American countries. These measures did not have an effect on the 2019–2020 coffee harvest, which was over when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the region. Some ad-hoc measures were implemented by farmer cooperatives to mitigate the negative effects of price speculation and the lockdown in industrialized countries where most of the Central American coffee is consumed. Some coffee cooperatives kept drying and storing coffee in order to mitigate income loss of their members, but with a high risk of production loss if coffee is not sold and exported (AgriCord, 2020).
Table 1 summarizes the ability to build resilience, from the perspective of small-scale coffee farmers, the middlemen or local traders, the coffee cooperatives/exporters, and the entire sector. The analysis was conducted using secondary, qualitative data sourced from reports, expert panels, interviews, and newsletters published by Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE), Asociación Nacional del Café de Guatemala (Anacafé), Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE), Consejo Salvadoreño del Café (Consejo Salvadoreño del Café, 2021), and for information on Nicaragua, the reports from Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fairtrade Small Producers and Workers (CLAC) were consulted.
For coffee farmers in the Central American region to build resilience and be in a more favorable situation to cope with impacts and externalities, innovation in the field is critical, and it requires a concerted effort at different levels. Coffee is arguably the most important agricultural export in the region and different stakeholders are involved at all levels. Institutional coordination is important to help coffee farmers adapt and cope with the challenges that have been outlined in this paper. Research organizations, local government institutions, producer associations, traders, exporters, buyers, and civil society organizations all have a specific role and sphere of action. Brining about innovation requires the active participation of all stakeholders. For example, one of the best alternatives to mitigate climate change impacts at the farm level is to work with drought tolerant hybrids.
According to IHCAFE (2020), the coffee sector in Central America urgently needs to adopt strategies to help farmers build resilience to cope with climate change effects. Through the coordinated efforts of different stakeholders in the value chain, new technology could be adopted. It's important to keep conducting research at the farm-level, to determine which methods could help farmers innovate and address issues such diminishing water resources, manage pests and diseases, conserve soils, and implement early warning systems to cope with high temperature or water stress. Using hybrids that are better adapted to hydric stress will be part of the solution. Digital technologies such as early warning systems and the adaptation of these technologies to the local context and the needs of coffee farmers will also help build resilience in the sector.
Building resilience to cope with harsh impacts such as the COVID-19 pandemic require more than simply addressing issues around the disruptions caused by lockdown measures around the world. A contingency plan for the coffee sector in Central America should be built around measures and a concerted effort to help farmers cope with the already drastic effects of volatile markets and international price fluctuations, low productivity at the farm level, slow technology adoption by small-scale farmers, and the climate change effects which are already placing coffee farmers in Central America in such a vulnerable position. Investments should be made in innovation, R&D, and technology to help the sector become more resilient. In a World Coffee Research Consultation (WCR, 2020), stakeholders addressed the need for next-generation weather forecasting systems and the dissemination of advice to farmers. Communication platforms, where data and news on production volumes, prices, and environmental events such as frosts would be shared was also highlighted by the local stakeholders as a priority.
At the local level, it is also important to work together with local cooperatives and stakeholder and at the same time with international traders and buyers to strengthen a differentiation strategy for the region, while promoting coffee trade which is transparent and pays a fair price for high quality coffee. Promoting the payment of decent and fair prices to the farmers should be an integral part of such a strategy.
The Central American coffee sector has traditionally been an export sector. Most, if not all, of the highest quality and specialty coffee is exported. Local demand for this type of coffee is still low. There is still much room for growth in consumption. The new trend of barista courses and coffee academies opening in Central America are a clear indication that specialty there is potential growth in the coffee consumption culture, which could translate to higher prices to producers if top-quality coffee is sources for this sector. In urban centers, new coffee shops are opening, offering customers a taste of the local coffee range, also offering traceable coffee where the qualities of a particular region or farm can be tasted.
Finally, it is important to consider local solutions when addressing the question of resilience.
Resilience in agriculture is a topic which merits in-dept analysis. Implementing a framework where resilience is analyzed by type allows for better strategic decisions to be made. Coffee producers in Central America are likely to face more severe climate change impacts in the next years (Furer et al., 2021). More extreme temperatures and more days without rainfall will affect coffee production and e right mitigation strategies must be devised for the coffee sector in Central America to be resilient.
At this point in time, it is difficult to have an idea of the long-term impact the COVID-19 crisis will have on the coffee value chain and how Central American coffee farmers will be affected. However, given the vulnerable position they are currently in, it is likely that any additional difficulty will have a negative impact at the farm level. Throughout the entire coffee value chain, it is clear that no business is immune to the impact of the COVID-19 disruptions. Cafés and coffee shops, big or small, located in Europe, Asia, or the Americas, have had to incur in loss due to the lockdown measures. Small businesses face similar uncertainties as the coffee farmers in terms of economic loss.
Building resilience entails a number of strategies and interventions on different points in the coffee value chain. New business and trade models can help build resilience. Direct trade schemes, for instance, could help farmers, especially because this model is built around strong relationships between the farmer and the buyer. Furthermore, coffee farmers selling certified coffee through cooperatives will likely be able to keep receiving a premium price for the sale of their coffee. These initiatives also help farmers in improving their farming practices and promote good agricultural practices. The detrimental effects of unprecedented events such as the devastating hurricanes which struck Central America in November 2020 could also be minimized with better producer prices, in addition to financial schemes (i.e., agricultural insurance, low-interest loans, and recovery subsidies) which could help small-scale farmers recover from these impacts. Finally, it is also important to consider the growth of local consumption, which could widen the market for value-added coffee at the local level, as a strategy to increase resilience in the coffee sector in Central America.
Data Availability Statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.
IF: conception, review of evidence, synthesizing, and writing.
Conflict of Interest
The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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Keywords: coffee, small-scale farmers, resilience, Central America, climate-change
Citation: Fromm I (2022) Building Resilient Value Chains After the Impact of the COVID-19 Disruption: Challenges for the Coffee Sector in Central America. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 5:775716. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2021.775716
Received: 14 September 2021; Accepted: 21 December 2021;
Published: 14 January 2022.
Edited by:Todd Rosenstock, Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT, France
Reviewed by:Gabriel da Silva Medina, University of Brasilia, Brazil
Luis F. Aristizabal, Consultant, Kailua-Kona, United States
Copyright © 2022 Fromm. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Ingrid Fromm, email@example.com

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Syria has approved a bill on a new multiparty law.
Source: Press TV
The Syrian government has approved a bill that paves the way for a new multiparty law as part of efforts on its declared political reform program.
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Syrian Minister of Information Adnan Mahmoud said in a Monday statement that the new law will lay the legislative and legal foundations for political life and party pluralism, which are the basis of a democratic political system.
The Syrian minister added that the law will revitalize political activity and expand proper participation in running the state by establishing a suitable environment for new parties for the purpose of “alternating the possession of power.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has promised to carry out vast political reforms in his administration. Experts believe the reforms are a positive development in the Arab country.


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My favourite character is mainly from the Diamond/Pearl and Black/White (game) series. I say, Satoshi/Ash, Takeshi/Brock, Hikari/Dawn, Jun/Barry (he's my fav.rival), Denji/Volkner, Dent/Cilan, Pod/Cress, Daigo/Steven and Shirona/Cynthia. Too much, right?..
"I think that things are not getting good as it was.."-Koushiro 'Izzy' Izumi, DigiPoke WARS.
DigiPoke WARS, a fan-made series created by me!!

domain: entertainment


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Blogging RPGs: How D&D Saved My Life
When I first set out to learn the mother of all RPGs, I confess I thought it would do little more than provide a delightful evening of fun each week. It might help me think in a more imaginative and strategic nature, but nothing truly significant in the grand scheme of real life, right? Wrong. It saved my life.
In the dim hours of one particular morning, I meandered into my living room with a cup of coffee. My cat sat on a table, ears piqued and tail puffed out in fear. She looked straight up at a strange dark spot on the ceiling. There, spindly limbs curled and poised to pounce, was a hairy spider the size of my fist. Not a skinny daddy longleg, not a benevolent barn dweller named Charlotte. This thing was a mini facehugger from Alien.
Living in Florida, one might think that I’d be used to such things. We’re known for gators, mosquitoes, swamp monsters, and most recently, zombies. This, however, was a different foe altogether, and I’d gladly take any or all of the above before engaging an arachnid in battle. I do not like them, they do not like me, and I’m convinced they belong on another planet implanting chestbursters inside foolhardy space travelers. Never in my time living here have I encountered a creature such as this so close. It does not belong on this earth, and certainly does not belong crawling across my wall.
After a momentary stare down and a whole lot of panic, I let out a scream to wake the dead. Struggling to form a complete thought, I remembered that one of my recent D&D encounters involved similar monsters crawling out form the Underdark. I looked down, channeled my inner Ellen Ripley, and watched my living room carpet turn into a game grid. I may be in violation of several rules by drawing from these two drastically different geek sectors, but these were desperate times.
So, what would my elf rogue do? Daggers? You betcha! I glanced toward the kitchen and the knife block sitting just within reach and grinned. Then I thought of the hefty cost of apartment damages and reached for the next best thing—a sack of potatoes. The beast was in the line of sight, and it was my turn to roll. I stood up on my chair, and let my thrown potato daggers fly through the air.
By then, my husband had woken up to the commotion. I may hate spiders, but my husband legitimately suffers from diagnosable arachnophobia. Thanks to the Dungeon Master upstairs, it’s gotten better in recent years, otherwise this little encounter would have been much worse. As my husband came out of the bedroom, the psychology major in me could think of nothing better to say other than, “Well, here’s your direct exposure therapy!”
He screamed, stumbled back, and said, “It’s straight out of Dungeons and Dragons!”
“I knoooooooooow!” I shouted, hurling another potato.
“Allison, I swear if you kill that thing I will take you on a shopping spree!”
The creature was crawling around the room towards me now, and the legs were so thick I could hear them tapping against the wall as it got close. I leapt from the chair, my potato supply depleted. “Jack, I need the broom, some string, and a heavy book!”
The broom, some shoelaces, and a cookbook combined to create the Warhammer of Spider Squishing. Meanwhile, the monster had made its way into the kitchen. An hour and a half later, I was standing on the countertop, sacks of flour and sugar punctured and spilling around me. I managed to corner the thing inside one of the cupboards. He met his end between the edge of my warhammer and a can of French cut green beans.
“Is it even bloodied yet?” my husband asked. Would that real life let you know when your foe is at half its hit points.
“The beast is dead!” I said, pulling the corpse from the cupboard with a pair of tongs. It was several inches long, even shriveled.
I doubt I would have had the presence of mind to utilize household items in such a badass fashion were it not for Dungeons and Dragons. I will play with a new confidence and appreciation from now on. That may be one of the most disgusting experiences I’ve ever had, but saving my husband from a massive spider got me some shiny new dice for the next game, a hot new lipstick, and some nerdy office supplies. Next encounter I might try a warrior of some kind. It was fun swinging that warhammer around.
Anyone know how to get potato guts off white walls?

domain: hobby


Posted: Apr 1, 2010 8:40 PM by Danielle Lerner
Updated: Apr 1, 2010 8:40 PM
The home of a former medical marijuana dispensary owner escaped the auction block Thursday.
Charles Lynch's Arroyo Grande home was scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction this afternoon but it has been postponed until June.
Lynch says he has not been able to pay his mortgage.
It has been three years since deputies raided his Morro Bay dispensary and nine months since he was sentenced to one year and a day in prison.
California voters could legalize marijuana this November, but Lynch says that will not solve the confusion surrounding marijuana laws.
"Even if California does make it legal it's still going to be illegal against federal law, and so we still have the same dilemma," said Lynch.
Lynch is currently out of jail on $400,000 bail.
He plans to appeal his conviction and sentencing.
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Ben 10: Alien Force
Ben 10: Alien Force is an American animated television series created by team Man of Action, and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It takes place five years after Ben 10. The series premiered on Cartoon Network on April 18, 2008, in the United States, with its Canadian premiere on Teletoon on September 6, 2008, and ended on March 26, 2010. The series was originally produced under the working title of Ben 10: Hero Generation. The series ran for a total of three seasons and forty-six episodes with its final episode being aired on March 26, 2010. The series takes a different turn than its predecessor, taking on a darker tone. It also was nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Sound Mixing - Live Action and Animation.


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SABGROUP’s regional channel – Dabangg is set to entertain the audience with the broadcast of the Bhojpuri Blockbuster ‘Naagin’ a movie featuring for the first time on the small screen. The telecast is scheduled on 17th September at 1pm & repeat at 8pm, featuring the star-studded cast of Khesari Lal Yadav, Rani Chatterjee and Monalisa.
The movie created a stir in the market by being screened for 100 days straight, while acquiring a box office collection of approximately 3.5 crores. Furthermore, marking the film’s popularity, special screenings still continue to be showcased across theatres in different Bhojpuri belts.
The movie emerged as an all-time audience favorite. On the same note, it achieved abundant musical success; with hits like ‘Hum Ta Dhodhi Mudale Rahn’; ‘Penha Ramdev Baba Ke Langotaa’ and ‘Jab Se Naina Ladal’ continue to find airtime on local radio.
A classic saga of love, loss, rebirth and revenge; Naagin true to its name tells the tale of an Ischadhari Naagin (Rani Chatterjee) alongside her partner (Khesari Lal Yadav) who together avenge the death of Naag killed by villians in his previous life.
Magnifying this World television premier, an extensive marketing campaign has unfolded in key markets which include TV & PR campaigns, with brands like “Indigo Paints” on board for this special screening as the ‘Co-powered by sponsor’.


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Is happiness always worth chasing?
In a surprising interview with Ellen DeGeneres last week, Caitlyn Jenner expressed some ambivalence about…
Dear Ada, My twenty-something daughter is moving to a part of New York City that is more crime-ridden and dangerous…
Question: How do you spoil the royal baby announcement that the entire world was waiting for with baited breath?
Just this past weekend, Chrissy Teigen caught some heat when she “stepped…CONTINUE READING >
If you long for the heady days of the mid-2000s…CONTINUE READING >


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Elio andrade Guitar Basics On n Off study
Electric guitar basics lesson: How to use your amp tutorial
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Music Theory Basics for Guitar: Lesson 3 – Circle of…
Guitar Basics for Beginners : Guitar Strumming Basics
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Chord Melody Guitar Basics: Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Lesson
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Move around the guitar neck – Fretboard Exercises and Philosophy
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Working to improve crane safety and reduce risk is the first of Tadano’s three core values. Quality and efficiency make up the other two. Together, these core values are the foundation that help us to produce the rough terrain and all terrain cranes. that our customers depend on every day.
Lift Adjuster Helps Make a Safer Crane
With safety in mind, Tadano engineered the unique and exclusive Lift Adjuster system for our all terrain cranes. From talking with operators, we know that monitoring load movement while also keeping track of the surroundings can be a challenge even for those with a lot of operating experience.
As you know, when a crane picks up a load, natural boom deflection will cause the load to want to swing away from the crane. The heavier the load, the more deflection that will result in more movement by the load.
This is particularly challenging for an operator and ground crews to control when the crane is working in a confined lifting area. Keeping personnel and other fixed obstructions safe are essential.
The Lift Adjuster is a technical control system that allows the operator to have more control over the potential movement of load. When the Lift Adjuster is activated, it senses the boom’s deflection and adjusts the hoist cylinder to compensate for the change in radius caused by that deflection.
Eliminating the chance or opportunity for the load to swing creates a much safer crane working environment. Watch this video to see Lift Adjuster in action.
Safety is something that everyone in the crane industry can agree on. Here are top four reasons to use a Tadano crane equipped with lift adjusting capabilities:
- Create a Safer Working Environment
The Lift Adjuster system is an operator assist feature that enhances the operator’s ability to work safely and create a safer working environment for the people and structures around them.
- Simple to Use
The Lift Adjuster is activated at the touch of a button and automatically turns itself off again once the safe load torque has been reached.
- Simplify Out-of-Sight Lifts
Safety becomes even more of a concern when an operator cannot see the load they are lifting. Lift Adjuster ensures gentle and swing-free lifting of the load, which helps to protect employees, valuable loads, and fixed obstructions.
- Free Operator’s Attention
No matter how much experience a crane operator has, one person can only pay attention to so many things at once. The Lift Adjuster system maintains the load radius, which allows your operators to dedicate their full attention to the critical task of lifting the load.
The Lift Adjuster is a standard feature on all five and six axle and an option on most four axle Tadano all-terrain cranes. Consult with your sales representative to learn more about this and other innovative features of our all-terrain cranes. For more on Lift Adjuster, download our one pager, “Better Safe Than Sorry.”


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PHOENIX - We are learning more about a man who is accused of causing thousands of dollars in damage to a home.
The man, who is with the Phoenix Fire Department, reportedly had run-ins with law enforcement prior to this incident.
Here are the details.
Who's the suspect?
The suspect has been identified as 40-year-old Gregory Knauss.
Why was he arrested?
Knauss, according to our initial report, was arrested for allegedly causing more than $25,000 of damage to a town home during what was reported to be a romantic dispute.
According to detectives, a witness spotted Knauss on the roof of a town home in Peoria on Jan. 23. They say Knauss clogged the home's plumbing with spray foam and vandalized the air conditioning unit. Court documents also accuse Knauss of making large perforations in the roof with an unknown tool.
The incident reportedly caused substantial damage to the interior and exterior of the home.
"During the day of [Jan. 23, 2024], weather conditions generated large amounts of rain, which caused substantial water damage to the interior and exterior of the home as a direct result of [Knauss] clogging the plumbing and drainage pipes with spray foam, and making large perforations in the roof with an unknown tool," read a portion of the documents. "Spray foam placed into the plumbing and residential sewer drain was so extensive, it created a barrier that reached into the City of Peoria sewer system from the exterior access point, where the cap to the pipe was also adhered with an unknown sealant, causing responding plumes to be unable to access the drain without significant time and effort."
As for the HVAC system, investigators say internal and external wiring and/or components were damaged.
Prosecutors note that Knauss was involved in an apparent romantic dispute in 2023, with Knauss accused of being intimately involved with the girlfriend of the person who lived at the home where the vandalism incident happened. The girlfriend was, at the time, the nanny of Knauss's children, and Knauss's wife was notified of it.
Knauss allegedly sent threatening messages to the woman's boyfriend, one of which, as listed in court documents, reads as follows:
"I know where you live and where you work. If you don't think I will destroy your life, I don't think you know who I am."
Investigators also noted that Knauss is the owner of a business that specializes in residential modeling, which "supports [Knauss] having sophisticated knowledge of residential structural, electrical, and plumbing tradecraft that was used to facilitate the significant amount of damage to the residence in the manners observed."
Knauss, according to investigators, was arrested on the morning of Feb. 27 by Peoria Police.
You mentioned Knauss had prior run-ins with law enforcement?
Court documents we obtained for Knauss shows the suspect had prior arrests for public sexual indecency, urinating in public, extreme DI, trafficking stolen property, theft of means of transportation, and forgery.
The documents also show that Knauss was convicted of extreme DUI, trafficking stolen property, theft of means of transportation, and forgery.
We have learned that in one of the incidents, Knauss was fined less than $1,000 and served about a year of unsupervised probation after he was arrested for trying to sell a stolen motorcycle to an undercover cop.
What is Knauss being accused of this time?
Court documents state that Knauss is accused of committing six offenses: 2nd degree burglary, criminal damage - defacement, criminal damage - tampering, criminal damage - tampering with utilities, harassment, and making a threat.
A judge released Knauss on his own recognizance. According to Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, this term is used when a person is released from custody without bail, and the defendant makes a written promise that he will appear in court when required to do so.
The same judge, however, also ruled that Knauss cannot be released from custody until electronic monitoring equipment has been installed, and he will also be subjected to a number of restrictions, including a curfew.
Is Knauss still with Phoenix Fire?
Phoenix Fire officials have confirmed that Knauss is still employed by the department, but is on administrative leave amid an investigation into this latest arrest.
We also reached out to Phoenix Fire officials to ask about his prior convictions, and we received a statement that reads:
"The Phoenix Fire Department is aware of previous allegations and issues related to Mr. Knauss. Each issue was investigated and managed consistent with our process and when warranted the appropriate level of discipline was given. Regarding the most recent allegations, we are actively investigating and managing through the process."