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Playing With Mud
In the Neolithic period, inhabitants of the Greek island of Crete coated their walls with clay plaster, a finish with a malleable texture that was ideal for carving decorative relief designs. Beginning as early as 900 A.D., the ancient Pueblo people of the American Southwest slathered the exterior walls of their dwellings with adobe (sun-dried clay) to protect them from moisture, fire, and pests. Praised for its rich tones, the way it warmly reflects light, and its ability to absorb and release humidity, clay plaster has been used to finish walls across the globe for centuries. Today, thanks in part to its beauty and malleability, the finish is embraced as a sustainable alternative to standard paint.
Traditionally, the components of clay plaster are clay, sand, water, and fiber. Over time, additional additives like wheat-flour paste, manure, cactus juice, and casein were added to make it more durable and workable. Unlike most paints, clay plaster has a low environmental impact: It is nontoxic, contains no volatile organic compounds, and it isn’t heated to high temperatures in production. When applied properly, it is also mold-resistant, breathable, and as Noel Adams of Traditional Natural Plaster Company (www.traditionalplaster.com) in Portland has seen time and time again, fairly easy to repair. “My son loves to bang the rocking chair against the wall and create dents,” he says. “In minutes I can just re-wet it and re-trowel it and the damage is gone.” The son of a traditional plasterer, Adams discovered earthen plasters (which include clay, gypsum, and lime) in 2003, and he has since applied a variety of recipes to the walls of over a hundred homes around Portland. What follows is Adams’s simplest technique for the novice plasterer.
As long as you plan ahead and gather the right materials, coating your walls with clay plaster will be an easy and satisfying weekend project. Here are the tools and techniques you’ll need:
- 150-grit wet/dry sandpaper
- fiberglass joint tape
- all-purpose joint compound
- putty knife
- drop cloth
- painter’s tape
- rigid steel rectangular plaster trowel
- plaster hawk
- roller brush
- small paintbrush
- paint tray, stir stick
- particulate face mask
- heavy-duty ½-inch drill
- attachable mixing paddle
- 5-gallon bucket
- Chapin Multi-Purpose Sprayer
- tile sponge
Master the Tools
The traditional plastering tools may sound intimidating, but they just take practice to master. Hold about 1 cup of plaster on the hawk and scoop half of it onto the trowel with your dominant plastering hand.
Know Your Site
Each work site has its own preparation and application requirements, depending on the existing wall surface. These steps are for plastering over a painted wall. But before you get started, consider whether you have lead paint. If your room hasn’t been painted since before 1978, it just might. Adams says a good gauge is to check whether the paint is flaking; if it is, it probably contains lead. In that case, have professionals like Global Pacific Environmental (503-223-4401) test and remove it.
If your wall is covered in glossy paint, sand it lightly with 150-grit sandpaper to give it tooth. For all paint finishes, cover any cracks from ¼ inch to 1 inch wide with fiberglass joint tape. Next, seal these cracks and any small depressions with joint compound, using a putty knife to apply the compound so that it’s flush with the wall. Let it dry completely.
Before you begin priming and plastering, protect the floors and adjacent furniture with a drop cloth, set up a fan for ventilation, clean all dirt or grease off the wall, and apply painter’s tape around the trim and ceiling seams to protect them.
Traditional earthen plasters required a layer of chicken wire or burlap underneath to create a textured surface to which the plaster would bind. To most modern plasterers, this is a recipe for an unrefined, caveman effect. Fortunately, there’s an alternative: Ecohaus (819 SE Taylor St, www.environmentalhomecenter.com) carries American Clay’s Sanded Primer Elite, which creates an ideal surface for the plaster to bind to. It goes on like a coat of thin paint and should be applied with the shortest-haired roller brush you can find. Be sure to stir the primer well, until it has the consistency of paint and the sand is mixed throughout. First use a smaller brush for cutting in at the corners and along the trim, then pour the primer into a roller pan and use the roller brush to apply an even coat to the wall. Allow 3 hours for it to dry completely.
Stir the Mud
A 50-pound bag of American Clay’s Loma plaster (also sold at Ecohaus) yields one coat per 200 square feet, so measure your space to determine how many bags you’ll need. Pigments, which are sold separately, are available in a palette of 43 colors, from clean blues and grays to earthy reds and golds. You can also special order a custom hue or even enhance the pigment’s depth and luster by adding mica chips, shredded straw, or recycled colored glass.
For the best results, mix your plaster 4 to 8 hours prior to application. Before you get started, pick up a particulate mask (inhaling clay dust is hazardous to your lungs), rent a heavy-duty low-speed ½-inch drill ($12 per day at Home Depot, www.homedepot.com), buy an attachable mixing paddle and a 5-gallon bucket, and lug it all into the garage to avoid any catastrophic spills. Follow the directions on the Loma package for blending the plaster and the pigment (for more detailed instructions and techniques, visit American Clay’s website at www.americanclay.com). Keep the drill on a low speed to avoid creating air pockets. When it’s ready, the plaster should have the consistency of a thick milkshake, with the pigment spread throughout. (If the plaster dries out between mixing and applying, just add water to return it to the right consistency.)
Apply the Plaster
The technique here is all in the position of your trowel. Hold it at a 30-degree angle to the wall and sweep upward, reducing the trowel’s angle slightly as you go but maintaining consistent pressure.
The Hawk and Trowel
No, it’s not a pub in London. These are the traditional plastering tools you’ll need to spread your two coats of clay. The hawk looks like a tray resting on a handle, and the best trowel for this project will be a rectangular one made of rigid steel.
Hold the hawk in your nondominant hand, keeping the tray level, and pour about 1 cup of plaster onto it. Scoop half of that onto the trowel’s flat surface. Starting at the floor, hold the trowel at a 30-degree angle to the wall, with the bottom edge against the wall, and apply pressure while sweeping upward, keeping your trowel angled. Unless you’ve plastered before, your instinct will be to immediately flatten the trowel against the wall—this is an excellent way to create thick, clumpy layers, so resist it. Another challenge for first-timers, says Adams, is to avoid putting the plaster on too thick, which causes it to crack as it dries—so it’s important to watch your trowel’s angle and maintain consistent pressure until you have a smooth, thin coat (about 1/16 inch thick is best for the base coat). If ridges, clumps, or rough spots remain (and they likely will), smooth them by scraping the trowel clean against the hawk and using the trowel’s edge to sweep horizontally across the plaster you just applied.
Always add new plaster next to a section with a wet edge to avoid creating the dreaded “cold seam”—a hardened ridge that can show through the top layer. So if you’re breaking up the project over many hours or days, be sure to finish a complete wall in each session. Allow the bottom coat to dry completely (drying time will generally be between 4 and 8 hours) before repeating these steps for the second coat. This time around, you have the opportunity to show off how far you’ve come with your technique by layering the top coat on just 1/32 inch thick.
Buff the Surface
For a soft, matte surface, burnish your wall with a damp tile sponge, rubbing lightly in a circular motion. For a hard, polished surface, opt for a trowel finish, applying pressure on the trailing edge of the trowel as you sweep it across the wall.
The most basic way to burnish plaster is with a sanded finish, which requires only a thin coat of water and a tile sponge. Burnish when the top coat of plaster is still damp, but dry enough so that slight pressure with your thumb doesn’t mar it. Use a sprayer to lightly mist the wall, and rub the wet area in a circular motion with an almost-dry tile sponge, using light pressure to compress all the layers. Remove the painter’s tape when the plaster is still damp. After the wall has dried completely, wring out your tile sponge and wipe the wall in broad, overlapping arcs to remove excess sand.
There are infinite combinations of clay plaster recipes, pigments, and techniques to discover. So don’t be afraid to investigate and experiment. Regardless of how you choose to play with your mud, clay plaster gives your home a warm and sophisticated wall finish that will satisfy both the child and the adult in you.


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Just what can the Carolina Panthers expect from their linebacker corps when a hugely important 2022 season gets underway this fall?
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the Carolina Panthers are still one of the youngest franchises in the NFL. As a result, they are still figuring out its identity.
Under the ownership of Jerry Richardson, the plan was at least clearer than it’s been since David Tepper purchased the team. The Panthers founder made it no secret that he marveled over the consistent and sustained success of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he used this esteemed model as a blueprint in the construction of his own franchise.
Richardson, a firm believer in the famous mantra that “defense wins championships,” put his trust in leaders that garnered experience coaching the defensive side of the ball. The Steelers have collected six Super Bowls under three different Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches – Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin – each established an impressive resume of pedigree on defense before landing as a head coach.
It’s not a weird coincidence that Carolina’s first-ever head coach, Dom Capers, was Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator before being tabbed by Richardson to be the organization’s inaugural man at the helm.
Between Capers, George Seifert, John Fox, and Ron Rivera, Richardson solely hired coaches that ground their way through the coaching ranks on the defensive side of the ball.
While the Panthers are yet to hoist a Lombardi Trophy, they’ve still enjoyed some successful seasons highlighted by four appearances in the NFC Championship Game and two in the Super Bowl.
When looking at the greatest teams the Panthers have fielded in their 27-year history, one commonality stands out amongst each unique group: each squad boasted world-class linebacker play. Between Sam Mills, Dan Morgan, Jon Beason, Thomas Davis, and Luke Kuechly, Carolina’s short history has been defined by elite linebackers.
Since Kuechly’s abrupt retirement at the conclusion of the 2019 season, the team has not lived up to the organizational expectation of dominant linebacker play established by the franchise’s legendary predecessors. In fact, the position has been more of a revolving door since Matt Rhule entered the building.
Rhule’s nonchalant approach to the position is far from a radical strategy.
The decline in value of the linebacker in the modern NFL has been well-documented. But this remains a unit that Carolina would benefit from improving.
After a number of new additions to the linebacker room in the offseason, Rhule and company will be crossing their fingers that this unit will take a much-needed step forward in 2022.

domain: news


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domain: geography


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Bahrain’s Commission of Inquiry Report: Whitewashing a Counter-Revolution?
By: Alaa Shehabi
Published Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Bahrain's Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) will publish Wednesday the findings of its three month investigation into violations of human rights. In utter insensitivity to the victims, the panel of government-appointed international law experts will hand over their report to the King of Bahrain at a “launch party” at his palace.
Apparently the head of the king’s Royal Court, one of the notorious hardliners in the ruling family who had a hand in the state’s repression, sees this occasion as some kind of celebration.
Much fanfare is expected, and invitations have been sent directly to the doorsteps of journalists and international NGOs, after locking them out of the country, if not throwing them out over the past eight months.
Meanwhile, local NGOs like the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, that has been the strongest advocate of victims, has been kept off the invitation list.
Critics’ skepticism towards the commission largely stems from the way it was established, through a unilateral decision by the King, reinforcing the key problem of authoritarianism in the country. No consultations of any sort over the decision to establish the commission, its functions, its mandate, the terms of reference or selection of commissioners took place; not with the victims nor with civil society organizations.
To make things worse the commission’s chairperson, Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni persistently made statements to the press that absolved the head of state of responsibility over human rights violations right from the very start.
This seriously affected the perception of partiality of the commission. At one point, thousands of protestors gathered on BICI’s premises to protest the failures of the government, forcing the commission to close.
The statistics are baffling – since February 14 when the uprising began, over 1500 have been arrested, 500 remain in detention, including my husband, 45 people have been killed, hundreds wounded and nearly 3000 sacked from their jobs.
The campaign of persecution was relentless and unceasing. One of its latest victims is 16 year old Ali Alsatrawi. His dismembered body was buried just three days ago, after being driven over by a police security jeep.
Despite the violence, the people of Bahrain continue in their brave ‘intifada’ with daily protests. By the Ministry of Interior’s own account, they have “dealt with” 1300 protests over the past five months. The uprising in Bahrain has not been ‘crushed’ or ‘quelled’ despite the introduction of Saudi troops in March.
People like myself affected by the repressive government crackdown with family members that have been killed, tortured, fired, expelled, or are in exile or in hiding, will be the most capable of judging this report.
My husband, Ghazi Farhan, was arrested on April 12 and later sentenced to 3 years in jail. He is completely apolitical. The anger I have is not because I am separated from my husband or have become a single mother with a newborn baby. It is much deeper. It is because of the repeated cycles of injustices that each generation has had to face over the past century that culminated in the biggest uprising in Bahrain’s history.
This regime has sought to radically alter the make up of the country’s population – through political naturalization of thousands of foreigners – and the physical land mass of the island – through mass land reclamation from the sea. Bahrain’s government has failed to come to terms with the land and the people it governs. That is at the heart of the popular revolt in Bahrain.
Our cause now is far bigger than human rights alone. It is and always has been about self-preservation of a people and the right to exist as equals and to live in dignity. The form of justice we seek is not just about holding the government to account over human rights abuses. It’s also about the right to self-determination, the pursuit of which began in 1912.
There are approximately 500 political detainees in Bahrain today, awaiting trial or sentencing for anything up to the death penalty. Many of the detainees have been subjected to systematic torture and complete denial of justice, and are awaiting the outcome of this report.
The hope is that it will do them justice by recommending an end to the system that has allowed human rights abuse to continue for decades and to hold responsible the government that authorized this to happen at the very highest level.
In a recent statement, chairperson Cherif Bassiouni acknowledged that “a systematic policy of torture” exists in Bahrain. Torture is just one of the tools used in the machinery of repression – a much wider systematic policy of persecution was meted out across the entire apparatus of the state; the media, the judiciary, the military, the interior ministry, the intelligence services, the health services and various other ministries.
Within and between these institutions there is a coordinated and organized campaign of degradation and humiliation, overseen and ordered by leaders of this country. Every single minister that heads each of these institutions is directly responsible.
The state oppression campaign was given the name of ”tat-heer”, or “purification” or “cleansing.” It begun with clearing Pearl Square of “traitors” and then expanded to target people across the country on a sectarian basis, in their homes, on the street and at work. Of course, the state TV channel provided the full commentary of events to entertain the head of state and his loyalists.
In any other country, the posthumous confession aired on state TV of a man tortured to death, Ali Sager, would be enough to indict any number of high ranking officials. The other two men who appeared on the video and fortunately survived the torture that killed Ali Sager are now facing the death penalty denied any form of justice.
At least 7 people have been killed since June 30, when BICI’s chairman first arrived in Bahrain, but none of their forensic doctors were there to examine their bodies, as the state resolutely refuses to acknowledge the cause of death let alone their responsibility for the killing. We have had to endure routine fabrications that are so preposterous as to insult the intelligence.
According to the Ministry of Interior, genetic illnesses like sickle cell anaemia are magically contracted in detention. Of course electrocution, whipping, or creative forms of physical abuse meted out in torture chambers are not to blame. BICI should have been monitoring the state, yet it failed to carry out its mandate.
It would be a mistake to think that the state had reacted inappropriately just because it was “faced with an exceptional situation” post-February 14, making it unable to handle the sheer scale of the protests, as Bassiouni hinted in his recent interview.
He has previously claimed that violations occurred because of a “bureaucratic mix-up” and “botched jobs,” that security forces “lack training” were “insensitive” and “unprofessional.” I have reminded Bassiouni in a direct exchange, that sectarian policing has existed in Bahrain for decades.
A loyalist minority of tribal Sunnis or foreign mercenaries is intentionally employed to police the majority. The point of this is to perpetuate sectarian discord and to use the minority to repress the majority should the regime feel the need to to so.
This policy has in fact been defended by the Minister of Interior himself. In a recent interview with Al Arabiya, he stated that we cannot expect a Bahraini from any sect to police another Bahraini in a village, because “Bahrain is small and every one knows each other” – the opposite argument to the widely accepted practice of community policing.
Though BICI’s mandate is to investigate events post-February 14, it is worth noting that the campaign of persecution began last summer, when at least 300 men were arbitrarily detained and were only released in February, only to be the first to be rearrested in March (this includes many of the 21 opposition leaders, and also those on death sentences).
He may claim to be misguided or even ignorant, but Bassiouni, upon his arrival on June 29, when I was the first ‘witness’ to meet him, made sure he was neither. He was kind enough to have written to the King personally on July 1 to release my husband, who has been tortured and imprisoned since 12 April.
The King subsequently rebuffed the request. The King has full knowledge of what is happening in Bahrain and I hold him responsible in not enforcing such a request to stop such flagrant abuse.
“All those who called for the downfall of the regime [isqaat alnithaam] will have a wall fall on their heads. Bahrain is a small island – there is no escape.”
These were the ominous words of the son of the King of Bahrain uttered on state television in his newly appointed role as head of the Royal Guard in March. It was a stark warning; no one would who participated in Bahrain’s revolt would be spared the state’s wrath.
I hold the head of the BDF responsible for the Stalinesque military trial that delivered summary justice to my husband and at least 400 others.
I hold the Minister of Interior directly responsible for systematic torture across all police stations and prisons in Bahrain.
I hold the Minister of Justice responsible for major violations of due process and the kangaroo courts that sentenced my husband on appeal.
I hold the head of Riffa West police station responsible for the torture of my husband and the theft of property.
I hold the head of Bahrain TV responsible for hate speech directed at an entire sect that has been unceasing.
I hold the labour minister responsible for the violation of every labour law in the book by carrying out firings in both the private and public sector of nearly 3000 people.
I hold the Minister for Human Rights and Social Development responsible for trying to cover up the crimes of her government.
If the BICI report does not identify responsibility and offer high level accountability, the report will not be worth the paper it is printed on as far as I am concerned.
BICI is walking on a tightrope. Its predicament lies in its ability to realize its own vision or the raison d’etre of a truth commission - the process "of discovering truth and achieving justice” and avoiding the “compromising encumbrances of realpolitik” in Bassiouni’s own words.
The realpolitik it will be reckoning with are the insurmountable pressures of Western allies of the Bahraini regime, and in particular the United States, that have staked an arms deal on its findings, and will undoubtedly like to see the King, his son and the cabinet exonerated.
By linking an arms deal with the outcomes of this investigation, the ideals of human rights and geopolitical interests are set on a collision course in Bahrain.
It is the ethical and moral duty to hold to account all those responsible for sustaining an oppressive system that has been based on institutionalized sectarianism, subservience and violence.
Bassiouni pointed out in a Worldview interview that most likely no one will be happy with the report, particularly as it is expected that the opposition will say it does not go far enough. He then said that this will demonstrate BICI’s “neutrality.” I would like to remind Bassiouni of Theodore Roosevelt’s famous quote that “Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.”
Justice for the people of Bahrain will be in achieving a new system that restores and protects our dignity, treats everyone equally and punishes those responsible for systematic abuse.
The truth commission will succeed not by acknowledging the pain and suffering of the victims alone, but for me, the key things that will determine its success are recommendations along the following lines:
The immediate release of every single political prisoner, including the 14 opposition leaders that bore severe forms of torture for their views
High-level accountability and assigning responsibility at the highest echelons of power
Political reconciliation in the form a clear plan for democratic transition and a new constitution
Today, the blinding sun of torture and injustice has reached its zenith and scorched the entire island. My personal horror, and those of thousands others have lasted for several months and is still ongoing. My husband has experienced multiple violations which have left an everlasting physical and psychological effect on him and this necessitates justice.
The trauma and wounds will not be healed through financial compensation alone, or the reinstatement to their previous positions in jobs, people had striven their entire lives to succeed in. The best of the best in Bahraini society don’t want material reparation, but tangible attainment of full political, economic and human rights.
No where else in the Arab world will a brutal regime that has lost its legitimacy wield a political shield such as this report to convince the rest of the world, and not its own people, of its right to sustain authoritarian rule.
In the spirit of the so-called Arab Spring, the revolutions of dignity, no longer are people interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself our master. The people want the full menu of rights.
The ultimate judge of truth commission’s report therefore will be the people of Bahrain that were punished for taking to the streets and calling for equal rights, social justice, freedom and democracy. If the government thinks a fancy party, and a glossy report will end the uprising, they are sadly mistaken. The struggle for democracy will continue.
Ala'a Shehabi is a lecturer and activist in Bahrain
The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect Al-Akhbar's editorial policy.
Correction: BICI's report will be published Wednesday, not Tuesday as an earlier version of this article stated.

domain: law


Companies can go bankrupt due to poor business models, more successful competitors, or a decline in their target consumers. But as glacier retreat and droughts lead to lower river flows, hydroelectric power companies like Alto Maipo SpA (“Alto Maipo”) are adding climate change to the list of culprits.
On November 11, 2021, Alto Maipo, a Chilean subsidiary of the American Fortune 500 Company AES Corporation, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the state of Delaware for its highly controversial hydroelectric power project on the Maipo River, southeast of the capital city of Santiago. In its bankruptcy filing, the company claimed that decreasing electricity prices in Chile and the effects of climate change on its water supply make its current financial structure unsustainable. The filing follows years of intense pushback from environmentalists and residents in the Maipo Valley and Santiago over the company’s diverting of the Maipo River, which is the main water supply for the city. Much of the scrutiny comes from concerns that the Maipo Valley is already overexploited by developers who have built mines, the El Yeso Dam, and several hydroelectric plants meant to subsidize mining—four of which are owned by Alto Maipo’s American parent company, AES Andes.
Construction of the Alto Maipo hydroelectric power project began in 2008 despite considerable opposition from residents of the surrounding valley and Santiago. The energy generated was meant to power mineral operations such as Los Pelambres, a copper mine north of Santiago.
Costs of the project have ballooned from $700 million to over $3 billion. Scheduling and construction setbacks have pushed the expected finish date by more than 9 years. It is now projected to be completed this summer. The project was expected to generate an average of 2,213 GWh of energy per year—enough energy to power Dallas, Texas, three times over—but generated just half of that (1,100 GWh) in 2021 in large part due to droughts and shrinking Andean glaciers. The loss of revenue from decreased water flow was a key factor in Alto Maipo declaring bankruptcy last November in the face of fractional energy outputs from the project that are trending downward.
While supporters of the project tout it as “run-of-the-river,” this label is not accurate, according to Carl Bauer, a water policy professor at the University of Arizona. Run-of-the-river projects are hydroelectric projects that place the turbines and generating plants directly in the river so that water flows through without being removed or held in a reservoir. The Alto Maipo hydroelectric plant is “diverting water and piping it through tunnels, eventually returning it quite a bit downstream” unlike a true run-of-the-river project, said Bauer.
The project diverts 43 miles of the river and its tributaries through a tunnel to turbines which generate electricity before returning the water to the river upstream of Santiago. Bauer notes this has significant environmental impacts and leaves areas of the basin entirely dry. This has led to considerable opposition from environmentalists, local communities in the Maipo Valley, and Santiago residents. Santiago’s city government has not opposed the project, but Bauer says that this likely is due to the upstream location of the water’s return, which leaves the urban water supply unaffected.
Though Alto Maipo said in its bankruptcy claim that the droughts and low water flows were unexpected, critics such as NGOs No Alto Maipo and Ecosistemas have pointed out that the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) conducted in 2008 by Alto Maipo was flawed and incomplete. These organizations asserted that the ESIA used historical water flow data as a basis for the project rather than the current data at the time, leading to faulty projections in energy generation. Both movements are led by community coalitions and environmentalists that have opposed the Alto Maipo Project for over a decade.
In 2017, No Alto Maipo and Ecosistemas filed a complaint with the International Finance Committee (IFC), a global development institution and large investor in Alto Maipo. Unlike entirely private bank groups, the IFC is the financial arm of the World Bank Group, a bank of the United Nations focused on helping developing countries. As a result, it is more open than private banks to addressing complaints and allegations against the recipients of its funding if they are shown to be in violation of the UN’s policies.
No Alto Maipo and Ecosistemas stated that Alto Maipo violated the IFC’s policies on social and environmental governance, saying that the ESIA failed to acknowledge potential water shortages due to climate change. They added that the ESIA did not consider how the hydroelectric project would affect recreation, tourism, and drinking water in the valley. The IFC agreed with these charges, adding in their report that Alto Maipo did not properly consult affected communities. As a result, the IFC fully divested from Alto Maipo in May 2018.
In the years before petitioning the IFC, as well as after, these groups organized large demonstrations, which have brought in people from dozens of organizations and professions. A 2010 demonstration included 300 muleteers from the mountain range around the Maipo Valley, a mass to pray for the water of the Maipo, and several Chilean senators and public figures. Other major demonstrations took place in 2013, 2015, and 2017 as well as a demonstration organized by women in 2019 and another led by local residents in 2020. More recently, a protest in 2021 brought together outdoor communities under the campaign “Save the Maipo,” organized by Patagonia, an American outdoor clothing brand.
Magdalena Gil, an environmental sociologist at the Catholic University of Chile and homeowner in the Maipo Valley, said that developers frequently fail to consider the full impacts of projects in the overexploited Maipo Basin. Hydroelectric plants, the El Yeso Dam, and mining operations put a strain on the water resources of the valley, which she notes has seen 15 years of drought and is “the number one tourist post in the metropolitan region.” Gil told GlacierHub that the Alto Maipo hydroelectric plant should not be discussed as a stand-alone project. “We need to discuss the sustainability of the Maipo Valley, which is the sustainability of Santiago and its metropolitan region,” she said.
Currently, the bankruptcy claims are under review by the Delaware District of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Alto Maipo is planning to restructure itself in a way that would give most of the control of the company to its parent company, AES Corporation, and not give junior creditors any recovery—a decision that is unpopular with those unsecured creditors. It argued on March 29 of this year that the courts should not allow the company to solicit creditor votes for its reorganization plan.
Bauer is almost certain the Alto Maipo hydroelectric project will be completed one way or another at this point. Whether or not it is profitable in the face of droughts and shrinking glaciers is much less certain. But does that mean that in the face of worsening climate change all hydroelectric projects on rivers like the Maipo are doomed from the start?
Not necessarily, according to Bauer. “Changing flows due to climate change will affect the economics and engineering of all water resource projects,” he said. However, he added that groups can take advantage of extra water coming off glaciers that are retreating, either for hydropower or freshwater storage over the next few decades. By targeting areas where glaciers are producing more meltwater as they recede, groups can utilize short-term projects that are less intrusive and exploitative of the rivers they are built on, said Bauer.
The bankruptcy of Alto Maipo demonstrates that developers need to use holistic, future-thinking approaches to renewable energy. Moreover, it shows the importance of prioritizing community voices in the face of climate change to protect vital economic, recreational, and municipal water sources like the Maipo River.


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Monday, June 15, 2020
When you feel like humans are unnecessarily super complicated, just know that scientists have deemed the human brain to be one of the most complex things that we know about in the universe. That’s right, our brains take a prize for being ridiculously complicated. So, yeah, humans are enigmas and we’re still trying to figure ourselves out, but that’s okay! Just keep your curiosity about yourself and human nature fresh and you’ll learn something new each day without even trying.

domain: biology


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On Thursday, AMD released Radeon Software 17.9.2, a driver that unlocks 2-way multi-GPU support in the company’s newly released Radeon RX Vega graphics cards. Great! But also weird. Previous Radeon generations supported up to 4-way CrossFire configurations. No more. In response to a PCWorld follow-up question, AMD confirmed that RX Vega will top out at 2-way configurations—at least in games.
“We have delivered two-way mGPU support in games,” and AMD representative told PCWorld via email. “Three- and four-way configurations will continue being supported in compute and professional applications.”
AMD’s move isn’t unprecedented. Nvidia nerfed SLI (its brand name for multi-GPU support) with the launch of its current-generation graphics cards, the GTX 10-series, which also tops out at 2-way support in traditional games. Like AMD, Nvidia killed support for these extreme enthusiast setups quietly, only ‘fessing up to the change when asked for comment by the press.
There’s a caveat to all this. CrossFire and SLI enable multi-GPU support in DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 games via AMD and Nvidia profiles, respectively. The new DirectX 12 tech found in Windows 10 requires developers to explicitly build multi-GPU support into their games instead of relying on those profiles. More advanced 3- and 4-way multi-GPU support will still work in DirectX 12 games that want to take the time to bake in that capability. But considering how few DX12 games currently support multi-GPU whatsoever, and how deeply niche 4-way fire-breathing gaming PCs actually are, don’t expect to see it embraced by DX12 games often.
Add another twist to the story: the technically diverse nature of DX11 and DX12’s support needs. Last week, AMD confirmed to PCWorld that it’s phasing out the CrossFire brand. Going forward, all official AMD references to multi-GPU support will simply use the term “multi-GPU” or “mGPU.”
The story behind the story: It’s sure starting to smell like the end of an era for over-the-top gaming rigs. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because 3- and 4-way multi-GPU configurations have never offered a totally smooth (or economically justified) experience. It’s only gotten worse in recent years as more and more games shy away from mGPU entirely.
Mentioned in this article
ViewSonic XG2700-4K 27″ 60Hz IPS 4K FreeSync display
Fortunately, today’s hardware makes powering through the most graphically demanding PC games possible on a single graphics card, rather than requiring the brute force of a 4-way rig. Even a 2-way Radeon RX Vega 64 setup should be able to max out today’s highest-end 60Hz 4K monitors. The experience could be smooth even with a single graphics card if you snag a stutter-killing FreeSync-equipped display.


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YYYYMMDD >>> BACK HOME <<< >>> SELECTED FEATURES <<< >>> HIDDEN ARCHIVE <<<
WET MEN by LOU MASDURAUD at MAYDAY [from 20221105 to 20221218]
[Photos: Moritz Schermbach]
Silver glazed pipes and taps hang in rows from the ceiling. They drip and run, the water pools in the barrels below and is pumped back into the pipes via hoses. Dripping muscle shirts dangle limp from the taps. The overflow of a barrel collects in a hollowed-out torso made of ceramic, flows as a trickle over the tiled floor and is swallowed by the drain. A streetlamp bathes the space in a diffuse light and blurs the boundary between indoor and outdoor space.
With “Wet Men”, Lou Masduraud presents a new site-specific installation that creates multi-layered references to the history and former use of the exhibition space as a changing and shower room for dockworkers. The associated projections range from the sweaty smell of proletarian physical labour, the puddles of urine from boozy nights, to the erotic fantasies surrounding sailor life on the docks. Lou Masduraud is interested in the culturally still strongly male connotated images of work, equipment and machines as well as the socially little represented aspects of male intimacy and vulnerability.
For the design of the hand-modelled tubes, Lou Masduraud was inspired by drawings by the American artist Lee Lozano (1930–1999), who depicted objects and tools as bearers of normative masculinity and exaggerated them with sexualised forms. Through the formal proximity of body parts and tools both are made of glazed stoneware – Lou Masduraud shows the body as something (in the Marxist sense) that has been put to work, used, deformed and damaged in the service of its function as a labour force.
In juxtaposing these two forms of objectification of human bodies, sexualisation on the one hand and alienation as labour power on the other, Lou Masduraud questions heroic images of the worker and the impactful male gaze on human bodies that dominates (art) history.
She creates a self-dynamic scenery that can be understood as an alternative to prevailing lifeworlds and power relations and opens up political as well as fantastic readings: Water flows through the objects and feeds each other. Small living beings grow inside the torso; they resemble cells, bacteria or sea creatures. And on the socks hung over the radiators as if to dry, a pearl shines unexpectedly.
Lou Masduraud (*1990, lives and works in Geneva) studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Lyon and the Haute école d’art et de design, Geneva. She has had solo exhibitions at CAN, Centre d’Art Neuchâtel, Maison populaire in Montreuil and Hard Hat in Geneva. Her works have been presented in group exhibitions at the Muzeum Susch, the Istituto Svizzero in Rome, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Lyon Biennale, the Kunsthalle Basel, the Moscow Biennale, the Kunsthaus Hamburg and the Kunstmuseum Luzern. From 2021 to 2022 she resided at the Instituto Svizzero in Rome. In 2022 she was nominated for the Swiss Art Awards and in 2023 she will be awarded the Geneva Manor Art Prize. Mayday is showing her first solo exhibition in German-speaking Switzerland.
©YYYYMMDD All content and design by Daniela Grabosch + Ricardo Almeida Roque unless otherwise stated. Images, Videos and Texts can only be used under permission of the author(s).

domain: design


UNEMPLOYED Dudley folk could hit the jackpot as a new casino is on the cards, bringing with it 72 jobs.
Plans have been drawn up to relaunch Castle Casino as Casino 36 and move to Castlegate Park, opposite the Village Hotel.
If Dudley planners give the go-ahead, the company will invest £12million to create the new two-storey building, which will have a ground-floor bingo hall and an upstairs casino - all accessible by wheelchair users.
Craig Dobson, group manager for Casino 36, told the News that the company owns the current casino building on Castle Hill "outright" but there were "no concrete plans" for what would become of the site, should planning permission for the new venture be granted.
He added that the move would able the company to "take advantage of closer links to tourist and leisure facilities", adding: "Where we are now, it's close to the town but it's not where everyone stops.
"It's by the zoo but that is not really something that spills over to the casino.
"In Castlegate Park, there are hotels, restaurants, a cinema, it's the place to be."


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Crossville Veterinary Hospital
Crossville Veterinary Hospital offers grooming and veterinary services for pets. Treatments are available for a variety of conditions and illnesses affecting cats, dogs, rabbits, reptiles and birds. The primary care provider is Rosa Denning, who is assisted by grooming professional Angela Byrd.
- Hours: By appointment
- Pet services: Grooming
- Specialties: Birds, Cats, Dogs, Reptiles

domain: pet


It's not a regular occurrence that you realize that you have to buy a replacement Brake Line & Hose for your vehicle. Mercedes-Benz car, truck, or SUV owners have grown accustomed to a certain level of a reputation for strength when driving their 350SD around town. When your Mercedes-Benz 350SD rolled off the assembly line, it was destined for a driver who wants German engineering in their automobile. Obviously, you bought your 350SD because you wanted to buy long-lasting quality and dependability both rolled up into one car, truck, or SUV.
A brake system that works properly will ensure you can stop your car or truck when you want. That means your Mercedes-Benz 350SD brake lines or hoses need to be free of leaks at all times. Hydraulic brake lines connect the brake calipers or wheel cylinders to the master cylinder on your car or truck. When you depress the brake pedal in your Mercedes-Benz 350SD, the brake fluid gets sent directly to the parts that stop your vehicle. If there's a leak in a brake hose, then you should feel much less response from the brake pedal when you depress it.
When your Mercedes-Benz needs the best replacement Brake Line & Hose, there's no need to waste time looking anywhere other than the authority, Car Parts Discount. Bring your 350SD back to life with the best repair parts from the experts at Car Parts Discount. Don't let a Brake Line & Hose repair bring about the demise of your car, truck, or SUV, and don't risk lowering its resale value by installing anything but the best replacement parts. All the Mercedes-Benz 350SD Brake Line & Hose parts on this page will fit vehicles made in 1991. Choose your year below to refine your search.


July 18, 2016
Aiming with scopes might not seem difficult at first. In principle, all shooters have to do is line up the crosshairs with the target and pull the trigger. In practice, however, using a riflescope requires some precise adjustments to ensure that a fired round will land in the spot marked by the crosshairs.
First, new shooters must ensure that their scope is properly mounted and sighted in. Otherwise, there's no telling where fired rounds will end up or how long a scope will stay accurate. Other things to consider when aiming with scopes includes keeping a certain amount of distance from the ocular lens and adjusting the scope parallax.
Watch the video below to learn about properly aiming with a scope.
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text: I seriously loved this book. I first read this book as summer reading for my frosh year lit class, and I fell in love with it. Nazi Germany and the Holocaust is one of my favorite topics of literature, and I feel that Markus Zusak does a fantastic job creating a story. Although it is about a dark theme, choosing tired and sarcastic Death to be the narrator adds a whole new dimension to the book by making it darkly humorous. All the characters stand out, and for me, my favorites, by far, were Hans Hubermann and Rudy Steiner. (SPOILER) I cry EVERY time I read when Rudy and Hans are found dead after the bombing, and I have read this book about 5 times now. It contains some language, but teens like me would think that it adds to the dark humor of the book. A must read, should be classic.

domain: library


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A study of nanotechnology
Study of nanotechnology application in construction industry (case study: houses in north of iran). A new study by umass medical school physician-scientist benjamin u nwosu nanotechnology all nanotechnology bio & medicine nanomaterials nanophysics physics. You should know what is quantum size effect, surface to volume phenomenon, quantum field theory, how object or matter or atom behaves differently when it is combined and when it is in discreet nature. Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers physicist richard feynman, the father of nanotechnology nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other. Engineers with expertise in nanotechnology are becoming increasingly valuable as our technology gets smaller and smaller—and more sophisticated.
The two-year master’s programme in nanotechnology at the university of twente focuses on the design, creation and study of functional materials, structures. Make a positive impact on society by combating disease in creating better medicines, or build stronger materials and faster computers in nanotechnology, you'll work at the cellular or atomic level using chemistry, biology, and electrical applications. Nanotechnology refers to a broad range of areas of science and technology: it is the.
Study nanotechnology you may not realise it, but everyday we use products that contain technology engineered on the micron or nanometre scale mobile phones, ink-jet printers and car airbag systems all employ components made with nano- and micro-technolo. Nanotechnology (nanotech) a major study published more recently in nature nanotechnology suggests some forms of carbon nanotubes. Why study nanotechnology nanotechnology is the science of the very small - working on a scale of nanometres, a millionth of a millimetre new products and processes are developed where physics, chemistry, biology and engineering meet.
Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve studying and working with matter on an ultra-small scale the royal society, the uk national academy of science, and the royal academy of engineering to carry out an independent study of likely developments and the challenges that may arise. Nanotechnology encompasses the understanding of the fundamental physics, chemistry, biology and technology of nanometre-scale objects in the present study.
Nanotechnology is the study of phenomena and fine-tuning of materials at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales, where properties differ significantly from. The world of nanotechnology biologists, chemists, physicists and engineers are all involved in the study of substances at the nanoscale dr. Benefits and applications related resources described below is a sampling of the rapidly growing list of benefits and applications of nanotechnology. This definition from the foresight institute adds a mention of the various fields of science that come into play with nanotechnology “nanotechnology is the study of phenomena and fine-tuning of materials at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales, where properties differ significantly from those at a larger scale.
Postgraduate part-time courses, online courses and training in nanotechnology and nanomedicine. Nanobiotechnology bionanotechnology generally refers to the study of how the goals of nanotechnology can be guided by studying how biological machines work. Epa is developing scientific methods to study and evaluate the unique properties of nanomaterials nanotechnology and nanomaterials fact sheet (pdf).
7 amazing ways nanotechnology is changing the world a new grant to study how this least well understood impact of nanotechnology is its impact on our. How do i study the basics of nanotechnology work related to nanotechnology falls into two broad areas: the study of nanotechnology itself (which will remain theoretical, for the time being) and research on enabling technologies leading toward assemblers and nanotechnology (which can be theoretical in part, but which also have an experimental. Many students have asked what they should study to prepare for careers in nanotechnology giving a decent answer requires outlining the different fields of research that fall under the nanotechnology umbrella and describing the background knowledge required to work in them.
The masters degree in nanotechnology and materials science the master‘s study branch of nanotechnology is the second level of nanotechnology study following. This guide explains the basic principles of nanotechnology what is nanotechnology and what can it of derailing nanotechnology if serious study of its. Nanotechnology and nanoscience refer to the behavior and properties of materials at the according to a study by market researcher global information inc. Chapter title 1 nanolithography study using scanning probe microscope by s sadegh hassani and h r aghabozorg part of book: recent advances in nanofabrication techniques and applications.Get file

domain: chemistry


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Is Barley anti inflammatory?
These healthy (and delicious) grains don't cause the same sugar spike that refined carbs do, but they can spark inflammation in some people. … If you're at all sensitive to it, and especially if you have Celiac disease, consuming barley or rye (in food or booze form) can cause your tissues to flame up.
What does barley do to your body?
Barley's fiber, potassium, folate, and vitamin B6 content, coupled with its lack of cholesterol, all support a healthy heart. Barley is an excellent source of fiber, which helps lower the total amount of cholesterol in the blood, thereby decreasing the risk of heart disease.
Does barley make you fat?
Barley is high in fiber, especially beta-glucan, which may reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It may also aid weight loss and improve digestion. Whole-grain, hulled barley is more nutritious than refined, pearled barley. It can be substituted for any whole grain and easily added to your diet.
Is barley a Superfood?
Dr. Perricone's No. 3 Superfood: Barley. This ancient grain is sadly overlooked by today's culinary trendsetters, yet it is one of the grains with the greatest health benefits, delightful flavor and versatility. … Not only is barley a low-glycemic grain, it is high in both soluble and insoluble fiber.
Is Barley good for kidneys?
It is also said to be a good remedy for kidney stones or cysts. In Ayurveda, barley water is considered as a digestive tonic which helps in facilitating the process of digestion, especially for those who have low 'agni'.
Can diabetics eat barley?
Combined with a high level of magnesium, whole grain barley is considered an incredibly beneficial food for diabetics and those with a high risk for developing diabetes.
Which barley is best?
Hulled barley, also known as barley groats, is the whole grain form of barley, with only the outermost hull removed. Chewy and rich in fiber, it's the healthiest kind of barley. However, it takes longer to cook than pearl barley, about an hour or more. Pearl barley is the most common form of barley.
Does pearled barley spike blood sugar?
(The glycemic index ranks carbohydrate-containing foods on a scale from 0 to 100 based on how they affect blood glucose levels.) In fact, with a GI of 25, pearled barley (barley that has had its hull and bran layers removed) is lower on the glycemic index than many other foods.
Which country is the highest producer of barley?
In 2014, 144 million tons of barley was produced of which 14% was produced by the Russian Federation, the top producing country. France and Germany ranked second and third in barley production in the same year.
Is Barley difficult to digest?
Gluten, which is a protein found in rye, barley, and wheat is also difficult for some people to digest. … The inability to digest gluten can lead to a variety of symptoms including bloating, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. Even people who do not have food sensitivities may find certain foods harder to digest than others.
Is barley a gluten?
Barley contains gluten. It contains around 5 to 8 percent gluten, so it shouldn't be consumed by people with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Gluten is found in many whole grains, including wheat and rye.
Where does barley come from?
History. The exact origin of barley is debatable, possibly originating in Egypt, Ethiopia, the Near East or Tibet (3). However, we are fairly certain that barley was among the earliest cultivated grains, around the same time as domestication of wheat (see Wheat Species pages).
What does barley consist of?
Grown in a variety of environments, barley is the fourth largest grain crop globally, after wheat, rice, and corn. Barley is commonly used in breads, soups, stews, and health products, though it is primarily grown as animal fodder and as a source of malt for alcoholic beverages, especially beer.
What vitamins are in barley?
"Barley contains good amounts of B-group vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate and pantothenic acid," Clark said. The whole grain also contains vitamin E, iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus and selenium, as well as small amounts of copper, manganese and calcium.
Is barley better for you than rice?
Barley vs brown rice. … Brown rice also has over five times more folate and vitamin E. However, barley has twice the calcium and fibre and about 30 per cent fewer calories. The two are equivalent in protein and fat content. Ultimately, both grains are healthy choices and getting variety from both is best.
How do you take barley?
Both barley and quinoa have excellent nutritional value, though each has its strengths. Barley is a good source of iron, niacin, and vitamin B6, and supplies an adequate source of magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.
Is barley a complete protein?
Barley has 23 grams of protein per cup and is beneficial for controlling blood sugars, according to Meyer. In addition to being high in protein, lentils are also high in fiber and folate, according to a study in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science.
What’s the difference between oats and barley?
Oats are consumed by livestock as well as humans. Humans eat barley but livestock prefer eating other grains while avoiding barley due to barley hulls. Rolled oats are used as a breakfast food (porridge) and in baking. Barley flakes are also used as breakfast cereal.
How much barley water should you drink a day?
An average cup of barley water can be 700 calories or more. Because of this high calorie content, you shouldn't drink more than two servings of unstrained barley water per day.
Do grains cause inflammation?
Not only are these highly processed grains limited in nutrition, but they can also worsen inflammation throughout the body. … Refined grains have been linked to higher levels of inflammatory markers in the blood.
Is Barley good for cancer patients?
The ingredient, barley grass extract (Hordeum vulgare L.; Bex) is used to prevent or ameliorate various types of disease. In cancer, Bex has been revealed to inhibit tumor growth. … Therefore, the study demonstrated that Bex causes apoptosis of breast and prostate cancer cells by increasing intracellular ROS levels.
Is Pearl barley low carb?
Barley is available "pearled" (with the bran removed) or "quick-cooking" (parboiled). While both contain soluble fiber, pearl barley has a little more. A good source of potassium and other heart-healthy nutrients, barley can help you slim down. … Reduce heat to a simmer; cook, covered, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

domain: medical


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Congress last week allocated $25 billion to expand access to COVID-19 diagnostic tests as the FDA continues to pull out all the stops to get tests to the marketplace via Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) that exempt devicemakers from liability for product failures.
As of April 23, the FDA had approved 62 diagnostics tests, including four antibody tests, according to Commissioner Stephen Hahn.
“These test are being developed in weeks. We have the validation data and we approve them when the validation suggests that they are reliable, accurate and reproducible,” Hahn said in a CNN coronavirus town hall.
“But we know that we’re going to get feedback when they go out into the field, we’re going to get feedback on how they operate in the real world. They may be used in conditions that were not originally tested.”
Hahn said the agency will adjust its authorizations based on the new data.
The FDA said that, for a “reasonable period of time after validation” and while the agency is reviewing EUA requests, it does not intend to object to the use of these tests, noting that 15 days is a reasonable timeframe to prepare an EUA submission for a test that has already been validated.
“In the context of a public health emergency involving pandemic infectious disease, it is critically important that tests are validated, as false results can have broad public health impact beyond that to the individual patient,” the agency said.
Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) wrote a letter to Hahn early this month, citing errors in the first emergency use test the agency authorized, which was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Despite clear evidence that the test was fatally flawed, the administration continued to rely on that inaccurate test for three weeks,” the lawmakers wrote. “This troubling and unjustified delay contributed greatly to the spread of the novel coronavirus in February and March, when those who were infected were not accurately identified and quarantined.”
“The issue with the tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus is that there has not been time to test them rigorously before deploying them in the field,” said Gary L. LeRoy, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “Most polymerase chain reaction and antibody tests have years of laboratory testing before they are used. We just don’t have that kind of time.”
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic tested five of the most commonly used coronavirus tests — including Abbott’s 15-minute ID NOW test — and found a false-negative rate of 14.8 percent using the Abbott test. The company attributed the problem to sample storage prior to testing and said users should only test samples put directly into the testing machine.


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By Rosetta Thomas
Hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth, Prophet Isaiah spoke about His divine mandate. Accordingly, we are told in Isaiah 61: 1-3:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
It is interesting to note that Jesus read and affirmed that this passage of scripture had been fulfilled in his life (Luke 4:21) and just before the dispensation of time he was given to operate physically on the earth came to an end, “he said, It is finished” [John 19:30], meaning that his assignment has been completed. To top this all off, three days after his death, he rose, signaling the ultimate victory. Essentially, He came, carried out his assignment within his allotted time, completed it and ultimately ascended to be with his father.
We have been given a dispensation of time to live on the earth and among the purposes we are called to fulfil, one is to carry out the same mandate that Jesus was entrusted. Accordingly, in Matthew 28:18-20, He stated:
“… All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20) (KJV)
Anointed for the assignment
I must first establish that this mission is not far-fetched because it is one for which we are empowered to perform. Essentially, the Bible says: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; Because the Lord has anointed me to….” (Isaiah 61:3) meaning that we are anointed for the mandate.
The truth is that when it comes to the work of God, we will never be able to effectively do it by our might or our strength but rather by the spirit of God. When the Spirit of the Lord comes upon a person, they are empowered for service. When David was anointed by Samuel for example, his life was transformed, and he was never the same. Additionally, when the spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, he became “another man” (1 Samuels 10:6) and began to prophesy. No one who encounters the spirit of God remains the same, and when it comes to the mandate of the Lord, we can do even more than what our minds can conceive because as Jesus himself said:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12)
So, we have established that Jesus came to earth on a mission, carried out that mission and gave and empowered us to carry out the same mandate in the dispensation of time that we have been given. But what exactly does this mission entails? In answering this question, I will briefly look at a few of the aspects of the mission.
The elements of the mission:
1. Preach good tidings unto the meek.
The first element of this great mission is to preach the undiluted Word of God to the lost. Jesus did not come for the righteous, but he came for sinners and so the world as we know it is ripe for evangelistic harvest. First and foremost, a large majority of people across the world have heard the gospel and many who have heard, have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and personal Saviour. In the 2010 edition of the Book Operation World, it was stated that some key areas unreached with the gospel are as follows:
- In the Arab World – 64.4%
- In East Asia – 43.4%
- In Iran and surrounding areas – 91.6%
- Among the Jews – 97%
- South Asia – 88.6%
- South East Asia – 73.5%
- Tibet and Himalayan Areas – 55.7%
- Turkish Area: 81.7%
If indeed there is really a hell to shun and a heaven to gain as we have come to believe in our Christian faith, then these statistics should make us uncomfortable.
Secondly, it must be noted that there is a need for people to have the fear of God in their lives and people cannot have the fear of God without conviction, and conviction cannot come unless people hear the Word of God. Today God is looking for men and women who will be a voice in the wilderness of the world, to cry out to the hearts of men to prepare the way of the Lord and to make their paths straight. The extent to which the nations of the world fear God rest in the hands of you and I whom God is counting on to make ourselves available for that task during the dispensation of time that we have been given.
2. Bind up the brokenhearted
The next aspect of the mandate is to bind up the broken-hearted. We live in a world where many people are heart broken from the issues of life such as loss, failure, and setbacks. In addition, when the longing of a person’s heart is not fulfilled, they can become hopeless, and this hopelessness can lead to mental health challenges including suicide. Jesus however had such persons in mind when He was on the cross. That woman who is grieving after a failed marriage is so important to God that if she alone was in this world, Jesus would still go to the cross on her behalf. He came to bind up the broken hearted and you and I are anointed to do the same thing. God is depending on us to apply His healing balm and to restore hope in the life of such persons. In Job’s state of desperation, he rightly stated that a tree that is cut down, has hope that with the scent of water, it can spring again (Job 14:7-9). I submit to you that if a tree which has no soul, has hope, then no matter what state of brokenness a person is in, there is hope for them. Jesus is no longer on the earth physically so who will bring that message of hope to the broken hearted? Who will reach out to people who have become dry bones in the valley to let them know that they can receive life in their dead situations? It is you and I and we are anointed for the task.
3. Proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound
The other element of the mandate is to preach deliverance to those in captivity and to open the prison to them that are in bondage. Lots of people have found themselves in some very serious situations and they need to be loosed. People are bound to drugs, prostitution, varying forms of sexual perversions, mental illnesses among others. But who will loose them? There is a mentally ill man or woman on the street that need to be set free from their captivity, there is a lady of the night who need to be set free from that spirit of perversion controlling her life and there is someone oppressed by gender confusion that need to know the way of the Lord and make their paths straight.
The task may seem insurmountable, but Lazarus was completely dead and buried, becoming a captive of the grave yet Jesus came and called him back to life.
The same power that Jesus used to raise Lazarus is operating in you and I today, and so God is God is depending on us to deliver people out of their strongholds, no matter the depth. Even if people consciously walk into captivity, we can stand on the Word of God which states that the lawful captives shall be delivered (Isaiah 49: 25).
On a different note, some people are not in spiritual graves, but they are bound by spiritual grave clothes and they need to be released so that they can maximize their fullest potentials. Lazarus was brought back to life, but he could not do anything until the grave clothes were removed. Many persons are in a similar situation, where they are wrapped in all kinds of baggage from head to foot. The good news is that you and I are not only mandated to loosen them, but we also have what it takes to do it beyond measure.
4. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.
Another element of the assignment is to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and to comfort those who mourn. The “acceptable year of the Lord” is also the “day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2). It is a time when God will rescue and deliver his people from their affliction and bring judgment on His enemies:
“Thus says the LORD: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant to the people, To restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages’” – Isaiah 49:8 (NKJV)
When Haman wanted to eradicate the Jews, God delivered his people from his hands and gave them a victorious ending. When Sennacherib revolted against the people of God and there seemed to be no hope, he was brought to shame and destruction. God want to execute his vengeance, vindicate his people, and bring forth restitution to those who call upon his name, but He need available vessels. Will you and I be a Moses, a Joshua, a David, and a Samuel who can be the instrument of righteousness in the hand of a holy God to set his people free?
Are we fulfilling the mandate?
Having briefly looked at some of the element of the divine mandate, we need to examine ourselves to see to what extent we are fulfilling our assignments. GOD has already empowered us and the same spirit which raised Jesus from the dead is operating in us and is at our disposal to do everything God has called us to do. Jesus will not leave Heaven to do what He has committed in our hands. He has given us the assignment, the tool to carry it out (the anointing), and he has given us a dispensation of time to fulfil that mandate.
But in our dispensation:
- To what extent do we preach good tidings unto the meek?
- To what extent do we preach deliverance to the captives and bring spiritual and physical sight to the blind?
- To what extent do we proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God?
- And to what extent do we comfort those who are mourning?
No one knows when their time will expire, but sure enough, we do not have forever on our hands. Our dispensation of time is but a dash which lies between a start date and an end date. As for the end date, we may not know until our dispensation of time actually comes to an end, but while we are still dashing, let us endeavour to use our time to fulfil the divine mandate that we have been given.
Let us preach good tidings unto the meek. Let us bind up the brokenhearted. Let us proclaim liberty to the captives and let us open the prison to them that are bound. Furthermore, let us proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God and let us do all we can to comfort all that mourn.
Sure enough, the day will come when we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of all that we have done in this life including how well we carry out the mandate we have been entrusted within our dash.
Let us therefore run well and embrace every aspect of our divine mandate so that just like Jesus, at the end of our dispensation on earth, we can all say: it is finished.
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domain: literature


text:
Address: Via Nuova de’ Caccini, 3 - Firenze , Florence - Historical CenterDate: Wednesday 14 November 2018
Giovanni Benvenuti - sax
Ferdinando Romano - bass
Francesco Cusa drums, compositions
The new trio by Francesco Cusa, with Giovanni Benvenuti and Ferdinando Romano, explores the territories of original compositions and polyrhythms. An acoustic re-proposal of the project experiences of the Sicilian artist's past with a look at traditional music and revised standards.
"My idea for this work stems from an opposite perspective compared to the normal processes that determine musical praxis. We start from improvised materials with the aim of building polyrhythmic structures, melodies, which only in the future will determine (if anything) a compositional process that can be stopped on paper. Too often we live in the urgency of contingent productions, of noble musical ideas that would require however other sedimentations, of time, of maturation. For these reasons I tried to reverse the process, that is to create a trio with which to exercise an almost minimalist idea of instant composition, with which to listen to the creative spark of the moment and develop the sound cells resulting from environmental influences, moods of the moment, of the suggestions of the journey, of the food tasted, etc. But it would be criminal to speak of "improvised music": I would rather define it as a subliminal centering to determine the construction of sound architectures: an "inevitable" process that will determine the expressive necessity of the trio in time, so that, in its inexorable every note, every blow to the instrument, will be those arising dall'ineluttabile. No choice "(Francesco Cusa). ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This page may have been translated using the Google automatic translate engine; please excuse any mistakes this translation might have.

domain: artistic


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USB 3.0, 4-port HUB, 4xUSB A/F,1xUSB M/F Cable AM-AM 1.2M, incl. Power Supply 5V 3,5A, bl
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text:
The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Many studies have found older people with atrial fibrillation have a higher risk of dying. However, the risk linked with new-onset atrial fibrillation in middle-aged people has not been well studied, says researcher David Conen, MD, MPH, assistant professor of internal medicine at University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
''This large group [of middle-aged people] was generally believed to have a benign outcome," he says. "We now show that [younger] participants with new-onset atrial fibrillation had an approximately twofold increased risk of death compared to women without new-onset atrial fibrillation."
But it is crucial to put the finding in perspective, he tells WebMD. After other cardiovascular risk factors were accounted for, about 2.1% of all deaths could be blamed on the abnormal heart rhythm.
Nevertheless, the finding provides an important practical message, says Teresa S.M. Tsang, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia. She co-authored an editorial to accompany the study. "Atrial fibrillation is not benign," she says.
It should be treated when detected, she says. And coexisting problems such as high blood pressure should also be controlled, she says.
What Is Atrial Fibrillation
About 2.2 million Americans have the abnormal heart rhythm, according to the American Heart Association.
In the condition, the two small upper chambers of the heart, called the atria, quiver instead of beating regularly. As a result, blood is not pumped efficiently through the heart. It may pool and subsequently clot. If a clot leaves the heart and travels to the brain, a stroke can occur.
Atrial fibrillation is sometimes diagnosed after a patient complains of symptoms such as palpitations. It may also be detected during a physical exam or during an electrocardiogram.
The risk of getting the abnormal rhythm increases with age. Up to 5% of people age 65 and older have atrial fibrillation, the American Heart Association estimates.
When it is diagnosed, the condition is treated in a variety of ways. Medication can slow the rapid heart rate or even restore normal rhythm. Blood thinners may be required to reduce the risk of stroke.
Tracking Risks of Atrial Fibrillation
Conen and colleagues evaluated nearly 35,000 women enrolled in the Women's Health Study from 1993 to 2010. All were over age 45 when they enrolled in the study. The median age was 53 (half were younger, half older).
During a median follow-up of 15.4 years, 1,011 women developed the abnormal rhythm. There were 1,602 deaths from all causes, including 63 deaths in women with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation.
After taking age into account, the risk of death from all causes, including cardiovascular causes, was significantly higher among the women who developed atrial fibrillation than those who did not.
One take-home point of the study, Conen tells WebMD, is for women newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation to pay attention to co-existing risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Trying to prevent the abnormal heart rhythm from developing in the first place is important too, says Conan, who reports receiving research grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, and Sanofi-Aventis
Besides controlling weight and blood pressure, it is important not to smoke, to keep cholesterol at healthy levels, and to control diabetes if it occurs, says Tsang, who is also director of cardiovascular research at Vancouver General Hospital.
Until this study "we actually knew very little about this condition in middle-aged women," she says. "Newly identified [atrial fibrillation] in seemingly healthy women should be taken seriously and treated aggressively."


text:
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The stories feature slapstick humour, offset by dashes of sophisticated satire and political or cultural commentary.
Rent yours’ today, to savor a time filled with unmatched wit and nail bitingly amazing mystery!


text:
Hashmatullah Mojaddidi still can't understand what went wrong with his old friend "Najib."
Mojaddidi, a leader in the Moslem resistance movement fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, was as surprised as anyone here by the announcement on May 4 that his former high school classmate, Najibullah, had been named to head Afghanistan's ruling communist party.
Najibullah, a medical doctor who until last December directed his country's feared secret police, is little known outside Afghanistan. But Mojaddidi and other Afghans here remember him as a devout Moslem teen-ager who during his university years became a fervent, and often violent, communist organizer.
Najibullah's personal background and his recent role in the Afghan government lead many in the resistance movement to believe that he has been assigned to draw new groups, especially among the ethnically dominant Pashtun tribes, into the government camp.
Several observers here assert, however, that Najibullah will be hampered by the same factional conflict within the Afghan communist party that has always obstructed efforts to consolidate its rule.
Najibullah, who uses no surname, was selected to replace Babrak Karmal as leader of the Soviet-dominated People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. As in the Soviet Union, the party leadership is regarded as the nation's most important political office.
"When we were in high school, Najib was a good Moslem," said Mojaddidi, who is the financial director of the Afghan National Liberation Front, one of the main resistance parties. "One day, we had gone swimming near Kabul and were riding our bicycles back and Najib made us stop on the way for prayers. He never missed his prayers," Mojaddidi said.
When the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was founded in 1965, Najibullah and Mojaddidi were classmates at Kabul's Habibia high school. Shortly thereafter, Mojaddidi recalled, Najibullah had told friends that Suleiman Layeq, a founding member of the party and now minister of tribes and nationalities, was trying to recruit him.
Najibullah "agreed with us that these were not good people, because they did not believe in God," Mojaddidi said. "But later, when he went to the university, he changed. I do not know why," Mojaddidi added.
At Kabul University, "Everybody knew him," said Mohammed Haidar, formerly dean of the law faculty. "He was very active, with so many speeches and demonstrations he had to repeat about two years of classes before he got his medical diploma."
In the frequent clashes on campus between the two main factions of the party, "You would always hear later that Najibullah had been in the front of the fighting," said former Kabul University Prof. Rasul Amin. "They called him Najib the bull."
Najibullah is from an elite family that is part of the large and important Ahmadzai tribe of Pashtuns. The family originally was from rural Paktia Province, on the border with Pakistan, but Najibullah grew up in cities, here in Peshawar and in Kabul.
"His father was a banker and a commercial agent, and had many contacts among the [Pashtun] tribes of the border region," Amin said. One of Najibullah's main tasks as director of Khad, the secret police, was to recruit members of his own and related tribes along the Pakistani border into a militia to obstruct the passage of resistance fighters, especially through Kunar, Ningrahar and Paktia provinces.
The recruitment of the tribes -- often in exchange for arms, money or promises of noninterference from the government -- has complemented Soviet military offensives as a tactic to deny the resistance access to critical supply routes through the border provinces to the Afghan interior.
"Najibullah has been successful in manipulating the border tribes against the resistance fighters because of his knowledge of their traditions and their rivalries," said Asmat Hayat Khan, a Pakistani scholar at Peshawar University's Central Asian studies program.
Like most observers here, Khan believes Najibullah's selection signals an intention by the Soviets to step up their efforts to convince or coerce the border tribes to stop supporting or tolerating the resistance.
The Pashtuns comprise an estimated 55 percent of Afghanistan's population, and are easily dominant among the country's 21 distinct ethnic groups. Afghanistan traditionally has been ruled by Pashtuns. Afghan intellectuals say this would make it difficult for the Soviets to designate a leader from another ethnic group. The Parcham and Khalq factions of the communist party are divided largely along ethnic and linguistic lines.
The two groups coalesced early in the development of the party, with Pashtuns from rural areas -- often of relatively poorer backgrounds -- joining the Khalq. Urban Afghans, mostly from Persian-speaking, non-Pashtun ethnic groups followed Babrak Karmal's Parcham faction.
Although Pashtun, the urbanized Najibullah was recruited by Babrak's group, and quickly earned a reputation as one of its most combative members. In August 1978, he was banished to an ambassadorial post in Tehran after he, Babrak and others were suspected of plotting against the Khalq government that had taken power that April.
When the Soviets invaded in December 1979, they overturned the Khalq regime and installed Babrak at the head of a government that included both factions. During its 20 months in power, the Khalq faction had ignited an angry rural resistance movement with its doctrinaire enforcement of radical changes that violated religious and cultural norms.
Under Soviet guidance, Babrak moderated the government's program, and made efforts to display respect for traditions. But during more than six years of Babrak's rule, the infighting has continued, with frequent assassinations by each group against the other.
According to some observers here, the Soviets may hope that Najibullah will be able to appeal to his fellow Pashtuns in the Khalq faction as a way of resolving the infighting. Most Afghan analysts agree with Mohammed N. Zalmy, a former Kabul judge who now monitors human rights violations in Afghanistan, that this is unlikely.
Zalmy recalled that, in recent years, Najibullah's Khad has been a major Parchami weapon against the Khalq, with Khad agents arresting officers of the Khalq-dominated Interior Ministry, and vice versa. "Najibullah is the biggest enemy of the Khalqs," Zalmy said.
Western diplomats in Islamabad, quoting reports from Kabul, said that during the recent transition from Babrak to Najibullah, Soviet troops and tanks guarded strategic points around Kabul, apparently to forestall any factional violence.
Rasul Amin speculated that it might be wrong to think that the Soviets are resolved to seek the reconciliation in the party that has eluded them since their invasion. "They may have decided that, instead, it is time to crush the Khalq," he said.
"If so, Najibullah is the man they should have," Amin said. "He is tough and ruthless. And since he has been running the secret police for them, it is certain that he is the Soviets' own man."

domain: sociology


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